by tyler | Dec 23, 2023 | CNN, world
Here’s a look at the life of seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher.
Birth date: January 3, 1969
Birth place: Hurth-Hermulheim, Germany
Birth name: Michael Schumacher
Father: Rolf Schumacher, go-kart track manager and bricklayer
Mother: Elisabeth Schumacher, go-kart track worker
Marriage: Corinna (Betsch) Schumacher (1995-present)
Children: Mick, 1999 and Gina-Maria, 1997
Winner of seven Formula One (F1) championships, in 1994-1995 and 2000-2004.
Has 91 Grand Prix wins and 155 podium finishes. Schumacher’s all-time Grand Prix win record was broken by Lewis Hamilton in October 2020.
Began driving go-karts at the age of 4 and won his first club championship at age 6.
His younger brother, Ralf Schumacher, is a former F1 driver. Ralf’s son David and Michael’s son, Mick, are also racecar drivers.
1984 and 1985 – Winner of the German Junior Kart Championship.
1987 – Wins the German and European Kart Championships.
1990 – German Formula Three champion.
1991 – Makes his Formula One debut with the Jordan team, qualifying in seventh place at the Belgium Grand Prix.
1994 – Wins his first Formula One championship, with Benetton, in a controversial finish. At the title-deciding Australian Grand Prix, Schumacher wins by a point after colliding with challenger Damon Hill and causing both cars to retire.
1995 – Wins his second straight Formula One championship with Benetton.
1999 – Breaks his leg in a crash at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
2000 – Wins the Formula One championship with Ferrari. It is Ferrari’s first championship since 1979.
2000-2004 – Wins five straight F1 championships with Ferrari.
2006 – Announces his retirement.
2009 – Is diagnosed with a mild concussion after a motorbike crash in Spain.
2010 – Returns after three years of retirement, to race for Mercedes.
2012 – Retires for the second and final time.
December 29, 2013 – Suffers severe head trauma in a skiing accident at the French Alps resort of Meribel. He undergoes two operations and is put into a medically induced coma.
January 30, 2014 – Manager Sabine Kehm says that Schumacher’s sedation is being reduced to start the “waking up process.”
June 16, 2014 – Schumacher’s manager issues a statement saying Schumacher is no longer in a coma.
September 9, 2014 – Schumacher is released from a Swiss hospital and returns home, according to his spokeswoman.
November 14, 2014 – Schumacher is presented with the Bambi “Millennium” Award. He is honored with the award for his many years of service and inspiration to the German people. His manager accepts the award as Schumacher continues to recover from head injuries sustained in 2013.
January 3, 2019 – Schumacher celebrates his 50th birthday. An official Schumacher app is released to honor his accomplishments.
September 15, 2021 – The documentary “Schumacher” debuts. In the film, Schumacher’s wife, Corinna, says he is “different, but he’s here” as he continues his rehabilitation.
April 20, 2023 – The family of Schumacher is planning legal action after a German magazine published a fake artificial intelligence (AI) interview, a family spokesperson tells CNN.
by tyler | Dec 23, 2023 | CNN, world
Here’s a look at the life of Ashraf Ghani, former president of Afghanistan.
Birth date: 1949
Birth place: Logar Province, Afghanistan
Birth name: Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai
Father: Shah Pesand
Mother: Kawkaba Lodin
Marriage: Rula (Saade) Ghani
Children: Tarek and Mariam
Education: American University in Beirut, Lebanon, 1973; Columbia University, masters and Ph.D, anthropology
Religion: Muslim
Ghani is a former US citizen who gave up his passport to run for the Afghan presidency in 2009.
He was working at the World Bank in Washington, DC, during the September 11 attacks, and used the tragedy as a springboard for his reengagement in Afghan politics, returning to his home country just months after the event.
Was diagnosed with cancer and had to have part of his stomach removed.
Hired Democratic pundit James Carville to manage his 2009 presidential campaign.
His wife is Lebanese-American.
1974-1977 – Anthropology and Afghan studies professor at Kabul University in Afghanistan.
