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☆ Burned remains of Maya royalty marked the rise of a new leader, study says
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The bones offer a rare glimpse of intentional corpse destruction in Maya culture to commemorate dramatic political change. Typically, Maya societies kept royal remains in accessible spaces where visitors could perform offerings. “Halperin is one of our most gifted field workers,” said Houston, who studies ancient Maya culture but was not involved in the research. Around the start of the ninth century when the remains were burned, carved Maya records described the deeds of a new ruler called Papmalil. Ritual desecration of royal remains by fire wasn’t unknown in Maya culture.

Persons: adornments, Christina T, Halperin, ” Halperin, “, —, . Halperin, Dr, Stephen Houston, “ Halperin, ”, Houston, ” —, ’, there’s, ” Houston Organizations: CNN, University of Montréal, telltale, Brown University Locations: Guatemala, Providence , Rhode Island, Guatemala City

☆ Mexico’s 2024 General Election: What to Know
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Emiliano Rodríguez Mega | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Why does this election matter? Mexico’s vote on June 2 will be a landmark election in several ways. It will be the country’s largest election in terms of voters and seats. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador cannot run again under the constitution, and he has strongly backed his protégée and fellow Morena party member, Claudia Sheinbaum, who pledges to continue the current leader’s agenda. Her primary opponent is Xóchitl Gálvez, a strong critic of the López Obrador administration who vows to return checks and balances to government.

Persons: Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Claudia Sheinbaum, Xóchitl Locations: Mexico

☆ Israel Announces New Operation Against Hamas, After Killing Top Leader’s Sons
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Cassandra Vinograd | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Israeli military announced what it called a precise operation to kill members of Hamas in Gaza on Thursday, a day after a strike there killed relatives of one of the group’s most senior leaders. Ismail Haniyeh, who leads the political wing of Hamas from exile, said three of his sons had been killed in the Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza on Wednesday. The Israeli military said that the three Haniyeh sons it killed — Amir, Mohammad and Hazem — were active in Hamas’s military operations, Amir as a cell commander and his brothers as lower-level operatives. One of the brothers was also involved in holding hostages, the Israeli military said, without specifying which one. The strike came as international negotiators work to broker a cease-fire in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the enclave.

Persons: Ismail Haniyeh, Haniyeh’s, — Amir, Mohammad, Hazem —, Amir Organizations: Hamas Locations: Gaza

☆ Zelensky says he will listen to Trump’s ideas to end war ‘with pleasure’
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Sophie Tanno | Lauren Said-Moorhouse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would listen to former US President Donald Trump’s ideas to end the war in Ukraine with “pleasure” but trod carefully around the issue during an interview at the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece. I haven’t heard that directly from Trump,” Zelensky told CNN’s Senior Correspondent Fred Pleitgen via video link from Ukraine. Ukrainian President Zelensky is pictured speaking from Ukraine during an interview with CNN’s Fred Pleitgen, who is at the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky inspects new fortifications for Ukrainian servicemen near the Russian border in the Kharkiv region on Tuesday. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout/Reuters“I’d like to underscore that no Western weapons were used to attack in such a way.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump’s, ” Zelensky, CNN’s, Fred Pleitgen, “, Zelensky, Trump, Ukraine “, ”, The Trump, “ There’s, he’s, CNN’s Fred Pleitgen, Pleitgen, Vladimir Putin’s, Putin’s, Reuters “, Oleksandr Prokudin, Ukrenergo Organizations: CNN, Delphi, Republican, German, Wednesday, Trump, Russia, West, Presidential Press Service, Reuters, Ukraine’s Defense Forces of Locations: Ukraine, Greece, Ukrainian, Russia, Trump, Delphi, Zelensky, “, Kharkiv, Western, Russian, Odesa, Mykolayiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv

☆ South Korean Parliamentary Election to Set Tone for Rest of Leader’s Term
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

In the two years since he was elected, President Yoon Suk Yeol has made his mark in foreign policy, forging deeper ties with the United States and Japan. Mr. Yoon has a shot at a do-over on Wednesday, when South Koreans head to the polls to select a new Parliament. Dozens of parties are vying for the 300 seats in the National Assembly, South Korea’s single-chamber legislature. However, the contest is largely between Mr. Yoon’s conservative People Power Party and the main opposition camp, the liberal Democratic Party. Both have intense followings, but the eventual winner is expected to be decided by moderate and swing voters.

