by tyler | Apr 10, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at the US Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade.
1971 – The case is filed by Norma McCorvey, known in court documents as Jane Roe, against Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County, who enforced a Texas law that prohibited abortion, except to save a woman’s life.
January 22, 1973 – The US Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, affirms the legality of a woman’s right to have an abortion under the Fourteenth amendment to the Constitution. The court held that a woman’s right to an abortion fell within the right to privacy (recognized in Griswold v. Connecticut) protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision gave a woman the right to an abortion during the entirety of the pregnancy and defined different levels of state interest for regulating abortion in the second and third trimesters.
The ruling affected laws in 46 states.
Full-text opinions by the justices can be viewed here.
1971 – The Supreme Court agrees to hear the case filed by Roe against Wade, who was enforcing the Texas abortion law that had been declared unconstitutional in an earlier federal district court case. Wade was ignoring the legal ruling and both sides appealed.
December 13, 1971 – The case is argued before the US Supreme Court.
October 11, 1972 – The case is reargued before the US Supreme Court.
January 22, 1973 – The US Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, affirms the legality of a woman’s right to have an abortion under the Fourteenth amendment to the Constitution.
June 17, 2003 – McCorvey (Roe) files a motion with the federal district court in Dallas to have the case overturned and asks the court to consider new evidence that abortion hurts women. Included are 1,000 affidavits from women who say they regret their abortions.
September 14, 2004 – A three-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans dismisses McCorvey’s motion to have the case overturned, according to the Court’s clerk.
May 2, 2022 – In a stunning breach of Supreme Court confidentiality and secrecy, Politico has obtained what it calls a draft of a majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito that would overturn Roe v. Wade’s holding of a federal constitutional right to an abortion. The opinion in the case is not expected to be published until late June. The court confirms the authenticity of the document on May 3, but stresses it is not the final decision.
June 24, 2022 – The Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade with a 6-3 decision, holding that there is no longer a federal constitutional right to an abortion.
Norma McCorvey – Texas resident who sought to obtain an abortion. Texas law prohibited abortions except to save the pregnant mother’s life. McCorvey was pregnant when she became the lead plaintiff in the case. She gave up the baby for adoption.
McCorvey has since come forward and spoken against abortion. In 1997, McCorvey started Roe No More, an anti-abortion outreach organization that was dissolved in 2008. McCorvey died on February 18, 2017. In the 2020 documentary “AKA Jane Roe,” prior to her death in 2017, McCorvey told the film’s director that she hadn’t changed her mind about abortion but became an anti-abortion activist because she was being paid.
Henry Wade – district attorney of Dallas County from 1951 to 1987. McCorvey sued him because he enforced a law that prohibited abortion, except to save a woman’s life. He died on March 1, 2001.
Sarah Weddington – Lawyer for McCorvey.
Linda Coffee – Lawyer for McCorvey.
Jay Floyd – Argued the case for Texas the first time.
Robert C. Flowers – Reargued the case for Texas.
Majority: Harry A. Blackmun (for The Court), William J. Brennan, Lewis F. Powell Jr., Thurgood Marshall
Concurring: Warren Burger, William Orville Douglas, Potter Stewart
Dissenting: William H. Rehnquist, Byron White
by tyler | Apr 10, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at Enron, an energy trading company that collapsed after a massive accounting fraud scheme was revealed. Its 2001 bankruptcy filing was the largest in American history at the time. Estimated losses totaled $74 billion.
Enron was ranked as America’s fifth largest company by Fortune magazine in 2002, despite its 2001 bankruptcy filing.
An independent review published in 2002 detailed how executives pocketed millions of dollars from complex, off-the-books partnerships while reporting inflated profits to shareholders.
Executives including Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were prosecuted for fraud-related crimes.
Key figures sold their stock shortly before the company announced a sharp downturn in earnings.
Lower-level employees were encouraged to invest in company stock for their retirement savings just before the company collapsed. The workers later filed a class action lawsuit and won an $85 million settlement.
1985 – Houston Natural Gas merges with Omaha-based InterNorth to form Enron.
1986 – Lay is appointed chairman and CEO of Enron.
1989 – Enron enters the natural gas commodities trading market.
1990 – Skilling, an energy consultant, is hired to run a new subsidiary called Enron Finance Corp.
February 12, 2001 – Skilling becomes CEO while Lay stays on as chairman.
August 14, 2001 – Skilling resigns and Lay becomes CEO again.
August 2001 – Sherron Watkins, a vice president, warns Lay that the company could “implode in a wave of accounting scandals.”
October 16, 2001 – Enron announces a third-quarter loss of $618 million. The company later reveals that it overstated earnings dating back to 1997.
October 31, 2001 – The company discloses that it is under formal investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
November 9, 2001 – Enron confirms that it has agreed to be purchased by a rival company, Dynegy for $9 billion. On November 28, Dynegy announces it has terminated merger talks with Enron.
December 2, 2001 – Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
January 9, 2002 – The US Department of Justice opens a criminal investigation into Enron’s collapse.
