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☆ Tensions over Israel-Hamas war loom over Irish Taoiseach’s usually jovial annual visit to White House
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Kevin Liptak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

There will still be shamrocks this year, but Israel’s war in Gaza is lending a darker backdrop to the occasion. While he rebuffed calls by some Irish politicians to boycott the annual White House stop, he has made plain the Gaza war lends fresh urgency to this year’s talks. “I’ll use that opportunity to put across Ireland’s perspective on this and tell them how Irish people feel. Last year, Varadkar declared Biden “unmistakably a son of Ireland” and announced the president’s forthcoming visit to the island. Barry’s opposition to Biden’s foreign policy predated the war in Gaza; he boycotted Biden’s address to the Dáil in April.

Persons: Patrick’s, Joe Biden, —, Leo Varadkar, Biden, “, ”, Varadkar, “ I’m, Ireland ”, Israel ”, Jane Ohlmeyer, Arthur Balfour, Mick Barry, Biden’s, Michelle O’Neill, O’Neill, Sinn Fein, Carter, Clinton Organizations: Washington CNN, shamrocks, Irish, RTE, White, Muredach’s, Hamas, Trinity College Dublin, Socialist Party, Capitol, Northern, St, ”, Irish Republican Army, Biden Locations: United States, Ireland, Gaza, Boston, St, Ballina ., Israel, Dublin, Palestine, British, Ireland’s, Northern Ireland, Northern

☆ Activists Deface Portrait of Balfour, Who Supported Jewish Homeland
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Marc Tracy | More About Marc Tracy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A pro-Palestinian group slashed and spray-painted a century-old portrait of Arthur James Balfour at the University of Cambridge on Friday, defacing a painting of the British official whose pledge of support in 1917 for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” helped pave the way to Israel’s founding three decades later. The group, Palestine Action, said in a statement that the destruction of the portrait in Trinity College, Cambridge, was intended to call attention to “the bloodshed of the Palestinian people since the Balfour Declaration was issued,” particularly in light of the current conflict in Gaza. A spokeswoman for Trinity, whose alumni include King Charles III as well as Balfour himself, said in a statement on Friday that the college “regrets the damage caused to a portrait of Arthur James Balfour during public opening hours” and that it had notified the police. A Cambridge police statement said officers were on the scene to investigate a report of “criminal damage.”Palestine Action posted a video of a protester first spraying the portrait, painted in 1914 by Philip Alexius de László, with red paint and then slashing it with a sharp object. The group’s statement said Balfour had given away the homeland of the Palestinians — “a land that wasn’t his to give away” — touching off what it described as decades of oppression.

Persons: Arthur James Balfour, defacing, ”, Balfour, King Charles III, “, Philip Alexius de László Organizations: University of Cambridge, British, Palestine, Trinity College , Cambridge, Trinity, Cambridge Locations: Palestine, Gaza

(AP) — Inmates at a Mississippi prison were forced to mix raw cleaning chemicals without protective equipment, with one alleging she later contracted terminal cancer and was denied timely medical care, a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges. Susan Balfour, 62, was incarcerated for 33 years at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility until her release in December 2021. Prisoners were required to clean the facility, without protective equipment, using chemicals that might cause cancer, Balfour's lawsuit says. “I feel betrayed by our system that failed to provide timely medical care for me. The companies contracted to provide health care to prisoners at the facility — Wexford Health Sources, Centurion Health and VitalCore — delayed or failed to schedule follow-up cancer screenings for Baflour even though they had been recommended by prison physicians, the lawsuit says.

