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☆ Hong Kong protest anthem vanishes from online music platforms after government seeks full ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The ballad contains lyrics that reference the phrase “liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” a protest slogan that has been already outlawed in 2020 for what the government and courts have declared are the phrase’s secessionist and subversive connotations. Users in the US cannot purchase the song on Apple Music either, although it also still yields search results on the platform. Following its 1997 handover to China, Hong Kong was promised key freedoms and autonomy to run its own affairs. The head of Amnesty International’s China team, Sarah Brooks, described the government’s move to outlaw the song as “absurd.”“The Hong Kong government must end its increasingly fervent crackdown on freedom of expression. Playing the song in public in Hong Kong is now fraught with legal risk.

Persons: Hong Kong ”, ”, “ ThomasDGX, Hong Kong, Hong Kong’s, John Lee –, –, Sarah Brooks, ” Brooks, Hong Kongers, Carl Court, Queen Elizabeth II Organizations: CNN, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Google, Department of Justice, RTHK, Amnesty, “, Volunteers Locations: Hong Kong, United States, South Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Hong, Beijing

☆ Prince Harry took to the witness stand in UK court this week: Here’s what’s going on
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Prince Harry became the first high-ranking British royal to take to the witness stand in more than 130 years this week in a court case over alleged phone-hacking by U.K. media group MGN. The group claims that senior editors and executives at MGN were aware of and encouraged the wrongdoing, including phone hacking — the illegal interception of voicemails. MGN, publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, has previously admitted that its titles were responsible for phone hacking. Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) lawyer Andrew Green said there was no evidence to show Prince Harry was a victim of phone-hacking. "To have a decision against me and any other people that come behind me with their claims, given that Mirror Group have accepted hacking ...

Persons: Prince Harry, Carl Court, Meghan Markle, Harry — King Charles ' III's, —, MGN, David Sherborne, Chelsy Davy, Meghan, Harry, Sherborne, Andrew Green, Green, Davy, Princess Diana Organizations: British, Getty, U.K, Mirror Group Newspapers, MGN, Daily, Sunday People, Buckingham Palace, Mirror Group, Anadolu Agency

☆ The destruction of a major Ukrainian dam could have grave consequences. Here’s what we know so far
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

A partially flooded area of Kherson on June 6, 2023, following damage sustained at the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam. "The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam only confirms for the whole world that they must be expelled from every corner of Ukrainian land. "As a result of detonation of the engine room from the inside, the Kakhovskaya [hydroelectric power plant] was completely destroyed. 'No immediate risk' to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plantThe U.N.'s nuclear watchdog said it was closely monitoring the situation at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest nuclear power station.

Persons: Dmitry Peskov, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy, Ukrhydroenergo, Nova Kakhovka, Peter Stano, Jens Stoltenberg, meanwhile, Rafael Grossi, Grossi, Carl Court Organizations: Anadolu Agency, Getty, Google, Tass, CNBC, NBC News, Internal Affairs Ministry, Afp, National Security and Defense Council, European Commission, Ukraine, European Union, NATO, Twitter, International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Carl Locations: Russian, Ukraine's Kherson, Ukraine, Nova Kakhovka, Moscow, Nova, Crimean, Russia, Kherson, Ukrainian, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia

☆ Carl Icahn’s Firm Faces Federal Inquiry
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Maureen Farrell | Matthew Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The investment firm controlled by the billionaire activist investor Carl C. Icahn has fielded questions from federal prosecutors about its management and operations, according to a securities filing made on Wednesday. On May 3, federal prosecutors in Manhattan requested documents from Mr. Icahn and his firm just one day after his publicly traded company, Icahn Enterprises, became a target of Hindenburg Research, the short-seller firm that has made its name in recent years by taking on the Indian tycoon Gautam Adani and the Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. News of the inquiry was the latest setback for Mr. Icahn, who is best known for targeting publicly traded companies and their chief executives and pressuring management to make changes. Short sellers profit when stock prices fall, and shares of Icahn Enterprises have fallen nearly 40 percent since Hindenburg Research released a report last week, accusing the company of running “Ponzi-like economic structures.” On Wednesday, the stock fell about 15 percent on news of the federal inquiry.

Poppies are the most well-known flowers in the superbloom, but others, such as whispering bells and milkmaids, are also expected. Golden poppies are the state flower of California. They are typically bright orange and grow to the size of a tennis ball.

☆ California’s Wet Winter Could Lead to First Superbloom in Years
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Alyssa Lukpat | Carl Churchill | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

California is about to be treated to a spectacle: Hillsides awash in poppy superblooms, thanks to heavy rain during the winter that is coaxing the flowers to blossom. Deserts and hills in parts of the state are expected to be covered in bursts of orange and yellow poppies this spring. California officials said there was enough rain over the winter to bring the superblooms back for the first time since 2019.