Persons: Yoon Suk Yeol, Yoon Organizations: South Koreans, National Assembly, People Power Party, Democratic Party Locations: United States, Japan

A pile of flowers blanketed a small memorial in the center of the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius after the death of the Russian opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny last month. The impromptu tribute at the memorial, an unassuming pyramid commemorating victims of Soviet repression, has highlighted Vilnius’s growing status as the center of Russian political opposition. In Vilnius, exiled Russian journalists have set up studios to broadcast news to millions of compatriots back home on YouTube. Russian activists have rented offices to catalog the Kremlin’s human rights abuses, and exiled Russian musicians have recorded new albums for the audience back home. The arrival of the Russian dissidents in Vilnius has added to a larger wave of Russian-speaking refugees and migrants from Belarus and Ukraine over the past four years.

Persons: Aleksei A, “ Putin, ”, Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: Lithuanian, YouTube Locations: Lithuanian, Vilnius, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Belarus

☆ Biden and Netanyahu call comes amid extreme mutual tensions and political pressure
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

The conversation will also take place with both leaders under enormous domestic pressure and amid signs their political priorities are irreconcilable. Biden badly needs the war to end to ease anger among progressives that is threatening his weakened political coalition ahead of November’s election. The backdrop to the call is US fury over the killings of seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen in an Israeli strike in Gaza. And the killings of the aid workers threatens to halt a vital lifeline needed to mitigate famine in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. The strike on Damascus also heaped more domestic political pressure on Biden from inside the Democratic Party.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, ’, Biden, Netanyahu, It’s, Xi Jinping, Biden’s, ”, Israel, John Kirby, José Andrés, “, Rishi Sunak, Donald Trump, Thaer Ahmad, Nahreen Ahmed, ‘, Biden “, Benny Gantz, Ro Khanna, Mark Esper, ” Esper, CNN’s Jake Tapper, Netanyahu – Organizations: CNN, Israeli, National Security Communications, Hamas, World, Reuters, Navy, America, Gaza Health Ministry, Israel Defense Forces, Republicans, Capitol, British, Democratic, White, Black, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Democratic Party, ”, Democrats, California Democrat, Americans, Iranian Locations: Gaza, Israel, Rafah, Washington, Syria, China, America, Britain, Australia, Canada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Palestinian American, Palestine, Damascus, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Iranian, Damascus –, United States, Lebanon, California, Jordan

☆ Elon Musk’s X names new head of safety, more than a year after former safety leader’s exit
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

McRoberts’ elevation to the role comes more than a year after the company’s former safety leader, Yoel Roth, who oversaw what was then called the Trust and Safety team, resigned in the wake of Musk’s takeover. In its announcement, X said McRoberts has previously worked on other X safety features including labels that inform a user if their content is being restricted. In a post last month, Musk said he would change the name of X’s “Trust and Safety” team to simply the “Safety” team. We are changing the name of our Trust & Safety group, to simply @Safety,” Musk said. The goal of our Safety team is simply to ensure compliance with the laws that already exist to protect the people.”

Persons: New York CNN —, it’s, Kylie McRoberts —, Linda Yaccarino, Yoel Roth, X, White, Yale Cohen, Yaccarino, Musk, Pizzagate ”, McRoberts, ” X, ” Musk, ” Organizations: New, New York CNN, New York CNN — Elon, Twitter, Trust and Safety, Publicis Media, Google, Safety, & Safety Locations: New York, Austin , Texas, “

☆ Dina Boluarte: ‘Rolex case’ sees Peruvian police raid presidential palace over leader’s 14 luxury watches
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Claudia Rebaza | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Armed police raided Peru’s government palace and the private home of President Dina Boluarte in search of Rolexes and other luxury watches as part of a preliminary corruption inquiry. The probe was prompted by Peruvian news outlet La Encerrona’s investigation into Boluarte’s watches. After reviewing thousands of photographs of the President, La Encerrona determined that Boluarte owned at least 14 luxury watches. Peruvian media have since dubbed the incident the “Rolex case.”Boularte had denied any wrongdoing before the raid, saying anything she owned was a result of her hard work. Peru has in recent years been rattled by political instability, with president after president brought down by allegations of corruption or political malfeasance.