Persons: JACKSON, Susan Balfour, Balfour, I'm, VitalCore —, Drew Tominello, Tominello, Pauline Rogers ,, ” Rogers, ” ___ Michael Goldberg Organizations: Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, U.S . Southern, U.S . Southern District of, Centurion Health, Mississippi Department of Corrections, of Corrections, Mississippi Supreme, Rech Foundation, Associated Press, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: Miss, Mississippi, U.S, U.S . Southern District, U.S . Southern District of Mississippi, Wexford, @mikergoldberg

☆ This is the world’s rarest passport
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Lola Méndez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —The Sovereign Military Order of Malta – also known as the Knights of Malta – isn’t just a religious Catholic order with nearly 1,000 years of history. After World War II, the use of the diplomatic passport took on characteristics of passports used in other countries. Today, there are only around 500 of the diplomatic passports in circulation – making it the rarest passport in the world. robertharding/Alamy Stock Photo“The Order grants passports to members of their government for the duration of their mandate,” de Petri Testaferrata says. Once when I arrived at the Bangkok airport, a crowd of operators at passport control wanted to see my rare passport and take a selfie with it,” Balfour tells CNN.

Persons: Malta –, It’s, King, Spain, Napoleon Bonaparte, Daniel de Petri Testaferrata, Angelo, ” de Petri Testaferrata, Marianna Balfour, “ They’ve, ” Balfour, De Petri Testaferrata, John Kellerman, Anne, de Valette, Paschal II, ” Dane Munro, Don’t, Grand, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Caravaggio, St John’s, St John ”, Finnbarr Webster, Casa Rocca Piccola, de Piro, Munro, Marquis Nicholas de Piro, Knight of Malta Don Pietro Rosselli Organizations: CNN, Knights, Knights of Malta – isn’t, United Nations, Sovereign Council, Souverain, Fort, UNESCO, “, Casa Magazzini, National Library of Malta, of, Supreme, Grand Masters, of Ambassadors, St, Maltese Association of Locations: Malta, Knights of Malta, Jerusalem, Maltese, Rome, of Malta, St, robertharding, Bangkok, France, United Kingdom, United States, Knights, Valletta, Mdina, Knight

☆ Opinion: The Mideast conflict on campus is too simplistic
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Peter Rutland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Many college students are taught that American society is the product of “settler colonialism” — a history of conquest and exploitation. In this simplistic framing, the plight of the Palestinians is just one more example of the familiar evils of settler colonialism. The Gaza war is better understood as a conflict between two competing nationalist projects than as a case of settler colonialism. There are a number of inconvenient historical truths that complicate the “settler colonialism” narrative. Another problem with the settler colonialism narrative is that it treats each side as a monolithic actor, playing the role of colonizer and victim, respectively.

Persons: Peter Rutland, Olivia Drake, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel ”, ”, —, Israel, Raphael Lemkin, colonizer, Netanyahu, Abraham Organizations: Wesleyan University, Association for, Nationalities, CNN, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, United, Palestine, Palestinian, Austrian, West Bank, Abraham Accords, United Arab, Arab League Locations: Russia, Europe, Eurasia, Israel, United States, Gaza, Israel’s, Americas, Palestine, Vienna, Vilnius, Lviv, Russian, Galicia, Egypt, Jordan, Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, Palestinian, Iran, Turkey, Qatar, Cairo

☆ Israel-Hamas war: Answering readers’ questions
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Jenna Zucker | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Reuters editors took some of those readers' questions about the war received on Reddit and had two of our reporters answer. loadingHOW TO SPOT MISINFORMATION AND PROPAGANDAWhat level of misinformation is being released on both sides? * False or miscaptioned footage of reactions to the war in other countries, like this example or this one. loadingChristina Anagnostopoulos, U.S. Fact-Checking EditorThis is a war between two sides, both very skilled at presenting their own version. So it's an information war as well as a ‘real’ one.

Persons: Christina Anagnostopoulos, –, Stephen Farrell, “, haven't, that's Organizations: Yale Law, Reuters, Jerusalem Bureau, FAIR, Thomson Locations: Israel, U.S, Balfour, Rafah, Gaza, Galilee, Jerusalem, Iraq

Some creative programming — including shows imported from other countries, competition series and the broadcast arrival of the Paramount Network hit “Yellowstone” — will round-out gaps in the TV schedule. The limited series also stars Mark Ruffalo and Hugh Laurie and debuts Nov. 2. “The Continental” debuts Sept. 22. SIGNS OF STRIKESThere are also programs coming to TV this fall that are obvious time-fillers to help round out primetime schedules. Fox has leaned in heavily to competition shows.

