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☆ Things to do in Nagoya, Japan
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( John Walton | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

In the years since, the city has proven the opposite is true, according to Nagoya residents Lena Yamaguchi and Elisabeth Lloris. Ruben Earth/Getty ImagesIf you’ve traveled by Shinkansen bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka, you’ve passed through Nagoya, and might even remember the skyscraper district around its central railway station. Just 45 minutes from Nagoya Station on the private (non-JR) Meitetsu railway, the area between Inuyama station and its castle has been sympathetically restored in recent years. Back in Nagoya, a few kilometers east of Nagoya Castle you’ll find the Tokugawa Art Museum, one of Japan’s finest private museums, which holds several National Treasures of Japan thanks to its connection with the Tokugawa clan dynasty. If cars are your thing, then the Toyota Automobile Museum, about 45 minutes east of Nagoya Station, features some 140 historical vehicles.

“It was just so original,” she told Reuters, and her co-lead, “Umbrella Academy” actor Ritu Arya, could not agree more. When Lena drops out of art school and quickly gets engaged, Ria and her friends plan a bride-heist of epic proportions. Director Nida Manzoor's first feature film scored a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. Critics have praised the quirky martial arts film for its inspiring and unconventional representation of compelling women and girls. “Strong women come from strong women,” Kansara said.

☆ ‘Polite Society’ Review: Pride and Plenty of Fists
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Amy Nicholson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“Polite Society,” a rollicking genre mash-up, is set in an enclave of well-to-do Muslim Londoners who play along with the comedy’s title until they get cranky. Then come the punches and neck chops, the bruises and broken glass, the ludicrous wire-fu that allows a matron in a brocade lehenga to fly through the air. Stubborn and snotty, Ria is so hellbent on breaking up the betrothal that she’s willing to spy and lie, claw and kick. She gets as good as she gives, ending more than one scene in a bloody, heaving heap. At the same time, the audience can appreciate what Ria is too childish to see: Lena’s joy that the neighborhood screw-up has landed its most eligible bachelor.

☆ ‘Judy Blume Forever’ Review: The Y.A. Author Who Went There First
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Claire Shaffer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There are few living children’s authors who have connected as deeply to their readers as Judy Blume. That’s the argument of “Judy Blume Forever,” a new documentary from Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok that pays unwavering tribute to Blume and her imprint on young adult literature. It’s not uncommon to hear fans of Blume’s work say that reading her books felt as though she was speaking directly to them through the pages. This is thanks, in no small part, to her frank discussion of mature themes that, at the time she was writing, were considered unusual for what we now call Y.A. novels: adolescent sexuality, religion, disability, bullying, and — in many of her books — the unfair expectations of purity and obedience that parents and society place on children.

☆ U.S. finishes Billie Jean King Cup qualifying unbeaten
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Each best-of-five series consists of two singles matches on the first day, then the reverse singles matches followed by a doubles match on the second day. The doubles match pitting Juvan and Zidansek against Irina Bara and Monica Niculescu was suspended at 3-3 in the first set. Jule Niemeier posted a three-set win over Beatriz Haddad Maia, and then Anna-Lena Friedsam lost only one game in defeating Laura Pigossi. Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina handed Poland's Magda Linette her second loss in two days to clinch the 3-1 series win in Astana, Kazakhstan. After Fernandez's three-set win over Ysaline Bonaventure, Belgium's Greet Minnen again knotted the match with a three-set win over Katherine Sebov.

☆ An elephant living in a Berlin zoo has taught herself how to peel a banana
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Kate Golembiewski | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Now a team of researchers in Berlin have documented an elephant using her trunk for another novel behavior: peeling bananas. Pang Pha was a baby when she arrived at the Berlin Zoo, where she was fed bananas. Lena KaufmannThe star of this new study, an Asian elephant named Pang Pha, was a baby when she arrived at the Berlin Zoo in 1987. When Pang Pha peels a banana, she doesn’t crack the stem and peel down the sides one by one. It’s also not possible to definitively say that she learned to peel bananas by copying her human caretaker.

