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☆ Julian Assange’s mission was to change the world - but at what cost?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Lauren Said-Moorhouse | Claudia Rebaza | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

Julian Assange leaves a Melbourne court after facing charges of computer hacking in 1995. WikiLeaks/ReutersUnder a global spotlightAs WikiLeaks continued its disclosures, Assange found himself the latest cause célèbre – his every movement intensely scrutinized. … He liked the fuss that (the disclosures) caused but he was oddly incurious actually about the documents.”Others offer alternative explanations for Assange’s eccentricities. There were mounting calls for Assange to leave WikiLeaks and, when he didn’t, many cut ties with it. Outside the confines of his diplomatic shelter, the world questioned whether Assange was trying to circumvent justice.

Persons: London CNN — Julian Assange, ”, He’s, Chelsea Manning, Joe Biden, Assange’s, Anthony Albanese, Assange, “, ” –, Julian Assange, Ian Kenins, Sarah Palin’s, Atika Shubert, Shubert, ” Shubert, célèbre, Fidel Narvaez, “ Assange, ” Narvaez, James Ball, Joe Raedle, ” Ball, Ball, …, Narvaez, Hans Crescent, Lenin Moreno, Moreno, Abu Hamza al, Masri, Stella Assange, Daniel Leal, Stella, “ I’m, Nick Vamos, It’s, Alice Jill Edwards, Agnès Callamard, El País, Der Spiegel, Jameel Jaffer, Xiaofei Xu, Alex Stambaugh Organizations: London CNN, WikiLeaks, Court, Ecuadorian, Army, Australian, Pentagon, NASA, University of Melbourne, Fairfax Media, of Scientology, Republican, CNN, Chelsea, Apache, Reuters, Guardian, Ellingham, Hans, London’s Metropolitan Police, US Justice Department, of Justice, Britain's, Getty, Peters & Peters, Prosecution Service, Human Rights, UN, Amnesty, The New York Times, Columbia University Locations: United States, Australian, London’s, Australia, Townsville, Queensland, cybercrime, Melbourne, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Iraq, London, Afghanistan, ”, Sweden, Ecuador, UK’s, Belmarsh

☆ There is no loneliness epidemic
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-07 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

With the report, a steady trickle of headlines about the epidemic turned into a firehose: "Loneliness is at epidemic levels and it's killing Americans" (USA Today); "This Epidemic of Isolation Is as Harmful as Smoking" (Bloomberg); "America's Loneliness Epidemic Comes for the Restaurant" (The Atlantic). There's one problem: The loneliness epidemic doesn't exist. Even the authors caution in their meta-analysis that "the frequently used term 'loneliness epidemic' seems exaggerated." Calling it a "loneliness epidemic," then, may be a bit like calling COVID a "sneezing pandemic." "There are many, many surveys that are just making up questions about loneliness and are not using the UCLA Loneliness Scale or some other validated loneliness scale," she says.

Persons: Vivek Murthy, Murthy, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Sen, Chris Murphy, Ruth, University of Michigan —, Eric Klinenberg, Julianne Holt, it's, Dave Sbarra, Holt, David Riesman, Lunstad, I've, —, Sbarra, Klinenberg, Adam Mastroianni, " Mastroianni, Mastroianni, Biden, isn't, Jill Lepore, voicemails, There's, Jerome Adams Organizations: Bloomberg, Business, York, Gallup, University of Michigan, New York University, Brigham Young University, University of Arizona, Bell, University of California Los, Commerce, UCLA, Republican, Democratic Locations: Connecticut, Brooklyn, University of California Los Angeles, America, Washington, DC, COVID

☆ Thanks to Caitlin Clark, women’s basketball is now prime time viewing
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Harry Enten | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Two years ago, I could never have predicted the hype which surrounds tonight’s NCAA women’s basketball Final Four. Women’s college basketball is not just on the map for casual fans, it’s a star on the map – thanks at least, in large part, to Iowa star Caitlin Clark. Women’s college basketball is beating America’s pastime. More people have been searching women’s college basketball than for US President Joe Biden. Check the prices for the men’s and women’s college basketball Final Four.

