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☆ A look back at Elon Musk's love of juvenile humor as the Tesla CEO turns 52: from jokes about 420 and 69 to 'Titter'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Musk later apologized for the tweet. At the time of the incident, billionaire investor Ron Baron told Musk to stop tweeting. A year later, Musk had to pay $20 million for a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission after he tweeted that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private. While Musk's plans to take Tesla private weren't a joke, it's an example of how the billionaire's presence on Twitter has impacted his companies. Sources: Insider, Insider, Insider

Persons: It's, Elon Musk, Adrees Latif, Musk, Ron Baron, Baron Organizations: SpaceX, Reuters, Twitter, Tesla, Securities and Exchange Commission Locations: Brownsville , Texas, British

☆ This investment manager is looking to bridge the racial wealth gap
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Jim Casselberry, Known Source: KnownBlack people in America won their personal freedom 158 years ago. Veteran portfolio manager Jim Casselberry is trying to do something about that, using his four decades of investing experience to help bridge the gap for people of color and the Indigenous population. Adrees Latif | ReutersBy now the numbers are painfully familiar: Black people constitute 13% of the population but hold just 4% of the wealth. The racial gap between whites and Black people is 6 to 1 — better than the 23 to 1 in 1870 after emancipation, but still a massive divide. Bridging that chasm is part of the mission for Known, an organization that Casselberry co-founded in 2021 with a team of Black, Indigenous, Hispanic and Asian-American co-founders.

Persons: Jim Casselberry, Casselberry, Juneteenth, General Gordon Granger, Prescylia Mae, Adrees Latif, Brown Organizations: Houston, Reuters, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Locations: America, U.S, Texas, Reedy, Galveston , Texas, Minneapolis

☆ ‘A Terrible Tragedy’: Uganda Reels From Deadly Terrorist Attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The militants reached the private boarding school compound just before midnight, as students were going to bed, on a partly cloudy night in a small town in the lush western fields of Uganda. First, they shot the school’s guard in the head before they went to the students’ dormitories. Petrified, the girls unlocked their dormitory’s doors and tried to flee, only for the assailants to catch up with them and hack them to death with machetes. The assailants, members of an Islamist militant group, also burned the school’s library, plundered a food store and kidnapped six students, whom they used to carry the looted goods, military officials said. As they fled the town into the dense forests of Congo, they killed three other people, including a woman in her 60s — bringing the death total to 41.

Persons: Janet Museveni Organizations: Democratic Locations: Uganda, Mpondwe, Uganda’s, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo

☆ Uganda School Attack Leaves at Least 37 Dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At least 37 people were killed and eight others wounded when militants with an extremist group attacked a secondary school in western Uganda, the authorities said on Saturday, in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks to hit the East African nation in years. The armed outfit, known as the Allied Democratic Forces, attacked a school in Mpondwe, a town close to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, on Friday night, a police spokesman, Fred Enanga, said on Twitter. During the attack, a dormitory was burned and food in a store was looted, he said. At least eight people were in critical condition and had been hospitalized, Mr. Enanga added. Three people were rescued from the scene of the attack, but six others were abducted, a military spokesman, Brig.

Persons: Fred Enanga, Enanga, Felix Kulayigye Organizations: Allied Democratic Forces, Democratic, Twitter Locations: Uganda, Mpondwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo

☆ Opinion: Apple Vision Pro augmented reality could change the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Opinion Rizwan Virk | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —It’s not surprising that Apple’s debut Monday of its $3,499 Vision Pro headset integrating virtual and augmented reality was greeted with mixed reactions, including skepticism, criticism and even lampooning. Each previous incarnation of a headset that immerses the wearer in a virtual world (called virtual reality, or VR) or lets wearers see their surroundings with virtual objects overlaid on them (augmented reality, or AR) started with overhyped expectations only to flame out. I am also doing my doctoral research on the history of virtual and augmented reality (known together as “extended reality”). These apps will be available to Vision Pro users as well. It’ll do anything your Mac or iPhone can do — and more.”And that’s why I believe that over time Apple’s Vision Pro will actually make science fiction scenarios of ubiquitous computing a reality.

Persons: Rizwan Virk, CNN — It’s, Rizwan, Tom Cruise’s, ’, Mark Zuckerberg’s, Tiago Amorim, Adrees Latif, I’m, Cathy Hackl, Samantha Kelly, I’d, Bob Iger, Tim Cook, CNN’s Kelly, Ivan Sutherland, Apple, ”, Cook, “, you’ll, Tom Cruise Organizations: Labs, MIT, Physics, Eastern, Arizona State University’s College of Global Futures, Twitter, CNN, Meta, Google, Microsoft, HTC, Samsung, Sony, Reuters, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Apple, VR, Vision, Disney, Facebook Locations: Brazil, Manhattan , New York

☆ A ‘Dystopian Nightmare’ Unfolds in Sudan’s Battered Darfur Region
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | Cora Engelbrecht | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The gunmen arrived at dawn on motorcycles, horses and in cars. For hours afterward, they fired into houses, rampaged through shops and razed clinics, witnesses said, in a frenzied attack that upended life in El Geneina, a city in the Darfur region of Sudan. Truce agreements have so far failed to end the brutal fighting that broke out on April 15 between the Sudanese army and its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The fighting has decimated many areas of the capital, Khartoum. But the war between the military factions has also swept across the country to the long-suffering western region of Darfur — an area already blighted by two decades of genocidal violence.

