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☆ Climate change and extreme weather, like Maui wildfires, are hurting affordable housing
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

For people on Maui and across the US, climate change is making the affordable housing crunch even worse. “This is why they have been building these affordable housing buildings. It is a safe place, but it doesn’t feel like home.”Affordable housing picture on Maui was already ‘pretty grim’For people on Maui and across the US, climate change is making the affordable housing crunch even worse. But not fires damaging buildings and taking lives.”“The affordable housing picture was pretty grim on Maui even before the fire,” he said. “There was more than one kitchen, more than one family living there.”These types of cobbled-together solutions to affordable housing are now gone, as are other recent hard-won affordable housing projects.

Persons: Josh Green, Hannah Harris, Tony Ellett, ”, Harris, “, ” Harris, Ellett, Jae C, Shantal Catanach, Keanu, ” Catanach, she’s, Stan Franco, Franco, –, Diane Yentel, ” Yentel, Yentel, Hurricane Sandy, Sandy, Peter Niess, Justin Sullivan Organizations: DC CNN, Urban Institute, UN, University of Hawaii’s Economic Research Organization, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, NOAA National Centers for Environmental, Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University, Income Housing Coalition, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Hurricane, Maui Architectural Locations: Washington, Maui, Lahaina, Catanach, Maui County, Hawaii, Corelogic, Maui –, Lahaina , Hawaii

☆ Explainer: Why has Ecuador become so violent?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A view of the rally site where Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was killed at a campaign event in Quito, Ecuador August 9, 2023. REUTERS/Karen Toro/File PhotoAug 10 (Reuters) - Ecuador was reeling on Thursday from the slaying of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio the night before, less than two weeks before elections were to take place. The killing of Villavicencio, a vocal critic of corruption and drug crime that have beset Ecuador, underlines a deteriorating security situation in much of South America. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO SECURITY IN ECUADOR? Verisk Maplecroft similarly attributed an "unprecedented surge in brutal criminality" to growing " trans-national drug-trafficking organizations and violent street gangs."

Persons: Fernando Villavicencio, Karen Toro, Villavicencio, Verisk Maplecroft, Guyaquil, Guillermo Lasso, Villavicencio's, Lasso, Luis Donaldo Colosio, Colombia's, Luis Carlos Galan, Cristina Fernandez De Kirchner, Jair Bolsonaro, Oliver Griffin, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: REUTERS, Colombia's Liberal, Thomson Locations: Quito, Ecuador, South America, ECUADOR, Colombia, Europe, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay, Argentine

☆ Mountains are collapsing: A Swiss mountain peak fell apart, sending 3.5 million cubic feet of rock into the valley below. Scientists warn climate change could make more mountains crumble.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( Emily Swaim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Across the world, mountains with permafrost melt have shown larger and more frequent landslides, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported. Sean Gallup / Staff / Getty ImagesBut warming temperatures due to climate change affect more than permafrost. "As mountains get smaller, they reduce pressure on the surrounding slopes, and this is often the trigger for mass movements," Knight said. Climate change puts their lives in danger from mudslides, landslides, rockfalls, and more. The futureAs climate change accelerates, mountain environments change more quickly, as well.

Persons: Fluchthorn, Jasper Knight, that's, Knight, Sean Gallup, SIERRA, Alejandro Argumedo, Tammy Stenner, Stenner, Argumedo, Frédéric Soltan, they're Organizations: Swiss, Service, University of Witwatersrand, Research, rockfalls, Staff, Mount Cook National, South America Locations: Austrian, Southern, New Zealand, Mt, Fluchthorn, Austria, Switzerland, South Africa, South Island , New Zealand, South, ANDES, Peru, Yunnan, China, Peru's, Peruvian

☆ Geopolitical risks are a top global threat to businesses, survey finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Sumathi Bala | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Around 36% of businesses polled view geopolitical tensions as top risks currently — such as those related to issues over Taiwan, South Korea, and Russia-NATO. The latest third quarter 2023 Global Risk Survey covered 127 businesses from July 6-27 this year. Risks aheadGeopolitical risks continue to factor prominently for businesses as a major concern for the next five years. "As reported last quarter, more than three-fifths of respondents view geopolitical risks as a very significant risk to the global economy over the medium term," said Thompson. "An intensification of geopolitical tensions could potentially trigger significant deglobalization of trade and the financial system," he added.

