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☆ Deadly cold lava flow from active volcano and widespread flooding hits Indonesia
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Heather Chen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —At least 37 people have been killed, and more than a dozen injured on the Indonesian island of Sumatra after heavy rains triggered flash flooding and a cold lava flow from an active volcano, search and rescue officials said on Sunday. Cold lava, also known as lahar, is a mixture of volcanic debris such as ash, sand and pebbles that flows down a volcano’s slopes during wet weather. Images shared by Indonesia’s disaster response agency showed thick mud and ash partially covering roads and mountainside villages near the foot of Mount Marapi, an active volcano in western Sumatra. Adi Prima/Anadolu/Getty ImagesThe 2,891-meter-high (9,500 feet) Mount Marapi is among the most active volcanoes in Indonesia, which lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire with 127 active volcanos – more than anywhere else in the world. It has erupted 11 times during the early 21st century, with it deadliest single event having killed 60 people in 1979.

Persons: Marapi, Abdul Muhari, Rezan Soleh, Adi Prima Organizations: CNN, Getty, Anadolu Locations: Indonesian, Sumatra, AFP, Lima Kaum, West, Datar District, Indonesia

☆ ‘They Shot at Us All’: Burkina Faso Accused of Massacring Civilians
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-11 | by ( Elian Peltier | Christiaan Triebert | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

He lay on top of his young sons, trying to shield them with his body, he said. The military had forced them and dozens of other villagers under a baobab tree. “They shot at us all,” said Daouda, a farmer who had survived for years in jihadist-controlled territory only to be shot at by the military that was supposed to protect him. The mass killings in Daouda’s village and a nearby hamlet in February were among the deadliest in a decade of upheaval in Burkina Faso, a country torn apart by the Islamist insurgencies that have swept across parts of western Africa. Burkina Faso has faced such relentless assaults from extremist groups affiliated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State that it topped the Global Terrorism Index last year, becoming the nation hardest hit by terrorism in the world.

Persons: ”, Daouda, Al Qaeda Organizations: Al, Islamic Locations: jihadist, Daouda’s, Burkina Faso, Africa, Islamic State

☆ Flash floods in Afghanistan kill at least 200 people as humanitarian emergency looms
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-11 | by ( Niamh Kennedy | Radina Gigova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Flash flooding that has ravaged northern Afghanistan in recent days has killed at least 200 people, UN agency the International Organization for Migration (IOM) told CNN Saturday. An Afghan man walks near his damaged home after heavy flooding in Baghlan province Saturday. Afghan men shovel mud from a house following flash floods. The flash floods add to a string of recent natural disasters that the region has had to endure. Flash floods also swept away dozens in Afghanistan in July, less than three months before thousands were killed by a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck the western part of the country.

Persons: ”, Salma Ben Aissa, Mehrab, Gulbudeen, Zabihullah Mujahid, “, ” Mujahid, Mujahid Organizations: CNN, UN, International Organization for Migration, IOM, Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority, Rescue, Reuters, AFP, Getty Locations: Afghanistan, Badakhshan, Ghor, Herat, “, Afghan, Baghlan, Laqayi, AFP, Pakistan

☆ Energy CEO said he canceled a $100M contract with Neom when he realized the Saudis were bulldozing villages to make space
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Malcolm Aw said he pulled out of a Neom contract because of alleged Saudi human rights abuses. AdvertisementA green energy founder pulled out of a $100 million Neom contract after he realized that the Saudis were bulldozing villages to make way for the megacity. AdvertisementHowever, satellite images analyzed by the BBC showed three villages, including schools and hospitals, were destroyed to make way for Neom. Aw's company uses solar energy for desalination, while most desalination plants burn fossil fuels and have been found to pollute oceans. "You know, we have the technology to solve the [green energy] problem that people are complaining about today.

