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☆ RFK Jr. is Trump's pick to lead HHS — here's what he could do with that power
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-19 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

Kennedy will likely have some influence over who the president-elect chooses for those roles, health policy experts said. Ultimately, Kennedy's influence over immunization policy could lead to an increase in diseases preventable by vaccines, several health policy experts told CNBC. Investors are already bracing for a crackdown on food policy, with shares of processed food companies, such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola , falling on Friday. Seigerman said "there is little precedent in recent history for HHS policy dictating or affecting FDA regulation or approval of drugs." In 2023, pharmaceutical companies spent nearly $3 billion on advertising for the 10 most promoted drugs.

Persons: Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Thomas Machowicz, Donald Trump, Kennedy, Trump, trifecta, Spokespeople, Brandon Guerrero, Christina House, Gostin, Josh Michaud, Lawrence Gostin, Michaud, he's, Genevieve Kanter, Kanter, Covid, Richard Frank, Frank, Evan Seigerman, Seigerman, Dave Latshaw, Latshaw, Drugmakers, Joe Biden's, Amy Campbell Organizations: Reuters, Department of Health, Human Services, Republican, HHS, Affordable, Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, Centers, Medicare, Services, CNBC, CVS, Los Angeles Times, Getty, Health Defense, NBC News, FDA, NPR, Georgetown University, CDC, Vaccines, Children, Kennedy, NIH, University of Southern, Brookings Schaeffer Initiative, Health, pharma, RFK, BMO Capital, Pepsi, Trump, University of Illinois Chicago School of Law Locations: Phoenix , Arizona, U.S, Compton, Huntington Park, Kennedy ., University of Southern California

☆ Trump says he will give RFK Jr. a major health role if he wins the White House. Here's what that means for patients, drugmakers
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-05 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Some health experts said elevating Kennedy, even in an informal Trump administration position, could potentially lead to severe consequences for patients, drugmakers and the nation's public health overall. That could exacerbate the nation's existing public health challenges, such as declining childhood vaccination rates for several preventable diseases, some experts say. "I think we could reasonably predict that there would be a decline in vaccination rates among children, and perhaps vaccination overall." Drugmakers such as Pfizer and Moderna are still recovering from falling Covid vaccination rates in the U.S., which have dented their profits over the last two years. Kennedy's other proposals for overhauling federal health agencies will likely be difficult to execute.

Persons: Donald Trump, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Anna Moneymaker, Kennedy, Trump, Dr, Paul Offit, Drew Altman, Altman, Genevieve Kanter, Cynthia Blancas, Deep Patel, Christina House, they've, Offit, Andrew Kelly, USC's Kanter, that's, Georges Benjamin, Covid, Kanter Organizations: Gas, Getty, White House, Trump, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, CNBC, and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control, Commonwealth Fund, Senate, Washington Post, University of Southern, CVS, Los Angeles Times, CDC, Pfizer, Moderna, NBC, Health Defense, FDA, Department of Health, Human Services, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Reuters, American Public Health Association, Pharma Locations: Duluth , Georgia, U.S, University of Southern California, Lynwood, Huntington Park, Samoa, White Oak , Maryland

☆ Emmanuel Macron has some strong views about ‘Emily in Paris’ heading to Rome
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-10 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —When Netflix’s hit show “Emily in Paris” revealed at the end of season four that its lead character was heading to Rome, it caught many viewers by surprise. “We will ask them to remain in Paris, ‘Emily in Paris’” in Rome doesn’t make sense,” he told Variety in an interview published Wednesday. His wife, Brigitte, made a cameo in season four when Emily spotted her in a café and asked for a selfie. Brigitte Macron (center) appeared in an episode where she posed for a selfie with Lily Collins as Emily (left) and Thalia Besson as Genevieve (right). Netflix“I was super proud, and she was very happy to do it,” Macron said about his wife’s cameo.

