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☆ COP29: Azerbaijan’s leader takes a wrecking ball to climate talks as calls mount for a total ‘overhaul’
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-15 | by ( Angela Dewan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —From the moment the US election results rolled in, climate leaders knew Donald Trump would be a blow to the COP29 talks in Baku. Amid the chaos, prominent global climate leaders on Friday issued an open letter calling for a “fundamental overhaul” of the entire UN climate process. COP29 marks the third year in a row that the climate talks have been held in either a petrostate, or economy that relies heavily on oil and gas. World leaders and delegates pose for a "family photo" on day two of the COP29 talks. Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesThe geopolitical chaos comes as global climate leaders scramble to find ways to Trump-proof progress so far, as the president-elect has vowed to again pull the US out of the Paris Agreement.

Persons: Donald Trump, Ilham Aliyev, Sandrine Dixson, —, ”, Alex Scott, they’re, ” Aliyev, Aliyev, Agnès, Joseph Borrell, Azerbaijan’s COP29, Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron, Ursula von der Leyen didn't, Sean Gallup, Trump, Gerardo Werthein, “, Javier Milei’s Organizations: CNN, The, of Rome, United Arab, Getty, New York Times Locations: Baku, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Italy, Paris, France, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Azerbaijan, Armenia

☆ Italy makes it illegal to seek surrogacy abroad
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-16 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

ROME — Italy’s parliament made it illegal on Wednesday for couples to go abroad to have a baby via surrogacy — a project of Prime Minister’s Giorgia Meloni party which activists say is meant to target same-sex partners. The upper house Senate voted into law a bill proposed by Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party by 84 votes to 58. “Motherhood is absolutely unique, it absolutely cannot be surrogated, and it is the foundation of our civilization,” Brothers of Italy senator Lavinia Mennuni said during the parliamentary debate. “We want to uproot the phenomenon of surrogacy tourism.”Earlier this year, Meloni called surrogacy an "inhuman" practice that treated children as supermarket products, echoing a position expressed by the Catholic Church. Here instead you are sent to jail... if you don’t have children in the traditional way,” Franco Grillini, a long-time activist for LGBTQ rights in Italy, told Reuters at the demonstration.

Persons: ROME —, Minister’s Giorgia, Meloni, Meloni’s Brothers, ”, Lavinia Mennuni, ” Franco Grillini, Alessia Crocini Organizations: Catholic Church, Reuters, Rainbow Locations: Italy, United States, Canada

☆ Saudi Arabia’s coveted Masters 1000 tennis tournament has stalled as Six Kings arrives in Riyadh
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-16 | by ( Matthew Futterman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +11 min

After years of pushing, everything looks ready for Saudi Arabia’s billion-dollar move to become a major force in tennis to take off — with one major hitch. The Ministry of Sport of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Tennis Federation (STF) and the WTA Tour then announced a three-year deal to host the tour finals. These moves raised Saudi Arabia’s tennis profile, but its potential new tournament at the start of the season was seen as the most important of its tennis investments — and its most divisive. It would cement Saudi Arabia’s place at the center of the sport, bringing with it an extensively criticized human rights record. Saudi Arabia’s moves into tennis have roiled the organisations behind the Grand Slam tournaments.

Persons: Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev, Holger Rune, —, Novak Djokovic, Turki Alalshikh, Rome —, ”, Nadal, Sinclair, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, “, Jamal Khashoggi, Henry Nicholls, Iga Swiatek, Adam Pretty Organizations: St, Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, WTA, Saudi, ATP, Public Investment Fund, SURJ Sports Investment, U.S ., ”, Sport, Saudi Tennis Federation, WTA Tour, Sinclair, Tennis, Rights Watch, Athletic, Wimbledon, Getty, Australia, Tennis Australia, Laver Locations: Hotel, Riyadh, Saudi, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, U.S, Indian Wells, Madrid, Rome, provisionality, PIF, Istanbul, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand

☆ I moved from Sweden to the US. I've found Americans to be friendlier and I enjoy the work hustle.
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-11 | by ( Jane Ridley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . I was researching a master's thesis as part of my degree in my native Sweden and lived in New York for a year. I had a great job in Sweden — I was a strategic business developer in the IT department of a global company — and loved my boss. But after traveling a lot and then moving abroad, I've changed a lot. I feel like I've outgrown Sweden, and it's almost claustrophobic for me to go back.

