Tag: international relations and national security

Today’s news in 10 minutes | CNN

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February 22, 2024

Today on CNN10, we take a closer look at some lesser known aspects of US border security. We begin with how US Customs and Border Protection uses artificial intelligence to detect illegal drugs at shipment centers. Next, CNN’s David Culver rides along with maritime Border Security Agents as they patrol the Pacific Ocean. Finally, we follow a young Colombian immigrant who is a nationally ranked chess prodigy in the US.

Click here to access the printable version of today’s CNN 10 transcript

CNN 10 serves a growing audience interested in compact on-demand news broadcasts ideal for explanation seekers on the go or in the classroom. The show’s priority is to identify stories of international significance and then clearly describe why they’re making news, who is affected, and how the events fit into a complex, international society.

Thank you for using CNN 10

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February 21, 2024
Spain Train Bombings Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
—

Here’s a look at the March 2004 bombings of commuter trains in Spain, which killed 193 people and injured more than 1,800. The bombings are the deadliest terrorist attack in Spain’s history.

On March 11, 2004, 10 bombs in backpacks and other small bags exploded on four commuter trains. One bomb did not explode and was defused. The police did controlled explosions of three other bombs.

ETA, a Basque group labeled a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, and al Qaeda were the original suspects cited by the Spanish government.

Through anonymous phone calls to Basque media outlets, ETA vehemently denied involvement.

Islamic militants who were based in Spain but inspired by al Qaeda were designated later as the prime suspects.

March 11, 2004 – Coordinated attacks including 10 bombs on four commuter trains at three different stations kill 191 people and wound more than 1,800.

March 13, 2004 – An al Qaeda claim of responsibility is made via video tape by a man speaking in Arabic with a Moroccan accent.

March 13, 2004 – Five people are arrested in connection to the case 60 hours after the bombings. Three of those arrested are Moroccans, and two are Indian. Prepaid phone cards and a cell phone from backpacks found at the bombing site link the five to the investigation.

March 14, 2004 – The Spanish Interior Ministry releases the names of five people detained in connection with the attacks. The men are identified as Jamal Zougam, Mohamed Bekkali, Mohamed Cahoui, Vinay Kohly and Sureh Komar.

March 18, 2004 – Spanish authorities arrest four North Africans in connection with the bombings. The radio report says three were arrested in the Madrid suburb of Alcala de Henares and the other North African was arrested in northern Spain. They are: Abderrahim Zbakh, Farid Oulad Ali and Mohamed El Hadi Chedadi, whose brother, Said Chedadi, was indicted last September by a Spanish judge for links to al Qaeda.
– The fourth suspect is not identified but is described as being of Arab descent.
– The fifth suspect is a Spanish citizen who goes by the name of Jose Emilio Suarez Trashorras. He is arrested in northern Spain.

March 19, 2004 – Spain’s National Court charges five suspects in connection with the bombings and remands them into custody after an all-night court session. The Court also releases Ali Amrous, an Algerian man held in connection with the Madrid terror attacks and suspected of being an al Qaeda member.

March 22, 2004 – Spanish state radio reports four new arrests in the Madrid bombings.

March 24, 2004 – A Spanish judge charges two more suspects, Naima Oulad and Rafa Zouhier, in the train bombings, bringing the total number of people charged in the attacks to 11.

March 25, 2004 – A Spanish judge charges a Moroccan man, Faisal Alluch, with collaborating with a terrorist group in connection with the train bombings, boosting the number to 12 suspects who have been charged in the case.

March 30, 2004 – Spanish Interior Minister Angel Acebes names a Moroccan terrorist group, Moroccan Islamist Combat Group (GICM), as the principal focus in the investigation.

March 30, 2004 – Moroccan Fouad El Morabit, who had been released without charges, is rearrested. Court sources also confirm the latest arrest in the case, a man identified as Otman el Gnaout.

March 30, 2004 – Basel Ghayoun, a Syrian man, is charged in the bombings. Hamid Ahmidan of Morocco is charged with collaborating with a terrorist group and a count of drug possession. Three other men are released.

March 31, 2004 – A Spanish National Court judge issues international arrest warrants for six more suspects as the investigation focuses on the GICM. The Interior Ministry says five of the men sought are Moroccans. They include two brothers and a man who is related to other Moroccans previously arrested. The sixth man sought is Tunisian.

March 31, 2004 – Arraignments begin for two men, Antonio Toro Castro of Spain and Mustafa Ahmidam from Morocco.

April 2, 2004 – A bomb found under high-speed rail tracks between Madrid and Seville appears to be made of the same explosives used in the March 11 attacks.

April 2, 2004 – A Spanish judge releases without charges two Syrian men who had been detained in connection with the March 11 Madrid train bombings. He also frees a Moroccan man but orders him to report daily to police until further notice.

April 3, 2004 – Seven suspected terrorists kill themselves and a policeman when they set off an explosion in a suburb of Madrid as police attempt to enter a building. The suspects are presumed to be involved in the train bombings. Fingerprints at the scene later result in more arrests, including Saswan Sabagh.

April 3, 2004 – Spanish authorities arrest two more people but the identities of the two are not released.

April 7, 2004 – A National Court judge charges two more Moroccan suspects, Abdelilah El Fuad and Rachid Adli, in the March 11 Madrid train bombings.

April 12, 2004 – Spanish police arrest three more suspects. One of the three was identified as Morabit, who has now been detained three times. The other two are not identified.

May 6, 2004 – Brandon Mayfield, an American attorney, is taken into custody by the FBI in connection with the attacks. His fingerprints were found on a bag containing detonators of the kind used in the attacks, in close proximity to the blast site. The Spanish Interior Ministry spokesman said the plastic bag was found inside a stolen van left near the Alcala train station, from which the three bombed trains departed. US sources are calling him a material witness, not formally charging him with a crime as of yet, and state that he is a follower of Islam.

November 2004 – Spanish lawmakers launch an inquiry into the train bombings.

January 2005 – Spain’s interior minister says Spanish officials have made 66 arrests in the train bombing investigation.

April 11, 2006 – Twenty-nine people are indicted in a Spanish court in connection with the bombings. Five men are charged with planning and carrying out the plot, and a sixth is named as a “necessary collaborator.” The rest are charged with supporting roles.

February 15, 2007 – Start date of trial for 29 defendants. Seven defendants are considered prime suspects, and they each could face sentences of about 38,000 years in prison for mass murder, if convicted.

March 11, 2007 – For the third anniversary of the bombing, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia dedicate a memorial for the victims at the Atocha station. It is a glass cylinder which opens into a meditation chamber.

June 4, 2007 – One of the 29 defendants in the Madrid train bombings trial, Brahim Moussaten, has been cleared of all charges and is now a free man, a court spokeswoman tells CNN.

October 31, 2007 – Verdicts are read for the remaining 28 defendants. Three men are found guilty of the most serious charges and sentenced to thousands of years in prison. However, under Spanish law, they will serve only 40 years. Eighteen defendants are found guilty of lesser charges. Seven defendants are acquitted, including alleged mastermind Rabei Osman.

July 17, 2008 – Four defendants, Basel Ghalyoun, Mouhannad Almallah Dabas, Abdelilah el-Fadual al-Akil and Raúl González, have their convictions overturned. The acquittal of Osman is also upheld.

December 18, 2008 – A criminal court in Morocco convicts Abdelilah Ahriz of belonging to a terrorist group involved in the train bombings and sentences him to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors originally requested that Ahriz be given a life sentence, saying DNA sampling proved his involvement in preparing the train bombings.

May 12, 2009 – Ten of the 14 suspected Islamic militants accused of assisting the three suspects are acquitted by Spain’s anti-terrorism court. The ruling gives the remaining four sentences between two and nine years for falsifying documents or being part of a terrorist group.

January 13, 2010 – A Spanish court convicts five men accused of Islamic terrorist activities, including aiding fugitives from the Madrid train bombings of 2004 and planning other attacks. Their sentences, on charges of collaborating or belonging to an Islamic terrorist group, range from five to nine years in prison.

February 2011 – Spain’s Supreme Court overturns the lower court’s conviction of the five men convicted in January 2010 for Islamic terrorist activities that included aiding fugitives from the Madrid train bombings and planning other attacks.

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February 21, 2024
February 16, 2024 Israel-Hamas war | CNN

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This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows Egypt building a miles-wide buffer zone, and border wall, along its border with Gaza.

Maxar Technologies

Egypt is building a miles-wide buffer zone and wall along its border with Gaza, new satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies shows.

The images, taken in the last five days, show a significant section of Egyptian territory between a roadway and the Gaza border has been bulldozed.

When the buffer zone — which stretches from the end of the Gaza border to the Mediterranean Sea — is completed, it will engulf the Egyptian-Rafah border crossing complex.

At the actual border, multiple cranes were seen laying sections of wall.

Additional satellite imagery reviewed by CNN shows that bulldozers arrived on site on February 3, and that the initial excavation of the buffer zone began on February 6.

There has been a significant uptick in excavation in the last five days.

Videos released by the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights show construction of the border wall, which they said would be 5 meters (16 feet) high.

The organization, which describes itself as a non-governmental human rights group, said two local contractors told them the border wall was commissioned by the Egyptian armed forces. CNN has reached out to the Egyptian government for comment.

The construction comes as fears that the already horrific humanitarian situation in Gaza will worsen, causing thousands of deaths and a mass exodus of Palestinians over Egypt’s border.

All eyes are on Rafah, situated along the new buffer zone, where over a million Palestinian refugees are taking shelter in a massive tent city.

Despite international pressure, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained that the Israeli forces will enter Rafah. Many fear that military action in the refugee tent city could spark an exodus, but also result in the deaths of thousands of civilians.

Netanyahu continues to rail against Egypt for not closing the Philadelphi Corridor — the strip of land between Egypt and Gaza and the strip’s only non-Israeli controlled border. Netanyahu has said that Israel would not consider the war over until it was closed.

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February 16, 2024
Mahmoud Abbas Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
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Here’s a look at the life of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Birth date: 1935

Birth place: Safed, Palestine

Marriage: Amina Abbas

Children: Three sons Mazen (died in 2002), Yasser and Tareq

Education: Damascus University, B.A.; Oriental College (in Moscow), Ph.D.

His family left the British Mandate area Safed, Palestine, to live in Syria as refugees in 1948.

Abbas laid floor tiles and taught elementary school before earning a law degree.

Played an integral role in the forging of the Declaration of Principles, the historic Oslo Accords signed in 1993 by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel.

Was the primary force behind the Palestine National Council’s decision to work with Israeli peace groups.

He is also known as Abu Mazen. (Abu is a slang term to describe the head of a family or father of children.)