Persons: Netflix’s, Emily, Paris ”, Emmanuel Macron, ‘ Emily, Emily Cooper, Lily Collins, Darren Star, ” Macron, Brigitte, Brigitte Macron, Thalia Besson, Genevieve, “ It’s, Macron, “, ” Organizations: CNN, ”, Netflix’s, Netflix, France’s Locations: Paris, Rome, “, Chicago, France

Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group sued the AI music companies Uncharted Labs and Suno this summer over software that allows users to create music from text prompts, alleging that copyrighted songs have been used without permission to train the AI. Websites like Sound Draw, Musicfy, AIVA and Boomy allow users to easily create music with AI using different inputs. AI music companies say the new ease of use allows users who might not have previously been able to easily create music to generate their own content. this is so cool.”In Denver, Speer led a course on AI music tools using Boomy for young musicians. Some of the local artists who performed at Youth on Record’s festival support integrating AI technology into music education and production.

Persons: Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder, Nicki Minaj, ’, ”, Cassie Speer, “, ” Speer, they’re, we’ll, Musicfy, Grimes, Speer, Regi Worles, Worles, Mitchell, Boomy, Michael Merola, Michael, Genevieve Libien Organizations: BBL, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, Labs, Universal Music, NBC, Arts Education Data, ”, Hollywood, Associated Press Locations: NBCUniversal, Boomy, U.S, Canadian, Denver, Tennessee

☆ Venezuela’s Election Was Deeply Flawed. Here’s How.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Genevieve Glatsky | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

It had already been clear for months that Venezuela’s presidential election on Sunday, would not be free or fair, as the government jailed opposition leaders or disqualified them from running for office. But as the day progressed it became all the more evident just how flawed the country’s democratic process had become and why the victory claim by the country’s autocratic leader, President Nicolás Maduro, has provoked such fury.

Persons: Nicolás Maduro

☆ My partner grew up rich, and I didn't. We almost broke up over my insecurities, but compassion and honesty have gotten us through.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-21 | by ( Tess Martinelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewThis as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Geneviève Laforce, a 24-year-old content creator from Montreal, whose partner grew up wealthy. We've learned that managing a relationship with someone who grew up so differently requires constant compassion and open communication. I've been able to broaden her worldview and provoke a deeper sense of compassion for those who are struggling. If money complicates your relationship and you want to tell your story, please email Tess Martinelli at tmartinelli@businessinsider.com.

Persons: —, Geneviève Laforce, It's, We've, isn't, I've, she's, They've, Tess Martinelli Organizations: Service, Business Locations: Montreal, tmartinelli@businessinsider.com

☆ Colombia Faces a New Problem: Too Much Cocaine
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-13 | by ( Genevieve Glatsky | Federico Rios | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For decades, one industry has sustained the small, remote Colombian village of Caño Cabra: cocaine. Later, they mix the leaves with gasoline and other chemicals to make chalky white bricks of coca paste. But two years ago, the villagers said, something alarming happened: The drug traffickers who buy the coca paste and turn it into cocaine stopped showing up. The same pattern was repeated again and again in communities across the country where coca is the only source of income. Colombia, the global nexus of the cocaine industry, where Pablo Escobar became the world’s best known criminal, and which still produces more of the drug than any other nation, is facing tectonic shifts as a result of domestic and global forces that are reshaping the drug industry.

Persons: Pablo Escobar Organizations: Food Locations: Colombian, Caño, Colombia

☆ They Fled Oppression at Home, but It Followed Them Abroad
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-10 | by ( Genevieve Glatsky | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The line outside the Venezuelan Consulate in Madrid stretched down the block. Pregnant women, families with small children, older people and those with disabilities arrived as early as 4 a.m. — five hours before the office opened — trying to register to vote in Venezuela’s highly anticipated presidential election. Adriana Rodríguez, 47, who left Venezuela in 2018, showed up at 8 a.m., two days in a row. Both times, she waited four hours before reaching the front of the line, only to be turned away, she said, always with the same explanation: “They could not register any more people.”With Venezuela’s authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro, trailing badly in polls ahead of the July 28 vote, the government has imposed stringent rules making registering to vote nearly impossible for millions of Venezuelans living abroad, including in the United States, Spain and Latin American countries.

Persons: Venezuela’s, Adriana Rodríguez, Nicolás Locations: Venezuelan, Madrid, Venezuela, United States, Spain

Then, peering out over the country’s main political plaza on Wednesday, Bolivia’s top ministers saw the armored vehicles and troops spilling out their doors. Within moments, the president, Luis Arce, addressed his inner circle — “We are facing a coup!” — before heading to the presidential palace to confront, face to face, the general trying to remove him from power. The coup attempt failed, lasting a mere three hours, and ended in the arrest of the general, whose motivation for the attack appeared to be, at least in part, anger over his firing by Mr. Arce the day before. But it was hardly the end of Mr. Arce’s problem, or the challenges facing Bolivia. Mr. Arce, 60, a former finance minister, took office in 2020 during a democratic election that seemed to symbolize a new, more hopeful chapter in a country coming off a period of intense political tumult.