Persons: didn’t, Muffet McGraw, it’s, Caitlin Clark, Let’s, Angel Reese’s, Clark, Reese, Andy Lyons, Dee Vanderhoef, Rebecca Gratz, Joe Biden Organizations: CNN, NCAA, Angel Reese’s LSU, ESPN, Iowa, LSU, Stanley, ABC, Iowa Hawkeyes, Holy Cross Crusaders, UConn, USC, Google Locations: Iowa

☆ How ISIS has Europe and the US in sights after deadly Moscow attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

ISIS claimed responsibility for the Moscow attack. Maxim Shemetov/ReutersHe regards the Moscow attack as a “breakthrough success” for the group, demonstrating a level of planning not previously seen beyond south Asia. Russia’s support for authoritarian regimes in central Asia – which ISIS-K has described as Russia’s “puppets” – has deepened the animus. The attitude of the Russian government, both pre- and post- the Moscow attack, may not help it confront the threat. For ISIS-K, the Moscow attack is a coup.

Persons: Erik Kurilla, “, Sanaullah Ghafari, Edmund Fitton, Brown, Fitton, Amira Jadoon, ” Jadoon, Hans, Jakob Schindler, Christine Abizaid, ” Fitton, Maxim Shemetov, –, Gabriel Attal, ”, Jadoon, Putin, Abu Bakr al, Sinai, Vladimir Putin, Assad, Shamsidin, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Muhammadsobir Fayzov, Yulia Morozova, Shamil Hukumatov, ” Putin, ” Schindler, Alexander Bortnikov, they’ll, Rita Katz Organizations: CNN, Analysts, ISIS, Islamic, US Central Command, UN, Taliban, Russian, Clemson University, Counter, ”, K, US National Counterterrorism Center, –, Crocus City, US Defense Department, Paris, Central, Crocus City Hall, St, City, Tajik, Kyiv, SITE Intelligence Locations: State, Ukraine, Gaza, Moscow, Khorasan, Afghanistan, Europe, Asia, Russia, ‘, Islamic State, Pakistan, Iran, Crocus, United States, West, New York, Tajik, Kabul, Afghan, Kandahar, Central Asia, Baujur, Pakistani, Baluchistan, Iranian, Kerman, Germany, al Qaeda, Turkey, France, America, Russian, Sharm el, St . Petersburg, Syria, Kaluga, St Petersburg, Istanbul, Washington

☆ The eyes have it: The intriguing history of kohl
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Zahra Hankir | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

A Palestinian woman Hadeya Qudaih applying traditional kohl eyeliner to her granddaughter in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip in March 2020. Hadeya Qudaih makes and sells traditional kohl eyeliner for medical and cosmetic purposes (photograph taken in February 2020). A Bedouin man wearing traditional kohl, photographed in the ancient Jordanian city of Petra. Kohl is so commonly worn in the area that girls are sometimes named or nicknamed Kahla by their parents or friends, roughly meaning “the girl who appears to have kohl around her eyes.” Kohl is also a feature of many millennia-old myths, rituals, and legends. “Even if she doesn’t (make kohl) anymore, I will for sure continue to do this myself,” Abu Issa said.

Persons: CNN — Kohl, kohl, Hadeya, kohl eyeliner, Khan Younis, Majdi, Tamam Farhan Abu Issa, Deir al Balah, “, Abu Issa, ”, ” Abu Issa, Issa, Qudaih, Hassan Jedi, Prophet Muhammad —, Alessandro Bigazzi, Jack Sparrow, eyeliner, Kohl, ” Kohl, Zarqa, TikTok, “ Blinkaria Kohl, tightlining, Eyeliner, Fatima Shbair, “ Kohl, I’ve Organizations: CNN, Crusaders, UNESCO, United, kohl, Quds Net News, ZUMA Press, UAE General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Endowments Locations: East, North Africa, Egypt, Europe, Lebanon, Gaza, Gaza’s, Deir, United Nations, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Palestinian, Petra, Raed, Kohl, Eastern, “

That's when Rep. Elise Stefanik, the hard-charging upstate New York Republican, came up, according to a person at the dinner table. At the thought of Stefanik as a possible choice for vice president, Trump nodded approvingly. "I'm not going to get into any of my conversations with President Trump. In New York, Stefanik is known as a frequent presence not only in her district but across the state — and someone who can easily be reached. Aside from Stefanik, Bannon ticked through his view of Trump's deep bench of potential VP picks.

