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☆ Iran announces record low election turnout despite calls on voters to participate
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

It is unclear if the announced 41% turnout will sink further in the coming days, with some candidates in the parliamentary election going to a runoff. Iran’s last parliamentary election in 2020 saw a turnout of 42.57%, and its last presidential election in 2021 had a turnout of 48.8% – both were the lowest since the establishment of the Islamic Republic. Some 15,000 candidates competed last week for the 290-seat parliamentary election, and 144 ran for the 88 seats of the Assembly of Experts. Some 25 million people cast their ballots out of Iran's 61 million eligible voters. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker and former Revolutionary Guards air force commander, seemed to lose some votes, coming fourth in this year’s election after his popularity peaked in the 2020 parliamentary election.

Persons: IRNA, ”, Alex Vatanka, Mahsa, Iran’s, Ebrahim Raisi, Hossein Beris, Mohammad Khatami, Azar Mansouri, “, Khatami, Khamenei, ” Vatanka, watchdogs, –, Hassan Rouhani, Atta Kenare, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Ghalibaf’s, ” Sanam Vakil, Vakil, ” Vakil Organizations: CNN, Middle East Institute, “, Saturday, Experts, Getty, Iran’s Guardian, Revolutionary Guards, North Africa, Chatham House Locations: Iran, Washington , DC, Fars, Islamic Republic, Iranian, Tehran, AFP, East, London

☆ The Risk of a China War Over Taiwan Is Rising - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Ben Lewis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In 2020, the balance of military power in the Taiwan Strait began a gradual but profound shift in China’s favor. That August, then-Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar became the highest-ranking U.S. cabinet official to visit Taiwan in more than four decades. responded by carrying out large-scale military exercises around the self-governing island, sending aircraft over the median line of the Taiwan Strait for only the third time in more than 20 years. Alarm bells should be ringing, but neither Taiwan nor the United States have taken meaningful action to deter China, and Taiwan’s response has been inconsistent and lacks transparency, which may further embolden Beijing. A more robust approach is needed to deter China from escalating the situation.

Persons: Alex Azar Organizations: Health, Human, Liberation Army Locations: Taiwan, Taiwan Strait, China, Taipei, Washington, United States, Beijing

☆ 17 Trump Cabinet-Level Appointees Criticizing Trump - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Sarah Longwell | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +13 min

Mr. Trump churned through cabinet-level appointees so fast that at times it seemed like he was still on “The Apprentice” and had to fire one official every week. Not only are they people whom Mr. Trump chose — he claimed he would hire the “best people” — they are people who thought Mr. Trump was worth working for. Judging only by the words of many former high-level appointees, a second Trump term would be catastrophic for the country. BlamedTrump forJan. 6 CriticizedTrump duringhis term CriticizedTrump afterhis term HighlightedTrump’s legalissues Ruled outvoting Trumpin 2024 Moron,” Mr. Tillerson reportedly said of Mr. Trump. He wrote an op-ed published just after the 2020 election claiming that Mr. Trump would “concede gracefully” if he lost.

Persons: them.They, Donald Trump, Trump’s, ’ Said, Donald Trump’s, Trump, didn’t, —, Mr, Richard Nixon, Mark Milley, Milley, ” Richard Spencer, Eddie Gallagher’s, ” H.R, McMaster, ” James Mattis, ” Mark, George Floyd, ” John Kelly White, autocrats, Loyalists Elaine Chao, George W, Bush, ” Alex Azar, Rex Tillerson, “, ” Mr, Tillerson, Dan Coats, ” Betsy DeVos, Mick Mulvaney, ’, William Barr, George H.W, George H.W . Bush, ” John Bolton, Ronald Reagan, …, Mike Pompeo, ” Mike Pence, Mike Pence ”, Pence, ” Organizations: Mr, Republican, Trump, Army, Joint Chiefs, Staff, Jan, Marines, Navy, White House, Defense, Marine, ISIL, ” John Kelly White House, Homeland, Marine Corps, The, Loyalists, Transportation, Labor, Capitol, Health, Human Services, State, ExxonMobil, National Intelligence, Mar, Education, Republican Party of Michigan, Management, ” John Bolton White House, U.S, United Nations, White Locations: Iowa, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Jan, United States, America, Moron, Germany, Mar, South Carolina, George H.W ., Kansas, Indiana

☆ Oldest mosquito fossil comes with a bloodsucking surprise
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Dany Azar/Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are killed annually by malaria and other diseases spread through the bite of mosquitoes, insects that date back to the age of dinosaurs. To their surprise, the male mosquitoes possessed elongated piercing-sucking mouthparts seen now only in females. Some flying insects - tsetse flies, for instance - have hematophagous males. "In all hematophagous insects, we believe that hematophagy was a shift from plant liquid sucking to bloodsucking," Azar said. The researchers said while these are the oldest fossils, mosquitoes probably originated millions of years earlier.

