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☆ How Nathan’s Famous turned competitive eating into a national spectacle
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-29 | by ( Elise Hammond | Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Each year, close to two million people watch Nathan’s hot dog eating contest on ESPN, according to the frankfurter brand. Boys participating in a pie eating contest at the 4-H Club fair in Cimarron, Kansas. At the time, PR mavens Max Rosey and Mortimer Matz thought a hot dog eating competition would drum up some publicity for Nathan’s. (They also seem to have made up the legend that the first Nathan’s contest was held in 1916). “We love the Nathan’s hot dog eating competition because we love how it brings the city together,” Fellman said, standing with a group of her friends, all wearing Nathan’s hot dog eating contest T-shirts.

Persons: Jacqueline Lewis, ” Lewis, franks, frankfurter, Joey Chestnut, Apuleius ’, ”, Jason Fagone, Fagone, “, ” Fagone, Corbis, Adrienne Bitar, Max Rosey, Mortimer Matz, Melody Andorfer, George, Richard Shea, George Shea, —, Shea, Rosey, ” George Shea, Henry S, Dziekan, it’s, ” Shea, ’ ” Shea, Takeru Kobayashi, Kobayashi, Kazutoyo Arai, Spencer Platt, ” Bitar, ” Kobayashi, Bitar, you’re, ’, Kena Betancur, ” Beatrice Fellman, ” Fellman, Bass Organizations: New, New York CNN, CNN, ESPN, Boys, Cornell University, “, Nathan’s, League, LA Times, Netflix Locations: New York, Coney Island, Coney, United States, Pennsylvania, Cimarron , Kansas, “, Long, New York City, Japan, Brooklyn , NY, America, Brooklyn, Kena

☆ Opinion: We’ll finally get some answers from Iowa about Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-14 | by ( Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

It is a feat former President Donald Trump is trying to duplicate this year. The first true test of Trump’s comeback occurs Monday in Iowa, where caucusgoers will venture into sub-zero temperatures to choose between Trump, Florida Gov. After months of speculation, we’ll finally get some answers to a few questions: Is there an opening for any Republican aside from Trump? Most of our contributors thought Haley won Wednesday’s CNN debate in Iowa against DeSantis, but Trump’s absence from the stage again loomed large. “Haley sounded like someone looking to take on the genuine article — the Republican frontrunner,” wrote W. James Antle III.

Persons: George Washington’s, Grover Cleveland, ”, Troy Senik, Donald Trump, Cleveland, “, —, Republican frontrunner’s, Cleveland didn’t, Benjamin Harrison —, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, we’ll, Will DeSantis, he’s, Haley, Wednesday’s, “ Haley, James Antle III, ’, ” Clay Jones, Chris Christie, Trump, ” Antle, who’s, Facebook Sophia, Nelson, “ Haley isn’t, Todd Graham, she’d, it’s, ” DeSantis, John Avlon, Laurence Tribe, Norman Eisen, Taylor Redd, Florence Pan, John Sauer, ” Bill Bramhall, Frida Ghitis, Ghitis, DeSantis, Julian Zelizer, Dean Obeidallah, Nikki Haley’s Lisa Benson, Peter Bergen, Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Biden, ” Walt Handelsman, Max, Drew Sheneman, Hassan Shahidi, Shahidi, Oprah, Oprah Winfrey, John Salangsang, Adrienne Bitar, WeightWatchers, couldn’t, Rose Blanchard, Sarah Gundle, Blanchard, Claudine ‘ Dee Dee ’ Blanchard, Gypsy Rose, ” Dee Dee, Gundle, Dee Dee Blanchard, Pope Francis, ” Jill Filipovic, Filipovic, Pope, ” Lloyd Austin’s, Lloyd Austin, Joe Biden, Austin, isn’t, Bill Bramhall, “ Oppenheimer, “ Barbie, “ Barbie ”, Gene Seymour, Oppenheimer, Emma Stone, ” Seymour, Don’t, Michael Bociurkiw, Ukraine Lanhee J, Chen, Noah Berlatsky, Belichick Bill Belichick, Vince Lombardi, Jeff Haynes, Bill Belichick, Will Leitch, Jeff Pearlman, Nick Saban, ” “ Belichick, Saban, ’ Pearlman, Lou Piniella, ‘ Organizations: CNN, University of Michigan, Cleveland, Republican, Trump, Trump , Florida Gov, Wednesday’s CNN, DeSantis, New, New Jersey Gov, Twitter, Facebook, Florida Gov, DC, Agency, Capitol, GOP, US, UK, Alaska Airlines, Boeing, Max, Portland International, Flight, Foundation, Golden Globe, Globes, Catholic, Biden, Warner Bros ., Academy, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Belichick, New England Patriots, Reliant, Patriots, Carolina Panthers, Getty, Super, Football, NFL, Minor League NFL, University of Alabama, Schlitz, Seattle Mariners Locations: Cleveland, Iowa, Trump , Florida, Trump, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Graham, Houthi, Yemen, Red, “, Saudi Arabia, Saudi, Bergen, Iran, Iraq, Iranian, Oregon, Beverly Hills , California, Ukraine, Houston , Texas, AFP, Swiss