Persons: Dina Boluarte, La Encerrona, ” Boularte, “, ”, Mateo Castaneda, Castaneda, Boularte, Boluarte, Sebastian Castaneda, Gustavo Adrianzen, RPP, Eduardo Arana, Pedro Castillo, Castillo, Martin Vizcarra, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Ollanta Humala, Humala Organizations: CNN — Armed, Police, Reuters, RPP, Kuczynski Locations: Peruvian, Peru, Vizcarra’s

Central Bank is ‘mechanism of fraud’Milei also reiterated his intention to shut down the country’s central bank, calling the institution a “mechanism of fraud.”“A central bank is a fairly recent invention. Milei admitted his reform push has stalled in Argentina’s Congress in recent weeks, but his government maintains the intention to close the central bank within three years. In the interview, Milei claimed his government’s greatest success since entering office in December has been to beat the hyper-inflation and achieve a fiscal surplus for the first time in years. Milei celebrated Argentina’s fiscal surplus, achieved last month for the first time in years, and said that fiscal stability is “a beacon” of his government. Argentina’s poverty rate is over 50%, according to a report from the Argentina’s Catholic University in Buenos Aires.

Persons: ” “, Gustavo, Petro, Javier Milei, Andrés Oppenheimer, Miami Herald –, Colombia’s, Milei, ”, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, ” López Obrador, López Obrador, Argentinians “, ” “ Israel, ” Milei, Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, “, it’s, Oppenheimer, ’ Milei, Argentina’s Organizations: CNN, Colombian, Colombian Foreign Ministry, Miami Herald, Israel, ” Defense, Trump, Israeli, Republican, Democrats, Central Bank, Ulysses, Argentina national, Argentina’s Catholic University Locations: Bogotá, Argentine, Gaza, Israel, Buenos Aires, United States, Argentina’s

☆ Netanyahu says he’s trying everything to get more aid to Gaza. Aid groups say that’s not true
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

In his interview with CNN, Netanyahu made several claims about his country’s aid policy in Gaza. The Israeli leader’s claim contradicts statements he made previously, in which he boasted about permitting “minimal humanitarian aid” to enter Gaza. “We provide minimal humanitarian aid,” Netanyahu said at a press conference in January. The first 15 days of March saw an average of 165 aid trucks per day cross into Gaza, UNRWA reported Sunday. The UN and other aid groups have reported some of their aid trucks had been looted, but haven’t ascribed any blame for it.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, CNN’s Dana Bash, Netanyahu, Israel, ” Netanyahu, ”, Yoav Gallant, “, “ I’ve, Janti Soeripto, – we’ve, Martin Griffiths, Long, haven’t, Sameh Shoukry, Netanyahu lauds, Philippe Lazzarini, Israel hasn’t Organizations: CNN, Israeli, United Nations, European Union, Children, ” Trucks, UN, Food Programme, Palestine, UNRWA, Amnesty International, Aid, Palestinian, CNN Sunday, Israeli Defense Force Locations: Gaza, United States, Territories, Rafah, Israel, Egypt, Arish, airdrops

☆ Russian overseas voters have mixed views on whether their ballots are worth casting
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Anna Chernova | Lauren Kent | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Russia’s Central Election Commission said that overseas voting will take place at 288 polling stations in 144 countries, Russian state media TASS reported. During the 2018 presidential elections, 401 polling stations operated abroad and more than 475,000 people voted, according to the Central Election Commission as quoted by RIA Novosti. But this year, many overseas polling stations that operated in 2018 have been closed. Russian citizens at the Russian embassy in Berlin, Germany, look at a list of candidates in the 2018 Russian presidential election. A mourner lays flowers on the grave of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny at the Borisovo cemetery in Moscow on March 2, 2024, the day after Navalny's funeral.

