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☆ Taylor Swift’s name not searchable on X days after sexually explicit deepfakes go viral
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Minyvonne Burke | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. singer-songwriter Taylor Swift performs during her The Eras Tour concert at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Aug. 7, 2023. Social media users may have noticed Saturday that they cannot search Taylor Swift's name on X, days after nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfakes of the pop star went viral. The hashtag "Protect Taylor Swift" also began to trend on X. "Now stop searching taylor swift ai photos. "You can't search Taylor swift on Twitter anymore kinda happy and sad at the same time," another posted.

Persons: Taylor Swift, Taylor, Swift, Blackbird.AI, taylor, Tay Organizations: NBC News Locations: Inglewood , California

☆ TikTok's Lunden and Olivia Stallings are straight people's favorite lesbian couple. What do they owe queer fans?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Kate Taylor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +29 min

Lunden and Olivia told me their mission as influencers was to "represent and inspire others to be their authentic self." Advertisement"I did feel represented by them," Asia said, but the tweets "showed me that they are still white women." "We are especially confident in our sexuality and the way that we feel and who we are," Olivia told me. Lunden and Olivia told me they want to advocate for all LGBTQ+ people, including those who don't look like them. It's a chance, the couple told me, to combat the hate and negativity LGBTQ+ parents face.

Persons: Lunden Stallings, Olivia Bennett, Monique Lhuillier, Lunden, Taylor Swift, Stallings, David Yurman, preppy, Olivia, TikTok, Kendrick Brinson, who's, you've, Madison Mathews, sunnies, peck, they'd, Brooklynites, Remington, Zeta Tau, Olivia DMed Lunden —, Justin Bieber, snapbacks, haven't, Lunden's, Ellie Goulding's, Olivia couldn't, Caroline Bayne, Lunden's TikTok, Zara, Mercedes, Sophie, It's, Jackie J, Jackie, There's, Bud Light, Dylan Mulvaney, influencers, They've, KenzKustomz, Krysten Stein, Black influencers, Stein, Hill, millennials Organizations: Naylor, People, Business, Alabama, Chevrolet, New York Post, Daily Mail, Madison, University of Central, Jacksonville State University, Zeta Tau Alpha, University of Alabama's, University, Minnesota, BI, Braves, Rover, Pride, Nielsen, Saks, University of Illinois Locations: Roswell , Georgia, Asia, Olivia, Charleston, LoveShackFancy, Powder Springs , Georgia, Atlanta, Blytheville , Arkansas, University of Central Arkansas, Alabama, Roswell, Austin, RushTok, Alpharetta, Charleston , South Carolina, Southern, Publix, Fayetteville , Arkansas, University of Illinois Chicago

☆ A 26-year-old influencer who people think looks much older has a theory about why Gen Zers appear to be aging faster than millennials
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Kieran Press-Reynolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A major TikToker gained traction with a theory that Gen Zers are aging faster than millennials. Howlett told BI he thinks the faster aging could be due to job- and economy-related stress. "Ain't no way in the world this man is Gen Z. Advertisement"When you said you're Gen Z, I gasped," one comment with over 110,000 likes said. "Gen Z didn't."

Persons: Jordan Howlett, Howlett, —, influencer Jordan Howlett, Howlett —, Gen, It's, Zers, depresso, Dwayne, Johnson, Gen Xers, they've, Millennials, Dwayne Johnson's, Taylor Donoghue, Donogue Organizations: Service

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — From Berlin to London and Limassol to Karachi, thousands of people took to the streets Sunday to mark the 100th day of Israel’s war with Hamas. Opposing demonstrations either demanded the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas or called for a cease-fire in Gaza. In the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, tens of thousands waved Palestinian flags or wore the keffiyeh, the traditional Palestinian scarf, to express their solidarity with Palestinians in a rally organized by the country’s largest religious political party, Jamaat-e-Islami. The party’s Karachi chief, Hafiz Naeem Ur Rehman, called on the U.S. to stop backing Israel and compensate Palestinians for their losses. Protesters in London held posters with photos and the words “100 days in hell” to express their solidarity with Israel.