Persons: Malcolm Aw, —, Neom, Mohammed bin Salman's, Aw, Col Rabih Alenezi, Abdul Rahim al, Aw Boon Haw, Fatima al, Shawarbi, there's Organizations: Solar Water, Service, Solar, Saudi, BBC News, BBC, Neom, UN, BI, Bloomberg Locations: Saudi, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Qatar, Neom

☆ Exiled Saudi colonel says forces were authorized to kill villagers who refused to make way for The Line in Neom
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

An exiled colonel told BBC News that Saudi Arabia authorized lethal force to clear land for Neom. AdvertisementAn exiled Saudi colonel says Saudi Arabia authorized the use of lethal force to clear the way for its Neom desert megacity. He told BBC News he managed to avoid the mission on fake medical grounds. AdvertisementOne of the villagers, Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti, was later killed by Saudi authorities, according to Saudi activists. Last year, UN human rights experts said three men protesting the Neom project were sentenced to death.

Persons: Col Rabih Alenezi, —, Alenezi, Abdul Rahim al, Huwaiti, Neom, Fatima al, Shawarbi Organizations: BBC News, Service, Saudi, Business, The, UN Locations: Saudi Arabia, Neom, Saudi

☆ Beethoven’s hair reveals evidence of lead poisoning, scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Beethoven’s genome was made publicly available, inviting researchers around the world to investigate lingering questions about Beethoven’s health. Meanwhile, scientists continue to figuratively go over the authenticated locks of Beethoven’s hair with a fine-tooth comb, teasing out surprising insights. But at the time the researchers did not test Beethoven’s newly authenticated hair samples for lead. Because the researchers don’t have hair samples from earlier in Beethoven’s life, it’s impossible to understand when the lead poisoning started, Meredith said. But Rifai said he saw comparable lead levels when he conducted research in two villages in Ecuador where the main trade is to glaze tiles with lead from batteries.

Persons: Ludwig van Beethoven’s, Beethoven, ”, Christian Reiter, Hiller, Thayer, Anton Halm, William Meredith, Nader Rifai, Meredith, Rifai, Paul Jannetto, he’d, Johann Adam Schmidt, Beethoven’s, “, ” Meredith, Friedrich Schiller’s, Joy, it’s Organizations: CNN —, Center of Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Harvard Medical School, Boston Children’s Hospital, Mayo Clinic, Beethoven, Symphony, Ninth, Ninth Symphony Locations: United States, Ecuador, Vienna

☆ Burkina Faso army executed over 220 villagers in February, HRW says
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Reuters —Burkina Faso’s military in February summarily executed about 223 villagers, including at least 56 children, as part of a campaign against civilians accused of collaborating with jihadist militants, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday. The spokesperson for the Burkina Faso government did not respond to phone calls seeking comment on the HRW report. Retaliatory attacksRights groups have previously accused the military in junta-ruled Burkina Faso of attacking and killing civilians suspected of collaborating with militants in retaliatory operations. Burkina Faso is one of several Sahel nations that have been struggling to contain Islamist insurgencies linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that have spread from neighboring Mali since 2012, killing thousands and displacing millions. Frustrations over authorities’ failure to protect civilians have contributed to two coups in Mali, two in Burkina Faso and one in Niger since 2020.

Persons: Witnesses, HRW, Tirana Hassan, Mali’s Organizations: Reuters, Burkina, jihadist, Human Rights Watch, Ouahigouya, HRW, Facebook, Burkina Faso, Authorities, Rights Watch, Burkinabe, African Union, United Nations, Islamic Locations: Burkina Faso’s, Yatenga, Burkina Faso, Komsilga, Burkina, Nodin, Soro, al Qaeda, Islamic State, Mali, Niger

☆ A 33-year-old man turned a Japanese farmhouse into a mountainside Airbnb retreat for $25,000 — here's how he did it
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Claire Turrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewSingaporean Xian Jie Lee, 33, moved to Japan in 2012 to study political science. Xian Jie LeeShu told Lee that he could rent a farmhouse in a village called Ryujinmura. "I removed the tatami (traditional straw floor covering) in the inner room and fell through the floor," Lee said. Xian Jie LeeWhile renovating the guesthouse, Lee turned his own home into a café three days a week to earn extra income. Xian Jie LeeLee has also been able to participate in unique experiences himself.