Persons: Peace Organizations: Rapid Support Forces Locations: El Geneina, Darfur, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Khartoum

[1/5] Arlo Brownlee, an engineer, checks battery banks at GlidePath's Byrd Ranch energy storage facility in Sweeny, Texas, U.S., May 23, 2023. The battery rush also puts the Republican-controlled state at the forefront of President Joe Biden's push to expand renewable energy use. Reuters drew on previously unreported data and interviewed more than a dozen executives from private equity firms, utility companies and energy storage providers involved in some of the biggest battery storage deals for this report. But the legislation also contains provisions that industry groups said could encourage investment in battery storage. Miller said he expects ancillary market prices to "collapse" as more battery storage comes online.

Persons: Arlo Brownlee, Adrees Latif, Rhett Bennett, ”, Joe Biden's, Wood Mackenzie, Andrew Waranch, David Miller, Miller, Waranch, Dick Lewis, Andrew Tang, Chris McKissack, you've, McKissack, Nichola Groom, Laila Kearney, Richard Valdmanis, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: REUTERS, Korea's SK, Switzerland's UBS, Black, Energy, Texans, Republican, Reuters, U.S . Energy Information Administration, Developers, BlackRock, Jupiter, EnCap Investments, Korea's SK E, Vision Ridge Partners, UBS, SK E, SK, Mercom Capital Group, Reliability, of Texas, Spearmint Energy, Inc, Wartsila, Thomson Locations: Sweeny , Texas, U.S, BlackRock, Texas, California, Gridmatic

☆ Uganda’s President Signs Punitive Anti-Gay Bill Into Law
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The president of Uganda signed a punitive anti-gay bill on Monday that includes the death penalty, enshrining into law an intensifying crackdown against L.G.B.T.Q. people in the conservative East African nation and dismissing widespread calls not to impose one of the world’s most restrictive anti-gay measures. The law, which was introduced in Parliament in March, calls for life imprisonment for anyone who engages in gay sex. Anyone who tries to have same-sex relations could be liable for up to a decade in prison. The offense of “attempted aggravated homosexuality” carries a sentence of up to 14 years.

☆ ‘I Could Not Carry Any of My Art’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

That was on April 15 — and in the three days that followed, Mr. Algrai remained trapped in his studio, starving and dehydrated as battles raged outside his door on the streets of Khartoum. For hours every day, he cowered in terror as bullets pierced the windows of the building and the walls shook from errant shelling. When a small period of quiet to escape materialized, Mr. Algrai was eager to seize it — albeit with a heavy heart. “I could not carry any of my art or personal belongings,” said Mr. Algrai, 29, who got out, but left behind his favorite guitar and more than 300 paintings of different sizes. “This conflict has robbed us of our art and our peace, and we are now left trying to stay sane in the midst of displacement and death.”

☆ Sudan’s Warring Groups Agree to 7-Day Cease-Fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Sudan’s warring parties have agreed to a seven-day cease-fire beginning on Monday, Saudi Arabia and the United States announced late Saturday, the first truce to be signed by both parties in a conflict that has raged for over a month, leaving millions of people across the northeast African nation in a dire humanitarian crisis. On Saturday, the sides promised to stop their forces from occupying new areas; to refrain from detaining or threatening civilians; and not to impede aid groups and workers from providing lifesaving assistance. The warring groups also agreed not to loot civilian properties or humanitarian supplies, nor to seize critical infrastructure such as electricity, fuel and water installations. Before the announcement, the two sides had signed a pact only to protect civilians but not to suspend fighting altogether, leaving their soldiers clashing across Sudan. Previous cease-fire announcements, including one brokered by the United States and another by South Sudan, have faltered, leading to a mounting death toll and a vast displacement of people.

☆ End of Title 42 immigration policy has brought fewer migrants than expected, but overcrowding concerns remain
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Nouran Salahieh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

David Peinado Romero/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Migrants carry a baby in a suitcase across the Rio Grande on May 10. Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images Migrants wait to get paid after washing cars at a gas station in Brownsville on May 10. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images Migrants surrender to US Border Patrol agents after crossing the border in Yuma on May 10. Paul Ratje/Reuters Migrants wait to be processed by US Border Patrol agents in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on April 26. Hudak warned in the filing that without measures to conditionally release some migrants, Border Patrol could have over 45,000 migrants in custody by the end of the month.

