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☆ Meredith Whitney is back. Here's her latest market call
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Famed analyst Meredith Whitney has ended a self-imposed exile from a finance world that she said had become "like watching paint dry." "Why I say there's no risk for an immediate downturn is because there's no forced selling," Whitney told CNBC's Sara Eisen during a " Squawk on the Street " interview. That forecast came after she had left Oppenheimer to start the Meredith Whitney Advisory Group, which she eventually shuttered to launch a hedge fund that no longer exists. Finance "was like watching paint dry, and things started to change about 18 months ago," Whitney said. In the current landscape, Whitney thinks the problems plaguing regional banks are collective "one-offs" that won't cause systemic damage.

Persons: Meredith Whitney, Whitney, CNBC's Sara Eisen, Oppenheimer Organizations: CNBC, Lehman, Citigroup, Meredith Whitney Advisory Group, Finance Locations: Silicon, Republic

CNN —A disruptive passenger on a Friday flight from Paris, France, to Detroit, Michigan, is facing criminal charges after his behavior caused the plane to be diverted to Canada, police said. The flight, operated by Delta Air Lines, left Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris Friday morning and was in the air for about six hours before landing in Canada, according to flight tracker FlightAware. After about 90 minutes at the Canadian airport, it took off and headed to Detroit. “Delta has zero tolerance for unruly behavior, especially when it potentially compromises the safety of our customers and flight crew,” a Delta spokesperson said in a statement regarding the incident. Last year there were more than 2,300 reports of unruly passenger behavior, according to US Federal Aviation Administration statistics.

Persons: Cpl, Jolene Garland, Garland, Charles de Organizations: CNN, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Stephenville, Delta Air Lines, Delta, US Federal Aviation Administration, FAA Locations: Paris, France, Detroit , Michigan, Canada, Newfoundland, Stephenville Municipal, Charles de Gaulle, Detroit

BEIJING, June 5 (Reuters) - U.S. automaker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) delivered 77,695 China-made electric vehicles (EVs) in May, a 2.4% jump from April, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on Monday. Chinese rival BYD Co Ltd (002594.SZ), with its Dynasty and Ocean series of EVs and petrol-electric hybrid vehicles, logged sales of 239,092 vehicle in May, up 14% from April, CPCA data showed. CPCA is scheduled to release more detailed car sales figures for May later this month. Tesla has been under intense focus in China in recent weeks, amid an unannounced, high-stakes visit from boss Elon Musk. Musk visited Tesla's Shanghai factory late on Wednesday and met with Chen Jining, the ruling party's Shanghai secretary, on Thursday.

Persons: CPCA, Tesla, Elon Musk, Ding Xuexiang, Musk's, Zeng Yuqun, Musk, Chen Jining, Chen, Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan, Brenda Goh, Louise Heavens, Bernadette Baum Organizations: U.S, Tesla Inc, China Passenger Car Association, BYD Co, Reuters, Amperex Technology Co, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China, Shanghai, Beijing

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Palo Alto Networks, 3M, Amedisys, Target and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A view of the exterior of the new Dutch head office of international technology company 3M in Delft, Netherlands, November 5, 2014. EPAM Systems — Shares of the software engineering firm tumbled 18% after it cut guidance amid further deterioration in near-term demand. Amedisys — The health care company's shares rallied 14% after it received an unsolicited buyout offer from Optum, a unit of UnitedHealth , to acquire Amedisys for $100 a share in cash. ImmunoGen — The biotechnology company's shares gained 5% after it announced results from ovarian cancer treatment Elahere showing a roughly 35% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared to chemotherapy. Dollar General — Shares fell 2.7% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the discount retailer's stock to equal weight from overweight Sunday.

Persons: Dow, Coinbase, Binance, Changpeng Zhao commingled, Robinson, Ford's David Bozeman, Morgan Stanley, KeyBanc, —, Yun Li, Alex Harring, Jesse Pound, Samantha Subin, Brian Evans Organizations: Palo Alto Networks, Dow Jones, Dish Network, 3M, Bloomberg, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Care, Ford, Equitrans Midstream Corporation, Ford Motor Co, Citi, Spotify, Target, Apple —, Developers Conference, Apple Locations: Delft, Netherlands, Optum, Bozeman, U.S, Cupertino , California

☆ Unclear when pilot became unresponsive before crash that sparked Washington DC security scare
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"That will absolutely be part of this investigation of looking at when exactly did the pilot become unresponsive and why did the airplane fly the flight track that it did fly? We don't know the information yet," NTSB investigator Adam Gerhardt told reporters near the crash site. The plane was carrying four including the pilot, a source told Reuters Sunday when it crashed near the George Washington National Forest. Encore owner John Rumpel told the Washington Post his daughter, a grandchild and her nanny were on board. The U.S. military attempted to contact the pilot, who was unresponsive, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement.

