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☆ Willie Mays, supreme baseball talent among the best to ever play, dies at 93
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( David K. Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

San Francisco Giants great Willie Mays waves his hat as he rides around the track of Oracle Park, Friday, May 7, 2021, in San Francisco,. Focus On Sport | Getty ImagesA 1981 song and ode to America's pastime by Terry Cashman was appropriately titled "Talkin' Baseball: Willie, Mickey & The Duke." "I can't believe that Babe Ruth was a better player than Willie Mays," all-time pitching great Sandy Koufax once said. Willie Mays Hays here: Play like Mays and I run like (Olympic gold medal sprinter Bob) Hayes. Outfielder Willie Mays #24 of the San Francisco Giants rounds second base during a circa early 1970's Major League Baseball game.

Persons: Willie Mays, Santiago Mejia, Barack Obama, of Famer Willie Mays, Chip Somodevilla, Mays, Bobby Thomson, Thomson, Scot, Bobby, — Mays, Mickey Mantle, Duke Snider, Terry Cashman, Willie, Mickey, Willie Howard Mays, steelworker William Howard, Anna Mays, Eddie Montague, Montague, Leo Durocher, Barry Bonds, —, Babe Ruth, Bonds, Sandy Koufax, Ruth, Arnold Palmer, Deron Johnson, Reggie Jackson —, Hall, Hall of famer Willie Mays, Jamie Squire, Yogi Berra, James Hirsch, Joan Payson, Payson, Payson wouldn't, Mantle, Bowie Kuhn, Peter Ueberroth, Ueberroth, Mantle's banishments, Kuhn, Charles Schultz, Charlie Brown, John Fogerty's, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Wesley Snipes, Willie Mays Hayes, Willie Mays Hays, Bob, Hayes, Sisko, Donna Reed Organizations: San Francisco Giants, Oracle, San Francisco Chronicle, Hearst Newspapers, Getty, Baseball, of Famer, National, Giants, Brooklyn Dodgers, National League, New, Armed Forces Radio, Dodgers, Yankees, New York, York City, Apple, New York City, Hall of Fame, New York Mets, Shea, Los Angeles Dodgers, Birmingham Black Barons, Negro League, Barons, Mets, Oakland A's, Hall of famer, Kansas City Royals, Oakland, Thomson, New York Giants, GQ, MLB, Hotel, Claridge, Olympics, Los Angeles Times, Houston Astros, Bettmann, Major League Baseball Locations: San Francisco, Washington ,, New York, U.S, Korea, New, Flushing , New York, Westfield , Alabama, Mays ', York, America, Flushing , Queens, Atlantic City, Southern California, Northern California

☆ Putin and Kim Jong Un's relationship is a marriage of convenience: Here's how it works
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Pyongyang, early on June 19, 2024. What can North Korea get from Putin? In return, Russia is likely providing North Korea with food, fuel and military technology for its satellites and submarines, analysts say. Russian President Vladimir Putin is arriving to North Korea with a two-day visit. As such, North Korea offers Russia another source of military hardware.

Persons: Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin, Anthony Wallace, Vladimir Putin's, Kim Jong, Putin, KCNA, Kim, Putin's, —, Gavriil Grigorov, Rodger Baker, James Brady, Victor Cha, Pyongyang's, Putinon, Brady, Cha, Putin hasn't Organizations: Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, Afp, Getty, North, Sputnik, Applied, CNBC, North Koreans, Putin, . Workers, Center for Strategic, International Studies Locations: Pyongyang, Seoul, Korean, North Korea, Russia, North, Koreans, Russian, Ukrainian, Moscow, Ukraine, Korea, China, USSR

☆ Inside Europe's tech hubs: Does London have what it takes to remain No. 1?
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +32 min

But it will remain a big, big trend. How has if at all, Brexit, affected the U.K. tech scene? Arjun KharpalAre there other challenges at the moment, as you see them to the U.K. tech landscape? I'm gonna go with the amount of VC funding in U.K. tech startups for 2025. Sanjot MalhiI would say that is the amount of funding in U.K. AI startups.