Persons: Elise Stefanik, Joe Biden's, Donald Trump, Trump, Stefanik, Steve Bannon, Trump's, Mike Pence, Mitt Romney's, I'm, NBC's, Pence, Dan Goldman, —, Gerry Kassar, General Merrick Garland, Michael Cohen, Jack Smith's, MAGA, Bannon, Kevin Hern, Kristi Noem, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Sen, Marsha Blackburn, Kari Lake, Nikki Haley, Haley, Stefanik's, Barack Obama, Gavin Wax, Elise, Wax, Roger Stone, Stone, She's, it's, It's Organizations: Capitol, Mar, Republican, New, New York Republican, Trump raved, Trump, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, White, White House, NBC, New York, Conservative, House Republican Conference, GOP, Senate, South Dakota Gov, Wall, Fox, New York Young Republican Club, It's Trump Locations: Washington, WASHINGTON, New York, Stefanik, Iowa, Trump, York, Briarcliff Manor, N.Y, Lago, Arkansas, Arizona, Stefanik's New York

The personnel shake-up follows growing frustration among campaign staffers over the effectiveness – or lack thereof – of the PAC’s spending. “It’s not so good,” Carol Weissert, political science professor at Florida State University, says about the state of the DeSantis campaign. To be sure, DeSantis has put in the work in Iowa, having completed his 99-county tour this week. The polling average as of Dec. 4 shows Trump with 45% support in Iowa, with DeSantis at 17% and Haley at 15%. She eclipsed DeSantis for the first time this week in Iowa in a poll by Americans for Prosperity, which is supporting her campaign, showing Haley 1 percentage point ahead of DeSantis – 17% to 16%.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Christian Ziegler, Bridget Ziegler, Zieglers, –, “ It’s, ” Carol Weissert, it’s, “, Trump, ”, ” DeSantis, DeSantis, he’ll, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Chris Christie, he’s, Haley, Trump’s, Jamie Dimon, ” “ We’ve, Jacob Neiheisel, Neiheisel Organizations: Iowa, Florida Gov, GOP, PAC, Sunshine, Republican, Liberty, Florida State University, Trump, Republican Party, South Carolina Gov, New, New Jersey Gov, DeSantis, Koch, Prosperity, University of Buffalo Locations: Florida, Trump, New Jersey, Tuscaloosa , Alabama, Iowa, Georgia’s Fulton County

☆ An Epic Pilgrimage Across Three Great Religions
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Aatish Taseer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +111 min

Before there was tourism, there was pilgrimage: a trip of endurance, hardship and ecstasy in celebration of one’s faith. On an epic pilgrimage of his own, one writer ventures into the heart of three great religions in Bolivia, Mongolia and Iraq. The Imam Hussein shrine in Karbala the day after Ashura. “They’re poor, but they come thousands of kilometers for the love of Imam Hussein.” PILGRIMAGE WAS A great equalizer. “Labaik ya Hussein,” came the solemn chorus of surrounding voices.