Persons: —, Jie Lee, Lee, Shu, Wayakama, Xian Jie Lee Shu, who'd, shoji, Lance Yeo, Xian Jie Lee, he'd, Xian Jie Lee Lee Organizations: Service, Business, YouTube Locations: Japan, Kyoto, Wakayama, Singapore

☆ Bangladesh’s soaring prices get thousands playing ‘hunger games’ for food
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Akanksha Sharma | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

They’re playing to win every day staples like rice, oil, sugar, lentils and other items that soaring inflation has put beyond their reach. Courtesy Omar Sunny Somrat/SS Food ChallengeThe combination of colorful games and the feel-good factor of nobody going home empty-handed has given Somrat a genuine hit. Courtesy Omar Sunny Somrat/SS Food ChallengeBy 2021, he began organizing contests for village kids competing in games and winning prizes like home appliances. A year later, though, he stumbled onto the winning formula when food prices soared and the Bangladeshi currency, the taka, depreciated in value against the US dollar. Between 2022 and 2023, food prices in Bangladesh jumped by 9%, the highest average rate in 12 years, according to the country’s Bureau of Statistics.

Persons: Mohammad Abdur Rouf, can’t, I’d, Omar Sunny Somrat Abdur —, —, Omar Sunny Somrat, They’re, “ It’s, ” Somrat, Somrat, ”, taka, Munir Uz Zaman, Ruchir Desai, Desai, Asma Khatun Organizations: CNN, SS, SS Food, Bank, YouTube, Facebook, greenback, country’s, Statistics, Getty, Asia Frontier Investments, International Monetary Fund Locations: Chapra, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Banwarinagar, Pabna, Purandarpur, Pabna District, Dhaka, AFP

☆ Indonesia volcano: Tsunami alert issued after Mount Ruang erupts on remote island
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Indonesian authorities on Wednesday ordered hundreds of villagers to evacuate following multiple eruptions of a remote island volcano, raising fears it could collapse into the sea and trigger a tsunami. Mount Ruang, a 725-meter (2,400-foot) conical stratovolcano on Ruang Island, North Sulawesi, has erupted at least five times since Tuesday night, spewing fiery lava and ash plumes thousands of feet into the sky, the country’s volcanology agency said. Mount Ruang spewed hot lava and ash columns into the night sky on April 17, 2024, as seen from Sitaro, North Sulawesi. Ruang Island is home to about 800 residents, who have temporarily relocated to neighboring Tagulandang Island, according to authorities. Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of 270 million people, has over 120 active volcanoes – more than anywhere else in the world.

Persons: Ruang, Hendra Gunawan Organizations: CNN, Indonesian, Agency, Mount, North Sulawesi . Center, Volcanology, Getty Locations: North Sulawesi, Sitaro, Ruang, Tagulandang, Indonesia

☆ Massive genocide trial reopens old wounds in Guatemala, 40 years after indigenous slaughter
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Tara John | Ivonne Valdés | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

In 2018, a Guatemalan court ruled that the army committed acts of genocide, but no one was convicted. Lucas García, 91, was meant to face trial this year with former military intelligence chief Manuel Callejas y Callejas. Robert Nickelsberg/Archive Photos/Getty ImagesBurt said this “expression of racism is extremely profound,” and its knock-on effects are evident in Guatemala today. Survivors from the civil war gather outside the Supreme Court, prior to a hearing in the Ixil Genocide trial, in Guatemala City, Guatemala March 25, 2024. When the trial was due to start at the end of March, Lucas García’s lawyers announced their resignation.

