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☆ Plan for One-Month Gaza Truce Makes Progress as Israel Hits Khan Younis
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

Meanwhile, in its biggest operation in a month, the Israeli military pressed ahead with encircling Khan Younis where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering. Israeli forces killed more than 100 militants in western Khan Younis in 24 hours, military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday evening. In southern Gaza, Israel has blockaded hospitals, which Palestinian officials say makes it impossible to rescue the wounded. At the European Hospital, reached by Reuters in southern Khan Younis, Ahed Masmah brought in five corpses, piled on a mattress on his donkey cart. At Khan Younis' main Nasser hospital, the biggest still functioning in the Gaza Strip, bodies were being buried on the grounds because it was unsafe to go to the cemetery.

Persons: Andrew Mills, Arafat Barbakh, Emily Rose DOHA, Khan Younis, Daniel Hagari, Benjamin Netanyahu, Eylon Levy, Antonio Guterres, Israel's, John Kirby, Brett McGurk, Kirby, Ahed Masmah, Nasser, Martin Griffiths, U.N, Younis, Nidal al, Mohamed Ahmed Hassan, Dan Williams, Ari Rabinovitch, Maayan Lubell, Kate Holton, Jonathan Landay, Simon Lewis, Jeff Mason, Cynthia Osterman, Stephen Coates Organizations: Hamas, Palestinian, U.S . State Department, White, Service, Reuters, Palestinian Hamas, United Nations, Security, Middle East, European Hospital Locations: GAZA, JERUSALEM, Israel, Gaza, Gaza's, Khan, Qatar, U.S, Egypt, Rafah, Palestinian, Cairo, Mughrabi, Doha, Bassam, Jerusalem, Washington

☆ Australia Imposes Sanctions on Russian Hacker Over Medibank Breach
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Renju JoseSYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia on Tuesday imposed cyber sanctions on a Russian man for his role in the breach at insurer Medibank, one of the country's biggest data thefts which impacted about 10 million customers. Targeted financial sanctions and a travel ban have been imposed on Russian citizen Aleksandr Ermakov after Australian authorities linked him to the breach at Medibank, Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said during a press briefing. This is the first time Australia has used its cyber sanctions framework since legislating it in 2021. Medibank in 2022 disclosed that a hacker stole the personal information of 9.7 million current and former customers, and released the data on the dark web. Hackers in November hit DP World Australia, one of the country's largest ports operators, forcing it to suspend operations for three days.

Persons: Renju Jose SYDNEY, Aleksandr Ermakov, Clare O'Neil, they're scumbags, we'll, O'Neil, Renju Jose, Jonathan Oatis, Stephen Coates Organizations: Medibank, cybercrime, Home Affairs Locations: Australia, Victoria, Sydney

☆ Harris pins the blame on Trump for Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Kevin Liptak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Previewing a central reelection argument in a rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden, Harris said the likely Republican nominee relishes his role in new, restrictive abortion laws that have emerged in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling. Still, Biden and Harris have acknowledged that fully restoring the protections included in Roe will be impossible without congressional action. “President Joe Biden has been very clear, when Congress puts the protections of Roe back into the law, he will sign it,” Harris told Coates in Wisconsin. “Similarly, President Joe Biden has been very clear if these extremists achieve their other goal, which is to have a national ban, which means state by state by state. Joe Biden will veto that.”“The stakes are high,” she said.

Persons: Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Roe, Wade, “, ” Harris, CNN’s Laura Coates, Joe Biden, Harris, relishes, ”, Wade –, Biden, Austin Dennard, ABC’s, Coates Organizations: Wisconsin CNN —, Trump, Republican, Court, Freedoms, New, Texas OB, White Locations: Waukesha, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Texas

☆ Australia's Northeast Braces for Second Cyclone in a Month
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Renju JoseSYDNEY (Reuters) - A tropical low in the Coral Sea will likely develop into a cyclone and hit Australia's northeast later this week, the weather bureau said on Tuesday, a month after tropical Cyclone Jasper caused widespread damage across the region. "It is intensifying and will likely reach cyclone strength overnight tonight or during Wednesday ... a coastal crossing is most likely overnight on Thursday," Laura Boekel, forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology, said during a press briefing. Heavy rain will drench regions that are already wet, significantly raising the risk of flash flooding, Boekel said. "This could be a very widespread as well as a very long-duration event," Boekel said. Cyclone Jasper in December left a trail of destruction in Queensland's northern regions, forcing some residents to flee their homes and cutting off towns.

