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☆ A Map Without Israel Plunges a Grade School Into a Political Firestorm
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Ginia Bellafante | More About Ginia Bellafante | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

A follow-up in The Post later that day focused on the outrage of local officials. Tova Plaut, an instructional coordinator for the department, has been especially vocal about what has happened at P.S. “This particular example speaks to why there needs to be systemwide training on how to recognize antisemitism,” she said. District 15 was “committed to making sure our students feel safe and supported at all times,” he wrote, perhaps somewhat ambitiously. “It would be devastating if the program were cut,” Lauren Katzman, the mother of a first grader at 261, told me.

Persons: Dan Goldman, “, Tova, ”, Rafael T, Alvarez, ’, ” Lauren Katzman Organizations: Democratic, city’s Department of Education, Holocaust, Alliance, New York Peace Institute Locations: Boerum, Israel, nonexistence, P.S

☆ A woman bought a vintage dress at an antique store. It had a secret pocket with a mysterious note
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Faith Karimi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —The Victorian dress in the Maine antique mall was unlike anything Sara Rivers Cofield had seen before. Rivers Cofield had no idea that the dress she bought in December 2013 would unravel a mystery a decade later. Rivers Cofield was baffled, she told CNN. He also emailed Rivers Cofield, who did not know that online sleuths were still working to decipher the codes. But for now, Chan and Rivers Cofield are just glad they’ve unraveled the biggest piece of the dress’s mystery.

Persons: Sara Rivers Cofield, Rivers, Rivers Cofield, Fagan, Bennett, Shakespeare’s, ”, she’d, “, sleuths, Cofield, ” Rivers Cofield, I’m, Wayne Chan, didn’t, ” Chan, Chan, Sara Rivers, “ Bismark, “ Buck ”, he’s, “ I’m, It’s, they’ve Organizations: CNN, University of Manitoba, Army Corps, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration Locations: Maine, Calgary, Cuba, Bennett, Rivers, Chesapeake Beach , Maryland, Searsport , Maine, United States, ”, Canadian, Canada, North America, Bismarck, North Dakota, Washington ,, Chan

☆ French police arrest yoga guru in connection with alleged rape, human trafficking and kidnapping scheme
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Sophie Tanno | Maya Szaniecki | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Paris CNN —French police this week arrested yoga guru Gregorian Bivolaru and 41 others on accusations of kidnap, rape and human trafficking. Alleged victims were drawn in with promises of a spiritual awakening, only to be indoctrinated and mentally manipulated into sexual relations with 71-year-old Bivolaru, a judicial source said. Then, the alleged victims said they would be mentally manipulated into accepting “sexual relations designed to suppress any notion of consent regarding sexual relations,” the judicial source said. The judicial source said the alleged victims were told that consent was a reflection of the ego preventing them from reaching a state of spiritual awakening. Twenty-six alleged victims were found living in cramped and unhygienic conditions, the judicial source said.

Persons: Gregorian, Bivolaru –, Bivolaru, MISA, ”, –, “, ’, ” MISA, Interpol’s ‘, Maya Szaniecki, Sophie Tanno Organizations: Paris CNN —, Interpol, for, International Federation of Yoga, CNN, Atman Federation, MISA Yoga, AFP, Rights League –, Central Office, OCRVP, Bivolaru Locations: Paris, France, Romania, French, Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Finland, London

☆ Return to Work Is Coming for Your Pandemic-Era Home
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Libertina Brandt | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

After three years of living in her dream home in a Texas community called Rocky Creek Ranch, Donna Rutter is giving it up to move closer to the accounting firm she bought in the nearby city of Fort Worth. Rutter spent most of her 30-year career as a CPA for large firms in Dallas and Fort Worth. Even before Covid, she had a work style that allowed her some flexibility. She didn’t have a central office she went to every day, but she had clients she traveled to visit on site. That schedule allowed her to build a home in Rocky Creek, about 20 minutes from downtown Fort Worth.

Persons: Donna Rutter, Rutter Locations: Texas, Rocky, Fort Worth, Dallas, Rocky Creek

☆ Amazon SVP pledges to clarify RTO policy, says warning email about office attendance was meant to be a 'nudge'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

He also told employees to share anecdotes of being pressured to immediately relocate with his HR team, so he could "dig into" those situations. "I think we created some noise, which I think is important because we really do want people back in the office," DeSantis said, according to the transcript. 'Take another whack at clarifying this message'At the town hall meeting, DeSantis said the employees who were asked to relocate were those "in purely virtual locations." 'Kind of a nudge'In August, many Amazon employees received an email accusing them of not adhering to the company's RTO policy. The warning email, he said, was "well-intentioned" and only meant to be a "nudge" for people who weren't complying.