Persons: CNN — Juan Brito López, Brito López, Manuel Benedicto Lucas García, Lucas García, Benedicto Lucas Garcia, Johan Ordonez, Lucas García’s, AJR, Fernando Romeo Lucas García, “ Lucas García, Manuel Callejas y, Callejas, Jesús Silvio, Romeo Lucas García’s, ” Jo, Marie Burt, ”, Robert Nickelsberg, Burt, Efrain Rios Montt, Tiziano Breda, Claudia Paz y Paz, CICIG, ” Silvio, ” Will Freeman, Cristina Chiquin, Bernardo Arévalo, Public Ministry –, Consuelo Porras , hasn’t, Michelle Liang, “, Brito López’s, Catarina Chel, tormenter, Silvia, ” CNN’s Tara John, Ivonne Valdés Organizations: CNN, United, Getty, Association for Justice, Reconciliation, Human, Washington Office, UN, Guatemalan Army, “, Central American, International, Commission, Council, Foreign Relations, Reuters CNN, Public Ministry, US, Network, Solidarity, ” CNN Locations: Pexla, Guatemala City, United Nations, Guatemalan, Guatemala, America, ”, Santa Cruz de Quiche, of Guatemala, New York, Mexico City

☆ Pardoned for Serving in Ukraine, They Return to Russia to Kill Again
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-06 | by ( Neil Macfarquhar | Milana Mazaeva | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A court in Russia’s Siberian region of Yakutia sentenced him to 11 years in a maximum-security prison. So when recruiters from the private Wagner mercenary group offered him freedom and a clean slate if he deployed to fight in Ukraine, Mr. Savvinov, a morgue orderly, seized the opportunity. By February, Mr. Savvinov had completed his service and was back in his native village of Kutana. Russia’s practice of recruiting convicts has been the backbone of its success in Ukraine, providing an overwhelming manpower advantage in the war. But it is backfiring in tragic ways as inmates pardoned for serving in Ukraine return to Russia and commit new crimes.

Persons: Viktor Savvinov, Wagner, Savvinov, axing Organizations: Mr, of, Fatherland Locations: Russia’s Siberian, Yakutia, Ukraine, Kutana, Russia

That morning, local villager Zaw Zaw says he woke at his parents’ home in Myauk Khin Yan to the sound of gunfire. A Myanmar military jet flies overhead after bombing the quarters of Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF), in Kayah state, Myanmar on July 6, 2022. Following the executions, Zaw Zaw said the militia “locked down” the village and threatened to kill those who left. Multiple villagers who spoke to CNN consistently said Myauk Khin Yan has been a militia stronghold since the 2021 coup. Phoe Ei Thu, 17, lost her leg to a landmine while fleeing Myauk Khin Yan in early January.

Persons: dehumanized, Phoe Tay, Phoe, Volker Türk, ”, Min Aung, Aung, Suu Kyi, ” Yaw, Myauk, “ Yaw, guerre, Soldiers, “ Ninja ”, Myo Satt Hla, ” Ninja, “, ” Yaw Lay, Zaw Zaw, ’, Myauk Khin Yan, ” Zaw Zaw, …, Kaung Zaw Hein, ” Kim Jolliffe, Kim Jolliffe, Yan, Khin Yan, Yaw Lay, Stringer, NurPhoto, Jolliffe, Hla, Mai Thomas, Ei, It’s, Kim Jolliffe “, Ei Thu, Richard Horsey, Matt Lawrence, ” Horsey, Thierry Falise, ” Miemie Winn Byrd, hasn’t, Khung Aung, Lawrence, Min Aung Hlaing, Miemie Winn Byrd, Daniel K, Inouye, “ You’re, ” Byrd, Byrd, There’s, they’ve, Soe Lin Aung, Organizations: CNN, People’s Defence Force, United Nations Human, ” CNN, Army, National League for Democracy, Yaw Defense Force, Karenni Nationalities Defence Force, Burma Affairs, Union Solidarity and Development Party, ISIS, UN, Association for Political, Getty, Information Resilience, Myanmar Witness, Human Rights, Junta, US Army, Pacific Center for Security Studies Locations: Myanmar, Phoe Tay, Thar, Aung San, Chin, Myauk Khin, Gangaw, Magway, Loikaw, Kayah, Myauk, Gangaw Township, Magway Region, Khin, Yangon, United States, United Kingdom, Shan, Thantlang, Chin State, AFP, Inouye Asia, Sagaing

And perhaps best of all, money — from selling the electricity generated by the wind turbines studding the flat green fields stretching out to the North Sea. A slice of the cash goes to the villagers themselves, with the local buy-in making this windy farming enclave near the border with Denmark a showcase for ways to push ahead with renewable energy projects. The S&P Global Clean Energy Index of shares in companies with clean energy-related businesses has fallen 26% over the past year, even as broader market indexes have surged to records. In sub-Saharan Africa, where half the population lacks access to electricity, renewable projects face even steeper challenges with financing. In Nigeria, where blackouts are an everyday event for about half of the country’s 213 million people, some 14 solar projects have stalled because the finances don’t add up.