☆ Opinion: What Oprah gets right about diet culture
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-11 | by ( Opinion Adrienne Bitar | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

How could she, the queen of WeightWatchers and doyenne of dieting, be abandoning the equation of diet + exercise = slim? Taking weight-loss drugs, rejecting diet culture or choosing to diet are all valid health decisions. Just look at the tragic history of diet drugs. When considered in this context, semaglutide isn’t the weight loss panacea it may appear to be. Oprah and the millions of other Americans on prescription semaglutide and similar medications should be respected — or at least not ridiculed — for ignoring the insults and choosing what’s right for them, drug or no drug, diet or no diet.

Persons: Adrienne Bitar, ”, Oprah Winfrey, WeightWatchers, Oprah, couldn’t, Cancer, dieters, “, gaunt, Jimmy Kimmel, Atkins “, John Harvey Kellogg, Kellogg, dieter, — Organizations: “, Studies, Cornell University, CNN, ”, Federal Food

Thousands of people took to the streets on Friday evening in the latest instance of what has become near daily protests in New York City over the Israel-Hamas war. This time, pro-Palestinian demonstrators held banners and signs demanding a cease-fire in the bombardment of Gaza. Earlier in the afternoon, several rallies attracting hundreds of people formed at different points around the city, including Union Square, the J.P. Morgan offices on Madison Avenue and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s New York office near the United Nations headquarters, before merging on the steps of the New York Public Library near Bryant Park. As demonstrators wound their way through the center of the city, they waved Palestinian flags, held handmade signs with messages like “Ceasefire now,” and chanted, “Free Palestine.” The crowd stretched several blocks and paused at times in front of Pennsylvania Station and the New York Times building.

Persons: Morgan, Kathy Hochul’s, Debbie Bitar Organizations: Madison, United Nations, New York Public, Pennsylvania, New York Times Locations: New York City, Israel, Gaza, York, Bryant Park, Midtown Manhattan, Palestine, United States

[1/3] French President Emmanuel Macron, left, shakes hands with Israel's President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. ... Acquire Licensing Rights Read moreSummary Macron visits IsraelProposes that anti-Islamic State coalition fights HamasGives no details on planJERUSALEM, Oct 24 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron proposed on Tuesday that an international coalition fighting against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria be widened to include the fight against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza. Macron gave no detail on how the U.S.-led coalition of dozens of countries, of which Israel is not a member, could be involved. Macron, who warned against the risks of a regional conflict, also said the fight against Hamas "must be without mercy but not without rules". The French president, who met families of French victims at Tel Aviv airport, said freeing nine French hostages was a priority for France.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Isaac Herzog, Israel, Macron, Benjamin Netanyahu, it's, Mahmoud Abbas, Karim Emile Bitar, Tassilo Hummel, Michael Georgy, Michel Rose, Ingrid Melander, Kevin Liffey, Mike Harrison, Robert Birsel Organizations: Islamic, Palestinian, Hamas, Israeli, Daesh, France, West Bank, IRIS, Thomson Locations: Jerusalem, Israel, Gaza, JERUSALEM, Islamic State, Iraq, Syria, U.S, France, Daesh, Tel Aviv, Jordan's, Amman, Ramallah, Beirut, Paris