☆ ‘We Don’t Want This War’: Trapped in Khartoum as Combat Rages
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | Cora Engelbrecht | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Nurses maneuver through gunfire and shelling to make house calls, delivering babies and providing care to those who can’t reach hospitals. Families barely eat in order to conserve dwindling food and water supplies, as temperatures rise. And the few good Samaritans who venture out to help the elderly or put out a blazing fire face intimidation and arrest by the fighters in the streets. The Sudanese capital, Khartoum, has endured the most intense fighting, prompting embassies and the United Nations to evacuate their nationals and staff members — leaving behind millions who now face shortages of water, food, medicine and electricity. The clashes — between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces — have continued despite repeated cease-fires purportedly agreed to by both sides.

☆ Republicans ask watchdog to assess US oil reserve management
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] The Bryan Mound Strategic Petroleum Reserve, an oil storage facility, is seen in this aerial photograph over Freeport, Texas, U.S., April 27, 2020. REUTERS/Adrees Latif/File PhotoWASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) - Two Republicans on Monday asked a congressional watchdog to assess the Biden administration's management of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and audit its modernization program, saying sales from the SPR have undermined U.S. energy security. Over about six months last year, the Biden administration conducted a record sale of 180 million barrels of oil to combat high gasoline prices after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Biden administration wrote to lawmakers last month, saying the sales did not damage the SPR. The lawmakers said they were concerned about delays and cost overruns in the SPR modernization program authorized by Congress in 2015.

☆ Warring Parties in Sudan to Hold Talks in Saudi Arabia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Edward Wong | Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — Representatives of two warring Sudanese generals are expected to meet in Saudi Arabia on Saturday to discuss terms of a cease-fire and mechanisms for allowing humanitarian aid into the country, U.S., Saudi and Sudanese officials said on Friday. The U.S. State Department and the Saudi foreign ministry have helped organize the meeting, which would take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the Red Sea across from Sudan. The Saudi government has been running evacuation ships between Jeddah and Port Sudan. The two generals have agreed to cease-fires in recent days, but their troops have violated those. The Sudanese army confirmed in a post on Facebook that its delegation left for Jeddah on Friday evening to discuss “specific details of the armistice,” which is aimed at “securing and creating appropriate conditions for dealing with the humanitarian situation of our citizens.”A senior State Department official said the discussions in Jeddah would not include negotiations over the volatile issues around integration of the armed forces and chain of command that led to the start of fighting on April 15 between Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who controls the Sudanese military, and Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

☆ 9 things you think you know about ancient Egyptians that are actually wrong
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

With their impressive architecture, scientific knowledge, religious cults, and beautiful artwork, the ancient Egyptians continue to impress historians long after the end of their reign. The pyramids were built by slavesThe Sphinx at Giza in Cairo set against the Pyramid Pyramid of Khafre. That means there may have been sacrifices over a period of about 400 years, while ancient Egyptians ruled for about 3,000 years. His book detailing the life of ancient Egyptians was extremely influential. Many misconceptions that have survived in the lore about ancient Egypt to this day may have found their origins in Herodotus's work.

☆ More Than 100,000 Have Fled Sudan to Neighboring Countries
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

More than 100,000 people have fled Sudan for neighboring countries and more than 300,000 have been internally displaced, according to figures released by United Nations agencies on Tuesday, as the fighting between rival generals threatened to undermine regional stability and tear apart Africa’s third-largest nation. More than 450 people have died and more than 4,000 have been injured, according to the World Health Organization. On Tuesday morning, residents in parts of the capital, Khartoum, reported intense clashes and heavy shelling throughout the night. Many residents of the capital are without electricity and worried about dwindling food and water. Given the deteriorating situation, the United Nations said it was preparing for a mass exodus from Sudan, a nation of more than 45 million people that was already facing dire humanitarian crises before the latest fighting.

REUTERS/Adrees Latif/File PhotoWASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden's administration will temporarily send 1,500 additional troops to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, in preparation for a possible rise in illegal immigration when COVID-19 border restrictions lift later this month. Biden, a Democrat running for reelection in 2024, has grappled with record numbers of migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border since he took office in 2021. The 1,500 troops could arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border by May 10, Ryder said during a briefing. U.S. military troops have been used to help secure the border during previous presidential administrations, including Republican George W. Bush, Democrat Barack Obama and Trump, who deployed thousands of active-duty and National Guard troops. Immigration advocates have criticized previous efforts to send troops to the border.

