Tag: Politics

Isabella Hammad's second novel, Entering the Ghost, opens, as the title suggests, with an essay. London-based Palestinian actress Sonia Nasser got through security at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport more easily than she expected with a quick strip search.

© Grove

He travels to Haifa for the first time since childhood, heartbroken and wanting to confide in his older sister. However, due to the strained relationship between the siblings, Sonia lives in the apartment almost immediately, unsure if she will be welcome inside and brooding over the discovery that their uncle has sold his family home to an Israeli buyer and moved out. . When Mary's close friend turns up and reveals that he needs Queen Gertrude to produce Hamlet on the West Coast, Sonia gets involved. As he begins to confront his complicated guilt over his political life in England, a production of Hamlet thrusts him into the epicenter of political tension in the region, culminating in a production of Bethlehem.

Hamlet plays a central role in the novel in several ways. The title "The Entry of the Ghosts" is from William Shakespeare's play, when the ghost of King Hamlet orders his son to seek justice for their corrupt kingdom. The novel's plot is filled with such conflicts—between lovers, family members, and Israelis "in" and "outside" the West Bank—and presents a ghostly third mode that Hammad describes through the central motif of intersections between the two worlds. Sonia brings her transitional role to life with the keen sense of nuance of a seasoned storyteller and actor. Her body is often the subject of detailed descriptions of intimacy and freedom—her struggles with lovers, pregnancy, and misogyny intertwine with the struggles spread throughout the novel.

Hammad is a rigorous scholar, and in The Ghost's Entry he provides a compelling and straightforward account of the contemporary Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The story takes place in 2017 amid tensions in the wake of the real-life shooting and killing of two Israeli policemen on what Muslims call the Holy of Holies and Jews call the Temple Mount, and the resulting civil unrest that relentlessly surrounds the novel's plot. . But don't keep it. than her. When the actors try to rehearse Shakespeare in classical Arabic on their lavish outdoor stage near the separation wall in Bethlehem, the Israeli government cowers, restricts funding and allows its army to interfere with the project.

The "Parisian" Isabella Hammad takes us to the brink of unrest in the Ottoman Empire.

Fiction has an uneasy relationship with politics, and American writers in particular tend to shy away from the Palestinian issue, an issue the text describes as "largely tone-deaf and group preaching." It's a hurdle that Hammad overcame in his 2019 debut in Le Parisien (on the British mandate in Palestine), which makes him a writer with an odd mix of skills. He can simultaneously trace vast social and historical fields without losing his sense of detail, which gives a surgical precision to his writings on man. His style is often described as "polished". These skills connected him with postcolonial writers such as Ahdaf Soueif and Abraham Varghese. Like In the Eye of the Sun and Cut to Stone, Le Parisien is nearly 600 pages long. But thanks to Hammadi's adaptation of the Western drama, something different and smarter is happening with The Phantom.

© Elizabeth Van Loon Author Isabella Hammad is a rigorous researcher.

The structure of the plot is built around the main activities of a theater production: acting, rehearsals and acting, as well as parallel drama between the actors. From this relatively simple setting, similarities between Hamlet and the novel emerge through themes such as betrayal, the drama within a drama, the divided family, and turmoil in the kingdom. However, you don't have to be a Shakespeare fan to enjoy this re-imagined classic – Miriam and her team candidly discuss the play's resilience in its West Coast setting. The novel is aware of its fourth wall but doesn't feel shy, and the written format is sometimes unpredictable and exciting. It also manages to rise beyond concrete ekphrasis to a broader reflection of the exchange between the artwork and its context. As tens of thousands of Muslims, including the atheist Sonia, gather to protest security measures at the Haram al-Sharif, praying in the streets, Sonia believes: “We should have protested the show, but we didn't need to play the protest. .

The central theatrical ideas of catharsis, audience, comedy, and tragedy (expressed as absurdity) explain what it means for Sonya to be truly involved in something that seems bigger than herself. In a brief but memorably funny scene, the novel tries to get to the bottom of what Israel represents to its soldiers when Sonya encounters a British Israeli teenager manning a checkpoint. His English temperament took him from an IDF soldier "protecting his people" to a teenager defending himself against Manchester charges. Mixed identities are everywhere, as are everyday presentations, and add a new dimension that defies easy categorization.

Although Enter Ghost sometimes seems preoccupied with its own morality, such as its focus on the Palestinians, when other conflicts like Yemen are vying for international attention, it thrives on such a rare fantasy project that it holds the attention of some viewers. Or, in Hamlet's words, "a play by which I know the king's conscience."

Sarah Cypher is a freelance editor and author of Skin and Her Girl , which comes out this month

Enter the ghost

Isabelle Hamad

Al Bustan Press. 336 p. 28 dollars

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's 2021 tax return will focus heavily on what they do behind the Archwell Foundation. The sources of her investments are being investigated, and now her lavish payments to PR manager Michelle Obama have everyone wondering if the Duchess of Sussex is involved in US politics.

She received $109,870 from Cathy McCormick's Llyveld advertising firm in 2021, according to tax records obtained by The Sun. She served as the former First Lady from 2007 to 2011 and is therefore well known in political circles. Obama isn't his only Democratic client: Hillary Clinton and John Kerry have used his services. Their list of awards does not include politics, but mentions "strategic public relations support with social impact."