Persons: Olivia Tapper, —, Thomas, Sweden —, I've Organizations: Service, America, Business Locations: Scandinavia, Austin , Texas, Sweden, New York, Europe, Austin, Rome, Stockholm

☆ Pope Francis repeats homophobic slur in closed-door meeting, Italian media reports
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Rome — The pope has again used a highly disparaging word against gay people for which he had already apologized last month, ANSA news agency said on Tuesday. Italian media had attributed to the pope the use of a vulgar Italian term roughly translating as “f*****ry,” on May 20 during a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops. Last month, a source close to the pope told CNN the phrase could also be understood as there is a “gay climate” in the seminaries. Two years later he told Italian bishops not to accept gay candidates for the priesthood. Francis, 87, had been credited with making substantial overtures toward the LGBTQ community during his 11-year papacy.

Persons: Rome, ”, ANSA, Francis, Roman, CNN’s Christopher Lamb, Sharon Braithwaite Organizations: della Sera, CNN, Church Locations: Argentine

☆ I’m a psychologist in Finland, the No. 1 happiest country in the world: 4 phrases we use every day
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Frank Martela | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

For the last six years, Finland has been ranked the happiest country in the world. I've lived here most of my life, and as a psychologist and happiness researcher, I'm often asked: what exactly makes people in Finland so satisfied with their lives? However, research has shown that those most desperately seeking happiness tend to be less happy. 'Who has happiness should hide it'In Finland, we tend to believe that if you've found happiness, you shouldn't show it. 'The pessimist will never be disappointed'This is an old Finnish saying without any clear origin.

Persons: I've, I'm, you've, Eino Leino, It's, Charles Peirce, Faber Organizations: Nordic Locations: Finland, Helsinki, American, Rome

Israel is escalating its bombardment of targets in the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground invasion against Hamas militants. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians who died in the initial Hamas rampage. In addition, 222 people including foreigners were believed captured by Hamas during the incursion and taken into Gaza, Israel's military has said. UNRWA said it found shrapnel in its facilities in the Bureij camp and in Nuseirat in central Gaza from Israel’s bombardment of nearby areas Sunday. Israel said Monday it struck 320 militant targets throughout the besieged Gaza Strip over the last 24 hours.

Persons: Israel, HAVE, won’t, —, ROME —, Antonio Tajani, Nir Forti, ’, Forti, “, barbarously, ’ Tajani, Tajani, Ní Aoláin, Ní, Antonio Guterres’s, ” Ní Aoláin, ” Organizations: Hamas, Health Ministry, West Bank, U.S . Department of Defense, UNRWA, Association of University Heads, Israel Army Radio, Gaza, Gaza’s Health Ministry, UNITED, United Nations, University of Minnesota Locations: Israel, Gaza, U.S, Beirut, israel, CAIRO, Nuseirat, Sunday, ISRAEL, al, Aqsa, Deir al, “, ITALY, Geneva, United

No decision on a ground offensive has been announced, although Israel has been massing troops along the Gaza border 3. Israeli military spokesman Read Adm. Daniel Hagari said Saturday Israel had so far identified 126 captives. GERMANY TO START EVACUATING CITIZENS FROM ISRAELBERLIN — The German army will start evacuating its citizens from Israel with military airplanes. Hezbollah said its fighters struck several Israeli military positions in the disputed Chebaa Farms and Kfar Chouba hills in the afternoon. ISRAELI MILITARY ANNOUNCES IT IS PREPARED FOR ‘COORDINATED’ OFFENSIVEJERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it has prepared a “coordinated” offensive in the Gaza Strip involving air, ground and naval forces.