Persons: Fred DUFOUR, FRED DUFOUR, Fred Dufour, Jamie Thompson, Fitch, Biden, Vladimir Putin, Thompson, Kevin O'Leary Organizations: Getty, Afp, Oxford Economics, Fitch downgrades, UBS, NATO, U.S, Reuters, Atlantic Treaty Organization, . Federal, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank Locations: Beijing, Taiwan, South Korea, Russia, Washington, U.S, China, it's, Ukraine, Republic, Silicon

CNN —General Salifou Mody, one of the Niger officers who seized power in a military coup last week, visited Mali on Wednesday, according to the Mali presidency, amid speculation of a possible interest in the Wagner mercenary group, which has a presence in the country. Mali’s transitional president, Assimi Goïta, hosted Mody and a large Nigerien military delegation on Wednesday, according to pictures and a statement posted on Facebook by the Mali presidency. Hundreds of Wagner contractors are stationed in Mali at the invitation of the country’s military junta, to quell an Islamist insurgency brewing in an area where the borders of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger meet. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin last week celebrated the coup in the landlocked West African country, saying his private military company could also help with situations like the one unfolding in Niger. US officials have warned that the Russian mercenary group could now seek new opportunities in Niger.

Persons: Salifou Mody, Wagner, Assimi, Mody, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Bazoum, Matt Miller, Miller, ”, Burkina Faso’s, Niger’s, Mohamed Bazoum Organizations: CNN, Nigerien, Facebook, National Council for, ”, Wednesday ., Central African, Economic, West African States Locations: Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, West, Western, France, Russian, “, Africa, histed, Wednesday . Mali, Sudan, Central African Republic, Sahel, Burkina, Guinea

☆ Niger coup: Europeans evacuated from West African country as neighboring juntas warn against intervention
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Joseph Ataman Larry Madowo Caitlin Hu Shirin Faqiri Sana Noor Haq | Joseph Ataman | Larry Madowo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —France was preparing to evacuate French and European citizens from Niger on Tuesday after a presidential coup plunged the West African nation into a political crisis that polarized neighboring countries in the region. A message from the French embassy to French citizens in Niger, seen by CNN, instructed those wishing to be evacuated to bring food and water with them while they wait before boarding. Stringer/ReutersFrance and the European Union also cut off financial aid to Niger following the coup. Niger has “endemic problems, poverty, and terrorism, so there are many factors contributing to instability in the country,” Hudson added. In the wake of the deposition, some Nigeriens expressed their anger against the legacy of French colonialism and its continued influence in the West African country.

Persons: Catherine Colonna, Antonio Tajani, Mohamed Bazoum, Major Amadou Abdramane, Stringer, insurgencies, Bazoum, Cameron Hudson, ” Hudson, Issifou Djibo Organizations: CNN —, French, LCI, Embassy, CNN, Italian Foreign Ministry, West African States, Getty Images Security, Reuters, European Union, Nigerien, Niger, Center, Strategic, International Studies, World Bank, French Armed Forces, National Assembly Locations: CNN — France, Niger, West, France, Niamey, ”, Nigerien, Italy, Burkina Faso, Mali, Sahel, AFP, Reuters France, Guinea, Niger ., Niger’s, Africa’s Sahel, Nigeria, Western, Russia, Elysee, Moscow

☆ As Russia Strikes on Ukraine's Ports, White House Warns Ships May Be Next
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Safak Timur | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

Russia’s moves have profound implications for the export of Ukraine’s grain, a commodity vital for its own economy and world grain markets. How have Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian ports affected the situation? Since Monday’s announcement, Russia has launched a series of nightly aerial attacks on Ukrainian ports, killing and wounding civilians. Six nations have a Black Sea coastline and it is a main conduit for Russia’s grain exports. Last summer, the European Union took steps to smooth a path for Ukraine’s overland grain exports, given the Russian Black Sea blockade.

