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CNN —Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader declared himself the winner of the weekend’s presidential election in a race where crime and safety were among voters’ biggest concerns. Official results are still pending, but the election website shows the former businessman leading by a wide margin as two of his top challengers conceded. “Tonight I called President Luis Abinader by phone to recognize his electoral victory and wish him success in his administration,” candidate Leonel Fernandez wrote on X. “I’d like to wish luck to Luis Abinader, our country has plenty of challenges, I ask God that we overcome them as a nation,” Dominican politician Abel Martínez said in a statement. Federico Parra/AFP/Getty ImagesThe vote comes amid the spiraling political and social crisis in neighboring Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic.

Persons: Luis Abinader, Abinader, Leonel Fernandez, Abel Martínez, Federico Parra, Black Organizations: CNN — Dominican, Getty, United Locations: Dominican, Santo Domingo, AFP, Haiti, Hispaniola, Dominican Republic

☆ U.S. Intelligence Warning to Moscow Named Specific Target of Attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Julian E. Barnes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The U.S. warning to Russia ahead of a terrorist attack near Moscow was highly specific: Crocus City Hall was a potential target of the Islamic State, according to U.S. officials. The warning had the right venue but imprecise timing, suggesting that the attack could come within days. Indeed, the public warning by the United States Embassy on March 7 warned of potential terrorist attacks in the next two days. Gunmen stormed the hall on March 22, killing 144 people, the deadliest attack in Russia in nearly 20 years. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, and Russia charged four men from Tajikistan, accusing them of carrying out the massacre.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: Islamic, United States Embassy, Gunmen, Islamic State Locations: Russia, Moscow, Crocus, Islamic State, Tajikistan, Ukraine

☆ China gears up to ring in Year of the Dragon with expected record 9 billion trips
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Authorities last month forecast that China’s population of 1.4 billion would take a record 9 billion trips during the 40-day holiday travel period, which began on January 26. Stringer/VCG/Getty Images A man takes photos of blooming plum blossoms at the Summer Palace in Beijing, China on February 5. Johanes P. Christo/NurPhoto/AP Crowds flock to the Spring Festival Light Show in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China on February 3. Axel Miranda/SOPA Images/Sipa/Reuters Workers assemble dragon lanterns at a production workshop in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China on January 24. Two major indexes recorded their worst drops in years capping off a dire 2023 that saw China’s stock markets become the world’s worst performer.

Persons: ”, Luo, Stringer, VCG, Zhang Yu, Ulet Ifansasti, Johanes, NurPhoto, Zhang Cheng, Wu Wenjun, Axel Miranda, Xi Jinping, ” Xi Organizations: Hong Kong CNN —, Festival, CNN, Authorities, China News Service, Spring, Reuters Workers, HSBC, Beijing, United States Embassy Locations: Hong Kong, China, Beijing, Fujian, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, Solo City, Indonesia, Dharmayana, Bali , Indonesia, Guangzhou, China's, Guangdong Province, Barcelona, Spain, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, Shanghai

Try going for a stroll in much of Guatemala City: It is a pedestrian’s nightmare. Rifle-grasping guards squint at each passerby, sizing up potential assailants. But tucked within the chaotic capital’s crazy-quilt sprawl, there is a dreamlike haven where none of that exists. Evoking the feel of a serene Mediterranean town, Cayalá features milky white buildings with red-tile roofs, a colossal civic hall with Tuscan columns, cafes and high-priced restaurants, colonnade-lined plazas and walkable, stone-paved boulevards. All of this is open to the public — except for the gated sections where about 2,000 families live.

Locations: Guatemala City, Cayalá, States

☆ Tracing the Deep Roots of Ireland’s Support for Palestinians
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Under the light drizzle of a Tuesday morning last month, Ríonach Ní Néill and a group of friends set up a small platform in front of the United States Embassy in Dublin. Then they took out a stack of papers. For the next 11 and a half hours, Ms. Ní Néill and others took turns reading out thousands of names — each one a person killed since Israel started bombarding Gaza in the war, according to a list released by the Gazan health authorities. It was an attempt to convey the enormity of the loss of life, she said. “I think the baseline really in Ireland is that human rights are valued, and what’s happening now is the destruction of universal human rights,” said Ms. Ní Néill, 52, an artist from Galway.