Persons: ”, Astrid Nissen, moos, “, Mackenzie, it's, Nissen, Christian Andresen, Andresen, Orsted, Vattenfall, David Shepheard, Edu Okeke, Taiwo Organizations: U.S . Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, University College London, Solar, Energie Andresen GmbH, Energy, logjams, World Bank Locations: SPRAKEBUELL, Germany, Denmark, village's, Spain, Italy, Africa, Flensburg, Sprakebuell's, German, Danish, New Jersey, Swedish, North American, Saharan Africa, Nigeria, Katsina, Abuja

Video shows RSF soldiers humiliating men from a village in Jazira state. Displaced people fleeing from Jazira state arrive in Gedaref, in the east of war-torn Sudan, on December 22, 2023. The RSF told him they would only return his car if he worked for them, Farouk recalled. Displaced people fleeing from Jazira state arrive in Gedaref, in the east of war-torn Sudan, on December 22, 2023. The RSF’s violent advances in Jazira state, their targeted destruction of warehouses, Sudan’s gene bank and irrigation systems will inevitably further exacerbate Sudan’s massive food shortages,” she said.

Persons: CNN —, “, Sudan’s, ”, Alex de Waal, Mohamed Badawi, Luis Tato, Sidiq Farouk, Farouk, ” Farouk, hasn’t, ‘, ’, Hala Al, Al Karib, Tomoya Obokata, Leni Kinzli, ” Kinzli, Omar Marzoug, geolocated, Waal, Médecins, Anette Hoffmann, You’re, ” CNN’s Benjamin Brown Organizations: CNN, Rapid Support Forces, Sudanese Armed Forces, SAF, United Nations, Peace Foundation, African Center for Justice, Peace Studies, Getty, Food Programme, UN Office, Humanitarian Affairs, UN, Hala, Initiative, Women, UNICEF, WFP, “, ” CNN, ”, Farmers ’ Alliance, Clingendael Institute, Agriculture Organization Locations: Al Jazira, Sudan’s, Darfur, Jazira, Sudan’s breadbasket Jazira, Sudan, Khartoum, of, Sudanese, Renk, South Sudan, AFP, Chad, Gedaref, Hala Al Karib, Horn of Africa, Omdurman, Al, of Africa

And now, a lack of food stemming from the region's drought has left the youngest of the children she is raising malnourished. But she recently resorted to traveling to the nearby Finarwa health center in southeastern Tigray to try to keep the 1-year-old baby alive. But months after the end of the conflict, the U.N. and the U.S. halted food aid for Tigray because of a massive scheme by Ethiopian officials to steal humanitarian grain. Food deliveries to Tigray in the second half of last year, but only a small fraction of needy people in Tigray are receiving food aid, humanitarian workers say. A widow named Serawit Wolde with 10 children was in tears as she recounted that five of them were falling ill from hunger.

Persons: NEBAR, Tinseu Hiluf, ”, Tadesse Mehari, Serawit Wolde, Hayale, ” Havale, Haile Gebre Kirstos, “, Melinda Gates Organizations: Tinseu, Ethiopian, AP, Associated Press, Melinda Gates Foundation Trust Locations: NEBAR HADNET, Ethiopia, Tigray, Nebar, U.S, Amhara, Messebo, Africa, AP.org

☆ The extravagant Ambani pre-wedding party was an affront to the millions of Indians in poverty, critics say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Joshua Zitser | Spriha Srivastava | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But critics say it showed a telling disregard for the struggles of the many millions of Indians living in poverty. Spanning three days, the pre-nuptial event included a private performance by Rihanna, which estimates suggest cost up to $9 million. AdvertisementTripathi pointed out that 800 million of India's 1.4 billion population receive monthly food rations of wheat or rice. Sohini Kar, an associate professor at the London School of Economics, whose work focuses on urban India, told BI she agrees. Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant serve traditional Gujarati food to villagers ahead of their pre-wedding celebrations on the outskirts of Jamnagar, India.