Persons: Tom Chitty, Arjun, we'll, Arjun Kharpal, I've, Sanjot, He's, It's, Tom Chitty I've, we've, it's, Arjun Kharpal Sanjot, fintech, we're, you've, let's, Tom Chitty We're, Franklin Templeton, they're, Masa, Softbank, that's, Arjun Kharpal Sanjay, Emmanuel, Macron, hasn't, who's, Emmanuel Macron, I'm, Sanjot Malhi, Arjun Kharpal That's, Kharpal, Tom Chitty Sanjot Organizations: HSBC Innovation Banking, CNBC, Northzone, Hague Cricket Club, European Union, Competition, Markets Authority, London Stock Exchange, London, Masa, Viva Tech, Mistral, Nvidia Locations: Europe, Dealroom, France, China, London, beyondthevalley@cnbc.com, Netherlands, India, The Hague, Germany, Sweden, North America, Asia, San Francisco, Beijing, Tel Aviv, Bangalore, U.S, British, doesn't, Ukraine, IPOs

☆ A Deadly Toll as an Intense Heat Grips Saudi Arabia
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( Cassandra Vinograd | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Dozens of people have died amid scorching temperatures during the annual hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, according to reports from official media in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. With forecasts saying that temperatures would top 113 degrees Fahrenheit, or 45 degrees Celsius, on Tuesday, Saudi officials issued advisories to pilgrims urging them to stay hydrated, minimize outdoor activities, and carry umbrellas to block direct sunlight. While Saudi Arabia had not reported deaths, news reports from a number of countries whose faithful went to the hajj suggested that the heat had proven deadly. On Sunday, Jordan’s official news agency said that 14 pilgrims had died from exposure to extreme sun and heat. On Wednesday, the agency said that burial permits had been issued for 41 Jordanian pilgrims in Mecca, but did not provide details on the causes of death.

Organizations: Saudi Locations: Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Europe, East, Africa

☆ US military says it killed a senior ISIS official in Syria airstrike
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( Haley Britzky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —A senior ISIS official was killed in a US airstrike on Sunday in Syria, the US military said Wednesday in a post on X. “On June 16, US Central Command conducted an airstrike in Syria, killing Usamah Jamal Muhammad Ibrahim al-Janabi, a senior ISIS official and facilitator,” the post from US Central Command said. Nearly three weeks ago, an airstrike in a remote area near Dhaardaar in Somalia was assessed to have killed three ISIS militants, according to US Africa Command. Between January and March 2024, CENTCOM and its partners killed seven ISIS operatives in Syria and detained 27 more. “We continue to focus our efforts on specifically targeting those members of ISIS who are seeking to conduct external operations outside of Iraq and Syria and those ISIS members attempting to break out ISIS members in detention in an attempt to reconstitute their forces.”

Persons: CNN —, “, Usamah Jamal Muhammad Ibrahim al, ” CENTCOM, ”, Erik Kurilla Organizations: CNN, ISIS, US Central Command, US Africa Command Locations: Syria, Africa, Dhaardaar, Somalia, Iraq

☆ Kenya: Hundreds arrested as protests flare over tax hikes
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( Nimi Princewill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Protests have erupted in parts of Kenya, with hundreds detained by police as citizens rejected planned tax hikes in the East African nation already grappling with escalating living costs. Civil society groups said that at least 283 people have been arrested since Tuesday as protests flared over the proposed hikes. Among the taxes suspended was a 16% value-added tax on bread and a 2.5% tax on motor vehicles, a statement from Kenya’s presidency said. Amnesty International’s Kenya office said it was “deeply outraged by the arbitrary arrest of peaceful protestors” in Nairobi on Tuesday. An alliance of civil society groups called for the unconditional release of detained protesters, which it said included journalists.

