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☆ Russia risks causing new-year IT worker flight with remote working law
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Alexander Marrow | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary This content was produced in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine. The government estimates that 100,000 IT specialists currently work for Russian companies overseas. Now, legislation is being mooted for early next year that could ban remote working for some professions. Product designer Yulia, 26, estimated that a quarter of her team would rather quit than return to Russia under duress. Professional online poker player Sasha, 37, also living in Argentina, said he had now stopped paying Russian taxes.

☆ Final farewell: From Sidney Poitier to Pope Emeritus Benedict a look back at the influential figures who died in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +55 min

Other world leaders who died in 2022 include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died in August. The final days of 2022 saw the loss of some exceptionally notable figures, including Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2022 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___Dan Reeves, 77. A Cuban-born artist whose radiant color palette and geometric paintings were overlooked for decades before the art world took notice. A prolific character actor best known for playing villains and tough guys in “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and other films.

☆ Death of former Pope Benedict overshadows New Year at Vatican
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/4] Candles stand next to St. Peter's Square after former Pope Benedict died in the Vatican, in Rome, Italy, December 31, 2022. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneVATICAN CITY, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Pope Francis marked the Roman Catholic Church's traditional World Day of Peace on Sunday but the start of the new year at the Vatican was overshadowed by the death of his predecessor, Benedict. It will be the first time in many centuries that a sitting pope will preside at the funeral of his predecessor. PRAISE, BUT ALSO CRITICISM FOR BENEDICTOn Saturday night the Vatican released Benedict's two-page "spiritual testimony" written in 2006, a year after his election as pope. Francis on Saturday called Benedict a noble, kind man who was a gift to the Church and the world.

The priest sex-abuse scandal was the albatross around the neck of Pope Emeritus Benedict’s brief eight-year reign as leader of the Roman Catholic Church, according to Vatican analysts. Like his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, Benedict also apologized to the victims and then took some steps to punish the predators. They say Benedict should have known better, because, before he became pope, he ran, for 24 year, the Vatican department that dealt directly with priest sex abuse allegations — the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). “He had an inside view of what was going on,” said David Gibson, the director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University, who is the author of “The Rule of Benedict: Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World.” “His office dealt with these accusations. When John Paul II’s native Poland was part of the old Soviet bloc, accusations against priests were routinely dismissed as fabrications by the communist secret police to undermine the church.

☆ Pope Benedict XVI Was a Bestselling Author
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Francis X. Rocca | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Benedict XVI mostly maintained a low profile over the past decade, though some of his occasional recent writings have stirred controversy. ROME—In his seven-decade career as a scholar and church leader, the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote more than 60 books and numerous papal documents, including three encyclicals. An official adviser at the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the pivotal event in the Roman Catholic Church during his lifetime, Joseph Ratzinger was a major figure in the theological debates that followed Vatican II. He also had a large nonacademic following, largely of conservative Catholics who increasingly looked to him for guidance and reassurance in the turbulent post-conciliar period. Even after his election as pope, he continued his scholarship, writing a three-volume study, “Jesus of Nazareth,” which became a bestseller.

☆ Two popes in the Vatican - sometimes more crowd than company
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Pope Francis later removed him from a top job in the Vatican. "In the Catholic Church, symbols are important," said Father Tom Reese, a Washington-based Catholic author and commentator for Religion News Service. Reese, a Church liberal, found agreement from an unusual source - conservative Australian Cardinal George Pell, a former Vatican treasurer and close associate of Benedict in his retirement. Reese and others have suggested that a former pontiff be called "bishop emeritus of Rome" and be subject to the rules that cover retired bishops. He has said he would want to be called Bishop Emeritus of Rome and live not in the Vatican but in a home for retired priests in the Italian capital "because its my diocese".

☆ Global reactions to the death of former Pope Benedict
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MARKUS SOEDER, PREMIER OF THE GERMAN STATE OF BAVARIA:"We mourn the death of our Bavarian Pope. The death of Benedict XVI touches me deeply, as it does many people in Bavaria and all over the world. [1/2] Pope Benedict XVI waves as he appears for the last time at the balcony of his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, February 28, 2013. UK PRIME MINISTER RISHI SUNAK:"I am saddened to learn of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. CARDINAL VINCENT NICHOLS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER:"I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of Pope Benedict.

☆ Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI dies at 95
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Corky Siemaszko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican," the statement said. Benedict was the longest-living pope, having surpassed Pope Leo XIII in September 2020. "We must think about what Pope Benedict said — 'It's the epoch of sin against God the Creator,'" Francis said at a gathering of Polish bishops. Unlike most priests, Benedict logged little time in parishes. In 2005, his first year as pope, he was accused in a lawsuit of having personally covered up a priest's abuse of three boys in Texas.

☆ Sister Patricia Daly Stood Up to CEOs at Shareholder Meetings
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( James R. Hagerty | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

At shareholder meetings, she was the stinging nun. For more than four decades, Sister Patricia Daly pursued her chosen vocation: shareholder activist and scourge of corporate CEOs. A member of the Roman Catholic Sisters of St. Dominic congregation of Caldwell, N.J., she worked with religious shareholder groups to prod companies to take action on issues including environmental protection and human trafficking. She matched wits with General Electric Co. then-Chief Executive Jack Welch at a shareholder meeting in 1998, when she urged GE to issue warnings about the risks of eating fish contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, from its plants.