Persons: Hafiz Naeem Ur Rehman, Israel, ” Rehman, Ishrat Zahid, ”, Ayelet Svatitzky, “, ’ ’, Nadav Popplewell, Channah Peri, Peri, Roi Popplewell, Akrotiri, Osman Delibas, Delibas, Pope Francis, ____, Hadjicostis, Christophe Ena, Andrew Wilks, Frances D'Emilio Organizations: Hamas, Islami, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Protesters, Israel, Palestine, ” Protesters, RAF, British, British Ministry of Defense, Turkey’s Humanitarian Relief Foundation, . Foundation, Anadolu, Associated, Associated Press Locations: KARACHI, Pakistan, Berlin, London, Limassol, Karachi, Gaza, Pakistani, Israel, Dublin, Edinburgh, Paris, ”, Cyprus, British, Yemen, Britain, Egypt, Turkey, Istanbul, Iraq, Kurdish, St, Ukraine, Palestine, Rome

☆ Servers on TikTok started a debate about restaurant etiquette after saying you shouldn't stack plates at the end of a meal
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Lindsay Dodgson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

They stacked their plates at the end of the meal, saying they know some waiters find it annoying. AdvertisementTwo servers ignited a debate about restaurant etiquette with a TikTok showing them stacking their plates at the end of their meal. Jorj Fuchs and her friend, who both work in food service, stacked their plates at a restaurant they were visiting, saying they know fellow servers find it annoying. "As a server, don't do it if u can't stack properly," one comment reads. "Love the plate stacking though."

Persons: —, Jorj Fuchs, Fuchs, Gen Zs Organizations: Service

☆ Families Ripped Apart as Pakistan Expels Tens of Thousands of Afghans
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Zia Ur-Rehman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

He and his son were arrested on Sept. 12 in the Pakistani city of Karachi during a raid on Afghan migrants. Mr. Gul, 30, was born and raised in Karachi and married his wife there. His wife, Ram Bibi, 29, also an Afghan citizen, sold valuables to hire a lawyer who could argue that Mr. Gul was a legal resident of Pakistan. But he was deported to Afghanistan on Nov. 13, after Pakistan set a deadline for all 1.7 million illegal migrants to leave, most of them Afghans. Mr. Gul is now stranded in a country he does not know, leaving his pregnant wife and his children at the mercy of impoverished relatives to survive.

Persons: Baz Gul’s, Gul, Ram Bibi Locations: Pakistani, Karachi, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Afghan

☆ How JFK’s Secrets Fed Conspiracy Culture
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Timothy Naftali | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963, remains America’s ur-conspiracy—a source of continuing skepticism about the possibility of official truth for both the left and the right. Sixty years later, it’s time to acknowledge that a major reason for this enduring suspicion is Kennedy himself. Contrary to the image that he and his allies worked so hard to promote while he was alive, JFK was a man of secrets, and when he died he was engaged in many active conspiracies, both small and large. None of them was responsible for his death, but each would entail a cover-up to protect his legacy. And these cover-ups had a deeply negative effect on the American public’s trust in government, including its ability to get to the bottom of what really happened in Dallas in 1963.

Persons: John F, Kennedy, JFK Locations: Dallas

☆ Fact Check: Video of Muslim cleric purported assault is from Pakistan in 2021
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Accounts sharing the clip on social media falsely link it to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were operating deep in Gaza City since entering on Oct. 27, Israel said on Nov. 7. It purportedly shows a Muslim cleric forcing himself on a student at a religious school in Lahore, Pakistan, in 2021. The video went viral on social media, Reuters reported on June 21, 2023, with posts on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, in June 2021 (archived). Cleric Aziz-ur-Rehman was arrested, and local reports later said he confessed to assault.

Persons: Israel, Aziz, Rehman, Read Organizations: Israeli Defense Forces, Facebook, Al, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Pakistan, Gaza, Israel, Gaza City, Beit Hanoun, Nusra, Lahore

☆ Australia feeling 2021 vibes ahead of South Africa semi-final: Maxwell
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KOLKATA, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Australia head into Thursday's World Cup semi-final against South Africa with the same excitement in the dressing room that propelled them to their maiden triumph in the T20 World Cup in 2021, Glenn Maxwell said. Maxwell was part of Aaron Finch's groundbreaking squad in the United Arab Emirates in 2021 and scored an unbeaten 28 in the final against New Zealand. "The excitement of that match has given us a whole new belief going forward," Maxwell said in an interview with Australian broadcaster Fox Sports. "It reminded me of the T20 World Cup in 2021. "The feeling around the group was energetic, electric, exciting and everyone felt they were heading towards the same end goal.