1959 – Founding member of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), which became the largest political group of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).

1964 – Fatah joins the PLO.

1967 – Is appointed to Fatah’s Central Committee.

1968 – Joins the Palestinian National Council (PNC).

1980 – Is elected to the PLO’s Executive Committee.

September 1993 – Accompanies Arafat to the White House to sign the Oslo Accords, or the Declaration of Principles.

1995 – Signs the Interim Peace Agreement with Israel.

March 19, 2003 – Accepts the position of prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.

June 3, 2003 – Meets with US President George W. Bush and the leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain, in Egypt, regarding peace efforts.

September 6, 2003 – Resigns as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.

November 11, 2004 – Becomes the chairman of the PLO after Arafat’s death.

January 9, 2005 – Declares victory in Palestinian presidential elections.

May 26, 2005 – Meets with Bush; the first meeting with the Palestinian Authority in the White House since peace talks broke down in 2000. Bush pledges to give the Palestinian Authority $50 million in aid.

May 31, 2005 – Undergoes a successful, minor heart procedure in a hospital in Amman, Jordan.

February 21, 2006 – Asks Hamas leader Ismail Haniya to assemble a government. Haniya is sworn in in March.

June 14, 2007 – Dissolves the government and dismisses Haniya as prime minister. Haniya rejects this and remains the de facto leader in the Gaza Strip.

June 15, 2007 – Appoints economist Salam Fayyad as the new prime minister of an emergency Palestinian Cabinet.

November 27, 2007 – Attends the Annapolis Middle East Peace Conference, the first formal peace conference sponsored by the US since 2000. Top diplomats and representatives from dozens of countries and organizations also attend, hoping to restart stalled Middle East peace negotiations.

April 24, 2008 – Meets with Bush at the White House.

January 2009 – Extends his term in office until 2010, citing a clause in the constitution.

December 16, 2009 – The PLO’s Central Council votes to extend Abbas’s term as president indefinitely.

May 4, 2011 – Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal formally adopt a reconciliation agreement during a ceremony in Egypt.

September 16, 2011 – Abbas announces during a speech in Ramallah that he will pursue a full United Nations membership bid for Palestine.

September 23, 2011 – Abbas submits a statehood application letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

January 3, 2013 – Abbas issues a decree renaming the organization the “State of Palestine.”

December 31, 2014 – One day after the UN Security Council rejects a resolution calling for Palestinian statehood by 2017, and for Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Abbas applies to join the International Criminal Court. This sets the stage for the Palestinian Authority to possibly pursue war crime complaints against Israel.

September 30, 2015 – Addresses the UN General Assembly before the historic raising of the Palestinian flag at the United Nations, saying the Palestinian Authority is no longer bound by the Oslo Accords.

September 8, 2016 – Once-secret Soviet documents, obtained by CNN from the Mitrokhin Archive at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge, claim that Abbas, who completed graduate work in Moscow in 1982, was a KGB agent while he was a member of the PLO in Damascus. Palestinian leaders decry the report as a “smear campaign.”

September 30, 2016 – Attends the funeral of Israeli statesman Shimon Peres and shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

October 6, 2016 – Is hospitalized to have his heart tested.

May 3, 2017 – Meets with US President Donald Trump at the White House.

December 10, 2017 – Abbas cancels a meeting with US Vice President Mike Pence following Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

January 14, 2018 – Abbas calls on the PLO to “revise all the agreements signed between the PLO and Israel because Israel has brought these agreements to a dead end,” and accuses Israel of ending the Oslo agreement. This criticism comes six weeks after Trump announces recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

April 30, 2018 – Abbas speaks at the opening of the Palestinian National Council remarking that the Holocaust was driven not by antisemitism, but by the financial activities of European Jews. He apologizes a few days later.

May 28, 2018 – Is released from the hospital after being treated for pneumonia.

January 28, 2020 – Abbas rejects Trump’s Middle East “Peace to Prosperity” plan, unveiled alongside Netanyahu at the White House, saying at a news conference from Ramallah in the West Bank that “Jerusalem is not for sale. All our rights are not for sale or for compromise. Your deal is a conspiracy and it will not work.” Abbas, having cut diplomatic contact with the US in December 2017, did not attend the unveiling and had not been briefed in the plan.

April 29, 2021 – Abbas announces the postponement of planned parliamentary elections, saying Israel has failed to confirm it will allow voting in East Jerusalem.

August 16, 2022 – At a news conference in Berlin, Abbas says Israel has caused “50 Holocausts” against Palestinians, triggering outrage from world leaders and a social media storm.

November 5, 2023 – Abbas meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Ramallah amid escalating settler violence in the West Bank following Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7.

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December 26, 2023
2023 In Review Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
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Here is a look back at the events of 2023.

January 3 – Republican Kevin McCarthy fails to secure enough votes to be elected Speaker of the House in three rounds of voting. On January 7, McCarthy is elected House speaker after multiple days of negotiations and 15 rounds of voting. That same day, the newly elected 118th Congress is officially sworn in.

January 7 – Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, is pulled over for reckless driving. He is hospitalized following the arrest and dies three days later from injuries sustained during the traffic stop. Five officers from the Memphis Police Department are fired. On January 26, a grand jury indicts the five officers. They are each charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. On September 12, the five officers are indicted by a federal grand jury on several charges including deprivation of rights.

January 9 – The White House counsel’s office confirms that several classified documents from President Joe Biden’s time as vice president were discovered last fall in an office at the Penn Biden Center. On January 12, the White House counsel’s office confirms a small number of additional classified documents were located in President Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware, home.

January 13 – The Trump Organization is fined $1.6 million – the maximum possible penalty – by a New York judge for running a decade-long tax fraud scheme.

January 21 – Eleven people are killed in a mass shooting at a dance studio in Monterey Park, California, as the city’s Asian American community was celebrating Lunar New Year. The 72-year-old gunman is found dead the following day from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

January 24 – CNN reports that a lawyer for former Vice President Mike Pence discovered about a dozen documents marked as classified at Pence’s Indiana home last week, and he has turned those classified records over to the FBI.

January 25 – Facebook-parent company Meta announces it will restore former President Donald Trump’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram in the coming weeks, just over two years after suspending him in the wake of the January 6 Capitol attack.

February 1 – Tom Brady announces his retirement after 23 seasons in the NFL.

February 2 – Defense officials announce the United States is tracking a suspected Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental United States. On February 4, a US military fighter jet shoots down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean. On June 29, the Pentagon reveals the balloon did not collect intelligence while flying over the country.

February 3 – A Norfolk Southern freight train carrying hazardous materials derails in East Palestine, Ohio. An evacuation order is issued for the area within a mile radius of the train crash. The order is lifted on February 8. After returning to their homes, some residents report they have developed a rash and nausea.

February 7 – Lebron James breaks the NBA’s all-time scoring record, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

February 15 – Payton Gendron, 19, who killed 10 people in a racist mass shooting at a grocery store in a predominantly Black area of Buffalo last May, is sentenced to life in prison.

February 18 – In a statement, the Carter Center says that former President Jimmy Carter will begin receiving hospice care at his home in Georgia.

February 20 – President Biden makes a surprise trip to Kyiv for the first time since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost a year ago.

February 23 – Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly is sentenced to 20 years in prison in a Chicago federal courtroom on charges of child pornography and enticement of a minor. Kelly is already serving a 30-year prison term for his 2021 conviction on racketeering and sex trafficking charges in a New York federal court. Nineteen years of the 20-year prison sentence will be served at the same time as his other sentence. One year will be served after that sentence is complete.

February 23 – Harvey Weinstein, who is already serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York, is sentenced in Los Angeles to an additional 16 years in prison for charges of rape and sexual assault.

March 2 – SpaceX and NASA launch a fresh crew of astronauts on a mission to the International Space Station, kicking off a roughly six-month stay in space. The mission — which is carrying two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates — took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

March 2 – The jury in the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh finds him guilty of murdering his wife and son. Murdaugh, the 54-year-old scion of a prominent and powerful family of local lawyers and solicitors, is also found guilty of two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in the killings of Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh on June 7, 2021.

March 3 – Four US citizens from South Carolina are kidnapped by gunmen in Matamoros, Mexico, in a case of mistaken identity. On March 7, two of the four Americans, Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown, are found dead and the other two, Latavia McGee and Eric Williams, are found alive. The cartel believed responsible for the armed kidnapping issues an apology letter and hands over five men to local authorities.

March 10 – The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announces that Silicon Valley Bank was shut down by California regulators. This is the second largest bank failure in US history, only to Washington Mutual’s collapse in 2008. SVB Financial Group, the former parent company of SVB, files for bankruptcy on March 17.

March 27 – A 28-year-old Nashville resident shoots and kills three children and three adults at the Covenant School in Nashville. The shooter is fatally shot by responding officers.

March 29 – Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is detained by Russian authorities and accused of spying. On April 7, he is formally charged with espionage.

March 30 – A grand jury in New York votes to indict Trump, the first time in American history that a current or former president has faced criminal charges. On April 4, Trump surrenders and is placed under arrest before pleading not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges of falsifying business records. Prosecutors allege that Trump sought to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election through a hush money scheme with payments made to women who claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump. He has denied the affairs.

April 6 – Two Democratic members of the Tennessee House of Representatives, Rep. Justin Jones and Rep. Justin Pearson, are expelled while a third member, Rep. Gloria Johnson, is spared in an ousting by Republican lawmakers that was decried by the trio as oppressive, vindictive and racially motivated. This comes after Jones, Pearson and Johnson staged a demonstration on the House floor calling for gun reform following the shooting at the Covenant School. On April 10, Rep. Jones is sworn back in following a unanimous vote by the Nashville Metropolitan Council to reappoint him as an interim representative. On April 12, the Shelby County Board of Commissioners vote to confirm the reappointment of Rep. Pearson.

April 6-13 – ProPublica reports that Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, conservative activist Ginni Thomas, have gone on several luxury trips involving travel subsidized by and stays at properties owned by Harlan Crow, a GOP megadonor. The hospitality was not disclosed on Thomas’ public financial filings with the Supreme Court. The following week ProPublica reports Thomas failed to disclose a 2014 real estate deal he made with Crow. On financial disclosure forms released on August 31, Thomas discloses the luxury trips and “inadvertently omitted” information including the real estate deal.

April 7 – A federal judge in Texas issues a ruling on medication abortion drug mifepristone, saying he will suspend the US Food and Drug Administration’s two-decade-old approval of it but paused his ruling for seven days so the federal government can appeal. But in a dramatic turn of events, a federal judge in Washington state says in a new ruling shortly after that the FDA must keep medication abortion drugs available in more than a dozen Democratic-led states.

