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☆ Nuclear fusion: The US led in this clean energy race for decades. Now China is in position to win
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-19 | by ( Angela Dewan | Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

It’s also here, on an unassuming downtown street, a small start-up called Energy Singularity is working on something extraordinary: nuclear fusion energy. Nuclear fusion, the process that powers the sun and other stars, is painstakingly finicky to replicate on Earth. The Chinese government is pouring money into the venture, putting an estimated $1 billion to $1.5 billion annually into fusion, according to Jean Paul Allain, who leads the US Energy Department’s Office of Fusion Energy Sciences. The US was among the world’s first to move on the futuristic gambit, working on fusion research in earnest since the early 1950s. CNNThe US has been a fusion leader for decades; it was the first nation to apply fusion energy in the real world — in a hydrogen bomb.

Persons: It’s, Lam Yik Fei, Jean Paul Allain, Biden, “, it’s, ” Allain, Andrew Holland, Holland, ”, ” Holland, Damien Jemison, Lawrence, Melanie Windridge, Mikhail Maslov, Allain Organizations: CNN, 6G, Beijing outspends DC, New York Times, US Energy Department’s, Fusion Energy Sciences, Private, Nikkei . Energy, MIT, Fusion Industry Association, Princeton, Physics, American, America, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, ” CNN, China’s National Energy Administration, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Fusion Energy, EAST, UK Atomic Energy Authority Locations: Shanghai, America, China, Beijing, Washington, DC, Japan, Europe, United States, Hefei, Xinhua, Massachusetts, Hiroshima, California, Lawrence Livermore

☆ The US is dismantling nuclear warheads to power next-gen reactors
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-09 | by ( Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

This fuel is set to power the next generation of America’s nuclear reactors — small, modular power stations that are easier and cheaper to build. They require far less upkeep and physical space than the aging fleet of large nuclear power plants. “In order to meet our energy security needs and our climate goals, we do need significantly more nuclear energy deployed.”The nuclear power industry is increasingly looking to smaller reactors, which run on HALEU. The uranium for conventional reactors is enriched up to 5% and HALEU is uranium enriched between 5-20%. Highly enriched uranium is anything more than 20% and is used in weapons or naval submarines.

Persons: —, Michael Goff, Bill Gates, ”, Jeff Navin, “, hasn’t, Benjamin Rasmussen, Jeff Chamberlin, Goff, Dan Leistikow, Josh Jarrell, Leistikow, Centrus, TerraPower’s Navin, ” Navin Organizations: CNN, Manhattan Project, National Nuclear Security, US, Energy, of Nuclear Energy, Idaho National Laboratory, Department of Energy, New York Times, United, US Energy Department, Miller, Centrus Energy, Idaho National Laboratories, Idaho National Labs, Energy Department, DOE Locations: Oak Ridge , Tennessee, Oak Ridge, Tenneseee, United States, Russia, Ukraine, Idaho, Wyoming, Kemmerer , Wyoming, Congress

Former Trump administration officials argue that more foreign students are involved in the campus protests and accuse the Biden administration and universities of withholding such information. He contended that it would be unconstitutional for authorities to try to deport them based solely on their expressing support for Hamas at protests. About 40,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since Hamas’ terrorist attack on Oct. 7, according to local health officials. Kena Betancur / AFP - Getty Images fileBiden’s approachBiden administration officials told NBC News that Trump’s threats don’t match the realities of the country’s overburdened immigration system. It argued that the Education Department is purposely protecting “pro-Hamas foreign extremists on American college campuses” and failing to provide records on foreign students, or pro-Hamas activities, at schools.