Persons: Renju Jose SYDNEY, Laura Boekel, Boekel, Renju Jose, Stephen Coates Organizations: Meteorology, Cyclone Locations: Cyclone Jasper, Queensland, Queensland's, Sydney

☆ Haiti's Police Force Shrinks Amid Gang Crisis -Union
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

Police need significantly higher incentives to justify the dangers, the report said, amid a shrinking force and lack of equipment, training and infrastructure. Lazarre said the situation was difficult but police had made progress, recovering control of six neighborhoods and coming close to recovering another. Last November, the United Nations estimated some 3,960 had been killed through the year and 2,951 kidnapped. Haiti's government called for international reinforcements in October 2022 and the United Nations ratified sending a force composed of voluntary contributions late last year. Haiti's armed forces were disbanded in 1995 and reinstated in 2017, but the national police remains the main security force.

Persons: Lionel Lazarre, Lazarre, It's, Ariel Henry's, Harold Isaac, Sarah Morland, Stephen Coates Organizations: PORT, Reuters, Police, United Nations Locations: Kenya, Caribbean, Port, Mexico City

☆ Taiwan Says It Spots Six More Chinese Balloons, One Crossed Island
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's defence ministry said it had detected six more Chinese balloons flying over the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, one of which crossed the island, the latest in a spate of such balloons the ministry says it has seen over the past month-and-a-half. China's defence ministry, which last month declined to comment on the balloons, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, only one crossed Taiwan island, at its southern tip, according to a map the ministry provided. The other five balloons flew to the north of Taiwan but did not fly over land, the ministry said. The Taiwan Strait's median line previously served as an unofficial barrier between Taiwan and China, but Chinese fighter jets, drones and now balloons regularly fly over it.

Persons: Taiwan's Jan, Ben Blanchard, Stephen Coates Locations: TAIPEI, Taiwan Strait, China, Taiwan, Taipei, United States

☆ Obama shared his vision of America at his first inauguration. Some still believe
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

It went across all visual types.”Elizabeth Alexander recites a poem during President Obama's swearing-in ceremonies at the US Capitol on January 20, 2009. She had grown up in DC, and that inauguration day was a homecoming for her. “I’m sure that some people expected too much,” says Wear, the former Obama campaign worker, of Obama’s vision. The fact of the matter is, that (inauguration) day happened, and millions of people were there. We will have a better idea on another inauguration day — in January of 2025.

Persons: Elizabeth Alexander, Barack Hussein Obama, Alexander, ” Alexander, Muhammad Ali, Aretha Franklin, Elie Wiesel, John Lewis, Colin Powell, ”, “, …, Obama's, Ron Edmonds, Obama, Obama’s, Martin Luther King Jr, Donald Trump’s, —, Trump's, Joe Biden, Jon Cherry, Ed Wolf, Wolf, Barack Hussein Obama —, Barack Obama, Alex Wong, ‘ Hussein, “ Wolf, Clifford L, Alexander Jr, George W, Bush, Laura, Michelle, Tannen Maury, Ronald Reagan, Trump, ” Vivek Ramaswamy, Donald Trump, Alexi J . Rosenfeld, Thomas Sowell, speck, it’s, Shepard, Robert Daemmrich, ” Obama, Michael Wear, John McCain, McCain, ” McCain, we’ve, Mandel Ngan, ” Trump, Nehisi Coates, Coates, Hope ’, ” Coates, ’, didn’t, ” Wolf, Emmanuel Dunand, “ We’re, hasn’t, Obama — we’re, Rebecca Solnit, John Blake Organizations: CNN, Yale University, Capitol, AP, Confederate, Trump, Rochester Institute of Technology, Metro, Washington, Army, Getty, United, White, Whites, GOP, Republican, Obama, Democratic, Mellon Foundation Locations: Washington ,, America, Russia, Japan, Kenya, American, New York, United States, AFP, Kansas, New York City, Balkans, Minnesota, Arizona, Washington, San Francisco, Michigan, Norfolk , Virginia, Hope