☆ Macron flies to Israel to push for humanitarian truce, proposals
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Michel Rose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

French President Emmanuel Macron attends a video-conference with the families of French hostages by the Hamas militants who had entered Israel from the Gaza Strip, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, October 20, 2023. His advisers said that beyond showing solidarity with Israel, Macron wanted to make "proposals that are as operational as possible" to prevent an escalation, free hostages, guarantee Israel's security and work towards a two-state solution. The French leader upped the ante before the trip, telling reporters he would only travel to the region if he thought the visit would be "useful". Macron will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, and centrist leaders Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid for the opposition. Macron has vowed on national television that France would "not abandon any of its children" in Gaza.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Benoit Tessier, Netanyahu, Abbas, PARIS, Macron, Israel doesn't, Benjamin Netanyahu, Isaac Herzog, Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid, Karim Emile Bitar, Mahmoud Abbas, Macron's, Michel Rose, John Irish, Sandra Maler Organizations: REUTERS, Israeli, Arab French Gaullist, IRIS, Reuters, Hamas, Thomson Locations: Israel, Gaza, Paris, France, French, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar, Arab French, Beirut

☆ Beirut blast investigator puts off interrogations of top officials
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIRUT, Feb 6 (Reuters) - The judge investigating the deadly 2020 Beirut port blast said he had postponed interrogations of senior current and former officials that had been set to begin on Monday until a legal dispute over the extent of his powers can be resolved. Bitar, who denies the accusations, had set interrogation sessions for about a dozen current and former officials in February, beginning with former ministers Ghazi Zeaiter and Nouhad Machnouk on Monday. He had also set sessions for former prime minister Hassan Diab and the intelligence chief, Major General Abbas Ibrahim. Some 40 Lebanese lawmakers and groups representing judges and lawyers have called for Oueidat to reverse his decisions and allow Bitar to resume his investigation. Reporting by Timour Azhari; Editing by Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Lebanon's top Christian cleric says judge probing port blast must be allowed to pursue truth
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A general view shows the site of the 2020 port blast, in Beirut, Lebanon January 24, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed AzakirAMMAN, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Lebanon's top Christian cleric called on Sunday for the judge struggling to investigate the Beirut port explosion to be able to pursue his work and get help from any outside authority to pinpoint those responsible for the devastating blast. "We hope investigating Judge Tareq Bitar continues his work to uncover the truth and issue a decision and get help from any international authority that can help disclose the truth...," Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, influential patriarch of Lebanon's largest Christian community, said in a sermon. Rai has long said that Lebanon's judiciary should be free of political interference and sectarian activism. "We won't allow however long it takes and rulers change to let the crime of the port pass without punishment."

☆ Lebanese MPs denounce top prosecutor's moves against judge probing port blast
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File PhotoBEIRUT, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Some 40 Lebanese lawmakers on Friday became the latest group to back the judge investigating the catastrophic 2020 Beirut port blast and call for the country's top prosecutor to be held accountable for steps taken against the judge and his probe. Judge Tarek Bitar on Monday resumed his probe into the blast that killed more than 220 people after a 13-month suspension caused by legal wrangling and high-level political pressure. He issued charges against senior security, political and judicial officials, including top public prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat. It said judges who have "sold themselves in service of political authorities" should resign and be held accountable. The Beirut Bar Association, representing lawyers, said that Oueidat's decisions "constituted an abuse of power and a violation of the law".

"He is not above God," Oweidat told Reuters, referring to Bitar. Several members of parliament had earlier met with the justice minister and the head of the supreme judicial council. 'JUDICIAL SCANDAL'Families of those killed in the blast, members of parliament and other Lebanese flocked to Lebanon's justice palace on Thursday to demand Bitar be allowed to carry on. This week's developments have set up a tug-of-war in Lebanon's judiciary, where politicians have influence over many appointments. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Wednesday that splits in the judiciary could have "dangerous consequences" if left unresolved.