Persons: Adam Gerhardt, Gerhardt, John Rumpel, Rumpel, David Shepardson, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Washington , D.C, National Transportation Safety Board, Pentagon, Cessna, NTSB, U.S, Reuters, George Washington National, Virginia State Police, Encore Motors, Washington Post, FAA, North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, Elizabethton Municipal, MacArthur, Thomson Locations: Washington ,, Virginia, Delaware, Melbourne , Florida, U.S, Elizabethton , Tennessee, New York, Manhattan

CNN —US F-16 fighter jets caused a sonic boom across the Washington, DC, region Sunday as they scrambled to reach an unresponsive aircraft that ultimately crashed in Virginia, officials said. The civilian aircraft, a Cessna 560 Citation V, was intercepted by the NORAD jets around 3:20 p.m. and ultimately crashed near the George Washington National Forest in Virginia. “The pilot was unresponsive and the Cessna subsequently crashed near the George Washington National Forest, Virginia,” the release said. The aircraft crashed into a mountainous terrain in a “sparsely populated area”, according to FAA. “This afternoon, our officials were working closely with our federal partners to monitor an unresponsive pilot who was flying an airplane near the National Capital Region.

Persons: “, Joe Biden, Biden, Anthony Guglielmi Organizations: CNN, Federal Aviation Administration, Continental US, American Aerospace Defense Command, Cessna, NORAD, George Washington National Forest, George Washington National, “ NORAD, Virginia State Police, State, National Transportation Safety, Twitter, National Capital, DC Homeland Security, Emergency Management, FAA, Elizabethton Municipal, MacArthur, Capitol Hill, US Capitol Police, The U.S, Capitol, Service, Andrews Air Force Base, Andrews, White Locations: Washington, DC, Virginia, George Washington National Forest , Virginia, Staunton, Blue, Virginia Sunday, Elizabethton , Tennessee, New York, The, Maryland

☆ Opinion | New York Politicians Are Turning Away From the Housing Crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Mara Gay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

New York needs that plan, known as the Housing Compact, and hopefully Ms. Hochul can resurrect it over the coming year. In the coming days though, Ms. Hochul, Mr. Heastie and Ms. Stewart-Cousins can at least agree to policies that the governor has called “low-hanging fruit,” some of which could be achieved by executive order. Albany can also remove caps on the size of new residential buildings in New York City, paving the way for the higher density projects the city badly needs. New York City’s municipal government can do this, but it needs Mr. Adams’s help. At the Department of Homeless Services, more and better-trained workers are needed to help shelter residents apply for city housing vouchers, an onerous process that should be streamlined.

Persons: isn’t, Carl Heastie, Andrea Stewart, Cousins, Kathy Hochul, Hochul, Heastie, Stewart, Adams, Adams’s, Dave Giffen Organizations: Gov, City Hall, Legal, Department of Homeless Services, Coalition, Homeless Locations: Albany, New York, New York City

☆ Opinion | States Are Stifling the Voices of Cities and Their Voters
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

By reducing the right of localities to make their own decisions, Texas has joined dozens of other states that have asserted their dominance over cities in recent years through a practice known as state pre-emption. One watchdog group has counted more than 650 pre-emption bills in state legislatures this year; the large majority have been introduced by Republican lawmakers to curb policymaking in cities run by Democrats. But conservatives used to champion ideas like local autonomy, devolution and even block grants as a way of weakening centralized control. What’s now become clear is that Republicans dislike local control if they are not in charge of it. Restricting these ballot measures is fundamentally about depriving voters of a way to put a check on legislators, regardless of ideology.