1977 – Comes to the United States to study anthropology at Columbia University in New York.
1983 – Anthropology professor at University of California, Berkeley.
1983-1991- Anthropology professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
1991-2001 – Lead anthropologist at the World Bank.
2001 – Returns to post-Taliban Afghanistan to be the special adviser to Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan.
2002-2004 – Afghan finance minister in the transitional government led by Hamid Karzai.
January 2005-2009 – Chancellor of Kabul University.
2006 – Co-founds the Institute for State Effectiveness, with Clare Lockhart.
2008 – Ghani’s book, “Fixing Failed States: A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World,” co-written with Lockhart, is published.
2009 – Runs for president of Afghanistan, coming in fourth place.
2010-October 1, 2013 – Chairman of the Transition Coordination Commission, the group responsible for the transition of power from International Security Assistance Forces and NATO to Afghan National Security Forces.
April 5, 2014 – The Afghan presidential election heads to a June 14th runoff after no one receives more than 50% of the vote. Former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and Ghani are the top two vote-getters.
June 14, 2014 – The run-off election takes place.
July 12, 2014 – US Secretary of State John Kerry says an audit of Afghanistan’s disputed presidential election results will begin, and Abdullah and Ghani will accept its determination of who won.
September 21, 2014 – After months of infighting over allegations of voting fraud and manipulation, Abdullah and Ghani sign a power-sharing agreement. At a news conference later in the day, Ghani is declared the new president of Afghanistan, and Abdullah the CEO.
September 29, 2014 – Ghani is sworn in as president, sealing the country’s first peaceful democratic transition of power.
December 10, 2014 – Ghani condemns the “inhumane actions” outlined in the recently released report on the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques after September 11. Ghani says, “All Afghan people should know that after 2014 no international forces would be allowed to put any Afghan citizen in jail, get into their homes or have prisons.”
March 22-24, 2015 – Ghani travels to Washington, DC, for his first official visit as president of Afghanistan. He meets with President Barack Obama, addresses Congress and goes to Camp David for talks with Secretary of State Kerry and Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter.
September 29, 2016 – Ghani and notorious warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, of the Hezb-i-Islami faction, ratify a peace deal.
October 5, 2017 – In an interview with BBC, Ghani states being president of Afghanistan is “the worst job on Earth.”
February 28, 2018 – At an international conference in Kabul, Ghani says that as part of a potential ceasefire agreement, the Afghan government is willing to recognize the Taliban as a legitimate political party.
November 1, 2018 – Confirms in a Bloomberg News interview that he will stand for reelection in 2019 to “finish the job” of ending his country’s war.
July 28, 2019 – Ghani launches his reelection campaign.
September 17, 2019 – A Taliban suicide bomber detonates explosives near an election rally for Ghani. Ghani is unhurt.
February 18, 2020 – Ghani is officially declared the winner of Afghanistan’s presidential elections with 50.64% of total eligible votes, nearly five months after the poll took place on September 28, 2019. The results were delayed because of widespread allegations of fraud, which meant that hundreds of thousands of votes had to undergo recounts and an auditing process.
March 9, 2020 – Ghani is sworn in as president, while Abdullah holds a parallel inauguration ceremony nearby. Abdullah claims the presidential election results are fraudulent.
May 17, 2020 – Ghani and Abdullah sign a power-sharing agreement, with Ghani remaining president and Abdullah leading the peace talks with the Taliban as chairman of the National Reconciliation High Council. Abdullah will also appoint members of his team to the cabinet.
August 15, 2021 – After the Taliban seizes control of every major city across Afghanistan in just two weeks, Taliban fighters enter Afghanistan’s Presidential Palace hours after Ghani leaves the country.
August 18, 2021 – The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation confirms that Ghani and his family are in the UAE. In a Facebook video message, Ghani states that he left the country to avoid bloodshed.
September 8, 2021 – In a statement posted to Twitter, Ghani says that he hoped to avoid widespread violence with his sudden departure from Afghanistan and apologizes to the Afghan people that he “could not make it end differently.” Ghani also denies allegations that he arrived in the UAE with “millions of dollars belonging to the Afghan people.”
