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☆ Booker Prize 2024: Samantha Harvey’s space-station novel ‘Orbital’ wins annual literature award
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-12 | by ( Associated Press | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London AP —British writer Samantha Harvey won the Booker Prize for fiction on Tuesday with “Orbital,” a short, wonder-filled novel set aboard the International Space Station that ponders the beauty and fragility of Earth. The prize is open to English-language writers of any nationality and has a reputation for transforming writers’ careers. De Waal praised the “crystalline” writing and “capaciousness” of Harvey’s succinct novel — at 136 pages in its UK paperback edition, one of the shortest-ever Booker winners. Harvey is the first female Booker winner since 2019, though one of five women on this year’s shortlist, the largest number in the prize’s 55-year history. Founded in 1969, the Booker Prize is open to novels originally written in English published in the UK or Ireland.

Persons: Samantha Harvey, Booker, Harvey, ”, Edmund de Waal, ” Gaby Wood, ” Harvey, Ian McEwan, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Hilary, Waal, Percival Everett, “ James, Twain’s, Huckleberry Finn ”, Jim, Rachel Kushner’s, Canadian Anne Michaels, Charlotte Wood’s, Yael van der, De Waal, Paul Lynch, ” Lynch Organizations: London AP, Space, Prize Foundation, Ireland Locations: British, Canada, United States, Australia, Netherlands, Canadian, London, Japan

☆ Gloom, nervousness and joy: What Trump’s victory means for key world regions
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-06 | by ( Cnn Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +23 min

He also believes Russia is also betting on “US turmoil” under Trump, hoping internal divisions will “distract” Trump from foreign policy. Zelensky, like the others playing to Trump’s vanity through praise, said: “I appreciate President Trump’s commitment to the ‘peace through strength’ approach in global affairs. Those are the central questions now facing Seoul, as Trump has openly considered downsizing the approximately 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea. Seoul currently pays $1.13 billion annually for American military forces within its territory, a figure which under an agreement signed Monday is expected to rise to $1.26 billion annually in 2026. A screens shows live footage of Donald Trump speaking during a news program in Seoul, South Korea, on November 6, 2024.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, CNN’s Clare Sebastian, Vladimir Putin, Hillary Clinton, Clinton, Putin wryly, Joe Biden, Vance’s, Pavel Bednyakov, AP “ Trump, ”, Dmitry Medvedev, Margarita Simonyan, “ Trump, Dmitry Peskov, “, ” Boris Bondarev, ” Trump, Matthew Chance, Benjamin Netanyahu, ” Netanyahu, Biden, –, Kamala Harris –, Trump’s, Amir Levy, trepidation, America’s, Nic Robertson, Annalena Baerbock, Baerbock, Remko de, Mark Rutte, Jens Stoltenberg’s, Stoltenberg, Putin, ” Baerbock, Steven Jiang, Xi Jinping didn’t, Xi, Washington’s, Florence Lo, Harris, Will Ripley, Lai Ching, Vance, Lai, Taiwan’s, Kamala Harris, Chiang Ying, Mike Valerio, they’d, They’d, Camp Humphreys, Lee Jin, Will Trump, Kim Jong, Robert C, Kim, Larry Madowo, Ghana Trump, Uhuru Kenyatta, Akinwumi Adesina, Osinbajo, Hailemariam Desalegn, Jonathan Ernst, George W, Bush, It’s, Stefano Pozzebon, Javier Milei, El, Nayib Bukele, Bolsonaro, Gustavo Petro, Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum, Sheinbaum, Del Cueto, Rebecca Noble Organizations: CNN, United, Democratic National Committee, Trump, International Media, AP, RT, Kremlin, White, Israel, White House, America, Iranian, German, NATO, European Union, Getty, Dutch, Democratic, Reuters, South China, Taiwan : Defense, Party, Taiwan, Taiwan Relations, Washington, Congress, Kuomintang, KMT, Economic, of Chicago, Bloomberg News, Army, South, North, Korean, Kenyan, Guinea Alpha Conde, Trump , African Development Bank, Ethiopian, Republican, AIDS Relief, Biden, Conservative, Progressives, US, Mexico “, Border Patrol Council Locations: Russia, East, Europe, China, Taiwan, Korean, Africa, Ukraine, CNN’s, London, Moscow, Russian, Kyiv, American, ”, Jerusalem, Israel, America, Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Tehran, Hamas, Germany, Soviet, United States, United Kingdom, The Hague, Netherlands, Remko de Waal, Trump, Beijing, –, Shanghai, South, Taipei, Asia, Seoul, South Korea, Korea, North Korea, Japan, Tokyo, Washington, Pyongyang, Accra, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Guinea, Trump ,, Nigeria, AFP, Angola, Bogotá, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, Nicaragua