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Meghan has said she is considering running later in her career. He plunged into social issues for full political gain — from a visit to Uvalde, Texas, to calls for Congress to pass a federal law on paid parental leave. This is just the tip of the iceberg of what she wants to do – and the Duchess of Sussex has not shied away from discussing some of these issues publicly.

Last year she did interviews with Vogue and Gloria Steinem about Roe v. Wade is designed for women. Meghan said she felt "excited and motivated" to push equality reform through Congress, "because that's (not only) what we want as women, but what we want as people." It may not have been his campaign statement, but it was definitely the start of a great political speech.

Click here to read the full article.

Before you go, click here to see highlights of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry since they left the royal family.

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Did Prince Harry lie about his visa? The Heritage Foundation questioned whether Harry lied about his drug use on his visa

Elvin Bragg may bring Donald Trump back to the White House in 2024 (“Trump's Pandora Chases,” Review and Outlook, March 31). Mr. Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney, did the world no favors by giving President Trump another forum to speak out and strengthen his base. The lawsuit will be very expensive, and Mr. Trump would be happy to reveal the obvious political motivation of the lawsuit.

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In Manhattan, Trump became the first former president to be indicted by the Special Crime Report.

On the last day of February, Lori Lightfoot became the first female mayor of Chicago in 34 years to lose an election. The polarizing Democrat was one of the few big-city leaders in America to govern during the pandemic and once again clashed with voters by finishing third and failing to advance. His defeat, sharply rejected by the voters who gave him a huge lead four years ago, served as a warning to mayors around the world: your position will not save you.

Two opposing candidates are vying to replace him in the April 4 runoff: Paul Wallace, former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, and Brandon Johnson, Commissioner of Cook County and former public school teacher. The rivalry, of course, could be racial—Johnson was black and Wallace was white—but the biggest difference between the two men, both Democrats, was ideology. Just as the party has undergone major changes nationally, moving leftward from the Clinton consensus of the 1990s when strong moderates struggled to resist progressive dominance, Chicago is now the scene of a fierce battle of the center-left – or even the middle ground. . – Right, depending on your point of view.

Wallas, 69, who has run three school systems besides Chicago, emerged as the clear, if undefeated, favourite. In the first ballot, Wallace received 33% to Johnson's 22%, an excellent result for a man who had finished ninth in a race against Lightfoot four years earlier. He slowly built a powerful coalition that transcended his white base of moderate liberal law reformers, disillusioned and crime-weary black voters who wanted to run as the candidate backed by the president of the right-wing local police union Permeet.

The Obama world, which still influences Chicago politics and is suspicious of the progressive left, also supports Wallas. Dick Durbin, a senior Illinois senator and close associate of the former president, supported Wallace over the weekend and received a sharp rebuke from the Chicago chapter of the Indivisible. Arne Duncan, the Obama administration's education secretary who served in Chicago schools under Wallace, wrote an opinion piece in the Chicago Tribune in support of Wallace's mayoral office and drew support from David Axelrod on Twitter. The business elite also supported Wallas, who criticized Johnson for wanting to raise taxes to fill the city's coffers. Billionaire Kenneth Griffin, one of the GOP's most prolific donors, is a supporter of Wallace, and a coalition of business leaders, including the Chicago Board of Trade, recently released a joint statement denouncing Johnson's "tax cut plans."

Johnson, 47, is the candidate for Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Jesse Jackson, and is a member of the local Working Families Party. (At least one influential negotiator from the institutional wing of the Democratic Party, Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, also endorsed Johnson.) The Chicago Teachers' Union, arguably the most powerful union in the city, invested heavily in Johnson and donated more than a dollar. Million. to the campaign. Perhaps more important to the union leadership, they scolded Wallas. "The fact that he even claims to run this city is a disgusting display of privilege that can be a disincentive for someone like him," said teachers union president Stacey Davis Gates. “He did not provide proof of his competence. He showed no signs of a unifying force." If County Commissioner Cook found a way to beat Wallace, he would become one of the brightest stars on the Democratic Left, an outspoken progressive in charge of a leading city in America.

On a recent forum, the two men made fun of each other in a very personal way, but the animosity is rooted in ideology. Every Democrat has very different ideas about how America's third-largest city, struggling with a post-pandemic future, should be governed over the next four years. “You build an economy on sand, and once the economy crashes, you run away,” Johnson told Wallace of his experiences as a director in four cities. "The number of killings committed by school-aged students has skyrocketed," Wallas said, recalling the pandemic school closures that Johnson supported. "You must answer yourself.

So far, the race has been tilted slightly towards Wallace, who has waged a disciplined campaign to portray Johnson as too anti-police and business-minded to run Chicago, a city still struggling to fully recover from the devastating effects of the pandemic. “Ultimately he supports defunding the police,” Wallas told me. “Him and the union leadership, the impact on schools has been disastrous. I think that would be bad not only for public safety, but also for public education."

Johnson replied that the former principal would ruin education. “The point here is that the conditions we live in, created and managed by my opponent's financial system, are rearing its ugly head once again to destroy the hopes and dreams of workers and middle managers. Class families and those living in poverty,” he told me. “Fully funded ward schools are ready to take over; he is a privatizer. Affordable housing is at stake; He was part of a government that closed public housing."