Persons: Glenn Maxwell, Maxwell, Aaron Finch's, cramp, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, We’ve, I've, I’ve, Ian Ransom, Peter Rutherford Organizations: South, United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, Fox Sports, Afghanistan, Thomson Locations: KOLKATA, Australia, South Africa, Afghanistan, Melbourne

Caesars paid around $15 million in ransom to regain access to its systems from the hackers, according to reporting by the Wall Street Journal. Some have been collecting evidence leading to the hackers' identities and are assisting law enforcement, according to the five insiders. The sources say that, following the September casino hacks, the FBI's investigation took on new urgency. Mandia didn't respond directly when asked whether Scattered Spider's identities were known to law enforcement. But he did say that there was no excuse for not arresting hackers who operated from the West.

Persons: Bridget Bennett, Michael Sentonas, Sentonas, Alphabet's, James Foster, Foster, cybercriminals, gona, Kevin Mandia, Mandiant, you've, Zeba Siddiqui, Raphael Satter, Christopher Bing, Chris Sanders, Claudia Parsons Organizations: MGM, MGM Resorts, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, U.S . Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, Industry, Reuters, Department of Justice, Caesars, Wall Street, Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft, ex, Telegram, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, U.S, WASHINGTON, America, Palo, American, Baltimore , Maryland, United States, Newark , New Jersey, sextortion, San Francisco, Washington

☆ An Epic Pilgrimage Across Three Great Religions
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Aatish Taseer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +111 min

Before there was tourism, there was pilgrimage: a trip of endurance, hardship and ecstasy in celebration of one’s faith. On an epic pilgrimage of his own, one writer ventures into the heart of three great religions in Bolivia, Mongolia and Iraq. The Imam Hussein shrine in Karbala the day after Ashura. “They’re poor, but they come thousands of kilometers for the love of Imam Hussein.” PILGRIMAGE WAS A great equalizer. “Labaik ya Hussein,” came the solemn chorus of surrounding voices.