August 14, 2022 – Tells CNN that although the United States initially negotiated a condition-bound agreement with the Taliban, it was not honored by the United States. “The Afghan owned and led process was hijacked.” It turned into a time-bound agreement and lead to Taliban control. He also says that he and the Afghan people do not focus on blame or betrayal.
by tyler | Dec 23, 2023 | CNN, world
Here is a look at the life of Khaled Meshaal, former political leader of Hamas.
Birth date: 1956
Birth place: Silwad, West Bank
Birth name: Khaled Meshaal
Father: Imam, name unavailable publicly
Mother: Name unavailable publicly
Marriage: Name unavailable publicly, (1981-present)
Children: Seven
Education: Kuwait University, Bachelor of Science in Physics, 1978
Religion: Sunni Muslim
1967 – After the Six-Day War, Meshaal’s family moves from the West Bank to Jordan and then to Kuwait.
1971 – Meshaal joins the Muslim Brotherhood.
1978-1984 – Works as a physics teacher in Kuwait.
1980 – Founds the Islamic League for Palestinian Students.
December 1987 – Palestinian cleric Sheikh Ahmed Yassin founds Hamas, a spinoff of the Muslim Brotherhood. Meshaal joins and becomes the leader of the Hamas chapter in Kuwait.
August 2, 1990 – Iraq invades Kuwait. Reportedly, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein decided to invade the small, oil-rich nation in order to pay off debts incurred during Iraq’s eight-year war with Iran. Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat supports Hussein.
1991 – US and coalition forces defeat Iraq and liberate Kuwait. Kuwait then expels 300,000 Palestinians from the country, including Meshaal.
1991 – Meshaal settles in Jordan and leads its Hamas chapter. He is in charge of international fund-raising.
1996 – Becomes chief of Hamas’ political bureau.
September 1997 – Israeli Mossad agents, posing as Canadian tourists, spray fentanyl into Meshaal’s ear in an assassination attempt in Amman, Jordan. The Mossad agents are captured. King Hussein of Jordan tells Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the agents will be put on trial if Meshaal is not given the antidote. Netanyahu reluctantly agrees and Meshaal recovers. As part of the deal, Israel releases a number of Palestinian and Jordanian prisoners, including Yassin.
September 22, 1999 – Meshaal, along with two other Hamas leaders, is accused of illegal political activity and briefly imprisoned in Jordan. After his release, Jordan’s King Abdullah II closes Hamas’ office in Amman and expels Meshaal from the county. Meshaal moves to Qatar.
2001 – Relocates to Damascus, Syria.
March 22, 2004 – Yassin, leader of Hamas, is killed by Israeli air strikes.
March 23, 2004 – Dr. Abdel Aziz Rantisi is named as Yassin’s successor.
April 17, 2004 – Rantisi is killed by an Israeli airstrike on his car. Meshaal rises to the top of the Hamas leadership, along with Ismail Haniya.
January 26, 2006 – Hamas, participating for the first time in Palestinian parliamentary elections, wins a landslide victory. Hamas wins 76 seats, and Fatah 43 seats, in the 132-seat Palestinian Legislative Council, giving Hamas a majority.
June 14, 2007 – After a week of battles between Hamas and Fatah, Hamas seizes control of Gaza.
April 18, 2008 – Former US President Jimmy Carter meets with Meshaal, in Damascus, Syria.
December 27, 2008 – Israel launches Operation Cast Lead, air strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza in retaliation for continued rocket attacks against southern Israel. A ground offensive begins on January 3, 2009.
January 18, 2009 – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declares a unilateral cease-fire in the fighting in Gaza. During the conflict, more than 1,200 Palestinians are killed, along with 13 Israelis.
February 1, 2009 – Meshaal meets with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Speaking of Operation Cast Lead, he praises Iran: “The victory of the people of Gaza was a miracle of God and the Islamic Republic definitely has a share in this victory.”