Johnson should, in theory at least, be able to make a big difference in Chicago's working-class black community, but Wallas was not without support there. Bobby Rush, a recently retired veteran congressman, announced his support for Wallace, as did Willie Wilson, a long-rumoured businessman and wealthy candidate. In the first ballot, southern and western counties favored Lightfoot, the city's first black woman mayor, and both campaigns vied block by block not only for the black Democrat vote, but for the Hispanic vote of progressive Jesus. "Chui" Garcia in the first round of voting. "I stand with Paul because if you look at what Brandon stood for, Brandon's policies are going to basically destroy this town," said Anthony Beal, a black councilor from far Southside. “Brandon was never in charge of anything; he never led anything.

In 2020, as widespread protests over the police killing of George Floyd rocked Chicago and across America, Johnson introduced a non-binding resolution calling for Cook County to "shift funds from police and detention to third-party public services." redirect law enforcement. . Since then, Johnson has, rhetorically at least, abandoned the Protect the Police movement, which remains popular on the left but has found little popularity elsewhere. Johnson, who has continued to push for more mental health services, jobs and a stronger social safety net to fight violent crime, also said he wants to hire more police detectives and stop slashing the Chicago Police Department's nearly depleted budget. 2 billion dollars.

“If you want to make Chicago better, stronger and safer, you have to invest and spend money. There are no shortcuts to public safety,” Johnson told me. “I understand how some people try to describe me. I understand. When you grow up in America, you really understand a lot more than people think."

As the pandemic, for all its horrors, subsides, bitterness remains in Chicago over the closing of public schools. Unlike New York City, which partially reopened public schools in the fall of 2020, Chicago is not reopening in-person classes until the end of April 2021, a shutdown that lasted more than a year. Union members, as well as many students and parents, feared for their lives, and the hybrid approach adopted by New York City that school year was condemned by teachers and parents alike. But Chicago's long-standing school closures — and the power CTU wielded in negotiations with the city — have been major discussion topics for Wallas, who criticized Johnson for supporting a year without gym classes in the city.

"He was responsible for shutting down the school system for 15 straight months and shutting down systems long after other school districts across the country and state reopened," Wallas said. He argued that school closures had caused "a historic brain drain on students and a dramatic decline in academic achievement." Wallas claims that this has contributed to what he says is a "record increase in homicides and other violent crimes, such as car thefts, being committed by young people outside of school."

In a lull with some Democrats across the country, Johnson has staunchly defended the extended shutdown. “If there is a pandemic 100 years from now, we need to think about how to keep people alive. Most of the people who died during the pandemic were black and brown and saving lives is very important.”

Education, of course, is at the forefront of mayoral elections, with the leader earning his reputation through his tenure as head of a large and complex system of public schools. Wallas has been a longtime proponent of publicly funded private charter schools. "Both President Clinton and President Obama were strong advocates of charter schools," Wallas said. "Why don't we let existing charter schools, which serve 56,000 children in Chicago, 96 percent of whom are black and Hispanic, use vacant buildings that the city has closed down and teachers' unions are barred from occupying charter schools?" Think about it for a moment."

By the 2020s, the charter had lost some of its luster due to falling out of favor with Democrats, who saw it as a covert attempt to destroy unions, and ignored by Trump's Republican Party, which was intrigued by then-education reforms. In New Orleans, where Wallas was tasked with rebuilding the school system after Hurricane Katrina, he quickly closed neighborhood schools and opened start-ups, earning praise and scrutiny. According to the Times-Picayune, "a lack of transparency, a lack of concern for the most disadvantaged students" was criticized. In Philadelphia, Wallas was hired after the state took over the public school system. He made big changes, but left a deficit and a lot of noise. When speaking of Chicago, his supporters, including former labor leaders and veterans of the Obama administration, describe him as a gifted leader with the ability to revive ailing schools. He improved test scores and opened nearly 80 new schools. In the 1990s, he became the first CEO of Chicago Public Schools to receive Bill Clinton's endorsement.

However, there were plenty of detractors in Chicago. Wallas decided to relinquish pension payments to the teacher pension scheme, which had become an enemy of unions and fueled Johnson's campaign. Wallas has been criticized for poor financial management, poor academic growth, and harsh penalties for underperforming schools. For critics of Wallas, then-mayor Rahm Emanuel's divisive attempts to close schools in the neighborhood were rooted in his tenure as principal.

Wallas is better known than Johnson for his high school leadership and previous presidential elections, but neither candidate particularly impressed. Arguments in favor of one inevitably turn to arguments against: Wallas, a predatory neoliberal, against Johnson, an upstart activist politician. As Alderman Beal said, Johnson never did anything right. And when Wallace came to power, controversy inevitably followed. The question remains whether more voters will see Wallas or Johnson as too dangerous for Chicago.

Magic in Romania

One in four high school students dropped out of college because of political, policy, or legal conditions in the states where the colleges are located. That's one of the key findings of a new study by higher education consulting firm Art & Science Group.

The February survey was based on responses from 1,865 high school seniors, of whom 778 said they planned to attend college. The sample was 62% female, 62% white, and came from households with a median annual income of $93,000.

This is true for students of all political persuasions, depending on the political and social policies of the states in which they shared colleges. Among liberals, 31% disapprove of institutions for this reason, conservatives 28% and moderate politicians 22%. Unsurprisingly, among students with no political views, only 12% said politics and government policy would influence where they would go to university.