☆ US lawmakers press Wall St regulator over coming climate rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Douglas Gillison | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

March 29 (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers on Wednesday prodded Wall Street's top regulator to justify his agency's efforts to regulate companies' climate disclosures and criticized the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for what they said was hasty rulemaking. Conservative lawmakers and commentators have cast Gensler as an interventionist regulator saddling markets with left-leaning social policies unrelated to making money. Republican lawmakers also repeatedly disputed the securities regulator's legal authority to mandate climate disclosures. Gensler said investors by and large now demanded and many companies were providing climate disclosures. The SEC routinely tells lawmakers its budget is "deficit neutral" since its spending is offset by transaction fees assessed from the markets.

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☆ Russia's tanks may face 'disadvantageous conditions' in a battle with US-made Abrams tanks, Russian expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Abramses are better than Russian tanks, and Russia isn't making enough anti-tank weapons to beat them, a top Russian defense expert says. "Now Russian tanks use old Soviet shells in their ammunition," Pukhov said, according to a translation of the article. US Abrams tanks and a German Leopard at a training ground in Poland in September 2022. Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesNonetheless, even without Western tanks, Ukraine has managed to shred Russian armor. Perhaps Russia should focus less on the technical characteristics of American tanks and more on how to use Russian tanks better.

☆ Taiwan's 'SEALs' would be on the frontline of a war with China. Here's how they'd try to hold off an invasion.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Taiwan's special-ops units, like the 101st Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion, would be on the frontline. Taiwan's special-operations units, especially the 101st Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion — the country's version of the US Navy SEALs — would be on the frontlines of that fight. Although a maritime unit with an intense focus on littoral and maritime special operations, the 101st Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion is part of the Taiwanese army. Like many of the world's special-operations units, the 101st Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion was stood up with help from US commandos. Members of the 101st Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion during a demonstration in September 2016.

☆ 2022 was the year the Overconfidence Man fell back to earth
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Maureen Tkacik | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +22 min

Naturally, Elon Musk, the platonic ideal of the peculiar self-aggrandizing, self-parodying personality type that thrived during the Trump years and peaked during the pandemic, tops this list. By 2022, the media had pronounced him variously the next Warren Buffett, J.P. Morgan and Charles Koch. "bye bye @trussliz Congrats to lettuce", tweeted Putin's one-time stand-in Dmitry Medvedev, to which Elon Musk could not resist replying, "pretty good troll tbh." Elon Musk speaks at the 2020 Satellite Conference and Exhibition in March 2020. Elon MuskIt's weird to recall now that Elon Musk once seemed like, graded on the billionaire curve anyway, a net positive for a cursed American society.

☆ Taiwan's remote islands are on the frontline with China — sometimes only a few hundred yards from Chinese troops
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Taiwan is roughly 100 miles from mainland China, but some Taiwanese islands are much closer. Taiwan's outlying islands would stand little chance against China, but they wouldn't be easy to take. While celebrated, this year's anniversary was also a reminder of Taiwan's islands' growing vulnerability to Chinese attack. Taiwan's islands are much easier to reach. Tourists watch a Chinese military helicopter fly over Pingtan Island, one of mainland China's closest points to Taiwan, on August 4.

☆ The technology challenges CEOs view as opportunity and threat in a post-Covid economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Bob Violino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

One challenge CEOs see is that emerging and disruptive technology is both an opportunity and a threat. CEOs said their organizations need to be quicker to shift investments to digital opportunities and divest in those areas where their organizations face digital obsolescence. Addressing employee burnoutAnother issue CEOs said their organizations need to address is pandemic-related employee burnout from accelerated digital transformation over the past two years. "I think that there is some truth to the state of fatigue brought on by the need to quickly adopt remote work-related technology," Clark said. Rather than focus on the "right technology," organizations should aim to deploy the right mix of technology, Carande said.

K9s for Warriors, an organization that has rescued over 1,500 dogs from shelters and trained them as service dogs for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, matched Romero with Puppy — an Australian shepherd — in June. His wife, Brenda, who is a nurse practitioner in psychiatry, encouraged him to apply for a service dog. So far, O’Haire said, research based on participants from K9s for Warriors is showing that veterans with service dogs are struggling significantly less. And for those who are employed, there’s five times less absenteeism from work due to health.”But getting a service dog for veterans with PTSD is still a challenge. “The waitlist for service dogs on average tends to be two years.