Persons: Sal Gilbertie, Oleksandr Gimanov, Volodymyr Zelensky, António Guterres, Chris Mcgrath, Vladimir V, Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Reni, Benoît Fayaud, Arif Husain, ”, Maciek, Mateusz Morawiecki, ” Monika Pronczuk Organizations: Ministry of Defense, Initiative, World Food, ., Agence France, United Nations, Getty, Strategie, European Union, The New York Times Ministers Locations: Kushuhum, Ukraine’s, Zaporizhzhia, Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, U.S, Chornomorsk, Odesa, Turkey, Istanbul, China, Poland, Izmail, Romanian, Constanta, Russian, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia

☆ Kenya Stares Into ‘Abyss’ as Soaring Prices and Feuding Leaders Bring Chaos
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Declan Walsh | More About Declan Walsh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Kenya’s boisterous news outlets are normally fierce rivals. “Let’s save our country,” read an identical banner headline across the front pages of the Daily Nation, Standard and other major papers. Kenya risks tumbling into “a dark and dangerous abyss,” the joint article said, if its leaders fail to resolve a boiling crisis that has destabilized one of Africa’s strongest democracies. Police clashed with demonstrators in Nairobi on Thursday in the second of three days of planned nationwide protests against soaring food and fuel prices and steep tax hikes. The police, sometimes firing live rounds, killed at least six people in clashes on Wednesday and detained about 300, including a prominent opposition politician who was whisked away to a police station 60 miles from the capital.

Persons: William Ruto, “ Organizations: Daily Nation Locations: Kenya, Nairobi

☆ Opinion: With their leader still missing, who will control Wagner forces in Africa?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Joyce M. Davis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Wagner forces appear to despise the Russian military, as Prigozhin’s reckless march from Ukraine toward Moscow made abundantly clear. That’s why when Wagner forces started withdrawing from Ukraine last month, many feared the same might happen in Africa. And who can guarantee Wagner forces won’t turn on African leaders who decide to side with Putin? “Don’t worry, we aren’t going anywhere.”It’s not as if Russia could repatriate and replace Wagner forces with verifiably loyal Russian troops — even if it wanted to. And quite frankly, Africa will only emerge better-off if democratic governments emerge after Wagner forces are shown the door.

Persons: Joyce M, Davis, CNN —, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladmir Putin, Dan Gleiter Prigozhin, Putin, Prigozihin, Putin wouldn’t, Khalifa Haftar, Faustin, Burkina Faso’s, Ibrahim Traore, Prigozhin, didn’t, Prigozhin’s Wagner, Assimi Goita, won’t, Haftar, ”, “, It’s, Sergey Kostelyanyets, ” Kostelyanyets, obeisance, Traore —, they’re, Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, They’re, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Sudan’s, Wagner weren’t, Washington, Wagner “, there’s Organizations: Patriot -, World Affairs Council, CNN, Wagner Group, Wagner, Central African Republic, Burkina, Guardian, Libyan, Russian Academy of Sciences ’ Institute for African Studies, Newsweek, Russia’s Ministry of Defense, Support Forces, Moscow, US Treasury Department, Twitter, Facebook, Central African Locations: Harrisburg , Pennsylvania, Africa, Crimea, Ukraine, Moscow, Libya, Mali, Sudan, Russia, Eastern Libya, Russian, Benghazi, Dubai, Touadéra, Prigozhin, Central African Republic, United States

☆ A North Korean stunned world soccer when he scored in Serie A. Then Han Kwang Song went missing
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Gawon Bae | Andrew Mcnicol | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

But the Covid-19 pandemic led to North Korea fully sealing its borders, making it impossible for Han and fellow repatriated North Korean nationals to return home. PyongyangHan was born in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang in 1998. The opening of North Korea through sport seemed like a door that would not be closed any time soon. They followed the Olympics and soccer,” former North Korean men’s soccer national team head coach Jørn Andersen told CNN Sport, adding that he had limited contact with the North Korean public during his time in Pyongyang between 2016 and 2018. Holding a North Korean passport, Han was no exception to these sanctions, despite his preternatural soccer talent.

