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☆ Israeli Supreme Court orders government to stop funding religious schools that defy enlistment
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Mick Krever | Lauren Izso | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The Israeli Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the government to stop funding religious schools whose students defy the country’s mandatory military service, posing one of the most serious threats to date for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition. Netanyahu relies on two Ultra-Orthodox parties – Shas and United Torah Judaism – to maintain a governing coalition. But the exemption has never been enshrined in a law that the Supreme Court views as equitable, and for years has been carried out by patch-work government mandates. After decades of rulings on the subject, the Supreme Court told the government that it was illegal for the government to both fund yeshivas and exempt their students from conscription. In a ruling late Thursday, the Supreme Court said that starting on April 1, the government could no longer transfer funds to yeshivas whose students did not receive legitimate deferments.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Benny Gantz, “, Ariyeh Deri, ” Young, Yitzhak Goldknopf, ”, Gantz Organizations: CNN, Shas, United, –, National Unity Party, Justice, Court Locations: Israel, The State

☆ Chen Xuyuan: China sentences ex-soccer chief to life in prison in latest crackdown on sports corruption
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The ex-soccer chief, Chen Xuyuan, was jailed on Tuesday alongside multiple senior sporting executives, according to state media, following a months-long investigation. Five years later, the Chinese soccer association unveiled a plan to make the country a “world football superpower” by 2050. The Chinese men’s soccer team currently sits third in its FIFA World Cup qualify group, with four points, behind group leader South Korea, and second placed Thailand. Last Thursday, the team drew 2-2 with city-state Singapore, in a major blow to the country’s World Cup 2026 dream. The two sides face off again, on Tuesday, in what is being billed as a crunch match for underperforming China.

Persons: Chen Xuyuan, Xi, Chen, Yu Hongchen, Li Tie, “, ”, Chen Yongliang, Yu, Dong Zheng Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, league, Chinese Super League, Winter, men’s, soccer, FIFA World, South Locations: Hong Kong, Chinese, Hubei, Huangshi, China, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore

☆ Israeli cabinet members say they oppose Ultra-Orthodox conscription plan in threat to coalition government
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-24 | by ( Mick Krever | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Tel Aviv CNN —Two of the three members of Israel’s war cabinet signalled their opposition to government proposals on the recruitment of ultra-Orthodox men into the military, setting up a potential collapse of the government coalition. An outline of the Israeli government’s plans for reforming the exemption emerged over the weekend, but it appears as though the government will once again attempt to delay that legislation. “I will not be a party to any proposal that is not agreed upon by all parts of the coalition. Malach said that “there is a high chance that the Supreme Court will say that it’s not acceptable.”A longstanding debateIsrael has, since its founding, exempted Haredim from mandatory military service. In 1998, the Supreme Court ripped up the longstanding exemption, telling the government that allowing Haredim to get out of conscription violated equal protection principles.

Persons: “, Yoav Gallant, ” Gallant, Benny Gantz, Benjamin Netanyahu, ” Gantz, –, Netanyahu –, ”, ” Gilad Malach, Malach, Haredim, Knessets, Netanyahu, Gallant, ” “ Organizations: Tel, Tel Aviv CNN, Israeli, ”, CNN, Channel, Kan, “, National Unity, Israel Democracy Institute Locations: Tel Aviv, Washington, Israel

☆ TikTok creators fear US ban as the House prepares to vote on crackdown bill
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

As House lawmakers prepare to vote on the bill Wednesday, TikTok is encouraging users to call their representatives with a full-screen notification about the legislation. Okamoto’s TikTok account features videos on women’s health, sex education and the occasional glimpse into her personal life. Her sisters are TikTok creators in their own right, one of whom is using her income from TikTok to pay her own way through college, Okamoto said. It’s so tired,” said Grey Prnce, who together with her spouse, Grayson France, co-manages the TikTok account @officiallyverygay. Thus was born @Got2GoNYC, a TikTok account that aims to map all the publicly accessible toilets in the city.