☆ Senator calls for investigation after Reuters facial recognition report
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Lena Masri | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Senator Ron Wyden has called for the Biden administration to carry out an investigation after a Reuters report showed how Russian authorities are using facial recognition to curb dissent with the aid of U.S. technology. Wyden, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said that "American technology shouldn’t be a linchpin in Russia’s authoritarian surveillance machine." His comments came in response to Reuters reporting last month that showed that surveillance and facial recognition have played an important role in the arrests of hundreds of protesters in Moscow -- and that after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, authorities began using facial recognition to prevent people from protesting. The facial recognition system in Moscow is powered by algorithms produced by one Belarusian company and three Russian firms. Russian customs records showed the companies' technologies were still arriving in Russia via third parties between April 1, 2022, and Oct. 31 2022.

☆ A long-dormant lake has reappeared in California, bringing havoc along with it
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Evan Bush | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

David Swanson | ReutersPeople have worked for a century to make California's Tulare Basin into a food grower's paradise. The Tulare Basin is at the southern end of California's San Joaquin Valley — and in essence, it's a massive bowl. Before irrigators dug canals and rerouted water for farming in the late 1800s, Tulare Lake filled the bowl's lower reaches. Today, the irrigation system is designed to "use every single drop of water" that flows into the basin, Mount said. Tulare Lake refilled in 1997 and 1983 during very wet seasons.

☆ Founders of AI company NtechLab say they resigned over projects in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Lena Masri | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 30 (Reuters) - The founders of artificial intelligence company NtechLab said they resigned over disagreements with the company’s management and investors about projects in Russia. One of the founders left Russia in December 2021 while the other left in March 2022, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they said. The Russian founders, Artem Kukharenko and Alexander Kabakov, said the main disagreement was that they wanted NtechLab to end all work in Russia and relocate all Russia-based employees, while the company’s management wanted to continue operating in Russia. The founders said they started discussions about ending all projects in Russia after opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned in August 2020. Kukharenko and Kabakov declined to provide more details about the disagreement or why they wanted to end NtechLab’s work in Russia.

☆ Swedish Military Intelligence says threat from Russia has increased
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

STOCKHOLM, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Russia poses a clear military threat in Sweden's immediate area but its forces are largely tied up in the war in Ukraine, the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service (MUST) said on Monday. "The European Security Order as we know it has ceased to exist...and with that the risks for Swedish security have also increased," Lena Hallin, head of MUST, told a news conference. Hallin also said she expected Russia to strengthen its military capability in Sweden's immediate area when it was possible, in response to Sweden and Finland applying for NATO membership. She said that MUST judged that Russia wants to avoid current tensions escalating into an armed conflict with NATO. "But there is considerable uncertainty, mainly relating to the Russian leaderships' willingness to take high risks," she said, adding that the high level of tension raised risks that accident or misjudgment could lead to conflict.

☆ Earthquake death toll tops 35,000 as few survivors pierce misery in Turkey and Syria
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Kelly Cobiella | Mithil Aggarwal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Hulya Bayrak is rescued from rubble of collapsed building 116 hours after earthquakes, on February 10, 2023 in Turkey's Hatay. The death toll from earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria passed 35,000 on Monday as a handful of survivors were pulled from the rubble more than a week after the disasters devastated swaths of both countries. Emergency workers rescued 11-year-old Lena Maradini on Sunday, who had been trapped for over 160 hours close to the epicenter in Hatay, a European Pressphoto Agency picture showed. Another woman, Naide Umay, was rescued from the rubble nearby after almost 175 hours, according to a video by Reuters. The death toll was expected to climb further.

☆ Nick Clegg led Meta's decision to reinstate Trump to Facebook and Instagram. Here's how the former UK deputy prime minister charmed his way into Mark Zuckerberg's inner circle.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Philip Webster | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

Nick Clegg has risen quickly to become one of Mark Zuckerberg's closest confidants at Meta. Clegg, a former UK deputy prime minister, led the decision to reinstate Donald Trump to Facebook. It was updated on February 16, 2022 following the news that Nick Clegg had been promoted to the role of President for Global Affairs. In a challenging economic climate, the Lib Dems and their Conservative coalition partners voted to raise tuition fees. Nick Clegg (left) and Chris Huhne appearing on the BBC's "The Andrew Marr Show" in October 2007.

