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☆ My Two Decades Living as an American in Europe - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-13 | by ( Benjamin Moser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

I was trying to be an adult; I was trying to be a writer; I was constantly, I felt, failing at both. To come abroad is to understand yourself as a product of your own culture, and to see just how specific that culture is. Away from it, I realized that many things I thought of as normal are not, in fact, normal. Learning to live here meant mastering a grammar that gave me access to other ways to see — other ways to be. In the past nearly 400 years, their country, like every other country, had changed so much as to be unrecognizable.

Persons: —, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Frans Hals Locations: United States, Europe, Netherlands

☆ Thanks to Carol Burnett and Dolly Parton, New Life for a 1988 Film
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Ben Kenigsberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In the pre-internet days, without the distributor, there wasn’t much way to check in on the film’s afterlife, she explained. They begin a relationship and, with some reluctance, she joins his band covering American hits. Although Kuzui wrote the screenplay with her friend Lynn Grossman, “Tokyo Pop” was made with a mostly Japanese crew — unusual at the time for any American director, let alone a woman. “Foreigners in Japan — they were not held to, and they still aren’t held to, exactly the same rules that Japanese people follow,” Kuzui said. If she was going to be successful as a director, she felt, it couldn’t be with that sort of advantage.

Persons: ”, Kaz Kuzui, Hamilton, Yutaka Tadokoro, Kuzui, Lynn Grossman, “, she’s, Japan —, ” Kuzui Organizations: Blockbuster, Tokyo, Foreigners Locations: Great Neck, N.Y, Japanese, Wendy, New York, Japan

☆ China spy agency’s social media debut calls for ‘all members of society’ to combat espionage
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The Ministry of State Security oversees intelligence and counterintelligence both within China and overseas. Titled “Countering espionage requires the mobilization of all members of society,” the ministry said national security bodies should keep reporting channels, such as hotlines and online platforms, open to handle reports of suspected espionage within China in a timely manner. But those efforts have gathered pace under Xi Jinping, China’s most assertive and authoritarian leader in a generation who has made state security his top priority. Previous anti-spying driveThere have been multiple previous calls by China for the public to look for potential spies. In June last year, China announced “material rewards” of up to and above 100,000 yuan ($15,000) for tip-offs about people who endanger national security.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, ”, Xi Jinping, Greg Baker, Xiao Li, Li –, David Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, of State Security, CIA, FBI, Group, Bain & Company, Astellas Pharma, Getty Locations: Hong Kong, China, Beijing, American, Shanghai, Japan, AFP

☆ How George Santos Used Political Connections to Fuel Get-Rich Schemes
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Grace Ashford | More About Grace Ashford | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

About a year before George Santos was elected to Congress, he and three other men approached a loyal campaign donor with a potentially lucrative opportunity. A wealthy Polish citizen wanted to buy cryptocurrency, they said, but for reasons unclear, his fortune was frozen in a bank account. They asked the donor, a wealthy investor in his own right, for help. He was not told the Polish citizen’s name. The men’s plan — having the donor create a limited liability company to gain access to the funds — made no sense to him.

Persons: George Santos, — Organizations: Congress Locations: Polish

[1/34] Bulls from the Fuente Ymbro ranch run along Estafeta street during the fourth running of the bulls during Sanfermines in Pamplona, Spain, July 10, 2023. The famed bull-running festival engulfs downtown Pamplona every July when revellers from around the globe descend upon the northern Spanish city... Read moreSummary Picture essayPAMPLONA, Spain, July 12 (Reuters) - The bell tolls - eight chimes. Some are drawn to the Sanfermines - as the festival is popularly known - by the timeless prose of one of the grandees of 20th-century American literature. For the past 24 years, she has rented the same apartment in Pamplona for the festival with her family. WHAT HAS CHANGED AND WHAT HASN'TThere's a recurring debate among Pamplona's residents: Is the city's overcrowding during Sanfermines Hemingway's fault?

Persons: Fuente, St Fermin, savoured, Ernest Hemingway, Hemingway, Bill Hillmann, Hillmann's, He's, wilder, Hemingway's, John, Michael ., gored, hasn't, I've, Hillmann, Cheryl Mountcastle, Mary Welsh, Arrieta, Sanfermines, William Kappal, Kappal, it's, Susana Vera, David Latona, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Bulls, American, New, YouTube, Thomson Locations: Pamplona, Spain, Spanish, PAMPLONA, British, Paris, Chicago, New Orleans, Sanfermines, Miguel, France, Izu

☆ When a tourist in Bali gets arrested, this is the woman they call
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( Heather Chen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

When it comes to misbehaving tourists in Bali, Niluh Djelantik has seen and heard it all. “There is no shortage of bad tourists in Bali – I’m losing count, to be honest,” she told CNN Travel. “She’s probably the most important person in Bali, after the governor (Wayan Koster),” the woman said. “We will no longer welcome mass tourism,” Bali governor Wayan Koster said at a conference in May. Bali needs tourists and this is about (getting foreigners) to respect our laws… and not take our hospitality for granted.”

