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Seoul, South Korea CNN —Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska asked South Korea to provide non-lethal military hardware when she met with President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul on Tuesday, both countries have reported. But an official from Yoon’s office said Zelenska stopped short of asking for lethal weapons, acknowledging that South Korea would have found it difficult to oblige had any such request been made. Since the war broke out in Ukraine, South Korea has maintained its stance of not providing lethal weapons to a warring country, although Yoon has hinted at a possible major policy shift. The Ukrainian first lady handed Yoon “a personal letter and an invitation from the president of Ukraine” to visit her country, the Ukrainian side said. Last year, she met US first lady Jill Biden privately at the White House to discuss American support for Ukraine.

☆ Harry Belafonte’s complicated relationship with the civil rights movement
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Nicquel Terry Ellis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

During the civil rights movement, he used his star power to fight against injustice, raising money for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organization that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. cofounded and led. Dr. Martin Luther King, his wife Coretta Scott King, right, and Harry Belafonte at center marching near Montgomery, Alabama, on March 24, 1965. But his relationship with the civil rights movement wasn’t always simple. Archive Photos/Getty ImagesAfter King’s death in 1968, Belafonte expressed frustration in an interview with The Washington Post about his prominent role in the civil rights movement.

☆ Harry Belafonte, 96, Dies; Barrier-Breaking Singer, Actor and Activist
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Peter Keepnews | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

He provided money to bail Dr. King and other civil rights activists out of jail. His spacious apartment on West End Avenue in Manhattan became Dr. King’s home away from home. The suit was settled the next year, with Mr. Belafonte retaining possession.) In an interview with The Washington Post a few months after Dr. King’s death, Mr. Belafonte expressed ambivalence about his high profile in the civil rights movement. In Atlanta for a benefit concert for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1962, Mr. Belafonte was twice refused service in the same restaurant.

CNN —Harry Belafonte, the dashing singer, actor and activist who became an indispensable supporter of the civil rights movement, has died, his publicist Ken Sunshine told CNN. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Belafonte, left, plays a school principal in a scene from the film "See How They Run" in 1952. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Belafonte poses with the Emmy Award he won in 1960 for the musical special "Tonight With Belafonte." Fred Sabine/NBCU/Getty Images Belafonte and other recipients of Albert Einstein Commemorative Awards display their medallions after being honored in 1972. He is survived by his wife Pamela, his children Adrienne Belafonte Biesemeyer, Shari Belafonte, Gina Belafonte, David Belafonte, two stepchildren Sarah Frank and Lindsey Frank and eight grandchildren.

☆ Inside the Wild World of Celebrity Keynote Speakers: Drugs, Alcohol
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( David Kushner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +31 min

"I never saw myself as a speaker, let alone a motivational speaker," Leonard tells me while his assistant irons his jeans. 'When I ramble," Hunter told me, "hit me in the leg!" Every plane had been grounded, including the one stuck on the tarmac with an increasingly inebriated Hunter Thompson trapped inside. But by far the most all-consuming task was booking gigs for Hunter Thompson. Just before a debate with G. Gordon Liddy at Brown University, Hunter demanded that Betsy Berg, whom I now worked alongside at GTN, score him some crystal meth.

☆ Ted Cruz said school shootings can be prevented if they have armed guards, like in banks. That aged poorly after the deadly Louisville bank shooting.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ted Cruz said stationing armed police in schools, as they do in banks, would help stop school shootings. "You know, when you go to the bank, and you deposit money in the bank, there are armed police officers at the bank. —Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) March 31, 2023Cruz's proposed bill on school safety, which he has been pushing for months, was blocked in the Senate on March 30. After the Uvalde school shooting, where a shooter killed 21 people, Cruz floated a bizarre idea for preventing school shootings: Having a "single point of entry" in schools. Justifying his decision, he told CBS News that the NRA "stands up for your rights, stands up for my rights, and stands up for the rights of every American."

☆ Biden’s Selma visit puts spotlight back on voting rights
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The visit to Selma also is an opportunity for Biden to speak directly to the current generation of civil rights activists. They urged Washington politicians visiting Selma not to sully the memories of the late civil rights activists John Lewis, Hosea Williams and others with empty platitudes. "When voting rights passed after Selma, it didn't just help Black people. We need the president to reframe this: When you block voting rights, you're not just hurting Black people. As a candidate in 2020, Biden promised to pursue sweeping legislation to bolster protection of voting rights.