Persons: Donald Trump, Biden, Trump, Ben Wizner, ” Wizner, ” Reed Rubinstein, Stephen Miller, aren’t, “, ”, Rubinstein, ‘, you’re, Seth, ” Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Kena Betancur, Jon Feere, isn’t, Feere, Kenneth Marcus, George W, Bush, Marcus, Louis D, ” Marcus, Vanessa Harmoush, Nerdeen Kiswani, hasn’t, Kiswani, ” Kiswani, Stephanie Keith, Daniel Richman, Richman, Edward Ahmed Mitchell, that’s, ” Mitchell, it’s Organizations: GOP, Republican National Convention, Democratic National Convention, NBC News, Trump, Israel, Harvard, Emory, University of Pennsylvania, Hamas, American Civil, Technology, America, Justice, “, Fountain, Washington , D.C, Seth Herald, Republicans, Congress, NBC, D.C, Israeli, Brooklyn Museum, Times, U.S, Popular Front, Liberation, Palestine, Columbia University, Getty, Biden, United States, State Department, Immigration, Customs Services, ICE, Center of Immigration Studies, Education Department, Justice Department, Department’s, Civil Rights, Brandeis Center for Human, Department of Education, IDF, Israel Defense Forces, Columbia Law, Islamic, CAIR wouldn’t, CAIR, don’t Locations: Israel, U.S, Chicago, Gaza, Columbia, Columbus, Washington ,, New Jersey, Palestinian, Washington, New York City, Brooklyn, Vandals, New York, Germany, AFP, United States, Palestine

☆ Israel’s Netzah Yehuda: How an army unit deemed abusive by the US is shaping the fight in Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-13 | by ( Cnn S International Investigations Team | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +25 min

In this 2014 photo, Israeli soldiers in the Netzah Yehuda battalion are seen taking part in training in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, near the Syrian border. While he was in Netzah Yehuda, he said, the battalion’s commanders played a key role in perpetuating a culture of violence, both by standing by as it happened and promoting it. The findings by the expert panel would have been enough to disqualify a military unit from any other country, the officials said. Lt. Col. Nitai Okashi oversaw the Netzah Yehuda battalion from 2018 to 2020. Lt. Col. Uri Levy was in charge of Netzah Yehuda from 2014 to 2016.

Persons: Yehuda, Menahem Kahana, Benjamin Netanyahu, Antony Blinken, Mike Johnson, Israel “, Blinken, Netzah Yehuda, –, ” Charles Blaha, they’re, ”, “, Biden, Israel, Netzah, Ahmad Jamil Fahd, Sanad, Shin Bet, Gil Cohen, Josh Paul, Paul, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Amanpour, ” Paul, Eyad Baba, Joe Biden, Leahy, Sen, Patrick Leahy, Charles Blaha, Blaha, Omar Assad, Assad, Netzah Yehuda –, Mati Shevach, Nasser Nasser, ” Blaha, Shevach, Nitai Okashi, Okashi, Der Spiegel, , Uri Levy, Levy, Johnson, don’t, ” Netzah Yehuda, Col, Shlomo Shiran, Katie Polglase, Benjamin Brown, Barbara Arvanitidis, Alex Platt, Mark Baron, Augusta Anthony, Alberto Mier, Toby Hancock, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Laura Smith, Eliza Mackintosh, Dan Wright, Matt Wells Ami Kaufman, Jennifer Hansler Organizations: CNN, West Bank, Israel Defense Forces, US State Department, State Department, Getty, IDF, State Department’s Office, Security, Human Rights CNN, Congress, Department, Israel Border Police, Internal Security Forces, ” CNN, Israeli Air Force Base, Magen, State, Human, Kfir Brigade, AP, Netzah, Urban Warfare Training Center, CBS, Battalion, Kfir Infantry Brigade, West Bank ., Jerusalem Brigade, Britain’s Guardian, Okashi, Israeli, Augusta Anthony Visual Locations: Israeli, United States, Gaza, Golan, Syrian, AFP, Palestinian, Israel, Ramallah, Rahat, Jerusalem, Jiljilya, Col, West Bank, Jiljiliya, Beit Hanoun