January 10, 2002 – Arthur Andersen LLP, the accounting firm that handled Enron’s audits, discloses that its employees had destroyed company documents.
January 15, 2002 – The New York Stock Exchange suspends trading of Enron shares.
January 17, 2002 – Enron ends its partnership with Arthur Andersen.
January 23, 2002 – Lay resigns as CEO. He later steps down from the board of directors.
January 25, 2002 – Former Enron vice chairman J. Clifford Baxter is found dead in an apparent suicide.
February 12, 2002 – Lay invokes his Fifth Amendment right before the Senate Commerce Committee.
March 14, 2002 – The DOJ indicts Arthur Andersen for obstruction of justice. A jury later returns a guilty verdict for the accounting firm. The Supreme Court later overturns the conviction.
February 19, 2004 – Skilling is charged with 35 counts of fraud and insider trading. He pleads not guilty.
July 7, 2004 – Lay is indicted. He is charged with conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and making false statements. During his arraignment the next day, he pleads not guilty to all 11 charges and is released on $500,000 unsecured bond.
May 25, 2006 – Skilling and Lay are convicted of conspiracy and fraud. Skilling is also convicted on one count of insider trading and five counts of making false statements. The jury acquits Skilling on nine additional counts of insider trading.
July 5, 2006 – Lay dies of a heart attack while awaiting sentencing.
September 8, 2008 – A class action lawsuit filed by shareholders and investors is settled in federal court. The $7.2 billion settlement will be paid out by a group of banks accused of participating in the accounting fraud scheme.
May 11, 2009 – Skilling files a petition with the Supreme Court to overturn his conviction after appeals with the lower courts fail.
May 9, 2010 – “Enron,” a musical about the company’s collapse, closes on Broadway 12 days after opening amid slow ticket sales.
April 16, 2012 – The Supreme Court rejects Skilling’s appeal.
June 21, 2013 – A federal judge reduces Skilling’s sentence by more than 10 years. In return, Skilling agrees to stop challenging his conviction and forfeit roughly $42 million that will be distributed among the victims of the Enron fraud.
December 8, 2015 – The SEC announces that it has obtained a summary judgment against Skilling, permanently barring him from serving as an officer or director of a publicly held company. The judgment settles a long-running civil suit by the SEC.
February 21, 2019 – Skilling is released after serving over 12 years in federal prison.
by tyler | Apr 10, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball Tournaments. The single-elimination tournament is nicknamed “March Madness” or “The Big Dance.”
2024 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Finals
April 8, 2024 – Men’s Finals – The University of Connecticut Huskies defeat the Purdue Boilermakers 75-60 in Glendale, Arizona, to win their second successive men’s basketball national championship title and sixth overall.
April 7, 2024 – Women’s Finals – The South Carolina Gamecocks defeat the University of Iowa Hawkeyes 87-75 in Cleveland, to complete a perfect 38-0 season and win a third national championship.
2023 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Finals
April 3, 2023 – Men’s Finals – Uconn wins its fifth men’s basketball national title with a 76-59 victory over the San Diego State University Aztecs in Houston.
April 2, 2023 – Women’s Finals – The Louisiana State University Tigers defeat the Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 in Dallas, to win the program’s first NCAA women’s basketball national championship.
68 teams are invited to compete.
– 32 teams receive automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments.
– 36 teams receive an at-large bid from the NCAA Selection Committee.
The 12-member selection committee, comprised of athletic directors and conference commissioners, is responsible for selecting the 36 at-large teams, seeding (or ranking) all 68 teams and placing them in one of four regions within the bracket. The committee’s field of 68 is revealed on the Sunday before the four first-round games, appropriately dubbed “Selection Sunday.”
The selection committee primarily uses the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, which is comprised of Team Value Index (TVI), or wins against quality opponents, and an adjusted net efficiency across all games. The NET replaces the Ratings Percentage Index.
68 teams are invited to compete.
– 32 teams receive automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments.
– 36 teams receive an at-large bid from the NCAA Selection Committee.
Similar to the men’s selection process, a 12-member selection committee primarily uses NET rankings to choose the 36 at-large teams, seed (or rank) all 68 teams and place them in one of four regions within the bracket.
The committee’s field of 68 is revealed on the Sunday before the four first-round games.
The “First Four” are the four opening round games in the Men’s tournament. Two games match number 16 seeds against each other, and the other two games feature the last four at-large teams selected into the tournament. The winners advance to the next round, the round of 64.
For both the men’s and women’s tournaments, each of the four regions consists of 16 teams that are seeded No. 1 to No. 16. In the first round, teams are paired according to seed. The No. 1 seed faces No. 16, No. 2 faces No. 15, No. 3 faces No. 14, and so forth. The winning teams advance to the second round.
The 16 teams that advance beyond their first and second-round games are referred to as the “Sweet Sixteen.” The remaining eight teams are called the “Elite Eight,” and the last four teams are the “Final Four.”
An underdog or lower-seeded team that advances throughout the tournament is often referred to as a “Cinderella” team.