Video shows RSF soldiers humiliating men from a village in Jazira state. Displaced people fleeing from Jazira state arrive in Gedaref, in the east of war-torn Sudan, on December 22, 2023. The RSF told him they would only return his car if he worked for them, Farouk recalled. Displaced people fleeing from Jazira state arrive in Gedaref, in the east of war-torn Sudan, on December 22, 2023. The RSF’s violent advances in Jazira state, their targeted destruction of warehouses, Sudan’s gene bank and irrigation systems will inevitably further exacerbate Sudan’s massive food shortages,” she said.

Persons: CNN —, “, Sudan’s, ”, Alex de Waal, Mohamed Badawi, Luis Tato, Sidiq Farouk, Farouk, ” Farouk, hasn’t, ‘, ’, Hala Al, Al Karib, Tomoya Obokata, Leni Kinzli, ” Kinzli, Omar Marzoug, geolocated, Waal, Médecins, Anette Hoffmann, You’re, ” CNN’s Benjamin Brown Organizations: CNN, Rapid Support Forces, Sudanese Armed Forces, SAF, United Nations, Peace Foundation, African Center for Justice, Peace Studies, Getty, Food Programme, UN Office, Humanitarian Affairs, UN, Hala, Initiative, Women, UNICEF, WFP, “, ” CNN, ”, Farmers ’ Alliance, Clingendael Institute, Agriculture Organization Locations: Al Jazira, Sudan’s, Darfur, Jazira, Sudan’s breadbasket Jazira, Sudan, Khartoum, of, Sudanese, Renk, South Sudan, AFP, Chad, Gedaref, Hala Al Karib, Horn of Africa, Omdurman, Al, of Africa

☆ A nostalgic look back at when the Internet still felt joyful
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Steffi Cao | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

These were informal but high-stakes gatherings, then known as LAN parties, whether winning a box of energy drinks or just the joy of emerging victorious. Many people who had never experienced the era of LAN parties also responded with excitement. Digital cameras — with which most of the photos in “LAN Party” were taken — had just become widely available to the public. LAN parties made space for competition and community in both 'real life' and online environments simultaneously. Dane Oleson/Electronox/Courtesy Thames & HudsonThough they have significantly dwindled in frequency, LAN parties do still take place.

Persons: David Harrison, Gen Xers, podcaster Merritt, ”, ” K, “, ’, Anne de Waal, Charles, Jeff Tillett, —, Merritt K, Brett Masse, Nick Huber, White, it’s, Dane Oleson Organizations: CNN, chrysalis, Google, Napster, Hudson, Thames, LAN Party, Twitter, QuakeCon, IRL Locations: Brisbane, Australia, Hengelo, The Netherlands, St, Charles Parish , Louisiana, Dallas , Texas, Tulsa , Oklahoma, Lee's Summit , Missouri

☆ Opinion | I Said the Era of Famines Might Be Ending. I Was Wrong.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Alex De Waal | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Nearly eight years ago I wrote an essay for New York Times Opinion asking whether the world had finally moved beyond the peril of large-scale famines. Since 2016, the year I took that optimistic view, a decades-long improvement in world nutrition has stalled. And famine — which had all but vanished globally — has returned to threaten a dozen countries and territories today. The list of countries at risk of famine now includes Afghanistan, Syria and Mali. Humanitarian observers also worry that North Korea may be nearing a famine.

Organizations: New York, United Nations, Famine Locations: Afghanistan, Syria, Mali, Korea, Gaza

☆ Romantic kissing’s earliest record dates to 4,500 years ago, scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Romantic kisses have long been celebrated in songs, poems and stories, commemorated in art and film. Modern scholars therefore concluded that romantic kisses likely originated in India. Across thousands of cuneiform tablets kissing isn’t the most mentioned topic, “but it is attested regularly,” he said. But Arbøll and Rasmussen suspected that romantic kissing became accepted in Bronze Age Europe, and not because of migration alone. Even today, many cultures shun romantic kissing, Arbøll and Rasmussen reported.