Persons: Bolivia’s, shiver, Luis Arce, Arce Locations: Bolivia

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Members of Bolivia’s military attempted to storm the presidential palace in the capital, La Paz, on Wednesday afternoon, in an apparent coup attempt led by a top general who declared he was leading an effort to “re-establish democracy.”Video on Bolivian television showed security forces in riot gear occupying the country’s main political square, Plaza Murillo, a camouflaged tank ramming into a palace door and soldiers trying to make their way into the palace. Then, just as quickly as they had appeared, the general, Juan José Zúñiga disappeared, and his supporters in the armed forces pulled back and were replaced by police officers supporting the president. The country’s democratically elected president, Luis Arce, even dared to venture into the plaza, after calling on Bolivians “to organize and mobilize against this coup and in favor of democracy.”

Persons: “, Juan José Zúñiga, Luis Arce, ” Locations: La Paz

☆ Ecuador Hit by Nationwide Blackout
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( José María León Cabrera | Genevieve Glatsky | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Ecuador was plunged into a nationwide blackout on Wednesday afternoon, and the country’s public works minister blamed the emergency on a failure of a key transmission line. The minister, Roberto Luque, said in a statement on X that he had received a report from the national electricity operator, CENACE, about “a failure in the transmission line that caused a cascade disconnection, so there is no energy service nationwide.”He said the authorities were working to resolve the outage “as quickly as possible.” Within hours, power had begun to return to some parts of Quito, the capital. The South American country of 18 million people has been struggling with an energy crisis for several years. Failing infrastructure, a lack of maintenance and a dependence on imported energy have all contributed to rolling blackouts — though none have been as widespread as this one.

Persons: Roberto Luque Locations: Ecuador, Quito

☆ A Reporter’s Work Helped Topple Presidents. Now He Is Being Investigated.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-10 | by ( Genevieve Glatsky | Bianca Padró Ocasio | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

One of Latin America’s most celebrated journalists, whose work has toppled presidents and set off criminal investigations into government wrongdoing, was recovering from an aggressive bout of chemotherapy when he got more bad news: A Peruvian prosecutor was investigating him for bribery. The journalist, Gustavo Gorriti, 76, the top editor at an investigative news media organization in Peru, is no stranger to trouble. In the 1990s, he was kidnapped by members of a secret death squad that Peruvian investigators later determined was headed by former President Alberto Fujimori. Mr. Gorriti had spent years reporting on corruption and human rights violations by the Fujimori’s government. More recently, he helped expose an enormous bribery scandal known as Operation Carwash that has led to the arrest and resignation of government officials across Latin America.

Persons: Gustavo Gorriti, Alberto Fujimori, Gorriti Locations: Peru, Latin America

☆ En Perú, un periodista ayudó a derrocar presidentes. Ahora es investigado
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-10 | by ( Genevieve Glatsky | Bianca Padró Ocasio | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ The incredible oblivion of Judge Marvin Isgur
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-03 | by ( Dakin Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +45 min

On a mild Houston day in March 2021, Judge Marvin Isgur prepared to oversee the only case on his docket that morning. In October 2023, the Fifth Circuit Court rebuked Judge David Jones but said that his longtime colleague, Judge Marvin Isgur, had been "unaware" of Jones' inappropriate relationship. "But only Judge Isgur knows what he knew or didn't know about the relationship." Much of this work was in cases before either Judge Isgur or Judge Jones. Isgur can continue to hear the case, he ruled, writing in the December 2023 opinion that lawyers for the creditor "failed to demonstrate much other than that former Judge Jones and Judge Isgur are close friends."

