Foreign policy

The United States has determined that Paul Rusesabagina, portrayed in the film "Hotel Rwanda" sheltering hundreds of people during the African nation's 1994 genocide, has been "wrongfully detained," the State Department said on Thursday. Rusesabagina, 67, was sentenced last September to 25 years in prison over eight terrorism charges tied to an organization opposed to Rwandan President Paul Kagame's rule. He has denied all the charges and refused to take part in the trial that he and his supporters have called a political sham. "The determination took into account the totality of the circumstances, notably the lack of fair trial guarantees during his trial. This determination does not imply any position on his innocence or guilt," a State Department spokesperson said. Rusesabagina, who was feted around the world after being portrayed by actor Don Cheadle in 2004's "Hotel Rwanda," is a vocal critic of Kagame. He is being held in a Rwandan prison. … [Read more...] about US says ‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero Rusesabagina ‘wrongly detained’

New York (CNN Business) The S&P 500 fell into bear market territory Friday, slipping more than 20% from its record high and potentially ending the bull run that began in March 2020. The designation comes on the heels of six straight weekly losses for the index and follows months of precipitous market drops. The S&P 500 has long been considered the most accurate measure of the nation's stock performance. In the three years prior to this bear market, the index grew by 90%. Downward momentum pushed the S&P 500 further in afternoon trading, down more than 2% for the day and 20.3% from its record-high close of 4,796.46 in early January. The index's slide highlights investors' increasingly dark economic outlook—one fueled by slowing economic and earnings growth, rising inflation and the Federal Reserve's subsequent monetary tightening. Read More These conditions will likely continue until there's enough economic data to prove … [Read more...] about S&P 500 drops into bear market territory as recession fears mount

The Office BFFs: Tales of the Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There By Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey Dey Street Books. 336 pp. $27.99 - - - We could debate all day about what the two most iconic couples from "The Office" - Pam and Jim, and Dwight and Angela - would be doing in 2022. And we certainly will. But it's just as fun to check in on what Jenna Fischer (who played secretary Pam Beesly) and Angela Kinsey (accountant Angela Martin) are doing today. Behind the scenes, the pair formed a best friendship that persists nearly 10 years after the NBC sitcom went off air - and they're probably hanging out in Target's seasonal aisle. They also appreciate a good power walk. "Except Angela stops and gets some sort of pastry," Fischer chided her friend during a recent Zoom interview. "We're still debating this, years later. I don't think it counts as exercise if you get a snack along the way." Kinsey interjected: "I think it does, because I moved my butt to get there." … [Read more...] about Book World: Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey share their ‘Office’ memories

Silent Invasion By Deborah Birx Harper. 506 pp. $29.99 - - - On April 23, 2020, with the United States in the throes of the first covid-19 wave, President Donald Trump opined that doctors should investigate whether shining ultraviolet light or injecting disinfectant into the body might treat the disease. To back him up, he turned to the White House coronavirus response coordinator, the physician and public health expert Deborah Birx. "Deborah, have you ever heard of that - the heat and the light . . . relative to this virus?" Birx, though visibly uncomfortable, answered politely, "Not as a treatment." She went on to say that fever does help the body fight infection. She managed to add, "But I've not seen heat or light -" before Trump interrupted her. I was a physician then on the front lines of the pandemic in a New York City intensive care unit, and I felt angry at Birx when I saw that clip. Her tepid response made me think she was more concerned with avoiding the rage of … [Read more...] about Book World: Deborah Birx’s unseen fight to stop Trump’s covid falsehoods

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s outgoing government on Friday approved a recovery plan for pulling the Mideast nation out of its economic meltdown, the country's information minister said. The development came during the Cabinet’s last official meeting before it becomes a caretaker government following last weekend’s parliamentary elections. The plan is a first step on a difficult and complicated road with the ultimate goal of wresting Lebanon out of the worst economic crisis in its modern history. The crisis, which erupted in October 2019, leading to nationwide protests, is rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement. However, Parliament still has to approve the plan, which includes restructuring the country’s hard-hit banking sector and amending decades-old banking secrecy laws. The economic recovery plan is a key demand by the International Monetary Fund. Lebanon 's … [Read more...] about Outgoing Lebanon government approves economic recovery plan