May 4, 2011 – Meshaal and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sign a reconciliation agreement in an effort to unite rivals Hamas and Fatah.
December 2011 – Hamas sides with the opposition in the Syrian civil war, against President Bashar al-Assad. Meshaal abandons the Hamas office in Damascus.
January 29, 2012 – Meshaal makes his first official visit to Jordan since being expelled in 1999. He and Qatar’s Crown Prince, Sheikh Tamin Bin Hamad Al-Thani, meet with King Abdullah II.
February 2012 – Meshaal moves to Doha, Qatar.
December 7, 2012 – Meshaal visits Gaza. With the exception of a brief visit to the West Bank in 1975, it is his first visit to the Palestinian territories since leaving the West Bank in 1967. He appears before crowds, standing in front of a replica of an M75 rocket, “We will never recognize the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation,” he says, “and therefore there is no legitimacy for Israel, no matter how long it will take we will free Jerusalem inch by inch, stone by stone. Israel has no right to be in Jerusalem.”
April 2, 2013 – Meshaal is reelected chairman of Hamas’ political bureau.
May 6, 2017 – Haniya, Meshaal’s replacement, is elected by Hamas’ Shura Council.
April 12, 2021 – According to a spokesperson from the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, Meshaal is elected head of the group’s diaspora office.
October 11, 2023 – Meshaal calls for a day of protests or “Global Day of Jihad” across the Muslim world on October 13.
by tyler | Dec 23, 2023 | CNN, world
Here is a look at the life of Khaled Meshaal, former political leader of Hamas.
Birth date: 1956
Birth place: Silwad, West Bank
Birth name: Khaled Meshaal
Father: Imam, name unavailable publicly
Mother: Name unavailable publicly
Marriage: Name unavailable publicly, (1981-present)
Children: Seven
Education: Kuwait University, Bachelor of Science in Physics, 1978
Religion: Sunni Muslim
1967 – After the Six-Day War, Meshaal’s family moves from the West Bank to Jordan and then to Kuwait.
1971 – Meshaal joins the Muslim Brotherhood.
1978-1984 – Works as a physics teacher in Kuwait.
1980 – Founds the Islamic League for Palestinian Students.
December 1987 – Palestinian cleric Sheikh Ahmed Yassin founds Hamas, a spinoff of the Muslim Brotherhood. Meshaal joins and becomes the leader of the Hamas chapter in Kuwait.
August 2, 1990 – Iraq invades Kuwait. Reportedly, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein decided to invade the small, oil-rich nation in order to pay off debts incurred during Iraq’s eight-year war with Iran. Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat supports Hussein.
1991 – US and coalition forces defeat Iraq and liberate Kuwait. Kuwait then expels 300,000 Palestinians from the country, including Meshaal.
1991 – Meshaal settles in Jordan and leads its Hamas chapter. He is in charge of international fund-raising.
1996 – Becomes chief of Hamas’ political bureau.
September 1997 – Israeli Mossad agents, posing as Canadian tourists, spray fentanyl into Meshaal’s ear in an assassination attempt in Amman, Jordan. The Mossad agents are captured. King Hussein of Jordan tells Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the agents will be put on trial if Meshaal is not given the antidote. Netanyahu reluctantly agrees and Meshaal recovers. As part of the deal, Israel releases a number of Palestinian and Jordanian prisoners, including Yassin.
September 22, 1999 – Meshaal, along with two other Hamas leaders, is accused of illegal political activity and briefly imprisoned in Jordan. After his release, Jordan’s King Abdullah II closes Hamas’ office in Amman and expels Meshaal from the county. Meshaal moves to Qatar.
2001 – Relocates to Damascus, Syria.
March 22, 2004 – Yassin, leader of Hamas, is killed by Israeli air strikes.
March 23, 2004 – Dr. Abdel Aziz Rantisi is named as Yassin’s successor.
April 17, 2004 – Rantisi is killed by an Israeli airstrike on his car. Meshaal rises to the top of the Hamas leadership, along with Ismail Haniya.