Persons: Eduardo Quintela Gonzáles, ” Quintela, JAN, “, ”, Quintela, Victor, Edith Turner, Chaucer, ferne, sondry londes, Vaishno Devi, Lyra Skinner, Lyra, Victoria Preston’s, —, Prophet Muhammad, Virgin Mary, Bath, Naipaul, Augustus, Ryan, garret, Virgin, Monica Machicao, Nicholas Casey, ” Monica, Casey, Evo Morales, sloughing, Columbus, Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, Monica, glitzy cholets, Peru —, Viracocha, it’s, Pablo Quisbert, Leandro Chitarroni, Eichmann, Father Chitarroni, Father Chitarroni’s, Conquistadores ”, Fernando Cervantes, Bernabé Cobo, Quisbert, Edgar Quispe, Tatiana Huayhua, Francisco Tito Yupanqui, Mary, Yupanqui’s, su, Yupanqui, Chitarroni, she’s, Friar Abelino Yeguaori, Friar Yeguaori, Friar Yeguaori’s, Irene, Juana, hajji, Waka, Aracely Alcón, Santiago, Alcón, ‘, don’t, ” Alcón, Tito Yupanqui, Uma Marka, Pachamama, haggard, Amaru Fiorilo Barrios, he’d, ” Fiorilo, Fiorilo, who’d, Valeria Alcón, Laureano Jose Quisbert, Elena Ticona Flores, Eduardo Quintela’s, Ensamble, pang, padre, consolations, Sincrético, El, Rodrigo Paz Pereira, Axel, amauta, strode, La, Aatish Taseer, Saint Helena —, Constantine I, La Paz, Orgilbaatar Tsolmon, Orgil, Genghis Khan, Edward Gibbon, ” Orgil, Araniko’s, Kublai Khan, Genghis Khan’s, Kubla Khan, Coleridge, Kublai, Stalin, sybarite, Khamar, Dalai Lama, Lama, Christopher Kaplonski, ger, I’d, banshtai tsai, Prim, Egi, Munkhdul, Gandantegchinlen, Haidav, herder, “ Um sain, boltugai, Danzanravjaa, Zanabazar’s, Erdene, Mandakhtsog Monkhbaatar, Monkhbaatar’s, Dalai Lamas, prostrated, He’d, Zuu, she’d, Santiago de, L.K, Advani, Emperor Babur, Ram, kar sevaks, Ayodhya, Narendra Modi, Munkhbaatar Batchuluun, Henry Wallace, Franklin D, Potemkin, Munkhbaatar, Gerelmaa, Giimaa, She’d, Eduardo Quintela, Aracely, Santiago’s, Joseph Brodsky’s, Muhammad’s, Hussein, William Keo, ” Khuder, pillion, Labaik, Hussein ”, O Hussein, hearkened, Prophet, Ali —, Ali, Yazid, Imam, crackling, chickpeas, Imam Ali, Imam Hussein, Saddam Hussein, Tusi, Qasim, Imam Hussein’s, Khuder, “ Will, Najaf, prestes, — I, Yasir Yaseen, Ashura, Ali Akbar, Abbas, Ali Asghar, “ We’re, Francisco Goya’s, Hussein’s, Groom, Joseph, ” Wissam, Turfi, Saddam —, Arbaeen, Saddam, “ Imam Hussein, WE, Muhammad, Barnaby Rogerson, Prophet Muhammad ”, ” Ali, Muhammad — Muhammad, formlessness, Muqtada al, Abrams, chiding, Abu Musab Al, Zarqawi, Al Qaeda, William, “ They’re, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, flagellants, ruddy, stylishly, Hussein — shahid —, Farman Ahsan, Syed Salman Raza —, Saddam’s, ” Raza, William “, Ali Zayn al, Abidin, Labaik ya Hussein, thrall —, Lloyd, Susanne Rudolph — Organizations: CITY LA, LA, LA PAZ, Virgin, Crusaders, Dolorosa, Sun, The New York Times, Bolivian, Spain, La, Cordillera, Universidad Mayor de, Catholic, Good, La Paz, Dominican, Pakistan, Caesars, Nissan, Coke, Communists, Communism, ardor, Communist, Hyundai, flails, sacra, Apache, Mahdi Army, Al, ISIS, Karachi —, Princeton Locations: Bolivia, Mongolia, Iraq, Aatish Taseer Bolivia Mongolia Iraq, CITY LA PAZ, BOLIVIA, NAJAF, IRAQ, ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA, LA PAZ, La Paz, Bolivian, Copacabana, Lake Titicaca, New York, Christian, British, sondry, India, Delhi, Varanasi, Europe, American, Mecca, Arabia, Long, Vino Tinto, Chile, Peru, Monica, Plurinational State, Bolivia —, Americas, Spain, Columbian, Aztec Mexico, Inca Peru, Calvary Hill, Virgen del Cerro, South America, Puerto Rico, Huatajata, ”, Argentine, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Mexican, revelry, Spanish, “, morena, La, “ India, multilayered, Potosí, Argentina, Warisata, Scotch, Santiago de Compostela, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Nations, El Alto, Buenos Aires, Bombay, Tibet, Bolivia’s, Yamuna Rivers, United States, Buddhist Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolian, Istanbul, Asia, Islam, China, Beijing, Dadu, Erdene Zuu, Soviet, Gobi, Los Angeles, gers, Qing China, Karnataka, Töv Province, Karakorum, Khamar, Erdene, Ukraine, Korea, Golden, Bayankhongor, Lhasa, Dalai, Inner Mongolia, Mongol, Nalaikh, Santiago, Santiago de Compostela and Canterbury, Bulgan Province, Somnath, Gujarat, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, ger, East German, Uvs Province, Pakistani, Indian, Tennessee, Najaf, Baghdad, Khuder, —, abayas, KARBALA, Kufa, Medina, Saudi Arabia, Karbala, Imam Ali, Bab, Kuwaiti, Bohras, South Asia, Tajikistan, Zaydis, Yemen, Alawites, Anatolia, Syria, Iran, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Sadr, U.S, Jordanian, Al Qaeda, Mesopotamia, Al, Multan, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan’s, Islamabad, Lahore, Kuwait, Karachi, Doha, Qatar