Persons: Marvin Isgur, David Jones, Jones, Elizabeth Freeman, Jackson Walker, Isgur, Michael Van Deelen, he'd, Freeman, Matthew Cavenaugh, Cavenaugh, Michael Van Deelen Van, Judge Jones, who'd, Steve Smith, Smith, Michael Lewis, Van Deelen, I'm, Van Deelen's, Tom Kirkendall, Gary Cruciani, Judge David Jones, Nancy Rapoport, University of Nevada Las Vegas William S, Kirkendall, " Jones, Trump, she's, Sarah, Porter Hedges, —, — Elizabeth Freeman, John Higgins, Whitney Ables, Josh Wolfshohl, Amy Lucas, Porter, Wesley Steen, Fifth Circuit —, that's, Liz, Bruce Markell, it's, Judge William Greendyke, Lynn LoPucki's, Patricia Tomasco, Christopher Lopez, Manges, Greendyke, Albert Alonzo, Alonzo, Jones Isgur, Susan Tran Adams, Matt Cavenaugh, Veronica Polnick, Genevieve Graham, cookout, Graham, Tran, Christina Morrison, David, I, Neiman Marcus, J.C, Penney, Freeman hadn't, hadn't, Jim Wilkinson, Ellis, Kirkland, Ellis —, Veronica Polnick —, Polnick —, Elizabeth, COVID, Jackson, Kirkland Ellis, they'd, — Greendyke, Wilkinson, Judge Isgur, Mike Warner, Eduardo Rodriguez, Rodriguez, Isgur's, Judge Lopez —, Lopez, Alfredo Perez, Weil, Perez, Richard Schmidt, Jack Newsham Organizations: Business, Southern District of, McDermott International, Southern, Houston, Fifth Circuit, Appeals, Department of Justice, Fifth, University of Nevada, Boyd School of Law, Circuit, University of Houston, American Bankruptcy Institute, Emory Law School, Emory, Facebook, Big Law, Reuters, Bloomberg, Northwestern's Pritzker School of Law, Enron, LinkedIn, Southern District of Texas, Judicial Conference, Texas, Chesapeake Energy, Big, Kirkland, Cavenaugh, UPS, Technologies, Candy Club, Omni, Norton Rose, GWG Holdings Inc, Brands, Southern District's, Southern District, US, Former Locations: Texas, Southern District, Southern District of Texas, Houston, New Orleans, United States, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Kirkendall, Galveston, Carolina, Porter, Harris, Nevada, Southern District of Texas , Delaware, New York, Delaware, Weil, Southern, disgorge, Sorrento, Corpus Christi, prefacing

☆ Briefly Open to a Fair-Looking Election, Venezuela Reverses Course Again
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Genevieve Glatsky | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Venezuelan officials rescinded an invitation to the European Union to observe the upcoming July 28 presidential elections, another stark sign that President Nicolás Maduro is unlikely to cede power despite allowing an opposition candidate to run against him. After months of intensified repression by the Maduro government — which banned legitimate challengers from the ballot, jailed political opponents and cracked down on civil society — the country’s electoral authority surprised many in April when it allowed the former diplomat Edmundo González to register as an opposition candidate. The Venezuelan government has been choked by sanctions from the United States and the European Union on the country’s vital oil industry, and some experts say Mr. Maduro allowed Mr. González to run only because it might help him sway Washington and its allies to ease up on the penalties. The president of the council, Elvis Amoroso, said in a televised broadcast that he was rescinding the invitation until the E.U. lifted “the unilateral and genocidal coercive sanctions imposed on our people.”

Persons: Nicolás Maduro, Edmundo González, Maduro, González, Elvis Amoroso, ” Organizations: European Union, Venezuelan Locations: United States, Washington

☆ Abortion rights advocates fight waiting periods and other limits amid political fallout of Roe reversal
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Tierney Sneed | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Longstanding abortion restrictions like waiting periods and provider regulations are now under legal attack in states where Roe v. Wade’s reversal prompted voters to amend their state constitutions to protect abortion rights. But the success abortion rights advocates have had in passing such measures in purple states and even Ohio – where Republicans have dominated recent elections – is notable. Anti-abortion activists say that abortion rights advocates are stretching the constitutional amendments beyond their meaning, suggesting that voters in other states should be wary. Abortion rights advocates say that the legal landscape differs state by state, so it’s difficult to predict the litigation that could come out of the proposed amendments if adopted. There are campaigns for initiatives to expand abortion rights in several other states, but only in a few states so far have abortion rights advocates cleared the required hurdles to guarantee the proposals will be on the ballot.