A model of policy choices affecting college attendance is independent of most individual characteristics. Respondents' gender, race, income, and region did not produce statistically significant differences.

Two features changed the results:

• A higher proportion of LGBTQ+ students (32%) than straight students reported withdrawing from educational institutions for political reasons.
• Non-first-generation college students are more likely to connect their college choice to public policy (26%) than first-generation students (19%).

The four states where liberal arts students are most likely to be rejected are Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. California and New York were the most upset by conservative students.

A third of respondents said they had turned down colleges in their country because of their political or social policies.

The political issues most cited by liberal students when choosing a college were "too Republican," too conservative on abortion laws, too indifferent to racial equality, too conservative, and too soft on LGBTQ laws. . He was circumspect and showed sufficient concern for mental health issues.

When it came to college choices, conservative students chose states that were "more Democratic," more lenient toward LGBTQ laws, with "overwhelming" conservative votes and more liberal laws on abortion and reproductive rights.

These new findings are consistent with previous research showing that the US Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson decision on women's health has influenced college students' decision making.

Last year's BestColleges poll asked respondents about the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe. Wade will affect your decision to stay in the state where you currently attend college, or to attend college for an undergraduate/degree program in a particular state.

• 43% of current students answered yes to this question, 45% answered no, and 12% could not answer. Among current graduate students, 42% answered yes, 40% answered no, and 17% could not answer.
• Although less likely than enrolled students, the overturning of Roe v. Wade will influence their decision to attend college in a particular state: 39% of undergraduates and 35% of alumni say so.

The survey results highlight another challenge for colleges as they compete to meet shrinking enrollment numbers. The report concludes: "As political changes permeate campus life, legislators and campus administrators will consider student input. Most importantly, as regional student markets change, universities must pay close attention. Individuality and uniqueness to attract students to their markets despite the problems of the social policy of the state".

Strong woman fights off male attacker alone at gym USA Today # Summary

WWE's brand of sports entertainment has always existed on its own, sometimes downright exotic and other times, like our own brutal opportunity, cropping up. This is a world where one can be in two places at once, especially someone like Vince McMahon. He had the final say in the company for four decades and also played Lynch's bad boss character, "Mr. McMahon," whose on-screen appeal was based on McMahon's real-life reputation as bad boss Lynch. He lied about the wrestler's match. He was embroiled in a small business dispute and accused of abusing power behind the scenes. Faced with allegations of sexual harassment last summer, he tweeted his resignation in July but returned to the presidency in January. But despite all of this, we still know very little about the real Vince: his youth, his personal struggles.

For his new book, Ringmaster. Vince McMahon and The Annihilation of America Abraham Josephine Raisman spent the past three years in the North Carolina area where the young McMahon lived and interviewed his childhood friends (many of whom did not know they were "Vinny." "Lupton"). I also interviewed dozens of people who knew him in WWE and compiled a comprehensive history of how "Mr. McMahon" operated. Entrepreneur Raisman McMahon, WWE Rights Roles, and American Democracy in an Edited Interview. in length and clarity. He spoke to The Times about the role he could play in the Trump-era threat.

You mentioned in the book that you didn't watch WWE until you started doing it about 20 years ago. Is there any news that inspired you to review it?

The origin of this book was a conversation with my wife about what I should do with the second book. "Vince McMahon," one of us said, and that was a really good idea. A lot of it is just instinct, and then figure out why you have that instinct. When I came up with this idea in 2020, Vince wasn't in the news. As soon as I started digging, I realized that no one actually does this. I don't have to dig too hard to find out that Vince has a lot of interesting stories in his life. There is no shortage of controversy.

I've been in touch with a lot of people since Vince's first day. Has anyone called them before?

No. No one has ever asked about Vince, and certainly no one has seen Vince recently. Vince left North Carolina and never looked back. He decided that his childhood was something he wanted to bury, except for this brief period at the end of the millennium when he talked about it. But it turns out that all this has been distorted. It must serve a purpose. He wanted to create the image of Mr. McMahon, which was one of his top priorities at the time. He revealed this alter ego to be a complete ass from day one. But everyone I spoke to who knew Vince from sixth grade through high school said he was a sweet kid. Friendly, excels in school. He said that he was the first member of his military academy to appear before a court-martial. I can't find confirmation of this.

This is a very good dichotomy. his professional wrestling career started in military school. He is very proud of his professional wrestling career and the reason he hides it is because he cares about his professional wrestling career. He wanted people to believe that he fought at a young age and never stopped instead presenting the fight as a "stage fight".

I've studied mainstream WWE coverage for decades. Have you noticed any changes in his corporate presentation?

However, he delivers his communications in different ways at different times. The surprising thing is that the mass media speculated about it. Wrestling's problem is that because the end result is deemed "silly", people assume the process itself must be funny. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The wrestling training process is so brutal and unfair that no one wants to learn this part. There were times when the media turned on WWE, but it didn't last long.

Vince has fed them many different dishes over the years. In the early 1990s, when faced with doping and other scandals, his response was not very helpful. Today was very different with Vince. But in 1995, after he [the Justice Department] lost a federal case over steroids, there was real change because he described WWF as a brave and proud organization that would no longer be criticized. He began to "spear propaganda" in the media, saying that they were "corrupt" and "want to throw us out", and this changed public opinion somewhat.