☆ Tens of Thousands Flee Northern Gaza Strip, as Israel’s Invasion Advances
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Vivian Yee | More About Vivian Yee | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tens of thousands of desperate civilians, some waving white flags, have fled the northern Gaza Strip this week, marching along a road pocked with airstrike craters and lined with ruined buildings, as Israeli officials reported that their troops had pushed into the heart of the densely populated Hamas stronghold of Gaza City. The United Nations estimated that through Tuesday, 40,000 people had walked out of northern Gaza along the only route south, after Israeli officials told residents of the besieged enclave to evacuate “for their own safety,” and thousands more streamed out on Wednesday. The evacuations have accelerated in part because of the sharply deteriorating humanitarian situation in northern Gaza, with food and clean water now nearly nonexistent. As the ground invasion has expanded, the Israeli military said it was offering a daily window of time in which it would guarantee safe passage for civilians. News photographs as well as a video released by the Israeli military on Wednesday, the fifth day the evacuation corridor was open, showed men, women and children trudging past half-destroyed buildings.

Persons: Yoav Gallant, Salah Al, —, Saladin — Organizations: The United Nations, Crusaders Locations: Gaza, Gaza City, “, West, Jerusalem

Over the last century Gaza passed from British to Egyptian to Israeli military rule. 1950s & 1960s - Egyptian military ruleEgypt held the Gaza Strip for two decades under a military governor, letting Palestinians work and study in Egypt. 1967 - War and Israeli military occupationIsrael captured the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war. Hamas formedTwenty years after the 1967 war, Palestinians launched their first intifada, or uprising, after an Israeli military truck crashed into a vehicle carrying Palestinian workers near Gaza's Jabalia refugee camps, killing four. [1/4]A view shows the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza Strip, November 6.

Persons: Napoleon, Samson, Alexander the Great, shutdowns, Yasser Arafat's, Arafat, Israel, Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa, Israel evacuates, Mahmoud Abbas, Stephen Farrell, Nidal, Rosalba O'Brien, Peter Graff, Alistair Bell Organizations: Crusaders, Ottomans, United Nations, UNRWA, West Bank, Hamas, Brotherhood, Fatah, Oslo Accords, Palestinian Authority, REUTERS, Islamic, Palestinian, Gaza International, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Asia, Africa, Gaza City, Islam, Ottoman Empire, British, Palestine, Israel, Sinai, Ashkelon, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Israeli, Gaza's, Oslo, Palestinian, Jericho, Authority, Deir Al, United States

1967 - War and Israeli military occupationIsrael captured the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war. Seizing the angry mood, the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood created an armed Palestinian branch, Hamas, with its power base in Gaza. [1/3]Smoke rises after Israeli strikes on the seaport of Gaza City, in Gaza, October 10, 2023. Israel stopped tens of thousands of Palestinian workers from entering, cutting off an important source of income. Conflict cycleGaza's economy has suffered repeatedly in the cycle of conflict, attack and retaliation between Israel and Palestinian militant groups.

Persons: Napoleon, Samson, Alexander the Great, shutdowns, Yasser Arafat's, Arafat, Israel, Mohammed Salem, Israel evacuates, Mahmoud Abbas, Abdel Fattah al, Stephen Farrell, Nidal, Rosalba O'Brien, Peter Graff Organizations: Crusaders, Ottomans, United Nations, UNRWA, West Bank, Hamas, Brotherhood, Fatah, Oslo Accords, Palestinian Authority, REUTERS, Islamic, Palestinian, Gaza International, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Asia, Africa, Gaza City, Islam, Ottoman Empire, British, Palestine, Israel, Sinai, Ashkelon, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Israeli, Gaza's Jabalya, Oslo, Palestinian, Jericho, Authority, United States

☆ Welcome to the revenge of the Republicans you've never heard of before
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Rep. Jim Jordan's speakership bid has been thwarted — for now. Call it the revenge of the Republicans you've never heard of — the ones who aren't regularly featured on Fox News, who don't have massive social media followings, and who aren't known for styling themselves as right-wing crusaders. If Jordan's speakership bid ultimately fails, it will signify a stunning turnaround for a party that's been in thrall to its loudest voices since the ascent of Donald Trump in 2015. AdvertisementAdvertisement81 House Republicans — more than a third of the conference — voted for him anyway. 20 House Republicans voted against him on Tuesday, 22 voted against him on Wednesday, and even more were expected to vote against him on a potential third vote.