Persons: CNN —, ”, Guy de Maupassant, Troels Pank, Assyriology, Justin R, Garcia, ” Garcia, de Maupassant, Arbøll, Dr, Sophie Lund Rasmussen, ” Arbøll, “, primatologist Frans B.M, De, Rasmussen, isn’t, It’s, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, University of Copenhagen, Indiana University, Kinsey Institute, Oxford University, Emory University, Scientific Locations: Mesopotamia, Bloomington, India, De Waal, Atlanta, Europe, Russia

☆ Widening Mideast Crisis U.N.’s Highest Court Expected to Rule on Israel’s War in Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Matthew Mpoke Bigg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

Protesters gathering outside the International Court of Justice in The Hague this month. The International Court of Justice is set to rule on Friday on South Africa’s demand that Israel immediately suspend its military offensive in Gaza. Decisions by the court, the United Nations’ top judicial body, are binding, but the court has few means of enforcement. Still, a ruling against Israel would add to international pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over the war. Image The judges of the International Court of Justice before the hearing of the genocide case against Israel in The Hague this month.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Israel, ”, Remko De, Yoav Gallant, Avishag Shaar, Khan Younis, Fatima Shbair Organizations: International Court of Justice, Court of Justice, United Nations, Israel, South, Shutterstock South, Yashuv, The New York Times, Hamas, ., Associated Press, . Security, West Bank Locations: The Hague, Israel, Gaza, Remko De Waal, Shutterstock, Shutterstock South Africa, Rafah, United States

☆ Peter R. de Vries: Group suspected of killing Dutch crime reporter also wanted to kidnap PM Mark Rutte, witness says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Caitlin Danaher | Rose Roobeek | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The group suspected of murdering a crime reporter in the Netherlands in 2021 also wanted to kidnap Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, according to a witness in the case. The protected witness made the comments during an interrogation by the investigative judge in December 2022, according to the prosecution service. Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries, pictured on May 24, 2017 in Arnhem, in the Netherlands, was killed in 2021 in a murder that shocked the country. The trial against nine suspects in the murder of de Vries will start on January 23, according to the prosecution service. The nine suspects, of Polish and Antillean descent, are between 24 and 37 years old, the prosecution service said.

Persons: Mark Rutte, ”, Peter R, Vries, Parool, Rutte, de Vries, De Vries, de Organizations: CNN, Dutch, Netherlands Public Prosecution Service, RTL TV, “, Getty, RTL Netherlands Locations: Netherlands, Amsterdam, Arnhem, de Waal, AFP

☆ Israel denies genocide accusations at top UN court, says war in Gaza is self-defense
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-12 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

South Africa and Israel are signatories to the 1948 Genocide Convention, meaning they are obliged not to commit genocide and to prevent and punish it. South Africa has asked the court to order Israel to suspend its military campaign in Gaza. In January 2020, the court granted The Gambia’s request for provisional measures to protect the Rohingya people remaining in Myanmar from genocide. A 2022 report by Human Rights Watch found continued abuses against the Rohingya remaining in Myanmar, despite the provisional measures. South Africa cited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Israeli forces on October 28, ahead of the imminent launch of its ground offensive in Gaza.

Persons: Israel, ” Israel, Germany “, Steffen Hebestreit, ”, “, Tal Becker, Becker, Galit Raguan, Omri Sender, Hollandse, Israel ’ Israel, Malcolm Shaw, Michel Porro, Ghazi Hamad, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, ” Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Ronald Lamola, Madonsela, Remko de, Gilad Noam, Christopher Staker, Staker, Nadine Schmidt, Catherine Nicholls Organizations: CNN, Israel, United Nations ’, International Court of Justice, Hamas, ICJ, UN, Holocaust, Human Rights Watch, ”, The Hague, South African, Getty, Criminal Court, ICC Locations: South Africa, Gaza, ”, The Hague, Netherlands, Germany, Africa, Israel, Myanmar, Russia, Ukraine, Lebanese, Remko de Waal, AFP

There’s a genocide in the making in Darfur, Sudan — for the second time in 20 years. This time, the violence is happening on President Biden’s watch, and he and his administration have not done enough to stop it. In recent weeks, Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, a mercenary-commercial enterprise, has overrun four of the five main cities in Darfur, a region in western Sudan. After the Rapid Support Forces seized the town of Ardamata on Nov. 4, some 1,500 people were slaughtered, according to a Darfur human rights group. The paramilitaries are mobile and ferocious, and their adversaries in the regular army, the Sudan Armed Forces in Darfur are demoralized and outgunned.