Persons: Washington CNN — TikTok, TikTok, Shou Chew, Nadya Okamoto, Okamoto, She’s, “, ” Okamoto, it’s Chew, ”, Grey Prnce, Grayson France, Teddy Siegel, Siegel, ducking, @Got2GoNYC, ” Siegel, it’s, Prnce Organizations: Washington CNN, Target, CNN, Chinese Community Party Locations: China, Beijing, United States, New York City, Utah, Salt Lake City

☆ Pritzker Prize 2024: Japanese housing pioneer Riken Yamamoto wins ‘Nobel of architecture’
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Oscar Holland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Calmness leads to splendor.”Across a five-decade career, Yamamoto has dedicated himself to fostering community in Japan’s rapidly expanding cities. After designing a succession of private homes in his early career, Yamamoto completed his first social housing project, in the coastal city of Kumamoto, in 1991. The central public space has no gates and can only be reached by passing through the housing blocks, a scheme designed to increase the likelihood of chance encounters. Completed in 1991, Hotakubo Housing in Kumamoto, Japan, was Yamamoto’s first social housing project. The Japanese architect will be awarded with $100,000 and a bronze medallion.

Persons: Riken Yamamoto, Yamamoto, Alejandro Aravena, Pritzker, Kenzo Tange, ” Yamamoto, “, ”, Philip Johnson, ’ “, David Chipperfield, Francis Kéré Organizations: CNN, Pritzker, Hotakubo, Saitama Prefectural University, Future University, Des, Des Moines Public Library, Neues Locations: Japan, Japan’s, Shinonome, Tokyo, Africa, America, metropolises, Yokohama, Tosu, Kumamoto, Seongnam, South Korea, Hiroshima, Koshigaya, Hakodate, Europe, Edo, Nishi, China, Switzerland, British, Des Moines, Iowa, Berlin

☆ Israel’s Druze Arabs, fiercely loyal to the state, feel let down after ‘paying with their blood’
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Lianne Kolirin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

About a million-strong, the global Druze community is largely spread across Israel, Lebanon and Syria. Some 130,000 Israeli Druze live in the Carmel and Galilee in the country’s north. There have been rumblings of discontent since 2018, when tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Tel Aviv to protest Israel’s controversial “nation-state” law. “The (nation-state) law didn’t affect our identity – it affected our sense of belonging,” he said in a video call with CNN. “The Druze community has no dream to have a country – we don’t want it, we don’t believe in it.

Persons: Alim Abdallah, Abdallah, we’d, ” Abdallah’s, Mona, Mona Abdallah Saad, “, ” Mona, ”, Alim Abdallah Saad, Adam, Maya, ” Abdallah, CNN hasn’t, Col, Salman Habaka, Be’eri, Habaka, Gadeer Kamal, Kamal, ‘ I’m, I’m, ’, Corinna Kern, Anwar Saab, It’s, Omri Eilat, Ariel Schalit, Benny Gantz, Bejamin Netanyahu, Bibi –, “ It’s Organizations: CNN, Israel Defense Forces, 300th Baram Regional Brigade, Washington DC, Jewish Agency for, Reuters ‘, Saab, University of Haifa, Druze Heritage Center, National Unity, Israeli Locations: Lebanon, Israel, Yanuh, Lebanese, Syria, Carmel, Galilee, Golan, Egypt, Israel’s, Hala, Gaza, Tel Aviv, Druze, Washington, Jewish Agency for Israel, Iran, Isfiya, Yanuh Jat

☆ Temu returns to Super Bowl ad slate as lawmaker ire swells
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Gabrielle Fonrouge | In Gabrielle-Fonrouge | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Temu, the controversial Chinese e-commerce giant looking to take on Amazon , is returning to the big game on Sunday with a Super Bowl ad that lawmakers are calling on Paramount Global and CBS not to run. The multi-million dollar investment put Temu on the map and by the end of 2023, it was the No. On Wednesday, 11 Republican lawmakers sent a letter to the CEOs of CBS, which is airing the Super Bowl, and parent company Paramount urging them not to run the advertisement. "Specifically, Temu 'does not have any system to ensure compliance with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). Allowing Temu's commercial to air "would be a touchdown for the Chinese Communist Party against the home team," the letter stated.

Persons: haven't, Temu, Carol Miller, Byron Donalds, Jim Banks, Nicole Malliotakis, Christopher Smith, Pete Stauber, Ronny Jackson, Michelle Steel, Beth Van Duyne, James Baird, Mike Carey Organizations: Paramount Global, CBS, PDD Holdings, U.S, Republican, Paramount, Bowl, Chinese Community Party, Uyghur, Labor, Chinese Communist Party, Reps, Ohio . Paramount Locations: U.S, United States, Ohio

☆ China's population decline likely won't be solved by throwing money at its citizens, an expert on China says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

China's ruling party introduced a "three-child policy" in 2021, welcoming families to have more than two children. A solution for China's demographic crisis likely won't come through a few policy initiatives, Wang argued. The law was introduced, in part, as an effort to boost the country's birth rate. Taiwan has so far invested $3 billion in implementing programs to get more citizens to have children, The Los Angeles Times reported. This is a "global shift," Wang told BI.

