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☆ CNN took an 11-day cruise through some of the most-contested waters on Earth. Here’s what we learned
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +23 min

China claims almost all of the 1.3 million-square-mile South China Sea as its sovereign territory. In daylight hours in the South China Sea, from Ottawa’s flight deck or outdoor bridge wings, Chinese warships are often visible to the naked eye. Aviator Gregory Cole/Canadian Armed Forces PhotoOn October 29, things take a potentially dangerous turn, one that could have cost lives and ratcheted up tensions in the South China Sea to new levels. Radar operators scan their instruments in a Canadian antisubmarine warfare helicopter over the East China Sea. Hammerhead targets drones await their fate on the deck of the frigate HMCS Ottawa in the South China Sea.

Persons: Sam Patchell, Jacob Broderick ,, Ben Hughes, Gregory Cole, he’s, “, King Neptune, Xi Jinping, Brad Lendon, Rafael Peralta, Collin Koh, ” Patchell, Patchell, Aviator Gregory Cole, ”, haven’t, Xi, Rob Millen, they’d, Long, Peralta, It’s, Qinetiq, Noble, That’s, Cmdr, Sean Milley, Christine Hurov, Wally Shirra, it’s, Wally Schirra, Loverboy’s, Australia’s, doesn’t, We’ll Organizations: HMCS, HMCS Ottawa CNN, Royal Canadian Navy, Canada, United, Naval Warfare Officers, Canadian Armed Forces, US Navy, Ottawa, CNN, Canada’s Defense Ministry, Chinese Communist Party, Coast Guard, Rajaratnam, of International Studies, People’s Liberation Army Navy, PLA Navy, United Nations, Ottawa's, Cyclone, Canadian, Royal Canadian Air Force, Chinese Defense Ministry, Pentagon, troika, Peralta, Brisbane, CNN Radio, New, New Zealand Navy’s, Cmdr, HMNZS Aotearoa, Australian, Southern Hemisphere, One Locations: HMCS Ottawa, Taiwan, Ottawa, China, United States, Canadian, South China, Gaza, Ukraine, East, Washington, Singapore, Beijing, Spratly, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Chinese, South, East China, CNN Beijing, Canada, Gulf of Mexico, West Coast, Australian, Brisbane, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Okinawa, replenishments, Aotearoa, American, Ottawa’s

After a week of calm, Yousef Hammash woke up in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Friday to the booming sounds of explosions. The truce also allowed for a larger number of deliveries of humanitarian aid and fuel to Gaza than in previous weeks of the war. Israeli and Hamas officials said the deal collapsed because they could not agree on additional exchanges of hostages and Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The latest phase of Israel’s campaign against Gaza is expected to target the southern half of the region, where many Palestinians have sought safety. Sameer al-Jarrah, 67, has been living in Al Qarara since the war began on Oct. 7, following the devastating Hamas-led attacks on Israel launched from Gaza.

Persons: Yousef Hammash, Mr, Hammash, pummeled, Khan Younis, Mahmoud el, Carolin, Khaldi, ” Mr, Al Qarara, Sameer al, ”, “, I’ll, Hessi Organizations: Norwegian Refugee Council Locations: Gaza, Rafah, Norwegian, Israel, Oslo, Khan, Egypt, Gaza City, Al Qarara, ”

A weeklong cease-fire in the Gaza Strip collapsed on Friday morning, with Israel and Hamas blaming each other for the breakdown of a truce that had allowed for the exchange of hundreds of hostages and prisoners, and that had briefly raised hopes for a more lasting halt to the fighting. The Israeli military said it had launched 200 strikes since the resumption of fighting, some of which the country’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, witnessed from a seat in an Israeli attack helicopter flying over Gaza. “This morning we returned to hitting Hamas with full force,” he wrote on the social media platform X. “The results are impressive.”“Hamas only understands force,” he added. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said in a statement that Israel was “committed to achieving the war aims — freeing our hostages, eliminating Hamas and ensuring that Gaza will never again pose a threat to the residents of Israel.” For days, he and other Israeli leaders had sought to quash any notion of extending the truce indefinitely, despite growing international pressure, stating repeatedly that even if the pause continued for a few more days, Israel’s offensive would resume.