Persons: Israel, Lloyd Austin, “, Israel —, ”, Yifat Zailer, Zailer, Read, Daniel Hagari, Hezbollah’s, Ali Youssef Alaaeddine, Alaaeddine, ERDOGAN'S, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Bilal Erdogan, Suleyman Soylu, Mustafa Sentop, ” Erdogan, Sentop, Khalil Hachem, Rabad Akoum, ” Israel, Ismail Haniyeh, ” Haniyeh, Haniyeh, Mohammad Abu Selim, Medhat Abbas, Hakan Fidan, Sameh Shoukry, IT'S, ROME —, “ We’ve, Antonio Tajani, Tajani, —, ” Tajani, TT, Tobias Billström, Elina Valtonen, Hossein Amirabdollahian, Saleh Arouri, Ziad Nakhaleh, Amirabdollahian Organizations: United Nations, Gaza, United States Defense, TEL, ISRAEL BERLIN —, Hamas, Lufthansa, BEIRUT —, Associated Press, AP, Ministry, Sunday, South, MEDIA, BEIRUT, National News Agency, OFFICIAL, EGYPT BEIRUT —, OF, Gaza —, Shifa, Health Ministry, FROM, Romania — Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israel, NORDIC, FROM ISRAEL HELSINKI, Nordic, Helsinki Airport, Iran’s, Manar, Islamic, Hezbollah Locations: Gaza City, Israel, Gaza, Egypt, Israeli, Lebanon, ISRAEL, SYRIA, TEL AVIV, Syria, Golan, GERMANY, Germany, Jordan, BEIRUT, Palestinian, ISTANBUL ISTANBUL, Istanbul, United States, Tel Aviv, Dubai, South, Lebanese, Chebaa, Kfar Chouba, JERUSALEM, EGYPT BEIRUT, GAZA, Shifa, FROM ISRAEL, TURKEY, ISTANBUL, Turkish, Embassy, Turkey, BUCHAREST, Romania, Romanian Embassy, ITALY, ROME, Italian, Rome, FINNS, Finland, Sweden, Helsinki, Stockholm, Swedish, Stockholm’s Arlanda, Beirut, Hezbollah’s, Amirabdollahian, Iran, Iraq, Jihad

☆ Rice, beer, and urine mixed into ancient structures could help explain how they're still standing after millennia
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementIs ancient Roman concrete better than today's? Her research has found that the key could be in the specific volcanic materials used by the Romans. According to Selvaraj's research, in humid areas of India, builders used local herbs that help structures deal with moisture. Even though Roman concrete lasted a long time, it couldn't hold up heavy loads: "You couldn't build a modern skyscraper with Roman concrete," Oleson said. Instead, researchers are trying to take some of the ancient material's specialties and add them into modern mixes.

Persons: —, they've, Carlos Rodriguez, Navarro, John Oleson, Domenico Stinellis, Vitruvius, Admir, Rome —, Marie Jackson, Jackson, Rodriguez, Moises Castillo, Cecilia Pesce, They'd, Pesce, Mark Schiefelbein, Thirumalini Selvaraj, Selvaraj, Oleson, Masic Organizations: Service, Spain's University of Granada, University of Victoria, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Utah, AP, University of Sheffield, Vellore Institute of Technology, Army Corps of Engineers, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science, Educational Media Group Locations: Canada, Portland, Rome, Copan, Honduras, England, India

Is ancient Roman concrete better than today's? Most modern concrete starts with Portland cement, a powder made by heating limestone and clay to super-high temperatures and grinding them up. The ancient builders mixed materials like burnt limestone and volcanic sand with water and gravel, creating chemical reactions to bind everything together. Now, scientists think they’ve found a key reason why some Roman concrete has held up structures for thousands of years: The ancient material has an unusual power to repair itself. Even though Roman concrete lasted a long time, it couldn't hold up heavy loads: “You couldn’t build a modern skyscraper with Roman concrete,” Oleson said.