☆ Michigan and CUNY Mishandled Discrimination Complaints, Education Dept. Finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Zach Montague | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The University of Michigan and the City University of New York mishandled complaints of discrimination on campus during widespread protests over the war in Gaza, the Education Department announced on Monday. The department’s Office for Civil Rights has opened dozens of investigations into antisemitism and anti-Arab discrimination as students held rallies and set up encampments in support of Palestinians and called for their schools to divest from Israel. The Michigan and New York cases were only the first to reach a conclusion. More are expected to finish in the coming weeks and months as schools continue to reckon with the limits of free speech in academic settings. Under the terms of the agreements announced on Monday, the schools must step up their reporting of complaints to the Office for Civil Rights and revisit their training of employees, including campus police officers, about their obligations under federal law.

Organizations: University of Michigan, City University of New, Education Department, Civil Rights, Office Locations: City University of New York, Gaza, Israel, The Michigan, New York

☆ A Pause for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Ann Carrns | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Education Department has paused the processing of applications for student loan forgiveness by borrowers who work in public service jobs for about two months as it updates its systems and seeks to fix the problems plaguing its forgiveness program. The pause for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program began May 1, the department’s Office of Federal Student Aid said. Borrowers can still submit applications and all other forms, like those documenting their eligibility, but they won’t be processed until the pause ends in July, the office said. In a recent blog post, it called the changes “an exciting and necessary step” that would lead to faster reviews of applications. During and after the pause, the 2.2 million borrowers working toward loan forgiveness in the public service program will continue to make loan payments on their assigned loan servicer’s website, the department said.

Organizations: Department, Public, Federal Student Aid, Education Department

☆ New York Public Schools chancellor scolds Republicans for ‘gotcha’ antisemitism hearing, saying district disciplined staff
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The department is also investigating whether the Berkeley district retaliated against two parents who complained about harassment based on Jewish ancestry. CNN has reached out to the school district for a comment. However, that list does not currently include the Berkeley school district. “However, antisemitism is not pervasive in the Berkeley Unified School District,” she said. Ford Morthel noted that the district does not share actions the school district takes against students or teachers because this information is protected under federal and state law.

Persons: David Banks, ” Banks, Banks, ”, Columbia’s, “, George Washington, Muriel Bowser, Pam Smith, Elise Stefanik tussled, Stefanik, ” Stefanik, Brandon Williams, ” Williams, …, ” Enikia Ford Morthel, ” Ford Morthel, Ford Morthel Organizations: CNN, New, New York City Public Schools, Jewish, “, Secondary, York City Public Schools, New York City Police Department, Ivy League, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Republicans, George Washington University’s, Washington, DC Metropolitan Police, Queens, Hillcrest High School, New York Republican, ” New York Republican, Jews High School, High School, US Department of Education, Berkeley Unified School District, Defamation League, Brandeis Center, Civil Rights, Brandeis Locations: New York, York, New York City, Berkeley , California, Montgomery County , Maryland, Queens, Israel, Hillcrest, New, Brooklyn, Berkeley, California, ”

☆ Biden to call for a fight against antisemitism at a precarious moment in Israel’s war in Gaza and amid protests on campus
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Betsy Klein | Mj Lee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Washington CNN —President Joe Biden on Tuesday aims to issue a clarion call to fight a swiftly rising tide of antisemitism amid a precarious moment in Israel’s war against Hamas and as protests have swept American college campuses, laying bare Biden’s trouble with some young voters. Biden’s longtime and stalwart support for Israel has come under intense pressure as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza grows. The president plans to address the long history of antisemitism and issue what one senior administration official familiar with the remarks described as a “call to action” on combatting antisemitism. The protests are not expected to be a major part of the speech, the official added. However, Biden does not intend to use his speech on Tuesday to delve into Middle East policy or the current situation in Israel or Gaza.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden’s, Israel, Biden, White, “ recommit, ” Biden, Karine Jean, Pierre, ” Jonathan Greenblatt, John Kirby, Biden “, Benjamin Netanyahu, it’s, Jean, ”, “, Miguel Cardona, Doug Emhoff, Yom HaShoah, Donald Trump’s, Trump, Adolf Hitler “, CNN’s Dana Bash Organizations: Washington CNN, US, White, CNN, Defamation League, ADL, Hamas, National Security, Qatari, White House, Education’s, Civil, Department of Homeland Security, DHS, Department’s Office, Institute of Politics, Harvard University’s Kennedy Locations: Israel, Gaza, Cairo, Doha, Qatar, Gazan, Rafah, America, Poland