Persons: “ Abbott, ”, Janine, Gregory, Kim Raver's Dr, Teddy Altman, Zakiya Dalila Harris, Sinclair Daniel, Hazel, Ashleigh Murray, Jesse L, Martin, Dan Ariely’s, “, Jenna Coleman, Victoria, Oliver Jackson, Cohen, Liv, Will doesn't, wasn't, B.E, Jones, Ashley Benson, Eric Balfour, Brie Larson, Bonnie Garmus, Elizabeth, Calvin, Lewis Pullman, Anthony Doerr, Shawn Levy, Marie, Aria Mia Loberti, Werner, Louis Hoffman, Mark Ruffalo, Hugh Laurie, Danai Gurira, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, Jon Bernthal, Norman Reedus, Reedus, Daryl Dixon, Daryl, John Wick, Keanu Reeves, John Wick ”, Mel Gibson, Colin Woodell, Ian McShane's, Kelsey Grammer, Frasier Crane, Frasier, “ Scott Pilgrim, Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Anna Kendrick, Kevin Costner's, Sydney ”, They've, Rose McIver, Singer ”, they've, David Spade, Lea Thompson’s “ Spencer, Chad Michael Murray, Scott Patterson —, Hilary Fox Organizations: “, Paramount Network, Hollywood, Hulu, NBC, Apple, Netflix, SPIN, AMC, Godolkin University School of Crimefighting, Paramount, CBS, Sydney, Fox, Forces, ABC, Disney Locations: France, Nazi, Boston, United States, States, Paradise

☆ Bonaire: Why so many visitors want to move to this secret island
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Danielle Braff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Sometimes it only takes one visit to convince visitors to pack up their belongings and move to Bonaire permanently. “I fell in love with Bonaire,” Davis, now in her mid-60s, says of her initial visit. Bonaire, pronounced “Bone-air,” is located just off the coast of Venezuela, and it’s one of the three ABC islands: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. Bonaire is known for its scuba diving, but unless you’re Dutch or an avid diver, you probably haven’t given the island much thought. johnandersonphoto/iStockphoto/Getty ImagesThen, in 1999, the Bonaire government purchased Klein Bonaire (an uninhabited island a half mile offshore) from the private sector for $4.6 million with the agreement that it would remain a naturally preserved island.

Persons: Susan Davis, Davis, “, ” Davis, ” She’s, ”, Rolando Marin, that’s, Greg Balfour Evans, Boy ” Herrera, Annette Emerenciana, Harry Schoffelen, who’s, Kiki Multem Organizations: CNN, Bonaire, Statistics Netherlands, CBS, Tourism Corporation, ABC, Klein Bonaire, US State Department, “ Bonaire, “ Locations: Bonaire, Chicago, Dutch, Netherlands, Tourism Corporation Bonaire, Venezuela, Aruba, Curaçao, Kingdom of, Miami, Kralendijk, Blue Bonaire, Washington, johnandersonphoto, Development, “, United States, Europe

CNN —The Roald Dahl Museum in England, founded by the widow of the children’s author, has acknowledged his racism was “undeniable and indelible.”Dahl, who died in 1990, was the creator of characters such as Matilda, the BFG, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Willy Wonka and the Twits. Now the museum, based in the village of Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire where Dahl lived, has posted a statement on its website to say that it “fully” supports an apology released by the Dahl family and Roald Dahl Story Company in 2020 for the author’s antisemitic views. The museum adds that it “condemns all racism directed at any group or individual.”Based in Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire, where Dahl lived, the museum has condemned the author's racism. Greg Balfour Evans/AlamyIn the 2020 apology, the Dahl groups said they “deeply apologise for the lasting and understandable hurt” caused by his statements. ‘Providing the full story’The Roald Dahl Museum confirmed to CNN Thursday that the online statement issued this week is also on display in its entrance gallery.