Persons: Sergey Kulikov, Kulikov, ”, Vladimir Putin, –, Putin –, Joerg Carstensen, Luba Zakharov, ” Zakharov, Boris Nadezhdin, – Vladislav Davankov, Nikolai Kharitonov, Leonid Slutsky –, Alexey Navalny, Navalny’s, Yulia Navalnaya, Zakharov, “, Olga Maltseva, Anna, Putin, ” Anna, Putin …, ” Putin, Callum Fraser, Fraser, ” Fraser, Alexey Navalny’s, Ilya Yashin, Vladimir Kara, Boris Nemtsov, Anna Politkovskaya, ’, ” Kulikov Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, European, Human Rights, Russian Foreign Ministry, Russia’s, Commission, TASS, RIA Novosti, “, Central, Putin, Getty, Royal United Services Institute Locations: Russia, Dubai, Ukraine, Russian, Berlin, Germany, Hamburg, Moscow, AFP, Sheva, Israel

☆ Gold and sacrificial victims found in tomb of ancient leader, archaeologists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Taylor Nicioli | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Researchers found the ancient tomb in El Caño Archaeological Park, a site in Coclé province known as a hotbed for pre-Columbian discoveries, particularly lavish burial chambers. The civilization of the region surrounding El Caño at the time treated the site as sacred and worshipped their “ancestors,” referring to those remembered for having done important things. The grave is the ninth tomb excavated by researchers at the El Caño Archaeological Park, which is known for its richness in archaeological discoveries and lavish burial chambers. Ancient burial practicesThe archaeologists found the body of the supposed religious leader buried face down and on top of the body of a woman, the release stated. There have been two attempts — the most recent in 2021 — to figure out whom the various tombs found at the El Caño site once belonged to, Mayo said.

Persons: Julia Mayo, ” Mayo, Fundación El, Mayo, El Caño, ”, Nicole Smith, Smith, Guzmán, Ana María Navas Méndez, Caño, Gúzman, —, ” Navas Méndez Organizations: CNN, Panama’s Ministry of Culture, El Caño Foundation, El, Smithsonian Tropical Research, Sierra, Illinois State University Locations: Panama, El, Coclé, Panama City, America, Quimbaya, Colombia, South America, ” City

☆ Rift between Biden and Netanyahu widens as Israeli leader vows to press on with Rafah operation
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“It is a red line, but I am never going to leave Israel,” Biden said. We’re not going to leave (Gaza),” Netanyahu said Sunday in an interview with German outlet Axel Springer. “You know, I have a red line. “It (Israel) cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead,” Biden told MSNBC Saturday. Asked about the moment, Biden told MSNBC the comment meant he intends to have a serious meeting soon with Netanyahu.

Persons: Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden, Netanyahu, Israel ”, Israel, “, ” Netanyahu, ” Biden, “ We’ll, We’re, Axel Springer, Kamala Harris, ”, Bibi –, Antony Blinken, Michael Bennett, Bibi Organizations: CNN, Israeli, MSNBC, Politico, Israel, Sunday, US, Gaza Ministry, Health, Michigan Democratic Locations: Gaza, Israel, Rafah

☆ Tighter control and high-tech push: Key takeaways from China’s biggest annual political event
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The event, held largely without Covid restrictions for the first time in years, is a rare chance for the world to glimpse into an increasingly opaque political system under Xi. Here are the major takeaways from the gathering:Tightening controlThe closing day of the National People’s Congress legislature on Monday was missing a key event – a press conference conducted by the Chinese premier. High-tech pushAn overarching theme of the gathering was a push to focus China’s economic model on technology innovation and transform the country into a high-tech powerhouse. That included a boost to China’s annual budget for science and technology by 10% to an unprecedented 370.8 billion yuan ($51.6 billion). Two high-ranking posts in China’s cabinet previously occupied by Li and Qin remain open.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Mao Zedong’s, Xi, Li, ”, Washington, Wang Yi, who’d, Qin Gang, Li Shangfu, Qin Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, of, National People’s, State Council, Observers, Chinese Communist Party, ”, National People’s Congress, Foreign Locations: China, Beijing, Hong Kong, United States

☆ Trump former advisers sound the alarm that he praises despots in private and on the campaign trail
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Jim Sciutto | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

“He views himself as a big guy,” John Bolton, who served as national security adviser under Trump, told me. Trump lamented that Hitler, as Kelly recounted, maintained his senior staff’s “loyalty,” while Trump himself often did not. “He truly believed, when he brought us generals in, that we would be loyal — that we would do anything he wanted us to do,” Kelly told me. ‘Shocked that he didn’t have dictatorial-type powers’Trump’s former advisers say he most consistently lavished praise on Russian President Vladimir Putin. At a town hall organized by Fox News in July 2023, Trump said, “Think of President Xi: central casting, brilliant guy.