Persons: It’s, What’s, ”, Clarence Anthony, we’ve, that’s, MAGA Organizations: Republican, Republicans, Democrats, National League of Cities, “, Florida Legislature, Nashville Metro Council, Republican Party Locations: Texas, South Bay, Fla, Florida, Tennessee, Nashville, In Ohio, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky

☆ Replanting the Amazon could slow global warming. Here’s why it’s hard
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +24 min

Milton da Costa Junior nosed his pickup through a remote stretch of the western Brazilian Amazon to check on his babies. Local authorities said the September 2021 incident, which Da Costa outlined in a police report that was reviewed by Reuters, is being investigated. Out of dozens of reforestation initiatives in the country, Rioterra and The Black Jaguar Foundation, a Brazilian-European group, are among the largest. Illegal invaders destroy in hours what it takes Rioterra or Black Jaguar a year to plant. In all, Black Jaguar has signed contracts with 26 farms and planted 326 hectares (806 acres) to date.

Persons: Milton da Costa, Da Costa, Carlos Nobre, Alexis Bastos, Rioterra, ”, Nobre, “, Bastos, Jamari, Dejesus Aparecido Ramos, it’s, ” Bastos, Jair Bolsonaro, Germany –, Bolsonaro, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Black, Ben Valks, Valks, Leandro Silveira, Silveira, São, ” Valks, aren’t, Cristina Banks, Leite, Marcos Mariani, Araguaia, Mariani, Tânia Irres, ” Irres, Regina Molke, I’ll, Clovis, Black Jaguar, Aquaverde, Renato Franklin, “ Ben, ” Franklin, L’Oreal, da Costa, ” Da Costa, da, Spring, Clare Trainor, Catherine Tai, Lais Morais, Ilan Rubens, Lucy Ha, John Emerson, Marla Dickerson Organizations: Milton da Costa Junior, Toyota, Reuters, Black Jaguar Foundation, National Institute for Space Research, Rioterra, Cultural, Environmental Studies, Petrobras, “, Amazon Fund, Environment Ministry, United, United Arab Emirates, São Paulo, Global, Farmers, Brazil’s Central Bank, Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, Imperial College London, Santana, Bolsonaro, United Nations, Space Agency, Copernicus, Sentinel Locations: Machadinho, Rondônia, Brazil, Germany, Brazilian, European, Manhattan, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Bastos, Porto Velho, droves, Rio, Black, Itapuã, Oeste, Norway, United Arab, Pará, Caixa, “, Costa, Syria, Paris, Santana, Araguaia’s, Clovis, Regina, United States, South, Geneva, Rio Preto, da Costa

☆ Traders are betting on a short-term reversal for chip stocks, ETF flows show
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Jesse Pound | In Jesse-Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3x Shares ETF (SOXS) was one of the top 10 ETFs for inflows over the past week, pulling in more than $400 million, according to FactSet. Meanwhile, more than $500 million were pulled out of the Direxion's Daily Semiconductor Bull 3x Shares ETF (SOXL) , the fourth-most outflows over the past week. As a result, their flows can reverse quickly and are not necessarily a good measure of long-term outlook for chip stocks. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) , which would be better suited to long-term investors, saw inflows of less than $40 million this week, a slowdown from prior weeks. Here are the top five ETFs by inflows over the past week.

Persons: Aswath Damodaran, Russell Organizations: A.I, Nvidia, Philadelphia Semiconductor, NYU, CNBC, Daily Semiconductor, VanEck Semiconductor, Bond

A fountain at Hermon High School in Maine is taped shut after the water tested over the state's safety limit for PFAS chemicals. The school's water recently tested above the state's safety limit for PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, often referred to as "forever chemicals." According to the Environmental Protection Agency, even tiny exposure to PFAS in drinking water could pose a serious health risk. Hermon High School is just one example of PFAS contamination currently affecting the community, according to Maine's attorney general, Aaron Frey. The company also expressed a commitment to remediate PFAS contamination, invest in water treatment and collaborate with communities.

Persons: Stephen King —, Micah Grant, Grant, Aaron Frey, Frey, Farmer Adam Nordell, " Frey, Wisconsin —, they've, they're, Scott Gottlieb, Gottlieb, —, du Pont, du Pont de Nemours, Corteva Agriscience, Corteva, Chemours, Deane Dray, Dray, Ben Brewer, It's, 3M's, Eric Rucker, Biden, Gianna Kinsman, Kinsman, PFAS Organizations: Hermon High School, CNBC, Hermon School, Environmental Protection Agency, CNBC Maine, DuPont, 3M, Centers for Disease Control, FDA, Manufacturers, du Pont de, Chemours, Dow, State, RBC Capital Markets, 3M Global, Bloomberg, Getty, RBC Capital, Law, Capstone, Republican, Biden Locations: Bangor , Maine, Maine, Maryland, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Alaska , California , Colorado , Delaware, Florida , Illinois , Michigan, Minnesota , New Hampshire , New Jersey , New York, North Carolina , Ohio, Vermont, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Delaware, Stuart , Florida, Stuart, Maplewood , Minnesota