Persons: Ní, Ní Néill, “, ” Organizations: United States Embassy, ” Locations: Dublin, Israel, Gaza, Ireland, Galway, “

☆ Can U.S.-China Student Exchanges Survive Geopolitics?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Vivian Wang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On a cool Saturday morning, in a hotel basement in Beijing, throngs of young Chinese gathered to do what millions had done before them: dream of an American education. At a college fair organized by the United States Embassy, the students and their parents hovered over rows of booths advertising American universities. Did America still want Chinese students? And were Chinese students sure they wanted to go to America? He had read the frequent headlines about gun violence, anti-Asian discrimination and, of course, tensions between the United States and China, at one of their highest levels in decades.

Persons: ”, Zhuang Tao Organizations: United States Embassy Locations: Beijing, America, United States, Australia, Britain, China

☆ Cuba stages pro-Palestine march past US embassy in Havana
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Nelson Acosta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] People shout slogans during a march in support of Palestinians, calling for a ceasefire and for charging Israel with committing “genocide” in Gaza, in Havana, Cuba, November 23, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini Acquire Licensing RightsHAVANA, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Cubans on Thursday marched in front of the U.S. embassy in Havana charging Israel was committing “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza. Communist-run Cuba has been a strong backer of the Palestinian cause for decades and has trained more than 200 Palestinian doctors. "We are here and it is no coincidence that we have marched in front of the United States embassy," Anet Rodríguez, a university professor, said. Since then, some 14,800 Gazans have been killed by Israeli bombardment, around 40% of them children, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Persons: Alexandre Meneghini, Israel, Miguel Diaz, Fidel Castro, Marc Frank, Anet Rios, Diane Craft Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, U.S, United, State, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Havana, Cuba, Rights HAVANA, Cuban, Palestine, Israel, Communist, United States

☆ New Delhi air pollution: Why can’t India’s capital clean up its toxic air like Beijing?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

“It’s an invisible killer,” said Jyoti Pande Lavakare, author of “Breathing Here is Injurious to Your Health: The Human Cost of Air Pollution” and co-founder of clean air non-profit Care for Air. China’s capital has since cleaned up its act, which begs the question: if Beijing can clean up its toxic air, why can’t India too? A key moment in China’s fightback came in 2013, when the government started to invest billions of dollars into a national air pollution action plan. Hundreds of thousands of lives savedChina’s raft of clean air policies have been so successful, they have saved hundreds of thousands of lives, research has shown. They say Kejriwal’s team has done little in terms of implementing effective policies to clean New Delhi’s air.

Persons: “, ”, Jyoti Pande Lavakare, Arun Sankar, China’s, –, Wang Zhao, China’s fightback, Frank Christian Hammes, IQAir, Sunil Dahiya, Dahiya, Stringer, Arvind Kejriwal, Kejriwal, Virendra Sachdeva, Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sudhanshu Dhulia, Raj K Raj, “ You’re Organizations: CNN, Health, Pollution, Air, Getty, United, Global, Energy, Institute, University of Chicago, Centre for Research, Clean, Bloomberg, Beijing, Care for Air, Aam Aadmi Party, Bharatiya Janata Party, AAP, Ministry of Environment, Hindustan Times Locations: Delhi, Beijing, India, ”, AFP, United States, China, Swiss, New Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, New, Indonesia, Malaysia, Care, CREA, IQAir

“After China's ban on Japanese seafood, we are seeing more customers buying not only Fukushima fish but also Japanese seafood in general to support the industry." Despite the wastewater discharges, auction prices at Fukushima fish markets have remained stable — or even occasionally higher than normal. While individual consumers favor ordering fish by mail and shopping at seafood markets, prefectural government cafeterias have started serving Fukushima seafood for lunch. In Kyoto, a group of world-renowned Japanese “Kaiseki” cuisine chefs, will develop menus that primarily use Fukushima fish starting early next year. “I wish I could sell more local fish,” Haga said.

Persons: Kazuto Harada, “, ”, “ I'm, it’s, Futoshi Kinoshita, Katsuya Goto, ” Goto, Yoshinori Tanaka, ” Tanaka, Haga, ” Haga Organizations: —, International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Tokyo Electric Power Company, United States Embassy, TEPCO, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Japanese Culinary Academy Locations: IWAKI, Japan, Onahama, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tokyo, South Korea, Beijing, China, Kyoto, Toriyone, Asia, asia

Security has been tightened and seats added to accommodate a wave of new attendees who decided to come after the Oct. 7 attacks. Speakers at the Las Vegas gathering will also include Senator John Thune, the second-ranking Senate Republican; Gov. Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Scott strongly denounced those remarks, and Mr. Trump spent several days walking them back. He also cut aid for Palestinians, and his administration took steps to designate a campaign to boycott Israel as antisemitic. Marc Goldman, a Boca Raton, Fla., investor on the group’s board, said he backed Mr. Trump in 2020 and was likely to support him again.