Persons: Kenyan John Wills Njoroge, It’s, “, ” Organizations: CNN, Kenyan, NTV, Kenyan Police Service, ” CNN Locations: Kenya, East, Nairobi, Mombassa, Mombasa, Kenya’s

☆ Putin Will Head to North Korea as Ukraine War Redefines Ties With Kim
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Paul Sonne | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The war against Ukraine has driven Mr. Putin closer to the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, who has won new status with the Kremlin by opening his vast munitions stores to Moscow. Nine months ago, after Mr. Kim arrived by armored train in the Russian Far East, the two men met at a Russian cosmodrome and toasted their “sacred struggle” against the West. The North Korean leader, in between visiting sensitive Russian rocket and fighter jet facilities, invited Mr. Putin to make a reciprocal visit. Now, the Russian president has taken him up on the offer. The United States once relied on Moscow’s cooperation in its attempts to curb North Korea’s nuclear and missile program.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Kim Jong, Kim, Mr Organizations: Kremlin, West, North, Washington, United Locations: Russia, North Korea, Pyongyang, United States, Ukraine, Moscow, Russian

☆ Willie Mays: One of baseball’s most electrifying and complete players has died at 93
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Wayne Sterling | Kevin Dotson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

AP From left: Monte Irvin, Willie Mays, and Hank Thompson hold bats on their shoulders in Yankee Stadium in 1951. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Mays, then a physical training instructor at Fort Eustis, Virginia, leads soldiers through a calisthenics session on February 19, 1953. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Mays plays stick ball with kids in New York's Harlem neighborhood in 1954. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Mays makes a leaping, one-handed catch off the Los Angeles Dodgers' Duke Snider on August 15, 1954. JR/AP Mays, then of the San Francisco Giants, plays catch with 14-month-old Herbert Henderson, at the home of Henderson's parents, in San Francisco, California on November 14, 1957.

Persons: Willie Mays, Mays, “, Michael Mays, ” Michael Mays, ”, –, Babe Ruth, Hall, Hall of Famer Willie Mays, Robert D, Manfred, ” Manfred, ” Mays, couldn’t, wouldn’t, Negro League ballplayers, Monte Irvin, Hank Thompson, William F, Donegan, Duke Snider, Charles Hoff, Jackie Robinson, Bettmann, Frank Hurley, Joe DiMiaggio, Sid Mercer, Margherite Wendell, AP Mays, Herbert Henderson, Ernest Bennett, Pepe, San Francisco, Willie McCovey, Jon Brenneis, Ed Sullivan, Mel Ott, Hank Aaron, Joan Whitney Payson, Dan Farrell, douse Mays, Paul Sakuma, Monica M, Davey, John G, Mabanglo, San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds, of Famer Willie McCovey, Bonds, Willie, Laura Bush, George W, Bush, Chip Somodevilla, Jeff Gross, Barack Obama, Louis, Pete Souza, Jon Miller, Ezra Shaw, Nicholas Kamm, Gabrielle Lurie, ’ Mays, Vic Wertz, ” San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Breed, ’, Peter Ueberroth, Leo Durocher, ” Obama, “ Willie, Gavin Newsom, ” Newsom, Emma Tucker, Elizabeth Joseph, Taylor Romine Organizations: CNN, of Famer, San Francisco Giants, Giants, Major League Baseball, New York Giants, National League, Hall of Famer, MLB, Negro League statistics, Negro American, Birmingham Black Barons, San Francisco Chronicle, Juneteenth, Negro Leagues, Black Barons, Louis Cardinals, Negro League, Gloves, Bettmann, American, Minneapolis Millers, Minnesota Historical Society, AP, Yankee, The New York Giants, Army, Major League, Los Angeles Dodgers, NY, Mays ' New York Giants, Robinson's Brooklyn Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Baseball Writers, JR, San, Candlestick Park, CBS, Getty, Astrodome, Mays, Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Mets, Wrigley Field, Chicago Cubs, National League East, AP Mays, Candlestick, San Fransisco Giants, Park, Willie Mays Plaza, Bell Park, White, Little League's Challenger Division, T, Air Force, London Breed, Hall, Polo, New York, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees, Franciscan, ” San Francisco Mayor London, of Fame, Baseball Hall of Fame, Baseball Locations: Birmingham , Alabama, Birmingham, American, New York, Omaha , Nebraska, Camp Kilmer , New Jersey, Fort Eustis , Virginia, Phoenix , Arizona, New, Harlem, Mays ', NY, East Elmhurst , New York, San Francisco , California, San Francisco, Candlestick, Houston , Texas, New York City, Chicago , Illinois, AFP, Washington , DC, St, Washington ,, California