☆ Even one American in Iraq is too many, Iran leader tells Iraqi president
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi attend a meeting, in Tehran, Iran April 29, 2023. Iran, which has strong ties with Iraq, opposes the U.S. military presence on its borders in Iraq and the Gulf, saying Western military intervention is the root of insecurity in the region. U.S. national security agencies are investigating after a leak of classified documents has suggested the United States spied on allies including Ukraine. "Even the presence of one American in Iraq is too much," Khamenei told Rashid, who was in Tehran with a delegation to boost ties between the two neighbours. The United States has some 2,500 troops in Iraq to help advise and assist local troops in combating Islamic State, which in 2014 seized territory in the country.

CNN —Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei decried the presence of the US military in Iraq during a meeting with Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid in Tehran on Saturday. “The presence of even one American in Iraq is too much,” Khamenei said, Iranian state media outlet IRNA reported. “The United States will continue to strengthen and broaden our partnerships in support of Iraqi security, stability and sovereignty,” Austin said during his Baghdad visit. Growing tensionsIraq plays a crucial role for the United States in containing Iran’s influence in the region. Tensions between the United States and Iran are also growing over Tehran’s actions in Syria.

☆ Cease-Fire Is Extended in Sudan, but Bombardments and Gunfire Ensue
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | Cora Engelbrecht | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Civilians continued to flee renewed clashes in Sudan on Friday, as a three-day extension of an already-tenuous truce got off to a fitful start, and foreign countries ramped up evacuations after warning of an escalation of violence in the coming days. Gunfire and loud explosions rocked at least two neighborhoods in the capital, Khartoum, residents said, as the battle between Sudan’s army, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, entered its 14th day. Clashes also continued in the western region of Darfur, aid workers said, even as the African Union, the United Nations and countries including the United States welcomed the decision to extend a fragile cease-fire for an additional 72 hours. “What I am seeing is thick smoke. What I am hearing is shelling and gunshots,” said Ahmad Mahmoud, a Sudanese resident of Khartoum who witnessed a massive bombardment of the Burri neighborhood in the capital.

☆ Looting, Roadblocks: Paramilitary Is a Scary Neighbor in Sudan’s Capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Lynsey Chutel | Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the 12 days since war broke out in Sudan, the residents in the capital of Khartoum have learned to survive, living side by side with armed fighters. The fighters have moved into homes and taken over stores and hospitals, alternatively terrifying and wooing civilians. In another, they invited community members to share in the spoils of their looting. Many residents try to avoid the faction as much as possible. “Apparently they don’t have anyone that gives them orders so they’re just doing their thing,” said Dania Atabani, who lives in Khartoum.

☆ Mystery of Ex-Dictator’s Whereabouts Adds to Crisis in Sudan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As Sudan is ripped apart in a battle between rival generals, one question was swirling around the country on Wednesday: Where is the former dictator Omar Hassan al-Bashir? Mr. al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. In Sudan, he still faces charges related to the 1989 coup that propelled him to power, and he faces a death sentence or life in prison if convicted. Amid the chaos, it was thought that Mr. al-Bashir, 79, was being held in the Kober prison in Khartoum, the capital, serving a two-year sentence for money laundering and corruption. But then a former official being held with Mr. al-Bashir said on Tuesday night that he had left the prison along with some other, unnamed officials, without mentioning the former dictator.

☆ Civilians Flee Fighting in Sudan for Troubled Neighboring Countries
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | Lynsey Chutel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Civilians fleeing the fighting between two rival generals in Sudan streamed into neighboring countries on Monday, raising concerns about a humanitarian crisis spreading to countries already grappling with conflict, hunger and dire economic straits. The heavy gunfire, shelling and airstrikes that have rocked Sudan for 10 days prompted foreign countries to begin evacuating diplomatic staff and nationals over the weekend. It also has driven thousands of Sudanese and other people across borders into Chad, Egypt and South Sudan, aid workers said. Sudan, a country of 45 million people and the third-largest by area in Africa, is surrounded by seven countries racked by poverty and instability. Most of those were South Sudanese returning home after having fled Khartoum in cars and on the backs of trucks, carrying whatever they could on the 280-mile journey south.

☆ Sudan Army Chief Commits to Civilian Rule, but Not a Cease-Fire for Ramadan’s End
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Sudan’s army chief said on Friday morning that the military under his leadership was committed to a peaceful transition to civilian rule, in his first public remarks since a weeklong conflict between his troops and a powerful paramilitary force upended life in Africa’s third-largest nation. But the army commander, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is Sudan’s de facto leader, did not say whether the army would commit to the latest cease-fire that its rival, the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, said it had agreed to on Friday. The cease-fire would allow people to gather for the Eid holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. General al-Burhan said the clashes had led to serious casualties, major destruction of property and displacement of families across the country.

☆ A look back on Elon Musk's middle-school humor: from jokes about 420 and 69 to 'Titter'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

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