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French President Emmanuel Macron called the killing of West African soldiers by the French Army in 1944 a massacre. Between 35 and 400 West African soldiers who fought for the French Army in the Battle of France in 1940 were killed on Dec. 1, 1944 by French soldiers after what the French described as a mutiny over unpaid wages. The West Africans were members of Tirailleurs Senegalais, a corps of colonial infantry in the French Army. There were disputes over unpaid wages in the days before the massacre, but on Dec. 1, French troops rounded up the West African soldiers, mostly unarmed, and shot and killed them. In a letter addressed to the Senegalese authorities, Macron wrote: “France must recognize that on that day, the confrontation between soldiers and riflemen who demanded their full legitimate wages be paid triggered a chain of events that resulted in a massacre.” Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said Macron's step should “open the door” so that the "whole truth about this painful event of Thiaroye” — a fishing village on the outskirts of the Senegalese capital of Dakar, where the killings took place —can finally come out. France still has around 350 troops in its former colony. Faye said: “Historically, France enslaved, colonized and stayed here … when you reverse the roles a little, you will have a hard time conceiving that another army, China, Russia, Senegal, or any other country could have a military base in France.” https://lnkd.in/gXq5UmxF

Failing to stick to a regular time for going to bed and waking up increases the risk of stroke, heart attack and heart failure by 26%. Previous studies have focused on the links between sleep duration and health outcomes, with people advised to get between seven and nine hours of shut-eye a night. That advice still stands. However, researchers are increasingly focusing on sleep patterns, particularly the impact of irregular sleep – defined as variations in the time a person goes to sleep and wakes up. The study found that irregular sleep — going to bed and waking up at different times each day — was “strongly associated” with a higher risk of major adverse cardiovascular events. Experts said even getting eight hours of sleep was insufficient to offset the harmful effects of consistently varying bed and wake-up times. The research involved 72,269 people aged 40–79 from the UK Biobank study. It did not establish precisely how close you have to get to the same bed and wake-up time – only that the further away you are, the higher the risk of harm. The lead author, Jean-Philippe Chaput, of the University of Ottawa, said: “We should aim to wake up and go to sleep within 30 minutes of the same time, including weekends. Waking up at different times each morning really messes with your internal clock, which can have adverse health consequences.” https://lnkd.in/gijPeGBc

A Republican senator has introduced a bill to axe the Department of Education (ED), a campaign promise made by President Trump. The bill aims to redistribute federal programs to other existing departments. But the biggest change would be allocating K-12 education money directly to the states via block grants. Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota introduced the Returning Education to Our States Act. “The federal Department of Education has never educated a single student, and it’s long past time to end this bureaucratic department that causes more harm than good.” However, several essential programs within ED were noted, and the goal is to move them to other government areas. Borrowers would still need to make their student loan payments, student loan repayment plans created by law would still be available, and loan forgiveness programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness would still exist. https://lnkd.in/gGrJC8Ey

Israel looks set to approve a US plan for a ceasefire with Lebanon's Hezbollah today, a senior Israeli official said. Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib shared this optimism, expressing hope at a G7 meeting in Italy that a ceasefire would be reached by Tuesday night. The official said Israel's security cabinet is expected to convene later on Tuesday to discuss and likely approve the text at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This would pave the way for a ceasefire declaration by US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, four senior Lebanese sources said Monday. In Washington, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Monday: ”We’re close, but nothing is done until everything is done.” The French presidency said discussions on a ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah had made significant progress. The agreement requires Israeli troops to withdraw from south Lebanon and Lebanon's army to deploy in the region — a Hezbollah stronghold — within 60 days, officials say. Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the border south of the Litani River. https://lnkd.in/gyT9yXMf

Delegates from 175 countries gathered in South Korea today to discuss an international treaty to cut plastic pollution. South Korea is hosting the fifth and ostensibly final UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) meeting this week. The previous round of talks in Ottawa in April ended without a path forward on capping plastic production. Instead, talks will be focused on chemicals of concern and other measures after petrochemical-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia and China strongly opposed efforts to target plastic production over the protests of countries that bear the brunt of plastic pollution. The divisions plaguing the plastics treaty talks echo conflicts that have long stalled UN efforts to curb global warming. The most recent climate summit, COP29, just ended with an agreement that poorer nations assailed as inadequate. INC Chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso said: "Without significant intervention, the plastic entering the environment annually by 2040 is expected to nearly double compared to 2022.” The US delegation had yet to say whether it would reverse its new position to support plastic production caps. But it supports addressing plastic products, chemicals used in them, and the supply of primary plastic polymers,” the White House Council on Environmental Quality said. https://lnkd.in/dq3tMxd5