☆ Live Updates: Biden to Condemn Antisemitism at Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Erica L. Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Days of Remembrance, where he will draw on the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel to amplify concerns about antisemitism in the United States and abroad. Mr. Biden’s address from Capitol Hill comes during weeks of protests on American college campuses against Israel’s war in Gaza, with students demanding that the Biden administration stop sending arms to Israel. Jewish groups have been pressuring the administration to take firmer actions to combat antisemitism. Since the Oct. 7 attack, the department has opened more than 100 investigations into complaints about antisemitism and other forms of discrimination. For months, Mr. Biden has faced fierce criticism over his support for Israel, even from within his own party.

Persons: Biden, recommit, ” Karine Jean, Pierre, “, we’ve, Mr, ” Ms, Jean Organizations: U.S . Holocaust, Capitol Hill, White House, Hamas, Education Department’s, Civil Rights, Civil, Israel, Health Locations: U.S, Israel, United States, Gaza

☆ Woman was denied top-secret US security clearance for being a close relative of dictator
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Haley Britzky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —An unnamed woman was denied a top-secret security clearance this year due to being a “close” relative of an authoritarian dictator of an unnamed country, according to a publicly available document from the Defense Department’s Office of Hearings and Appeals. The judge said that Country X “supports international terrorism, and it conducts cyberattacks and espionage against the United States.”“Applicant was born a citizen of Country X,” the record says. “A close family member (cousin, aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew) is the dictator of Country X. Applicant’s parents and their children, including Applicant, immigrated to the United States in the 1990s when she was young. Administrative decisions on security clearance eligibility are regularly posted publicly by the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals. “One thing people forget is it’s not like you get the keys to the kingdom,” Posard said of a secret clearance, which is the second lowest level security clearance available.

Persons: —, ”, “, ’, Edward Loughran, credibly, Loughran, Marek Posard, Kim Jong, ” Posard, ” Loughran, Posard, it’s, It’s Organizations: CNN, Defense Department’s, Defense, RAND Corporation, The Washington Locations: United States, American, Country, North Korea, DPRK, Cuba, Iran, Syria, The, Loughran

☆ Live Updates: Supreme Court Hears Trump’s Claim to ‘Absolute Immunity’
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Adam Liptak | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Political appointees in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel have declared that the Constitution implicitly establishes immunity for sitting presidents. But political appointees in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, whose interpretations are binding on the executive branch, have declared that the Constitution implicitly establishes such immunity. (That same month, Mr. Nixon had Mr. Cox fired in the so-called Saturday Night Massacre. Amid a political backlash, Mr. Nixon was forced to allow a new special counsel, Leon Jaworski, to resume the investigation.) Mr. Starr later said that he had concluded that he could indict Mr. Clinton.

Persons: Donald J, Robert G, Dixon Jr, Dixon, Richard M, Nixon, Archibald Cox, Nixon’s, Robert H, Bork, Cox, Leon Jaworski, Bill Clinton, Kenneth Starr, Monica Lewinsky, Randolph D, Moss, Department’s, Jaworski, Mr, Ronald Rotunda, Starr, Clinton, ”, Rotunda, ” Mr, Starr —, — Organizations: Justice Department’s, White, Justice Department, Justice Locations: Whitewater, “

☆ US, EU Discuss Russia Sanctions Ahead of Ukraine War's Second Anniversary
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

"Many of us are prepared to roll out quite robust anniversary packages," the official told Reuters, but declined to provide details. The new sanctions would come as the U.S. and its allies look to maintain pressure on Russia with U.S. military aid to Ukraine increasingly in doubt. "All delegations expressed their support to the proposed package, except one who requested a bit more time to analyze the content of the proposals," said an EU official, pointing to Hungary. The official said, however, the new EU sanctions would blacklist almost 200 people and entities. "The Russia sanctions program is both an extraordinary success and an extraordinary failure, depending upon one's point of view," said Smith.