January 26, 2006 – Hamas, participating for the first time in Palestinian parliamentary elections, wins a landslide victory. Hamas wins 76 seats, and Fatah 43 seats, in the 132-seat Palestinian Legislative Council, giving Hamas a majority.
June 14, 2007 – After a week of battles between Hamas and Fatah, Hamas seizes control of Gaza.
April 18, 2008 – Former US President Jimmy Carter meets with Meshaal, in Damascus, Syria.
December 27, 2008 – Israel launches Operation Cast Lead, air strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza in retaliation for continued rocket attacks against southern Israel. A ground offensive begins on January 3, 2009.
January 18, 2009 – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declares a unilateral cease-fire in the fighting in Gaza. During the conflict, more than 1,200 Palestinians are killed, along with 13 Israelis.
February 1, 2009 – Meshaal meets with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Speaking of Operation Cast Lead, he praises Iran: “The victory of the people of Gaza was a miracle of God and the Islamic Republic definitely has a share in this victory.”
May 4, 2011 – Meshaal and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sign a reconciliation agreement in an effort to unite rivals Hamas and Fatah.
December 2011 – Hamas sides with the opposition in the Syrian civil war, against President Bashar al-Assad. Meshaal abandons the Hamas office in Damascus.
January 29, 2012 – Meshaal makes his first official visit to Jordan since being expelled in 1999. He and Qatar’s Crown Prince, Sheikh Tamin Bin Hamad Al-Thani, meet with King Abdullah II.
February 2012 – Meshaal moves to Doha, Qatar.
December 7, 2012 – Meshaal visits Gaza. With the exception of a brief visit to the West Bank in 1975, it is his first visit to the Palestinian territories since leaving the West Bank in 1967. He appears before crowds, standing in front of a replica of an M75 rocket, “We will never recognize the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation,” he says, “and therefore there is no legitimacy for Israel, no matter how long it will take we will free Jerusalem inch by inch, stone by stone. Israel has no right to be in Jerusalem.”
April 2, 2013 – Meshaal is reelected chairman of Hamas’ political bureau.
May 6, 2017 – Haniya, Meshaal’s replacement, is elected by Hamas’ Shura Council.
April 12, 2021 – According to a spokesperson from the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, Meshaal is elected head of the group’s diaspora office.
October 11, 2023 – Meshaal calls for a day of protests or “Global Day of Jihad” across the Muslim world on October 13.
by tyler | Dec 23, 2023 | CNN, world
Here is a look at tsunamis.
Tsunamis are formed by a displacement of water – a landslide, earthquake, volcanic eruption, or slippage of the boundary between two of the earth’s tectonic plates – slabs of rock 50 to 650 feet (15 to 200 meters) thick that carry the Earth’s continents and seas on an underground ocean of much hotter, semi-solid material.
Tsunamis can travel more than 500 mph (800 k/ph) at the deepest point of the water, but slow as they near the shore, eventually hitting the shore at 20 to 30 mph (32 to 48 k/ph). The energy of the wave’s speed is transferred to height and sheer force as it nears shore.
November 1, 1755 – An estimated 60,000 people are killed when an earthquake strikes Lisbon, Portugal, and causes a tsunami.
August 27, 1883 – An estimated 36,000 people are killed when the Krakatau volcano erupts, causing a tsunami in the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra.
June 15, 1896 – An estimated 28,000 people are killed when an 8.5-magnitude earthquake strikes Sanriku, Japan, causing a tsunami.
December 28, 1908 – An estimated 70,000-100,000 people are killed when a 7.2-magnitude earthquake strikes Messina, Italy, and causes a tsunami in the Straights of Messina.
May 22, 1960 – An estimated 1,500 people are killed when a magnitude 9.5 earthquake strikes Chile and causes a tsunami.
March 28, 1964 – An estimated 128 people are killed when a magnitude 9.2 earthquake strikes Prince William Sound, Alaska, and causes a tsunami.
August 16, 1976 – An estimated 4,000-8,000 people are killed when an 8.0-magnitude earthquake strikes the Philippines and causes a tsunami.