Persons: —, Wang Feng, Wang, BI's Huileng Tan, China's, Ethan Michelson, Michelson Organizations: Service, country's National Bureau, Statistics, Business, University of California, Communist Party, Chinese Community Party, Ethan Michelson , Indiana University Bloomington's, East Asian, BI, Los Angeles Times Locations: country's, China, Irvine, Hangzhou, East China, Wenzhou, Ethan Michelson ,, Seoul, South Korea, Italy, Taiwan

☆ China is facing a brutal reality as it desperately tries to fix its population decline problem
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

China's population fell for a second consecutive year as the birth rate reached a record low. AdvertisementFor the second year in a row, China's population fell. But still, the Chinese population — young people, in particular — did not bite. The law was introduced, in part, as an effort to boost the country's birth rate. This is a "global shift," Wang told BI.

Persons: —, Wang Feng, Wang, BI's Huileng Tan, China's, Ethan Michelson, Michelson Organizations: Service, country's National Bureau, Statistics, University of California, Communist Party, Chinese Community Party, Ethan Michelson , Indiana University Bloomington's, East Asian, BI, Los Angeles Times Locations: country's, China, Irvine, Hangzhou, East China, Wenzhou, Ethan Michelson ,, Seoul, South Korea, Italy, Taiwan

☆ Netanyahu must be removed, say top former Israeli national security officials
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Alex Marquardt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —More than 40 senior former Israeli national security officials, celebrated scientists and prominent business leaders have sent a letter to Israel’s president and speaker of parliament demanding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be removed from office for posing what they say is an “existential” threat to the country. “The victim’s blood is on Netanyahu’s hands.”The letter was sent to Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Thursday and to Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana on Friday. The frontrunner in the poll was the National Unity party led by former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz, currently a member of Netanyahu’s war cabinet. Video Ad Feedback Backlash grows over Israel's Netanyahu seemingly ruling out a two-state solution. Netanyahu told a news conference last week that politicians who are asking him to step down are essentially asking for a Palestinian state.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Isaac Herzog, Amir Ohana, “, Moshe Ya’alon, Dan Halutz, Tamir Pardo, Danny Yatom, Nadav Argaman, Yaakov Peri, Shin, Aaron Ciechanover, Avram Hershko, Dan Shechtman, Benny Gantz, aren’t, Yair Lapid, ”, Haim Tomer, ” Tomer, Israel's Netanyahu, Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben Gvir, Biden, Tomer, I’ve, ” Israel Organizations: CNN, Israel Defense Forces, “, Shin Bet, Israel’s, Likud, National Unity, Palestinian Authority, West Bank, Mossad, International Court of Justice Locations: Israel, Iran, United States, Gaza, Qatar, Palestinian, South Africa

☆ Netanyahu's two-front war against Hamas and for his own political survival
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Howard Goller | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

On camera Gantz, a former army chief and opposition leader who joined Netanyahu's war cabinet last month, pointedly asked a TV crew to leave him alone with the families. Facing a huge wave of criticism over his failure to prevent the shock Hamas infiltration of Israel on Oct. 7, Netanyahu has largely avoided the limelight while conducting a two-front war, one against Hamas and the other for his own political survival. Israelis have shunned some of Netanyahu's fellow cabinet ministers, blaming them for failing to prevent the Palestinian Hamas gunmen from entering from Gaza, killing 1,200 people, abducting 240 more and engulfing the country in war. Some 14,800 Palestinians have been killed in the war, Gaza health authorities say, and hundreds of thousands displaced. Israel's longest-serving prime minister, Netanyahu has survived many a political crisis, staged several comebacks, and need not face another election for three years if his coalition remains in tact.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Benny Gantz, Gantz, Netanyahu, Bibi, Anshel Pfeffer, Pfeffer, Israel, NETANYAHU, Abraham Diskin, Diskin, GANTZ, Gallant, pollster Mano Geva, Yair Lapid, Netanyahu's, Lapid, Howard Goller, Diane Craft Organizations: Rights, Hamas, Defence Ministry, Jerusalem's Hebrew University, Likud, Gantz's National Unity Party, Israel's, Qatar, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Tel Aviv, Israel, ABIR, Iran, Gaza, GAZA, Likud