☆ Biden aide expressed concern in calls with Kosovo, Serbia leaders
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - A senior aide to U.S. President Joe Biden expressed concern about events in northern Kosovo in calls with Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, the White House said on Friday. In both calls, the White House said Finer expressed concern about the situation and pushed for all parties to reduce conflict. Washington also expected both sides to re-engage in a European Union dialogue and "to fully implement the normalization agreement" reached earlier this year. In violence on Monday, 30 peacekeepers and 52 Serbs who protested against the installation of ethnic-Albanian mayors were injured. The presidents of Serbia and Kosovo insisted on Thursday that they want to defuse the crisis but have shown little sign of backing down from their opposing positions.

Persons: Joe Biden, Albin Kurti, Aleksandar Vucic, Biden's, Jon, Kurti, Biden, Vucic, Trevor Hunnicutt, Grant McCool Organizations: U.S, White, House, Union, NATO, Thomson Locations: Kosovo, Serbian, Kosovo's, Pristina, Serbia, Washington

☆ The W.G.A. Strike Feels Personal to Me. - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Ron Currie | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Most discussion of the Hollywood writers’ strike has centered on money: the studio chiefs, tech demigods and private equity oligarchs who have it and the writers like myself whose labor should entitle us to a greater share of it. One morning back in the summer of 2002, I was walking my dog when I got a call that my father was having a heart attack. Dad was a longtime Teamster, Local 340, which represents a grab-bag of freight jockeys, municipal workers and emergency services types. By the time I arrived, doctors had succeeded in dissolving the clot that had been choking off one of his coronary arteries. I found him lying in the I.C.U., less than a quarter of his heart muscle still functioning.

Persons: ’, we’ve, He’d, Dad, twitching Organizations: Hollywood, Writers Guild of America, Teamster

☆ Chinese star banker Bao Fan detained by country’s top anti-graft body, state media says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The mysterious disappearance of Bao has sent a chill through financial markets and China’s tech sector. Shares in China Renaissance had plunged more than 20% until they were suspended from trading in early April. China Renaissance had previously revealed only that Bao was “cooperating in an investigation” being carried out by certain authorities in the country. The specific agencies handling Bao’s case include the CCDI’s international cooperation bureau and Beijing’s municipal anti-graft authorities, the Economic Observer said. Cong has been detained by anti-corruption authorities since September for matters related to his tenure at ICBC Financial Leasing, the Economic Observer said.

Persons: Bao Fan, Bao, didn’t, Mike Blake, dealmaker, Xi, Cong Lin Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Economic Observer, Central Commission, CNN, Communist Party, China Renaissance, Analysts, China’s, Industrial, Commercial Bank of China, Financial Leasing Locations: Hong Kong, China, Bao, Laguna Beach , California, Dianping

CNN —Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti told CNN on Tuesday that he would not surrender the country to what he described as a Serbian “fascist militia,” following violent protests in its north over the installation of ethnically Albanian mayors in a disputed election. “We are not facing peaceful protesters, we are facing a mob of extremists,” Kurti told CNN. Disputed electionsMonday’s violence erupted after tensions bubbled for months in northern Kosovo over controversial local elections. More than a decade on, these municipalities have not been created, leaving disputes over the degree of autonomy for Kosovo’s Serbs to fester. “Kosovo is a success story of NATO intervention – that is what bothers both Belgrade and the Kremlin,” Kurti told CNN.