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins have the most NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament titles with 11.
The University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies have the most NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament titles with 11.
1939 – The first men’s tournament is held, and eight teams compete. Oregon defeats Ohio State 46-33.
1954 – The tournament final is broadcast live nationwide for the first time.
1982 – The first women’s tournament is held, and 32 teams compete. Louisiana Tech beats Cheyney State 76-62.
1991 – CBS begins broadcasting all games live.
1999 – CBS obtains an 11-year contract through 2013 worth $6 billion to broadcast the tournament.
2005 – College Sports Television begins a two-year agreement with CBS Sportsline.com and the NCAA for exclusive video streaming rights on CSTV.com for out-of-market game coverage. CSTV pays CBS $3 million for the rights and expects to be profitable in the first year.
April 22, 2010 – In addition to expanding the men’s tournament basketball field to 68 teams from 65, the NCAA announces a 14-year, $10.8 billion television rights deal with CBS and Turner Sports. The deal, which goes into effect in 2011, marks the first time that each game will be televised nationally.
April 12, 2016 – The NCAA announces an 8-year extension of its TV deal with Turner Broadcasting and CBS Sports. The extension to the current deal – for a combined total rights fee of $8.8 billion – will keep the big game at Turner and CBS until 2032.
February 20, 2018 – The NCAA Infraction Appeal Committee announces they will uphold penalties against the Louisville Cardinals Men’s Basketball team for their serious violations of NCAA rules. The Committee panel found that they “acted unethically….by arranging striptease dances and sex acts for prospects, student-athletes and others, and did not cooperate with the investigation.” The penalties vacate every win from 2011 to 2015, including the 2013 national championship and the 2012 Final Four appearance.
August 22, 2018 – The NCAA announces a new ranking tool, the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool). It replaces RPI, or the ranking performance index, as the method which will be used to choose which teams will be selected to participate in the tournament.
March 12, 2020 – NCAA President Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors cancel the men’s and women’s Division I basketball tournament, and other winter and spring NCAA championships, due to concern over the Covid-19 pandemic. The Division I championships have been played every year since the men’s inception in 1939 and women’s in 1982.
January 4, 2021 – The NCAA announces that the entire 2021 NCAA men’s basketball tournament will be played in the state of Indiana, with the majority of the 67 scheduled games to be played in Indianapolis.
February 5, 2021 – The NCAA announces that the entire 2021 NCAA women’s basketball tournament will be played in Texas, with the majority of the 63 scheduled games to be played in San Antonio.
September 29, 2021 – After a “comprehensive external review of gender equity issues,” the NCAA announces that beginning in 2022, the “March Madness” branding that has historically been used for the Division I men’s basketball tournament will also be used for the women’s basketball tournament.
November 17, 2021 – The expansion of the women’s tournament bracket is approved. Sixty-eight teams will participate in the 2022 championship, up from 64.
April 7, 2024 – The NCAA tournament national title game between undefeated and top overall seed South Carolina and Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes breaks women’s college basketball ratings records, averaging 18.7 million viewers, according to preliminary numbers from Nielsen.
by tyler | Apr 10, 2024 | CNN, world
Here’s a look at Kurdish people. Kurds do not have an official homeland or country. Most reside within countries in the Middle East including northern Iraq, eastern Turkey, western Iran and small portions of northern Syria and Armenia.
Area: Roughly 74,000 sq mi
Population: approximately 25-30 million (some Kurds reside outside of Kurdistan)
Religion: Most are Sunni Muslims; some practice Sufism, a type of mystic Islam
Kurds have never achieved nation-state status, making Kurdistan a non-governmental region and one of the largest stateless nations in the world.
Portions of the region are recognized by two countries: Iran, where the province of Kordestan lies; and northern Iraq, site of the autonomous region known as Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) or Iraqi Kurdistan.
Kurds were mostly nomadic until the end of World War I and the breakup of the Ottoman Empire.
Kurds make up about 10% of the population in Syria, 19% of the population of Turkey, 15-20% of the population of Iraq and are one of the largest ethnic minorities in Iran.
The Peshmerga is a more than 100,000-strong national military force which protects Iraqi Kurdistan, and includes female fighters.
October 30, 1918 – (TURKEY) The Armistice of Mudros marks the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I.
November 3, 1918 – (IRAQ) With the discovery of oil in the Kurdish province of Mosul, British forces occupy the region.
August 10, 1920 – (TURKEY) The Treaty of Sèvres outlines the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, with Turkey renouncing rights over certain areas in Asia and North Africa. It calls for the recognition of new independent states, including an autonomous Kurdistan. It is never ratified.
July 24, 1923 – (TURKEY) The Allies and the former Ottoman Empire sign and ratify the Treaty of Lausanne, which recognizes Turkey as an independent nation. In the final treaty marking the conclusion of World War I, the Allies drop demands for an autonomous Turkish Kurdistan. The Kurdish region is eventually divided among several countries.