☆ Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu battles on all fronts, amid growing pressure to free hostages
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Tara John | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Only a small handful of families have met with the Israeli leader since the attacks, infuriating the hundreds of other relatives. Freeing hostages should be at the top of the Israeli war cabinet’s agenda, he said. Winds have been shifting against the prime minister as Israel’s war in Gaza drags past its sixth week. Cracks emergeOpposition parties initially rallied behind Israel’s war effort, with National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz joining the wartime government – but cracks have begun to emerge. Freeing hostages from Hamas was worth it, “whatever the cost,” he said.

Persons: Jerusalem CNN —, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, ” Gil Dickmann, Carmel Gat, ”, Benny Gantz, , Yair Lapid, Lapid, “, ” Lapid, Ada Gansach, Tara John, Israel, Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben Gvir, ’, Ilan Rosenberg, Gilad Shalit, Asher Elyahol, ” Ofir Dagan, Dagan, Yehudit Waiss, Waiss, Elyahol, “ we’ll Organizations: Jerusalem CNN, Israel’s, CNN, Palestinian, National Unity Party, Likud, Twitter, Israeli, National, Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, Family, Hamas, Reuters Locations: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Israel, Gaza, United States, Gulf, Qatar

He lost in a run-off vote to Weah in 2017. "Boakai strikes me as a grandfather figure – someone you would trust with your life. Official results on Friday showed Boakai had 50.9% of the vote over Weah's 49.1%, with more than 99% of votes counted, prompting Weah's concession. In an interview shortly after the results, a softly-spoken Boakai told Reuters that his primary focus would be to bring the country together after a divisive election. Boakai, meanwhile, lives in a relatively modest bungalow that has barely changed since he moved in 50 years ago.

Persons: George Weah, Joseph Boakai, Amara Konneh, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Robtel Neajai, Boakai, Konneh, Unity Party Joseph Boakai, Carielle, Sirleaf's, Weah, Prince Jaygbah, Joe, Edward McAllister, Clelia Organizations: Liberia's, College of West, Reuters, African, Bank, Unity Party, Toyota, Thomson Locations: MONROVIA, DAKAR, College of West Africa, Tuesday's, Monrovia, Africa's, Americas, Liberia, Warsonga, Sierra Leone, Milan, London, Paris

[1/3] Liberia's opposition Unity Party Joseph Boakai waves to his supporters as holds his final campaign rally for the presidential elections in Monrovia, Liberia October 7, 2023. The result marks a stark turnaround from 2017, when global soccer legend Weah, buoyed by a wave of hope, trounced Boakai with 62 percent of the vote. "A few moments ago, I spoke with president elect Joseph Boakai to congratulate him on his victory," Weah said on national radio. Instead, Boakai supporters in the capital Monrovia danced, shouted and honked car horns in the rain after the near-final results were announced. Many felt that Weah did not follow through on promises to alleviate poverty and improve the country's crumbling infrastructure.

Persons: Unity Party Joseph Boakai, Carielle, Boakai, George Weah, Joseph Boakai, Weah, Sarkor, Doe, Alphonso Toweh, Edward McAllister, Anait, Louise Heavens, Jonathan Oatis, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Unity Party, Reuters, Boakai, Thomson Locations: Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa, MONROVIA, West, Central Africa

Boakai led with 50.89% of the vote over Weah's 49.11%, according to results from 99.6% of polling stations, the country's elections commission said on Friday. Final results are expected in the coming days. Boakai, a softly spoken career politician, was more than 28,000 votes ahead of Weah, according to the latest results. Arkoi Sarkor, 43, told Reuters she supported Boakai because she was not able to get a job during Weah's term. "We can safely declare victory – Boakai is the next president, but we will wait for the final result before celebrating," Boakai's spokesperson Amara Konneh said in an interview.