April 13 – 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard is arrested by the FBI in connection with the leaking of classified documents that have been posted online.

April 18 – Fox News reaches a last-second settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, paying more than $787 million to end a two-year legal battle that publicly shredded the network’s credibility. Fox News’ $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems is the largest publicly known defamation settlement in US history involving a media company.

April 25 – President Biden formally announces his bid for reelection.

May 2 – More than 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) go on strike for the first time since 2007. On September 26, the WGA announces its leaders have unanimously voted to authorize its members to return to work following the tentative agreement reached on September 24 between union negotiators and Hollywood’s studios and streaming services, effectively ending the months-long strike.

May 9 – A Manhattan federal jury finds Trump sexually abused former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll in a luxury department store dressing room in the spring of 1996 and awards her $5 million for battery and defamation.

June 8 – Trump is indicted on a total of 37 counts in the special counsel’s classified documents probe. In a superseding indictment filed on July 27, Trump is charged with one additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts, bringing the total to 40 counts.

June 16 – Robert Bowers, the gunman who killed 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, is convicted by a federal jury on all 63 charges against him. He is sentenced to death on August 2.

June 18 – A civilian submersible disappears with five people aboard while voyaging to the wreckage of the Titanic. On June 22, following a massive search for the submersible, US authorities announce the vessel suffered a “catastrophic implosion,” killing all five people aboard.

June 20 – ProPublica reports that Justice Samuel Alito did not disclose a luxury 2008 trip he took in which a hedge fund billionaire flew him on a private jet, even though the businessman would later repeatedly ask the Supreme Court to intervene on his behalf. In a highly unusual move, Alito preemptively disputed the nature of the report before it was published, authoring an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in which he acknowledged knowing billionaire Paul Singer but downplaying their relationship.

June 29 – The Supreme Court says colleges and universities can no longer take race into consideration as a specific basis for granting admission, a landmark decision overturning long-standing precedent.

July 13 – The FDA approves Opill to be available over-the-counter, the first nonprescription birth control pill in the United States.

July 14 – SAG-AFTRA, a union representing about 160,000 Hollywood actors, goes on strike after talks with major studios and streaming services fail. It is the first time its members have stopped work on movie and television productions since 1980. On November 8, SAG-AFTRA and the studios reach a tentative agreement, officially ending the strike.

July 14 – Rex Heuermann, a New York architect, is charged with six counts of murder in connection with the deaths of three of the four women known as the “Gilgo Four.”

August 1 – Trump is indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington, DC, in the 2020 election probe. Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.

August 8 – Over 100 people are killed and hundreds of others unaccounted for after wildfires engulf parts of Maui. Nearly 3,000 homes and businesses are destroyed or damaged.

August 14 – Trump and 18 others are indicted by an Atlanta-based grand jury on state charges stemming from their efforts to overturn the former president’s 2020 electoral defeat. Trump now faces a total of 91 charges in four criminal cases, in four different jurisdictions — two federal and two state cases. On August 24, Trump surrenders at the Fulton County jail where he is processed and released on bond.

August 23 – Eight Republican presidential candidates face off in the first primary debate of the 2024 campaign in Milwaukee.

September 12 – House Speaker McCarthy announces he is calling on his committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden, even as they have yet to prove allegations he directly profited off his son’s foreign business deals.

September 14 – Hunter Biden is indicted by special counsel David Weiss in connection with a gun he purchased in 2018, the first time in US history the Justice Department has charged the child of a sitting president. The three charges include making false statements on a federal firearms form and possession of a firearm as a prohibited person.

September 22 – New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez is charged with corruption-related offenses for the second time in 10 years. Menendez and his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, are accused of accepting “hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes” in exchange for the senator’s influence, according to the newly unsealed federal indictment.

September 28 – Dianne Feinstein, the longest-serving female US senator in history, dies at the age of 90. On October 1, California Governor Gavin Newsom announces he will appoint Emily’s List president Laphonza Butler to replace her. Butler will become the first out Black lesbian to join Congress. She will also be the sole Black female senator serving in Congress and only the third in US history.

September 29 – Las Vegas police confirm Duane Keith Davis, aka “Keffe D,” was arrested for the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.

October 3 – McCarthy is removed as House speaker following a 216-210 vote, with eight Republicans voting to remove McCarthy from the post.

October 25 – After three weeks without a speaker, the House votes to elect Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana.

October 25 – Robert Card, a US Army reservist, kills 18 people and injures 13 others in a shooting rampage in Lewiston, Maine. On October 27, after a two-day manhunt, he is found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot.

November 13 – The Supreme Court announces a code of conduct in an attempt to bolster the public’s confidence in the court after months of news stories alleging that some of the justices have been skirting ethics regulations.

November 19 – Former first lady Rosalynn Carter passes away at the age of 96.

January 8 – Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro storm the country’s congressional building, Supreme Court and presidential palace. The breaches come about a week after the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in a runoff election on October 30.

January 15 – At least 68 people are killed when an aircraft goes down near the city of Pokhara in central Nepal. This is the country’s deadliest plane crash in more than 30 years.

January 19 – New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden announces she will not seek reelection in October.

January 24 – President Volodymyr Zelensky fires a slew of senior Ukrainian officials amid a growing corruption scandal linked to the procurement of war-time supplies.

February 6 – More than 15,000 people are killed and tens of thousands injured after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes Turkey and Syria.

February 28 – At least 57 people are killed after two trains collide in Greece.

March 1 – Bola Ahmed Tinubu is declared the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election.

March 10 – Xi Jinping is reappointed as president for another five years by China’s legislature in a ceremonial vote in Beijing, a highly choreographed exercise in political theater meant to demonstrate legitimacy and unity of the ruling elite.

March 16 – The French government forces through controversial plans to raise the country’s retirement age from 62 to 64.

April 4 – Finland becomes the 31st member of NATO.

April 15 – Following months of tensions in Sudan between a paramilitary group and the country’s army, violence erupts.

May 3 – A 13-year-old boy opens fire on his classmates at a school in Belgrade, Serbia, killing at least eight children along with a security guard. On May 4, a second mass shooting takes place when an attacker opens fire in the village of Dubona, about 37 miles southeast of Belgrade, killing eight people.

May 5 – The World Health Organization announces Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency.

May 6 – King Charles’ coronation takes place at Westminster Abbey in London.

August 4 – Alexey Navalny is sentenced to 19 years in prison on extremism charges, Russian media reports. Navalny is already serving sentences totaling 11-and-a-half years in a maximum-security facility on fraud and other charges that he says were trumped up.

September 8 – Over 2,000 people are dead and thousands are injured after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake hits Morocco.

October 8 – Israel formally declares war on the Palestinian militant group Hamas after it carried out an unprecedented attack by air, sea and land on October 7.

November 8 – The Vatican publishes new guidelines opening the door to Catholic baptism for transgender people and babies of same-sex couples.

November 24 – The first group of hostages is released after Israel and Hamas agree to a temporary truce. Dozens more hostages are released in the following days. On December 1, the seven-day truce ends after negotiations reach an impasse and Israel accuses Hamas of violating the agreement by firing at Israel.

Awards and Winners

January 9 – The College Football Playoff National Championship game takes place at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The Georgia Bulldogs defeat Texas Christian University’s Horned Frogs 65-7 for their second national title in a row.

January 10 – The 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards are presented live on NBC.

January 16-29 – The 111th Australian Open takes place. Novak Djokovic defeats Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets to win a 10th Australian Open title and a record-equaling 22nd grand slam. Belarusian-born Aryna Sabalenka defeats Elena Rybakina in three sets, becoming the first player competing under a neutral flag to secure a grand slam.

February 5 – The 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony takes place in Los Angeles at the Crypto.com Arena.

February 12 – Super Bowl LVII takes place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35. This is the first Super Bowl to feature two Black starting quarterbacks.

February 19 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wins the 65th Annual Daytona 500 in double overtime. It is the longest Daytona 500 ever with a record of 212 laps raced.

March 12 – The 95th Annual Academy Awards takes place, with Jimmy Kimmel hosting for the third time.

March 14 – Ryan Redington wins his first Iditarod.

April 2 – The Louisiana State University Tigers defeat the University of Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 in Dallas, to win the program’s first NCAA women’s basketball national championship.

April 3 – The University of Connecticut Huskies win its fifth men’s basketball national title with a 76-59 victory over the San Diego State University Aztecs in Houston.

April 6-9 – The 87th Masters tournament takes place. Jon Rahm wins, claiming his first green jacket and second career major at Augusta National.

April 17 – The 127th Boston Marathon takes place. The winners are Evans Chebet of Kenya in the men’s division and Hellen Obiri of Kenya in the women’s division.

May 6 – Mage, a 3-year-old chestnut colt, wins the 149th Kentucky Derby.

May 8-9 – The 147th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show takes place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York. Buddy Holly, a petit basset griffon Vendéen, wins Best in Show.

May 20 – National Treasure wins the 148th running of the Preakness Stakes.

May 21 – Brooks Koepka wins the 105th PGA Championship at Oak Hill County Club in Rochester, New York. This is his third PGA Championship and fifth major title of his career.

May 22-June 11 – The French Open takes place at Roland Garros Stadium in Paris. Novak Djokovic wins a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title, defeating Casper Ruud 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 7-5 in the men’s final. Iga Świątek wins her third French Open in four years with a 6-2 5-7 6-4 victory against the unseeded Karolína Muchová in the women’s final.

May 28 – Josef Newgarden wins the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500.

June 10 – Arcangelo wins the 155th running of the Belmont Stakes.

June 11 – The 76th Tony Awards takes place.

June 12 – The Denver Nuggets defeat the Miami Heat 94-89 in Game 5, to win the series 4-1 and claim their first NBA title in franchise history.

June 13 – The Vegas Golden Knights defeat the Florida Panthers in Game 5 to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.

June 18 – American golfer Wyndham Clark wins the 123rd US Open at The Los Angeles Country Club.

July 1-23 – The 110th Tour de France takes place. Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard wins his second consecutive Tour de France title.

July 3-16 – Wimbledon takes place in London. Carlos Alcaraz defeats Novak Djokovic 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 in the men’s final, to win his first Wimbledon title. Markéta Vondroušová defeats Ons Jabeur 6-4 6-4 in the women’s final, to win her first Wimbledon title and become the first unseeded woman in the Open Era to win the tournament.

July 16-23 – Brian Harman wins the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, Wirral, England, for his first major title.

July 20-August 20 – The Women’s World Cup takes place in Australia and New Zealand. Spain defeats England 1-0 to win its first Women’s World Cup.