☆ Millionaires are abandoning the UK in their droves, new research shows
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Katrina Bishop | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON — A record number of millionaires is expected to leave the United Kingdom this year, according to new research, with this year's general election expected to further exacerbate the exodus. The U.K. came second to only China in Henley's ranking, with the eastern Asian giant expected to see net outflows of 15,200 millionaires in 2024. "However, this trend began to reverse around a decade ago as more millionaires began to leave the country and fewer came in," it said in its report. "Notably, during the six-year period from 2017 to 2023 post-Brexit, the U.K. lost a total of 16,500 millionaires to migration. Hannah White, CEO of the Institute for Government think tank, noted that the millionaire exodus could be accelerated by this year's general election.

Persons: Hannah White Organizations: Henley Private Wealth, Henley, Institute, Government Locations: United Kingdom, Britain, China, Henley's, Europe, Africa, Asia

CNN —Two fast-growing fires are tearing across a southern New Mexico tribal reservation and converging on a village “like a pair of tongs,” prompting thousands of residents to evacuate, officials say. An estimated 5,000 residents were ordered to evacuate the village area due to the approaching South Fork Fire, New Mexico Forestry spokesperson George Ducker told CNN. A second blaze, the Salt Fire, is also burning on tribal land south of Ruidoso and has scorched 2,000 acres. The South Fork Fire has burned more than 5,000 acres and is zero percent contained, according to an overnight update from the New Mexico Forestry Division. Both fires are acting like “a pair of tongs, and Ruidoso is in the middle,” Ducker said.

Persons: George Ducker, Ducker, ” Ducker, Jesus Figueroa, Ruidoso, Rebecca Dennis, ” Dennis, Roswell –, Ruidoso –, ” PNM, CNN’s Melissa Alonso, Dave Alsup, Amanda Jackson, Robert Shackelford Organizations: CNN, New Mexico Forestry, Mescalero Apache, New, New Mexico Forestry Division, New Mexico State Police, Facebook, Apache Summit, Eastern New Mexico University, New Mexico State Fairgrounds, Storm, US Drought Monitor Locations: New Mexico, Ruidoso, Snow, Whitetail, Chihuahua, Lane, Summit, Los Angeles County, Northern California’s Sonoma County, Oklahoma, Sudderth, Roswell, lockstep, Lincoln County

Beirut CNN —Israel warned Hezbollah on Tuesday of the prospect of “all-out war” after the Lebanese militant group published a 9-minute video, purportedly taken by a drone, showing Israeli military and civilian locations in several Israeli cities. “In an all-out war, Hezbollah will be destroyed, and Lebanon severely beaten,” he added. Those locations include a number of sensitive areas, including at least two military installations: a base in northern Haifa and the port of Haifa. The drone also flew over the oil tanks that sit north of Haifa, the Haifa airport and several residential areas. Hezbollah has said in the past that it will only stop firing on Israel if Israel stops the war in Gaza.

Persons: Beirut CNN — Israel, Israel Katz, ”, Rafael –, Katz, Hassan, Nasrallah, Wim Zwijnenburg, AlMayadeenNews, Yona Yahav, ” Yahav, ” Ibrahim Mousawi, Israel, Amos Hochstein Organizations: Beirut CNN, Hezbollah, Iron, Israel Defense Forces, CNN, PAX, Reshet Bet, Haifa “, Haifa ”, Northern Command, US Locations: Beirut, Lebanese, Lebanon, Haifa, Israel, Gaza, “, China, India, Iran, Haifa Port

☆ US announces major bust as efforts to crack down on Chinese money launderers working with drug cartels ratchet up
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