Persons: Daphne Psaledakis, Gabriela Baczynska WASHINGTON, Joe Biden's, John Smith, Smith, Gabriela Baczynska, Don Durfee Organizations: Reuters, Kyiv, Republican, Representatives, Washington, EU, Wednesday, Russia, U.S . Treasury Department’s, Foreign Assets Control Locations: BRUSSELS, U.S, Russia, Brussels, Ukraine, Washington, EU, Hungary, Moscow, Lincoln

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is considering additional measures against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ’s government after the South American country’s highest court blocked the presidential candidacy of an opposition leader. This comes after the U.S. government on Monday pulled back part of the sanctions relief it granted Venezuela last year, following through on its threat to do so after Maduro reneged on a deal his administration made last year in Barbados with the Venezuelan opposition to hold free elections in 2024. A spokesperson for the National Security Council said the U.S. is clear about the path forward in support of democratic elections and is considering additional measures against the Maduro regime. The department had allowed transactions with the mining company in October after the Maduro government agreed to level the playing field ahead of this year’s presidential election. Matthew Miller, a U.S. State Department spokesperson, said the Barbados electoral roadmap is the most viable mechanism to resolving Venezuela’s longstanding political and economic problems.

Persons: Nicolás Maduro, Maduro, María Corina Machado, Machado, Matthew Miller, ” ___ Garcia Cano Organizations: WASHINGTON, Venezuelan, American, U.S, Monday, Venezuela’s, National Security Council, Department’s, Foreign, U.S . State Department Locations: U.S, Venezuela, Barbados, Venezuelan, Caracas

☆ Feds Launch Investigation of Harvard for Possible Civil-Rights Violations
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Douglas Belkin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Protesters demonstrated over the war in the Gaza Strip at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., this month. Photo: brian snyder/ReutersThe U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights on Tuesday added Harvard University to the list of schools the agency is investigating as part of a federal crackdown on race- and religious-based harassment since the start of the conflict in Gaza began last month. Harvard is the 15th school and 8th college or university added to the list since the conflict began Oct. 7, according to the agency’s website. Other colleges include The University of Pennsylvania, Wellesley College and Columbia University. The number of schools under investigation this year doubled since the conflict started.

Persons: brian snyder Organizations: Harvard University in, U.S, Education Department’s, Civil Rights, Harvard University, Harvard, The University of Pennsylvania, Wellesley College, Columbia University Locations: Gaza, Harvard University in Cambridge

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said that Vulin used his public authority to help a U.S.-sanctioned Serbian arms dealer move illegal arms shipments across Serbia’s borders. The close associate of populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić had previously served as both the army and police chief. “The U.S. and the EU are looking for my head as a precondition for not imposing sanctions on Serbia," Vulin said in a statement. “I will not allow myself to be the cause of blackmail and pressure on Serbia and the Serbian world. The trip underscored Belgrade’s refusal to join Western sanctions against Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Persons: Aleksandar Vulin, Vulin, Aleksandar Vučić, ”, Vladimir Putin —, Vučić, “, ” Vulin, Sergey Lavrov, Vulin’s Organizations: U.S . Treasury Department’s, Foreign, Control, BIA, Serbian, USA, Russia, Russian, European Union, EU Locations: BELGRADE, Serbia, Russia, United States, Balkan, U.S, Serbian, Vulin, EU, Moscow, Ukraine, Europe, Kosovo

Klein, who didn't testify at his trial, declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden sentenced him to five years and 10 months in prison. Prosecutors said Klein’s participation in the riot was likely motivated by a desire to keep his job as a presidential appointee. Prosecutors had recommended a 10-year prison sentence for Klein, an Alexandria, Virginia, resident who was 42 years old at the time of the riot. Klein and Cappuccio separately attended Trump's “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6 before marching to the Capitol. Approximately 700 of them have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds receiving terms of imprisonment ranging from three days to 22 years.