Persons: CNN — Influencers, Djelantik, ”, Bali – I’m, – I’ve, ” Djelantik, I’ve, Bali Agung, ” ‘, She’s, Wayan Koster, you’ll, Yuri Chilikin, Mount Agung –, Chilikin, Garry Lotulung, “ Organizations: CNN, CNN Travel, Bali, Tourists, ” CNN, Tourism, Visa Locations: Bali, Bali –, Jakarta, Canggu, Indonesia, Germany, “ Bali, Russian, Mount, Instagram, Mount Agung, Denpasar, Moscow, Russia

The expanding program — formally known as the System for Operative Investigative Activities, or SORM — was an imperfect means of surveillance. Russia’s telecom providers often incompletely installed and updated the technologies, meaning the system did not always work properly. At first, the technology was used against political rivals like supporters of Aleksei A. Navalny, the jailed opposition leader. Russian authorities turned to local tech companies that built the old surveillance systems and asked for more. The new technologies give Russia’s security services a granular view of the internet.

Persons: —, Aleksei A, Anton Cherepennikov, ”, Ksenia Ermoshina Organizations: Citadel, U.S . State Department, United, “, Citizen, University of Toronto, MFI Locations: Ukraine, United States, Russian, Russia

☆ Israeli settlers attack Palestinian village after deadly Hamas strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Ali Sawafta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] An aerial view shows burned vehicles after an attack by Israeli settlers near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, June 21, 2023. "There was heavy gunfire but we couldn't distinguish whether it came from settlers or the soldiers because of the darkness." Attacks were also reported in other West Bank towns and villages. Netanyahu's government is set on expanding settlements in the West Bank and includes members who rule out a Palestinian state. Hamas, which advocates armed resistance against Israel, has been steadily expanding its operations in the West Bank.

Persons: Ammar Awad, Yaqoub Oweis, Lubban, Eli, Mahmoud Dawoud, Gharbeya, Itamar Ben, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Israel Katz, Nidal al, James Mackenzie, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: West Bank, REUTERS, Bank, Rampage, Al, Palestinian, Monday . Local, Israeli National Security, Energy, Cabinet, Army Radio, West, Hamas, Seven, Thomson Locations: Ramallah, RAMALLAH, West, Palestinian, West Bank, Huwara, Hamas, Gaza, Jenin, Monday, Al, Israel, East Jerusalem, Jerusalem

☆ Robert F. Kennedy Jr. compares Elon Musk to patriots who died fighting in the American Revolution, blames anti-depressants for mass shootings
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( John Cook | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk hosted RFK Jr. in a bizarre Twitter Spaces conversation littered with falsehoods and conspiracy theories. Kennedy compared Musk to patriots who died in the Revolutionary War. "Thank you for your service to our country, Elon," Kennedy said. Musk, who is South African but has American citizenship, bought Twitter last year for $44 billion. He also laid the blame for the massive increase in mass shootings not on guns, but on pharmaceutical companies for marketing antidepressants.

Persons: Elon Musk, Kennedy, Musk, —, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, I've, Joe Biden, Ron DeSantis, you'd, weren't, Tulse Gabbard, Balaji Srinivasan, Michael Shellenberger, Gabbard, hadn't, Mike Pompeo, Trump, Biden Organizations: RFK Jr, Service, Democratic, Biden Administration, Twitter, Democratic Party, State Locations: Elon, Russian, Ukraine, America, China, American

☆ 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

☆ Britain’s record holding climber says Everest is 'dry, more rocky'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Gopal Sharma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The 49-year-old Cool, who climbed the 8,849-metre (29,032 foot) peak for the first time in 2004, said the giant mountain appears to be drying now. "A general trend of the mountain is to be more rocky and less snow ... Cool said he had never seen the types of rock falls he saw on the Lhotse Face, along the route to the Everest summit, before. Also this week, a 53-year-old Nepali guide, Kami Rita Sherpa, improved his own record of most summits after scaling Everest for the 27th time. Cool said his 17th ascent might not be the last and he would return to the mountain next year.