Persons: Eduardo Quintela Gonzáles, ” Quintela, JAN, “, ”, Quintela, Victor, Edith Turner, Chaucer, ferne, sondry londes, Vaishno Devi, Lyra Skinner, Lyra, Victoria Preston’s, —, Prophet Muhammad, Virgin Mary, Bath, Naipaul, Augustus, Ryan, garret, Virgin, Monica Machicao, Nicholas Casey, ” Monica, Casey, Evo Morales, sloughing, Columbus, Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, Monica, glitzy cholets, Peru —, Viracocha, it’s, Pablo Quisbert, Leandro Chitarroni, Eichmann, Father Chitarroni, Father Chitarroni’s, Conquistadores ”, Fernando Cervantes, Bernabé Cobo, Quisbert, Edgar Quispe, Tatiana Huayhua, Francisco Tito Yupanqui, Mary, Yupanqui’s, su, Yupanqui, Chitarroni, she’s, Friar Abelino Yeguaori, Friar Yeguaori, Friar Yeguaori’s, Irene, Juana, hajji, Waka, Aracely Alcón, Santiago, Alcón, ‘, don’t, ” Alcón, Tito Yupanqui, Uma Marka, Pachamama, haggard, Amaru Fiorilo Barrios, he’d, ” Fiorilo, Fiorilo, who’d, Valeria Alcón, Laureano Jose Quisbert, Elena Ticona Flores, Eduardo Quintela’s, Ensamble, pang, padre, consolations, Sincrético, El, Rodrigo Paz Pereira, Axel, amauta, strode, La, Aatish Taseer, Saint Helena —, Constantine I, La Paz, Orgilbaatar Tsolmon, Orgil, Genghis Khan, Edward Gibbon, ” Orgil, Araniko’s, Kublai Khan, Genghis Khan’s, Kubla Khan, Coleridge, Kublai, Stalin, sybarite, Khamar, Dalai Lama, Lama, Christopher Kaplonski, ger, I’d, banshtai tsai, Prim, Egi, Munkhdul, Gandantegchinlen, Haidav, herder, “ Um sain, boltugai, Danzanravjaa, Zanabazar’s, Erdene, Mandakhtsog Monkhbaatar, Monkhbaatar’s, Dalai Lamas, prostrated, He’d, Zuu, she’d, Santiago de, L.K, Advani, Emperor Babur, Ram, kar sevaks, Ayodhya, Narendra Modi, Munkhbaatar Batchuluun, Henry Wallace, Franklin D, Potemkin, Munkhbaatar, Gerelmaa, Giimaa, She’d, Eduardo Quintela, Aracely, Santiago’s, Joseph Brodsky’s, Muhammad’s, Hussein, William Keo, ” Khuder, pillion, Labaik, Hussein ”, O Hussein, hearkened, Prophet, Ali —, Ali, Yazid, Imam, crackling, chickpeas, Imam Ali, Imam Hussein, Saddam Hussein, Tusi, Qasim, Imam Hussein’s, Khuder, “ Will, Najaf, prestes, — I, Yasir Yaseen, Ashura, Ali Akbar, Abbas, Ali Asghar, “ We’re, Francisco Goya’s, Hussein’s, Groom, Joseph, ” Wissam, Turfi, Saddam —, Arbaeen, Saddam, “ Imam Hussein, WE, Muhammad, Barnaby Rogerson, Prophet Muhammad ”, ” Ali, Muhammad — Muhammad, formlessness, Muqtada al, Abrams, chiding, Abu Musab Al, Zarqawi, Al Qaeda, William, “ They’re, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, flagellants, ruddy, stylishly, Hussein — shahid —, Farman Ahsan, Syed Salman Raza —, Saddam’s, ” Raza, William “, Ali Zayn al, Abidin, Labaik ya Hussein, thrall —, Lloyd, Susanne Rudolph — Organizations: CITY LA, LA, LA PAZ, Virgin, Crusaders, Dolorosa, Sun, The New York Times, Bolivian, Spain, La, Cordillera, Universidad Mayor de, Catholic, Good, La Paz, Dominican, Pakistan, Caesars, Nissan, Coke, Communists, Communism, ardor, Communist, Hyundai, flails, sacra, Apache, Mahdi Army, Al, ISIS, Karachi —, Princeton Locations: Bolivia, Mongolia, Iraq, Aatish Taseer Bolivia Mongolia Iraq, CITY LA PAZ, BOLIVIA, NAJAF, IRAQ, ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA, LA PAZ, La Paz, Bolivian, Copacabana, Lake Titicaca, New York, Christian, British, sondry, India, Delhi, Varanasi, Europe, American, Mecca, Arabia, Long, Vino Tinto, Chile, Peru, Monica, Plurinational State, Bolivia —, Americas, Spain, Columbian, Aztec Mexico, Inca Peru, Calvary Hill, Virgen del Cerro, South America, Puerto Rico, Huatajata, ”, Argentine, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Mexican, revelry, Spanish, “, morena, La, “ India, multilayered, Potosí, Argentina, Warisata, Scotch, Santiago de Compostela, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Nations, El Alto, Buenos Aires, Bombay, Tibet, Bolivia’s, Yamuna Rivers, United States, Buddhist Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolian, Istanbul, Asia, Islam, China, Beijing, Dadu, Erdene Zuu, Soviet, Gobi, Los Angeles, gers, Qing China, Karnataka, Töv Province, Karakorum, Khamar, Erdene, Ukraine, Korea, Golden, Bayankhongor, Lhasa, Dalai, Inner Mongolia, Mongol, Nalaikh, Santiago, Santiago de Compostela and Canterbury, Bulgan Province, Somnath, Gujarat, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, ger, East German, Uvs Province, Pakistani, Indian, Tennessee, Najaf, Baghdad, Khuder, —, abayas, KARBALA, Kufa, Medina, Saudi Arabia, Karbala, Imam Ali, Bab, Kuwaiti, Bohras, South Asia, Tajikistan, Zaydis, Yemen, Alawites, Anatolia, Syria, Iran, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Sadr, U.S, Jordanian, Al Qaeda, Mesopotamia, Al, Multan, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan’s, Islamabad, Lahore, Kuwait, Karachi, Doha, Qatar

☆ A Tiktoker 'girlsplained' the Israel-Hamas war. She later removed the post and apologized for her 'fun flirty analogy.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Sebastian Cahill | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Nikita Redkar, a TikToker known for "girlsplaining" complex topics, is under fire after a new post. In it, Redkar tried to explain the Israel-Palestine conflict using an analogy of girls at a party. AdvertisementAdvertisementA popular self-described "for the girlies" TikToker is under fire this week after uploading a video "girlsplaining" the history of conflict between Israel and Palestine. A screen recording of Redkar's video shows her explanation of the conflict. "I use these fun, flirty analogies to explain complicated news topics in all of my videos," said Redkar in the video.