Persons: Yoav Gallant, ”, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, “ Locations: Gaza, Israel

A weeklong cease-fire in Gaza collapsed on Friday morning after Israel said Hamas had fired rockets toward Israel in the hours before the truce was set to expire, and Israel responded with strikes on the territory. But early Friday, shortly before the truce was set to end, Israel’s military said on the social media site X that it had intercepted a projectile fired from Gaza. Nonetheless, minutes after the 7 a.m. deadline passed, Israel announced that it was restarting operations in Gaza. Shortly afterward, both the Israeli military and Gaza’s Hamas-run Interior Ministry said that Israel was carrying out strikes across Gaza. “We have sworn, I have sworn, to eliminate Hamas,” Mr. Netanyahu said.

Persons: Israel, Hamas’s, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, ”, Mr, Netanyahu, Antony J, Blinken, “, ” Mr, ” Aaron Boxerman, Iyad, Johnatan Reiss Organizations: Hamas, Mr Locations: Khan Yunis, Gaza, Israel, Doha, Qatar, United States, Egypt, Tel Aviv, “ Israel

☆ Israel-Hamas War Israel and Hamas Say Cease-Fire Has Been Extended
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Ben Hubbard | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +9 min

Hostages and Missing Families, via ReutersRaz Ben-Ami was kidnapped by Hamas from the Be’eri kibbutz on Oct. 7. Her brother Lior, 16, who was hiding with her, was murdered, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. His uncle, Dror Or, and his cousins, Noam, 17, and Alma, 13, were taken hostage at the same time. Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters, via Associated PressIrena Tati, a physician, and her daughter, Yelena Trupanob, immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union and are dual Israeli-Russian citizens, according to the hostages and missing families forum. Yelena’s son Sasha, 28, and his girlfriend, Sapir Cohen, 29, were also taken hostage and are still being held in Gaza.

Persons: Ra’aya Rotem, Reuters Ra’aya Rotem, Hila, Emily Hand, Ra’aya texted, Itay Regev, Associated Press Itay, Raz Ben, Ami, Ben, Ohad, Lior, Tarshansky, Reuma, Kamelia Hoter Ishay, ’ ”, ”, Gat, Roman Gat, Be’eri, Alon, Gefen, Liat Binin, Reuters Liat, Atzili, Aviv, Nir Oz, Moran, Yanai, Liam, Associated Press Liam, Dror, Noam, Alma, Ofir Engel, Associated Press Ofir Engel, Yuval Sharabi, Yossi Sharabi, “, ” Yael Engel Lichi, Amit Shani, Amit Shani Credit, Amit Shani’s, Tal Shani, ‘, Ms, Shani, Amit, ” Ms, ” Irena Tati, Yelena Trupanob, Irena Tati, Vitaly Trupanob, Yelena’s, Sasha, Sapir Cohen, Nadav, Talya Minsberg Organizations: Wednesday, Ra'aya Rotem Credit, Reuters, The, Associated Press, Hapoel Ashkelon, Marvel, Yad Vashem, Nova, Hapoel Tel Aviv soccer, Hamas, Associated, Soviet Locations: Russian, Be’eri, Israel, The Times, Re’im, Gaza, Gali Tarshansky, Tarshansky, Tel Aviv, ‘ Gali, United States, Jerusalem, India, Kibbutz Be’eri, Alma, Soviet Union

Thirty Palestinian women and minors were released from Israeli prisons on Tuesday as part of the agreement, according to an official list. It was the fifth exchange of hostages and prisoners since Friday. Since Friday, when a cease-fire deal covering hostages, Palestinian prisoners and aid for Gaza went into effect, Hamas has released more than 60 hostages seized in its Oct. 7 raid in Israel that set off the war. Egypt, Israel and the United States dispatched their top intelligence officials to Qatar to negotiate further exchanges. director, joined David Barnea, the head of the Mossad, Israel’s spy service, and Abbas Kamel, Egypt’s spy chief, for meetings with Qatari officials, including the prime minister.