August 28-September 10 – The US Open Tennis Tournament takes place. Coco Gauff defeats Aryna Sabalenka, and Novak Djokovic defeats Daniil Medvedev.

October 2-9 – The Nobel Prizes are announced. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi for “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all,” according to the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

November 1 – The Texas Rangers win the World Series for the first time in franchise history, defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 in Game 5.

November 5 – The New York City Marathon takes place. Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola sets a course record and wins the men’s race. Kenya’s Hellen Obiri wins the women’s race.

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December 7, 2023
Ebrahim Raisi Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
—

Here’s a look at the life of Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi.

Birth date: December 14, 1960

Birth place: Mashhad, Iran

Full name: Sayyid Ebrahim Raisol-Sadati

Father: Seyyed Haji, a cleric

Mother: Sayyedeh Esmat Khodadad Husseini

Marriage: Jamileh Alamolhoda (1983-present)

Children: Two daughters

Education: Attended seminary in Qom; Shahid Motahari University, Ph.D in law

Religion: Islamic, Shiite Muslim

His father passed away when Raisi was 5 years old.

Wears a black turban, signifying that he is a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.

Has long opposed engagement with the West and is a close ally of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei.

Raisi is the first elected Iranian leader who is under US sanctions.

Early 1980s – Prosecutor for the cities of Karaj and Hamadan.

1985-1988 – Deputy prosecutor of Tehran, Iran.

1988 – According to different rights groups, Raisi is part of a four-person “death panel” which allegedly oversees the mass execution of up to 5,000 political prisoners. To date, Raisi has never publicly commented on these allegations, but it’s believed that he rarely leaves Iran for fear of retribution or international justice over the executions.

1989-1994 – Prosecutor general of Tehran.

1994-2004 – Head of the General Inspection Organization, tasked with investigating misconduct and corruption.

2004-2014 – First deputy chief justice.

2006 – Raisi is elected to the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body that appoints the supreme leader.

2012 – Becomes prosecutor general of the Special Court for the Clergy.

2014-2016 – Prosecutor general of Iran.

2016-2019 – Custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, a foundation reportedly worth billions, and responsible for managing the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad.

May 19, 2017 – Loses in the presidential election to Hassan Rouhani, claiming 38.5% of the vote to Rouhani’s 57%.

March 7, 2019 – Ayatollah Khamenei appoints Raisi as chief justice.

March 12, 2019 – Elected deputy chief of the Assembly of Experts.

November 4, 2019 – The US Department of the Treasury sanctions Raisi, citing his participation in the 1988 “death commission” and also a United Nations report indicating that Iran’s judiciary approved the execution of at least nine children between 2018 and 2019.

June 19, 2021 – Is declared the winner of a historically uncompetitive presidential election in Iran. Raisi wins almost 18 million of the nearly 29 million ballots cast, according to Interior Minister Rahmani Fazli. Many reform-minded Iranians had refused to take part in an election widely seen as a foregone conclusion. Overall voter turnout was only 48.8% – the lowest since the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979.

June 21, 2021 – In his first international news conference since being elected president, Raisi says he would not meet with US President Joe Biden, even if both sides agreed on terms to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, under which Iran had pledged to stop uranium enrichment in return for the lifting of crippling US sanctions. Responding to a question from CNN, the president-elect accuses the United States and the European Union of violating the deal and calls on Biden to lift all sanctions, before adding that Iran’s ballistic missile program is “not up for negotiation.”

August 5, 2021 – Is officially sworn in as president.

November 2023 – Raisi attends a summit in Saudi Arabia where Arab and Muslim leaders decry Israeli “war crimes” in Gaza. Speaking at the summit, Raisi says “we have gathered here today to discuss the focus of the Islamic world, which is the Palestinian cause, where we’ve witnessed the worst crimes in history.”

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December 6, 2023
Boston Marathon bomber moved to Supermax | CNN

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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, sentenced to death in the Boston Marathon bombings, has been moved to Supermax, the nation’s most secure federal prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

He had been held in USP Florence, a separate prison in Florence, Colorado.

A federal jury sentenced Tsarnaev to death in May for his involvement in the 2013 bombings at the marathon. Two women and an 8-year-old boy were killed and more than 260 people were injured.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons was in charge of determining whether Tsarnaev was placed in Supermax or death row at the penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, to wait out the lengthy appeals process.

Supermax is home to criminals such as Ramzi Yousef, who plotted the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center; 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui; “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski; and Richard Reid, the “shoe bomber.”

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December 6, 2023
Henry Kissinger Fast Facts | CNN

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Here’s a look at the life of former National Security Adviser and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Birth date: May 27, 1923

Death date: November 29, 2023

Birth place: Furth, Germany

Birth name: Heinz Alfred Kissinger

Father: Louis Kissinger, teacher

Mother: Paula (Stern) Kissinger

Marriages: Nancy (Maginnes) Kissinger (March 30, 1974-November 29, 2023, his death); Ann Fleischer (1949-1964, divorced)

Children: with Ann Fleischer: Elizabeth and David

Education: Harvard University, B.A., 1950; M.A., 1952; Ph.D., 1954

Military: US Army, 1943-1949, Captain

Religion: Jewish

Kissinger’s name was changed to Henry when his family immigrated to the United States to escape the Nazis.

Attended high school at night while working at a factory during the day.

First person to serve as both national security adviser and secretary of state.

1938 – The Kissinger family immigrates to the United States, settling in New York.

June 19, 1943 – Becomes a US citizen.

1954-1971 – Harvard University faculty member.

1957-1960 – Associate Director of Harvard’s Center for International Affairs.

1956-1960 – Consultant, Weapons Systems Evaluation Group of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

1961-1962 – Consultant, National Security Council.

1961-1968 – Consultant, US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.

1965-1968 – Consultant, US Department of State.

1969-1974 – President Richard Nixon’s Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.

1969 – Helps initiate the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks with the Soviet Union.

1972 – Kissinger and Nixon are named Time Magazine’s Men of the Year.

September 23, 1973-January 20, 1977 – Secretary of State under Presidents Nixon and Gerald Ford.

1973 – Wins the Nobel Peace Prize, with Le Duc Tho, for negotiating the end of the Vietnam War. Le Duc Tho declines the award.

1974-1975 – Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs for President Ford.

1979 – The first volume of his memoir, “White House Years,” is published.

1982 – Opens international consulting firm Kissinger Associates, Inc.

1982 – Has triple coronary bypass surgery.

1982 – The second volume of his memoir, “Years of Upheaval,” is published.

1999 – The third volume of his memoir, “Years of Renewal,” is published.

November 2002 – Is appointed by President George W. Bush to lead the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9-11 Commission.

December 13, 2002 – Resigns as chairman of the 9-11 Commission, citing controversy over possible conflicts of interest with clients of his consulting firm.

March 2005 – Undergoes an angioplasty procedure.

May 18, 2006 – Is awarded the Dwight D. Eisenhower Medal for Leadership and Service.

July 15, 2014 – Undergoes heart surgery to replace an aortic valve.

April 30, 2021 – During the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute for International Leadership, Kissinger warns that tensions with China are “the biggest problem for America, the biggest problem for the world” because there is the potential for “a kind of cold war” to develop between the two countries.

November 29, 2023 – Dies at the age of 100.

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December 1, 2023
Michael Chertoff Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
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Here is a look at the life of Michael Chertoff, former secretary of Homeland Security.

Birth date: November 28, 1953

Birth place: Elizabeth, New Jersey

Birth name: Michael Chertoff

Father: Gershon Chertoff, rabbi

Mother: Livia Chertoff

Marriage: Meryl (Justin) Chertoff (1988-present)

Children: Two

Education: Harvard University, BA, 1975; Harvard University, JD, 1978

Religion: Jewish

Helped write the Patriot Act after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Played a key role in the government investigations of WorldCom, Enron and Arthur Andersen.

Prosecuted the former boss of the Genovese crime family, Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno; the founder of Crazy Eddie electronics, Eddie Antar; and Jersey City Mayor Gerald McCann.

1978-1979 – Law clerk to Judge Murray Gurfein, US Court of Appeals Second Circuit, New York.

1979-1980 – Serves as a law clerk to Justice William Brennan, US Supreme Court.

1980-1983 – Associate at Latham & Watkins in Washington, DC.

1983-1987 – Assistant US attorney for the Southern District of New York.

1987 – Recipient of the John Marshall award from the US Department of Justice.

1987-1990 – First assistant US attorney for the District of New Jersey.

1990-1994 – US attorney for the District of New Jersey.

1994-1996 – Special counsel for Senate Whitewater Committee.

2001-2003 – Assistant US attorney general, the criminal division.

2003-2005 – Judge for the US Court of Appeals Third Circuit.

January 11, 2005 – Is nominated as secretary of Homeland Security by President George W. Bush.

February 15, 2005-January 21, 2009 – Serves as the second secretary of Homeland Security.

March 26, 2009-present – Senior counsel at the DC law firm Covington & Burling LLP.

2009-present – Chairman and co-founder of the Chertoff Group, a global security advisory firm.

May 1, 2012-December 2021 – Chairman of the board of directors of BAE Systems, Inc.

April 27, 2022 – Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says that DHS has established a Disinformation Governance Board, with the intention of coordinating department activities related to disinformation aimed at the US population and infrastructure. In May, the disinformation board initiative is halted after weeks of attacks, and Chertoff is named co-chair of the Homeland Security Advisory Council subcommittee which later issues a set of recommendations to the secretary, including its assessment that there is “no need for a separate Disinformation Governance Board.” The disinformation board is formally terminated on August 24, 2022.

January 2023 – CNN reports that the Supreme Court did not disclose its longstanding financial relationship with Chertoff, even as it touted him as an expert who independently validated its investigation into who leaked the draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.

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November 21, 2023
Israel-Hamas war rages as humanitarian crisis spirals in Gaza | CNN

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Family members of Israelis being held in Gaza gather in front of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on November 20.

Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu/Getty Images

There were intense exchanges during a committee meeting in the Israeli parliament Monday as family members of some of the hostages held in Gaza clashed with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and other far-right members of the government.

Ben-Gvir, a divisive figure in Israeli politics who wants Israel to annex the Palestinian territories, is promoting legislation that would see the death penalty handed down to terrorists.

Hostage family members, holding pictures of their loved ones, vented their frustrations. One of them, Gil Dickmann, whose cousin is being held in Gaza, repeatedly shouted: “Bring them home!”

“Maybe instead of talking about the dead, talk about the living. Stop talking about killing Arabs. Talk about saving Jews. This is your job!” shouted Hen Avigdori, whose wife and daughter were taken on October 7.