Persons: Unity Party Joseph Boakai, Carielle, Joseph Boakai, George Weah, Boakai, Arkoi Sarkor, Boakai's, Amara Konneh, Carielle Doe, Alphonso Toweh, Anait Miridzhanian, Edward McAllister, Louise Heavens, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Unity Party, Reuters, Boakai, Thomson Locations: Monrovia, Liberia, MONROVIA, West, Weah

☆ MTG clashes with conservative Republican over Tlaib censure vote, calling him 'Colonel Sanders,' and drags Lauren Boebert into it by bringing up her 'vaping groping' incident
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Greene is angry that Rep. Chip Roy of Texas opposed her effort to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) November 1, 2023Twenty-three Republicans, including Roy, voted against the resolution moving forward. Her conduct is unbecoming of a member of Congress and certainly worthy of condemnation - if not censure," Roy said in a statement after his vote. "However, tonight's feckless resolution to censure Tlaib was deeply flawed and made legally and factually unverified claims, including the claim of leading an 'insurrection'." Talib said Greene's resolution was "deeply Islamophobic" and made clear she would not change her approach.

Persons: Marjorie Taylor Greene, Greene, Chip Roy, Texas, Rashida Tlaib, Roy, Colonel Sanders, —, Republican Sen, Ted Cruz's, Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 ( Organizations: Republican, Unity Party, Service, Democratic, Republicans, Congress, — Locations: Georgia, Texas, California

☆ Protests across Mideast as US’ Arab allies warn against pushing Palestinians out
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Protests erupted around the Arab world on Friday as the Gaza war raged and an Israeli ground operation with the potential to displace millions of Palestinians loomed. In a sign of the growing anger over the Israeli operation in Gaza, Egypt sanctioned its first major nationwide protest in a decade. Amman and Cairo have sounded alarms over what they perceive as a plan to transfer Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank to Egypt and Jordan. The West Bank, however, remains occupied and the previous right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it would advance plans to extend its jurisdiction to the West Bank. The Palestinians want to establish an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza.

Persons: Annie Sakkab, Antony Blinken, Azhar, Omar Zoheiry, Amal, Young, Joe Biden, ”, Israel, Abdel Fattah el, Ayman Mohsab, Sisi, ” Sisi, Ayman Safadi, Al Jazeera, ” Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Benny Gantz, Jordan, Olaf Scholz Organizations: CNN, West Bank, Palestinian Ministry of Health, Bloomberg, Getty, Louk, AP, United, Reuters, Israel, Arab Affairs Committee, Al, Israeli, National Unity Party, Palestinian Authority, Cairo Peace, United Arab, United Nations Locations: Gaza, Israeli, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Israel, Amman , Jordan, Rafah, Cairo’s, Cairo, Bab el, Tahrir, al, Old Cairo, Beirut, Lebanese, Iran, Iraq’s, Baghdad, United States, Amman, ‘, Jordanian, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Italy, Greece

☆ Israeli anger at Netanyahu erupts at hospital bedsides
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

One Israeli cabinet minister was barred from a hospital visitors' entrance. Whatever ensues, a day of judgment looms for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after a record-long career of political comebacks. Amotz Asa-El, research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, predicted a similar fate for Netanyahu and his long-dominant, conservative Likud party. All that matters is what 'middle Israelis' think - which is that this is a fiasco and that the prime minister is responsible," Asa-El told Reuters. An opinion poll in Maariv newspaper found that 21% of Israelis want Netanyahu to remain prime minister after the war.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Golda Meir, Amotz Asa, Shalom Hartman, Netanyahu, Asa, El, Benny Gantz Organizations: Labour, Shalom, Shalom Hartman Institute, Likud, Reuters, National Unity Locations: Meir's, Jerusalem, Maariv

☆ Whatever unfolds in Gaza war, judgment day looms for Netanyahu
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Dan Williams | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the media during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. Maya Alleruzzo/Pool via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsJERUSALEM, Oct 17 (Reuters) - One Israeli cabinet minister was barred from a hospital visitors' entrance. But there is little love shown for a government being widely accused of dropping the country's guard and engulfing it in a Gaza war that is rattling the region. Whatever ensues, a day of judgment looms for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after a record-long career of political comebacks. An opinion poll in Maariv newspaper found that 21% of Israelis want Netanyahu to remain prime minister after the war.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Olaf Scholz, Maya Alleruzzo, Golda Meir, Amotz Asa, Shalom Hartman, Netanyahu, Asa, El, Benny Gantz, Gantz, Israel, Amit Segal, It's, Dan Williams, Howard Goller Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Labour, Shalom, Shalom Hartman Institute, Likud, Reuters, National Unity, Thomson Locations: Tel Aviv, Israel, Meir's, Jerusalem, Maariv, ISRAEL, Gaza, Saudi Arabia, Iran