Persons: ”, Ari Fleischer, George W, Bush, Donald J, Trump, Mike Johnson, John Thune, Sarah Sanders of, Joe Lombardo, Matt Brooks, ” Eric Levine, Levine, Tim Scott of, “, Biden’s, Biden, Vivek Ramaswamy, Ron DeSantis, ” Nikki Haley, DeSantis, Haley, Scott, Pell, Benjamin Netanyahu, Marc Goldman, Mr, Goldman Organizations: Republican Jewish Coalition, Republican, Jewry, American, Republican Jewish, Israel Defense Forces, Gov, Republican Party, Israel, America, Mr, Abraham Accords, United Locations: Israel, United States, Las Vegas, Gaza, America, Louisiana, Vegas, Sarah Sanders of Arkansas, Joe Lombardo of Nevada, New York, Iran, China, Russia, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Tehran, Doha, Qatar, Florida, U.S, Jerusalem, Boca Raton, Fla

☆ 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

☆ Across Mideast, Protests Erupt Over ‘Horrific Scenes’ in Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Vivian Yee | More About Vivian Yee | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In Morocco and Bahrain, they demanded a reversal of their government’s normalization with Israel, the country they consider responsible for oppressing their Palestinian brethren. In Lebanon, they pushed toward the United States Embassy, denouncing the superpower for enabling Israel’s brutality toward civilians in the Gaza Strip. In Istanbul, 80,000 people massed outside the Israeli consulate, including some who attempted to storm the building with stones, sticks, torches and fireworks. Thousands of protesters marched in grief, fury and solidarity across the Middle East on Tuesday night and Wednesday, after hundreds of Palestinian civilians were killed in an explosion at a hospital in Gaza. Some Arabs have berated their governments for failing to stand up to Israel in the past, but now those governments have nearly uniformly condemned Israel for the attack.

Persons: Israel, —, ”, Khaled Mhamdi, Biden, Israel’s Organizations: United States Embassy, Islamic, Al Ahli Hospital Locations: Tunis, Cairo, Oman, Muscat ., Morocco, Bahrain, Israel, Lebanon, Gaza, Istanbul, United States, Islamic Jihad, Palestinian, Al Ahli, Jordan, Egypt

Scores of people set off on a 40-mile trek on foot from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. On Tuesday, President Biden held a meeting with Mr. Herzog, who serves as Israel’s mostly ceremonial president, at the White House. Several lawmakers critical of Israel said they would boycott Mr. Herzog’s speech to Congress to protest the Israeli government’s policies. Some members of the Israeli military reserves have campaigned against the law, and labor unions have threatened general strikes. Scores of protesters were also marching from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, carrying blue-and-white Israeli flags and chanting “De-mo-cra-tya!” — Hebrew for democracy.

Persons: Isaac Herzog, Biden, Herzog, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu’s, ”, “ Organizations: Doctors, U.S, White, Mr, ”, United States Embassy Locations: Israel, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, United States

☆ Expect more military cooperation between the U.S. and India, says U.S.-India Business Council
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailExpect more military cooperation between the U.S. and India, says U.S.-India Business CouncilAtul Keshap, president of the U.S.-India Business Council, and former Charge d'Affaires at the United States Embassy in New Delhi, says "it is clear that the diplomatic, military, strategic, economic, technological convergence between the U.S. and India is really starting to hit the accelerator pedal."

Persons: Atul Keshap Organizations: U.S, India Business, U.S ., India Business Council, United States Embassy Locations: India, U.S, New Delhi

☆ U.S.-India relations enter a new chapter and could unlock even more tech and defense deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Charmaine Jacob | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesU.S.-India relations entered a new chapter as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden announced a slew of technology and defense deals. "We were strangers in defense cooperation at the turn of the century, but now the United States has become one of our most important defense partners." That includes more military agreements, according to Atul Keshap, president of the U.S.-India Business Council, and former charge d'affaires at the United States Embassy in New Delhi said. And that is not contingent upon India supporting the United States down the line. "The U.S. understands that the human tech capital is a very important part of U.S. global leadership in innovation," said Singh, who previously served as India's ambassador to the United States.