Persons: Roald Dahl, ” Dahl, Matilda, Mr, Fox, Willy Wonka, Dahl, “, Greg Balfour Evans, Alamy, Hitler, ” “ Roald, Dahl’s, Marie van der Zyl, ” Organizations: CNN, Roald Dahl Museum, Roald Dahl Story Company, New Statesman, Jewish Leadership Council, Community Security Trust, ‘ Locations: England, Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, Missenden

☆ What 'Ted Lasso' gets wrong about venture capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Keeley (Juno Temple) starts her own PR agency with funding from an elite venture capital firm. To her dismay, the venture firm installs a chief financial officer to keep watch over the agency and its freewheeling founder. Even Edelman, the world's largest PR firm, cracked $1 billion in revenue after 70 years in business only last year. "The logic that a PR agency would be a good VC deal is ratchet," said Kathy Osborne, founder of Kamel PR. Overnight, the venture firm fires Keeley's staff and shuts down the company, without so much as a call to Keeley.

Persons: Ted Lasso, Keeley, Keeley Jones, girlboss, what's, Juno Temple, Jack Danvers, Keely Jones, Jodi Balfour, Edelman, Kathy Osborne, Kamel, who's, Jack hadn't, Beard, Jack, hasn't, Cash, Barbara Organizations: Apple, Juno, Apple TV, Public Relations, Kamel PR Locations: American, English

☆ Balfour Beatty's engineering workers to stage strikes in March
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 18 (Reuters) - More than 100 engineering workers at Balfour Beatty (BALF.L) will stage three 48-hour strikes in March over pay disputes, British trade union RMT said on Saturday. The decision comes after the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport workers (RMT) rejected the company's offer to increase pay by 5.5% from April 2022. "Balfour Beatty is a highly profitable company and they need to use some of their excess wealth to reward their workers properly," RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said. The strikes will start at 2200 GMT on Fridays to 0959 GMT on Sundays from March 3 to March 5, March 10 to March 12, and March 17 to March 19. Reporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru, Editing by Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Family lawsuit alleges a 97-year-old grandmother 'froze to death' after being locked outside of an assisted living facility
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A lawsuit alleges a grandmother 'froze to death' after being locked outside a Colorado assisted living facilityThe woman, 97, was seen in surveillance footage banging on a door before, it's alleged, she "froze to death." The woman's family is suing the facility for wrongful death. The grandmother was captured on surveillance footage "banging on the glass panes of the French doors located directly adjacent to the nurses' station for help," according to the wrongful death lawsuit seen by Fox News. Staub, who her family described as a "beloved mother and grandmother," was locked outside wearing "only pajamas, a robe, boots, and gloves," the lawsuit said. "Where we found deficiencies, we required the facility to quickly make changes and closely monitored the facility until it completed all corrective actions."

Giorgia Meloni, a nationalist accused by political rivals and experts of spreading white supremacist ideas, was on Monday set to become Italy's first far-right leader since World War II. The results confirm her party’s rise from a radical fringe group to the driving force in right-wing Italian politics. Meloni, who would be Italy's first female leader, and the Brothers of Italy advocate naval blockades to stop unauthorized migration from Africa. Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy, in Rome on Monday. Brothers of Italy leader Giorgia Meloni casts her vote at a polling station in Rome on Sunday.

☆ The Women Behind the Balfour Declaration
▼ + stars: | 1917-11-02 | by ( Natalie Livingstone | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

On Nov. 2, 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour wrote a letter to Walter Rothschild, head of the English branch of the storied banking dynasty. Balfour wrote that “His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”The Balfour Declaration was a key victory for the Zionist movement and an important step toward the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. The story of the declaration has often been told, but more than a century later, the role of the women of the Rothschild family has been largely forgotten. While Balfour’s letter was addressed to Walter Rothschild, it would probably never have been written if it wasn’t for the work of three people: Peggy, Marchioness of Crewe—whose mother was born a Rothschild—and two younger women who had married into the Rothschild family, Dorothy and Rózsika.

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