A US-based lawyer who has represented accused Chinese money launderers said the tempo of law enforcement operations against the alleged launderers has increased in recent weeks as federal agents close in on “bigger fish” among Chinese money launderers in the US. None of the federal law enforcement agencies involved in tracking Chinese money launderers agreed to be interviewed on the record. Grassley and Whitehouse have each introduced legislation they say is key to closing loopholes in US law that are actively exploited by the cartels’ money launderers. Elaborate networksRecent court documents illuminate how far-flung and elaborate US-based networks of alleged Chinese money launderers are. Mirror TransactionsExperts say the Chinese money launderers have mastered the art of so-called mirror transactions, which involve a series of deposits at multiple bank accounts to conceal the drug money.

Persons: ”, Anne Milgram, surveil, “, Don Im, Biden, HSI, Ricardo Mayoral, William Kimbell, ” Kimbell, launderers, —, Sen, Sheldon Whitehouse, ” Whitehouse, Treasury Department —, Whitehouse, Christopher Wray, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Republican Sen, Charles Grassley, Enhua Fang, Li Pei Tan, Tan, Joe Habachy, Matthew Rothbeind, Fang, Chaojie Chen, Chen, Greg Hunter, ” David Luckey, JPMorgan Chase Organizations: CNN, Drug, Administration, Sinaloa Cartel, US Court, Central, Central District of, DEA, IRS, “, Centers for Disease Control, Federal, Homeland Security, Treasury, Treasury Department, Treasury’s, Network, Homeland Security Investigations, DHS, Financial Crimes, Rhode Island Democrat, intel, Department of Homeland Security, FBI, Senate, ” CNN, White, Office of National Drug Control, Service, Biden, Republican, Grassley, Rand Corporation, of, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, JPMorgan, Organization Locations: California, Mexican, China, Mexico, Los Angeles, Sinaloa, Central District, Central District of California, Colombia, America, Oregon, Virginia, South Carolina, Washington, DC, North, Central America, —, Iowa, North Carolina, Belize, Chinese, Georgia, Chicago, Tulsa, East Coast, Detroit , Chicago, Ohio, Western, of North Carolina, Wells Fargo

☆ Putin may need arms from North Korea’s Kim for Ukraine war, but what is he willing to give in return?
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

North Korea launched its first spy satellite, the Malligyong-1, in November. The arrangement may also enable North Korea to gain real-world intel on the functioning of its weaponry and help it ramp up exports more broadly. Such satellites can help North Korea improve its ground-based military capabilities, for example enabling it to more accurately target opponents’ forces with its own missiles. Both countries in recent years have blocked movement in the council related to North Korea as they grew skeptical of US-backed sanctions. He pointed to his experiences during the former US President Barack Obama administration working on nonproliferation efforts related to North Korea and Iran.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin ramped, Kim Jong, Putin, ”, Edward Howell, Xi Jinping, Kim, ” Putin, “ Kim Jong, he’ll, Ankit, Sofiia Gatilova, Putin –, “ Putin, –, John Erath, Erath, Xi, it’s, Michael McFaul, Barack Obama, ” McFaul, … we’re Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, University of Oxford, KCNA, intel, South, United Nations, North, Carnegie Endowment, International Peace, Kremlin, UN Security Council, Center for Arms Control, Observers, UN, National Security, Center for Strategic, International Studies Locations: Hong Kong, North Korea, Ukraine, Russia, Pyongyang, Moscow, Eurasia, United Kingdom, United States, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Seoul, Washington, North Korean, Korea, Russian, Kharkiv, Kyiv, China, Iran

☆ This startup wants to create software in minutes using AI. Here's the 11-slide pitch deck Proofs used to raise $2.6 million in funding
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewProofs, a startup that builds software using AI agents, has raised $2.6 million in pre-seed funding. The startup, based in San Francisco and Warsaw, is utilizing AI to speed up the process of developing proof-of-concept software for companies. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Proof claims that using AI agents can drastically reduce the time taken to develop custom software to minutes at a much-reduced cost compared to traditional processes. Advertisement"Every year you have around $700 billion of software being sold, but unlike out-of-the-box SaaS products, the bar to build and integrate customized software is higher," Pucek told Business Insider.