Persons: Roe, ’ pushback, Dobbs, ’ ”, Rabia Muqaddam, ”, Meagan Burrows, Katie Daniel, Susan B, Anthony Pro, Dana Nessel, Eric Restuccia, “, ” Genevieve Marnon, Casey –, Dave Yost, ” Yost, Casey, Yost, Jessica Arons, “ We’re, ” Arons Organizations: CNN, ACLU, Jackson, Health, Center for Reproductive Rights, Republicans, Democrat, Democratic, Republican, “ Voters Locations: Ohio, Michigan, In Ohio, Michigan and Ohio, California, Florida , Arizona , Missouri, Dobbs, Roe, Arizona

☆ Venezuela’s 2024 Presidential Vote: What to Know
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Genevieve Glatsky | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For the past 25 years Venezuela’s government has been controlled by Chavismo, the socialist movement that began with the democratic election of Hugo Chávez in 1998 and has since grown more authoritarian. When Mr. Chávez died in 2013 his protégé Nicolás Maduro narrowly won the presidency. Venezuela’s economy imploded nearly a decade ago, prompting one of the world’s largest displacements in Latin American history. The flow of Venezuelans and other migrants to the United States has become a dominant theme in the U.S. presidential campaign. This is the first Venezuelan election in more than a decade in which an opposition candidate has a reasonable — if slim and improbable — chance at winning.

Persons: Hugo Chávez, Chávez, Nicolás Maduro Organizations: Chavismo, U.S Locations: United States

☆ MDMA therapy could be legalized by summer. Why are so many advocates sounding the alarm?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Anna Silman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +52 min

Last summer, thousands of tie-dyed Burners and Patagonia-clad tech founders converged on the MAPS Psychedelic Science conference in Denver. The experience "broke the spell of this trauma, and she was able to rebuild her life," Doblin told The Guardian . The video team's job was to store recordings of every MDMA therapy session performed in the clinical trials. Grof believes in something called an "inner healing intelligence," an innate capacity for self-healing that psychedelic therapy helps unleash. Another time, a patient who had come to an MDMA therapy session later acknowledged they had been under the influence of LSD during treatment.

Persons: Jaden Smith, Aaron Rodgers, bro, Andrew Huberman, Rick Doblin, Doblin, mainstreaming psychedelics, influencers, Johnson, Elizabeth Nielson, Aubrey Marcus, ayahuasca, Matthew Stockman, Helena —, Timothy Leary, —, Hitler, Stanislav Grof, zombified, Brad Burge, Michael Mithoefer, Annie Mithoefer, Oprah, Sen, Joe Biden, MDMA's neurotoxicity, they'd, Albert Hofmann, David Bronner, Dr, Joe's, Bronner, Bronner's, Richard Rockefeller, John D, Rockefeller Jr, Rockefeller, Neşe, Johns Hopkins, who's, Devenot, Rick Friedman, Betty Aldworth, MAPS's multimillionaire, Tim Ferriss, Cody Swift, Zendo, Aldworth, Erica Siegal, Seth Whitelaw, Amy Emerson, JULIE JAMMOT, Ifetayo Harvey, Harvey, Lauren Unger, Unger, Casey Hardison, Harvey didn't, Hardison, Doblin's, Baylee Ybarra Gatlin, Gatlin, negligently, There's, Michael Pollan's, Steve Jurvetson, Elon Musk's who's, Genevieve, Steve Cohen, Alexandra, Mark Zuckerberg's, Dustin Moskovitz, Cari, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paltrow, Sergey Brin, Joe Green, Green, Zuckerberg, Genevieve Jurvetson, Michael Pollan, Jonathan Lubecky, he'd, Rebekah, Robert Mercer, Elizabeth Koch, Charles Koch, Rachel Nuwer, Koch, she'd, MAPS's, Elizabeth Crystal, Joe Rogan, didn't, Jesus Christ, Crystal, Meaghan Buisson, Richard Yensen, Donna, Yensen, Buisson, weren't, Robert, Rebekah Mercer, Sean Zanni, Grof, They've, Kayla Greenstien, it's, George Sarlo who'd, Vicky Dulai, Sarlo's, Dulai, Gul Dolen, Michael Mullette, who'd, Marla Aufmuth, Mullette, Lily Kay Ross, David Nickles, Ross, Greenstien, Rick, Lenny Ignelzi, biostatisticians, Lykos, Peter Thiel, Kara Swisher, Kris Lotlikar, Federico Menapace, Mo Septimus, Handout, Monnica, Williams, Lotlikar, Henry Elkus, Helena ., Elkus, Emerson, ICER Organizations: Science, New York Jets, rockstar, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, Lykos Therapeutics, and Drug Administration, FDA, Business, Florida's New College, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Sarasota Herald, Tribune, New College, Guardian, Drug, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, eBay, Nevada, Doblin, Pentagon, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, Staff, Corporation, PBC, pharma, New Yorker, New York Mets, Bloomberg, CBS, Breitbart, CBC News, BI, Porsche, Santa Cruz, New York Times, longtime, Mullette Corporation, New York, Health Canada, Compass, Sciences, Psychedelic Science, Whole Foods, McKinsey, Big Pharma, Vine Ventures, Lucid, Street Journal, Investments, Gawker, Publicly, PBC alums, Numinus, US Army Locations: Patagonia, Denver, Harvard, Colorado, Skokie , Illinois, Ireland, Czech, Sarasota, Arcturus, Florida, Swiss, Vietnam, Washington, Santa Cruz, Chicago, California, Iraq, British Columbia, New York, Hawaii, Santa, Nature, Moderna, Europe, Helena, Yale, Australia, Canada, Israel, Ukraine, ICER, . Upper