Persons: Donald Trump, Viktor Orbán, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong, Adolf Hitler “, Putin, Kim, ”, John Kelly, “, Putin wouldn’t, Orbán, CNN's Jim Sciutto, ” Trump, he’s, autocrats, Trump, Powers, Kelly, ” John Bolton, Erdogan, anybody’s, ” Kelly, Hitler Trump, Hitler, ’, ‘, ’ ” Kelly, Mussolini, Hitler’s, Steven Cheung, “ John Kelly, John Bolton, Vladimir Putin, Bolton, ’ ”, Xi, Reuters “ Trump, Matthew Pottinger, Xi —, authoritarians, Joe Biden, ” Bolton, Biden Organizations: CNN, NATO, Hungarian, Mar, Republican, Trump, Nazi, North, KCNA, Reuters, Fox News, Fox, Russian, Anadolu, Getty Locations: Hungarian, North Korea, Europe, Turkey, Nazi Germany, Panmunjom, South Korea, Hollywood, France, Osaka, Japan, Anadolu, NATO, Ukraine

☆ US, Germany and EU embassies begin evacuating staff as violence spirals in gang-plagued Haiti
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-10 | by ( Caitlin Stephen Hu | Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Dajabon, Dominican Republic CNN —The United States and other diplomatic missions have begun evacuating personnel from Haiti, as gang violence in the Caribbean nation’s capital Port-au-Prince continues to spiral. US Southern Command said the move was consistent with “standard practice for Embassy security augmentation worldwide.” No Haitians were on board the military aircraft, it added. Another source with knowledge of the operations told CNN there have been at least 12 helicopter evacuation flights into Port-au-Prince over the past three days, all evacuating diplomatic and humanitarian staff. However, shots fired nearby after the last flight’s take off on Sunday have called into question the viability of continuing the evacuation flights, the source said. The World Food Programme suspended its maritime transport services in Port-au-Prince from distributing aid across Haiti due to the instability.

Persons: Dajabon, ”, Joe Biden, Peter Sauer, Stefano Gatto, —, Prince, Gang, Jimmy Cherizier, Ariel Henry, Stephane Dujarric, Henry Organizations: Dominican Republic CNN, CNN, US State Department, US Southern Command, Southern Command, National Security Council, CNN Helicopter, European Union, EU, Caribbean Port Services, Dominican, United Nations, US Department of Treasury, Food, UN, OCHA, Kenya, Kenyan, Caribbean Locations: Dominican Republic, United States, Haiti, Caribbean, Port, Dominican, Haitian, Santo Domingo, Petionville, Haiti’s, Puerto Rico, CARICOM, Kingston

☆ Viktor Orbán meeting offers preview of Trump’s 2nd-term strongman idealizations
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Trump sees Orbán as the kind of strongman – unencumbered by legal and political restraints – that he’d like to be. Ahead of his meeting with the former president, Orbán endorsed Trump’s views on Ukraine, in what will have been music to Putin’s ears and will have added to alarm in Kyiv about what a second Trump term would mean. “It is not gambling but actually betting on the only sensible chance, that we in Hungary bet on the return of President Trump,” Orbán told an economic forum on Monday, Reuters reported. In a statement, Biden’s campaign rebuked Trump for meeting “Hungarian dictator Viktor Orbán, notorious for eroding his own country’s democracy and cozying up to Vladimir Putin (sound familiar? Much of Europe is already recoiling in horror over the possibility of a second term for Trump.