☆ Black and Jewish Activists Have Allied for Decades. What Now?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Daniel Bergner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

The cover of that edition of S.N.C.C.’s newsletter called attention to police killings of Black men, with the headline: “Cops Run Wild. Where Will They Strike Next?” Black and Palestinian resistance to repression were bound together. The theology claims that an immense fraud has been perpetrated by Jews upon Black people. Yet in recent years, a new bond between Black and Jewish activists has emerged, catalyzed, in part, by the confluence of civil rights protests and attention to the Palestinian plight. The alliance is “growing and exciting,” Nyle Fort, a Black activist and assistant professor of African American and African diaspora studies at Columbia, told me.

Persons: Huey P, Newton, Louis Farrakhan, Satan ”, ”, Ye, “ I’m, Kyrie Irving, Jacob, Henry Ford, Mumia Abu, Jamal, Rather, Fort, Fort’s, “, ” Fort, Nehisi Coates, Coates, Abraham, zealots, Jim Crow, Morgan Bassichis Organizations: Black Panther Party, Black Power, Washington, ”, America, Columbia, West Bank, Dream, Israel, Fort, Jewish, Peace, Union Theological Seminary, Jewish Voice Locations: Black, Jersey City, Ferguson, United States, Palestinian, Israel, Washington, Manhattan, Aqsa, Jerusalem, Hebron

☆ Shopify reveals new custom workplace software as it pushes for efficiency, a top priority since its mass layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-11 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Shopify has been doubling down on software to make it easier for its engineers to build software. CEO Tobi Lütke said during the investor day presentation that the goal was to bring "product thinking to everything in the business." Shopify executives showed several screenshots of GSD during the investor day presentation. "We build software. We spend a lot of our time building software to build software."

Persons: Shopify, Tobi Lütke, Lütke, Kaz Nejatian, Glen Coates, Nejatian, Tesla Organizations: Business

☆ Denise Coates: Bet365 gambling executive’s $281 million salary deemed not ‘sensible and proportionate’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-10 | by ( George Ramsay | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The founder and boss of gambling company Bet365 earned a salary of around $281 million (£221 million) in the last financial year – ending March 26, 2023. Denise Coates, the joint-chief executive and majority shareholder of Bet365, also earned at least 50% of the company’s $127 million (£100 million) in dividends on top of her $281 million salary, company accounts published on Sunday show. Her base salary is an increase of about $10 million compared to last year, even as Bet365 made pre-tax losses of around $77 million (£60.2 million). The Coates family was also estimated by the Sunday Times to be the UK’s second-highest tax payer in 2023, contributing around $585 million (£460 million). Last year, the club incurred pre-tax losses of $15.8 million (£12.4 million).

Persons: Bet365, Denise Coates, Coates, BBC –, Luke Hildyard, “, Nathan Stirk Organizations: CNN, BBC, Pay, Trent, Denise Coates Foundation, Sunday Times, Forbes, Bet365, Stoke City Football Club, Commission Locations: Bet365, English, Stoke, Trent

☆ US Coast Guard Responds to Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Dec. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

(Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday it was responding to an oil discharge near the Main Pass Oil Gathering (MPOG) Co's pipeline system in the Gulf of Mexico, while the main pipeline and several surrounding ones remained shut in. "The reported sheen is being investigated and has not been confirmed to be associated with the November 16 observed initial discharge," the Coast Guard said. The Coast Guard had not yet identified any damage or indication of a leak after surveying the entire length of the pipeline along with 22.16 miles (36 km) of surrounding pipelines. About 3% of the Gulf of Mexico's daily oil production remained shut in after a million-gallon oil spill, the Coast Guard said last week. The main pipeline and several surrounding lines remain shut in and have not been put back into service, the Coast Guard said while leading efforts to mitigate impacts from the spill.