Persons: Israel, William J, Burns, David Barnea, Abbas Kamel, Egypt’s Organizations: Hamas, United Locations: Gaza, United States, Israel, Egypt, Qatar

☆ Morgan Stanley appoints Jed Finn as head of wealth management - memo
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A screen displays the trading information for Morgan Stanley on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., January 19, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid//File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 20 (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley (MS.N) has named Jed Finn as the head of its wealth management unit, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters on Monday. Finn, currently the chief operating officer of the division, joined the investment bank in 2011 and has held several leadership roles in the business, the memo said. The appointment, effective Jan. 1, comes weeks after the bank named Ted Pick as its new chief executive officer. The bank also appointed insiders Jacques Chappuis and Ben Huneke as co-heads of investment management, the memo said.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Brendan McDermid, Jed Finn, Finn, Ted Pick, Andy Saperstein, Dan Simkowitz, Jacques Chappuis, Ben Huneke, Niket, Tatiana Bautzer, Shounak Dasgupta, Sonia Cheema Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Reuters, Financial Times, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Bengaluru, New York

☆ The Man Who Blazed a Trail for Dictatorship in the Middle East
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Ben Hubbard | More About Ben Hubbard | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

And help he did. He sent arms, military experts and advice on how to talk to the West. He encouraged the officers to assure the United States, Britain and France that the coup posed no risk to their people or interests. His long reign is but one strand of Nasser’s disastrous legacy, according to “We Are Your Soldiers,” by the Lebanon-based journalist Alex Rowell. Rowell takes the reader on a historical tour of the Middle East to illuminate how Nasser contributed to the region’s “shared curse of political repression mixed with economic misery.”

Persons: Gamal Abdel Nasser, Alex Rowell, King Idris I, Muammar el, el, ” Nasser, “, Colonel el, Qaddafi, brutalizing, kook, Rowell, Nasser, ” Organizations: Libyan Army, United Nations General Assembly Locations: Egypt, United States, Britain, France, Libya, Lebanon

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicTo much of the outside world, Hamas’s decision to murder hundreds of Israelis and trigger a war that has since killed many thousands of its own people looks like a historic miscalculation — one that could soon result in the destruction of Hamas itself. Hamas’s leaders, however, say that it was the result of a deliberate calculation. Ben Hubbard, the Istanbul bureau chief for The New York Times, has been reporting on their decision, and what went into it.

Persons: Ben Hubbard Organizations: Spotify, The New York Times Locations: Istanbul

☆ With 102 Workers Killed, U.N. Agency in Gaza Struggles to Provide Aid
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Ben Hubbard | More About Ben Hubbard | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

At least 102 workers from the largest United Nations agency in Gaza have been killed in five weeks of heavy Israeli bombing. Most did not die in the line of duty but instead while at home, often in strikes that also killed members of their families, U.N. officials said. Others included school principals, warehouse workers, engineers, a software developer, a gynecologist and a man in charge of staff safety. Of all the places UNRWA works, Gaza is where it plays the largest role, given that 1.4 million of the territory’s 2.2 million residents are registered refugees. The soaring death toll has brought new attention to UNRWA, whose duties not only put workers in danger but also extend across much of Gazan life.

Persons: Juliette Touma, Ms, Touma, “, ” Organizations: United Nations, UNRWA, United Nations Relief, Works Agency Locations: Gaza, Israel

Hamas derided the Palestinian Authority for its cooperation with Israel, including the use of Palestinian police to prevent attacks on Israel. Instead of firing rockets over issues in Gaza, Hamas was fighting for concerns central to all Palestinians, including those outside the enclave. “The Israelis were only concerned with one thing: How do I get rid of the Palestinian cause?” Mr. Hamdan said. But inside Gaza, Hamas’s capabilities grew. That restoration deepened the relationship between Hamas’s military wing in Gaza and the so-called axis of resistance, Iran’s network of regional militias, according to regional diplomats and security officials.