☆ Another Foreigner Detained in China, This Time a Korean Soccer Pro
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Chun Han Wong | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Son Jun-ho was detained on Friday while trying to leave China via an airport in Shanghai. Photo: Lee Jin-man/Associated PressSINGAPORE—Chinese police have detained a South Korean soccer player on allegations of bribery, the latest in a spate of enforcement actions affecting foreigners in China. Son Jun-ho, a 31-year-old who plays in China’s top-tier soccer league and has appeared for the South Korean national team, was detained on Friday while trying to leave China via an airport in Shanghai, according to a report Tuesday by the semiofficial South Korean news agency Yonhap.

☆ Hertz apologizes after refusing rental to Puerto Rican
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Maria Santana | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Hertz has apologized to a Puerto Rican customer after one of its employees refused to rent him a car he had paid for in advance because he did not show her his passport. Humberto Marchand said that he traveled to New Orleans last Wednesday and presented his Puerto Rican driver’s license at the Hertz counter at the Louie Armstrong International Airport. Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States, and anyone born on the island is by law a US citizen. In a statement to CNN, Hertz (HTZ) said that the company accepts Puerto Rican driver’s licenses from customers renting in the United States without requiring a valid passport. It is not clear if Hertz took any disciplinary action against the employee, however, the company said that this employee, like all their employees, has been reminded of their longstanding policy related to Puerto Rican driver’s licenses.

Kevin Lambert grew up in North Carolina in the 1980s, and first visited his mother's native South Korea in 2000. Courtesy Kevin LambertIt might seem an odd desire given many have never set foot in South Korea. But life in South Korea brings its own challenges – and many eventually return to the US. For Kim, it’s a relief to be back in South Korea, where the safety is “100% better.”“I plan to live (in South Korea) until I die,” he said. “If South Korea today was as impoverished as it was when I left, why would I return?” he said.

☆ BMW skids into ice cream melee at Shanghai auto show
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A BMW booth is pictured at the Auto Shanghai show, in Shanghai, China, April 19, 2023. REUTERS/Aly SongSHANGHAI, April 20 (Reuters) - Chinese internet users berated German automaker BMW (BMWG.DE) on Thursday, accusing it of discrimination at the Shanghai auto show amid claims workers at its Mini booth favoured foreign over domestic visitors during an ice cream giveaway promotion. The controversy comes as BMW and fellow German automakers participate in the Shanghai auto show in full force as they fight to stay on top of consumer trends in a country where domestic rivals have been aggressively taking market share. One video showed two Chinese workers telling some local visitors to the Mini stand that the free ice cream had run out, only to offer a tub moments later to a Western attendee. "This has taken away my good feelings towards BMW," said one Weibo commentator.

☆ After Settler Attacks, a Palestinian Town Fears for Its Survival
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Raja Abdulrahim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

From Jan. 1 to March 13, the United Nations recorded 219 settler-related attacks that led to four Palestinian deaths as well as injuries or damage to Palestinian property, more than twice the number in the same period last year. Israeli forces killed more than 70 Palestinians in the West Bank over that period. Attacks by Palestinians on settlers have also more than doubled in that period, with 20 this year, resulting in the deaths of 12 settlers and one foreigner, the United Nations said. Palestinians say the repeated attacks by settlers are aimed at driving them off their land. In 2021, the number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank was more than 465,000, according to Peace Now, an Israeli group that monitors settlement activity.

☆ Picasso: Love Him or Hate Him?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Deborah Solomon | April | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +14 min

It is not hugely cool to profess a love for Picasso these days. This is what Picasso’s detractors — like Hannah Gadsby, the Australian comedian and Picasso basher, who will help curate a Picasso show at the Brooklyn Museum opening on June 2 — often miss. Picasso, by contrast, brought the weight of lived experience into his work, even when he was tethered to archetypal subjects. “The Mother” (1901), an early painting by Picasso, shows a view of motherhood purged of Renaissance idealization. The conventional view of the painting holds that the women are “dolled-up cocottes,” as John Richardson glibly put it in his biography of Picasso.

☆ Fact Check-Poster seeking ‘pure’ Ukrainian blood donations is a fake
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

An image of a fake poster that appears to be seeking blood donations from “pure-blooded Ukrainians” has been circulating online. From March 31, 2023, blood donations will be accepted only if you are a pure-blooded Ukrainian. In a Facebook post published on March 1, Liski said the company was contacting the police about the fake poster (here ). Legislation covering donations reads: “A blood and/or blood components donor can be any legally capable citizen of Ukraine, foreigner or person without citizenship who has a permanent residence permit on the territory of Ukraine” (here ). The appeal for blood donations from “pure-blooded” Ukrainians is fake.

