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IMPORTANT
| | | | | ‘Chronicle of Climate Chaos’ | UN Report: Past Eight Years Are Hottest on Record The Provisional State of the Global Climate report was released ahead of the COP27 summit in Egypt, which begins today. There, developing nations are expected to demand reparations from richer ones. “Our planet is sending a distress signal,” said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, calling the report “a chronicle of climate chaos.” It details scores of unwanted records — carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide levels are all sky-high — and describes the global target of keeping temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius as “barely within reach.” Mike Meredith of the British Antarctic Survey agreed: “The messages in this report could barely be bleaker.” (Sources: Al Jazeera, BBC) |
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| | | Final Push | Midterms: GOP Goes Hard as Dems Court the Center With less than 24 hours to go, Republican candidates are turning to polarizing figures — former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley told a Georgia rally that Sen. Raphael Warnock should be deported — in an attempt to animate their base on “red meat” issues like immigration, religion and race. Democrats in swing states, meanwhile, are trying to appeal to undecided voters by flying in moderates to stress candidates’ track records on crime and the economy. “Given the states we’re talking about — New Hampshire, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada — it’s smart for campaigns to lean on surrogates with the broadest appeal,” said Democratic strategist Lis Smith. (Source: WaPo) |
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| | | Ukraine Fatigue? | US Warns Kyiv to Weigh Negotiations as Russian Assault Continues The White House has been secretly urging Ukraine to backtrack on its refusal to negotiate with Moscow while President Vladimir Putin remains in charge. This is not because it wants Ukraine to negotiate with Putin, but rather because it’s worried other governments won’t want to fund a lengthy war. Meanwhile, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned residents to prepare for the worst as Putin ramps up his assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure: “His task is for us to die, to freeze, or to make us flee our land so that he can have it. That's what the aggressor wants to achieve.” (Sources: WaPo, Reuters) |
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| | | Crash Landing | 19 Killed as Tanzanian Plane Crashes Into Lake Victoria Loved ones watched in horror from Bukoba Airport as the Precision Air plane with 43 people on board missed the runway and plunged into Africa’s largest lake. “We were informed that we would be landing shortly, but there was heavy turbulence,” said survivor Richard Komba. “We later found ourselves in the lake. Water then entered the plane and those sitting near the front were covered by it. I was in the back seat and most of us in the back of the plane struggled to get out.” The names of the victims, among them the two pilots, were released Monday. (Sources: BBC, The Citizen) |
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| | | Briefly | Here are some things you should know about today: Going nowhere. The captain of a migrant rescue ship defied Italian orders to leave the port of Catania “until all survivors rescued from distress at sea have been disembarked.” Italy allowed 144 migrants to disembark but refused entry to a further 35. (Source: AP) Refusing water. As COP27 kicks off, jailed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah has stepped up his hunger strike and is now refusing water too. (Source: BBC) Dueling banjos. The feud between the GOP’s biggest stars widened with former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis holding separate rallies in Florida this weekend. Trump even bestowed a new nickname on his rival: Ron DeSanctimonious. (Source: NYT) |
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INTRIGUING
| | | | | ‘Gay Propaganda’ | Putin Cracks Down Further on Russia’s LGBTQ Community Being gay in Russia has always been tough, but it’s about to get a whole lot tougher. A new law, which looks certain to sail through parliament, will ban all “gay propaganda.” In other words, it will be illegal to represent LGBTQ relationships in any media, from films to books to social media. It’s all part of Putin’s civilizational war: Just as NATO is luring Ukraine to the West, he argues, queer culture is corrupting traditional Russian values. “We live in Russia,” said drag artist Taylor. “There is already tremendous pressure on us. And now we’re going to be completely oppressed.” (Source: NYT) |
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| | | A Different Beast | Twitter Users Flock to Mastodon — But How Does It Work? With 655,000 users and counting, Mastodon has grown its base by 50% since Elon Musk assumed control of the Twitterverse. But what’s the fuss about? In many regards, it’s similar to Twitter. Users can follow one another and write posts (known as “toots”) that can be liked, reposted and replied to. But before they can do any of this, they need to choose a server based upon their location or interests. This is because Mastodon is decentralized: It’s not owned by one person or company. While this adds to the appeal for many, it also makes moderation much harder. (Source: BBC) |
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| | | Royal Treatment | Mary, Queen of Scots Lived It Up in Prison — Before Being Beheaded It seems celebrity prison has always been soft. The threateningly Roman Catholic Scottish queen was jailed for 19 years by her Protestant cousin Elizabeth I. But recently unearthed financial records from the 1580s show she wasn’t dining on scraps. Mary’s nightly menu included courses with up to 16 different options featuring mutton, boar, beef, veal, cod, spiced herring and eel among others. And her cousin jailer also footed the bill for “mendinge the crome and scouring of armour” and “settinge up and making of bedstedes.” When push came to shove, however, she was beheaded just like anyone else. (Source: The Guardian) |
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| | | RIP | Aaron Carter, Childhood Pop Star, Dies at 34 The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said officers were investigating a “suspicious death” Saturday at Carter’s home. The singer/rapper/actor, who struggled with addiction and mental health issues, announced he was five years “Cali sober” earlier this year. The younger brother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, Aaron found fame when he was only 9, with the release of his first album in 1997. His second album, Aaron’s Party (Come Get It), went triple-platinum. “My heart has been broken today,” said Nick. “Even though my brother and I have had a complicated relationship, my love for him has never ever faded.” (Sources: WaPo, E! Online) |
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| | | Not Cricket | Sri Lanka’s Gunathilaka Charged With Rape in Australia Danushka Gunathilaka, who was representing his country at the T20 World Cup, has been charged with four counts of sexual intercourse without consent. He was arrested at 1 a.m. Sunday while packing his bags ahead of the team’s flight home. New South Wales police allege that after making contact with a 29-year-old woman via a dating app and subsequently meeting her at a public place in Sydney, Gunathilaka was invited back to her home. There he allegedly sexually assaulted her multiple times over several hours. The cricketer was denied bail Monday and his case was adjourned until January. (Source: SMH) |
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COMMUNITY
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