☆ Ehlers-Danlos syndrome affects millions. Why isn't the medical profession paying more attention?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Sarah Lazarus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

“Have you heard of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome?” the podiatrist asked me. There are 13 types of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), according to research and advocacy organization The Ehlers-Danlos Society. Drag queen Yvie Oddly, who has hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, crab walks down the pink carpet at RuPaul's DragCon LA in 2019. Bluestein says that for many years it was thought that one in 5,000 people had Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. But despite her career choice, Bluestein only received her hEDS diagnosis when she was 47 – more than 30 years later.

☆ Corporate Tech Leaders Untangle Their Cybersecurity Roles
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Information technology and cybersecurity chiefs grew closer than ever in 2022, a dynamic allowing for more comprehensive threat mitigation, but raising new questions over responsibilities. About 50% of the company’s threat planning simulations, in which IT plays an active role, involve ransomware scenarios, according to Ms. Smart. Ms. Allison is retiring at the end of the year, the company said, and will be succeeded by Gary Harbison. Photo: Adobe Inc.Prasad Ramakrishnan, the CIO and former CISO of software maker Freshworks Inc., said IT and security have shared roles in evaluating the cybersecurity resiliency of corporate software purchases. And in securing a hybrid work environment, his joint cybersecurity and IT roles included adding a new cybersecurity layer on top of cloud-based software on company laptops.

Since the early days of the invasion, Mr. Putin has conceded, privately, that the war has not gone as planned. “I think he is sincerely willing” to compromise with Russia, Mr. Putin said of Mr. Zelensky in 2019. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. “I think this war is Putin’s grave.” Yevgeny Nuzhin, 55, a Russian prisoner of war held by Ukraine, in October.

☆ 1 in 5 studio films included an LGBTQ character in 2021, GLAAD report finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Sixteen of the 77 films released by those studios (20.8%) featured 28 LGBTQ characters, the report found. That percentage is down slightly from 2020, during which 10 of the 44 theatrical releases (23%) featured 20 LGBTQ characters, according to the report. Of the 16 films that included LGBTQ characters in 2021, 11 films (69%) included gay male characters, four (25%) included lesbian characters and two (13%) included bisexual characters, according to the report. For the second year in a row, GLAAD found that there were zero LGBTQ characters with disabilities or LGBTQ characters living with HIV represented in the year’s films. The majority of the 28 characters, 17, received fewer than five minutes, and six of those characters received less than a minute of screen time.

REUTERS/Imad Creidi/File PhotoDOHA, Nov 29 (Reuters) - QatarEnergy and ConocoPhillips (COP.N) on Tuesday signed two sales and purchase agreements to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Germany for at least 15 years from 2026, the first such supply deal to Europe from Qatar's North Field expansion project. The deal will provide Germany with 2 million tonnes of LNG annually, arriving from Ras Laffan in Qatar to Germany's northern LNG terminal of Brunsbuettel, QatarEnergy's chief executive said. "(The agreements) mark the first ever long-term LNG supply agreement to Germany, with a supply period that extends for at least 15 years, thus contributing to Germany's long-term energy security," Saad al-Kaabi said in a joint news conference with ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance. The deal comes a few days after QatarEnergy signed a 27-year sales and purchase agreement with China's Sinopec. The North Field is part of the world's biggest gas field that Qatar shares with Iran, which calls its holding South Pars.

☆ U.S. Centcom says Iranian-made drone hit Pacific Zircon tanker off Oman
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

An Israeli official had blamed Iran for the strike on the Pacific Zircon tanker managed by Israeli-controlled Eastern Pacific Shipping. The company said there was minor damage to the hull but no injuries or spillage of the gas oil cargo. A White House official earlier said the United States was "confident that Iran likely conducted" the hit using an unmanned aerial vehicle. U.S. Central Command said in a statement late on Wednesday that debris "reveals that it was a Shahed-series one-way attack drone" that hit the vessel, identifying it as Iranian-made. In July 2021, a suspected drone attack off Oman's coast hit a petroleum product tanker managed by an Israeli firm.