Persons: Donald Trump's, Federico Klein, Klein, Klein “, ”, Joe Biden’s, Trevor McFadden, McFadden, Prosecutors, Stanley Woodward, Trump, ” Woodward, Steven Cappuccio, Cappuccio, ” Klein, ” McFadden, Daniel Hodges Organizations: WASHINGTON, Marine Corps, Department, U.S . Capitol, Trump, Capitol, U.S, Southern Cone Affairs, Defense, Prosecutors, Cappuccio, Metropolitan Police, State Department Locations: West Terrace, Alexandria, Virginia, Universal City , Texas, Iraq, Nevada

LONDON (AP) —The United States on Friday expanded its effort to cut off funding for Hamas, announcing a second round of sanctions against people and organizations linked to the group since it launched an attack on Israel that killed more than 1,400 people. The new sanctions highlight Iran’s role in providing financial, logistical and operational support to Hamas, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a statement. They include a Hamas representative in Iran and members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard. The U.S. also sanctioned a number of organizations, including the Iranian Bonyad Shahid, also known as the Martyrs Foundation. They also block financial transactions with those designated and prohibit the contribution of funds, goods and services to them.

Persons: Wally Adeyemo, America’s, “, ” Adeyemo, Khaled Qaddoumi, Ali Morshed Shirazi, Mostafa Mohammad Khani, Shahid Organizations: U.S . Treasury Department’s, Foreign, Control, Islamic Revolutionary Guard, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ’ Qods Force, Martyrs Foundation ., Palestinian, Charity Association Locations: United States, Israel, Iran, London, Britain, States, U.S, Gaza

☆ Biden’s Rule of Engagement: Don’t
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Lauren Camera | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +14 min

Leaders of Egypt and Jordan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called off a planned summit with President Joe Biden. “Don’t,” he said, warning Iran as well as the U.S.-designated terror group Hezbollah that runs Lebanon and any others from intensifying the crisis by escalating their involvement. But perhaps most effective of all, experts say, is the single word Biden continues to repeat: Don’t. “When the president says, ‘Don't,’ and then moves an aircraft carrier, that looks good. Middle East analysts go back to the point that Hezbollah and Iran likely don’t want to escalate the war either.

Persons: Biden, Mahmoud Abbas, Joe Biden, ”, Mark Montgomery, –, Benjamin Netanyahu, “, ” Montgomery, “ Will, Matthew McInnis, “ That’s, ” McInnis, McInnis, Lloyd Austin, Gerald R, Ford, Dwight D, Antony Blinken, Israel, ” Biden, Barack Obama, Syria’s Bashar al, Assad, ‘, Alex Vatanka, Carney, Hashem Safieddine, Netanyahu, “ It’s Organizations: Hamas, Intelligence, Defense Department, Israel, U.S, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, organization’s, Technology, Institute for, Eisenhower, Israel Defense Forces, United Arab, West Bank, Treasury, Foreign Assets Control, Target, Middle, Middle East Institute, Navy, “ Locations: Gaza, Israel, U.S, Jihad, Hamas, Iran, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Jerusalem, Afghanistan, Syria, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, China, Sudan, Turkey, Algeria, Tel Aviv, United States, Iraq, Eastern, Yemen, Red, Ukraine