Persons: Sudan —, Biden’s, Biden, El Fasher, Omar al, Bashir, Darfuri Organizations: Kenyan, Sudan’s, Rapid Support Forces, Sudan Armed Forces Locations: Darfur, Sudan, Ardamata, North Darfur, El

☆ Far-Right Anti-Islamic Populist Scores Major Victory in Dutch Election
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Far-Right Anti-Islamic Populist Scores Major Victory in Dutch ElectionDutch anti-Islamic populist Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party scored a major election victory Thursday. Wilders campaigned to ban the Quran and close the borders to migrants from Islamic countries. Photo: Remko de Waal/AFP/Getty Images

Persons: Geert Wilders, Wilders Organizations: Freedom Party, Getty Locations: Dutch, Waal, AFP

☆ Far-Right Populist Geert Wilders Scores Major Victory in Dutch Election
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Gareth Vipers | Laurence Norman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Dutch anti-Islamic populist Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party scored a major election victory Thursday. Wilders campaigned to ban the Quran and close the borders to migrants from Islamic countries. Photo: Remko de Waal/AFP/Getty ImagesThe electoral win by Geert Wilders , the Dutch far-right leader who has championed draconian policies against immigration and Islam, reflects how intractable the issue of migration remains in Europe—and in much of the West. Nearly a decade ago, an influx of Middle Eastern and African arrivals drove a wave of anti-immigration policies across Europe, boosted the popularity of far-right parties and stirred tensions with Europe’s growing Muslim population.

Persons: Geert Wilders, Wilders Organizations: Freedom Party, Getty Locations: Waal, AFP, Europe, Eastern

[1/4] Residents in vehicles attempt to leave the city of Stepanakert following a military operation conducted by Azerbaijani armed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region inhabited by ethnic Armenians, September 24, 2023. Whatever the history and the lack of independent reports on events inside the isolated territory, several international legal experts believe the mass flight fits the legal definition of a war crime. For Azerbaijan, however, retaking control of Nagorno-Karabakh helps to redress the traumas of 1988-94. "It would almost assuredly result in the forced displacement of Armenians from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and the widespread commission of genocidal atrocities, reflecting those committed in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War of 2020 and subsequent hostilities," it said. "If the Armenians of Artsakh were to be displaced ... it would result in the genocidal destruction of a people, as the Artsakh Armenians would lose their distinct identity."

Persons: Vladimir, Hikmet Hajiyev, Ilham Aliyev, Priya Pillai, Melanie O'Brien, Pillai, O'Brien, Luis Moreno Ocampo, it's, Thomas de Waal, Anthony Deutsch, Stephanie van den Berg, Andrew Grey, David Lewis, Kevin Liffey Organizations: HAGUE, University of Minnesota, International Association of, Big, International Criminal Court, ICC, Lemkin Institute for Genocide, Thomson Locations: Stepanakert, Nagorno, Karabakh, Russian, Azerbaijan, Republic of Artsakh, Soviet Union, Armenia, Yerevan, Brussels, Baku, Peace, Artsakh, Nairobi

☆ Opinion | The Deluge Facing Africa’s Leaders Is Going to Get Worse
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Alex De Waal | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

An uninterrupted swath of African countries from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea is now under military rule. Some of the putschists deposed elected leaders, like Niger’s president, Mohamed Bazoum. Others forestalled elections or even overthrew the leaders they had installed. Throughout much of Africa, citizens also overwhelmingly want democracy, but they get frustrated when elected leaders don’t deliver. When people do welcome a coup, it’s often because they see it as the path to a better elected government.