Persons: Jim Jordan's speakership, —, Kevin McCarthy's, Matt Gaetz, Gaetz's, Jim Jordan, Republican holdouts, Republicans you've, aren't, McCarthy, Gaetz, Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry —, Jordan's, that's, thrall, Donald Trump, Austin Scott, Austin Scott of, Jordan, Scott, Republican who's, Steve Scalise's, Scalise, underscoring, Lauren Boebert, wasn't, Republicans —, — Gaetz, Chip Roy, Paul Gosar of, Kay Granger, Republicans who’s, Anna Moneymaker, Anthony D'Esposito, Steve Womack, who's, Sean Hannity, they've, Jordan hasn't, Austin Scott's, Jack Bergman, Tom Williams, Jack Bergman —, General Bergman, James Hogge, Dan Meuser Organizations: Republicans, Service, Rep, —, Republican, Fox News, Ohio Republican, Pro Tempore, North Carolina —, GOP, Democrat, Georgia Republican, Freedom Caucus, New York Republicans, Republican Governance Group, Trump, Images Locations: Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Austin Scott of Georgia, Colorado, Boebert, Texas, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Kay Granger of Texas, Arkansas, @RepKayGranger, Pennsylvania

☆ A brief history of Gaza's centuries of war
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

1950s & 1960s - Egyptian military ruleEgypt held the Gaza Strip for two decades under a military governor, allowing Palestinians to work and study in Egypt. 1967 - War and Israeli military occupationIsrael captured the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war. An Israeli census that year put Gaza's population at 394,000, at least 60% of them refugees. Hamas formedTwenty years after the 1967 war, Palestinians launched their first intifada, or uprising. Israeli air strikes crippled Gaza's only electrical power plant, causing widespread blackouts.

Persons: Alexander the Great, King David ., Napoleon, shutdowns, Yasser Arafat's, Arafat, Agha, Khan Younis, Abu Mustafa, Israel, Israel evacuates, Mahmoud Abbas, Abdel Fattah al, Stephen Farrell, Nidal, Rosalba O'Brien, Chris Reese Organizations: Crusaders, United Nations, UNRWA, West Bank, Hamas, Brotherhood, Fatah, Palestine Liberation Organization, Oslo Accords, Palestinian Authority, REUTERS, Palestinian, Gaza International, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Gaza City, Asia, Africa, Ottoman Empire, British, Palestine, Israel, Sinai, Ashkelon, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Israeli, Gaza's Jabalya, Oslo, Palestinian, Jericho, Authority, United States

☆ Egypt inaugurates newly restored Ottoman mosque at Cairo citadel
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/8] Members of media record inside the restored Sariyat al-Gabal Mosque, also known as the Mosque of Suleyman Pasha al-Khadim, the first Ottoman mosque built inside the Salah al-Din Citadel in old Cairo, Egypt, September 16, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh Acquire Licensing RightsCAIRO, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Egypt has inaugurated a newly restored Ottoman mosque, built by the 16th century governor Suleyman Pasha al-Khadim, that lies within the citadel that has dominated Cairo's skyline for centuries. The mosque, with 22 green-tiled domes and minbar (prayer niche) inlaid with renowned Iznik tiles, is Cairo's earliest Ottoman mosque, built in 1528 A.D., eleven years after the Ottoman army under Sultan Selim conquered Egypt from the Mamluk empire. The mosque, known as the Suleyman Pasha al-Khadim mosque and also the Sariya mosque, is inside Cairo's citadel. The citadel was built by the Muslim general Salah al-Din after he conquered Cairo from the Fatimids.