Persons: Dany Azar, Handout, " Azar, Azar, André Nel, hematophagy, Nel, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Chinese Academy of Sciences ' Nanjing Institute of Geology, Lebanese University, National Museum of, World Health Organization, Thomson Locations: Lebanon, Hammana, Paris

NEW YORK (AP) — The latest honor for Salman Rushdie was a prize kept secret until minutes before he rose from his seat to accept it. On Tuesday night, the author received the first-ever Lifetime Disturbing the Peace Award, presented by the Vaclav Havel Center on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Alaa Abdel-Fattah, the imprisoned Egyptian activist, was given the Disturbing the Peace Award to a Courageous Writer at Risk. Rushdie, 76, noted that last month he had received the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, and now was getting a prize for disturbing the peace, leaving him wondering which side of “the fence” he was on. “He was inspirational to me as for many, many writers, and to receive an award in his name is a great honor,” Rushdie added.

Persons: Salman Rushdie, Vaclav Havel, Rushdie, “, ” Rushdie, Azar Nafisi, Vaclav, Havel, Lesley Stahl, Alaa Abdel, Fattah, Adhaf Soueif, ”, ” Abdel, Hosni Mubarak, Ruhollah Khomeini's Organizations: Lolita, Library Foundation, Communist, CBS, Abdel, Trade Locations: Western New York, Tehran ”, Czech, Czechoslovakia

☆ These stocks have earnings momentum heading into their reports this week
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Another chunk of companies are set to report this week, and analysts think earnings are on their side. CNBC Pro screened for the S & P 500 companies reporting this week that analysts are most excited about, leading them to lift their earnings estimates. Earnings per share estimates are also up 18.1% and 29.6% in the past three and six months, respectively. First Solar has the highest changes in analysts' earnings per share estimates, up 90% and 115.1% in the past three and six months, respectively. Shares have slid about 9% this year, with losses accelerating this month after peer solar company SolarEdge cut its third-quarter guidance on slowing demand in Europe.

Persons: Azar —, Tinder, Entergy, Ingersoll Rand, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: CNBC Pro, Bank of America, JPMorgan, Energy, Marathon Petroleum, Micro Devices Locations: Europe

☆ No cost curves breakthrough moment yet on hydrogen, Black & Veatch CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailNo cost curves breakthrough moment yet on hydrogen, Black & Veatch CEO saysMario Azar, chairman and CEO at Black & Veatch, says there has yet to be a breakthrough moment on cost curves on hydrogen.

Persons: Mario Azar Organizations: Black

Eventually, he had his own radio show in Los Angeles, “The Bob Barker Show.”American game show host Bob Barker points to himself on a nearby television screen as his wife Dorothy Jo Barker (1924 - 1981) looks on and laughs, November 4, 1977. Gabi Rona/MPTV/Reuters Barker, right, appears on a 1960 episode of "Bonanza" along with actors Jim Galante, Ken Mayer and Natalie Trundy. CBS/Getty Images Barker and Amanda Jones, who was Miss Illinois, are seen after Jones won the 1973 Miss USA Pageant. David Livingston/Getty Images Barker plays with his pet Mr. Rabbit at his home in Los Angeles in 2011. There hasn’t been a day on set that I didn’t think of Bob Barker and thank him.

Persons: Bob Barker, Roger Neal, Barker, popper, Bill Cullen, Drew Carey, ”, “, ‘, ’ ” Barker, Robert William Barker, ’ ”, “ I’d, Drury, Dorothy Jo Barker, Ralph Edwards, Edwards, wasn’t, – Barker, Barker’s, nimbly, Barker's, Jesse Grant, Gabi Rona, MPTV, Reuters Barker, Jim Galante, Ken Mayer, Natalie Trundy, Dorothy Jo, Tilly, Paul W, Bailey, NBCUniversal, Gerald Smith, Herb Ball, Amanda Jones, Jones, Ron Galella, Lennox McLendon, Dian Parkinson, Janice Pennington —, Parkinson, Jim Smeal, Adam Sandler, Happy Gilmore, Mark Mainz, Robert Hanashiro, Mark Davis, Ingrid Newkirk, David Livingston, Rabbit, Damian Dovarganes, Scott Clifton, Lisette M, Azar, CBS Barker, Monty Brinton, Dorothy Jo Gideon, Gideon, you’ve, Gilmore ’, Carey, ‘ Bob, I’m, ‘ Drew, you’re, Nancy Burnet, Gilmore, ” Sandler, Bob, hasn’t Organizations: CNN, CBS, American Television, Drury College, U.S . Navy, Springfield, NBC, Reuters, DJ, T Foundation, US Naval Reserve, Getty, Miss, Miss USA, MTV, Television Academy Hall of Fame, USA, PETA, “, Los Angeles Times Locations: Mission , South Dakota, Rosebud, Springfield , Missouri, Los Angeles, Miss Illinois, “, ”