Persons: —, Bartek, Pucek Organizations: Service, Business, EarlyBird, Expeditions Fund, RTP Global Locations: San Francisco, Warsaw

☆ World’s nuclear powers strengthening arsenals as geopolitical tensions grow, report finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Radina Gigova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

London CNN —Nuclear-armed countries are strengthening their arsenals and several have made ready new nuclear-armed or nuclear-capable weapons systems amid rising geopolitical tensions, a new report has found. “While the global total of nuclear warheads continues to fall as Cold War-era weapons are gradually dismantled, regrettably we continue to see year-on-year increases in the number of operational nuclear warheads,” the institute’s director Dan Smith said. “Accordingly, there is a growing concern that North Korea might intend to use these weapons very early in a conflict.”Protesters against nuclear weapons outside the US mission to the UN. Moscow has continued to make threats involving the use of nuclear weapons in light of Western aid for Ukraine, and in May 2024 carried out tactical nuclear weapons drills close to the Ukrainian border, SIPRI said. “We have not seen nuclear weapons playing such a prominent role in international relations since the Cold War,” said Wilfred Wan, the director of SIPRI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Program.

Persons: Israel –, “, Dan Smith, Jung Yeon, ” SIPRI, ”, Hans M, Kristensen, Matt Korda, Erik McGregor, SIPRI, Wilfred Wan Organizations: London CNN —, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, ”, Korean, Getty, “, SIPRI’s, Ukraine, Hamas, Conference, Nuclear Weapons Locations: United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel, Stockholm, Seoul, South Korea, Swedish, Ukraine, saliency, ”, “, “ China, Korea, Gaza, Moscow, Ukrainian, Iran, Iraq, Syria

Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement that he would activate the city’s heat emergency plan starting on Tuesday. “The first heat wave of the season is here, and New York City has a plan to beat the heat — but we want all New Yorkers to have a plan as well,” Mr. Adams said. The city’s Heat Vulnerability Index — an effort spearheaded by the health department in conjunction with Columbia University — analyzes the neighborhoods that face the most danger during a heat wave. If everybody’s doing it, you’re multiplying it by millions.”Are heat waves in New York City becoming more common? The only heat wave to hit New York City last year happened in September, said David Stark, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service of New York.

Persons: Eric Adams, “, Mr, Adams, Ashwin Vasan, Anna Watts, Sandee, Columbia University —, Brian Ourien, ” Mr, Ourien, Zach Iscol, Vasan, ”, Con Ed, Brittainy Newman, Patrick McHugh, Con Ed ., McHugh, David Stark, Elijah Hutchinson, Hutchinson Organizations: Fire Department, National Weather Service, The New York Times, “, New York Public Library, Columbia University, Department of Health, Human Services, Bowery, Emergency Management, Workers, Con, New, New York City, Environmental Locations: New York City, New York, New, York, Bronx , Brooklyn, Queens, Mott Haven, Fordham, Jamaica, Hollis, St, Albans, In Brooklyn, Brownsville , East Flatbush, East New York

☆ Amazon hit with $5.9 million fine for violating California labor law
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

California's labor regulator on Tuesday said it fined Amazon nearly $6 million for violating a state law aimed at curtailing the use of onerous warehouse productivity quotas. The California Labor Commissioner's Office said it investigated two Amazon facilities in Moreno Valley and Redlands, both located east of Los Angeles, and found 59,017 violations of the state's Warehouse Quotas law, officials said. The Warehouse Quotas law went into effect in 2022 and requires employers to disclose productivity quotas to employees and government agencies, as well as any discipline workers may face for not meeting them. The law also prohibits employers from requiring warehouse employees to meet unsafe quotas preventing them from taking state-mandated meal and rest breaks or using the bathroom. The Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has also cited Amazon numerous times for safety violations.