Finland is a European Union member that supports sanctions on Russia and the most recent to join NATO. Both Turkey and the UAE have condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but have not joined Western sanctions and sought to maintain ties with Russia. The latest sanctions package targets Russian companies that repair, develop and manufacture weapons, including the Kalibr cruise missile. Turkey, meanwhile, has tried to balance its close ties with both Russia and Ukraine, positioning itself as a mediator. Including the latest sanctions, the U.S. has targeted almost 3,000 businesses and people since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, according to State.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, ” James O’Brien, Putin, O’Brien, “, ” O’Brien, ”, Richard Connolly, Alexander, Lukashenko, ” Connolly, Denis Manturov, Connolly, Tom Keatinge, Andrei Bokarev, Sergei Shoigu, Iskander Makhmudov, Alexei Krivoruchko, Wagner, Otar, Partskhaladze, Antony Blinken, Suzan Fraser, Jon Gambrell, Antony Blinken’s Organizations: United Arab, State, Treasury, NATO, State Department’s Office, Associated Press, State Department, European Union, The State Department, Russia’s Ministry of Defense, Oxford, Western, Russian Industry, Trade, Centre for Financial, Security, Royal United Services Institute, “, U.S, Russian Defense, Russian, Federal Security Service Locations: States, Russia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Ukraine, U.S, UAE, Russia’s, Moscow, Finland, European, Belarus, Russian, ”, London, North Korea, Georgian, State, Ankara, Dubai

☆ In a Decaying Queens Fortress, It’s One Man Versus 47 Kinds of Mosquito
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Andy Newman | More About Andy Newman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a damp, dungeonlike cell beneath a crumbling military fortress in northeast Queens, Dr. Waheed Bajwa and his team were counting sleeping mosquitoes and trying to divine the future. Soon the mosquitoes would awaken and secrete rafts of goo into puddles of standing water and lay hundreds of eggs onto them that would hatch into larvae that would feed and grow up and mate and lay eggs of their own — until sometime in late summer one of their great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughters would bite a sparrow infected with West Nile virus and then, perhaps, a human. But that day was months off. On this balmy morning in mid-February, Dr. Bajwa, a mild-mannered, methodical, relentless medical entomologist who has spent 21 years heading the city Health Department’s Office of Vector Surveillance and Control, was hoping to find signs that the coming summer would be merciful. Last year saw the highest number of human West Nile cases since 1999, when the virus first appeared in the Western Hemisphere in Queens and killed four New Yorkers.

Persons: Waheed Bajwa, Bajwa Organizations: Health, Vector Locations: Queens

☆ July 4: Was the last battle of the American Revolution fought in India?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The answer is: The last battle of America’s war of independence was fought on this continent. DuVal and others say two key protagonists of the Revolutionary War – Britain and France – actually fought the final battle of the conflict in Cuddalore, India, in June of 1783. Britain and, to a lesser extent, France were well established with colonies in India when the American Revolution began and had already brought their hostilities from Europe to the subcontinent, according to the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. “They brought news that six months before in Paris, the British, French and the Americans – the Dutch were a little later – signed the Treaty of Paris ending the American Revolution,” he says. “Cuddalore, India, was indeed the last battle of the American Revolution.”

Persons: you’ve, Kathleen DuVal, ”, ” DuVal, DuVal, France –, “, Don Glickstein, Frederick the Great, Prussia, Maximilian Ulysses Count Browne, Prince Charles of Lorraine, it’s, Glickstein, ” Glickstein, David Allison, ” Allison, Generals Rochambeau, Marquis de Lafayette, – Organizations: CNN, University of North, British, US, Department, State Department’s Office, Austrian, Hulton, National Park Service, National Museum of, Smithsonian, Yorktown, Washington, Getty, Brits, American Revolution, Museum, American, British East India Company, Britain Locations: North America, Asia, University of North Carolina, United States, Massachusetts, Virginia, Britain, France, Cuddalore, India, British, Spain, Netherlands, American, Seattle, Yorktown, Quebec, Abraham, North Carolina, Pacific, Portugal, Canada, Prague, Yorktown , Virginia, “, Dutch Republic, Washington, Paris, Jamaica, Gibraltar, Europe, Philadelphia, Bengal