1923 – (IRAQ) Former Kurdish Governor Sheikh Mahmud Barzinji stages an uprising against British rule, declaring a Kurdish kingdom in Sulaimaniya in northern Iraq.
1924 – (IRAQ) British Forces retake Sulaimaniya.
1943-1945 – (IRAQ/IRAN) Mustafa Barzani leads an uprising, gaining control of areas of Erbil and Badinan. When the uprising is defeated, Barzani and his forces retreat to Kurdish areas in Iran and align with nationalist fighters under the leadership of Qazi Muhammad.
January 1946 – (IRAN) The Kurdish Republic of Mahābād is established as a Kurdish state, with backing from the Soviet Union. The short-lived country encompasses the city of Mahābād in Iran, which is largely Kurdish and near the Iraq border. However, Soviets withdraw the same year and the Republic of Mahābād collapses.
August 16, 1946 – (IRAQ) The Kurdish Democratic Party of Iraq (KDP) is established.
1957 – (SYRIA) 250 Kurdish children die in an arson attack on a cinema. It is blamed on Arab nationalists.
1958 – (SYRIA) The government formally bans all Kurdish-language publications.
1958 – (IRAQ) After Iraq’s 1958 revolution, a new constitution is established, which declares Arabs and Kurds as “partners in this homeland.”
1961 – (IRAQ) KDP begins a rebellion in northern Iraq. Within two weeks, the Iraqi government dissolves the Kurdish Democratic Party.
March 1970 – (IRAQ) A peace agreement between Iraqi government and Kurds grants the Kurds autonomy. Kurdish is recognized as an official language, and an amendment to the constitution states: “the Iraqi people is made up of two nationalities: the Arab nationality and the Kurdish nationality.”
March 6, 1975 – (ALGERIA) Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi of Iran sign a treaty. Iraq gives up claims to the Shatt-al-Arab waterway, while Iran agrees to end its support of the independence seeking Kurds.
June 1975 – (IRAQ) Former KDP Leader Jalal Talabani, establishes the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The following year, PUK takes up an armed campaign against the Iraqi government.
1978 – (IRAQ) KDP and PUK forces clash, leaving many dead.
1978 – (TURKEY) Abdullah Öcalan forms the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist group.
Late 1970s – (IRAQ) The Baath Party, under Hussein’s leadership, uproots Kurds from areas with Kurdish majorities, and settles southern-Iraqi Arabs into those regions. Into the 1980s, Kurds are forcibly removed from the Iranian border as Kurds are suspected of aiding Iranian forces during the Iran-Iraq War.
1979 – (IRAQ) Mustafa Barzani dies in Washington, DC. His son, Massoud Barzani, is elected president of KDP following his death.
1980 – (IRAQ) The Iran-Iraq War begins. Although the KDP forces work closely with Iran, the PUK does not.
1983 – (IRAQ) PUK agrees to a ceasefire with Iraq and begins negotiations on Kurdish autonomy.
August 1984 – (TURKEY) PKK launches a violent separatist campaign in Turkey, starting with killing two soldiers. The conflict eventually spreads to Iran, Iraq and Syria.
1985 – (IRAQ) The ceasefire between Iraq and PUK breaks down.
1986 – (IRAQ) After an Iranian-sponsored reconciliation, both KDP and PUK receive support from Tehran.
1987 – (TURKEY) Turkey imposes a state of emergency in the southeastern region of the country in response to PKK attacks.
February-August 1988 – (IRAQ) During Operation Anfal (“spoils” in Arabic), created to quell Kurdish resistance, the Iraqi military uses large quantities of chemical weapons on Kurdish civilians. Iraqi forces destroy more than 4,000 villages in Kurdistan. It is believed that some 100,000 Kurds were killed.
March 16, 1988 – (IRAQ) Iraq uses poison gas against the Kurdish people in Halabja in northern Iraq. Thousands of people are believed to have died in the attack.
1990-1991 – (IRAQ) The Gulf War begins when Hussein invades Kuwait, seeking its oil reserves. There is a mass exodus of Kurds out of Iraq as more than a million flee into Turkey and Iran.
February 28, 1991 – (IRAQ) Hussein agrees to a ceasefire, ending the Gulf War.
March 1991 – (IRAQ) Kurdish uprising begins, and in two weeks, the Kurdish militia gains control of Iraqi Kurdistan, including the oil-rich town of Kirkuk. After allied support to the Kurds is denied, Iraq crushes the uprising. Two million Kurds flee, but are forced to hide out in the mountains as Turkey closes its border.
April 1991 – (IRAQ) A safe haven is established in Iraqi Kurdistan by the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Iraqi forces are barred from operating within the region, and Kurds begin autonomous rule, with KDP leading the north and PUK leading the south.
1992 – (IRAQ) In an anti-PKK operation, 20,000 Turkish troops enter Kurdish safe havens in Iraq.
1994-1998 – (IRAQ) PUK and KDP members engage in armed conflict, known as the Fratricide War, in Iraqi Kurdistan.