Persons: Lilia Garcia, Brower, Sen, Ed Markey, It's, Maureen Lynch Vogel, they're Organizations: Amazon, California Labor Commissioner's Office, Labor, Occupational Safety, Health Administration Locations: California, Moreno Valley, Redlands, Los Angeles, Washington, New York, Minnesota, U.S

☆ Iran's upcoming snap elections: A battle of anti-western hardliners
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Iranian Leader Press Office | Anadolu | Getty ImagesIran is holding snap elections on June 28 following the sudden death of former Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. The election will take place against the backdrop of a battered Iranian economy, widespread popular discontent and crackdowns on dissent. He described Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei⁠ as the country's "only 'voter' of significance." Iran's Presidency | WANA | Via ReutersBut with Sunday's announcement of the approved candidates, "those hopes were largely dashed," he said. It comes after turnout for Iran's parliamentary election in March was also the lowest for a legislative contest in the Islamic Republic's history at 41%.

Persons: Ali Khamenei, Ebrahim Raisi, Hossein Amir, Ibrahim Raisi, crackdowns, Behnam ben Taleblu, Ayatollah Khamenei⁠, ben Taleblu, Nader Itayim, it's, Raisi, Khamenei, Mahsa Amini, Sanam Vakil, Itayim, ATTA KENARE Organizations: Iran's, Tehran University, Iranian, Press, Anadolu, Getty, U.S, Guardian Council, Council, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, CNBC, Western, Argus Media, Reuters, Union for Secular Republic, Human Rights, Chatham House, Islamic Locations: Tehran, Iran, Israel, Mideast, Iran's, Islamic Republic, Kurdish Iranian, East, North Africa

☆ Putin Is to Visit North Korea, a Sign of Deepening Military Ties
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia will visit North Korea this week for a meeting with its leader, Kim Jong-un, their second in nine months, as the two countries deepen military ties to support Mr. Putin’s war in Ukraine with North Korean weapons. Mr. Putin last visited North Korea in 2000, when he became the first Russian or Soviet leader to visit the nation. Mr. Kim met with Mr. Putin in Russia’s Far East last September, ushering in a new era of relations between the two countries. For Mr. Kim, it was a rare moment of his country, a pariah in the West, being sought after as an ally. For Russia, it’s a strengthening of ties with a country that is providing it with much-needed munitions for its war in Ukraine.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Kim Jong, Kim Organizations: Mr Locations: Russia, North Korea, Ukraine, North, Russian, Russia’s Far, West

☆ Oppressive heat wave will broil huge swaths of the East with record-breaking temperatures this week
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Mary Gilbert | Elizabeth Wolfe | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Some areas could endure the longest heat wave they’ve seen in decades, the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center said. Tens of millions of people who aren’t used to heat this intense will be sweating in temperatures well into the 90s this week. Through the rest of the week, the most extreme heat risk is in place from the Great Lakes into the Northeast, according to the National Weather Service. Humidity will also join forces with extreme heat to create triple-digit heat indices – measurements of how hot the human body feels – in some areas. Chicago residents could feel heat indices between 95 and 105 degrees through next week, the NWS in Chicago warned.

Persons: CNN’s Robert Shackelford Organizations: CNN, National Weather Service, Prediction, NWS Locations: South, Midwest, Great, Chicago, St, Louis, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh , New York City, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York, New England

☆ Scientists finally think they know why giraffe necks are so long
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Jessica Orwig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In the 19th century, Charles Darwin and Jean Baptiste Lamarck suggested that giraffes evolved long necks to help them snatch leaves on trees. A later theory usurped Darwin and Lamarck's, suggesting that male giraffes evolved long necks to fight and compete for female mates. "I realized that the important question was, 'Do males have proportionally longer necks compared to the rest of their body?'" Cavener said this may be the first study to suggest that females, not males, are the reason for giraffes' long necks. That's important not only for understanding giraffe evolution but how male and female giraffes behave differently, which could help with conservation efforts.