At the turn of the millennium, WWE popularized the concept of "we don't care, we do something." It was when that conflict occurred, that was when they became even more famous. Vince, as a wrestler, has repeatedly turned his company's moral parity upside down and usually succeeded.

Were you surprised when Vince returned as a hairstylist in January?

I'm not surprised, no. I thought something like that would happen. In my book it's not at all clear that "it's never coming back". In the Vince McMahon era, Vince still had a very long healthy life left; his mother lived to be 101 years old. But he is the highest authority there. I know he'll be back.

The two interviews in your book really struck me, one with 1980s WWF Women's Champion Wendy Richter and the other with WWF Gulf War era villain (and true friend of Saddam Hussein) General Adnan . In the book, their feelings for Vince are much warmer than anyone could imagine. Kayfabe – Is it difficult for you to separate reality from staged wrestling ?

Of course. This is a fight. I do everything. If anything, it's helpful to have a basic knowledge of what everyone is trying to "work" with you in wrestling. I hope that people will take my research version and expand on it. I am a journalist, I give my best and I have good intelligence when I work hard. I try to avoid everything that is not mentioned. It's a unique environment where lies are baked into simple shapes.

It's also surprising to see how many politicians appear in the book. We know about Vince's longtime friendship with Donald Trump, as well as Ron DeSantis and Rick Santorum. It reminds me of the parallels between modern WWE and modern politics. Does the struggle influence modern politics or is it a reflection of it?

This is a good question. I'm not trying to say "wrestling makes politics like that". It was "Vince McMahon didn't build America" ​​but "Vince McMahon didn't build America". His experience with Vince has taught Trump to talk about rallies, and he has alternate reality techniques. But I'm not trying to say the so-called political struggle. What I'm trying to say is that the model Vince used to seize power is the same model used to seize power in politics and business. The point of this book is that you can't understand today's politics if you don't understand kayfabe.

I don't think anyone can argue after reading this book that struggle is not a useful model for understanding what happens to other societies. When you say, "I am a liar and a bad person," today's society doesn't have the means to punish that person. I wish these people would stop, but it's a lot harder than just checking the facts and saying: Unfortunately, this is still a hoax for a lot of people. I think understanding how Vince succeeded is one of the first steps to understanding how those who want to reform this society can address the challenge.

This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

The feud between the WWE jewel box and Vince McMahon Corporate

© Contributed by The Boston Globe Pastor Defort Floresen of Total Health Christian Ministries in Boston (pictured in December) is an ardent activist for Haitian rights.

Those who remain at home in Haiti are often alone—thinking of them, praying for them, and calling when they can.

For Soraya, her cousin is Jean-Baptiste, a young mother who recently accompanied her husband to the hospital for more than three hours while she gave birth because of the gangs that patrol the streets in her Port-au neighborhood. – Prince.

"No one was allowed to drive. No one could drive. They threatened to kill people and she was walking the whole time," Jean-Baptiste, 32, said of Randolph. "Just hearing that story … it really touched me. I think people have a right to move around their country and not feel like they're in jail."

The conflict in Haiti, which has steadily escalated since the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise by mercenaries, continues to resonate with Haitians in Greater Boston, which has long had the third-largest Haitian population. in the country, according to the US Census Bureau. . Many watch week after week as violence escalates and law and order breaks down, helping where they can and calling for more action both locally and nationally.

"You can't get tired if it's a place you're connected to, a place where you still have family," said Ruci Luigon, a Boston City Council member who spent much of her childhood downtown. Matapan is a densely populated Haitian community.

Luijin, whose family is in the heart of the conflict zone in Port-au-Prince, called on the local community to sponsor Haitians who want to settle in the United States. She also called on the Biden administration to end deportations and make it easier for immigrants to obtain work visas.

"It's about taking in as many people as possible who are fleeing conflict … and getting anti-black people out of our immigration system," she said.

Recent weeks have seen a new wave of killings and kidnappings, with at least 208 people killed, 164 injured and 101 kidnapped in the first two weeks of March alone, according to Marta Hurtado, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner of. Human rights. .

A Haitian couple from South Florida made headlines last week when they were pulled over by a bus while visiting relatives in Haiti. A couple is being held for ransom.

Hurtado's statement said another 323 people were killed in the first two months of the year, most of them by snipers shooting at random people in their homes or on the streets.

Schools have been closed in recent weeks and, without classrooms as shelter, many children have been forcibly recruited by the gangs that control much of the capital Port-au-Prince and block major roads.

We've seen these gangs get their hands on the latest weapons, and do you know where these weapons come from? United States, said Rev. Defort Florissen, 61, an outspoken human rights activist from Haiti and pastor of Total Health Christian Ministries in Boston.

Floresen's sister, who lives near the capital, is one of many parents whose children have been out of school since the new wave of violence in 2018. Time, not days, and children who "just stay at home, waiting ” opening classes for fear of being exposed for kidnapping.

"All schools are completely closed [in many areas]," he said. "It was closed two weeks ago because parents and children were kidnapped on the way to school," she added.

Also, by mid-March, at least 160,000 people had been displaced since the conflict began, including about 40,000 living in makeshift settlements with limited access to drinking water, according to the United Nations, leading to an increase in cases of cholera. As conditions worsen, many Haitians dream of fleeing the country but face obstacles when trying to obtain a passport.