☆ Melissa Joan Hart shuts down claims she’s feuding with Lena Dunham
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Marianne Garvey | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Melissa Joan Hart is talking about that so-called feud with Lena Dunham. Rumors had been circulating for some time that the two actresses did not like each other, but Hart took to Instagram to clear the air. “I looked at what people were saying about me, and I was like *gags*— I had to take a break,” she said. I don’t seek it out, but I certainly did recently, just to see if there was there something that I did say. So, it’s just bizarre how social media or the media, in general, can just take something and spin it out.”

☆ 2 women stopped binge eating after an implant started zapping their brains with electricity, a small study found
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A brain implant reduced two patients' binge eating for at least six months. The two patients were fitted with a brain implant to zap the part of the brain linked to cravings. The idea of targeting brain waves to fight cravings has been appealing, so much so that Elon Musk recently said his Neuralink brain implant could one day fight morbid obesity. The implant used in the study learned to recognize those brainwaves and zap that region with electricity to scramble them, which seemed to cut the cravings short. With just two patients, the scientists can't prove for sure that it was the implant causing the weight loss.

☆ 'Not for the faint-hearted': COP27 delegates battle a growing list of logistics nightmares
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Around 35,000 delegates from nearly 200 countries are expected to convene on the southern tip of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula to discuss collective action on how to tackle the climate emergency. It may, perhaps, also become known for the growing list of infrastructure woes at this year's flagship U.N. climate summit. Around 35,000 delegates from nearly 200 countries are expected to convene on the southern tip of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula to discuss collective action on how to tackle the climate emergency. A sewage pipe on Wednesday evening appeared to burst near the exit of the Blue Zone, a U.N.-managed space where negotiations are held. It's not for the faint-hearted," Lena Thiede, an environmental and climate policy expert at German investment firm Planet A Ventures, told CNBC from the Blue Zone on Thursday.

Lena Horne made history this week as the first Black woman to have a Broadway theater named in her honor. The Brooks Atkinson Theatre on West 47th Street, near Broadway in Manhattan’s Theater District, was renamed the Lena Horne Theatre on Tuesday in recognition of the famed performer and civil rights activist. The Lena Horne Theatre seats more than 1,000 people and is one of nine Broadway theaters throughout New York City belonging to the Nederlander Organization. The Lena Horne Theatre was previously named the Brooks Atkinson Theatre and the Mansfield Theatre. Horne won several awards during her career, including two Grammys, in 1982 and 1996, along with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989.

☆ Fact Check-As voter registration mailers trigger claims of ‘dead voters’ in Texas, officials and experts say there are safeguards in place against voter impersonation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Allegations that voter registration applications sent to deceased voters in Texas equate to or would lead to voter fraud are circulating on social media ahead of the U.S. midterms. The Texas Secretary of State stressed that there are multiple safeguards in place against voter impersonation. If someone received an application addressed to a deceased voter, to actually commit voter fraud, they would still need to: complete the application, request a mail-in ballot and ultimately, cast that ballot. “It would seem unlikely, but not impossible to acquire these pieces of information and then receive, complete and return a mail ballot for the deceased voter. The use of non-official datasets containing outdated information could result in some mailers being sent to deceased voters.

☆ Lena Horne becomes first Black woman to have a Broadway theater named after her
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Marianne Garvey | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —A theater on Broadway has been officially renamed in honor of the late actress and civil rights activist Lena Horne. Horne is the first Black woman to have a theater named in her honor. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 01: A view of signage at the Nederlander Organization's unveiling of Broadway's new Lena Horne Theatre on November 01, 2022 in New York City. It seats 1,069 and is one of The Nederlander Organization’s nine Broadway theatres. In September, the Shubert Organization re-christened a Broadway theater to honor actor James Earl Jones.

☆ Putin's rumored god-daughter, who fled Russia, said she could be 'in big trouble' and was cut off from friends and family
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A prominent Russian media star who fled the country posted saying she is in "big trouble." In her Telegram post on Saturday, Sobchak wrote: "My thoughts are with my family, who I have been separated from." Possibly, in big trouble." In her most recent post referring to her situation, Sobchak decried a backlash she had received in Russian media, as Russian newspaper Kommersant reported. Possibly, in big trouble.

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