☆ Horace Tapscott Was a Force in L.A. Jazz. A New Set May Expand His Reach.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Marcus J. Moore | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Along the way, noted musicians and vocalists like Nate Morgan, Kamau Daaood, Adele Sebastian and Phil Ranelin played in the band. Trible came across Tapscott in the late 1980s as a singer in another group who wanted to work with the Arkestra. Six decades since Tapscott formed the band, Session said the group’s mission hasn’t changed, and he vowed to continue pushing forward. I want to get back to how Horace did shows at prisons and high schools and colleges for free,” he said. “We could sell out Carnegie Hall and then come home and do the same set for 50, 60 cats.

Persons: Tapscott, Nate Morgan, Kamau Daaood, Adele Sebastian, Phil Ranelin, Trible, “, ‘, ” Trible, Horace, Michael Session, Azar Lawrence, ”, Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, “ It’s, We’re, Thundercat, Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin —, Kendrick Lamar, hasn’t Organizations: Carnegie Hall Locations: Tapscott, Little Africa, Brooklyn

☆ Mike Pence just officially filed to run for president in 2024, challenging Trump after dramatic January 6 fallout
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Former Vice President Mike Pence is runnning for president. Pence was loyal to Trump during most of his presidency, but stood up to him on January 6. By entering the race, Pence will officially challenge former President Donald Trump — a man he publicly stood by throughout his presidency, right up until Trump pressured him to subvert Joe Biden's 2020 election win. DeSantis has criticized Trump's response to the pandemic, though Trump handed the reins of the response to Pence during his tenure. Pence was deeply involved in the Trump administration, with his fingerprints especially visible on healthcare policy and on defending religious groups.

Persons: Mike Pence, He'll, Pence, —, Pence's, Donald Trump —, Trump, Joe Biden's, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Sen, Tim Scott of, Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy, Larry Elder, Ryan Binkley, Perry Johnson, Chris Christie, Doug Burgum, he'd, Wade, DeSantis, Alex Azar, Seema Verma Organizations: Trump, Service, Federal, Commission, Des, Des Moines Area Community College, CNN, Capitol, Florida Gov, DeSantis, GOP, Arkansas Gov, Former New Jersey Gov, North Dakota Gov, Pence, Republican, Indiana, Walt Disney Locations: Iowa, Des Moines, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Arkansas, Indiana, Roe, Florida, Indianapolis

All agreed there was a marked increase in awareness among Indian Muslims about birth control and family planning. The 2021 census has been delayed but the United Nations has projected India's population will touch 1.42 billion this month. "There is a misconception among Muslims that Islam doesn’t allow the use of birth control measures," said Maulana Khalid Rasheed, the imam of the Lucknow Eidgah in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state. [1/5] FILE PHOTO-Members of a Muslim family sit down for a meal in an old quarter of Delhi, India March 3, 2023. Experts say the public health system is now unable to keep up with the demand for birth control services from people who are aware about their usefulness, also called an unmet need.

☆ The Wine Merchant Who Needs Security at the Door to Control the Crowds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( James Hookway | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WAKEFIELD, England—This time last year, Mohammad Azar Nazir was running a humdrum convenience store in Wakefield, a small city in the north of England, trying to turn his life around after a four-year stretch in prison for drug offenses. “I was the biggest numpty you could meet,” he said, meaning a bit of a fool in the local Yorkshire slang, flashing a gold tooth as he smiled. He said he fell in with the wrong crowd and made some poor choices.

☆ Wave of poison attacks on schoolgirls alarms Iranians
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The poison attacks at more than 30 schools in at least four cities started in November in Iran's Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Qom, prompting some parents to take their children out of school, state media reported. His deputy, Younes Panahi, said on Sunday "it was found that some people wanted schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed", according to IRNA state news agency. One boys' school has been targeted in the city of Boroujerd, state media reported. Several senior clerics, lawmakers and politicians have criticised the government for failing to end the poison attacks and giving contradicting reasons for them, with some warning that frustration among families could ignite further protests. A judicial probe into the poisoning cases is under way, state media reported.