☆ How Mother Figures Impact Our Lives
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Catherine Pearson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +13 min

For Mother’s Day, The Times asked readers to tell us about the mother figures in their lives. KELLY SANDOVAL, 48, SQUAMISH, B.C., CANADAI come from a multicultural background, but the Puerto Rican side of the family lived far away. When I showed up, Linda, my host mother, picked me up from the bus stop and made me tea and crumpets. If I had a nightmare and woke my mother up, she would tell me to climb into bed with Rita. During that year I also moved into my first apartment, away from the guidance of my mother.

Persons: Sara Walcott, “, ”, Walcott, Ruth, she’d, JUDITH SHAPIRO, Halbeck, ZEVA OELBAUM, Jacqueline, ” Jacqueline, It’s, JESSICA CHAHINE, Patty, darlin, KELLY SANDOVAL, Alina, “ Fallon, FALLON ALVAREZ, Linda, We’re, BELLA MUNTZ KIRCHNER, AUSTIN , TEXAS Tenzin, CHANTAL TORTOROLI ROBERTS, Mom, idealists, ANNETTE EUFEMIO, Miss Jordan, MARJORIE GEORGE, Yoshibe, I’m, MARY HAYES, Viola, Lois, Aunt Flossy, Frankye, DOUG MOURER, MANSON, Colleen, WENDY, Greenberg, Bach, MANUEL FIGALLO, Rita, HARRIET LISS, MARY EILEEN CONNERY McDONNELL, Wilma, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, MADLYN DICKENS, Dunn, —, Parkinson’s, I’ve, ” GENEVIEVE GEER, ANYA SANCHEZ, mami ”, Kitty ” —, KITTY CHACHRA Organizations: The Times, SOUTH, CANADA, Radio City Music Hall, Miss, Gloucester Cathedral, THE, The Locations: Macon , Ga, McLEAN , VA, Kansas City, Mo, New York, MONTCLAIR, N.J, France, Paris, SQUAMISH, Puerto Rican, PORTLAND, Cambridge, England, AUSTIN , TEXAS, LARCHMONT, MANILA, PHILIPPINES, BROOKLYN, N.Y, Japan, INDIANAPOLIS, Walla Walla, Wash, Northern Idaho, Swedish, Seattle, I’m, BELLINGHAM, ARLINGTON , VA, STAMFORD, CONN, GEORGETOWN, THE BRONX, MARATHON, Cava, Spain, BOULDER, COLO, India, Toronto, longhand, Delhi, WATERLOO , ONTARIO

☆ Reality Show Contestants Compete for an Authoritarian’s Campaign Jingle
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Genevieve Glatsky | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The lively host with slicked back hair in a sea foam green suit. The contestants who share emotional personal stories before belting their songs into a microphone. It has all the elements of a typical singing competition. Instead, contestants on the show, “M Factor,” write and perform songs in a competition to become the official campaign jingle for the party of President Nicolás Maduro, the authoritarian leader of Venezuela. Mr. Maduro’s repressive government, which has been in power for over a decade, is under investigation by an international court for crimes against humanity.