☆ Israel Gaza war: Growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Israel forms war cabinet and prepares hospitals as troops mass
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Nada Bashir Kareem El Damanhoury Ali Younes Mohammed Tawfeeq Rhea Mogul | Nada Bashir | Kareem El Damanhoury | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Gaza’s only power station stopped working on Wednesday after running out of fuel, the head of the Gaza power authority Galal Ismail told CNN. So death was a blessing,” he told CNN, his voice broken, tears streaming down his tired, ashen face. Izzat al-Risheq, a senior Hamas official, told CNN on Wednesday that it’s too early to exchange Israeli hostages. “We are extremely worried that what is happening now is totally unprecedented,” Najla Shawa, an Oxfam worker in Gaza, told CNN. “I was sleeping, and then suddenly everything started falling on us,” one little girl waiting in a hospital with blood all over her face, told CNN.

Persons: Jerusalem CNN —, Israel, ’, Israel’s, Yahya Hassouna, Galal Ismail, Karama, “, we’re, Jonathan Conricus, Khan, Ibraheem Abu Mustafa, Benjamin Netanyahu, Benny Gantz, Gantz, Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, ” Gantz, Abir, Mahmoud Abbas, Antony Blinken, Abbas, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Mohammed Bin Salman, Ebrahim Raisi, Tom Hand, Emily, wasn’t, ”, Izzat, it’s, Risheq, Baz Ratner, Fabrizio Carboni, ” Carboni, Najla Organizations: Jerusalem CNN, Palestinian, Getty, Palestinian Health Ministry, United Nations Office, of Humanitarian Affairs, CNN, Israel Defence Force, Reuters, National Unity Party, Alternate, Defence, Chagall State, Palestinian Authority, Palestine Liberation Organization, PLO, West Bank, Oslo Accords, Israel, Saudi Arabia’s Crown, Saudi Press Agency, Hamas, International IDF, Kibbutz, International Committee, Cross, ICRC, UN, Oxfam Locations: Gaza, Jerusalem, Israel, Gaza City, AFP, Al, Khan Younis, Chagall, Abir Sultan, Amman, Oslo, Doha, Qatar, Egypt, Kibbutz Be'eri, “

☆ Israeli Troops Massed on Border, Poised to Storm Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Lauren Camera | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +7 min

Israeli forces prepared to storm into Gaza on Thursday, staging tanks and troops along the border ahead of what’s expected to be a brutal and bloody boots-on-the-ground operation that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been promising for days. The death toll in Gaza stands at roughly 1,400 people, including many Palestinians who are not aligned with Hamas. The Israeli defense minister pledged to wipe Hamas "off the face of the earth." Israeli forces can also expect rockets, anti-armor attacks and even the use of human shields when they enter Gaza. The Israeli government would need to decide whether to potentially leave a weakened Hamas behind in Gaza or to overthrow its de facto administration.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, ” Netanyahu, Israel –, It’s, Netanyahu, Benny Gantz, ”, Bill Roggio, Joe Biden, Bibi, ” Biden, “, State Anthony Blinken, Blinken, ” Blinken, Biden, Lloyd Austin, Austin, Israel Organizations: Unity, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, ”, State, State Department, Israel, Center for Strategic, International Studies Locations: Gaza, Israel, “, Detroit, Tel Aviv, Blinken, Iran, Lebanon, American, “ Israel

Biden said he and his national security team were working “round the clock" on the crisis, including plotting how to get the Americans home safely. If I told you I wouldn't be able to get them home," Biden said at the start of a White House roundtable with Jewish community leaders. The move is meant to starve resources for Hamas, but aid groups have warned of a humanitarian crisis for the Palestinian people who are also suffering because of the attack. Secretary of State Antony Blinken left Wednesday for Israel, where America's top diplomat is set to meet with Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Biden is an old foreign policy hand, having chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during his career as a U.S. senator from Delaware.