[1/3] George Bezdjian, whose daughter Jessica died in 2020 port explosion, holds her picture during a protest against steps taken this week to hamstring a probe into the 2020 port blast, in Beirut, Lebanon January 26, 2023. With friends and allies of Lebanon's most powerful factions, including Hezbollah, among those charged, the establishment struck back swiftly on Wednesday, when the prosecutor general charged Bitar with usurping powers. With deep fissures in the judiciary exposed, the tussle adds to the unravelling of a state accelerated by a three-year-long financial crisis, left to fester by the ruling elite. Attempts by a Lebanese judge to investigate Salameh have hit obstacles in Lebanon, where politicians have big sway over the judiciary. In opposing Bitar, Hezbollah has accused the United States of meddling in the investigation and Bitar of political bias.

Bitar told Reuters on Wednesday that Oweidat "had no right" to file the charge or release detainees because Oueidat himself was charged over the explosion. Oweidat told Reuters he had summoned Bitar for questioning but did not say whether he had charged him. Oweidat had earlier recused himself from any involvement in the blast probe as Bitar had issued an arrest warrant for his brother-in-law, former public works minister Ghazi Zeaiter. "Instead of me appearing before him, he'll be appearing before me," Oweidat told Reuters by text message. He met with French investigators visiting Beirut last week as part of a French probe into the explosion, whose victims included two French nationals.

You feel like he's on a solo mission," Tania Daou-Alam, who lost her husband in the blast, told Reuters. Bitar went on to file his own charges against several top politicians, including former ministers allied to Hezbollah. Bitar, a devout Catholic from Akkar region of the north, has charged officials from across the sectarian spectrum including Shi'ites, Sunnis and Christians. "I said from the start 'the right person is in the right place'," he added, describing Bitar as just with no political affiliations. William Noun, who lost his brother in the blast, said of Bitar's move: "This is very much a judicial uprising".

BEIRUT, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The judge probing the 2020 Beirut blast has charged Lebanon's top public prosecutor, the then-premier and other senior current and former officials in connection with the devastating explosion, judicial sources said and court summons show. He also charged Prosecutor General Ghassan Oweidat, the head of Lebanon's domestic intelligence agency Major General Abbas Ibrahim, former army commander Jean Kahwaji and other current and former security and judicial officials, court sources said. [1/2] Relatives of some of the victims of the August 2020 Beirut port blast carry their pictures and banners during a protest outside the Justice Palace, in Beirut, Lebanon September 7, 2022. The embassy on Tuesday tweeted that the United States "support and urge Lebanese authorities to complete a swift and transparent investigation" into the blast. Diab, an academic, became prime minister in January 2020 and resigned less than a week after the blast.

☆ Lebanon blast investigator charges public prosecutor, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIRUT, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The judge investigating the 2020 Beirut port explosion has charged Lebanon's top public prosecutor and three other judges in connection with the catastrophic blast, two judicial sources said on Tuesday. Judicial sources said interrogations had been scheduled for February for 15 people, including the top security officials, Oweidat, two former ministers, and Hassan Diab, who was the prime minister at the time of the blast. Bitar met French judges visiting Beirut last week as part of a French investigation into the explosion, whose victims included two French nationals. Bitar resumed work on the basis of a legal interpretation challenging the reasons for its suspension, the judicial sources said. Hezbollah has campaigned against Bitar as he sought to question its allies and accused Washington of meddling in the probe.

Jars of Nescafe Gold coffee by Nestle are pictured in the supermarket of Nestle headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland, February 13, 2020. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has propelled energy and grain prices to all-time highs, driving up the cost of packaged goods. That has been felt particularly acutely in parts of Asia and North Africa, where people spend a higher proportion of income on food and fuel than in the United States and Europe, prompting some shoppers to stockpile non-perishable items. "Nestle is seeing hoarding with bouillon, to an extent soups, coffee for sure," Al Bitar told Reuters. Several countries in North Africa and Central Asia are suffering recurring shortages of basic necessities.

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