Persons: CNN —, Albin Kurti, ” Kurti, –, Valdrin Xhemaj, Antony Blinken, Kurti, ” Blinken, Emmanuel Macron, ” Macron, CNN’s Isa Soares, Kosovo’s, Aleksandar Vucic, “, Meliza, Quint, ” Haradinaj, Laura Hasani, Slobodan, Milosevic, ”, Putin, Vucic, ” Bosko Jaksic, we’ve Organizations: CNN, CNN — Kosovo’s, NATO, Serbian, NATO’s Kosovo Force, KFOR, Reuters, “, US, Kosovo, Kosovar, Albanian, European Union, Serbs, Kremlin Locations: Serbian, Zvecan, NATO’s, Albanian, United States, Kosovo, Slovakia, Pristina, Kosovo’s, Belgrade, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Reuters Kosovo, Brussels, Serbia, fester, Yugoslavia, Montenegro, “ Kosovo, Ukraine, ”, He’s

☆ Erdogan intent on taking back Istanbul after presidential victory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stretched his rule into a third decade after Sunday’s presidential election victory. Are you ready to win both Uskudar (a large district in Istanbul) and Istanbul in the local elections in 2024? Then let’s not stop.”By winning back Istanbul, Erdogan means having it governed by a mayor from his Justice and Development (AK) Party. Before beginning his term as prime minister in 2003, Erdogan was himself mayor of Istanbul between 1994 and 1998. The opposition beat Erdogan by nearly three points in both Istanbul and Ankara in Sunday’s presidential runoff.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, ” Erdogan, Ekrem Imamoglu, Imamoglu, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Berk, “ Imamoglu, ” Esen, you’ve, you’re, ” Imamoglu, ”, MetroPoll, Erdogan “, Soner Cagaptay, ” Cagaptay, Canan Kaftancioglu, Esen, “, Turkey ’ Organizations: CNN, Uskudar, ”, Istanbul, Development, Party, Welfare Party, AK Party –, Republican People’s Party, Sabanci University, “, Analysts, Electoral, Rights Watch, Washington Institute for Near East, Foreign Affairs, Union of Chambers, Commodity Exchanges, Erdogan’s Locations: Istanbul, Ottoman Empire, Turkish, Ankara, Sunday’s, CHP’s Istanbul, Izmir, Erdogan’s Istanbul, Turkey

☆ NATO-led troops guard town hall in northern Kosovo
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Fatos Bytyci | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/6] U.S. Kosovo Force (KFOR) soldiers, under NATO, stand guard near a municipal office in Leposavic, Kosovo May 31, 2023. Following clashes on Monday in Zvecan, another northern town, during which 30 NATO troops and 52 ethnic Serbian protesters were hurt, NATO said it would send 700 more troops to Kosovo to boost its 4,000-strong mission. Those ethnic Albanian mayors were then installed last week, a decision that spurred rebuke of Pristina by the U.S. and its allies on Friday. The ethnic Albanian mayor of Leposavic, another northern Kosovo town, remained in the municipal building on Wednesday after entering it amid Serb demonstrations on Monday. Peacekeeping troops were deployed in Kosovo in 1999 after NATO bombing drove Serbia's police and army out of its former province.

Persons: couldn't, Dragan, –, Emmanuel Macron, Macron, Olaf Scholz, Albin Kurti, Novak Djokovic, Djokovic, Jeton Hadergjonaj, Aleksandar Vucic, Fatos Bytici, Ivana Sekularac, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Kosovo Force, KFOR, NATO, REUTERS, Serbian, U.S, Reuters, United, Wednesday, Belgrade, Kosovo Olympic, International Olympic Committee, Kosovo Albanian, Thomson Locations: U.S, Leposavic, Kosovo, LEPOSAVIC, Zvecan, Serbian, Pristina, KOSOVO, United States, Serbia, Bratislava, Northern, Belgrade, EU

loadingWhile major social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have made efforts to prohibit and remove deepfakes, their effectiveness at policing such content varies. In total, about 500,000 video and voice deepfakes will be shared on social media sites globally in 2023, DeepMedia estimates. Jon Smith, Republican chair for Michigan's 5th Congressional district, is holding several educational meetings so his allies can learn to use AI for social media and ad generation. Political consultancies are also seeking to harness AI, further muddying the line between real and unreal. Democratic polling and strategy group Honan Strategy Group is meanwhile trying to develop an AI survey bot.

☆ NATO soldiers on guard in Kosovo Serb town following clashes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Fatos Bytyci | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ZVECAN, Kosovo, May 30 (Reuters) - Dozens of NATO troops secured on Tuesday a municipal building in the Kosovo town of Zvecan, where the previous day 30 NATO soldiers and 52 Serb protesters were injured in clashes. On Monday, Serb protesters in Zvecan threw tear gas and stun grenades at NATO soldiers. The NATO force, known as KFOR, said 30 of its soldiers were hurt in the clashes. In another Serb-majority town, Leposavic, an ethnic Albanian mayor was unable to leave his office for more that 24 hours because of protesters outside, media reported. Tensions have risen since ethnic Albanian mayors took office in northern Kosovo's Serb-majority area after elections the Serbs boycotted.