☆ I just traveled to Argentina — and doubled my money with a 'black market' exchange rate
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +15 min

A legal exchange rate influenced by the black marketA worker lays out 500 Argentine peso note sheets on Aug. 14, 2020 in Buenos Aires. Greg IacurciPut another way: Your money goes almost twice as far with the "blue dollar" exchange rate. The exchange rate for the transaction was 366 Argentine pesos per U.S. dollar, almost double the official exchange rate (190 pesos per dollar) at the time. Anyone who wants to save more cash in U.S. dollars must turn to the black market, which sets the "blue dollar" exchange rate. The exchange rate offered by Western Union has been similar to that of the "blue dollar" rate on the black market.

☆ George Santos's elaborate lies has seen the Congressman compared with a 19th-century huckster. History bears that out.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Allegra Rosenberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

My obsession is summed up pretty well by a tweet from @blagojevism: "George Santos is essentially a 19th-century character. Media depicting these characters found inspiration from real life: in a time before digital records and facial recognition, opportunity was everywhere. George Santos's brand of full-throated scammery is particularly American, something that belongs to this country as much as Abraham Lincoln and apple pie. The phrase "and if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you" comes from his legendary real-life method. But Santos, so far, has avoided jail time, giving him at least one leg up over the Yellow Kid.

☆ Daniel Dae Kim says success of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ has inadvertently hampered Asian-led films
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Brahmjot Kaur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

The blockbuster hit “Crazy Rich Asians” has raised unrealistic expectations for other Asian-led film projects, the actor Daniel Dae Kim said this week at a panel discussion at the Sundance Film Festival. “One of the collateral damage effects of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ was that everyone wanted to do more Asian projects as long as they were just ‘Crazy Rich Asians,’” Kim said at the Variety-sponsored panel. “If you had a project that spoke to something other than people being super rich and super wealthy and super happy, then they weren’t interested," he said. Inclusive storytelling shouldn't just be "a category or a checkbox and say, ‘We have our Asian project, we have our Black project, and so we’re good. In 2022, it was announced that a sequel to “Crazy Rich Asians” was officially underway.

☆ I used to work on Mars rovers and now I develop self-driving cars. Here's how I made the pivot from NASA's JPL to Amazon's Zoox.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The former supervisor at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab now works at AV startup Zoox. I figured after all the startups, why not work for a big company, and what better big company than NASA? ZooxThe AV space is the next frontier of robotics. What we're trying to do here in the AV space, it's extremely multidisciplinary. You're doing perception, you're doing planning, you're doing prediction, doing simulation.

☆ Bolsonaro's Florida stay puts ball in Biden's court after Brasilia riots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Gabriel Stargardter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro gestures, as he meets supporters at the Alvorada Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, December 12, 2022. REUTERS/Adriano MachadoRIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The United States has a Jair Bolsonaro problem. But Bolsonaro left behind a violent movement of election-denying supporters, who on Sunday stormed Brazil's presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court. "The United States should not be a refuge for this authoritarian who has inspired domestic terrorism in Brazil. Former Panamanian President Martinelli was extradited from the United States back to Panama in 2018, three years after Panama's Supreme Court issued its arrest warrant.

☆ Thriving network of fixers preys on migrants crossing Mexico
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +23 min

With soaring numbers of people entering Mexico, a sprawling network of lawyers, fixers and middlemen has exploded in the country. Detained migrants stand in the outdoor area of the Siglo XXI Migrant Detention Center in Tapachula, Mexico, on Oct. 4. When the immigration agency was asked directly, via freedom of information requests, it said it was just one. An empanada vendor's stall advertises information, and immigration documents outside the main immigration office in Puebla, Mexico, on Sept. 23. By mid-December, the immigration agency suddenly announced the closing of the camp with no explanation.

☆ 'I feel gay', FIFA chief attempts to empathise with marginalised
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Nick Mulvenney | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AL RAYYAN, Qatar, Nov 19 (Reuters) - FIFA President Gianni Infantino raised eyebrows on Saturday when he attempted to show empathy with marginalised groups by telling reporters in Qatar 'I feel gay ... Today I feel gay. "Judging by social media, your comments that you feel gay has caused some surprise to many in the gay community," one journalist later noted before asking Infantino a question. "I've seen a lot of criticism of Gianni Infantino since I've joined FIFA, in particular from the LGBTI community," he said. He has received assurances that everyone will be welcome ... Just because Gianni Infantino is not gay, does not mean he does not care.

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