Persons: MPOG, Harshit Verma, Sandra Maler, Stephen Coates Organizations: Reuters, U.S . Coast Guard, Coast Guard Locations: Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi, Plaquemines Parish, New Orleans, Bengaluru

☆ Israel considers flooding Gaza tunnels with seawater- WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It was not clear whether Israel would consider using the pumps before all hostages were released, according to the story. Hamas has previously said it has hidden captives in "safe places and tunnels." The Wall Street Journal said an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) official declined to comment on the flooding plan but was quoted as saying: "The IDF is operating to dismantle Hamas’s terror capabilities in various ways, using different military and technological tools." Israel first informed the United States of the option last month, the Wall Street Journal said, reporting that officials did not know how close Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government was to carrying out the plan. Israel has not made a final decision to go ahead or rule it out, the officials were cited as saying.

Persons: Ronen, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Costas Pitas, Steve Holland, Emily Rose, Don Durfee, Stephen Coates Organizations: Palestinian, Hamas, REUTERS, Wall Street, U.S, Reuters, Street Journal, Israel Defense Forces, IDF, Wall Street Journal, Thomson Locations: Al, Gaza City, Gaza, Israel, United States

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst//File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLITTLETON, Colorado, Dec 5 (Reuters) - U.S. electricity generation from wind power is on course to surpass coal-fired electricity generation, potentially by 2026, as wind supply growth expands at a record pace just as coal-fired generation is cut across the country. U.S. wind power generation on track to surpass coal-fired generationBut with wind power generation rapidly rising in most regions while utilities steadily cut coal capacity, wind output is on track to eventually overtake coal output within the U.S. electricity generation mix, which will mark a significant milestone in U.S. energy transition efforts. In 2015 - before U.S. power producers accelerated renewable power development - coal-fired electricity generation was nearly 700% greater than electricity output from U.S. wind farms. PEAKS AND TROUGHSU.S. wind generation already briefly surpassed total coal-fired power output in April this year, when wind electricity generation totalled 42.85 terawatt hours compared to the 39.8 TWh generated by coal plants, according to Ember. That means that within the current decade U.S. wind power will be able to surpass coal-fired power in the electricity generation mix, and help accomplish a major U.S. energy transition target.

Persons: Jonathan Ernst, Gavin Maguire, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, Institute for Energy Economics, U.S, P Global, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Iowa, Latimer , Iowa, U.S, LITTLETON , Colorado, United States

Israel largely captured the northern half of Gaza in November, and since a week-long truce collapsed on Friday they have swiftly pushed deep into the southern half. The Israeli military said the central road out of Khan Younis to the north "constitutes a battlefield" and was now shut. Desperate Gazans in Khan Younis packed their belongings and headed towards Rafah. U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Washington expected Israel to avoid attacking areas identified as "no-strike" zones in Gaza. Israel accuses Hamas of putting civilians in danger by operating from civilian areas, including in tunnels which can only be destroyed by large bombs.

Persons: Amir Cohen, Stephane Dujarric, Khan Younis, Antonio Guterres, Philippe Lazzarini, Lazzarini, Israel, Gazans, Jake Sullivan, Mohammed Salem, Maayan Lubell, Ari Rabinovich, Emily Rose, Maggie Fick, Andrew Mills, Humeyra Pamuk, Stephen Coates, Rosalba O'Brien, Lincoln Organizations: Hamas, REUTERS, United Nations, Islamic, State Department, U.S . National, Street, U.S, Thomson Locations: Israeli, Israel, Palestinian, Israel's, Gaza, Khan, Khan Younis GAZA, United States, Gaza's, Rafah, Washington, U.S, Jerusalem, Beirut, Doha