Persons: Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Biden, beheadings, Netanyahu, Bibi, Antony Blinken, Isaac Herzog, –, Blinken, Benny Gantz Organizations: Israeli, Hamas, ISIS, Israel, National Unity, Foreign Locations: Gaza, Israel, United States, U.S, Delaware, Dachau, Germany

Biden despatched his top diplomat, Antony Blinken, to the Middle East to show Washington's enduring support for Israel, seek to secure the release of captives, including Americans, and prevent a wider war from erupting. HAMAS 'WILL CEASE TO EXIST,' ISRAELI DEFENSE CHIEF SAYSHamas-affiliated media said on Wednesday seven people were killed by Israeli air strikes on homes in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Israel withdrew Jewish settlers and Israeli troops from Gaza in 2005 after 38 years of occupation. Washington said it was talking with Israel and Egypt about safe passage for civilians from Gaza, with food in short supply. Former Defense Minister Benny Gantz, a centrist opposition leader, spoke live on Israeli television alongside Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant after forming a war cabinet focused entirely on the conflict.

Persons: Biden, Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Blinken, Jordan, Mahmoud Abbas, Khan Younis, Abu Mustafa, Yoav Gallant, Benjamin Netanyahu, Washington, Benny Gantz, Netanyahu, Gallant, Gantz, Jeff Mason, Humeyra Pamuk, Jarrett Renshaw, Rami Ayyub, Simon Lewis, Maayan Lubell, Emily Rose, Nidal, Howard Goller Organizations: Wednesday, Iran, Hezbollah, West Bank, Palestinian, Health Ministry, Jewish, REUTERS, ISIS, Israeli, Islamic, Hamas, ISRAEL, Former, Defense, Unity Party, Thomson Locations: Iran, Israel, WASHINGTON, JERUSALEM, GAZA, Gaza, Palestinian, rampaged, Washington, Gaza , U.S, Khan, U.N, Israeli, Egypt, Jerusalem

☆ Liberia: Citizens vote in crucial polls amid flaring tensions
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( Nimi Princewill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

‘Correcting a mistake’Boakai told CNN that his young supporters are now desperate for change. Weah’s campaign manager told CNN no Liberian law prevents them from running from office, adding that the government was awaiting evidence from US to enable prosecutions. A unique electionOscar Bloh, head of ECC, Liberia’s largest election observation group, told CNN this election is different from previous polls in the country. A spokesman for the electoral commission, Henry Flomo, told CNN, “Everything is in schedule,” as dictated by law. “It’s unlikely that any of the candidates will win outright during the first round,” he told CNN.

Persons: CNN —, George Weah, Weah, Joseph Boakai, Seif Magango, Ballon, Boakai, ’ Boakai, ’ ”, ” Boakai, Ahmed Jallanzo, Liberians, ”, Joel Cholo Brooks, Shutterstock, ” Weah, Samuel Tweah, –, they’ve, Eugene Nagbe, ” “, Nagbe, “, Brooks, Nathaniel McGill, ” McGill, Sayma Syrenius, Bill Twehway, Twehway, I’m, ” Nagbe, Oscar Bloh, Bloh, Henry Flomo, ” Flomo Organizations: CNN, UN, Bank, Coalition for Democratic, Unity Party, Facebook, UN Human Rights, Boakai, Soul Clinic, Global News Network Liberia, Coalition, Democratic, FIFA, Liberian, Liberia Anti, Corruption, Washington, Port Authority, US Treasury Department, McGill, Weah’s CDC, Transparency International, TI Locations: Liberia, Monrovia, Pipeline, “, Qatar, American, United States

☆ Liberia opposition leader Boakai opens bid to beat President Weah
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( Alphonso Toweh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] People gather as opposition leader Joseph Boakai launched his campaign ahead of October elections, in Monrovia, Liberia September 17, 2023. "We thought he (Weah) was going to bring the change he promised, but nothing," said businesswoman Martha Gould. An error in the accounting of fuel supplies in state-run tanks left Liberia short on gasoline in 2020, causing panic at the pumps. Still, it remains to be seen if Boakai and his Unity Party can turn the tide. Weah remains popular across much of the country, and the economy grew nearly 5% last year, driven by gains in agriculture and mining, the World Bank says.

Persons: Joseph Boakai, Carielle, George Weah, Joe, Martha Gould, Weah, Nathaniel McGill, Boakai, Edward McAllister, Christina Fincher Organizations: Reuters, Rights, Liberian, Unity Party, Bank, Thomson Locations: Monrovia, Liberia, Rights MONROVIA, Liberia's, United States

Search resuls for: "Unity Party"

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