Persons: Sinwar, Deif, Mohammed Deif, ”, “, Osama Hamdan, Israel, Mr, Hamdan Organizations: Palestinian Authority, West Bank, Israel, Hamas, Qassam, Agence France, National Security Council, Palestinian Locations: Israel, Gaza, Egypt, Italian, “, Qatar, East Jerusalem, Aqsa, Jerusalem’s Old City, Beirut, Lebanon, Jihad, Iran, Syria

☆ Democrats Won Big in Last Night’s Elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Already, roughly 1,400 Israelis and over 10,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza. That death toll could rise once Israel starts fighting in earnest within the urban warren that is Gaza City, which is Hamas’s stronghold and the primary target of Israel’s invasion. Once Israeli forces enter Gaza City en masse, we will see very intense urban warfare, in part because this is Hamas’s home turf. The biggest question is what Israel’s army will do once they reach the hospitals in central Gaza City, which they claim are the headquarters of Hamas’s military command. Also, my colleagues Ben Hubbard and Maria Abi-Habib explained why Hamas carried out its bloody Oct. 7 attack.

Persons: Patrick, Israel, Israel hasn’t, Ben Hubbard, Maria Abi, Habib Organizations: Hamas Locations: Gaza, Gaza City

☆ Hezbollah’s Leader Breaks Silence on Gaza War
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Ben Hubbard | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, is addressing his followers for the first time since the war in Gaza began, in a speech that could shed light on whether his group intends to expand the conflict into a regional war. Large screens had been put up in a number of locations throughout Lebanon for the speech by Mr. Nasrallah, who has not spoken publicly since Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Thousands of his supporters gathered to watch at the largest event, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which was decorated with Hezbollah and Palestinian flags. “We are for you, Nasrallah,” supporters chanted. Hezbollah, like Hamas, has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and other countries.

Persons: Hassan Nasrallah, Mr, Nasrallah, ” Organizations: Hezbollah Locations: Lebanese, Gaza, Lebanon, Israel, Beirut, East, Iran, United States

“All of Lebanon, including Hezbollah — we don’t want a war,” said Lebanon’s foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, who is in regular contact with Hezbollah. “There is Western pressure on the Lebanese government to apply pressure on Hezbollah not to go to war. But will Israel start a war? “If the situation gets really bad in Gaza, it will be really bad for the whole region — not just Lebanon and Israel,” Mr. Bou Habib said. Israel has responded with a vast bombing campaign on Gaza, a blockade on fuel and a ground invasion.

Persons: ”, Abdallah Bou Habib, ” Ron Dermer, we’re, Mr, Dermer, Bou Habib, ” Mr, Khaled Meshaal, Meshaal, Al Arabiya, Maha Yahya, Ms, Yahya, “, Hassan Nasrallah, Israel, Nasrallah Organizations: Hezbollah, Carnegie Middle East Center Locations: Lebanon, States, Israel, Gaza, United States, Beirut, Iran

☆ Experts weigh in on recent college grad's viral complaints about 9-to-5 schedule: 40-hour workweek is 'a historical accident'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Aditi Shrikant | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In a viral TikTok, a recent college graduate bemoaned the demands of a 9-to-5 work schedule. Historically, there is precedence for this change, says Ben Hunnicutt, a historian who focuses on why companies abandoned shorter workdays. "The 40-hour workweek, from 9-to-5, is not a universal mandate from God, it's a historical accident," he says. Gen Z workers, like Brielle, might be the ones to facilitate a shift in company expectations. "There is a tendency now in younger folks to value their time more than advancement at work," Hunnicutt says.

Persons: Brielle, doesn't, I'm, they'd, Ben Hunnicutt, Gen, Hunnicutt Organizations: UAW

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey signed the protocol approving Sweden’s bid to join the NATO military alliance and sent it to the Turkish Parliament on Monday, according to a brief statement from his office. It was not immediately clear why Mr. Erdogan, who had refused to officially endorse Sweden’s NATO bid for many months, suddenly decided to back it now, nor when Parliament would vote on it. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Sweden and Finland, which both have borders with Russia, applied to join NATO, a process that is subject to approval by all of the alliance’s members. Mr. Erdogan initially refused to back either of them, but later changed his stance on Finland, paving the way for it to join NATO in April. But he continued to hold out on Sweden, accusing it of not doing enough to crack down on Turkish separatists and other Turkish dissidents in Sweden that Turkey considers terrorists.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Mr Organizations: NATO Locations: Turkey, Turkish, Ukraine, Sweden, Finland, Russia

Yet videos released by Hamas fighters themselves depict the brutal killing of unarmed civilians. Yaakov Peri, a former head of the Shin Bet, the Israeli security service, said Israel may have agreed to let humanitarian aid enter Gaza on Saturday morning in light of the hostages’ release Friday night. “But we cannot fall for this trap.”There are still many questions of why, of all the 200 or so hostages, the Raanans were released. Hamas might be trying to temper Israeli retaliation on Gaza by gaining some good will from the Biden administration. President Biden and his team have been closely advising Israel on how it is waging its war on Gaza, although it is not clear how much Israel actually listens to what the Americans say.