1995 – (IRAQ) Approximately 35,000 Turkish troops launch an offensive against Kurds in northern Iraq.
1996 – (IRAQ) Iraq launches attacks against Kurdish cities, including Erbil and Kirkuk.
October 8, 1997 – (TURKEY) The United States lists PKK as a terrorist group.
1998 – (IRAQ) The conflict between KDP and PUK ends, and a peace agreement is reached. This is brokered by the United States, and the accord is signed in Washington.
1999 – (TURKEY) PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan is captured in Nairobi, Kenya, by Turkish officials.
2002 – (TURKEY) Under pressure from the European Union, Turkey legalizes broadcasts and education in the Kurdish language. Turkish forces still combat PKK, including military incursions into northern Iraq.
May 2002 – (TURKEY) The European Union designates the PKK as a terrorist organization.
February 1, 2004 – (IRAQ) Two suicide bombs kill more than 50 people in Erbil. The targets are the headquarters of KDP and PUK, and several top Kurdish officials from both parties are killed.
March 2004 – (SYRIA) Nine people are killed at a football (soccer) arena in Qamishli after clashes with riot police. Kurds demonstrate throughout the city, and unrest spreads to nearby towns in the following days, after security forces open fire at the funerals.
June 2004 – (TURKEY) State TV broadcasts Kurdish-language programs for the first time.
April 6-7, 2005 – (IRAQ) Kurdish leader Talabani is selected the country’s president by the transitional national assembly, and is sworn in the next day.
July 2005 – (TURKEY) Six people die from a bomb planted on a train by a Kurdish guerrilla. Turkish officials blame the PKK.
2005 – (IRAQ) The 2005 Iraqi constitution upholds Kurdish autonomy, and designates Kurdistan as an autonomous federal region.
August-September 2006 – (TURKEY) A wave of bomb attacks target a resort area in Turkey, as well as Istanbul. Separatist group Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAC) claims responsibility for most of the attacks and threatens it will turn Turkey into “hell.”
December 2007 – (TURKEY) Turkey launches attacks in Iraqi Kurdistan, targeting PKK outposts.
2009 – (TURKEY) A policy called the Kurdish Initiative increases Kurdish language rights and reduces military presence in the mostly Kurdish southeast.
September 2010 – (IRAN) A bomb detonates during a parade in Mahābād, leaving 12 dead and dozens injured. No group claims responsibility for the attack, but authorities blame Kurdish separatists. In 2014, authorities arrest members of Koumaleh, a Kurdish armed group, for the attack.
April 2011 – (SYRIA) Syria grants citizenship to thousands in the Kurdish region. According to Human Rights Watch, an exceptional census stripped 20% of Kurdish Syrians of their citizenship in 1962.
October 2011 – (SYRIA) Meshaal Tammo, a Syrian Kurdish activist, is assassinated. Many Kurds blame Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime for the assassination.
October 19, 2011 – (TURKEY) Kurdish militants kill 24 Turkish troops near the Iraqi border, a PKK base area.
June 2012 – (TURKEY) Turkish forces strike PKK rebel bases in Iraq after a PKK attack in southern Turkey kills eight Turkish soldiers.
July 2012 – (SYRIA) Amid the country’s civil war, Syrian security forces retreat from several Kurdish towns in the northeastern part of the country.
August 2012 – (TURKEY) Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warns that any attempts by the PKK to launch cross-border attacks from Syria would be met by force; the Turkish Army then performs a large exercise less than a mile from border villages now controlled by the Syrian Kurdish group Democratic Union Party (PYD).
December 2012 – (TURKEY) Erdogan announces the government has begun peace talks with the PKK.
January 10, 2013 – (FRANCE) Three Kurdish women are found shot dead in Paris, one of whom was a founding member of the PKK.
March 21, 2013 – (TURKEY) Imprisoned PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan calls for dialogue: a letter from him is read in the Turkish Parliament, “We for tens of years gave up our lives for this struggle, we paid a price. We have come to a point at which the guns must be silent and ideas must talk.”
March 25, 2013 – (TURKEY) Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and Iraqi Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani negotiate a framework deal that includes an outline for a direct pipeline export of oil and gas. The pipeline would have the Kurdish crude oil transported from the Kurdish Regional Government directly into Turkey, allowing the KRG to be a competitive supplier of oil to Turkey.
June 2014 – (IRAQ) Refugees flee fighting and flood into Iraqi Kurdistan to the north as ISIS militants take over Mosul. Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) closes then reopens, with restrictions, border crossings used by those fleeing ISIS.
June 23, 2014 – (IRAQ) Iraqi Kurdistan President Barzani says that “Iraq is obviously falling apart, and it’s obvious that the federal or central government has lost control over everything.”
Early August 2014 – (IRAQ) Reportedly 40,000 Yazidi, a minority group of Kurdish descent, flee to a mountainous region in northwestern Iraq to escape ISIS, after the group storms Sinjar, a town near the Syrian border. Also, 100,000 Christians flee to Erbil, after Kurdish leadership there promises protection in the city.
