Benjamin Hall, Author at Cactus three

A Russian Dissident’s Fraught Path to Canadian Citizenship

13

Jan

New miscellaneous

A Russian Dissident’s Fraught Path to Canadian Citizenship

When Maria Kartasheva appeared at a Canadian citizenship ceremony last June, she thought she would be cutting up her permanent resident card and taking an oath. Instead, officials blocked her from participating, saying that her criminal charges in Russia, for criticizing the war in Ukraine, might disqualify her from citizenship.On Tuesday afternoon, she finally took her oath in a virtual ceremony from her home in Ottawa and became a Canadian citizen. But the moment came after what she described as a nerve-racking seven-month saga that included a frenzied effort to garner public support for her case. If she had been…

Federal Scientists Recommend Easing Restrictions on Marijuana

13

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

Health

Federal Scientists Recommend Easing Restrictions on Marijuana

Marijuana is neither as risky nor as prone to abuse as other tightly controlled substances and has potential medical benefits, and therefore should be removed from the nation’s most restrictive category of drugs, federal scientists have concluded.The recommendations are contained in a 250-page scientific review provided to Matthew Zorn, a Texas lawyer who sued Health and Human Services officials for its release and published it online on Friday night. An H.H.S. official confirmed the authenticity of the document.The records shed light for the first time on the thinking of federal health officials who are pondering a momentous change. The agencies…

Alabama hires Washington’s Kalen DeBoer to replace Nick Saban as coach

13

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

New miscellaneous

Alabama hires Washington’s Kalen DeBoer to replace Nick Saban as coach

By Christopher Kamrani, Bruce Feldman, Kennington Smith III and Chris VanniniThe man chosen to succeed the greatest college football coach in the history of the sport is from rural South Dakota, who certainly some Crimson Tide fanatics have never heard of. At least until the last 72 hours.Kalen DeBoer, known within the industry as both a program builder and excavator, told his staff at Washington he’s accepting an offer from Alabama for Nick Saban’s former coaching job, team sources confirmed Friday. DeBoer met with his Washington team Friday afternoon to explain why he’s making the move, the sources said.News of…

Microsoft Tops Apple to Become Most Valuable Public Company

13

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

Science and Technology

Microsoft Tops Apple to Become Most Valuable Public Company

For more than a decade, Apple was the stock market’s undisputed king. It first overtook Exxon Mobil as the world’s most valuable public company in 2011 and held the title almost without interruption.But a transfer of power has begun.On Friday, Microsoft surpassed Apple, claiming the crown after its market value surged by more than $1 trillion over the past year. Microsoft finished the day at $2.89 trillion, higher than Apple’s $2.87 trillion, according to Bloomberg.The change is part of a reordering of the stock market that was set in motion by the advent of generative artificial intelligence. The technology, which…

Netflix Film’s Removal Shows Power of India’s Hindu Right Wing

13

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

Investments and Business

Netflix Film’s Removal Shows Power of India’s Hindu Right Wing

The trailer for “Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food” promised a sunny if melodramatic story of uplift in a south Indian temple town. A priest’s daughter enters a cooking tournament, but social obstacles complicate her inevitable rise to the top. Annapoorani’s father, a Brahmin sitting at the top of Hindu society’s caste ladder, doesn’t want her to cook meat, a taboo in their lineage. There is even the hint of a Hindu-Muslim romantic subplot.On Thursday, two weeks after the movie premiered, Netflix abruptly pulled it from its platform. An activist, Ramesh Solanki, a self-described “very proud Hindu Indian nationalist,” had filed…

Israel-Hamas War: U.N.’s Top Court Hears Genocide Case Against Israel

12

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

New miscellaneous

Israel-Hamas War: U.N.’s Top Court Hears Genocide Case Against Israel

Since mid-November, the Houthis, a Yemeni rebel group allied with Hamas and backed by Iran, have launched dozens of attacks on ships sailing through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, a crucial shipping route through which 12 percent of world trade passes.Early Friday morning, the United States and a handful of allies, including Britain, struck back, carrying out missile strikes on Houthi targets inside Yemen and thrusting the rebels and their long-running armed struggle further into the limelight.The attack on Houthi bases came a day after the United Nations Security Council voted to condemn “in the strongest terms” at…