Persons: Gazans, —, Yaakov Peri, Shin, Mr, Peri, Robert D’Amico, ”, D’Amico, Biden Organizations: Hamas Locations: Israel, Gaza, California

Armed groups in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen that once largely fought separately now see themselves as being on the same team. Its members played a key role in helping Syria turn the tide against anti-government rebels during the country’s civil war, which began in 2011. And its operatives have increased the fighting abilities of pro-Iranian militias in Iraq and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Israel, the United States and other countries have designated Hezbollah and some of its regional partners, including Hamas in Gaza, as terrorist organizations. Israel has viewed Hezbollah as its most formidable foe since they fought to a standstill in a monthlong war in 2006 that killed more than 1,000 Lebanese and 165 Israelis.

Organizations: Biden Locations: Israel, United States, That’s, Iran, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Islamic Republic

☆ Birkenstock's IPO is set to boost another footwear stock by 65%, analyst says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Birkenstock 's recent initial public offering (IPO) is expected to help boost shares of British footwear brand Dr. Martens , according to Investec analysts. The analysts pointed out that Birkenstock's sales last year were slightly higher than Dr. Martens' projected sales this year. However, the German company sells over twice the volume of footwear as Dr. Martens, which has a higher average selling price. DOCS-GB YTD line Similarities and differences Birkenstock's business model and brand ethos have many similarities to Dr. Martens, according to the analysts. RBC said it has a "Sector Perform" rating, equivalent to "hold" at other investment banks, on Dr. Martens.

Persons: Birkenstock, Martens, Kate Calvert, Ben Hunt, Dr Martens Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, RBC Capital Markets, RBC Locations: London, British, Germany, U.S, Europe, Asia, Pacific

☆ The job Americans would most like to see replaced by robots
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Joseph Bien-Kahn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +26 min

In a survey of jobs Americans would most like to see replaced by robots, the umpire would surely rank near the top. (The MLB league official tells me that legalized gambling has not been a factor in implementing ABS.) Frustratingly, the subjective has infiltrated what initially felt like a technological problem: What does the perfect strike zone even look like anyway? The MLB league official agrees, telling me the Jetson Robot Home Plate Ump is not in their plans. "Growing up, my parents would go, 'Oh, the umpire's strike zone was small!'

Persons: Jordan Pacheco, Pacheco, John McEnroe, —, Billy Beane, maniacally, Houston, it's, Ben Hurian, Paul Hawkins, Goltz, Tyler Le, Justin Goltz, he's, there's, rears, Tyler Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald, who's, FanGraphs, Bagwell crouch, Miguel Yajure, Phillip Evans, Evans, X, they'd, Dylan Yep, what's, we're, Rob Manfred, — England's, Calvin Baker, Baker, Drew Strotman, Billy Evans, Strotman, Greg Maddux, MIT grads, steph, klay thompson, alf, hite, mudge, hird, ove, ahn Organizations: Lexington Legends, Twitter, Major League, ump, MLB, Sony, NASCAR, Triple, Albuquerque, Colorado Rockies, Astros, Companies, English Premier League soccer, Rugby, NFL, NBA, ABS, Sutter Health Park, Cats, San Francisco Giants, River, Reno Aces, AAA, Atlantic League, Big, of Fame, Seton Hall Sports, MIT, hawkeyes, ust Locations: OKC, California, Sacramento, uman

☆ East Libya Strongman Keeps Tight Control Over Aid After Floods
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Ben Hubbard | More About Ben Hubbard | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Days after a torrential downpour collapsed two aging dams and unleashed a rushing wall of water that swept parts of the Libyan city of Derna and thousands of its people into the sea, the military strongman who rules the area came for a quick visit. Khalifa Hifter, the 79-year-old renegade commander and longtime C.I.A. asset shook hands with soldiers, took a brief drive through Derna’s muddy streets and flew off in a helicopter. The disaster that struck Derna on Sept. 11 has drawn renewed international attention to Mr. Hifter and his so-called Libyan National Army, a military coalition that controls the eastern half of the divided North African nation with an iron fist. More than a week after the disaster, as rescue efforts shift to the long and costly work of caring for the displaced and helping the city recover, Mr. Hifter’s tight hold over eastern Libya has made it clear that he will be the overall arbiter of the aid operation in the oil-rich country.