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 BERLIN (AP) — The United States has removed five extremist groups, all believed to be defunct, from its list of foreign terrorist organizations. In notices published in the Federal Register on Friday, the State Department said it had removed the groups after a mandatory five-year review of their designations. Al-Qaida, which was also up for review, was kept on the list, which was created under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act, or INA. “Our review of these five FTO designations determined that, as defined by the INA the five organizations are no longer engaged in terrorism or terrorist activity and do not retain the capability and intent to do so,” the State Department said in a statement. “Therefore, as required by the INA, these FTO designations are being revoked.” Several of the removed groups once posed significant threats, killing hundreds if not thousands of people … [Read more...] about US removes 5 groups from terror blacklist, retains al-Qaida

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Some of the world’s biggest mining companies have withdrawn requests to research and extract minerals on Indigenous land in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, and have repudiated Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s efforts to legalize mining activity in the areas. The Brazilian Mining Association (Ibram), which represents around 130 companies, conducted an internal survey of its members earlier this year, according to Raul Jungmann, its president. For the first time in decades, none of the companies have current research or mining applications for gold, tin, nickel, iron and other ores in Indigenous areas, he said. Neither the survey nor its results have been reported previously. Members of the association, which accounts for 85% of Brazil’s legally produced ore, include mining giants Rio Tinto, Anglo American and Vale. The AP contacted all three companies. Rio Tinto confirmed it retracted its applications for research concessions in 2019. Anglo American did the … [Read more...] about Mining companies back away from Brazil’s Indigenous areas

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is considering inviting a Cuban representative to the Summit of the Americas, a U.S. official said Friday, as his administration tries to salvage an event that risks collapsing over disagreements about the guest list. It's unclear if Cuba would accept the invitation, the U.S. official said, which would be extended to someone in the foreign ministry to join as an observer — but not the foreign minister himself, and not as a full participant. The U.S. official declined to be identified while speaking about sensitive deliberations. A spokesperson for the National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment about whether Cuba would be invited. The Summit of the Americas involves countries across the Americas, stretching from Canada to Chile. It is scheduled to begin in a little more than two weeks in Los Angeles, in the United … [Read more...] about US official: Biden mulls Cuba invitation for Americas summit

In a well-intentioned initiative gone wrong, current and former employees at Wells Fargo have come forward with details on how the bank carried out its diversity and inclusion efforts: fake interviews . Joe Bruno, a former executive at Wells Fargo, is one of seven individuals who have spoken up about a troubling system wherein they were instructed by direct bosses or HR managers to hold interviews for “ diverse ” candidates — which the bank defined as women and people of color — for positions that had already been filled. The individuals who have spoken out were either told to give the interviews, aware of the practice or helped arrange it. The practice seemed to be a vehicle to record diversity efforts on paper, rather than carrying them out in reality. Bruno, who has since been fired from the bank, told The New York Times that he shared his concerns about the system with his superiors, stating that the practice was “inappropriate, morally wrong, ethically wrong.” … [Read more...] about Fake Job Interviews: The Dark Side of Wells Fargo’s ‘Diversity’ Efforts

Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Getty Images On Wednesday, the Washington Post ’s Taylor Lorenz reported on the disastrous rollout of the Department of Homeland Security’s Disinformation Governance Board. Announced on April 27 with a hazy remit to “coordinate countering misinformation related to homeland security,” the initiative generated immediate fierce backlash from conservative pundits and politicians who compared it to the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984 . The expert tapped to lead the board, Nina Jankowicz , faced a wave of ferocious, viral, and often personal attacks online as well as scrutiny over her past statements seeming to betray her partisan sympathies. Now, just three weeks later, the Disinformation Governance Board is no more, and Jankowicz has resigned. According to Lorenz and her sources (other disinformation researchers, as well as staffers in DHS and on the Hill), Jankowicz was taken down “by the very forces she dedicated her … [Read more...] about The Liberal Obsession With ‘Disinformation’ Is Not Helping