☆ Rituals for Benedict's passing could be template for future ex popes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI waves as he arrives to attend a mass for the beatification of former pope Paul VI in St. Peter's square at the Vatican October 19, 2014. The Vatican has painstakingly elaborate rituals for what happens after a reigning pope dies but no publicly known ones for a former pope. They could be a template for other popes who choose to resign instead of ruling for life, including Pope Francis himself someday, Vatican sources say. The last pope to die, John Paul II, was buried on April 8, 2005, six days after he died. Benedict, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, presided at John Paul's funeral in 2005 in St. Peter's Square and Francis is expected to preside at Benedict's.

Several Latinos whose lives and work left a profound imprint on American institutions — from arts and entertainment to legal and civil rights — passed away in 2022. Cavazos began his education in a two-room schoolhouse on the King Ranch in Texas, where his father was a foreman. President Reagan named Cavazos Secretary of Education in 1988, making him the first Hispanic ever to serve in the U.S. Together, “Luis” and Maria” showed young audiences that Latinos were people who worked, fell in love and were part of their community. Her goals were to give Latinos a presence in the dance world, and to instill pride in Hispanic culture.

☆ Former pope Benedict, his papacy and retirement
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

VATICAN CITY, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Former pope Benedict, who Pope Francis said on Wednesday was "very sick", resigned in 2013, the first pontiff in 600 years to take such a step rather than rule for life. Days later, Benedict says he was "deeply sorry" about Muslim reaction to his speech, which he says was misunderstood. Former Pope Benedict traveled to his native Germany last week to visit his ailing older brother. Benedict later pardoned Gabriele and the Vatican later found him a job in a hospital. Benedict pope later acknowledges errors occurred and asks for forgiveness.

☆ Ukrainian drone shot down deep within Russia kills 3, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Russia said on Monday it had shot down a Ukrainian drone close to one of its air bases for long-range bombers deep inside its own territory and that three Russian air force personnel had been killed in the incident. The drone was allegedly flying near Russia’s Engels air base where long-range strategic bombers that may have been used to target Ukrainian cities and infrastructure are based. An overview of Engels Airbase, which is home to a strategic bomber military base. The same base was attacked earlier this month by Ukrainian drones, Russia said at the time. “A Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) was shot down at low altitude while approaching the Engels military airfield in the Saratov region,” the defense ministry statement, published on Monday, said.

Summary Russia says air base targeted by Ukrainian droneSays it shot the drone down, no aircraft damagedSays three servicemen were killed by falling debrisNo immediate comment from UkraineDec 26 (Reuters) - Russia said on Monday it had shot down a Ukrainian drone close to one of its air bases for long-range bombers deep inside its own territory and that three Russian air force personnel had been killed in the incident. The drone was allegedly flying near Russia's Engels air base where long-range strategic bombers that may have been used to target Ukrainian cities and infrastructure are based. Unverified Russian and Ukrainian social media accounts reported that a number of planes had been destroyed however. The same base was attacked earlier this month by Ukrainian drones, Russia said at the time. The earlier Dec. 5 strike on the same base, along with another attack the same day on another base, raised questions about the effectiveness of Russian air defences and shocked Russian commentators.

☆ The falling wreckage of a downed Ukrainian drone killed 3 people at a Russian military base, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia said that it shot down a Ukrainian drone near Engels airbase in Russia's Saratov region. Falling debris from the downed drone killed three Russian military personnel, authorities said. The drone, which was shot down near the Engels military airbase in Russia's Saratov region, hit and fatally wounded the staff members, a statement from the Defence Ministry, published by Russian news agencies, said. Although Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the drone, Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat told national television Monday that incidents like this are the "consequences of Russian aggression," ABC News reported. Ukraine has also not taken responsibility for other recent drone attacks on Russian airbases.

☆ 12 amazing archaeological discoveries of 2022: From the world's oldest limb amputation to the fighting sausage dogs of the Roman Colosseum
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Iraq's extreme drought reveals a 3,400-year-old cityAerial view of the excavation site with Bronze Age architecture partly submerged. While this did, in parts, cause ecological devastation and ravaged wildlife hotspots, it also revealed some incredible secrets that were hidden underwater. In June, Insider's Paola Rosa-Aquino reported that successive droughts had revealed the hidden city, which dates back to the Empire of Mittani. Experts say burial beneath the fallen walls might have helped preserve the ancient structures after years of submerging underwater. You can read the full story on the hidden city here and learn about the ancient artifacts that survived over 3,000 years.

☆ Sanctions to help cut Belarus GDP by 4% in 2022, Interfax quotes prime minister as saying
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 24 (Reuters) - The economy of Belarus is expected to shrink by 4% in 2022 after western nations imposed punitive measures, much less than some had forecast, Interfax cited Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko as saying on Saturday. The European Union, the United States and others have imposed billions of dollars worth of sanctions on the ex-Soviet state over its support for Russia's war against Ukraine. "You know the forecasts we were given - from a total collapse (of the economy) to a drop of 20%," Interfax quoted Golovchenko as telling national television. Golovchenko also said the overall inflation rate in 2022 would be 12%, Interfax reported. Year-on-year inflation on Dec. 1 was 13.3%, down from 15.2% the previous month.