Barra said at a media event an ongoing outside external safety review will guide the company's path forward and is expected to be completed in early 2024. "We'll work through the challenges we have right now at Cruise," Barra said. She declined to offer an opinion on whether she thought regulators have treated Cruise more harshly than Tesla Autopilot. She also declined to say how much money GM is willing to spend on Cruise going forward until it completes its assessments and has a plan to move ahead. Reporting by Joseph White and David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Mary Barra, Barra, Cruise, Joseph White, David Shepardson, Leslie Adler, Stephen Coates Organizations: General Motors, DETROIT, Detroit, California Public Utilities Commission, Thomson Locations: Cruise, United States, California

☆ Palestinian student shot in Vermont paralyzed from the chest down from lodged bullet, mother says
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Emma Tucker | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —Hisham Awartani, one of the three Palestinian college students who were shot while walking in Vermont over Thanksgiving weekend, is paralyzed from the chest down after a bullet became lodged in his spine, his mother said. Elizabeth Price told CNN on Tuesday her son had an “incomplete spinal injury,” meaning he can feel his legs but can’t move them. Awartani, Abdalhamid and Ahmad have been friends since grade school, Price told CNN on Monday from Ramallah. Abdalhamid told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Friday he was shot in the back while running away moments after the other two students were shot. “This absolutely was a hateful act,” Murad told CNN Monday.

Persons: CNN — Hisham Awartani, Elizabeth Price, “, Hisham, I’ve, ”, ” Awartani, Tahseen Ali Ahmad, Jon Murad, ” “ Kinnan, Kinnan Abdalhamid, Hisham Awartani, Jason J, Eaton, “ It’s, it’s, ” Price, “ …, Awartani’s, Rich Price, Awartani, Ahmad, Price, Rania, Abdalhamid, CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Al Fayoume, Murad, Erin Burnett, ” Murad, Margaret Jansch, Artemis Moshtaghian, Elizabeth Wolfe, Melissa Alonso, Ray Sanchez, Kaitlan Collins, Laura Coates, Rob Frehse, Polo Sandoval, Celina Tebor, Khalil Abdallah Organizations: CNN, Brown University, West Bank, Haverford College, Trinity College –, Burlington Police, Institute for Middle East, Authorities, Ramallah Friends School, Hamas, Palestinian Studies Locations: Vermont, Burlington, Ramallah, United States, Gaza, “, Plainfield Township , Illinois, Will, Eaton, Israel

☆ China Evergrande creditors seek controlling stakes in new proposal
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

An Evergrande sign is seen near residential buildings at an Evergrande residential complex in Beijing, China September 27, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsDec 1 (Reuters) - A group of offshore creditors to China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) is asking for a controlling equity stake of the developer and two of its Hong Kong subsidiaries as part of company's revised debt restructuring proposal, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday. The group, which works as an ad hoc group of Evergrande's offshore creditors, made the request after the developer earlier this week made a new offer to repay their offshore debts, the source said. Evergrande has until a Hong Kong court hearing on Monday to present a "concrete" revised debt restructuring proposal for offshore creditors, a judge said last month after its original plan had lapsed. Reporting by Xie Yu in Hong Kong, Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Florence, Evergrande, Xie Yu, Gnaneshwar, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, China Evergrande, Hong Kong, Bloomberg News, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, HK, Hong, Hong Kong, Gnaneshwar Rajan, Bengaluru

What the group did agree was total production curbs of 2.2 million bpd from eight members, a figure that includes an extension of the existing voluntary Saudi and Russian cuts of 1.3 million bpd. This is up 1.86 million bpd from the figure of 40.10 million bpd for 2022, according to Kpler. China's crude imports were 11.36 million bpd in the first 10 months of the year, up 1.21 million bpd from the level for 2022 as a whole. India saw arrivals of 4.62 million bpd in the first 10 months of the year, according to LSEG data, up 462,000 bpd on the 4.14 million bpd for 2022. Asia's crude imports in the first 10 months of the year were 26.93 million bpd, according to LSEG data, up 1.34 million bpd on the 25.59 million bpd recorded for the whole of 2022.