☆ Ketamine is being sold as a depression wonder drug. For some, it's making everything worse.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Anna Silman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +42 min

The infusions at the ketamine clinic in his West Texas hometown were a Christmas gift from his grandmother. About five years ago, more and more of my friends started using ketamine recreationally. IV ketamine treatment centers charging $400 to $2,000 an infusion popped up all over the country. "Ketamine used as directed in an appropriate clinical setting very rarely leads to any dependence," Mindbloom says on its website. Like Nadia, most of the people I interviewed said when they started using ketamine, they didn't think it was possible to become dependent on it.

☆ On King’s holiday, daughter calls for bold action over words
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Bernice King, who leads The King Center in Atlanta, said leaders — especially politicians — too often cheapen her father’s legacy into a “comfortable and convenient King” offering easy platitudes. The service, organized by the center and held at Ebenezer annually, headlined observances of the 38th federal King holiday. ... A prophetic word calls for an inconvenience because it challenges us to change our hearts, our minds and our behavior,” Bernice King said. At Ebenezer, Warnock, who has led the congregation for 17 years, hailed his predecessor’s role in securing ballot access for Black Americans. But, like Bernice King, the senator warned against a reductive understanding of King.

Attorney General Merrick Garland issued new guidance on Friday essentially eliminating the disparity in federal sentencing for the distribution of crack cocaine versus powder cocaine, a policy that has long punished crack offenders, and people of color, more severely. Offenses involving 500 grams of powder cocaine carried the same 5-year mandatory minimum prison time as offenses involving 28 grams of crack cocaine, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan public policy research institute. Crack cocaine became prevalent in the 1980s, sparking a nationwide “war on drugs” and leading to the passage of two federal sentencing laws concerning crack cocaine in 1986 and 1988 that created the discrepancies, according to The Sentencing Project, which advocated for overhauling the sentencing guidelines. The road to sentencing reform for crack offenders was partly put into motion in 2018 with the First Step Act, which, in part, shortened mandatory federal prison sentences, including for those in prison for pre-2010 crack cocaine offenses. The new guidance was applauded by several groups, including the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, which called it "a big win and a historic step in the right direction toward eliminating the unjust disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentencing."

But the door knockers didn't explain where to vote or promote a candidate, the usual work of canvassers ahead of a big election. At another, they listed names of registered voters and demanded to know if they still lived at the address. In at least one state, Michigan, they plan to use their list of alleged irregularities to challenge voters in the Nov. 8 election. Reuters identified at least 23 state-wide or local efforts where canvassers may have crossed the line into intimidation, according to election officials and voting rights lawyers. This August, people affiliated with USEIP were also canvassing in La Plata County, according to the county clerk.

Steve Bannon was sentenced to four months behind bars and a $6,500 fine on Friday for his contempt of Congress conviction. Bannon left the Trump administration in 2017. Following Bannon’s indictment last fall, other Trump allies appeared to take the consequences of blowing off the Jan. 6 committee more seriously. It was yet another astounding act from a president unbridled by any sense of the responsibility the office carries. While these statements do not prove his guilt, they certainly place him in a circle of possible co-conspirators.

☆ Chase Pay Yourself Back gets you up to 50% more value when you redeem points for Airbnb, dining, phone, internet, and more — here's how it works
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Holly Johnson | Jasmin Baron | Freelance Writer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

You'll get 50% more value with the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, and 25% more with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. Here's what to know about Pay Yourself Back to help you decide if you want to redeem your Chase Ultimate Rewards® points this way. Let's say for a moment that you have 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points in your Chase Sapphire Reserve® account. You'll also earn 10x points on Lyft rides with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and 5x points on Lyft rides with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card through March 2025. Pair Chase cards for even more valueIf you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve® or Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you should also consider applying for another Chase card that could help you maximize this benefit.

☆ Chase Pay Yourself Back gets you up to 50% more value when you redeem points for Airbnb, dining, phone, internet, and more — and some categories have just been extended
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-28 | by ( Holly Johnson | Jasmin Baron | Freelance Writer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

You'll get 50% more value with the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, and 25% more with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. These include dining, Airbnb, and the annual membership fee on the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (50% bonus), Airbnb on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (25% bonus), and internet, cable, and phone services on the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (25% bonus). Let's say for a moment that you have 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points in your Chase Sapphire Reserve® account. You'll also earn 10x points on Lyft rides with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and 5x points on Lyft rides with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card through March 2025. Pair Chase cards for even more valueIf you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve® or Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you should also consider applying for another Chase card that could help you maximize this benefit.

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