Persons: Nikita Redkar, Redkar, —, Patty, Brittany, Izzy Organizations: Service, Ppl Locations: Israel, Palestine

☆ Afghanistan stun champions England at World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/7] Cricket - ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 - England v Afghanistan - Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi, India - October 15, 2023 Afghanistan's Ikram Alikhil celebrates after Rashid Khan bowls out England's Mark Wood to win the match REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis Acquire Licensing RightsNEW DELHI, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Afghanistan beat defending champions England by 69 runs in a huge World Cup upset on Sunday, only their second ever win in the tournament. Afghanistan came into the match having lost 16 of their last 17 World Cup games, their only victory coming against Scotland in 2015. Put into bat, Afghanistan posted 284 after a blistering knock of 80 from opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz and a half-century from Ikram Alikhil. England crumbled to 215 all out in reply with Harry Brook the only batter to adapt to the conditions with a fighting 66 as spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan took three wickets each. Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Arun Jaitley, Ikram Alikhil, Rashid Khan, Mark Wood, Anushree, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Harry Brook, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Rohith Nair, Ed Osmond Organizations: Cricket, ICC Cricket, REUTERS, England, Scotland, Thomson Locations: England, Afghanistan, New Delhi, India, DELHI, Alikhil, Bengaluru

☆ ICC Cricket World Cup: Afghanistan stuns England in one of the biggest ever sporting upsets
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-15 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The pantheon of great sporting upsets gained another monument on Sunday as Afghanistan roundly defeated England by 69 runs at the ICC Cricket World Cup in Delhi, India. It was an upset of immense proportions – Afghanistan had only ever won one World Cup match in its entire history while England is the defending world champion, still basking in the glow of a golden era that has bestowed mythical status on much of its team. But England sputtered from the very start as some loose bowling allowed Afghanistan to build an impressive platform, putting on more than 100 runs without losing a wicket. Defeating England following the earthquake added another dimension to Afghanistan’s historic victory, one which captain Rashid Khan hoped will give Afghans a “little bit of smile on their faces,” he said, per ESPN Cricinfo. After already losing to New Zealand, this shock defeat leaves England in real danger of crashing out the World Cup in the group stages, giving Saturday’s game against South Africa even more importance.

Persons: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ikram Ali Khil, Harry Brook’s, Afghanistan's, Alikhil, Money Sharma, Ur Rahman, Rashid Khan, ” Organizations: CNN, England, ICC Cricket, Getty, Sky Sports, ESPN, New, South, New Zealand Locations: Afghanistan, Delhi, India, England, Herat, New Zealand, South Africa

☆ Afghanistan recall fast bowler Naveen for World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KABUL, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq has returned to the Afghanistan one-day squad for the upcoming World Cup in India more than two years after playing his last ODI. Omarzai missed the ongoing Asia Cup with a side strain but has recovered to reclaim his place in the 15-member squad announced on Wednesday. Rashid Khan will spearhead a spin attack that also includes Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Noor Ahmad. All-rounder Gulbadin Naib, who led the team when they finished bottom at the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales, is one of three reserve players. Afghanistan will kick off their World Cup campaign on Oct. 7 against Bangladesh in Dharamsala.

Persons: Naveen, Haq, Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naib, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rahmat Shah, Riaz Hassan, Najibullah Zadran, Ikram, Azmatullah Omarzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Ul, Amlan Chakraborty, Peter Rutherford Organizations: Ireland, Bangladesh, Thomson Locations: KABUL, Afghanistan, India, Abu Dhabi, Asia, England, Wales, Dharamsala, New Delhi

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Hurts ran for a pair of 1-yard touchdowns and threw a 63-yard TD pass to DeVonta Smith, D’Andre Swift ran for 175 yards and a score, and the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles held off the turnover-prone Minnesota Vikings 34-28 on Thursday night. “We Own UR SKOL Tonight,” one Eagles fan sign read after the TD. Kirk Cousins hit Jordan Addison for a 62-yard touchdown that made it 27-14 in the fourth and found K.J. Osborn for a 10-yard TD that cut it to 27-21 and put the Eagles (2-0) on edge. Political Cartoons View All 1160 ImagesBut Swift scored on a 2-yard run for a 34-21 lead with 4:13 left and the Vikings didn't have enough time to score twice.