Persons: they’ve, ”, Carlos Rodriguez, Navarro, John Oleson, Vitruvius, Admir, Rome —, Marie Jackson, Jackson, ” Jackson, Rodriguez, Cecilia Pesce, They’d, ” Pesce, Thirumalini Selvaraj, Selvaraj, Oleson, Masic Organizations: —, Spain’s University of Granada, University of Victoria, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Utah, University of Sheffield, Vellore Institute of Technology, Army Corps of Engineers, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Canada, Portland, Rome, Copan, Honduras, England, India

ROME — Pope Francis has expressed in unusually sharp terms his dismay at “a very strong, organized, reactionary attitude” opposing him within the U.S. Roman Catholic Church, one that fixates on social issues like abortion and sexuality to the exclusion of caring for the poor and the environment. The pope lamented the “backwardness” of some American conservatives who he said insist on a narrow, outdated and unchanging vision. They refuse, he said, to accept the full breadth of the Church’s mission and the need for changes in doctrine over time. “I would like to remind these people that backwardness is useless,” Francis, 86, told a group of fellow Jesuits early this month in a meeting at World Youth Day celebrations in Lisbon. In other words, ideologies replace faith.”His words became public this week, when a transcript of the conversation was published by the Vatican-vetted Jesuit journal La Civiltà Cattolica.

Persons: ROME — Pope Francis, “, ” Francis, ” Organizations: . Roman Catholic Church, Vatican Locations: Lisbon, “, Cattolica

☆ Opinion | Will Translation Apps Make Learning Foreign Languages Obsolete?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( John Mcwhorter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

To polyglots, foreign languages are Mount Everests daring us to climb them — a metaphor used by Hofstadter in his article. After all, despite the sincere and admirable efforts of foreign language teachers nationwide, fewer than one in 100 American students become proficient in a language they learned in school. Immersion programs, if begun early, can actually imprint a foreign language into a child’s brain. I know: A foreign language is a window into a new way of processing the world. With an iPhone handy and an appropriate app downloaded, foreign languages will no longer present most people with the barrier or challenge they once did.

Persons: Hofstadter, John McWhorter, ”, “ Organizations: Columbia University Locations: Rome

☆ ‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One’ Review: Still Running
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Manohla Dargis | More About Manohla Dargis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

I don’t know if anyone has ever clocked whether Tom Cruise is faster than a speeding bullet. He racks up more miles in “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” the seventh entry in a 27-year-old franchise that repeatedly affirms a movie truism. That is, there are few sights more cinematic than a human being outracing danger and even death onscreen — it’s the ultimate wish fulfillment! Once again, he plays Ethan Hunt, the leader of a hush-hush American spy agency, the Impossible Mission Force. The whole thing is complicated, as these stories tend to be, with stakes as catastrophic as recent news headlines have trumpeted.

Persons: Tom Cruise, —, Ethan Hunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, handymen, Simon Pegg, Ving, Ethan, ”, that’s, Hunt, Harley Quinn, Rome —, Wade Eastwood, Grace, Hayley Atwell Organizations: Mission Force Locations: “, Paris, Rome

☆ Opinion | Before Trump, There Was Berlusconi
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Mattia Ferraresi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

ROME — The tycoon-turned-politician spent his career mixing entertainment and power, escaping sex scandals and remodeling his party in his own plasticized image. But it’s actually Silvio Berlusconi, who died on Monday at the age of 86. Four times Italy’s prime minister, Mr. Berlusconi dominated Italian politics for three decades and fundamentally reshaped its landscape and imagination. In leveraging his fame and celebrity to gain power — and managing against all odds to retain it — Mr. Berlusconi provided a template for Mr. Trump’s own political career. Long before Mr. Trump cried “witch hunt” and labeled the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, a “psychopath,” Mr. Berlusconi was denouncing a Communist plot brought by judges in “red robes” who were out to destroy him.