July 17, 1998 – An estimated 2,200 people are killed when a magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes Papua New Guinea and causes a tsunami.
December 26, 2004 – An estimated 227,898 people are killed when a 9.1-magnitude earthquake strikes near Sumatra, Indonesia, and causes a subsequent tsunami in 14 countries in South Asia and East Africa.
October 25, 2010 – An estimated 449 people are killed when a magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes Indonesia and causes a tsunami.
March 11, 2011 – A 9.1-magnitude earthquake takes place 231 miles northeast of Tokyo. The earthquake causes a tsunami with 30 ft waves that damage several nuclear reactors in the area. The combined total of confirmed deaths and missing is more than 22,000 (nearly 20,000 deaths and 2,500 missing). (Source: Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency)
September 28, 2018 – More than 4,140 people are killed when a 7.5-magnitude earthquake strikes the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and causes a tsunami.
December 22, 2018 – A tsunami with waves as high as three meters hits Pandeglang, Serang and South Lampung, Indonesia, leaving more than 437 people dead, 16 missing and 16,198 displaced. Officials believe the tsunami was caused by a series of underwater landslides triggered by a volcanic eruption.
by tyler | Dec 23, 2023 | CNN, world
Here is a look at tsunamis.
Tsunamis are formed by a displacement of water – a landslide, earthquake, volcanic eruption, or slippage of the boundary between two of the earth’s tectonic plates – slabs of rock 50 to 650 feet (15 to 200 meters) thick that carry the Earth’s continents and seas on an underground ocean of much hotter, semi-solid material.
Tsunamis can travel more than 500 mph (800 k/ph) at the deepest point of the water, but slow as they near the shore, eventually hitting the shore at 20 to 30 mph (32 to 48 k/ph). The energy of the wave’s speed is transferred to height and sheer force as it nears shore.
November 1, 1755 – An estimated 60,000 people are killed when an earthquake strikes Lisbon, Portugal, and causes a tsunami.
August 27, 1883 – An estimated 36,000 people are killed when the Krakatau volcano erupts, causing a tsunami in the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra.
June 15, 1896 – An estimated 28,000 people are killed when an 8.5-magnitude earthquake strikes Sanriku, Japan, causing a tsunami.
December 28, 1908 – An estimated 70,000-100,000 people are killed when a 7.2-magnitude earthquake strikes Messina, Italy, and causes a tsunami in the Straights of Messina.
May 22, 1960 – An estimated 1,500 people are killed when a magnitude 9.5 earthquake strikes Chile and causes a tsunami.
March 28, 1964 – An estimated 128 people are killed when a magnitude 9.2 earthquake strikes Prince William Sound, Alaska, and causes a tsunami.
August 16, 1976 – An estimated 4,000-8,000 people are killed when an 8.0-magnitude earthquake strikes the Philippines and causes a tsunami.
July 17, 1998 – An estimated 2,200 people are killed when a magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes Papua New Guinea and causes a tsunami.
December 26, 2004 – An estimated 227,898 people are killed when a 9.1-magnitude earthquake strikes near Sumatra, Indonesia, and causes a subsequent tsunami in 14 countries in South Asia and East Africa.
October 25, 2010 – An estimated 449 people are killed when a magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes Indonesia and causes a tsunami.
March 11, 2011 – A 9.1-magnitude earthquake takes place 231 miles northeast of Tokyo. The earthquake causes a tsunami with 30 ft waves that damage several nuclear reactors in the area. The combined total of confirmed deaths and missing is more than 22,000 (nearly 20,000 deaths and 2,500 missing). (Source: Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency)
September 28, 2018 – More than 4,140 people are killed when a 7.5-magnitude earthquake strikes the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and causes a tsunami.
December 22, 2018 – A tsunami with waves as high as three meters hits Pandeglang, Serang and South Lampung, Indonesia, leaving more than 437 people dead, 16 missing and 16,198 displaced. Officials believe the tsunami was caused by a series of underwater landslides triggered by a volcanic eruption.