Persons: DeVonta Smith, D’Andre Swift, Smith, Kirk Cousins, Jordan Addison, Osborn, Swift, Justin Jefferson, Cousins, Jefferson Organizations: PHILADELPHIA, NFC, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, Eagles, Vikings, Tampa Locations: Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Philly

☆ A shortage of land mines forced Russian troops to put down irregular minefields, creating new problems for Ukraine: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russia began laying minefields deeper than normal to make them harder for Ukraine to cross. The inconsistent and often improvised approach that followed, however, still created headaches for advancing Ukrainian forces. The result was that Russian minefields became irregular, which isn't necessarily out of the ordinary to begin with given terrain and time considerations. Citing conversations with Ukrainian forces, he also revealed that Russia sometimes built fake trench traps rigged with explosives. AdvertisementAdvertisementAnd the inconsistency and irregularity of the Russian minefields has only further complicated matters.

Persons: Jack Watling, Nick Reynolds, Watling, Reynolds, Michael Kofman Organizations: Service, Royal United Service Institute, Russian, 35th Marine Brigade, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Ukraine Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Russian, Donetsk

Islamabad, Pakistan CNN —Battling anxiety and nausea, they huddled together in the ruptured cable car, gripped by fear as they dangled precariously hundreds of feet in the air. A soldier slings down from a helicopter during a rescue mission to recover students stuck in a cable car in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan on August 22. As they waited to be rescued, two of the students in the cable car were slipping in and out of consciousness, one of the passengers told Pakistani outlet Geo News. Battagram district, where the cable car is located, is deeply impoverished and lacks infrastructure and development. Last December, 12 children were rescued from another cable car in eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Persons: Tanveer Ur Rehman, “, Anwaar ul Haq Kakar Organizations: Pakistan CNN, AFP, Geo, Battagram, Twitter, Cable Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Batangi, Battagram, Battagram district

☆ Fact Check-In wake of Maui fires, here’s why some trees survive damage
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Some posts on social media in the wake of the fires on the Hawaiian island of Maui, however, suggested that the fact some trees had remained standing showed proof that the fires were somehow engineered or steered to intentionally burn homes and vehicles, leaving trees unscathed. Reuters photographs and satellite imagery of the Lahaina Banyan Court area produced by Maxar Technologies shows buildings, vehicles and trees damaged following the fires (shorturl.at/bpsTX), (here). Other trees were more heavily damaged, but remained standing, Reuters pictures show (here), (here). Regardless, the fact that some trees could remain standing or were less damaged than cars or buildings during a fire is not abnormal. Trees sometimes survive severe damage during fires due to factors including their water content and the ways a fire spreads.

Persons: Albert Simeoni, ”, Erica Fischer, Fischer, Christopher Baird, ” Baird, Katie Kamelamela, James Urban, Niamh Nic Daeid, Nic Daeid, Read Organizations: Reuters, Facebook, Maxar Technologies, Fire Protection Engineering Department, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Department of Wood Science, Engineering, Oregon State University, “, JB, University of Hawaii, West Texas, M University, Conservatory, Akaka Foundation, Tropical Forests, HOW, Fire Protection, Leverhulme Research, Forensic Science, University of Dundee Locations: Maui, Instagram, Lahaina Banyan, Oregon, Colorado, Manoa, Hawaii

Islamabad, Pakistan CNN —An urgent rescue effort is underway in Pakistan for eight children and two adults trapped in a chairlift dangling 1,200 feet over a mountainous region in the country’s northwest. Tanveer Ur Rehman, a local Battagram district official, said rescue efforts were being conducted from the ground due to the height of the chairlift system. “The chairlift is hanging 1,200 feet (365 meters) above ground,” he said. The chairlift connects two communities in the region and runs on two cables, one of which snapped, Faizi said. Many children who live in remote and mountainous parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province rely on cable cars to ferry them to school and back.