A ballistic missile with multiple warheads fired Thursday by Russia on Ukraine departs from the Cold War doctrine of deterrence. Experts say that ballistic missiles with multiple warheads, known as “multiple independently targeted reentry vehicles,” or MIRVs, have never been used to strike an enemy. Videos of the strike showed multiple warheads falling at different angles on the target. While the warheads dropped on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro were not nuclear, their use in conventional combat operations is certain to raise more uncertainty in a world already on edge. The highly destructive capacity of MIRVs means they are potential first-strike weapons and targets, Hans Kristensen and colleague Matt Korda at the Federation of American Scientists wrote in a study. That’s because it’s easier to destroy multiple warheads before they are launched than try to shoot them down. Russia alerted the US to the missile beforehand. But even with that advanced warning, any further launches by Putin’s regime will inevitably ratchet up fears across Europe, with many asking the question: Has deterrence just died? Ukraine's parliament has canceled today's session, citing the risk of a Russian missile attack on the district of Kyiv, where government buildings are located. https://lnkd.in/gfX3-vQi

Gautam Adani and executives at the Adani Group have been indicted over a scheme to pay over $250 million in bribes. The indictment charges Adani — a billionaire, his nephew Sagar Adani, and Vneet Jaain with conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud and substantive securities fraud as part of an effort to raise money in the US to build in India “one of the world’s largest solar energy projects,” the Department of Justice said. Also named were Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal, former executives of Azure Power, and Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, and Deepak Malhotra, former employees of Canadian institutional investor Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec. “The defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars,” US attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. The Adanis allegedly told investors that Adani Green bonds had a “robust anti-bribery compliance program” and the company “would not pay or promise to pay bribes,” Sanjay Wadhwa, acting director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, said. The Adani Group was the focus of a Hindenburg Research investigation published in 2023, which alleged the conglomerate operated “a large, fragrant fraud in broad daylight” and that it hid and laundered money through a series of shell companies set up in countries such as Cyprus, the UAE, and Singapore. https://lnkd.in/eyZpe6an

Los Angeles passed a “sanctuary city” ordinance Tuesday to protect immigrants from deportation. The ordinance, drafted more than a year ago, codifies the protection of migrants into municipal law and bans the use of city resources to assist federal immigration enforcement. The move comes after President-elect Donald Trump vowed to deport any “criminals who are being illegally harbored.” Under the law, no investigations, arrests, transfers or detentions of any people for immigration enforcement would be allowed on city property or by city employees. Police would be exempt if investigating serious crimes. “So-called sanctuary cities and states sound warm and fuzzy, but the protections they offer are not for abuelas getting ice cream; they're for people who've entered the country illegally and committed additional crimes,” said Roxanne Hodge, communications director for the Republican Party of LA County. While the law will allow the city to keep migrants' citizenship or immigration status confidential, it would not stand up to a warrant issued by a federal or state judge. Trump promised to ban sanctuary cities nationwide during a campaign rally in North Carolina. https://lnkd.in/gqH-TH9p

New York City Mayor Eric Adams issued the city's first drought warning in 22 years as its reservoirs dropped below normal. The warning was issued Monday as wildfires threatened to spread across much of the Eastern US. On Sunday, a Brush Fire Task Force was launched after 271 brush fires ignited citywide in the last two weeks—a record over a 14-day period. Adams said Monday that October and November saw the second-longest rainless streak in 155 years. Officials said the city's water reservoirs were at about 60% capacity, significantly lower than the 79% for this time of year. He called on New Yorkers to continue conserving water whenever possible. “If we pull together and save water, we can … avoid a more serious drought that will require further restrictions.” New York Gov. Kathy also declared a drought watch because of "a historic shortage of rainfall" for the state while elevating 15 counties in mid-Hudson and New York City to a drought warning. The governor also declared a statewide burn ban. "If you live in one of those areas, please conserve water where possible in the coming weeks," she said on X. https://lnkd.in/gDq6etBN

President Joe Biden's administration has allowed Ukraine to use US weapons to strike deep into Russia, US officials said Sunday. The decision significantly reverses Washington's policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Ukraine plans to conduct its first long-range attacks in the coming days, the sources said, without revealing details due to operational security concerns. A US official said the change comes mainly in response to Russia's deployment of North Korean ground troops to supplement its own forces. This development has caused alarm in Washington and Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said: “Today, many in the media are saying that we have received permission to take appropriate actions. But strikes are not made with words. Such things are not announced.” The White House and US State Department declined to comment. There was no immediate response from the Kremlin, which has warned that it would see a move to loosen the limits on Ukraine's use of US weapons as a major escalation. https://lnkd.in/dQqdeAsf