Already frustrated at the apparent lack of progress to free the hostages, the family members accused Ben-Gvir of endangering their loved ones further by putting the issue of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons back in the spotlight.

Family members worry that by suggesting that Israel might execute Palestinian prisoners, it could make Hamas less willing to release hostages or increase the likelihood of their mistreatment in Gaza.

Almog Cohen, a colleague of Ben-Gvir in the Jewish Power party, fired back at family members.

“You don’t have a monopoly on pain. We also buried more than 50 friends,” Cohen said.

The meeting was held to discuss Ben-Gvir’s proposed legislation, which is making its way through parliament. It still has several stages to pass before it becomes law and could be withdrawn.

Later in Tel Aviv, a large group of other family members met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of the war cabinet at the Defense Ministry.

Udi Goren, one of the family members, left early because he felt there was no new information provided by the war cabinet.

He said he was very disappointed to hear the government was not prioritizing the release of the hostages above all else, including the mission to defeat Hamas.

Asked if he had heard any information about a possible release of hostages, Goren told CNN there was nothing new.

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November 20, 2023
Wilbur Ross Fast Facts | CNN Politics

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Here’s a look at the life of former Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross Jr.

Birth date: November 28, 1937

Birth place: Weehawken, New Jersey

Birth name: Wilbur Louis Ross Jr.

Father: Wilbur Louis Ross Sr., a lawyer

Mother: Agnes (O’Neill) Ross, a teacher

Marriages: Hilary (Geary) Ross (October 9, 2004); Betsy (McCaughey) Ross (December 7, 1995-August 2000, divorced); Judith (Nodine) Ross (May 26, 1961-October 1995, divorced)

Children: with Judith Nodine: Jessica and Amanda

Education: Yale University, A.B., 1959, Harvard University, M.B.A., 1961

He was called the “King of Bankruptcy,” as he built new companies from the assets of defaulted ones.

Ross was known for investing in distressed companies in a wide range of industries including auto parts, steel, textiles and financial services.

1976-2000 – Works for the investment bank Rothschild Inc. During his tenure, he becomes a top bankruptcy adviser.

January 1998 – Pledges $2.25 million towards then-wife and Lt. Governor Betsy McCaughey Ross’ campaign for governor of New York. He withdraws the funding in September and files for divorce in November.

2000 – Purchases a small fund he started at Rothschild and opens his own private equity firm, WL Ross & Co. LLC.

2002 – Establishes the International Steel Group (ISG), with himself as chairman of the board, through a series of mergers and acquisitions starting with Bethlehem Steel Corp.

December 2003 – ISG goes public.

2004 – Forms the International Coal Group (ICG) after purchasing the assets of Horizon Natural Resources in a bankruptcy auction.

October 2004 – Merges ISG with Mittal Steel for $4.5 billion.

January 2, 2006 – Twelve miners are killed after an explosion at a West Virginia mine operated by an ICG subsidiary. Families of the dead and Randal McCloy, the lone survivor, sue ICG and WL Ross claiming negligence. All of the lawsuits are settled by November 2011.

April 2010 – Purchases a 21% stake in Richard Branson’s Virgin Money. In November 2011, Ross helps Branson fund a successful bid for the British bank Northern Rock.

August 2, 2010 – During an interview with Charlie Rose, Ross states that he’s fine with higher taxes on the wealthy as long as the government puts the money to good use.

June 2011 – Arch Coal, Inc. acquires ICG for $3.4 billion.

September 2011 – WL Ross is one of five US and Canadian companies that purchase a 34.9% stake in the Bank of Ireland. Ross’ share is reportedly 9.3%.

March 21, 2016 – Nexeo Solutions, a chemical distribution company, announces their merger agreement with WL Ross Holding Corporation. The merger is valued at nearly $1.6 billion.

August 24, 2016 – The Securities and Exchange Commission announces that WL Ross will pay a $2.3 million fine for failing to properly disclose fees it charged.

November 30, 2016 – Ross announces in a CNBC interview that President-elect Donald Trump has asked him to serve as his commerce secretary.

February 27, 2017 – The Senate confirms Ross as commerce secretary by a 72-27 vote. He is sworn in the next day.

November 5, 2017 – The New York Times reports that Ross has financial ties to a shipping company whose clients include a Russian energy company co-owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law. Another customer of the shipping company is Venezuela’s state-run oil company, which has been sanctioned by the US government. The information comes from the Paradise Papers, a release of 13.4 million leaked documents.

November 7, 2017 – Two days after the Paradise Papers are released, Forbes reports that Ross inflated his net worth to be included in the magazine’s annual list of the world’s wealthiest individuals. His name is removed from the magazine’s website. An investigation by the magazine reveals that Ross has likely been providing inaccurate financial information since 2004. Ross claims that the magazine overlooked trusts for his family while tallying his fortune.

March 2, 2018 – During an appearance on CNBC, Ross says the Trump administration’s steel and aluminum tariffs won’t hurt consumers. He holds up a can of Campbell’s soup as he explains that the price of soup will go up less than a penny due to the tariffs.

March 26, 2018 – Ross announces that a citizenship question will be added to the 2020 census.

July 12, 2018 – Ross admits to “errors” in failing to divest assets required by his government ethics agreement and says he will sell all his stock holdings. The admission comes after the Office of Government Ethics took Ross to task for what it said were inconsistencies in his financial disclosure forms.

September 21, 2018 – A federal judge rules that Ross must sit for a deposition in a lawsuit regarding his department’s decision to include a question about citizenship in the 2020 census. The US Supreme Court later blocks the deposition.

December 19, 2018 – The Center for Public Integrity reports that Ross failed to sell a bank stock holding within the required time frame after his 2017 confirmation and subsequently signed ethics documents indicating the holding had been sold.

February 15, 2019 – Ross’ financial disclosure form is rejected by the Office of Government Ethics. Ross later releases a statement saying, “While I am disappointed that my report was not certified, I remain committed to complying with my ethics agreement and adhering to the guidance of Commerce ethics officials.”

June 27, 2019 – The Supreme Court issues a 5-4 ruling that blocks the citizenship question from being added to the census.

July 17, 2019 – The House votes to hold Ross in criminal contempt over a dispute related to the citizenship question on the census. Attorney General William Barr is also held in contempt. Ross releases a statement in which he dismisses the vote as a political stunt. “House Democrats never sought to have a productive relationship with the Trump Administration, and today’s PR stunt further demonstrates their unending quest to generate headlines instead of operating in good faith with our Department.”

July 18, 2020 – A department spokesman says that Ross has been hospitalized for “minor, non-coronavirus related issues.” On July 27, the Commerce Department says Ross has been released from the hospital.

September 28, 2020 – Ross announces that he intends to conclude the 2020 census on October 5. This is more than three weeks earlier than expected and against the October 31 court reinstated end date. Ross asks Census Bureau officials if the earlier date would effectively allow them to produce a final set of numbers during Trump’s current term in office, according to an internal email released the following day as part of a lawsuit.

October 13, 2020 – The Supreme Court grants a request from the Trump administration to halt the census count while an appeal plays out over a lower court’s order that it continue. The Census Bureau announces that the count is ending on October 15.

July 19, 2021 – According to a letter made public from Commerce Department Inspector General Peggy Gustafson to Democratic lawmakers, the Justice Department decides to decline prosecution of Ross for misrepresentations he made to Congress about the origins of the Trump administration’s failed push to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

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November 10, 2023
Chuck Schumer Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
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Here’s a look at the life of Chuck Schumer, the US Senate majority leader and Democratic senator from New York.

Birth date: November 23, 1950

Birth place: Brooklyn, New York

Birth name: Charles Ellis Schumer

Father: Abe Schumer, exterminator

Mother: Selma (Rosen) Schumer

Marriage: Iris Weinshall (1980-present)

Children: Jessica, Alison

Education: Harvard University, A.B., 1971; Harvard Law School, J.D., 1974

Religion: Jewish

He was valedictorian at James Madison High School in Brooklyn and received a perfect 1600 score on the SAT test. He edited his high school newspaper, and at one point considered pursuing a career in chemistry. His parents encouraged him to go to medical school, but he opted for law school instead.

He funded his Harvard education by selling class rings while in school.

For more than three decades, Schumer shared an aging row house in Washington with Congressional colleagues, including Dick Durbin and George Miller. He lived in the row house during the week and returned to his family home in Brooklyn on weekends.

Writer/actress Amy Schumer is his second cousin, once removed.

1975-1980 – New York state assemblyman.

1981-1999 – US representative from New York 9th District (formerly 10th District and 16th District).

1987-1988 – Sponsors the Fair Credit and Charge Card Disclosure Act, which requires credit card companies to list detailed information about fees and interest rates when soliciting new customers. The credit card disclosures are nicknamed “Schumer Boxes.”

1993-1994 – Sponsors the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which requires background checks and a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases. Sponsors the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, meant to prevent the government from interfering with an individual’s right to express his or her faith. Also, cosponsors the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, a measure that provides funding to expand police departments, increases prison capacity and allows judges to impose longer sentences for violent crimes. The crime bill includes an assault weapons ban, prohibiting the sale of certain types of military-style semi-automatic rifles for 10 years.

1998 – Wins election to US Senate.

2004 – Wins reelection to the US Senate.

2004 – Leads an unsuccessful push to renew the assault weapons ban.

2005-2008 – Chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

2007-2008 – Introduces the Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators Act, requiring registered sex offenders to give law enforcement their email addresses and social media accounts so their online activity can be tracked.

2007-2010 – Chairs and vice chairs the US Senate’s Joint Economic Committee.

2009 – Cosponsors the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act, broadening the definition of hate crimes to include acts of violence against individuals based on their actual or perceived gender, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.

2009-present – Serves on the US Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.

2010 – Wins reelection to US Senate.

2011-present – Chairman of the US Senate’s Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.

2013 – Works on immigration reform as a member of the bipartisan “Gang of Eight.” The group’s bill, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, passes the Senate. The House, however, declines to vote on the package, which creates a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

August 3, 2015 – Holds a joint press conference with his cousin, actress and comedian Amy Schumer, to announce gun control legislation promoting stricter state background check laws. The press conference takes place 11 days after a deadly mass shooting at a screening of Schumer’s comedy, “Trainwreck,” in Louisiana. Schumer’s bill, the Fix Gun Checks Act of 2016, stalls in the Senate.

August 6, 2015 – Expresses his opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran in a statement. He says that he is concerned about a 24-day delay for inspectors to access facilities and other limitations on inspections.

November 8, 2016 – Wins reelection to the US Senate.

November 16, 2016 – Senate Democrats choose Schumer to succeed Harry Reid as leader in the chamber.