Persons: Khalifa Hifter, Derna, Hifter, Hifter’s Organizations: Libyan National Army Locations: Libyan, Derna, Libya

Efforts to extract an American explorer who became ill more than 3,400 feet underground in a cave in southern Turkey expanded on Friday, as international rescue teams installed communications equipment and blasted open narrow areas to allow the passage of a stretcher, officials involved in the rescue said. The caver, Mark Dickey, 40, was part of an expedition exploring the Morca cave in southern Turkey when he suddenly suffered from abdominal bleeding last week. Unable to communicate from underground, one of his colleagues made the arduous, hourslong climb to the surface and sounded the alarm last Saturday. In the days since, more than 180 people from eight countries, including Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, Ukraine and the United States, have joined the rescue effort, many of them camped out near the cave’s opening in a remote part of the Taurus Mountains in Turkey — and up and down the cave itself. Mr. Dickey’s medical condition and the depth and confines of the cave will make his rescue a highly complicated logistical feat.

Persons: Mark Dickey Organizations: Turkey — Locations: Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, Ukraine, United States

As the volleyball game neared its end, thousands of fans watching on giant screens in an Istanbul park rose to their feet and fell silent. The ball soared, a Turkish player set it up near the net, and her teammate spiked it. Her Italian opponents blocked the shot but knocked the ball out of bounds, handing victory to the Turks and causing the crowd to erupt into chants of “Turkey! Turkey!”The nail-biter victory on Friday by Turkey’s national women’s volleyball team in the Women’s European Volleyball Championship was the most recent conquest by the country’s most successful major sports team, a record that has turned it into a rare source of national pride that holds appeal across the country’s social divides. Affectionately referred to as “the Sultans of the Net,” the team won the Volleyball Nations League championship in July in Arlington, Texas, and became the world’s top rated women’s national team, according to FIVB, the sport’s international governing body.

Persons: laud Organizations: Turkey’s, volleyball, Volleyball, Volleyball Nations League, FIVB Locations: Istanbul, Turkish, Turkey, Arlington , Texas, Serbia, Brussels

Last fall, American diplomats received grim news that border guards in Saudi Arabia, a close U.S. partner in the Middle East, were using lethal force against African migrants who were trying to enter the kingdom from Yemen. The diplomats got more detail in December, when United Nations officials presented them with information about Saudi security forces shooting, shelling and abusing migrants, leaving many dead and wounded, according to U.S. officials and a person who attended the meetings, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity since they were not authorized to speak to journalists. In the months since, American officials have not publicly criticized the Saudis’ conduct, although State Department officials said this past week, following a published report of the killings, that U.S. diplomats have raised the issue with their Saudi counterparts and asked them to investigate. It remains unclear whether those discussions have affected Saudi actions. The Saudi security forces’ violence along the border came to the fore in a report by Human Rights Watch on Monday that accused them of shooting and firing explosive projectiles at Ethiopian migrants, killing hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of them during the 15-month period that ended in June.

Organizations: United Nations, State Department, Saudi, Human Rights Locations: Saudi Arabia, U.S, Yemen, Saudi

Border guards in Saudi Arabia have regularly opened fire on African migrants seeking to cross into the kingdom from Yemen, killing hundreds of men, women and children during a recent 15-month period, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Monday. The guards have beaten the migrants with rocks and bars, forced male migrants to rape women while guards watched and shot detained migrants in their limbs, leading to permanent injuries and amputations, the report said. The shooting of migrants is “widespread and systematic,” it said, adding that if killing them were Saudi government policy, it would constitute a crime against humanity. The Saudi government’s Center for International Communication did not respond when asked via email about the findings.

Organizations: Rights Watch, Saudi government’s Center for International Communication Locations: Saudi Arabia, Yemen

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