☆ A farmer who lives near Elon Musk's Texas campus says the state's lack of regulations means it's like the 'Wild West' for developers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Texas' is a "Wild West" for developers like Elon Musk's Boring Company, a farmer told The WaPo. The Boring Company and SpaceX both have built sites in Bastrop, a rural area near Austin. A farmer who lives near Elon Musk's Texas campus around 30 miles east of Austin says that the boom in development in the area means it's like "the Wild West." The Boring Company, Musk's construction company — which builds tunnels under cities to help alleviate traffic congestion — began work on its Bastrop facility in 2021. At the public meeting, however, some local residents did show support for the boost to Bastrop's economy that Musk's investments would bring.

☆ What’s Behind Rising Tensions in Kosovo?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Cora Engelbrecht | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Dozens of NATO peacekeepers were injured this week in northern Kosovo when they clashed with ethnic Serbs, raising fears of a larger escalation between Serbia and Kosovo. The violence came after Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian leadership sent heavily armed security forces to take control of town municipal buildings, the latest turn in a dispute that has roots going back to the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s. Kosovo, where a majority of the population is ethnic Albanian and Muslim, declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, almost a decade after NATO’s bombing campaign that drove Serb forces, responsible for years of brutal mistreatment of ethnic Albanians, from Kosovo. Since then, the two countries have clashed over Kosovo’s treatment of its minority ethnic Serb population.

Organizations: NATO Locations: Kosovo, Serbia, Albanian

☆ Kosovo tensions: Why did ethnic Serbs attack NATO peacekeepers?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Dozens of NATO peacekeepers were injured after they were attacked by ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo, during protests over the installation of ethnically Albanian mayors. More than a decade on, these municipalities have not been created, leaving disputes over the degree of autonomy for Kosovo’s Serbs to fester. Valdrin Xhemaj/ReutersFearing potential violence, Kosovo’s central election commission changed plans to put voting booths in local schools, instead setting up mobile huts patrolled by NATO peacekeepers. Of these, more than 16,000 are ethnic Serbs – with only around 500 ethnic Albanians. The peacekeeping mission said that it had increased its presence in northern Kosovo after the newly elected ethnically Albanian mayors took office in majority Kosovo Serb areas.

☆ Factbox: Key facts on Kosovo, independent for 15 years from Serbia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Here are key facts about the small western Balkan republic:POPULATION: Around 1.8 million, according to the most recent census in 2011, which local Serbs boycotted. HISTORY & PEOPLE: Kosovo became part of the Kingdom of Serbia in the early 13th century, with a mixed population of ethnic Albanians, Serbs and Vlachs. Mutual expulsions and migrations to and from neighbouring Albania in the early 20th century changed Kosovo's ethnic makeup. He accused Kosovo Albanians of persecuting local Serbs and restricted their rights in education and local government. It backs nationalist minority Serbs in north Kosovo boycotting the state, creating a de facto partition.

☆ Spanish prime minister calls for early general election
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

"I took this decision in light of the results of the elections held yesterday," Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a televised press briefing, according to a CNBC translation. Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called for the Spanish Parliament to be dissolved and for an early general election to be held on July 23. General elections were previously set to be held in December, but were brought forward by the heavy losses sustained by Sanchez's ruling Socialist party in the May 28 vote. The results showed that the Socialist party narrowly retained just three of the 12 regions that held elections, while the conservative People's Party and its coalitions claimed the rest. "I took this decision in light of the results of the elections held yesterday," Sanchez said in a televised press briefing on Monday, according to a CNBC translation.

[1/3] Smoke from the Tantallon wildfire rises over houses in nearby Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada, May 28, 2023. REUTERS/Eric MartynHALIFAX, May 29 (Reuters) - A wildfire in the eastern Canadian city of Halifax led to mandatory evacuation orders for thousands of homes, with officials saying residents are not allowed to return until advised by municipal authorities. These suburban communities are home to many of the city's workers and are situated about 15 miles from Halifax. The wildfire, aided by strong winds and tinder-dry woods, damaged dozens of homes and also hampered rescue services. But most of those fires have since been brought under control, helping oil and gas production to resume.

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