August 11, 2014 – (IRAQ) Kurdish fighters in Kurdistan, who are called Peshmerga, work with Iraqi armed forces to deliver aid to Yazidis stranded on Mount Sinjar after fleeing ISIS fighters.
August 12, 2014 – (IRAQ) Some Yazidi tell CNN that PKK fighters control parts of the mountain, and have offered food and protection from ISIS.
December 2, 2014 – (IRAQ) The government of Iraq and the government of Iraqi Kurdistan sign an agreement to share oil revenues and military resources. Iraq will now pay the salaries of Peshmerga fighters battling ISIS and act as an intermediary to deliver US weapons to Kurdish forces. The Kurdistan government will deliver more than half a million barrels of oil daily to the Iraqi government. Profits from the sale of the oil will be split between the two governments.
January 26, 2015 – (SYRIA) After 112 days of fighting, the YPG, Kurdish fighters also known as the People’s Protection Units, take control of the city of Kobani from ISIS.
March 21, 2015 – (TURKEY) In a letter read to thousands during a celebration in the city of Diyarbakir, imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan urges fighters under his command to lay down their arms, stop waging war against the Turkish state and join a “congress.”
May 18, 2015 – (TURKEY) In the run-up to parliamentary elections on June 7, an explosion rocks the office of the Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) in Adana, in southeastern Turkey. Six people are injured.
June 7, 2015 – (TURKEY) Three-year-old fledgling party Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) receives more than 13% of the vote, winning 80 seats in the 550-seat parliament.
June 16, 2015 – (SYRIA) Kurdish forces in the Syrian town, Tal Abyad say they have defeated ISIS fighters and taken back the town on the Turkish border.
June 23, 2015 – (SYRIA) Kurdish fighters announce that they have taken back the town of Ain Issa, located 30 miles north of the ISIS stronghold, Raqqa, a city proclaimed to be the capital of the caliphate. A military base near Ain Issa, which had been occupied by ISIS since last August, is abandoned by the terrorist group the night before the Kurdish forces seize the town.
February 17, 2016 – (IRAQ) Turkish airstrikes target some of the PKK’s top figures in northern Iraq’s Haftanin region. Airstrikes come after a terrorist attack in Turkey kills 28, although no Kurdish group has claimed responsibility for those attacks.
March 13, 2016 – (TURKEY) A car bomb attack kills at least 37 people in Ankara. The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK – an offshoot of the Kurdish separatist group PKK – takes responsibility for the attack.
March 17, 2016 – (SYRIA) Kurds declare that a swath of northeastern Syria is now a separate autonomous region under Kurdish control. The claim stirs up controversy, as Syrian and Turkish officials say it goes against the goal of creating a unified country after years of civil war.
July 20, 2016 – (TURKEY) Following a failed coup attempt, President Erdogan declares a state of emergency. In the first three months, pro-Kurdish media outlets are shut down, and tens of thousands of civil servants with alleged PKK connections are dismissed or suspended. The purge includes ministers of parliament, military leaders, police, teachers and mayors, including in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir.
September 25, 2017 – (IRAQ) Iraqi Kurds vote in favor of declaring independence from Iraq. More than 92% of the roughly 3 million people vote “yes” to independence.
March 23, 2019 – (SYRIA) Kurdish forces announce they have captured the eastern Syrian pocket of Baghouz, the last populated area under ISIS rule.
October 9, 2019 – (TURKEY/SYRIA) Turkey launches a military offensive into northeastern Syria, just days after US President Donald Trump’s administration announced that US troops would leave the border area. Erdogan’s “Operation Peace Spring” is an effort to drive away Kurdish forces from the border, and use the area to resettle around two million Syrian refugees. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who operate in the region are Kurdish-led, and still hold thousands of ISIS fighters captured in battle.
October 17, 2019 – (TURKEY/SYRIA) US Vice President Mike Pence announces that he and Erdogan agreed to a ceasefire halting Turkey’s incursion into northern Syria. The Turkish government insists that the agreement is not a ceasefire, but only a “pause” on operations in the region.
November 15, 2019 – (TURKEY/SYRIA) Turkey’s decision to launch a military operation targeting US-Kurdish partners in northern Syria and the Trump administration’s subsequent retreat allowed ISIS to rebuild itself and boosted its ability to launch attacks abroad, the Pentagon’s Inspector General says in an Operation Inherent Resolve quarterly report.
March 24, 2020 – (SYRIA) The SDF releases a statement calling for a humanitarian truce in response to a United Nations appeal for a global ceasefire to combat the coronavirus.
July 30, 2020 – (SYRIA) During a US Senate committee hearing, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirms the Trump administration’s support for the Delta Crescent Energy firm’s deal to develop and modernize oil fields in northeast Syria under control of the SDF. The following week, Syria’s foreign ministry calls the deal an attempt to “steal” the oil.
February 8, 2021 – (SYRIA) Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby is questioned about the Delta Crescent Energy deal during a press conference. He says that the US Department of Defense under the Joe Biden administration is focused on fighting ISIS. It is not aiding a private company.