January 3, 2017 – On his first day as Senate minority leader, Schumer tells CNN that Senate Democrats plan to hold President-elect Donald Trump accountable but will also work with him if he supports legislation that is true to the Democratic Party’s principles.

March 2, 2017 – Schumer calls on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign in the wake of a report that Sessions met with the Russian ambassador to the US during the presidential campaign, contradicting his testimony during his Senate confirmation hearing. Sessions does not resign but recuses himself from involvement in the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

September 6, 2017 – Schumer meets with Trump and other congressional leaders in the Oval Office. During the meeting, Trump agrees to endorse a plan to attach hurricane relief money to a three-month extension of the debt ceiling that was proposed by Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

January 19, 2018 – Schumer meets with Trump at the White House to discuss a deal that could avert a looming government shutdown. Schumer offers to increase military spending and fully fund border security measures in exchange for a pledge to protect beneficiaries of the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). Trump ultimately rejects the deal. The failed negotiations lead to a brief shutdown that White House officials label the “Schumer Shutdown.”

June 27, 2018 – Schumer introduces a bill, the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act, that would decriminalize and regulate marijuana at the federal level.

November 11, 2018 – Schumer says that Democrats may combine a must-pass spending bill with a measure protecting the Robert Mueller special counsel investigation into Russian election meddling.

November 10, 2020 – Schumer is reelected as a Senate party leader.

January 20, 2021-present – Senate majority leader.

July 14, 2021 – Schumer and a group of other Senate Democrats introduce draft legislation that would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level by striking it from the federal controlled substances list.

November 8, 2022 – Wins reelection to the US Senate.

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November 8, 2023
Hassan Rouhani Fast Facts | CNN

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Here’s a look at the life of former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Birth date: November 12, 1948

Birth place: Sorkheh, Iran

Birth name: Hassan Feridon

Marriage: Sahebeh Arabi

Children: Has four children

Education: University of Tehran, B. A., 1972; Glasgow Caledonian University, M. Phil., 1995; Glasgow Caledonian University, Ph.D., 1999

Religion: Shiite Muslim

Rouhani is a cleric. His religious title is Hojatoleslam, which is a middle rank in the religious hierarchy.

Arrested many times in the 1960s and 1970s as a follower of Ayatollah Khomeini.

Iranian media refers to Rouhani as the “diplomat sheik.”

1960 – Begins his religious studies at a seminary in Semnan province.

1977 – Under the threat of arrest, leaves Iran and joins Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in exile in France.

1980-2000 – After the overthrow of the Shah, Rouhani serves five terms in the National Assembly.

1983-1988 – Member of the Supreme Defense Council.

1985-1991 – Commander of the Iranian air defenses.

1988-1989 – Deputy commander of Iran’s Armed Forces.

1989-1997 – National security adviser to the president.

1989-2005 – Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.

1989-present – Represents Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

1991-present – Member of the country’s Expediency Council.

1992-2013 – President of the Center for Strategic Research.

1999-present – Member of the Council of Experts, the group that chooses the Supreme Leader.

2000-2005 – National security adviser to the president.

2003-2005 – Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator.

June 14, 2013 – Wins the presidential election after securing more than 50% of the vote.

August 4, 2013 – Rouhani is sworn in as the seventh president of Iran.

September 19, 2013 – Writes a column in The Washington Post calling for engagement and “a constructive approach” to issues such as Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

September 25, 2013 – In stark contrast to his predecessor, Rouhani condemns the actions of the Nazis during the Holocaust.

September 27, 2013 – Speaks with US President Barack Obama by telephone, the first direct conversation between leaders of Iran and the United States since 1979.

July 14, 2015 – After negotiators strike a nuclear deal in Vienna, Rouhani touts the benefits of the agreement on Iranian television, declaring, “Our prayers have come true.” The deal calls for restrictions on uranium enrichment and research in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

September 28, 2015 – Rouhani addresses the General Assembly of the United Nations, stating “A new chapter has started in Iran’s relations with the world.” However, he also says that America and Israel are partially responsible for the increase in global terrorism: “If we did not have the US military invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the United States’ unwarranted support for the inhumane actions of the Zionist regime against the oppressed nation of Palestine, today the terrorists would not have an excuse for the justification of their crimes.”

September 22, 2016 – Speaking to global leaders at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Rouhani accuses the United States of “a lack of compliance” with the nuclear deal agreed on in July 2015. Rouhani also attacks the United States for what he describes as “illegal actions,” referring to the US Supreme Court decision in April 2016 to allow US victims of terror to claim nearly $2 billion in compensation from Iran’s central bank.

May 20, 2017 – Rouhani wins reelection after securing approximately 57% of the vote.

September 20, 2017 – In a press conference following US President Donald Trump’s speech at the UN General Assembly calling the nuclear deal with Iran an embarrassment to the United States, Rouhani calls for an apology to the people of Iran for the “offensive” comments and “baseless” accusations, including Trump’s assertion that the “Iranian government masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy.”

July 22, 2018 – Addressing diplomats in Tehran, Rouhani warns the United States that war with Iran would be “the mother of all wars.”

September 25, 2018 – In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Rouhani says Iran is sticking to the nuclear deal. If the signatories remaining after the United States pulled out aren’t “living up to their commitments,” then Iran will re-evaluate.

November 5, 2018 – In public remarks made during a cabinet meeting, Rouhani says Iran will “proudly break” US sanctions that went into effect a day earlier. The sanctions – the second round reimposed after Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal in May – target Iran’s oil and gas industries as well as shipping, shipbuilding and banking industries.

May 8, 2019 – Rouhani announces that Iran will reduce its “commitments” to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) but will not fully withdraw. In a televised speech, Rouhani says Iran will keep its excess enriched uranium and heavy water, rather than sell it to other countries as previously agreed to limit its stockpile.

July 3, 2019 – Rouhani announces Iran will begin enriching uranium at a higher level than what is allowed under the JCPOA. He vows to revive work on the Arak heavy-water reactor, which had been suspended under the nuclear deal.

September 26, 2019 – Rouhani announces Iran has started using advanced models of centrifuges to enrich uranium in violation of the JCPOA.

January 3, 2020 – Qasem Soleimani, leader of the Quds Force unit Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps since 1988, is killed at Baghdad International Airport in an US airstrike ordered by Trump. Rouhani says the United States committed a “grave mistake” and “will face the consequences of this criminal act not only today, but also in the coming years.”

January 11, 2020 – Rouhani apologizes to the Ukrainian people after Iran’s armed forces downs a Ukraine International Airlines passenger jet in Tehran, mistaking it for a hostile target. He promises to hold those responsible for the January 8 tragedy “accountable,” according to the readout of a call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

June 19, 2021 – Ebrahim Raisi wins Iran’s presidential election.

August 5, 2021 – Raisi is sworn in, replacing Rouhani as president of Iran.

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November 1, 2023
Iran Hostage Crisis Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
—

Here’s a look at the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, in which 52 US citizens were held captive for 444 days.

1978 – Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi’s authoritarian rule sparks demonstrations and riots.

January 16, 1979 – The Shah flees Iran and goes to Egypt.

February 1, 1979 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Iran, after 14 years in exile, to lead the country.

October 22, 1979 – The Shah is allowed to enter the United States to receive medical treatment for cancer.

November 4, 1979 – Iranian students demonstrating outside of the US embassy in Tehran storm the embassy and take 90 people hostage including 66 Americans. The students demand the extradition of the Shah from the United States. Ayatollah Khomeini issues a statement of support for the students’ actions.

November 5, 1979 – The Iranian government cancels military treaties with the US and the Soviet Union, treaties that would permit US or Soviet military intervention.

November 6, 1979 – Premier Mehdi Bazargan and his government resign, leaving Ayatollah Khomeini and the Revolutionary Council in power.

November 7, 1979 – US President Jimmy Carter sends former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and Senate Intelligence Committee staff director William Miller to Iran to negotiate the release of the hostages. Ayatollah Khomeini refuses to meet with them.

November 14, 1979 – Carter orders Iranian assets in US banks frozen.

November 17, 1979 – Khomeini orders the release of female and African-American hostages. They are released November 19 and 20, bringing the total number of US hostages to 53.

December 4, 1979 – The United Nations Security Council passes a resolution calling for Iran to release the hostages.

December 15, 1979 – The Shah leaves the United States for Panama.

January 28, 1980 – Six American embassy employees, who avoided capture and hid in the homes of Canadian Embassy officers, flee Iran. In 1997 it is revealed that, along with the Canadian government, the CIA made the escape possible.

March 1980 – The Shah returns to Egypt.

April 7, 1980 – President Carter cuts diplomatic ties with Iran, announcing further sanctions and ordering all Iranian diplomats to leave the United States.

April 25, 1980 – Eight US servicemen are killed when a helicopter and a transport plane collide during a failed attempt to rescue the hostages.

July 11, 1980 – Another hostage is released due to illness. The total number of US hostages is now 52.

July 27, 1980 – The Shah dies of cancer in Egypt.

September 12, 1980 – Ayatollah Khomeini sets new terms for the hostages’ release, including the return of the late Shah’s wealth and the unfreezing of Iranian assets.

November 1980-January 1981 – Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher and his delegation work through mediators in Algeria to negotiate the release of the hostages.

January 19, 1981 – The United States and Iran sign an agreement to release the hostages and unfreeze Iranian assets.

January 20, 1981 – The remaining 52 US hostages are released and flown to Wiesbaden Air Base in Germany.

December 18, 2015 – Congress passes a budget bill that includes a provision authorizing each of the 53 hostages to receive $10,000 for each day they were held captive. In addition, spouses and children will separately receive a one-time payment of $600,000.

November 19, 2019 – The act is amended to include victims of the September 11 terror attacks, reducing the amount of available funds to compensate the former hostages.

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October 30, 2023
Israel’s history suggests the clock is ticking for Netanyahu after Hamas attack failures | CNN

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CNN
—

In his more than three decades in politics, Benjamin Netanyahu has accrued almost as many nicknames as he has election wins.

There’s “The Magician” for his uncanny ability to grab victory from the jaws of defeat. “King Bibi” for staying atop Israeli politics longer than anyone else. And, universally, though not necessarily affectionately: plain old “Bibi.” But there is another one he revelled in, and which now appears in tatters: “Mr Security.” How did it all go so wrong?

It remains unclear as to how more than 1,000 Hamas militants managed to take Israel by such devastatingly deadly surprise, murdering – as President Isaac Herzog wrote – more Jews in one day than at any time since the Holocaust.

And for now, Netanyahu’s opponents are not calling for Netanyahu to step down. “I’m not dealing now with who is to blame or why we were surprised,” said former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, now leader of the opposition. “It’s not the time, it’s not the place.”