☆ Christmas spirits lifted as Bethlehem rebounds from pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

The biblical town of Bethlehem is gearing up for what residents hope will be a merry Christmas, with thousands of visitors expected to descend upon the traditional birthplace of Jesus as it rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic. Tourism is the economic lifeblood of this town in the occupied West Bank, and for the past two years, the pandemic kept international visitors away. “We are celebrating Christmas this year in a very much different way than last year,” said Palestinian Tourism Minister Rula Maayah. Police were erecting barricades in Manger Square, as marching bands played drums and bagpipes. Still, present-day reality was visible at Manger Square as banners showing photos of Palestinian prisoner Nasser Abu Hamid were prominently displayed.

☆ Marble Lions and Roman Statues: Inside an Italian Villa on a Phoenix Mountaintop
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Libertina Brandt | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Be the first to know about the biggest and best luxury home sales and listings by signing up for our Mansion Deals email alert. The late Frank Mineo was a “flashy guy” who parlayed a basement fish-breeding operation into chains of pet stores, according to his son, Frank Mineo Jr., who said his father’s colorful personality is evident throughout his mountaintop compound in Phoenix.

☆ How Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich fell from grace after Putin's invasion of Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

A few days after the start of the war, Abramovich said he was selling Chelsea FC, ending 19 years of ownership. Roman Abramovich celebrates Chelsea FC winning the Premier League in London, England, on May 21, 2017. Catherine Ivill/AMA/Getty ImagesAbramovich announced he was selling the Premier League soccer team on March 2. "Moreover, I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated. The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine," he added.

☆ When Mary Met the Angel
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Rebecca Mclaughlin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

She went by the most common name for Jewish women of her time and place: She was just another Mary. But then she claimed an angel had appeared to her and told her she would give birth to the Son of God. Today, Mary’s claim to have met an angel is part of what makes her story hard to believe. We imagine angels like the fairy on top of the Christmas tree, only bigger, so Mary’s story feels like a fairy tale. So let’s let the angel fly just for a moment while we listen to his message:

☆ Premarket stocks: Japan just delivered a lump of coal to investors across the globe
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

A surprise announcement from the Bank of Japan sent investors spinning and global markets reeling on Tuesday. The country’s central bank signaled that it would reverse two decades of policy precedent and begin to move away from loose monetary policy intended to keep wages and prices high. The Japanese Central Bank loosened the yield on its 10-year government bonds from 0.25% to 0.5%. The central bank said that inflation expectations have risen. Japan’s is the last major central bank to keep rates negative and this signals that it could be shifting its stance.

☆ Russian soldier says they're suffering more losses 'from their own side' than from Ukrainians, including being fired on by their own tanks
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russian soldiers are getting killed by their own military, according to multiple reports. In audio released by Ukraine, a Russian soldier said 20 men died after a Russian tank fired on them. The soldier told his mother there are more losses "from our own" than from Ukrainians. A report by the independent Russian outlet iStories, also published on Tuesday, found a pattern of negligence and deadly mishaps among troops fighting in Ukraine. The outlet highlighted two incidents in the last few months where a Russian soldier accidentally killed another because of drunkness and the clumsy use of weapons.

☆ Soccer-In year of drama, World Cup shines spotlight on growth in the sport
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Manasi Pathak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Dec 20 (Reuters) - Lionel Messi's World Cup fairytale lit up the year in soccer as heroics and heartbreak at the finals captivated fans and highlighted the growth of the world's most popular sport despite the criticism of host country Qatar's human rights record. With matches played in air-conditioned stadiums to cope with the heat of the desert state and no beer on tap in stadiums, spectators experienced a World Cup like never before. Playing in a fifth World Cup for Argentina, the incomparable Messi once again left everyone in awe of his magical powers on the field as he smashed records and delivered on the hopes of a nation, bringing the World Cup home after 36 years. The South American giants were handed a shock defeat by Saudi Arabia in their first group game, which statisticians Gracenote credited as the biggest upset in World Cup history. With every continent represented in the World Cup last 16, the most diverse knockout stage in the tournament's history was evidence of the sport's expanding reach.

☆ 3M will stop making hazardous ‘forever chemicals’ starting in 2025
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —3M, the conglomerate behind Post-It notes and Scotch tape, will stop making controversial per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) by the end of 2025. The chemicals, commonly known as “forever chemicals,” are found in hundreds of household items and used to make coatings and products that can repel water, grease, heat and oil. Over the past decade, chemical manufacturers have voluntarily stopped producing two of the most commonly used forever chemicals, including PFOS and PFOA. At the federal level, the US Food and Drug Administration phased out the use of certain PFAS chemicals in 2016. The FDA and manufacturers agreed in 2020 to phase out some PFAS chemicals from food packaging and other items that came into contact with food.

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