Persons: Suleyman Pasha, Salah, Amr Abdallah Dalsh, Sultan Selim, Sayed Sariya, Mostafa Waziri, Salah al, Din, Ahmed Fahmy, Amr Abdallah, Patrick Werr, Jane Merriman Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Supreme, of Antiquities, Crusaders, Thomson Locations: Gabal, Ottoman, Din, Cairo, Egypt, Rights CAIRO, Cairo's, Jerusalem

☆ Opinion | Clean Energy’s Fate May Be Decided on the Jersey Shore
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Elizabeth A. Cerceo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Over the past few months, hundreds of Jersey Shore residents have staged demonstrations opposing Ocean Wind 1, an offshore wind farm being developed by a subsidiary of Orsted, a Danish company. Some have painted these anti-wind crusaders as Jersey Shore versions of the Cape Cod residents fighting to preserve the view from their multimillion-dollar homes. New wind turbines, solar panels and other clean energy infrastructure are being built before our eyes, and in some cases in our hometowns. Oil and gas companies, which have a lot to lose, have exploited this feeling to great effect. Other groups fighting wind projects say they want to protect whales but are funded by oil interests.

Persons: Caesar Rodney Organizations: Cape Locations: Cape May, Jersey Shore, Orsted, Danish, Atlantic City, New Jersey, Jersey, America, Our Coast NJ

☆ Opinion | One Sentence Does Not Define a Curriculum
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( John Mcwhorter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Too often the idea of the slippery slope is presented as a given, rather than as an assertion requiring evidence. But I do perceive that America has become infinitely more informed about slavery than it was 50 years ago. To propose such an idea is, in its way, to dismiss the work so many have done to change minds. There are, to be sure, other things in the curriculum that also need fixing. The group was given only a few months to compile the curriculum, and errors like that happen in haste.

Persons: I’m, ”, …, Ron DeSantis Organizations: D.C, Tulsa Locations: America, “ Amistad, Florida, Washington, Rosewood

☆ Wildfires in Greece: what you need to know about the island of Rhodes
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ATHENS, July 23 (Reuters) - Following are some facts about the Greek island of Rhodes, facing wildfires that caused thousands of residents and tourists to evacuate this weekend. With a population of about 125,000 people, Rhodes is the ninth largest island in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Lying to the southeast of the Greek mainland, it is one of the country's most popular islands for tourists, known for its sun-drenched beaches and historic sites. The old medieval town of Rhodes is home to a citadel, one of the finest examples of Gothic defensive architecture, and a well-preserved castle, the Palace of the Grand Master. In the southeast of the island, the small fishing village of Lindos attracts tourists with its hilltop medieval fortress and ancient acropolis.

Persons: Rhodes, Saint John, Angeliki, Frances Kerry Organizations: Knights, Crusaders, UNESCO, Thomson Locations: ATHENS, Rhodes, Lindos

☆ John Roberts Is Harming the Institution He Wants to Protect - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Jeff Shesol | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

In June 2012, at the end of a contentious Supreme Court term that decided, among other things, the fate of the Affordable Care Act, Chief Justice John Roberts prepared to leave for Malta, to teach a course on the court. Such circumstances would pain any chief justice, this one more than most. The chief justice is portrayed by some as a tragic figure, powerless to save his court from itself. But the tragedy of John Roberts is that he does have the power to restore some measure of the court’s reputation — he just hasn’t used it. This term will likely be remembered as the year the Supreme Court, led by its chief justice, ended race-conscious admissions at the nation’s colleges and universities.

Persons: John Roberts, “, ”, Walter Bagehot, Roberts, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, —, Thomas’s, Virginia Thomas Organizations: Affordable, White, ProPublica, The New York Times Locations: Malta, “ Malta, “, Alabama, Congress

☆ Memoir of a ‘Very Large Life,’ With Poetry, Crusades and Glittering Names
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Celia Mcgee | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Rose Styron used to start her daily swim of the season in May, when the waters off the long dock at her house in Vineyard Haven, on Martha’s Vineyard, still barely reach 50 degrees. “Now that I’m 95, though,” she said one day in April, “I may wait until June.”The first of Styron’s four books of poetry, “From Summer to Summer,” a collection for children, was published in 1965. Her most recent, “Fierce Day,” a coming to terms with the death of her husband, the author William Styron, in 2006, was published in 2015. As long as guests are interesting, they are summoned there still. The Styrons were the first people the singer-songwriter Carly Simon wanted to meet when she arrived on the Vineyard in 1970.