Persons: It's, Stephen Coates Organizations: Organization of, Petroleum, Brent, OPEC, International Energy Agency, world's, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LAUNCESTON, Australia, OPEC, Russia, Saudi, United States, Brazil, Guyana, Asia, China, India

☆ Oil prices set for sixth straight weekly fall as OPEC+ cuts underwhelm
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Tatiana Meel/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsDec 1 (Reuters) - Oil prices extended losses on Friday, and looked set for a sixth straight week of declines, as voluntary oil output cuts agreed by OPEC+ producers fell short of market expectations. Saudi Arabia, Russia and other members of OPEC+ agreed to voluntary output reduction of 900,000 bpd in addition to extending 1.3 million bpd in production cuts already in place. Delegates had earlier discussed as much as 2 million bpd in new output curbs. Goldman Sachs said its December forecast for Brent was "moderately tilted" to the downside of its previously estimated range, calling the oil producers' move a "temporary response," and "difficult to implement." Separately, Brazil said on Thursday it would join the OPEC+ next year, though such a move wouldn't bind the south America's largest country to production cuts.

Persons: Tatiana Meel, Brent, Goldman Sachs, Goldman, Laura Sanicola, Stephen Coates, Kim Coghill Organizations: REUTERS, OPEC, Brent, . West Texas, Thomson Locations: Nakhodka, Russia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Brazil, OPEC

Vietnam has already rail connections to China, but the system is old with limited capacity on the Vietnam side. The upgraded railway would pass through the region where Vietnam has its largest deposits of rare earths, of which China is by far the world's biggest refiner. Chinese and Vietnamese rare earths industry experts discussed last week stronger cooperation on processing the minerals, according to Vietnamese state media. It is unclear how much China would contribute to the upgraded railway track in Vietnam and whether Hanoi would accept sizeable financing from Beijing on this. A strengthened railway link could also boost Vietnam's export to China, mostly of agriculture products, boost Chinese tourism to northern Vietnam and further integrate the two countries' manufacturing industries, which experts already consider as symbiotic, with factories in Vietnam largely assembling components produced in China.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Vietnam's, Wang Yi, Tran, Pham Minh Chinh, Wang Wentao, Francesco Guarascio, Khanh Vu, Phuong Nguyen, Stephen Coates Organizations: Vietnam's, China's Commerce, Initiative, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Hanoi, China, Haiphong China, Vietnam, HANOI, United States, Tran Luu Quang, Kunming, Haiphong, Beijing, China . China, Hong Kong, Washington, South

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy calls for fortifications in key frontline areas
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Zelenskiy issued his appeal after touring Ukrainian positions in the northeast, one of several areas where Russian forces have been trying to make recent headway - and recapture areas taken back by Ukrainian troops a year ago. Russian occupying forces have built solid fortifications and minefields of their own in areas they have held since pouring over the border in February 2022. Military spokesperson Oleksandr Shtupun said Ukrainian forces had rebuffed Russian attacks on the coking plant. RUSSIAN DRIVE AROUND BAKHMUTRussian forces have also been pressing near contested villages surrounding the equally shattered town of Bakhmut, captured by Russian forces in May after months of fighting. Initial investigation showed Russian forces had dropped two bombs, in the second assault on the town throughout the day.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Rustem Umerov, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Zelenskiy, Lyman, Oleksandr Shtupun, Shtupun, Espreso, Avdiivka, Serhiy Hrabskyi, Hrabskyi, Ron Popeski, Oleksandr Kozhukhar, Alistair Bell, Stephen Coates Organizations: Defence, Ground Forces, Presidential Press, Military, Reuters, Russian, Russia's Defence Ministry, Wednesday, Radio, Thomson Locations: Kupiansk, Ukraine, Kharkiv region, Ukrainian, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Russia, Luhansk, Avdiivka, Russian, RUSSIAN, Bakhmut, Toretsk, Kostyantynivka

☆ Taiwan president: China too 'overwhelmed' to consider invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsTAIPEI, Nov 30 (Reuters) - China's leadership is too "overwhelmed" with its internal problems to consider an invasion of Taiwan, President Tsai Ing-wen said in an interview with the New York Times. But Tsai, in a transcript of the interview her office published on Thursday, said China had too many issues at the moment. And my thought is that perhaps this is not a time for them to consider a major invasion of Taiwan," she said. Tsai and her government have repeatedly called for talks with China but been rebuffed, as Beijing views Tsai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as separatists. The DPP's Lai Ching-te, currently vice president, is the frontrunner to be Taiwan's next president according to opinion polls.