☆ Ukraine suffers power outages amid intense Russian attacks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Hossein Amirabdollahian claimed, however, that Tehran didn’t know if its drones were used against Ukraine and stated Iran’s commitment to stopping the conflict. Moscow has said those came in response to what it alleged were Ukrainian attacks on Crimea, the region that Russia illegally annexed in 2014. A worker repairs damaged lines after a missile strike on a power plant in an undisclosed part of Ukraine. The Russian forces targeted the city and the areas around it with heavy artillery, as they have done repeatedly since July. Elsewhere in the region, Ukrainian forces shot down a drone and another projectile, according to Reznichenko.

Is Russian President Vladimir Putin stepping back from the nuclear ledge? Concerns over Russia’s possible use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine had lessened recently, the sources said. Putin himself has given mixed signals over the question of Russia’s threshold for nuclear use. Russian President Vladimir Putin. “While Putin is unlikely to use nuclear weapons, that is because he is deterred by the fear of escalation, including nuclear escalation.

☆ Zelenskyy accuses Russia of creating 'artificial famine' after Moscow suspends crucial grain deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Hyder Abbasi | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of creating “conditions of artificial famine” and suggested it should be expelled from the G-20 group of nations on Saturday after Moscow withdrew from a crucial grain export deal. “How can Russia be among the G-20 if it is deliberately working for starvation on several continents?” Zelenskyy said during an address on Ukrainian television. President Joe Biden warned that global hunger could increase because of Russia’s decision to suspend the deal. The U.N. negotiated that deal and that should be the end of it.”Secretary of State Antony Blinken also accused Russia of weaponizing food. The grain deal had restarted shipments from Ukraine, allowing sales on world markets, targeting the prewar level of 5 million metric tons exported from Ukraine each month.

☆ An embarrassing defeat 73 years ago is a preview of the problems China would face in an attack on Taiwan today
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The Chinese Communist troops who stormed Kinmen island in October 1949 expected a quick victory. The planChinese Communist troops take prisoners at bayonet point after heavy fighting in Shanghai on May 21, 1949. Kinmen Island, 59 square miles in size and home to some 40,000 people, was essential to this plan. A model of a soldier in a bunker near the Hujingtou Battle Museum in Little Kinmen, Taiwan in April 2018. By day's end, the PLA troops who had retreated to the beaches had also surrendered.

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla.—Trixie Parkes’s 1976 wood-framed cottage long served as her home and main source of income, because she rented two units on the top floor to tourists. But when Hurricane Ian tore through in late September, it destroyed most of the first floor and gouged a gaping hole in the second-floor walls. She didn’t have flood insurance, which she said became too expensive after Hurricane Irma in 2017. Ms. Parkes, 59, plans to sell her property. “Maybe somebody will come and offer me a lot of money and I can walk away.”

London CNN Business —One of the world’s leading multilateral financial institutions has joined a chorus of criticism of huge tax cuts announced by the UK government last week that sent the pound plunging to a record low. In a rare and stinging rebuke for such a large developed economy, the International Monetary Fund warned that the tax cuts — the biggest in Britain since the early 1970s — would likely increase inflation and inequality. “We understand that the sizable fiscal package announced aims at helping families and businesses deal with the energy shock and at boosting growth via tax cuts and supply measures,” an IMF spokeperson said. UK finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng has shown no signs of backing down, despite the market crash. Yields on 10-year UK government bonds fell sharply after the Bank of England’s announcement on Wednesday but remain elevated.

☆ As Storm Season Accelerates, Here’s Where Past Hurricanes Have Hit the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Carl Churchill | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The U.S. Atlantic coast gets hit by one to two hurricanes a year on average, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that tracks storms since the mid-20th century. Major hurricanes appear at least once every decade and can cause billions of dollars in damage. Some counties can expect a hurricane every five to seven years, and a major hurricane (Category 3 or greater) every 15 to 20 years. Florida receives more direct hurricane strikes than any other state in the U.S. Of the U.S. metro areas with the most potential financial risk from a hurricane, six of the top 10 are in Florida, according to a 2021 report from CoreLogic Inc.

☆ Trans Floridians sue to block Medicaid rule excluding gender-affirming care
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-07 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Advocacy groups sued Wednesday to block a new Florida rule that bars Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming health care, such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery. The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration adopted the rule last month after it issued a report that claimed gender-affirming procedures have the “potential for harmful long term affects.” The rule took effect Aug. 21. in the lawsuit, said the new Medicaid rule will prevent her and her husband, Joshua, from being able to access puberty-blocking medication prescribed by K.F.’s doctors. They are also represented by two health advocacy groups, the Florida Health Justice Project and the National Health Law Program. Accredited medical groups — including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association — say gender-affirming medical care is safe and medically necessary.

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