Persons: —, Anant Ambani, Asia's, Radhika Merchant, Rihanna, Nita Ambani, Shyam Bihari, WaterAid, Haldia, Rakhi Tripathi, Tripathi, Sohini Kar, Kar, St Louis Fed, Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata, Nita, Stringer Organizations: Service, Business, Bank, New, of Management, London School of Economics, BI, Oxfam International, St, Bloomberg, Architectural Digest, Reliance Foundation, Reuters Locations: India, Delhi, Asia, Mumbai, Jamnagar, Gujarat

☆ The North Korean refugees sold to Chinese husbands
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Jessie Yeung | Yoonjung Seo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

China considers North Korean refugees to be economic migrants, and forcibly deports them back to North Korea – where, as alleged defectors, they face imprisonment, possible torture or worse, activists say. During that period, she also met other North Korean refugees in the same situation – with their status public knowledge in the village, she said. According to the KFI report, the buying of a North Korean wife is “always known to the local community” but rarely reported to authorities. The other North Korean refugees she’d met in town had connections to brokers who could help them escape, while church organizations and non-profit groups discreetly helped raise funds for the journey. Brokers who remain have raised their prices due to increased risks and surveillance, while newcomers to the business are inexperienced, making it a risky gamble for North Korean refugees.

Persons: South Korea CNN — Chae, –, she’s, Yoonjung Seo, She’d, didn’t, “, ”, Chae, ” didn’t, Kim Jeong Ah, Kim, she’d, we’ll, ” Chae, Seo, Unification Ministry –, She’s, – she’s Organizations: South Korea CNN, North, CNN, North Korea –, Korea Future Initiative, KFI, US State Department, Human Rights Watch, Female North, United Nations, Liberty, Korean, Koreans, Unification Ministry, Brokers Locations: Seoul, South Korea, North Korea, China, Laos, Thailand, North Korean, Hebei, Beijing, London, Korea, Korean, North, ”, South, South Koreans

☆ Anant Ambani pre-wedding photos: Rihanna, Mark Zuckerberg among stars at Indian billionaire heir’s celebrations
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Oscar Holland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Ambani is the youngest son of Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, who has an estimated fortune of $117 billion, according to Forbes. Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump and their daughter Arabella pose with the groom's father, billionaire Mukesh Ambani. On Wednesday, the Ambani family hosted a communal dinner for more than 50,000 villagers. Reliance Industries/Handout/ReutersActors Salman Khan, Ram Charan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan perform during the pre-wedding celebrations. Reliance Industries/Handout/ReutersBillionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani with his son Anant and wife Nita.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Ivanka Trump, jetted, Anant Ambani’s, Rihanna, David Blaine, Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan, Ambani, Mukesh Ambani, Radhika Merchant, Jared Kushner, Arabella, ”, Paula Hurd, Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Salman Khan, Ram Charan, Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Taimur Ali, Anant, Nita, Anjali Organizations: CNN, Forbes, Reliance, Reuters, Reliance Foundation, Microsoft, Reliance Industries, Reuters Billionaire, AP Former India Locations: India, Silicon Valley, Jamnagar, Gujarat, New Delhi, Mumbai

☆ Tana French’s Moody, Mesmerizing New Thriller
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Sadie Stein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

THE HUNTER, by Tana FrenchFour years ago in these pages, the critic Janet Maslin published a guide to “the essential Tana French.” For some of French’s fans, all the novels are essential. Unpredictability and a refusal to be boring are part of French’s talent, and they make the books (almost) as much fun to debate as they are to read. Instead, a rebellious, preteen outcast named Trey Reddy enlists his help in finding her missing brother. In “The Hunter,” Cal, two years older, is still living in Ardnakelty. Cal and Lena want Trey to stay well clear, but she has different ideas.