Persons: Tsai Ing, Ann Wang, Tsai, Lai Ching, Lai, Hsiao Bi, Chen Binhua, Chiu Tai, Chiu, Ben Blanchard, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, New York Times, Democratic Progressive Party, Taiwan Affairs Office, Mainland Affairs Council, Thomson Locations: Taichung, Taiwan, Rights TAIPEI, China, Beijing, United States, Taipei, Lincoln

☆ Biden praised Kissinger in life, offers measured reaction on his death
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Heather Timmons | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks In the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House complex in Washington, U.S., November 27, 2023. Fifteen years later, Biden's White House took a more distant approach, waiting about 24 hours to issue a statement after Kissinger died at age 100 on Wednesday. Biden said he first met Kissinger when he was a young Democratic senator from Delaware and he was secretary of state. Biden said after Kissinger retired from government "he continued to offer his views and ideas to the most important policy discussion across multiple generations." “It’s a huge loss,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday, noting Kissinger’s military service during World War Two and years of public service afterward.

Persons: Joe Biden, Eisenhower, Evelyn Hockstein, Henry Kissinger, Biden, Kissinger, Biden's, " Biden, Jill, Nancy, Elizabeth, David, “, John Kirby, Kirby, Heather Timmons, Steve Holland, Caitlin Webber, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Democratic, Paris Peace, White, Biden, ” National Security, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Iraq, Delaware, China, U.S, Israel, Paris, North Vietnam, America

☆ IMF says Sri Lanka debt deal could help board clear first bailout review
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. The deal comes about a month after Sri Lanka's agreement with the Export-Import Bank of China covering about $4.2 billion of outstanding debt, while clearing the IMF review could trigger a second tranche of about $334 million in funds. "These understandings pave the way for the IMF Executive Board to consider completion of the first review of Sri Lanka's four-year Extended Fund Facility Arrangement," Peter Breuer, IMF's mission chief for Sri Lanka, said in a statement. "We look forward to the Executive Board taking up this review by mid-December and the continuation of our productive collaboration with Sri Lanka in the period ahead." Sri Lanka plunged into its worst financial crisis in seven decades last year after its foreign exchange reserves dwindled to record lows.

Persons: Yuri Gripas, Lanka's, Peter Breuer, IMF's, Nandalal Weerasinghe, Uditha Jayasinghe, Sudipto Ganguly, Clarence Fernandez, Steohen Coates Organizations: Monetary Fund, REUTERS, Rights, International Monetary Fund, Sri, Export, Import Bank of, IMF, Asian Development Bank, World Bank, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Import Bank of China, Sri Lanka's, Sri Lanka

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 29 (Reuters) - Microsoft will take a non-voting, observer position on OpenAI's board, CEO Sam Altman said in his first official missive after taking back the reins of the company on Wednesday. The observer position means Microsoft's representative can attend OpenAI's board meetings and access confidential information, but it does not have voting rights on matters including electing or choosing directors. The new OpenAI board is on an active search for six new members with expertise in fields from technology to safety and policy. OpenAI's chief scientist Ilya Sutskever will no longer be part of the board, Altman said. Apart from Altman, Brockman, Sutskever, D'Angelo, OpenAI's previous board consisted of entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner, director of strategy at Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Sam Altman, Satya Nadella, Altman, OpenAI, Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, Adam D'Angelo, Mira Murati, Greg Brockman, Greg, Ilya Sutskever, Sutskever, Ilya, Brockman, D'Angelo, OpenAI's, Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner, Akanksha, Krystal Hu, Sayantani Ghosh, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, Microsoft, U.S . Treasury, Reuters, Georgetown's Center for Security, Emerging Technology, Thomson Locations: OpenAI, Bengaluru, New York, San Francisco

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