Persons: ROME, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, it’s, Silvio Berlusconi, Berlusconi, Mr, Trump’s, strongmen, Long, Trump, Alvin Bragg, ” Mr Organizations: First, Mr Locations: Italian, Milan, First Republic, Manhattan

☆ Flights from the US to Europe are going to be incredibly expensive this summer — here's why
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Bianca Giacobone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

There's high demand for international summer travel and likely not enough seats to satisfy it. Americans have their eyes set on international travel — and Europe especially. If you want to fly to Europe this summer, you're likely going to spend $300 more than you would have before the pandemic. Last year, it was flights within the US that had their most expensive summer in years, averaging $376 round trip. "Next summer for international will be less expensive than this summer and probably start returning to some level of normalcy similar to what happened with domestic," Berg said.

☆ Secret ‘Mission’ for Peace in Ukraine May Show Limits of Pope’s Influence
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Jason Horowitz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

ROME — A secret mission revealed days ago by Pope Francis to bring peace between Russia and Ukraine is so secret that Russia and Ukraine claim to know nothing about it. The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it had no idea what the pope was talking about. “Ukraine doesn’t know about it,” Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See, Andrii Yurash, said in an interview Wednesday, adding that he had scheduled a meeting for Thursday with the pope’s foreign minister. “I will for sure ask him what it is.”Later Wednesday evening, the pope’s second-in-command and chief diplomat, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, told reporters, “to my knowledge, they were and are aware” of the peace plan, saying that the denial by the governments “surprises me.”The apparent bewilderment of the war’s parties, and confusion around the existence of a plan contributed to the sense that the pope’s influence as a geopolitical player and peacemaker — already chastened in countries like Cuba, South Sudan and Myanmar — did not extend to Ukraine.

ROME — Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian leader who recently returned to frontline politics, has reconnected with his old friend Russian President Vladimir Putin with an exchange of gifts and “sweet” letters over his recent birthday. “I reconnected with President Putin — a little bit, well a lot,” the 86-year-old reportedly said during a conversation with lawmakers from his center-right Forza Italia party, according to Italy’s LaPresse news agency which published the comments. Meloni needs the support of Forza Italia to keep its majority in the Senate and the lower house of parliament. ... Berlusconi who reconnects with the invader of Ukraine?”It’s not the first time Berlusconi has seemingly defended Putin with whom he has a long and friendly history. Later he backtracked, saying his words had been “oversimplified.”Berlusconi responded with a joke when asked about his latest comments by reporters, although his Forza Italia party tried to distance itself from the comments.

☆ Italian women divided over the prospect of far-right female premier
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

ROME — If Italy elects the nation’s first female premier, will its women be delighted or dismayed? Should opinion polls prove on the mark, Giorgia Meloni and the far-right Brothers of Italy party she co-founded less than a decade ago will triumph in the Sept. 25 election. Nothing.”Meloni, 45, is the only main party leader who didn’t join Premier Mario Draghi’s pandemic national unity government in 2021. After populist forces, including two of Meloni’s campaign allies, yanked support for Draghi in July, the former European Central Bank chief’s coalition collapsed, prompting an early election. But she has snapped back at contentions that it wouldn’t be a victory for women if she becomes premier.

☆ The No. 1 city in the world to travel and work remotely is in the US—and it isn't New York or LA
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-24 | by ( Jennifer Liu | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

1 global city to take a working vacation. It comes out on top of 115 global cities in the ranking, which were chosen because of their prominence in the tourist industry and availability of "slow" travel options. Here are the top 10 best global cities to take a working vacation, according to Icelandair. While remote work makes it easier than ever to take a working vacation, a lot of people are coming back from these "breaks" more burned out than when they left. Some 61% of Americans who took a working vacation in the last year didn't consider them to be "true" vacations, according to Expedia's latest Vacation Deprivation study of 14,500 working adults across 16 countries.

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