January 20-26, 2022 – (SYRIA) ISIS lays siege to a prison in northeast Syria, in an attempt to break out thousands of the group’s members who were detained in 2019. In coordination with US-led coalition airstrikes, SDF regains control of the prison. This is believed to be the biggest coordinated attack by ISIS since the fall of the caliphate three years prior.
September 16, 2022 – (IRAN) Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, dies after being detained by “morality police” and taken to a “re-education center,” allegedly for not abiding by the country’s conservative dress code. Public anger over her death combines with a range of grievances against the Islamic Republic’s oppressive regime to fuel months of nationwide demonstrations, which continue despite law makers urging the country’s judiciary to “show no leniency” to protesters.
November 12, 2022 – (IRAN) The Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO (IHRNGO) group claims Iranian security forces have killed at least 326 people since nationwide protests erupted two months ago. Authorities have unleashed a deadly crackdown on demonstrators, with reports of forced detentions and physical abuse being used to target the country’s Kurdish minority group.
by tyler | Apr 10, 2024 | CNN, us
Here is a look at best-selling author and Oscar-winning actress, Shirley MacLaine.
Birth date: April 24, 1934
Birth place: Richmond, Virginia
Birth name: Shirley MacLean Beaty
Father: Ira O. Beaty, school administrator
Mother: Kathlyn (MacLean) Beaty, drama teacher
Marriage: Steve Parker (1954-1982, divorced)
Children: Stephanie Sachiko “Sachi” Parker
Nominated for six Academy Awards and won one.
Nominated for six Primetime Emmy Awards and won one.
Her brother is actor and director Warren Beatty.
Has said she believes in reincarnation and UFO’s.
Is named after the child star Shirley Temple.
1950s – Performs in a “subway circuit” production of “Oklahoma!”
May 28, 1953 – Makes Broadway debut in “Me and Juliet” as a member of the chorus.
1954 – As the understudy for star Carol Haney in “The Pajama Game” on Broadway, MacLaine gets her big break after the lead actress hurts her ankle. Hollywood producer Hal Wallis is impressed by MacLaine’s performance and offers her a film contract.
1955 – Makes her film debut in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Trouble with Harry.” Also co-stars with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in “Artists and Models.”
1955-1971 – Stars in close to 25 movies, including “Some Came Running” in 1958, “The Apartment” in 1960, “Irma La Douce” in 1963, and “Sweet Charity” in 1969.
1960s – Supports Robert F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign, protests the Vietnam War and advocates for civil rights.
January 1, 1970 – MacLaine’s memoir, “Don’t Fall Off the Mountain,” is published. It’s the first of 15 books penned by the actress.
1971-1972 – Helps Democrat George McGovern campaign for president.
1973 – Spends three weeks in China leading an all-female delegation on a tour sanctioned by the Communist government. She makes an Oscar-nominated 1975 documentary about the trip, “The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir.”
September 11, 1977 – Wins a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Comedy, Variety or Music, for her role in “Gypsy in my Soul.”
1978 – Visits Fidel Castro at the Presidential palace in Havana while on a trip to Cuba. After telling him that she liked his uniform, he gives her a replica of one of his uniforms, according to MacLaine’s memoir, “My Lucky Stars.”
1984 – Wins the Oscar for Best Actress for her role as Aurora Greenway in “Terms of Endearment.”
1994 – Walks nearly 500 miles across Spain on a spiritual pilgrimage called El Camino de Santiago. During her month-long solo journey, MacLaine sleeps in shelters and begs for food. She chronicles the trek in her book, “The Camino: A Journey of the Spirit.”
2011 – Receives France’s most prestigious award for the arts, the Legion of Honor.
2012-2013 – Portrays a fashionable New Yorker on the hit show, “Downton Abbey.”
December 8, 2013 – Receives the Kennedy Center Honors for her achievements in the performing arts.
by tyler | Apr 10, 2024 | CNN, health
After Prince Harry’s accounts of a troubled relationship with his brother, Prince William, in his memoir, “Spare,” made waves, you may have wondered if there was any hope for a relationship so fraught — especially if you’re navigating a similar sort of rift.
Though strong relationships among siblings have been linked with greater health and happiness, sibling estrangement is probably more common than schisms between parents and adult children, said Joshua Coleman, a psychologist in private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area and a senior fellow with the Council on Contemporary Families. Parents are more highly motivated to repair those relationships because of their role and the shame and sadness that can come from being on the outs with a child, Coleman said.
“For siblings, there aren’t the same kind of expectations of staying in touch,” said Coleman, author of “Rules of Estrangement: Why Adult Children Cut Ties and How to Heal the Conflict.” “Siblings don’t have the same kind of role violation that can produce shame that can serve as a motivator or as an impetus towards repair.”
Distancing or ending a relationship with a sibling can still feel difficult or shameful, but people who initiate estrangement feel there are benefits, according to Coleman.