Persons: Bilal Ahmad Faizi, Tanveer Ur Rehman, ”, Faizi, Anwar, Haq Kakar Organizations: Pakistan CNN, CNN Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

☆ Grimes says her 3-year-old son with Elon Musk no longer plays with toy rockets because he gets upset if they're not 'anatomically correct'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Grimes told Wired that her son with Elon Musk is a "little engineer" who is obsessed with space. X Æ A-Xii, who is three, gets upset when his toy rockets are not "anatomically correct," she said. Grimes said she's stopped giving toy rockets to her 3-year-old son X Æ A-Xii, who she shares with SpaceX founder Elon Musk, because he gets upset if they're not "anatomically correct." Grimes previously tweeted that their son gets frustrated when playing with toy rockets. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images"She's a little engineer too," Grimes told Wired about her daughter.

Persons: Grimes, Elon Musk, she's, they're, Wired's Steven Levy, he's, Claire Boucher, X, —, Musks, Robyn Beck, Musk, Insider's Julia Black, Shivon Zilis Organizations: Wired, SpaceX, Getty, Neuralink Locations: Hawthorne , California

☆ Scientists are racing to explore more of the ocean hoping to discover medical breakthroughs and address the climate crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Two of the Basecamp Research team taking samples in Azores, Portugal. A Heritage Malta diver taking samples. The protocol omitted the high seas, which refers to parts of the seas that are not under territorial control of any specific country. This is particularly important as policy evolves with the ratification of the High Seas Treaty. Joseph MarlowThe treaty also puts into action an agreement to protect 30% of the high seas by 2030.

Persons: Basecamp, Emma Bolt, Rob Finn, Finn, Saif Ur, Rehman, Basecamp Research's Bolton, Joseph Marlow, Bolton Organizations: Service, Basecamp Research, Basecamp, Heritage, Heritage Malta, Heritage Malta Technology Locations: Azores, Portugal, Heritage Malta, Antarctica, silico, Nagoya

☆ The ‘Barbie’ Movie Explains Why We Still Care About Barbie - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Andi Zeisler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

She was more distant in my adulthood, as Barbie had become a subject of feminist concern. I followed many authors, artists, musicians and assorted culture jammers who were publicly working out their own Barbie issues in fascinating ways. However we feel about Barbie at a given moment says a lot more about us than it does about Barbie. Mattel’s litigious responses to things like the 1998 intersectional feminist body-image essay collection “Adios, Barbie” and Aqua’s gratingly ubiquitous earworm “Barbie Girl” didn’t help its P.R. It’s a fitting approach, since the most interesting thing about Barbie has always been our reactions to her.

Persons: Barbie, jammers, she’s, Rather, Ophelia, Anita Hill, Barbie —, Mattel’s, Barbie ”, “, Greta Gerwig Organizations: Committee, Latina, Miss America, Playboy, Mattel, American Association of University Women Locations: Hollywood

☆ The Dark Incentives That Led to a Refugee Tragedy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Amanda Taub | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Hundreds of people may have died last week in the Mediterranean, after a boat overloaded with migrants, including many children, capsized and sank. It was one of the deadliest migrant disasters in years. And, indeed, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said Greece’s border enforcement was Europe’s “shield,” because its harsh tactics prevent migrants from reaching E.U. “This border is not only a Greek border, it is also a European border,” she said after Greece used tear gas to repel hundreds of people who were trying to cross over from Turkey. The European Union has gone to even greater extremes to deter migrants.

Persons: Christina Goldbaum, Zia Ur, Rehman, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Ursula von der Leyen, Frontex Organizations: European Union, Times, European Commission, European, Human Rights Watch Locations: Bandli, Pakistan, Kashmir, Italy, Greece, E.U, European, ”, Turkey, European Union, Libyan, Libya

☆ An airline worker texted a passenger as she waited to board her flight after looking up her number in the company system, then told her to 'block me' if she didn't like it
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An airline worker tracked down a female passenger's number and sent her unsolicited messages. Hannah Smethurst told the Guardian he found her number after he saw her passport details. "I was alone, so I just felt really vulnerable," Smethurst said. Despite this, about 10 minutes later the worker sent another message saying "FYI Ur flight is boarding." "I just felt vulnerable and scared.

Persons: Hannah Smethurst, Smethurst, — Organizations: Guardian, Morning, Etihad Airways, British, Etihad, Twitter Locations: Abu Dhabi, Manchester, abudhabi, Preston, England

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