Persons: hasn't, Peter DeSantis, DeSantis, Rob Munoz, Munoz, Andy Jassy Michael M, Andy Jassy's, what's Organizations: Amazon, Utility Computing

☆ Amazon employees are outraged by a new warning about individual office attendance: 'Is this supposed to scare people?'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Some Amazon staff got an email warning them about their office attendance records. The email and internal ticket also suggest that Amazon may be tracking individual office attendance records, even though it previously said it only saved "anonymized" data . Another said this is "peak absurdity" since most employees who received the warning email have been complying with the rules. One of the points added to the internal ticket said future communications should not include "gaslighting-like language" because "it does not come across well." As a reminder, you can find FAQs about working from the office on Inside Amazon News and My HR.

Persons: they've, I've Organizations: Amazon

☆ China's Xia Baolong heads top office overseeing Hong Kong, Macau
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, July 11 (Reuters) - Xia Baolong is the head of China's recently created Central Office for Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, according to an official statement that showed him as chair of a meeting in that capacity on Tuesday. Separately, Zhou Ji, Zheng Yanxiong, Zheng Xincong were named as deputy directors of the state council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs office, state media Xinhua reported. The Beijing-based Central Office for Hong Kong and Macau Affairs - created earlier this year as part of broad institutional reforms - reports directly to the ruling Communist Party and not to the State Council, or cabinet. The top office was formed based on the long-existing Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office under the State Council. Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Baolong, Zhou Ji, Zheng Yanxiong, Zheng Xincong, Ryan Woo, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Ed Osmond Organizations: Macau Affairs, Xinhua, Office, Communist Party, State Council, Macau Affairs Office, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Hong Kong, Macau, Beijing

THE HAGUE, June 7 (Reuters) - Judges at a U.N. war crimes court ruled that elderly Rwandan genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga is unfit to stand trial but said slimmed-down legal proceedings in his case can continue, in a decision published on Wednesday. "The trial chamber finds Mr. Kabuga is no longer capable of meaningful participation in his trial," a decision published on the Hague court's website said. "It is simple: when a person is deemed unfit for trial, then the court case should end and that person should go home," he said. Kabuga has denied the charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. Prosecutors say Kabuga promoted hate speech through his broadcaster, Radio Television Libre des Milles Collines (RTLM), and armed ethnic Hutu militias.

Persons: Felicien Kabuga, Kabuga, Emmanuel Altit, Eric Emeraux, Felicien, Benoit Tessier, Prosecutors, Stephanie van den Berg, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Jason Neely, Andrew Heavens Organizations: HAGUE, Hague, Office, Reuters, REUTERS, Radio Television Libre, United Nations, Thomson Locations: France, Paris, Hague, United, Rwanda

☆ UniCredit to use 300 mln euro charges for staff exits-sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly results, UniCredit on Wednesday raised its 2023 profit goal above 6.5 billion euros ($7.2 billion) and said the figure included 300 million euros in restructuring charges it would book mostly in the second quarter. UniCredit last year invited applications from staff who wanted to retire early and were within five years of qualifying for a pension. On Dec. 1 it signed an accord with unions and booked 239 million euros in charges to fund voluntary exits to be replaced by younger hires. Eager to protect its branch network, UniCredit allocated 80% of the 2022 early retirement packages to people from its central offices, raising complaints from unions, the source added. UniCredit underwent years of restructuring under CEO Jean Pierre Mustier, but cost cuts remain a key plank of new CEO Andrea Orcel's strategy.

☆ The banking crisis is doing Fed's work and creating a window for stocks to rally
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +19 min

Work from home has in part jacked up food prices, and the increase is about 14% above just last year. The only bank that looks like Silicon Valley Bank is First Republic Bank (FRC) because it, too, has suffered huge deposit withdrawals. Nike (NKE)said China orders were good, so did Club stock Starbucks (SBUX). As counterintuitive as it is, the banking row will give the 4.8% fed funds rate a chance to cool consumer spending. This gives stocks a window to advance until we begin earnings season with what will no doubt be a cautious banking sector.