Persons: Nicolás Maduro Locations: Venezuela

The day Edmundo González was plucked from obscurity and chosen to take on South America’s longest ruling authoritarian leader, technicians were busy making sure his home was not wiretapped. “This was not in our plans,” his wife, Mercedes López de González, said in an interview that day in April in their apartment in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. Not long ago, Mr. González, 74, was a retired diplomat and grandfather of four with no political aspirations. He kept busy writing academic papers, speaking at conferences and taking his grandchildren to haircuts and music lessons. Now, many Venezuelans have placed their hopes in him to end years of repressive rule as he challenges President Nicolás Maduro, who has held power since 2013, in elections scheduled in late July.

Persons: Edmundo González, ”, Mercedes López de González, González, Nicolás Maduro Locations: Caracas, Venezuela

☆ Colombia to Sever Ties With Israel Over Gaza War
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Genevieve Glatsky | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Colombia will sever diplomatic ties with Israel over its prosecution of the war in Gaza, President Gustavo Petro announced in Bogotá on Wednesday, describing the Israeli government as “genocidal.”His announcement came in a speech in Colombia’s capital city in front of cheering crowds that had gathered for International Workers’ Day. “The times of genocide, of the extermination of an entire people cannot come before our eyes, before our passivity,” Mr. Petro said. “If Palestine dies, humanity dies.”Colombia is the second South American nation to break off relations with Israel after Bolivia, which cut ties in November over its strikes in Gaza. Belize also cut diplomatic ties with Israel that month. “Israel and Colombia always enjoyed warm ties.

Persons: Gustavo Petro, “, ” Mr, Petro, Petro’s, ”, Israel Katz, ’, Mr, Colombia’s, Katz, Netanyahu Organizations: International Workers, Israel, Security Locations: Colombia, Israel, Gaza, Bogotá, Colombia’s, American, Bolivia, Chile, Honduras, Belize, “ Israel, Gaza City

☆ Blinken Presses Hamas to Accept Israel’s Latest Cease-Fire Proposal
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Genevieve Glatsky | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

One of the Israeli officials said those returning to the north would be subject to no inspections or limitations, while the second said there would be nearly no restrictions, without elaborating. It was not clear whether Hamas would accept the most recent Israeli proposal, which is part of negotiations that the two sides are conducting indirectly through mediators from Egypt and Qatar. The cease-fire talks were a focus of Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken as he visited Israel on Wednesday. The Israeli offer, according to one of the Israeli officials, doesn’t include language that refers explicitly to an end to the fighting. On Monday, The New York Times reported that, as part of its proposal, Israel had reduced the number of hostages Hamas would need to release in the initial phase of a deal.

Persons: hadn’t, Antony J, Blinken, we’ve, ” Mr, Isaac Herzog, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Netanyahu, Bezalel Smotrich, Mr, doesn’t, ”, “, Aaron Boxerman Organizations: Hamas, The New York Times, Mr, Finance Locations: Israel, Gaza, Egypt, Qatar, Rafah

☆ In a Country Awash in Violence, a Vote Will Test Its Leader’s Hard-Line Stance
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( Genevieve Glatsky | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ecuadoreans will vote on Sunday in a referendum that could give their center-right president greater powers to combat drug-related gang violence and also gauge how he would fare in his bid for re-election next year. President Daniel Noboa, the 36-year-old heir to a banana empire, took office in November after an election season focused on drug-related gang violence, which has surged over the past five years to levels not seen in decades. In January, he declared an “internal armed conflict” and directed the military to “neutralize” the country’s roughly two dozen gangs, which the government labeled “terrorist organizations.” The drastic move allowed soldiers to patrol the streets and prisons, many of which have come under gang control. Two weeks ago, Mr. Noboa took the extraordinary step of arresting an Ecuadorean politician facing a prison sentence who had taken refuge at the Mexican Embassy in Quito, in what experts called a violation of an international treaty on the sanctity of diplomatic posts. The move drew widespread condemnation across the region.

Persons: Ecuadoreans, Daniel Noboa, Noboa Locations: Mexican, Quito

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25 mentions found