Persons: Tana, Janet Maslin, ”, Cal Hooper, Chicago who’s, Trey Reddy, Cal, ” Cal, Lena, Trey, Smart, Trey —, —, Reddy, Trey’s, Johnny, he’s, Trey can’t, fatalism Organizations: Chicago Locations: Tana French, Ireland, Ardnakelty

☆ Anant Ambani pre-wedding bash: Celebrities, tycoons jet to Indian billionaire heir’s celebrations in Jamnagar
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New Delhi Reuters —Charter jets for tycoons and celebrities, a performance by Rihanna and directions to don “jungle fever” outfits when visiting an animal rescue center — that’s how billionaire Mukesh Ambani is kickstarting big fat Indian wedding celebrations for his son. The occasion of the moment that has India transfixed is a three-day pre-wedding jamboree for his youngest son Anant Ambani, 28, who is set to marry his long-time girlfriend Radhika Merchant, 29. Anant is a director at Reliance’s new energy business and one of Ambani’s three children who are the heirs to his empire. Ambani also made headlines with his daughter Isha’s wedding in 2018 which was described by some as a mini-Davos summit. Guests to Anant Ambani’s celebrations are set to savor 500 dishes created by around 100 chefs.

Persons: Rihanna, Mukesh Ambani, Ambani, Anant Ambani, Radhika Merchant, Anant, David Blaine, Bill Gates, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Gautam Adani, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Bob Iger, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Anant Ambani’s Organizations: Delhi Reuters —, Reliance, Forbes, Disney, Reliance’s, Encore, Former U.S, Reuters Locations: Delhi, India, Jamnagar, Reliance’s, Gujarat, Davos, Former, New Delhi, Mumbai

☆ Russia Took the City. Now It’s Coming for Their Villages.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Carlotta Gall | Oleksandr Chubko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Villagers living near the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka listened with dread in recent weeks to the sound of the bombs falling there, knowing their troops were taking a pounding and their villages were next in line. Russian troops captured Avdiivka 12 days ago and the front line has shifted westward, threatening the next Ukrainian farms and villages that lie in their path. “It is very tense right now,” said Oleksandr Kobets, a farmer who was butchering a pig in his yard. They are coming closer and closer.”The loss of the eastern city of Avdiivka has been a blow for Ukraine, coming amid declining Western support and a shortage of weaponry that left its outnumbered soldiers also outgunned. But for the farmers and miners and their families who live in this nearby stretch of towns and villages, Russia’s sudden advance is upending already hard lives, leaving them poised to flee.

Persons: Avdiivka, ”, Oleksandr Kobets Locations: Ukrainian, Avdiivka, Ukraine

☆ A Land Once Emptied by War Now Faces a Peacetime Exodus
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Andrew Higgins | Vladimir Zivojinovic | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

More than half the villagers were fellow Muslims, the rest Serbs, but nobody, he said, paid much attention to that until extremist politicians started screaming for blood. After more than a decade away from his home in eastern Bosnia, the farmer, Fikret Puhalo, 61, returned to his village, Socice. By then it had 100 or so people, Serbs who had stayed throughout and a few Muslims who had decided it was safe to go back. “Everyone else died or moved away,” said Mr. Puhalo, gesturing to empty homes scattered across the rocky hills around the family land where he grazes his sheep. “Not a single child has been born here since I returned,” he said.