"The pastor called me yesterday and said, 'I have three kids here and I don't want them to join gangs. I want to send them to Chile, Mexico, but I can't get a passport for them!”. said Floresen, who also called on the Biden administration to step in and support efforts to restore localization.

If the United States wants to help, it can help. They have the largest embassy in Haiti. They have [USAID] in all the different [geographical] departments of Haiti. "They can make sure our government issues passports to Haitian voters who want to leave this chaos," he added.

Mikalu Simon, a taxi driver and security guard from Somerville who has eight siblings in Haiti, said he sees no way to stop gang violence other than military force, noting that few gang members can return to traditional ways of working after kidnappings. And the blockade. It turned out to be very profitable.

"How are you going to convince them to put down their guns and join $10-an-hour work programs?" 56-year-old Simon asked. "We don't have an effective justice system to bring them to justice."

Others, however, see a greater role for Haitian immigrants in restoring political stability to their country of origin, using their financial power to more actively protect family interests back home.

There is a lot of money that people outside of Haiti bring into Haiti. From decentralizing capital to diversification, said Jean-Baptiste, who considers himself part of a group of millennials who would like to see a political rally in support of new ideas in Haiti, a parliament historically dominated by older men.

She said that if the government tried ideas "different from the solutions we've been hearing about since the 1990s, I think we would see a different Haiti."

Secret Service agents rush to podium to protect Donald Trump at rally | BNK news

Gov. Ron DeSantis has finally spoken out against Donald Trump's harassment after months of trying to suppress criticism of the former president.

It represents a more aggressive repositioning for the Florida governor, who skipped the 2024 contest but remains Trump's front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination.

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Doubt spread on Capitol Hill as the Federal Reserve continued to raise interest rates to fight inflation amid the collapse of Silicon Valley banks.

The country continues to raise questions after the SVB suffered a $1.8 billion loss and a bipartisan campaign began against the Fed for not seeing the problem.

TikTok continues to be the subject of controversy as its CEO lashed out at lawmakers this week. But the foreign-owned app is frowned upon by supporters who see it as a free speech issue and oppose a potential ban.

President Joe Biden has faced Republicans in Congress with arguably his most powerful weapon: the veto pen.

The Supreme Court has captured national attention, but this time it untied a legal knot for Americans with disabilities with a unanimous decision.

What happened in politics this week?

• The Federal Reserve continued its relentless efforts to contain inflation, including the collapse of the Silicon Valley bank.
• Gov. Ron DeSantis is no longer ignoring former President Donald Trump's attacks
• A joint White House and congressional review of the Chinese app TikTok has drawn opposition from one of the country's most staunchly liberal legislatures.
• President Biden vetoed it the first time and plunged into one of the GOP's most massive culture wars.
• The Supreme Court has warned after the judges unanimously sided with the deaf students

Fed raises interest rates after SVB bankruptcy

Many wondered if the Fed would back down from the collapse of Silicon Valley banks by raising interest rates.

But the agency ended up raising it by a quarter of a percentage point, pushing the federal funds rate to a range of 4.75% to 5%.

© Jacqueline Martin, AP Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, at the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, DC.

The president of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, said in a press conference that they must show how serious they are about inflation, which last June reached a 40-year high of 9.1%.

Economy: Federal Reserve raises interest rates 0.25 basis points to curb inflation, despite bank jitters

"It's important to keep that confidence in our actions and our words," he said.

But Powell is not without favor with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, who, along with Sen. Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, introduced bipartisan legislation to create a new position to oversee the Federal Reserve.

"The Fed made a mistake by not stopping aggressive rate hikes under Chairman Powell," Warren said this week.

"I have been warning for months that the Fed's current policy threatens to put millions of Americans out of work," he added. "We have many tools to fight inflation without destroying the economy."

DeSantis finally responded to Trump

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has brushed off criticism of former President Donald Trump for months, but brightened it up with an interview with British media personality Piers Morgan.

Trump regularly uses his social media platform to bash the Florida governor, considered his biggest challenger in 2024, with names like "Ron de Sanctumonios" and "Ron with Meatballs."

© Phil Sears, AP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers questions from the media after addressing the State of Florida Cabinet during a session of the Senate and House of Representatives, Tuesday, March 7, 2023, at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida.

But as long as people call DeSantis a "winner," it doesn't matter.

Politics: DeSanti's stance on Ukraine differs from that of the Republican presidential nominee

Read more: Despite calls for Trump to protest, little effort has been shown as supporters fear it's a 'trap'.

"I'm not interested in arguing with people on social media," he said. "It does nothing for the people I represent."

Bowman: Follow me on Tik Tok

TikTok CEO Show Zi Chook's speech to Congress was one of the highlights on Capitol Hill this week.

Both parties are trying to limit or block the popular social media app on national security grounds, but diametrically opposed lawmakers have opposed the plans.

Rep. Jamal Bowman, an avid TikTok user and outspoken congressional leader, introduced the ban on the grounds that it went against the country's values ​​of free speech.

The New York Democrat told USA TODAY that the app is "a place where people can express themselves however they want."

Technology: Will TikTok be banned? The CEO faces an "uphill battle" to protect China's holdings on Capitol Hill.