BEIRUT, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Lebanon will adopt a new official exchange rate of 15,000 pounds per U.S. dollar on Feb. 1, central bank governor Riad Salameh said, marking a 90% devaluation from its current official rate that has remained unchanged for 25 years. The pound has lost some 97% of its value since it began to split from the 1,507 rate in 2019. In order to ease the impact of this shift, banks would be given five years "to reconstitute the losses due to the devaluation," he said. Several rates remain, including the official rate, the central bank's Sayrafa exchange platform rate which currently stands at 38,000 pounds per U.S. dollar, and the parallel market rate. While capital controls have never been formally imposed in Lebanon, banks since 2019 have imposed their own controls, severely limiting withdrawals in dollars and Lebanese pounds.

☆ The end of the Covid health emergency won't slow FDA clearance of shots and treatments
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday said its emergency authorizations of Covid vaccines, tests and treatments will not be impacted by the end of the public health emergency this spring. President Joe Biden is planning to terminate in May the public health and national emergencies declared in response to the Covid pandemic three years ago, the White House said Monday. The public health emergency gave U.S. health regulators expanded powers to respond faster to the pandemic. The FDA's emergency powers, however, aren't directly tied to public health declaration, according to the agency. This allows the agency to respond more swiftly to public health crises.

☆ Democrats detail effects of early pandemic failures in new Senate report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Shannon-Pettypiece-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Shannon Pettypiece | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The 242-page report, written by Democrats on the panel, cited long-term weaknesses in the country’s public health infrastructure, from staffing shortages and inadequate disease surveillance to poor testing systems. But the report indicated that the pandemic shortcomings extended beyond the Trump administration. Similarly, a DHS report said 96% of pharmacy owners and managers were already reporting a shortage of surgical masks, according to the report. It issued a variety of recommendations, including increasing funding to improve public health surveillance, data systems, health care surge capacity, domestic manufacturing capabilities and stockpiles of critical supplies. "This is not the first public health crisis that our nation has faced, and sadly, it won't be the last," Peters said.

☆ Turkey's MNG Airlines to go public on NYSE
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 7 (Reuters) - Turkey's MNG Airlines will list on the New York Stock Exchange through a merger with Golden Falcon Acquisition Corp (GFX.N), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), the Turkish cargo carrier said on Wednesday. The merger has a pro-forma enterprise value of $676 million, and has been approved by the boards of both the companies, MNG said in a statement. Golden Acquisition Corp, which went public in 2020, is headed by Chief Executive Officer Makram Azar, a former Barclays banker, and counts Xavier Rolet, a former London Stock Exchange CEO, as an independent director. Istanbul-based MNG Airlines started operations in 1996, and serves corporate customers across 41 countries with more than 3,500 flights per year. Reporting by Rahat Sandhu in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Stories of trauma, resilience spotlighted at Palestinian film festival
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Henriette Chacar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Summary Thousands attend ninth annual Palestinian film festivalEvent headlined by Oscar-nominated 'Mediterranean Fever'RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The fate of a Palestinian girl forced into exile during the 1948 war of Israel's creation remains unknown. But her story took on new life in a film about her experience that captured the big screen at this year's Palestine Cinema Days festival. "This is a very special moment for all of us, to have the film screened in Palestine to a Palestinian audience," said Deema Azar, one of the film's producers, told Reuters. The festival, now in its ninth year, was organised by Film Lab: Palestine, which cultivates cinema culture and supports Palestinian filmmakers. "The Flag" follows an elderly man who must prove to Israeli soldiers that he isn't the one planting the Palestinian flag that continues to mysteriously appear on his roof.

☆ Millions at risk of losing health insurance if U.S. ends Covid public health emergency in January
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

The Health and Human Services Department will give the public 60 days notice before lifting the public health emergency, Becerra said. The health emergency also allowed millions of people to receive increased food benefits through the federal government's nutrition program. When the public health emergency does end, HHS estimates up to 15 million people will be disenrolled from Medicare and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Millions to lose Medicaid coverageThe most dramatic impact from ending the public health emergency will fall on people enrolled in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Trump administration Health Secretary Alex Azar activated the FDA's emergency authorization powers in March 2020, about two months after first declaring the public health emergency.

☆ Trump administration blocked CDC transit mask mandate, report shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

But the report stated that CDC had heard from the transit industry that it wanted the federal government to issue a mandate. Cetron, who heads the CDC's division of global migration and quarantine, said the agency was told by Trump administration officials that a mask requirement on mass transportation "would not happen," according to the report. Days after President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the CDC issued a sweeping order requiring face masks on nearly all forms of public transportation. Reuters reported in July 2020 that the Trump administration had held extensive talks about whether the CDC should issue an order requiring transportation masking. Many U.S. conservatives opposed government mandates requiring masks during the pandemic.

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