Persons: Fikret Puhalo, ”, Puhalo Locations: Bosnian, Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Socice

☆ The Endangered Languages of New York
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Alex Carp | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +19 min

Most people think of endangered languages as far-flung or exotic, the opposite of cosmopolitan. All told, there are more endangered languages in and around New York City than have ever existed anywhere else, says Perlin, who has spent 11 years trying to document them. She has published children’s books in Wakhi and other endangered languages of the Pamir mountains in Central Asia. By the start of the pandemic, the city had begun official outreach in nine Indigenous languages and recorded videos in several other endangered languages. We cross-referenced E.L.A.’s New York City language list with three independent databases that track the threat level of languages around the world: Ethnologue, which catalogs all known living languages in the world; UNESCO’s World Atlas of Languages, a survey of all the languages spoken in UNESCO member states; and the Endangered Languages Project, a site to which the public can contribute content, managed by the First Peoples’ Cultural Council and the Endangered Languages Catalogue (ELCat) project at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Persons: Bukhori, Zaza Bartangi, Alex Carp, Ross Perlin, Perlin, Zenaida Cantu, Ikhiil Mardakhayev, Ken Hale, Michael Krauss, Krauss, ” Eleanor Castillo Bullock, Eleanor Castillo Bullock, Gloria Angeles, Gloria Tadii, ’, Daniel Kaufman, Trung, Kaufman, ” Kaufman, Gola, Rasmina Gurung, Safiyatou, E.L.A, ”, “ Ahh, “, —, Ganja Perlin, Ibrahima Traore, Kamel Mrowa, Kante, Husniya Khujamyorova, Pamiri, ” Perlin, Seke, ” Gurung, ” Irwin Sanchez, ” Patricia Tarrant, Patricia Tarrant, Thelma Carrillo, Carrillo, Uttam Singha, Singha, Jean James, Jean, Gurung, doesn’t, Ibrahima Traore's, Coleman Donaldson Organizations: Lenape, Scottish, U.S, Arts Medicine Agriculture Education International, Rebeldía, Language Alliance, Perlin, Rockefeller Center, American Indian Community House, city’s Health Department, Manipuri, New York City, Endangered Language Alliance, of, UNESCO, First, Cultural, University of Hawaii Locations: Syrian, Pangasinan, Nauaran, Kurdish Moroccan, Zaza Bartangi Puerto, Taíno, New York City, New York, Nepal, Brooklyn, Bangladesh, India, Queens, Central Mexico, Mexico, Israel, Hope, Belize, Kukaa, Oaxaca, Manhattan, E.L.A, QUEENS, Pangasinan Kham, Woodside, Elmhurst, Jackson, Tshugsang, Kathmandu, Brooklyn , New York, America, Roosevelt, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Language, ”, Australian, — Culiacán, Mexico City , New York, Los Angeles, Ganja, Harlem, Bronx, Montclair , N.J, “, Bouaké, Lebanon, Midwood , Brooklyn, Wakhi, Central Asia, Pamir, Tibet, city’s, New, Latin America, United States, Jamaica Estates, Staten, Lummi, Manoa

☆ Myanmar military conscription law sparks panic and fear as youth prepare to flee
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Helen Regan | Angus Watson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

It’s a terrifying prospect that could become a reality for Anna and millions of her peers across Myanmar after the military junta activated a mandatory conscription law for all young men and women. “While wounded and increasingly desperate, the Myanmar military junta remains extremely dangerous,” Tom Andrews, United Nations Special Rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, said in a statement. “People know for sure that no matter what is written in the conscription law, they will have to go to the front lines. “In Myanmar, young people are not safe anymore,” said Maung Nyein, who also requested to use a pseudonym for safety reasons. “Our villagers won’t join the military forces or leave the country, instead we will join our resistance forces.

Persons: Anna, ”, “, ” Tom Andrews, — “, Aung, —, Ting Aung, Zaw Min Tun, Young, Kyaw Naing, Sen, Min Aung Hlaing, Kyaw, doesn’t, ” Anna, he’s, he’ll, Khin Ohmar, Stringer, Maung, Maung Nyein, terrifies, Ko, Maung Aye, he’d Organizations: CNN, Thai Embassy, Getty, Analysts, United Nations, People’s Defense Forces, National Unity Government, United, CNN Defense, Armed Forces, Reuters, Facebook, Foreign Ministry, Myanmar, Mandalay People's Defense Forces, Immigration, International Labour Locations: Myanmar, Myanmar’s, Yangon, AFP, United States, Naypyidaw, Thailand, Rakhine, Mandalay, Shan State, “, Shwebo, Sagaing

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