Read more: TikTok CEO gets fired on Capitol Hill

"The ban is an attack on those who prefer freedom of expression on this platform," he said.

Similarly, Senator Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, opposes the ban on TikTok, saying it is affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party.

"TikTok is currently banned in China," said Libertarian Senator Paul. "We will act like the Chinese government if we ban TikTok here."

Biden's first veto was related to environmental, social and institutional governance.

President Joe Biden used his veto on the new pension plan rule for the first time this week.

Congress voted to block Labor Department policies that would allow these plans to balance environmental, social and governance structures, or ESG in short, when making investments.

© USA TODAY President Biden defies GOP with first veto of Climate Retirement Investment Act.

For months, Republicans have criticized the "wake-up" clause as caring more about an ideological program than retirees' pockets.

Money: Republican Party vs. ESG. Why Republicans Fight ESG Investments

The measure passed the Democratic-led Senate in 2024 thanks to Senators John Tester, Democrat Mont and Joe Manchin, Deutsche Welle.

By the way, Trump has vetoed 10 bills during his tenure, and former President Barack Obama vetoed 12 bills.

House Republicans tried to override Biden's veto in Thursday's vote, but fell short of the required two-thirds majority.

Supreme Court accepts deaf student

The Supreme Court makes headlines with its controversial cases, but the 9-0 decision captured America's attention this week.

Such is the case of Miguel Perez, who is deaf and is suing his school in Michigan for damages for the mistakes made in his upbringing. For example, he claimed that the teaching assistants assigned to him did not know sign language.

© by the Luna Perez family. Miguel Luna Perez, who is deaf and pictured here in 2016, filed a lawsuit in the US Supreme Court that would have allowed him to be suspended from school in Sturgis, Michigan to seek damages for failing to provide adequate guidance.

Others: Discussion of special education. Supreme Court unanimously elevates students with disabilities

The key question was whether a person could seek compensation under the Americans with Disabilities Act if they sought assistance under the IDEA.

All nine justices agreed that Perez was not required to exhaust the due process requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) before bringing damages under the ADA.

Legal experts tell USA TODAY that untangling this knotty federal law could give parents of children with disabilities more power to negotiate their education.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: This Week in Politics: DeSantis Opposes Trump; Federal Reserve Raises Interest Rates; TikTok stands out for its freedom of expression

Friday Live: Trump vs. DeSantis vs. Tiktok Ban? Juggin', French National Strike etc. (Superchat)

Congress returns to full session for the first time on Wednesday as lawmakers grapple with the fallout from recent bank failures and try to avoid a full-scale financial crisis.

The sudden and rapid collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank is still reeling from the financial sector's aftermath amid economic uncertainty and significant risks for other banks.

Internationally, Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the war in Ukraine continues in an apparent show of support. Xi's visit could be an escalation of tensions between East and West, as US officials warn that China could provide military support to Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.

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On the Mind of Congress: Preventing Another SV

Another catastrophic SVB-style failure will be on the minds of MPs this week, especially as a new study has revealed that 186 banks are at risk of SVB-style failure if only half of depositors withdraw their funds. .

There is bipartisan agreement among lawmakers that Congress must act in a way to prevent a full-scale financial crisis — it's unclear how.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-North Carolina, told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday that "all options are on the table" when it comes to responding to the crisis.

'It's a call': Advocacy groups and MPs highlight law they say led to SVB's collapse

© Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images Former Rep. Patrick McHenry, RN.C., delivers remarks during the fourth day of voting for Speaker of the House in the U.S. Congress, Jan. 6, 2023, in Washington.

"All options have to be on the table and that's how I approach it," McHenry said, adding that the focus now is on the cause of the bank's failure.

The Federal Reserve announced Monday it would conduct an internal review of Silicon Valley Bank's oversight and regulation, but Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren called for an independent investigation on ABC's "This Week" Sunday.

"I demand that the Fed and the entire regulatory system conduct an independent investigation here. The Fed cannot conduct its own investigation," Warren said.

Related: Silicon Valley's banking crash charted

© Anna Moneymaker, Getty Images Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks to a reporter outside the Senate chambers at the United States Capitol on March 14, 2023 in Washington, DC. Senators resumed the session this week amid the government's response to the closure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

China to meet Russia in apparent show of support for Ukraine war

Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin from Monday to Wednesday in what appears to be a show of support for Russia's continued invasion of Ukraine, a move that could have serious geopolitical consequences amid tensions growing between West and East.

China has refused to condemn Moscow as Ukraine continues to resist Russian aggression, trying to portray itself as a neutral third party when so many Western leaders support Ukraine.

Xi's visit comes as US officials have repeatedly warned of the possibility of China arming Russia with military aid. White House spokesman John Kirby urged Xi to also meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and warned China to seek a unilateral peace deal.

Related: Nuclear War? Is China arming Russia? Fears of a new Cold War are growing.

© Alexander Zemlianichenko, AP FILE – Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin enter a Kremlin meeting room in Moscow, Russia June 5, 2019. China said Friday, March 17, 2023 that President Xi had visited Russia. from Monday March 20 to Wednesday March 22, 2023, in apparent support of Russian President Putin, exacerbating East-West tensions over the Ukrainian conflict.

Is Donald Trump's impeachment coming?