Persons: Viktor Orbán, Donald Trump, isn’t, Biden, CNN’s Betsy Klein, Trump, – unencumbered, Orbán, Vladimir Putin –, laud Orbán, he’s, ” Trump, –, ” Orbán, “, ”, Joe Biden’s, Putin, castigate Trump, ’ ” Biden, didn’t, ” Biden, Vladimir Putin Organizations: CNN, Biden, GOP, Trump, Conservative Political, NATO, European, EU, Reuters, Republicans, Republican Locations: Hungarian, United States, Orbán, Florida, Russian, Ukraine, New Hampshire, Hungary, Sweden, Kyiv, Russia, American, Europe, Budapest

☆ Biden projects a vision of strength that’s been missing from his presidency but will be needed in 2024 campaign
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

And in the most important moment of the 2024 election campaign so far, Biden appeared to succeed. “President Biden is clearly not on his A-game and I think that’s a charitable way to describe it. Republicans complain Biden politicized a great state eventSome Republicans faulted the president’s delivery and said he mistook loudness for strength. And in his speech on Thursday, Biden was advocating a different kind of strength – one rooted in democracy rather than in trying to destroy it. That debate about two vastly different visions of the meaning and the soul of the country will decide the fates of both Biden and Trump come November.

Persons: Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Biden, — Biden, Trump, ”, “, ” Biden, ” Trump, —, Alabama Sen, Katie Britt, Mike Johnson, ” Johnson, he’s, genuflecting, autocrats, Ronald Reagan’s, Mikhail Gorbachev, Putin, ’ ” Biden, Xi Jinping’s, hale, George W, Bush’s, Ari Fleischer mused, Dan Crenshaw, Rush Limbaugh, –, Viktor Orban, Orban cozies, Orban, CNN’s Betsy Klein, I’ve, let’s Organizations: CNN, State, Representatives, GOP, Republicans, Capitol, Trump, ”, Union, Alabama, Republican, Democratic, Republican National Convention, America, Biden Locations: Trump, Florida, year’s State, Ukraine, Russian, Xi Jinping’s China, China, Texas, American, Hungarian, Mar

☆ A Popular Israeli Leader’s Meeting in London Sends a Message to Netanyahu
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, met David Cameron, Britain’s foreign secretary, in London on Wednesday, he got a sharp message that Israel must do more to allow humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza. It was the kind of minister-level meeting that would normally draw modest attention amid the flurry of high-level diplomacy that has enveloped the Israel-Hamas war. But Mr. Gantz and Mr. Cameron are no mere functionaries. Mr. Gantz, a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, is a popular political rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Mr. Netanyahu expressed deep displeasure at what he viewed as an unsanctioned trip by a would-be Israeli leader. Mr. Cameron, a former prime minister, has enjoyed uncommon latitude as foreign secretary, speaking out forcefully on issues like Gaza and the war in Ukraine on international trips, where he is often treated as though he were still in his old job.

Persons: Benny Gantz, David Cameron, Gantz, Cameron, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Mr Organizations: Israel Defense Forces Locations: London, Israel, Gaza, Ukraine

☆ Hundreds queue in Moscow to visit grave of Putin critic Navalny
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-03 | by ( Darya Tarasova | Amy Cassidy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Hundreds of people have been flocking to the grave of late Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny. Images from OVD-Info, an independent Russian human rights group that monitors Russian repression, show a long line of people queuing at Navalny’s grave and laying flowers at the Borisovsky Cemetery in Moscow. Ulf Mauder/picture-alliance/dpa/APThousands of mourners defied threats of arrest and gathered for Navalny’s funeral on Friday, two weeks after he died aged 47 in an Arctic penal colony. There was heavy security in place and some in the crowd chanted his name or anti-Putin slogans. At least 103 people were detained across 20 Russian cities on the day of Navalny’s funeral, OVD-Info reported on Sunday.

Persons: Alexey Navalny, Navalny’s, Lyudmila, Yulia, Navalny, Ulf Mauder, ”, Olga Maltseva Organizations: CNN, “, Reuters, Kremlin, . Riot, Getty Locations: Moscow, AFP, Russia, Germany

☆ Opinion: Mitch McConnell’s unconditional surrender
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Julian Zelizer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Mitch McConnell has bowed to political reality and announced that he is relinquishing his role as leader of Senate Republicans. (Chao served as transportation secretary under former President Donald Trump, before quitting the post following the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.) The anti-Trump coalition within the Republican Party is small and hanging on by a thread, and there is little chance of that changing in the short term. Now, one of Haley’s most generous benefactors, the conservative political action committee Americans for Prosperity, funded by the Koch network, has withdrawn its funds. And now, like other Trump opponents, Romney finds himself heading for the exit at the end of his current term.