Persons: Joe Biden, Narendra Modi, Modi, Atul Keshap, CNBC's, Biden, Raymond Vickery, Pant, Arun Singh, Singh, ORF's Pant Organizations: Joe Biden India's, White, Bloomberg, Getty, U.S . Congress, CNBC, U.S ., India Business Council, United States Embassy, India's, Washington Post, The Washington Post, F414, . Navy, Washington, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Observer Research Foundation, Carnegie India Locations: Washington , DC, India, U.S, United States, New Delhi, Republic of India, Washington ,, China, Delhi

☆ How Pat Robertson Created the Religious Right’s Model for Political Power
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Elizabeth Dias | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Pat Robertson imagined a nation where conservative Christian values reigned in the halls of power. Conservative Christian believers would no longer be ignored, as he felt they were. Mr. Robertson ran for president in 1988, hoping to channel evangelistic popularity from his growing television empire, the Christian Broadcasting Network, into Republican political might. And yet, by the time of his death on Thursday, the vision he championed had gained more power than he could have ever thought possible. The polarizing rhetoric of his often inflammatory views has become a defining feature of American politics.

Persons: Pat Robertson, Robertson, —, Roe, Wade, Donald J, Trump Organizations: Conservative, Christian Broadcasting Network, Republican, United States Embassy Locations: America, Israel, Jerusalem

☆ China Sentences a U.S. Citizen to Life in Prison for Espionage
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Chang Che | Olivia Wang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A Chinese court said it sentenced a 78-year-old American citizen to life in prison on Monday on unspecified charges of spying, the latest in a wave of espionage cases the authorities have pursued amid growing wariness of foreign influence in the country. The Intermediate People’s Court in the southeastern city of Suzhou said in a short statement that it pronounced John Shing-Wan Leung guilty of espionage and sentenced him. Mr. Leung holds a United States passport and is a permanent resident of Hong Kong, according to the statement posted on the court’s social media account. A spokesman for the United States Embassy in Beijing said the embassy was aware of the reports about the case but declined to comment because of privacy concerns. American citizens arrested in China must sign a privacy waiver to allow embassies and consulates to release information about their cases to the public.

NAIROBI, Kenya — It began with a helicopter evacuation of American diplomats from Sudan’s besieged capital city just after midnight Sunday, then turned into a full-fledged exodus of foreign officials and citizens of other nations as the battle raged around them. At the United States Embassy in Khartoum, an elite team of Navy SEALs ushered up to 90 people onto aircraft before taking off for Djibouti, 800 miles away. Hours later, a United Nations convoy began snaking its way out of the city, starting a 525-mile drive to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, while British and French diplomats were escorted to an airfield outside the city where military cargo planes were waiting. Other groups headed for Qadarif, a small town near the border with Ethiopia, and a boat chartered by Saudi Arabia carried its fleeing diplomats across the Red Sea. After days of fruitless diplomatic efforts to get two warring Sudanese generals to lay down their weapons, foreign governments took another tack this weekend: fleeing a country, long viewed as strategically important, that has been in the grip of intense fighting for over a week.

☆ I lost my ID in another country and forfeited $2,500 when my trip was cut short. Here's what I learned and how I got home.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Crystal Raypole | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

I lost my ID while traveling in Canada, which ruined my planned six-day, $2,500 trip to Churchill. I recently planned a trip to Churchill, Canada, — a tiny, frigid town that happens to be extremely remote and difficult to reach. But I had to cancel my trip when one of the worst things happened: I lost my ID somewhere on the streets of Vancouver, my first travel stop. If I'd lost either form of ID, I could have kept going with the other. I'm pretty sure showing Canadian customs a photo of my lost ID would have helped me get through the tense interview a little more smoothly, too.

☆ A GOP politician tried to use the Iran hostage crisis to help Reagan in the 1980 election. The man who accompanied him wants to come clean to Jimmy Carter: 'History needs to know that this happened'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

GOP politician Ben Barnes said his mentor worked to influence the 1980 election in favor of Reagan. John Connally asked Middle East leaders to delay the release of Iranian hostages. "History needs to know that this happened," Barnes told The New York Times. "I'll go to my grave believing that it was the purpose of the trip," Barnes told the Times. Barnes told the Times he finally decided to share the details of the trip following the news that Carter admitted himself to hospice care.

☆ U.S. Embassy in Cuba reopening visa and consular services
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

HAVANA — The United States Embassy in Cuba is reopening visa and consular services Wednesday, the first time it has done so since a spate of unexplained health incidents among diplomatic staff in 2017 slashed the American presence in Havana. Cubans are now the second-largest nationality after Mexicans appearing on the border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows. Visa and consular services were closed on the island in 2017 after embassy staff were affflicted in a series of health incidents, alleged sonic attacks that remain largely unexplained. While relations have always been tense between Cuba and the U.S., they were heightened following the embassy closure and the Trump administration’s tightening of sanctions on Cuba. Cuban officials have repeatedly expressed optimism about talks with the U.S. and steps to reopen visa services.

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