The investigation into the financial silence of former President Donald Trump in Manhattan may enter a new phase. before the 2016 elections.

Joe Tacopina, Trump's attorney, told USA TODAY in an email that Trump's announcement did not include any contact with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

Criminal charges against a former president would be unprecedented, especially with Trump running for the White House in 2024.

The Manhattan probe is just one of many legal investigations implicating Trump, including probes into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents.

What we know: Is Donald Trump in danger of being arrested soon? will he charge?

© Ron Johnson, AP Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event Monday, March 13, 2023, in Davenport, Iowa.

TikTok CEO to testify before Congress

As the crackdown on popular social media app TikTok gains traction on Capitol Hill, the app's CEO, Shou Zi Chew, will testify before Congress for the first time on Thursday.

Lawmakers are increasingly concerned about the app's parent company, ByteDance, given its ties to the Chinese government. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee that the app "screams with national security concerns."

Chew will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee and is expected to be questioned about the app's data security practices and how aggressively it handles users' private data.

Related: Don't ban TikTok from Americans' phones, says NH governor and potential 2024 GOP nominee

© PATRICK T. FALLON, AFP via Getty Images The TikTok logo is seen on a sign outside the social media app's offices in Culver City, California, March 16, 2023.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Congress reviews SVB fallout, Putin and Xi Jinping meet, plus: The Week in Politics

Xi, Putin in Moscow await Trump arrest and Armenian Christians a nation of faith

Below are excerpts from this week's CxO newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox .

Now that Donald J. With Trump and the J6 Prison Choir kicking off Miley Cyrus' new song, "Justice For All," and the world waiting to see if the former president is arrested, it seems like a good time to think about how business leaders are navigating the strange new world of politics. ( Be on the lookout for insider hoaxes that are already circulating ) .

Balancing political preferences and career priorities is an easier task when everyone agrees on common principles such as freedom of choice and the rule of law. But what happens when the party promoting all these tax breaks and pro-business policies also falls into populist rhetoric and anti-democratic actions?

A mixed bag in Modi's India

This is what we are now seeing from leaders like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose Bharatiya Janata Party has been called "the world's most important foreign policy party" by academic Walter Russell Mead. Modi's aggressive pursuit of economic and structural reforms was accompanied by rhetoric and policies that damaged Long India's reputation as a secular and pluralistic society, particularly its Muslim and Christian minorities.

So when I talk to business leaders about India, a country I love and have visited many times in my career, they often express concern about the rise of Hindu nationalism rather than curiosity about the structural improvements they would like to see in the young country. : and this diversity. should be interesting. 1.4 billion people. Fraud allegations against billionaire Gautam Adani have soured his close relationship with Modi, although shareholder William Pesek believes he could eventually help the country's reform process.

Israel is fighting Netanyahu

Look to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to see what can happen when a national leader accused of corruption takes office. The four-time national leader formed a right-wing coalition government while still facing allegations of fraud and breach of trust. This was one of his first steps. reform the country's legal system, essentially stripping the Supreme Court of its real powers. The proposal was so bold and undemocratic that even the nation's air force pilots joined mass protests. (Netanyahu appears to have softened his strongman tactics under anger and pressure from allies.)

I recently spoke with Amit Benadov, CEO and co-founder of Gong.io, who believes the law will harm Israel's democracy and economic future. He compared it to two wolves and a sheep deciding what to eat for dinner. ( Hint: the sheep lose ) "I really thought it would tear the country apart, out of politics," Bendoff said. Politics, like we have to be on the West Coast. This is a game changer, a change in the constitution.

He added: "Every innovation, scientific or technical, comes from doubt, questioning and questioning authority." "When you have an environment that supports authority and loyalty and 'do as I say,' that's where you lose innovation." Click here to learn more about his views on Israel, artificial intelligence and the future of innovation in our Forbes Talks interview.

Latest news about "Maximum Xi" and "Rogue Russia".

In terms of direct geopolitical risks, Russia and China continue to be the biggest external threats facing American companies. Despite the human tragedy and upheaval caused by the war in Ukraine, there are signs of growing alliances and hostility toward America. When China intervened to broker a deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran, it was no surprise that American companies rushed to establish their supply chains in other parts of the world.

I can't think of a better person to understand what's going on on this front than Jan Bremer, a well-known political scientist and head of the Eurasia Group. Click through the interview above for his thoughts.

America's Missing Link

Perhaps the most difficult challenge for American companies, large and small, is navigating the polarized political climate at home. The tone of a centrist leader like New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu doesn't evoke as much emotion as an angry, gruff look. (Here's an interview with Sununu about the political situation and his interest in running for the GOP.) Also, in an era of loyalty politics, throwing arrows both ways might make him think you didn't. team

So what's a business leader to do? Some have taken positions on key issues, such as supporting abortion coverage for workers or pledging to hire refugees, even matching them with military veterans.

Others prefer to double down on their beliefs and even seek out like-minded employees and customers who share the same views. (Red Balloon CEO Andrew Krabochit has created a site where Trump supporters can find jobs, though he insists his approach is for people on both sides of the political spectrum.)

Is this the solution to the rise of extremism and political anger? Hopefully not. Need can be a difficulty to discover and fear is a father that can prevent it. Let's keep the conversation going and have a great week!

Describe Israel's controversial judicial reforms