But that time and place will come. Indeed, according to Amit Segal, chief political commentator for Israel’s Channel 12, the surprise would be if Bibi’s prime ministership survives this war. “It would set a national precedent,” he told CNN. “Israeli history has taught us that each and every surprise and crisis led to the collapse of the government. That was the case in 1973 [after the Yom Kippur War] with Golda Meir, in 1982 with Menachem Begin in the first Lebanon war, and in 2006, with Ehud Olmert, in the second Lebanon War. The clock is ticking.”

History certainly provides a useful comparison: the last time Israeli intelligence failed to anything like this degree – and with so many casualties – was almost 50 years ago to the day, when Egypt and Syria invaded Israel on Yom Kippur.

That, though, was a war “that followed some kind of logic of norms and rules”, said Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute. “We negotiated peace with [Egyptian] President Sadat a few years later, with majority support of the Knesset. We’re not going to negotiate any peace with Hamas. It’s a different ballgame altogether.”

Some kind of negotiation – probably through intermediaries, such as Egypt – is inevitable. Even as Israel pummels Gaza with airstrikes, imposes a “complete siege” on the enclave, and prepares for a possible ground invasion to decimate Hamas, Netanyahu also needs to find a way to free the 150 or so hostages being held by the militants inside Gaza.

This would have been a tall order in Netanyahu’s prime. But after 10 months of facing down protests against his controversial and divisive judicial overhaul, his corruption case – and a near-death experience – this is battered and beaten Bibi, not the vintage version.

It may come as scant consolation to him that Hamas has managed to reunite Israel. “The last thing Israelis care about right now is Netanyahu’s political career,” said Plesner, who also serves in the reserves of the Israeli special forces, where he is a major.

It’s also worth remembering that Bibi has been written off countless times before – only for him to return, Terminator-like, to trounce his opponents. This time, though, feels different. This time, he’s been forced into a war he didn’t choose when he may have been distracted by other things.

Focusing on the judicial overhaul “didn’t help”, said Channel 12’s Segal. But this invasion by Hamas, he said, would have been planned 12 to 18 months ago – when Netanyahu was in opposition. The miscalculation, he said, was that Hamas was after economic concessions, and a softening of Israel’s blockade on Gaza. “At the end of the day it’s a Nazi regime looking to destroy us all. And you can’t live with a monster in your backyard.”

Whether Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces are able to slay the monster may become clearer in the coming days and weeks. He might succeed in forming a national unity “emergency” government that would insulate him from any calls to step down. In the short term, this could marginalise what Lapid describes as the more “extreme” and “dysfunctional” elements of Netanyahu’s coalition. But even if they do move to the sidelines, their ideas may live on.

Such has been the shock and anger over Hamas’ spectacular assault that Israeli voters may be open to more extreme ideas. “A certain portion of the population will expect a very, very harsh response,” said Plesner, “and it will be based on a zero-sum game: it’s either us or them.” And this time, “Mr Security” may fail to deliver.

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October 30, 2023
David Petraeus Fast Facts | CNN

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Here is a look at the life of David Petraeus, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Birth date: November 7, 1952

Birth place: Cornwall, New York

Birth name: David Howell Petraeus

Father: Sixtus Petraeus, Danish-born sea captain

Mother: Miriam (Howell) Petraeus

Marriage: Hollister “Holly” Knowlton (July 6, 1974-present)

Children: Anne and Stephen

Education: US Military Academy – West Point, B.S., 1974; Princeton University, M.P.A., International Relations, 1985; Princeton University, Ph.D., International Relations, 1987

Military: US Army, 1974-2011, four-star general

Growing up in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, friends nicknamed Petraeus “Peaches.”

1974 – Is commissioned as an infantry officer in the US Army upon graduation from West Point.

1975-1979 – Platoon leader, adjutant, 1st Battalion, 509th Airborne Battalion Combat Team in Vicenza, Italy.

1979-1982 – Commander, then aide de camp, 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) at Fort Stewart, Georgia.

1985-1987 – Instructor, then Assistant Professor of Social Sciences, US Military Academy at West Point.

1987-1988 – Military Assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, NATO, Brussels, Belgium.

1989 – Serves as aide to the Army’s chief of staff.

1991 – Is shot in the chest during a training exercise at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

1991-1993 – Commander, 3rd Battalion of the 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

1995-1997 – Commander, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division.

2000 – Breaks his pelvis during a parachute jump.

2000-2001 – Chief of staff, XVIII Airborne Corps., US Army, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

2000 – Is promoted to brigadier (one star) general.

2001-2002 – Serves in Bosnia as the assistant chief of staff for military operations of the NATO Stabilization Force.

2002-2004 – Commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division US Army, Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

March 2003 – Leads troops into battle as commander of the 101st Airborne Division during the US-led invasion of Iraq.

June 2004-September 2005 – Commander of the Multinational Security Transition Command in Iraq.

October 2005-2007 – Commanding general of the Combined Arms Center, US Army, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

February 2007-September 2008 – Commander of all coalition forces in Iraq.

October 31, 2008-July 4, 2010 – Commander in Chief of Central Command.

October 6, 2009 – Announces that he was diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer and underwent two months of radiation treatment.

June 15, 2010 – Becomes “a little lightheaded” and faints while testifying at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

July 4, 2010-July 18, 2011 – Commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

April 28, 2011 – Nominated by President Barack Obama to replace Leon Panetta as CIA director.

June 30, 2011 – Unanimously confirmed by the US Senate as the next director of the CIA.

July 18, 2011 – Petraeus turns over command of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan to Gen. John R. Allen.

August 31, 2011 – Retires from the Army.

September 6, 2011 – Petraeus is sworn in as the new director of the CIA.

November 9, 2012 – Petraeus submits his resignation to President Obama, citing personal reasons and admits he had an extramarital affair.

March 27, 2013 – Publicly apologizes for his extramarital affair during a speech at the University of Southern California.

May 30, 2013 – It is announced that Petraeus has joined private equity firm KKR as the chairman of a new global institute.

July 1, 2013 – Joins the University of Southern California faculty as a Judge Widney Professor, “a title reserved for eminent individuals from the arts, sciences, professions, business, and community and national leadership.”

January 9, 2015 – A federal law enforcement official tells CNN that Justice Department prosecutors are recommending charges be filed against Petraeus for disclosure of classified information to his former lover Paula Broadwell who was working on a book with Petraeus at the time.

March 3, 2015 – Pleads guilty to one federal charge of removing and retaining classified information as part of a plea deal. According to court documents, Petraeus admitted removing several so-called black books – notebooks in which he kept classified and non-classified information from his tenure as the commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan – and giving them to Broadwell.

March 16, 2015 – White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest confirms that the National Security Council and the Obama administration have consulted with Petraeus on matters related to Iraq and ISIS.

April 23, 2015 – Petraeus is sentenced to serve two years probation and fined $100,000 for sharing classified information with his biographer and lover, Broadwell. Prosecutors agree to not send him to jail because the classified information was never released to the public or published in the biography.

September 22, 2015 – Petraeus speaks before the Senate Armed Services Committee regarding the US’s Middle East policy. He begins this, his first public hearing since his resignation, with a formal apology for the indiscretions that led to his resignation.

June 10, 2016 – Along with retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, announces that they are launching Veterans Coalition for Common Sense to encourage elected leaders to “do more to prevent gun tragedies.”

June 12, 2019 – The University of Birmingham announces that Petraeus has accepted an honorary professorship in the Institute for Conflict, Cooperation and Security. The three-year position begins immediately.

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October 26, 2023
The New York Times walks back flawed Gaza hospital coverage, but other media outlets remain silent | CNN Business

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Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here.

CNN
—

Most news organizations seem eager to sweep last week’s negligent coverage of the Gaza hospital explosion under the rug, moving on from the low moment covering the Israel-Hamas war without admitting any mistakes.

While The New York Times and BBC — both of which faced enormous scrutiny for their coverage of the blast — have in recent days issued mea culpas, the rest of the press has remained mum, declining to explain to their audiences how they initially got an important story of such great magnitude so wrong.

On Monday, I contacted the major news organizations that amplified Hamas’ claims, which immediately assigned blame to Israel for the blast that it said had left hundreds dead. Those organizations included CNN, the Associated Press, Reuters, Al Jazeera, and The Wall Street Journal.

Did these outlets stand by their initial reporting? Was there any regret repeating claims from the terrorist group? Since the explosion, one week ago Tuesday, Israel and the U.S. have assessed that the rocket originated in Gaza, not Israel. Additional analysis from independent forensic experts, including those contacted by CNN, have indicated that the available evidence from the blast was inconsistent with the damage one would expect to see from an Israeli strike.

But if there was even a morsel of contrition from news organizations that breathed considerable life into Hamas’ very different version of events, it hasn’t been shown. A spokesperson for The WSJ declined comment. Meanwhile, spokespeople for the AP and Al Jazeera ignored my inquiries.

Reuters, which initially reported that Israel had struck the hospital, citing a “civil defense official,” stood by how it covered the unfolding story, conceding no blunders in the process. A spokesperson told me that “it is standard practice for Reuters to publish statements and claims made by sources about news in the public interest, while simultaneously working to verify and seek information from every side.”

“We make it clear to our readers that these are ‘claims’ made by a source, rather than facts reported by Reuters,” the spokesperson for the wire service told me. “In the specific instance of the fast-breaking news about the attack on the hospital in Gaza, we added precise details and attribution to our stories as quickly as we could.”

CNN went even further. Not only did the outlet amplify Hamas’ claims on its platforms at the outset of the story, but its initial rolling online article definitively stated — with no attribution to any party — that Israel was responsible for the lethal explosion. The story was later edited, but the error was never acknowledged in a correction or editors’ note. While it is common for news outlets to update online stories as new information becomes available, when errors are made, standard practice is to acknowledge them in formal corrections. A CNN spokesperson declined to comment specifically on the online story when reached Monday.

In response to my larger inquiry on the network’s broader coverage, the CNN spokesperson pointed me to the forensic analysis it published over the weekend indicating the explosion was inconsistent with an Israeli strike. Like Reuters, CNN admitted no fault in its coverage of the blast.

Which makes what the BBC and The Times have done in recent days stand out. While the rest of the press has sought to move on from the journalistic fiasco, the British broadcaster and Gray Lady have charted a different course.

The BBC said in a statement posted online last week, “We accept that even in this fast-moving situation it was wrong to speculate in this way about the possible causes and we apologise for this, although he did not at any point report that it was an Israeli strike.”

And The Times published a lengthy editors’ note on Monday, confessing its early coverage “relied too heavily on claims by Hamas, and did not make clear that those claims could not immediately be verified.”