Persons: Julian Zelizer, Mitch McConnell, McConnell, Elaine Chao, Chao, Donald Trump, ”, It’s, he’s, invectives, MAGA, Trump, Merrick Garland, Barack Obama’s, — McConnell, SCOTUS, Roe, Wade, Dobbs, Lindsey Graham, Sen, Dick Durbin, —, that’s, Gingrich’s, Nikki Haley, Haley, couldn’t, Koch, Mitt Romney, Romney, convicting Trump, Trump’s, Romney’s Organizations: CNN, Princeton University, The New York Times, America, Republicans, Julian Zelizer CNN, Trump, Ukraine, GOP, Republican Party, Republican, NATO, Tea Party, MAGA, UN, Prosperity, Old Party Locations: Washington, life’s, Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, Kentucky, South Carolina, Utah

CNN —Attempts to hire a hearse to take the body of Alexey Navalny body to his funeral have been thwarted by unknown people, the Russian opposition leader’s team said Thursday. ET) Friday at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God in Moscow’s Maryino district, where the opposition leader lived. The Church of the Icon of the Mother of God in Moscow, where Navalny's funeral will be held. “On his orders, Alexey was tortured for three years,” she added, a reference to the time Navalny spent in prison. Even after that, they abused his body,” she said, as Navalny’s team alleges the body was held in order to pressure the family into agreeing to hold a private funeral.

Persons: Alexey Navalny, Kira Yarmysh, ” Yarmysh, ”, God, Olga Maltseva, Yarmysh, Ivan Zhdanov, Navalny’s, Navalnaya, Putin, Navalny, Navalny “, –, Yulia Navalnaya, Vladimir Putin, “ Putin, “, Alexey, Anna Chernova Organizations: CNN, of, Getty, Corruption Locations: Moscow’s Maryino, Moscow, AFP, Siberia, Russia, Germany, Soviet, Russian

☆ Opinion | Why Authoritarians Like Saddam Hussein Confound U.S. Presidents
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Steve Coll | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

America committed its worst foreign policy mistake of the post-Cold War era when it invaded Iraq in 2003 to disarm Saddam Hussein of his supposed weapons of mass destruction. Another central question has rarely been examined: Why did Mr. Hussein sacrifice his long reign in power — and ultimately his life — by creating an impression that he held dangerous weapons when he did not? Mr. Hussein recorded his private leadership conversations as assiduously as Richard Nixon. He left behind about 2,000 hours of tape recordings as well as a vast archive of meeting minutes and presidential records. And they clarify the complicated matter of why he could not persuade U.N. inspectors, multiple spy agencies and many world leaders that he did not possess weapons of mass destruction.

Persons: America, Saddam Hussein, Biden, George W, Hussein, Richard Nixon, Bush Locations: Iraq, Iran, Washington, United States, China, Russia

☆ Aleksei Navalny’s Body Was Returned to His Mother, Allies Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Anton Troianovski | More About Anton Troianovski | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Russian authorities have transferred the body of the opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny to his mother, his spokeswoman said on Saturday, ending a grim battle for custody of his remains, but it is unclear whether he will get a funeral that the public can attend. “Aleksei’s body has been handed over to his mother,” Mr. Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, said in a statement posted on social media. “The funeral is yet to come. She added that the opposition leader’s team would release information about the funeral “as it becomes available.”Mr. Navalny’s family and aides have accused the Russian authorities of keeping his body hostage and “blackmailing” his mother into agreeing to bury him in secret. On Friday, Ms. Yarmysh said that officials in Salekhard had given Ms. Navalnaya an ultimatum demanding that she assent to such a secret funeral within three hours, or else that he would be buried on prison grounds.

Persons: Aleksei A, Navalny, ” Mr, Navalny’s, Kira Yarmysh, Aleksei, Lyudmila Navalnaya, Yarmysh, Mr, “, ”, Salekhard, Navalnaya Locations: Salekhard

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