“Assuming they’ve done their due diligence and the (other) sibling remains either unable or unwilling to modify or change their behavior, a break from the relationship may be better for mental health than a continuance,” Coleman said.
For cases that aren’t so clear-cut, Coleman has guiding principles for knowing when the relationship is worth saving and when cutting ties is better.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
CNN: What are the most common triggers for sibling estrangement?
Coleman: Typical reasons why sibling rifts or estrangement begin include perceived or objectively differential treatment by parents, which can cause one sibling to distance themselves because they feel less valued. A history of emotional, physical or sexual abuse by a sibling can be traumatizing, especially if they haven’t made amends or if the hurt sibling hasn’t been able to forgive. Sibling rivalries — sometimes sparked by one feeling jealous of or threatened by the other’s success — also can drive a wedge.
Sometimes a sibling might begin by estranging themselves from parents, but if the other sibling doesn’t ally with them or is critical of their estrangement, that can produce a feeling of, “Well, you’re either for me or against me.”
CNN: What’s the first step when faced with repeated conflict?
Coleman: You have to do due diligence on the relationship, in that you have to give people the opportunity to repair and communicate your needs in a way that really invites self-reflection and empathy on the other person’s part, rather than more hurt and defensiveness.
You might feel hurt, shamed, humiliated, criticized or diminished by your sibling’s behavior. I think it’s reasonable, then, to say, “I need you to change this to continue to have a relationship with me. I feel like my ask of you is very reasonable, and it’s my strong preference that we change how we communicate. Maybe there are things you might want me to work on as well. But I am beginning to feel that if this isn’t something that you’re able to work to modify, I need to be out of contact for perhaps a significant period of time with you.”
Certainly, someone who is abusive is out of control and requires strong limits to counteract their behavior. That doesn’t mean they should never be given the chance to repair or reconcile, but only after they’ve shown a willingness to commit to making amends and changing.
CNN: When is the relationship worth repairing?
Coleman: When estranged siblings are seeking reconciliation, typically one person is more motivated to heal it than the other and therefore takes more of a leadership role in repairing the dynamic — just kind of showing empathy, being willing to make amends or take responsibility, etc.
If the other person is showing genuine empathy and is willing to not be defensive, to commit to change, to be respectful of your boundaries or requirements for a healthy relationship, those are really the key ingredients to any healthy relationship that’s in need of repair.
CNN: When is cutting ties the best thing to do?
Coleman: I really struggle with that question because I feel like our culture is too endorsing and too quick to cut ties, so every person has to make that decision for themselves.
When someone is contemplating something so consequential, it requires a degree of self-reflection. Are you too sensitive to everyone? Are you constantly ghosting people in every aspect of your life? Are you accusing everybody of gaslighting you if they don’t agree with your perception of events? Are you just cutting out one more person because you can’t tolerate conflict?
Sometimes taking a break from the relationship can be useful if you feel too enmeshed with them to be able to separate your own identity from what gets triggered. For some people, some period of distance in which they’re not constantly being triggered or reminded about things about themselves they don’t like or feel upset about could be useful.
Assuming you’ve done all the other steps of due diligence, sometimes ending contact for a while might be a good wake-up call for that sibling.
CNN: How much of a grace or trial period should someone give?
Coleman: Nobody’s going to be 100% perfect once new boundaries are in place. The goal is to agree that the new dynamic will be worked on together, because maybe the person who’s engaging in the hurtful behavior isn’t aware of it or needs to be educated in an ongoing way.
Give it a few months at least, during which you continue to engage and debrief after interactions. You might say, “I thought it went great. However, I am triggered or upset when you start defending Mom and Dad to me or get competitive with me about something.”
CNN: How should people distance or end the relationship?
Coleman: Say, “I feel like I’ve tried to explain to you the problems I see in the relationship, and to give you an opportunity to respond to or work on them. And it feels like you either haven’t been able to or haven’t been that motivated to, so it decreases my desire to spend time with you. So, for the time being, I’d like to take a break from the relationship. And I can let you know if or when that changes.”
CNN: What do people tend to experience after changing or severing a sibling relationship, and how can they cope?
Coleman: Typically, the person who ended the relationship isn’t in as much pain as the person who was cut off. The person who ends things may feel relieved or happy.
It isn’t always all upsides, though. Ending the relationship means we’re not only losing contact with the parts of them we don’t like, we’re also losing contact with the parts we do like. There can be a feeling of loss or sadness about giving up or recognizing the person may not be willing to change.
They might also feel shame and guilt if the other family members are upset with them or pressuring them to be back in contact.
Remind yourself of the effort you put in and that if you’re shaming yourself for your decision, you’re only adding insult to injury. You did give that person a reasonable period for due diligence, so this isn’t something you’ve done in some capricious or selfish way.
CNN: What if the estrangement causes issues with other family members?
Coleman: Be empathic about their pain while firmly stating that you’ve worked hard to get your sibling to respond differently to you, but they’ve been either unwilling or unable — so this isn’t a decision you’ve made lightly. You can’t just maintain a relationship with your sibling because your parent wants you to.