Persons: Han Kwang, Qatar’s, Han, –, Hahn, hea, Kim Jong, Pyongyang Han, Kim Jong Un’s, Kim, Alberto Mier, Jørn Andersen, ” Andersen, Han Kwang Song, Enrico Locci, YuMi, Rome –, Choe, “, Mario Berreta, ” Cagliari’s, Max Canzi, ” Canzi, ‘ Tell Mario, ”, Canzi, Nicholas Pennington, Tullio M, Pennington, ” Han, Juventus –, Duhail, Sandro Stemperini, Qatar Han’s, Andersen, hasn’t, he’s, ” Anderson, regretfully Organizations: CNN, Juventus, Little North, South, CNN Sport, United Nations Security Council, North, Pyongyang International Football School, CNN North Korea, Korean, soccer, team, North Korean, Bundesliga, Liga, KCTV, FIFA, Cagliari's Serie, Chievo Verona, Academy, ISM Academy, AC Perugia Calcio, Cagliari, Canzi, Serie A, Perugia, Getty, AC Perugia, Juventus ’, Serie, ISM International Scouting Center, UNSC, North Korea, DPRK, Democratic People’s, Al, Qatar’s, Qatar Stars, Qatar, UN, Fiorentina, Sport, Qatar Stars League, “, Qatar Airways, – Locations: Korean, Italian, Pyongyang, South Korean, North Korea, Qatar, London, South Korea, Germany, Italy, England, Spain, Perugia –, Italy’s, Umbria, Rome, Europe, “, Cagliari, Puglia, Seoul, North Korean, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Qatari, Korea, North, Ahli, ”, Doha, China, Russia

☆ What is the Wagner Group? A look at the mercenary group led by man accused of 'armed mutiny' in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Phil Helsel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Called by Russia a "private military company" the Wagner Group is called a proxy force by U.S. officials and others, while others label it a mercenary group. Worldwide effortsThe Wagner Group has also been involved in other parts of the world, including Africa. Senior Western diplomats have said that the Wagner Group took control of a gold mine there. Human Rights Watch said in a report that suspected Wagner Group forces have committed atrocities, including executing unarmed men. watch nowThe U.S. in January designated the Wagner Group a transnational criminal organization.

Persons: Maksim Konstantinov, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, general's, Vladimir Alekseev, RBK, Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, John Kirby, U.N, Kirby, Prigozhin Organizations: PMC, Private Military Company, PMC Wagner Center, Lightrocket, Wagner Group, Telegram, NBC, Wagner, Prigozhin, U.S . National Security, Strategic, International Studies, U.S . Department of Defense, Central African, Rights Watch, U.S . Treasury Department, U.S . National Security Council, Russian Defense Ministry Locations: St . Petersburg, Ukraine, Russia, U.S, Washington, Russian, Africa, Libya, Central African Republic, Senior

☆ Explosion Rocks Central Paris, Injuring at Least 24 People
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Aurelien Breeden | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

An explosion tore through an apartment building in central Paris on Wednesday, partly collapsing the structure and injuring at least 24 people, according to the French authorities. The explosion, which occurred around 5 p.m. on Rue Saint-Jacques, in the Fifth Arrondissement of the French capital, projected rubble and glass into the street and started a fire that sent black smoke billowing into the sky. Four of the people injured in the blast were in critical condition, according to the Paris police. Laurent Nuñez, the Paris police prefect, told reporters more than 250 firefighters had deployed to the scene and were able to prevent the flames from spreading to neighboring buildings, which were nonetheless “seriously destabilized” and evacuated.

Persons: Jacques, Laurent Nuñez, destabilized ” Organizations: Rue Saint Locations: Paris, Rue, Fifth

☆ Surfside Condo’s Pool Deck Had ‘Severe Strength Deficiency,’ Investigators Say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Mike Baker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In summaries of their preliminary findings ahead of a hearing Thursday, the investigators wrote that the pool deck’s design lacked sufficient strength at and between many of its supporting columns. But the pool deck had other problems. The steel reinforcement inside the concrete slabs of the pool deck was buried deeper in the concrete than the initial designs. Planters that were heavier and more extensive than originally designed had been added to parts of the pool deck, bringing more weight to an already under-designed system. There are signs that the pool deck was showing distress — cracks in a planter and sagging concrete slabs — well before the collapse, the investigators wrote.

☆ Convicted 'Unabomber' Ted Kaczynski dead at 81
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Alistair Bell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/2] Theodore Kaczynski is led out of federal court where he was charged with a single federal weapons violation April 4,1997. June 10 (Reuters) - Ted Kaczynski, former math professor and "twisted genius" who came to be known as the Unabomber when he carried out a 17-year spree of mysterious bombings that killed three people and baffled the FBI, died on Saturday at the age of 81. Kaczynski's younger brother, David, tipped off police that the author's ideas sounded like those of Ted. In 1980, Kaczynski sent a package bomb that exploded and injured United Airlines President Percy Wood at his Illinois home. Kaczynski detailed how modernization has destabilized society, subjected humans to indignities and "inflicted severe damage on the natural world."