☆ DOJ issues scathing rebuke of Bureau of Prisons detailing multiple failures that led to Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Holmes Lybrand | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The report indicated the Bureau of Prisons’ failings were troubling not only because they did not safeguard Epstein but also because they “led to numerous questions about the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death” and denied Epstein’s victims justice. Two guards on duty the night of Epstein’s death later admitted to falsifying records at the time. According to the initial indictment against the two guards, on the night of Epstein’s suicide, both individuals repeatedly failed to complete the required prisoners check during their watch. On the day before he was found dead in his prison cell, Epstein was also allowed by prison staff to make an unmonitored phone call, despite prison policy requiring all phone calls to be monitored. In August 2021, two years after Epstein’s death, the BOP announced it would close Metropolitan Correctional Center, citing the need to improve conditions in the facility.

Persons: Jeffrey Epstein, ”, Epstein, ” Epstein, OIG Organizations: CNN, Department’s Office, Prisons, Federal Bureau of Investigation’s, Metropolitan Correctional Center, Justice Department, Southern, of, MCC, FBI, Force, BOP, Correctional Center, Office Locations: New York, of New York

“As Secretary Mayorkas has said, the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was a violent assault on our democracy,” the spokesperson said. In a statement to CNN, the FBI said it worked with law enforcement agencies to share information before and during the Capitol attack. And yet it seemed as if our intelligence agencies completely dropped the ball,” Sen. Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat who chairs the committee, told reporters on Monday while previewing the report’s findings. Over 1,000 people have been charged in connection with the January 6 Capitol attack, nearly a third of whom have been charged with assaulting police that day, according to the Justice Department. These findings undercut a key criticism from Republicans who, in seeking to whitewash the Capitol attack, have often claimed law enforcement targeted conservatives in their open-source searches surrounding the insurrection.

Persons: ”, Donald Trump “, Trump, Trump’s, ’, “, Mayorkas, ” Sen, Gary Peters, Biden, Jan, Peters, ” Peters, “ We’re, Jack Smith, Jennifer Moore, “ yep Organizations: CNN, Capitol, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Senate Homeland Security, DHS, of Intelligence, Trump, “, DC, U.S, Michigan Democrat, Justice Department, Senate, Republican, Washington Field Office

☆ How a 150-Year-Old Law Against Lewdness Became a Key to the Abortion Fight
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Emily Bazelon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The plaintiffs’ primary argument is that the courts should force the Food and Drug Administration to revoke its approval of mifepristone, the first pill in the two-drug regimen for medication abortion. At the same time, another potentially consequential part of the suit challenges an F.D.A. decision in 2021 allowing patients to receive the prescribed pills by mail. The plaintiffs in the Texas suit argue that the Comstock Act “explicitly forbids” mailing the drugs to any state, whether abortion is legal there or not. In defense of the agency’s actions, which were based on studies showing that the medication could be safely dispensed without an in-person medical visit, the Biden administration argues that Congress made the agency responsible for assessing a drug’s safety and effectiveness, not whether other laws might affect its use.

☆ Family of ex-Bosnian Serb leader sues US to escape sanctions list
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Andrew Goudsward | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 2 (Reuters) - Family members of former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic, who was convicted of war crimes for his role in the 1990s Balkan conflict, sued the U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday over their continued inclusion on a U.S. sanctions list. A Treasury Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His family said they began petitioning the Treasury Department in 2020 to be removed from a list of sanctioned individuals known as the "Specially Designated Nationals" list. “It’s unfair for somebody to have to wait so long before getting a decision,” said the family’s attorney, Peter Robinson. The lawsuit asked the court to order OFAC to decide on their requests within 30 days and seeks attorney fees.

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