Persons: Rose Styron, ”, “, William Styron, Styron, Nobel, Sinn Fein, Katharine Graham, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Carly Simon, ” Simon Organizations: Vineyard Sound, Ulster Unionists, Hyannis Port Kennedys Locations: Vineyard Haven, Hyannis

☆ Americans hate tipping so much it was once banned in 7 states
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

By the 1700's, tipping in Europe had evolved from masters tipping servants to customers tipping service-industry workers. Seven states passed anti-tipping legislation in the early 1900sBy the early 1900s, early grumblings about tipping had escalated into full-fledged anti-tipping movements. But in 1919, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the state's anti-tipping law was unconstitutional, and other states followed by striking down or repealing their own similar legislation. Tipping persists in the US todayDespite originating in Europe, tipping has become deeply ingrained in American culture. Today, while many Americans aren't fans of tipping, and some restaurants have tried doing away with the practice, tipping is unlikely to be banned anywhere in the US anytime soon.

☆ Vivek Ramaswamy's firm courts GOP officials as he pushes businesses to stay out of politics
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

Scott Olson | Getty ImagesRepublican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy built his White House bid around urging companies to stay out of politics. The messages show Ramaswamy's firm actively engaged with GOP state leaders who have defended the fossil fuel industry and criticized environmentally conscious investment standards. Ramaswamy on Thursday defended the firm's engagement with GOP officials, saying bigger firms BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street have conducted similar practices with state officials across the country. Strive has become one of the more vocal opponents of ESG investing and has gained enough notoriety to challenge the likes of fossil fuel giant ExxonMobil . Ron DeSantis, have often attacked ESG investing standards and corporations that support social causes — an increasingly common refrain within the GOP.

☆ Savea ties Super Rugby try-scoring record but Drua stun Canes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

May 6 (Reuters) - Julian Savea crossed twice to equal Israel Folau's Super Rugby record of 60 tries but it was not enough to stop the Fijian Drua adding the Wellington Hurricanes to their list of victims in Suva on Saturday. A noisy crowd at HFC Bank Stadium erupted in delight as replacement back Kemu Valetini kicked two penalties in the last five minutes to give the Drua a 27-24 win, a fourth victory in their second season in Super Rugby Pacific. "The Drua came out to play and they played the whole 80 and put us under a lot of pressure ... Flanker Du'Plessis Kirifi then gave the Hurricanes a 24-14 lead with a converted try under the posts but the Drua would not lie down. Savea, who was playing in his 150th Super Rugby match in his final season with the Hurricanes, was still appreciative of having matched former Wallabies fullback Folau's tally.

☆ 9 things you think you know about ancient Egyptians that are actually wrong
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

With their impressive architecture, scientific knowledge, religious cults, and beautiful artwork, the ancient Egyptians continue to impress historians long after the end of their reign. The pyramids were built by slavesThe Sphinx at Giza in Cairo set against the Pyramid Pyramid of Khafre. That means there may have been sacrifices over a period of about 400 years, while ancient Egyptians ruled for about 3,000 years. His book detailing the life of ancient Egyptians was extremely influential. Many misconceptions that have survived in the lore about ancient Egypt to this day may have found their origins in Herodotus's work.

☆ DMac ignites another All Blacks flyhalf debate
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

May 3 (Reuters) - New Zealand could be gearing up for another heated flyhalf debate heading into the World Cup with Damian McKenzie staking a strong claim to the All Blacks number 10 shirt with his form for the high-flying Waikato Chiefs. Three-times World Player of the Year Dan Carter, when fit, killed the debate for the best part of a decade until he retired after New Zealand won their third World Cup in 2015. The return of McKenzie from Japan at the start of the Super Rugby Pacific season, however, threatens to send the debate into overdrive. "He's shown a lot of maturity in his decision making," All Blacks coach Ian Foster told Stuff media recently. "I think he would say that he's still not the finished product, but I think he's had a major impact on the competition.

☆ State leaders targeting climate investing have quiet stakes in the fossil fuel industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Fitzpatrick is among a group of powerful Republican state leaders who have waged similar fights against environmentally conscious investing as they held personal investments in, or saw political support from, the fossil fuel industry. Some of the state officials have received campaign donations from fossil fuel companies or their executives. "He has never 'had private briefings tied back to the fossil fuel industry' nor does he personally direct or execute trades himself. Hegar co-signed an open letter in 2021 with other state financial officers that was addressed to the U.S. banking industry and defended the fossil fuel industry. He also co-signed the 2022 letter to Biden from a slate of other state financial officers defending the fossil fuel industry.

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