☆ Race against the clock for Germany's top Nazi hunter
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Tilman Blasshofer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Nazi hunter Thomas Will, head of Germany's main agency responsible for the investigation of war crimes during Nazi rule looks into files at the Central Office of State Judicial Authorities for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes in Ludwigsburg, Germany, January 25, 2023. REUTERS/Timm ReichertLUDWIGSBURG, Germany, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Germany's top Nazi hunter, Thomas Will, is hopeful of securing further convictions over the Holocaust even as the remaining suspects, many now in their late 90s, die. So as long as perpetrators are still alive, we will pursue the cases," he said from his office outside Stuttgart in southwestern Germany. Will heads Germany's Central Office of State Judicial Authorities for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes. The conviction last month of a 97-year-old woman who worked as a concentration camp secretary "was certainly one of the last", Will said.

☆ Bosses are increasing RTO requirements, but experts say it won't stick: 'We're at an inflection point'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Jennifer Liu | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

More corporate bosses could follow Iger's lead with fresh RTO mandates, says Caitlin Duffy, director of research at Gartner. Plans to boost in-office days unlikely to pan outSo far, most hybrid policies expect workers in offices two to three times a week. But requirements increasing in-office days are unlikely to become a norm, experts say. As of January, workers say they want to work from home for 2.8 days on average, versus employers planning to allow 2.3 days remote. Some leaders are expanding remote work to keep their workers happy with their jobs and pay, Bloom says.

☆ Per Pedersen Aimed to Change the Face of Advertising
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( James R. Hagerty | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Per Pedersen spent most of his career at Grey, an advertising unit of WPP, before launching his by The Network ad cooperative. Per Pedersen ‘s death on Jan. 4, of cancer at age 58, cut short his leadership of an experiment aimed at changing the face of advertising. Mr. Pedersen, a Dane who spent most of his career at Grey, an advertising unit of the global WPP PLC, believed that giant companies were stifling creativity and failing to attract or retain free spirits with fresh ideas. In 2020, he founded a cooperative—known as by The Network—to help small independently owned agencies around the world collaborate. It serves 34 agencies, employing a total of about 750 people, in more than 30 countries.

☆ One of New York's largest commercial landlords is spending $1.5 billion to convert office buildings into apartments as office vacancy rates remain elevated
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Prior to the pandemic, office buildings were the lifeblood of central business districts across the country. For example, data from commercial real estate giant CBRE shows that about 25% of all New York's offices remain available for lease while other markets, like San Francisco and Boston, face similarly high vacancy rates. Silverstein's move also comes at a time when commercial real estate property values are declining. According to a November study from RentCafe, developers created more than 28,000 apartments through conversion projects in 2021, an increase of 25% when compared to 2020. Sage acquired Econo Lodge and a Travel Lodge in Tacoma, Washington for $14.2 million and plans to convert both buildings into apartments.

☆ White House calls on Bangladesh to investigate reports of pre-election violence
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Bangladeshi policemen run to disperse Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activists gathered in front of the party's central office before clash in Dhaka, Bangladesh, December 7, 2022. REUTERS/StringerWASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The White House on Friday called on the government of Bangladesh to fully investigate reports of violence against journalists and human rights activists ahead of a major political protest, and urged all parties to refrain from violence. "We call on all parties in Bangladesh to respect the rule of law, to refrain from violence. Kirby said Washington was also urging government authorities in Bangladesh to "fully investigate reports of violence in a thorough, transparent and impartial manner." The protest comes ahead of national elections planned in Bangladesh next year.

For Quiñones and other Puerto Ricans, the continuing fragility of Puerto Rico's power grid five years later is a constant source of concern in a region that expects the possibility of hurricanes every fall. “Five years later, we are still exposed to the same risk,” Marxuach, who recently completed an analysis on the state of Puerto Rico’s electric power system, said. On Sunday afternoon, an islandwide blackout was reported as the eye of Fiona neared Puerto Rico's southwestern coast. Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, 2017. In the meantime, residents were getting ready for another tropical storm, albeit one less destructive than Hurricane Maria.

☆ A factory line of terrors: TikTok's African content moderators complain they were treated like robots, reviewing videos of suicide and animal cruelty for less than $3 an hour.
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-01 | by ( Rosie Bradbury | Majd Al-Waheidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

One former Majorel advisor estimated that 1,400 content moderators work just on the firm's TikTok contract across Morocco. While targets and goals varied between teams, six moderators told Insider that their goals were difficult to meet. A spokesperson for Majorel told Insider these targets were guidance and not individual targets. While Majorel told Insider that moderators have access to harm-mitigation tools, such as grayscale features, all of the moderators Insider spoke with said they didn't have access to any such feature. Five other Majorel moderators also said the company's wellness counselors weren't enough to help them with the pressures of the role.

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