Persons: Theodore Kaczynski, Ted Kaczynski, Kaczynski, Kaczynski's, David, Ted, Theodore John Kaczynski, Dale Eickelman, Eickelman, Percy Wood, Hugh Scrutton, Thomas Mosser, Gilbert Brent Murray, Janet Reno, Dan Whitcomb, Phil Stewart, Lucia Mutikani, Daniel Wallis, Diane Craft, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Federal Medical Center, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Reuters, The Harvard University, University and Airline, Society, FBI, Harvard University, Daily, Harvard, University of Michigan, University of California, Chicago's Northwestern University, American Airlines, Dulles International, United Airlines, Illinois, New, Exxon, U.S, Washington Post, Thomson Locations: Montana, Butner , North Carolina, California, Florence, Florence , Colorado, North Carolina, Chicago, Berkeley, Lincoln, Washington, Sacramento , California, New Jersey, Los Angeles

☆ Haitian Businessman Gets Life Sentence in Assassination of Haiti’s President
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Chris Cameron | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A federal judge in Florida sentenced a businessman and former drug trafficker with Haitian and Chilean citizenship to life in prison on Friday for his role in the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti. Rodolphe Jaar is the first person to be convicted and sentenced in what federal prosecutors have described as a sprawling conspiracy to murder the Haitian leader and seize power, aided by Haitian officials, Colombian mercenaries and illegal arms shipments from the United States. The killing unraveled the already fragile Haitian government, giving rise to lawlessness and extreme violence as gangs have stepped into the power vacuum. The leading role that the United States has taken in seeking justice for the murder of a foreign leader is an indication of how much the death of Mr. Moïse has destabilized his country and deepened the chronic dysfunction of the Haitian justice system. American officials have premised their investigation on their assertion that much of the conspiracy was planned in South Florida and involved American citizens.

Persons: Jovenel Moïse, Rodolphe Jaar, unraveled, Jaar, Jose E . Martinez, Moïse Organizations: Haitian, Colombian, Federal, Court Locations: Florida, Haitian, Haiti, United States, Miami, South Florida

☆ All the ways cars suck, according to the guy who wrote the book about it
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Knowles told Insider why Americans, and the world, love cars so much, despite the downsides. One person even wrote to The New York Times, suggesting that pedestrians crossing their street should point their guns at anyone driving in self-defense, Knowles wrote. Now, thanks to lobbying efforts by the automotive industry to move pedestrians off the roads and into cars, Americans view cars much differently, he said. Cars suck because they blow — chemicals and particulate matter, that is, Knowles wrote. Despite this, Knowles wrote, cars persist.

☆ A Texas-Sized Energy Fiasco
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

What a mess. Renewable subsidies have distorted and destabilized the Texas electric grid, which resulted in a week-long power outage during the February 2021 freeze. To prevent more blackouts, Republicans in the Lone Star State now plan to subsidize gas power plants. The Texas Senate last week passed putative energy reforms to “level the playing field,” as Lt. Gov. Texans will now spend tens of billions of dollars to bolster natural-gas plants that provide reliable power but can’t make money because of competition from subsidized renewable energy.

☆ Biden report on Afghanistan blames Trump for degraded US operations
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Nandita Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Biden inherited a depleted operation in Afghanistan from Trump that crippled its response, John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, told reporters in a press conference on Thursday. Biden was left with a stark choice - withdraw all U.S. forces, or resume fighting with the Taliban. The Taliban overran Afghanistan in August 2021 as the former Western-backed government in Kabul collapsed with surprising speed and the last U.S. troops withdrew. Under Biden's Republican predecessor Trump, the U.S. made a deal with the Islamist Taliban to withdraw all American forces. Reporting by Nandita Bose and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Tim Ahmann, David Gregorio and Marguerita ChoyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia’s Vladimir Putin Blames U.S. for War in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Ann M. Simmons | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin told the new U.S. ambassador to Moscow that Washington was responsible for the war in Ukraine, in comments that underscored the extent to which the relationship between Washington and Moscow has frayed over the past year. In a televised ceremony to accept credentials for new envoys, the Russian leader Wednesday lambasted the U.S. for pursuing a foreign policy that he said had intentionally destabilized the world.