Persons: Mohamed Bazoum, Russia’s Wagner, can’t, don’t, it’s Organizations: African, Russia’s Wagner Group Locations: Mali, Guinea, Chad, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Niger, Washington, Brussels, London, Addis Ababa, African Union, Moscow, Africa

☆ Opinion | Death and Displacement Return to Darfur
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Lydia Polgreen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Darfur was loosely and sometimes imprecisely divided between Black and Arab communities, many of whom had deeper ties with the Sahelian peoples of Chad and Niger. These ill-fitting parts have formed a kind of booby trap, plunging Sudan into cycles of violent strife. The region seceded by referendum in 2011, becoming the Republic of South Sudan, generally considered the most recent widely recognized nation on Earth. Ultimately Sudan’s president, al-Bashir, would be charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court for his role in the slaughter. Now, the two generals who overthrew al-Bashir have turned their guns on each other, with the Sudanese people caught between them.

Persons: Sudan’s, Bashir, Alex de Waal, Mohamed Hamdan, Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, al Organizations: Democratic, Rebels, International, Court, Rapid Support Forces Locations: Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Darfur, Black, Chad and Niger, Nile Rivers, Khartoum —, Khartoum, Republic of South Sudan, Chad

☆ Russia's 'least capable' troops aren't in Ukraine, but they're still causing problems next door, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Moldova, next door to Ukraine, has been under pressure from Russia for decades. Amid the war in Ukraine, Kyiv and Western officials say Moscow is stepping up its interference. As a result of a 1992 war between Moldovan forces and Transnistrian separatists, Russian troops entered the breakaway region to support the separatists. Following that war, Transnistria gained a form of autonomy. SERGEI GAPON/AFP via Getty ImagesMoldova declared a state of emergency after Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022, and it remains in effect.

Persons: —, that's, John Sullivan, SERGUEI VORONIN, Chișinău, Maia Sandu, Diego Herrera Carcedo, SERGEI GAPON, Moldova's, John Kirby, Kirby, Pierre Crom, Thomas de Waal, Dara Massicot, Massicot, Jamar Marcel Pugh, Sandu, Ursula von der Leyen, Constantine Atlamazoglou Organizations: Service, Georgetown University, Getty, Moldovan, NATO, EU, Anadolu Agency, Getty Images Moldova, White House National Security Council, Carnegie, RAND Corporation, US Army National Guard, European Commission, Fletcher School of Law, LinkedIn Locations: Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Transnistria, Kyiv, Western, Moscow, Soviet Union, Romania, Europe, Baltic, Poland, Bender, Transnistrian, Chisinau, May, Lithuania, Sweden, AFP, Russian, Carnegie Europe, NATO, Bulgaria

During the current fighting Egypt has joined calls for an effective ceasefire while saying they consider the conflict an internal matter for Sudan. The most important regional ally for Hemedti before the conflict was the United Arab Emirates. Hemedti said he advised Sudan to cut ties to Wagner after the U.S. imposed sanctions on the private military contractor. Saudi Arabia has had close ties to Burhan and Hemedti, both of whom sent troops to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Israel, which had been hoping to move forward in normalising ties with Sudan, has also offered to host talks.

CNN —The violence that has exploded in Sudan as the country’s two top generals grapple for power has unfolded at a terrifying, breakneck speed. Hemedti uses this discourse as a bloody shirt to maintain his influence and military forces for future use,” Fareid said. Marwan Ali/APFrom a subclan of the Mahariya Rizeigat tribe, nomadic people that herded camels in Darfur, Hemedti got his start as a commander of the Janjaweed. Unlike Sudan’s former dictator, Hemedti has not faced charges from the International Criminal Court. The general’s shared sense of impunity was underlined in October 2021, when they staged a coup, arresting Hamdok and his cabinet.

☆ These are the world's smartest animals, according to science
▼ + stars: | 2014-04-23 | by ( Dina Spector | Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

While we know parrots can mimic human language, studies show they actually have an understanding of that language. It also becomes difficult to compare between species since most intelligence tests or tasks are designed for specific animals. Animals evolve certain kinds of cognitive abilities to deal with pressures in their natural habitat, said Virginia Morell, author of "Animal Wise." We also tend to underestimate the brainpower of animals by relying too much on intelligence tests based on what humans are capable of. The good news is "we're getting a better idea of how animals think and experience the world," Morrell said.

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