“The report left readers with an incorrect impression about what was known and how credible the account was,” The Times added.

Bill Grueskin, a renowned professor at Columbia Journalism School, told me Monday that he believes that each outlet that gave credence to Hamas’ version of events should put out similar notes explaining to their audiences precisely how things went awry behind the scenes. (I should note that Grueskin didn’t believe that The Times’ note went far enough, questioning, among other things, why it took almost a week to issue its mea culpa.)

“The notes should be signed; they should provide a more detailed understanding of how their newsroom managed to not just get it wrong at the first moment but why it took so long to scale back; and they should be more explicit about what they got wrong since most readers can’t be expected to recall all the details,” Grueskin said.

Indeed, one of the crucial differences between newsrooms and less reputable, unreliable sources of information is that newsrooms issue corrections and accept fault when it occurs. When news organizations err, it is expected that they own up to their mistakes.

Grueskin pointed out, however, that “newsrooms often find it easier to correct a misspelled middle name than a collapse in verification standards on a major, breaking-news story.”

“It’s easier to address a simple, common mistake than one that goes to the heart of how a news organization is built to handle breaking news in a contested environment,” Grueskin added.

That might be true. But it doesn’t mean that it should be acceptable.

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October 26, 2023
China and Philippines accuse each other over collisions in disputed South China Sea | CNN

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Hong Kong
CNN
—

China and the Philippines on Sunday accused each other of causing collisions in a disputed area of the South China Sea, the latest in a string of maritime confrontations between the two countries that have heightened regional tensions.

In a statement, Philippine authorities said a Chinese Coast Guard ship carried out “dangerous blocking maneuvers” that caused it to collide with a Philippine vessel carrying supplies to troops stationed in Ayungin Shoal, also known as Second Thomas Shoal, in the Spratly Islands chain.

China’s move was “provocative, irresponsible and illegal” and “imperiled the safety of the crew” of the Philippine boats, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea said.

In a second incident Sunday, the Philippine task force said a Chinese maritime militia vessel collided with a Philippine coast guard ship, which was on the same mission to resupply the BRP Sierra Madre. Manila grounded the navy transport ship on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 and has manned it with Filipino marines to enforce its claims to the area.

In a statement Sunday, the Chinese Coast Guard accused the Philippines of violating international marine law and threatening the navigation safety of Chinese ships.

It accused the first Philippine ship of trespassing into the waters of what it calls the Nansha islands and Renai Reef, prompting the Chinese Coast Guard ship to intercept “in accordance with the law,” and resulting in a “minor collision.”

In the second incident, the Chinese Coast Guard said the Philippine Coast Guard vessel “purposely provoked trouble and reversed course,” causing a collision with a Chinese fishing boat.

Beijing claims “indisputable sovereignty” over almost all of the 1.3 million square miles of the South China Sea, as well as most of the islands and sandbars within it, including many features that are hundreds of miles away from China’s mainland.

In 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines in a landmark maritime dispute, which concluded that China has no legal basis to claim historic rights to the bulk of the South China Sea.

Beijing has ignored the ruling.

No injuries were reported in either collision Sunday, which marks the latest in a series of recent flashpoints between Beijing and Manila in the disputed waterway.

In September, the Philippine Coast Guard released video of a Filipino diver cutting a Chinese-installed floating barrier in a disputed area of the waterway that had prevented Filipino boats from entering.

It came just days after after the Philippine Coast Guard accused China’s maritime militia of turning vast patches of coral near the Palawan island chain into a bleached and broken wasteland.

China’s foreign ministry dismissed those allegations as “false and groundless.”

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October 22, 2023
Israel warns Gaza airstrikes will intensify and hits West Bank ahead of war’s ‘next stage’ | CNN

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CNN
—

Israel’s military vowed to increase airstrikes on Gaza and struck Hamas targets in the occupied West Bank as it signaled it was readying for a new phase of war against the Palestinian militant group, including a potential ground incursion.

All eyes are now on the next move of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which has amassed huge numbers of troops outside Gaza and pounded the densely populated enclave with near-constant airstrikes in its attempt to eradicate Hamas following its deadly October 7 attacks on Israel.

“We will increase our strikes, minimize the risk to our troops in the next stages of the war, and we will intensify the strikes, starting from today,” IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Saturday, adding that a ground operation in Gaza would be launched when conditions are optimal.

“We continue to destroy terror targets ahead of the next stage of the war, and are focusing on our readiness to the next stage,” he said.

Meanwhile, on Sunday the IDF launched an airstrike on the Al-Ansar mosque in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, which it said was being used by militants to plan for “an imminent terror attack.”

IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told CNN it had new intelligence that “suggested there was an imminent attack coming from a joint Hamas and Islamic Jihad squad,” that was making preparations from an underground command center beneath the mosque.

Three people were killed in the Israeli strike, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement on Sunday.

Violence has flared in the West Bank since the Gaza conflict erupted two weeks ago.

Separately, two people were killed following clashes in Toubas and Nablus, bringing the death toll in the West Bank to at least 90 since October 7, the ministry said Sunday.

In pictures: The deadly clashes in Israel and Gaza

In Gaza City, the IDF dropped leaflets written in Arabic that warned residents to evacuate to the south or face the possibility of being considered “a partner for the terrorist organization,” according to a CNN translation.

In a statement, the IDF confirmed it had dropped the flyers, but said there was “no intention to consider those who have not evacuated from the affected area of fighting as a member of the terrorist group.”

The IDF “treats civilians as such, and does not target them,” the statement added.

As of Saturday, Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 4,300 people in Gaza, including hundreds of women and children, according to the Hamas-run government media office in Gaza.

Israel has previously told the more than 1 million residents in northern Gaza to leave their homes and move to the south.

Israel has offered no timeline for the possible ground offensive on Gaza, but military officials have repeatedly told troops an incursion is imminent.

The Israeli Military Chief of Staff, Herzl Halevi, told IDF commanders Saturday that the military will initiate an operation to “destroy” Hamas.

“We’ll enter the Gaza Strip. We’ll embark on an operational and professional task to destroy Hamas operatives and infrastructures,” the chief said in comments to the Golani Brigade of the IDF.

Halevi said that when the IDF enters Gaza, they will “keep in mind” the images that occurred during Hamas’ deadly rampage in Israel.

He acknowledged that Gaza is complicated and crowded, but said the IDF is preparing for the enemy.

The United States and its allies have urged Israel to be strategic and clear about its goals during any ground invasion of Gaza, warning against a prolonged occupation and placing a particular emphasis on avoiding civilian casualties.

During his visit to Israel last week, US President Joe Biden “asked some hard questions” about Israel’s ground invasion strategy, a senior US official told CNN, adding: “we’re not directing the Israelis, the timeline is theirs – their thinking, their planning.”

Meanwhile, the US military is sending more missile defense systems to the Middle East and placing additional US troops on prepare-to-deploy orders in response to escalations throughout the region in recent days.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Saturday he had “activated the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery as well as additional Patriot battalions to locations throughout the region to increase force protection for US forces.”

The order for troops to prepare for deployment is meant “to increase their readiness and ability to quickly respond as required,” he said.

Both the THAAD and Patriots systems are air defense systems designed to shoot down short, medium and intermediate ballistic missiles.

Conditions in Gaza have become increasingly dire following two weeks of bombardment and a complete siege by Israel, which was unleashed in response to a rampage by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 people in Israel.

Hamas fighters have also abducted about 210 people into Gaza as hostages, according to an estimate released Saturday by the IDF. Two American hostages, a mother and her 17-year-old daughter, were released Friday.

On Saturday, the first convoy of 20 trucks carrying food, water, medicine and medical supplies entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing after intense diplomatic efforts to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

But aid workers and international leaders have warned that much more is needed to combat the “catastrophic” humanitarian situation in the enclave that is home to more than 2 million people.

Citing an acute shortage of food, water, power, and medical supplies that is pushing civilian lives in Gaza “to the edge of catastrophe,” the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said it urgently requires $74 million to sustain its emergency response in Gaza for the next 90 days.

The appeal came in a Palestinian Territories situation report Saturday that said the coastal enclave’s stores have food reserves of less than a week and that the ability to replenish these stocks is “compromised by damaged roads, safety concerns, and fuel shortages.”

Three WFP trucks were part of the convoy of that moved through the Rafah crossing into Gaza on Saturday. Another 40 WFP trucks are waiting at Al-Arish, Egypt, to enter Gaza, the report said.

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October 22, 2023
Web Summit CEO Paddy Cosgrave resigns after backlash to Israel-Hamas war comments | CNN Business

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CNN
—

Paddy Cosgrave, the chief executive of Web Summit, stepped down Saturday after several Big Tech companies withdrew from the company’s upcoming annual technology conference over his comments on the Israel-Hamas war.

“Unfortunately, my personal comments have become a distraction from the event, and our team, our sponsors, our start-ups and the people who attend,” Cosgrave said in a statement to CNN. “I sincerely apologise again for any hurt I have caused.”

His resignation comes a little more than a week after comments posted on X, formerly Twitter, condemning Israel’s war in Gaza. On October 13, he wrote, in part: “War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are.”

Cosgrave also denounced the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants that killed an estimated 1,400 people in Israel, according to authorities.

In the two weeks since the attacks, Israeli forces have bombarded Gaza with relentless airstrikes, killing at least 4,385 people, according to the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-controlled coastal enclave, and tipping the enclave into a humanitarian crisis.

A day before Cosgrave’s post on X, human rights group Amnesty International said the “collective punishment” of civilians in Gaza for Hamas’ terrorist atrocities amounts to a war crime. The Israeli military says it does not target civilians and has warned residents to evacuate parts of Gaza.

On Tuesday, Cosgrave posted a nearly 600-word statement on Web Summit’s blog to apologize and clarify his stance.

“I unreservedly condemn Hamas’ evil, disgusting and monstrous October 7 attack. I also call for the unconditional release of all hostages,” he wrote. “I unequivocally support Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself. I unequivocally support a two-state solution. … I also believe that, in defending itself, Israel should adhere to international law and the Geneva Conventions – ie, not commit war crimes.”

But his initial comments had been met with swift backlash from tech giants including Google parent company Alphabet, Meta, Siemens and Amazon, all of which pulled out of the conference. This year’s conference was scheduled for November 13-16 in Lisbon.

CNN has reached out to these companies but has not received a response.

A spokesperson for Web Summit told CNN that the company will appoint a new CEO as soon as possible. “Web Summit 2023 in Lisbon will go ahead as planned,” the spokesperson added.

Cosgrave, 41, co-founded Web Summit in 2009 with David Kelly and Daire Hickey.

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October 21, 2023