☆ Elizabeth Warren demands Fed crackdown on large regional banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Senator Elizabeth Warren is cranking up the pressure on the Federal Reserve following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Both Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank fit into that asset threshold when they failed earlier this month. The bipartisan 2018 rollback of Dodd-Frank freed large regional banks in that range of assets from the toughest oversight. Notably, the letter was signed by Senator Angus King, the Maine independent who voted in favor of the 2018 rollback. Days after the bank failures, the Federal Reserve launched a review of the regulation and oversight of Silicon Valley Bank.

☆ East Congo militants kill at least 22 in string of attacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENI, Democratic Republic of Congo, March 19 (Reuters) - Suspected militants killed at least 22 people in a string of attacks across the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern Ituri and North Kivu provinces overnight Saturday, officials and activists said on Sunday. The incidents were the latest in a stream of continuous violence that has plagued eastern Congo for years, despite increasing interventions from the country's army and U.N. peacekeepers. At least 12 people were killed Saturday in simultaneous raids across several villages in Ituri province. Congo's government declared a state of siege in North Kivu and Ituri in 2021, in an attempt to stem rampant militia violence in the country's vast mineral-rich east. "Even when we are under siege, the enemy still surprises us every day," said Delphine Malekani, an activist in North Kivu.

☆ Dozens of Senate Republicans oppose overturning the law that made the disastrous 2003 Iraq invasion possible
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Bryan Metzger | John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Senate began the process on Thursday to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Iraq War AUMFs. "It should be easy to remove," quipped Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a supporter of repeal. "I don't want to do anything that reduces the President's ability to kill somebody like Soleimani," said Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. For Sen. Paul, repealing the Iraq War AUMFs — which he called "symbolic" — isn't going far enough. The 2001 AUMF opened the door for the invasion of Afghanistan, launching the longest war in US history.

☆ Russian forces are closing in on the strategic city of Bakhmut, giving Ukraine a tough choice to make
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Ukrainian military vehicles drive along a road outside of the strategic city of Bakhmut on January 18, 2023 in Bakhmut, Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers outside the strategic city of Bakhmut on Jan. 18, 2023, in Bakhmut, Ukraine. Ukrainian servicemen of the artillery unit of the 80th Air Assault Brigade talk near Bakhmut, Ukraine, on Feb. 7, 2023. On Wednesday, Russian media reported comments from a Russian special forces commander, who claimed Russian units were advancing into Bakhmut. Ukrainian security forces talk to an elder woman while the first anniversary of Russia-Ukraine war approaches in Bakhmut, Ukraine on January 25, 2023.

☆ Constantine, the former and last king of Greece, dies at 82
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

ATHENS, Greece — Constantine, the former and last king of Greece, who won an Olympic gold medal before becoming entangled in his country’s volatile politics in the 1960s as king and spent decades in exile, has died. Prince Constantine on his sailboat at the Olympics in 1960. With minimal nostalgia for the monarchy in Greece, Constantine became a relatively uncontroversial figure. Crown Prince Constantine, left, arrives at the Raiding Forces' Headquarters on July 5, 1956. Prince Charles and King Constantine II of Greece attend Sunday service at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham estate in King's Lynn, England, on Dec. 9, 2007.

Federal prosecutors endorsed plans to allow two former Sam Bankman-Fried lieutenants, Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison, to post bail after both pleaded guilty to supporting a multibillion-dollar fraud allegedly perpetrated by former FTX CEO Bankman-Fried, court documents show. Wang and Ellison would be required to post $250,000 in bail each, surrender their passports and restrict their travel to the continental United States. In addition to admitting their complicity in the collapse of FTX, Wang and Ellison signed consent orders with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a civil concession that Bankman-Fried has yet to make. Wang, 29, and Ellison, 28, both pleaded guilty to fraud charges stemming from their leadership positions at FTX and Alameda, respectively. In a prerecorded statement Wednesday night, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said the indicted former FTX CEO had been taken into FBI custody after a chaotic Bahamas extradition process.

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