Persons: —, Charles Darwin, Jean Baptiste Lamarck, Darwin, Lamarck, Douglas Cavener, wasn't, Cavener, Art Wolfe, Zoe Raw, Raw Organizations: Service, Business, Biology, Penn State, International Union for Conservation Locations: Tanzania, Kenya, East Africa, Darwin, bushmeat

☆ Putin to visit Kim in North Korea on June 18-19
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) visit a construction site of the Angara rocket launch complex on September 13, 2023 in Tsiolkovsky, Russia. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is in Russia for talks with Russian President Putin. Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit North Korea on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Kremlin said, a rare trip that underscores Moscow's burgeoning partnership with the reclusive nuclear-armed state. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un extended an invitation to Putin during a visit to Russia's Far East last September. Ukrainian officials say they have counted about 50 such missiles delivered to Russia by North Korea.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong, Putin, Kim Jong Un, Kim, Leif, Eric Easley, Kim Hong, Putin's, Kurt Campbell Organizations: Russian, Kremlin, State Affairs of, DPRK, Democratic People's, West, United Nations, Ewha University, U.S, South Korean Locations: Tsiolkovsky, Russia, Russian, North Korea, Russia's, Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Vietnam, Ukraine, United States, Europe, Asia, Washington, Seoul, Moscow

☆ Opinion | U.N. Humanitarian Chief: World Leaders Are Failing Us
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Martin Griffiths | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

I have spent much of my career in or on the edges of war zones, but nothing quite prepared me for the breadth and depth of human suffering I have witnessed in my three years as the United Nations’ humanitarian chief. The early months of my tenure were consumed with the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, and the effort to get more than a trickle of food and other aid to some five million people who had been cut off from the outside world by brutal fighting. Tremors were felt around the world as food prices rose and geopolitical tensions deepened. Just over a year later, the atrocious conflict in Sudan broke out. As two generals have battled for power, thousands have been killed, millions displaced, and ethnic-based violence has once again emerged as famine looms.

Organizations: United Nations Locations: Ethiopia’s Tigray, Ukraine, Kyiv, Sudan

☆ Epic heat wave to expand from Midwest to East Coast, bringing warnings to 72 million
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Dennis Romero | Patrick Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Almost 72 million people across the country were under warnings of extreme heat Monday morning, the National Weather Service said. With Thursday's seasonal solstice taking place amid a weeklong heat wave expected for the East Coast and the Midwest, the summer of 2024 is coming in hot. Extreme heat warnings were in place for Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston, New York City and Albany, New York. The weather service office for Pittsburgh said it "could be the most impactful heat wave of the 21st century." The weather service is also on the lookout for any possible tropical storms developing in the Gulf, it said.

Organizations: National Weather Service, East, Prediction, Midwest, The Nevada Division, Emergency Management, Pittsburgh, Buffalo Public Schools, Dakotas Locations: Phoenix , Arizona, U.S, East Coast, Chicago, St, Louis, Indianapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston , New York City, Albany , New York, Ohio, East, Phoenix, Buffalo, Minnesota, Gulf, Mexico, Texas, Louisiana

☆ Killings show ISIS remains a threat in Syria's desert 5 years after losing its caliphate
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Paul Iddon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

ISIS killed an estimated 84 Syrian soldiers and 44 civilians in central Syria in March, making it the most violent month in the ISIS desert campaign since late 2017. Another four Syrian troops were killed in another desert attack in late April. "Over the past several years, ISIS has been able to make regular attacks in the desert," Landis told Business Insider. AdvertisementLandis noted that the Syrian military is picking up its efforts to attack ISIS in the Homs-Palmyra region. AdvertisementWhile the Syrian military does carry out combing operations in the Homs desert, ISIS remnants are far from Damascus's top priority.

Persons: —, Joshua Landis, Landis, Bashar al, Aron Lund, Lund, Assad, what's, there's Organizations: Service, ISIS, Human Rights, Business, Center for Middle East Studies, University of Oklahoma, Century International, Syrian Democratic Forces Locations: United Kingdom, Homs, Syria, Iraq, Deir ez, Palmyra, Islamic State, Kurdish, Turkey, Syria's Hasakah, Damascus, State

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