City of Ghosts is a new documentary that follows an underground group of citizen journalists from IS occupied Raqqa, Syria, risking their lives and using social media to expose the atrocities of the militants against civilians.

The goal of the group, called Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, is to broadcast information online about IS atrocities in Raqqa, Syria. 

Last year, the Committee to Protect Journalists awarded the group its International Press Freedom Award. In an interview with Voice of America, Abdul Aziz al-Hamza said that Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), was created to protest the activities of the Assad regime. Later, the group expanded its activities to include IS, when Islamic State turned Raqqa into its makeshift capital.

​Waging war on the internet 

Al-Hamza says his group is waging an online war against IS propaganda. 

“ISIS prevented all media organizations to go over there to cover what’s going on, and we ended up watching propaganda coming from our city. All of us have families, relatives, friends, so we decided that we needed to do something for them. The problem with ISIS is the ideology,” he said.

“Defeating ISIS as a group is not going to solve the problem,” he added. “We are fighting against ISIS ideology because it’s not just in Raqqa, Syria, and Iraq. We’ve seen ISIS in Europe, in the U.S., in Asia, so the main goal is to work against this ideology.” 

Al-Hamza said his organization has drawn the attention of international media and has lifted the veil of isolation for the besieged civilians in Raqqa; it has also roused the wrath of IS.

In his film City of Ghosts, Matthew Heineman, follows the underground group and its activities from safe houses in Turkey and Germany, posting videos, pictures and other news about IS-besieged Raqqa they receive from counterparts in Raqqa. He also looks into their private lives, as husbands, sons and friends, and also as refugees. 

“It became an immigrant story,” Heineman said. “It became a story of rising nationalism in Europe. It became a story of trauma and the cumulative effects of trauma. So, it became much more that I thought it originally would be.” 

Exposing the ‘crumbling’ ISIS regime

AL-Hamza says the goal of RBSS is to expose the crumbling IS regime in Raqqa. 

“Everything is getting expensive in the city,” he said. “People are missing medical equipment, there are only three or four pharmacies working, only one hospital working. There is almost no electricity, the water is coming for three or four hours daily.”

Watch: Citizen Journalists Wage Online War on ISIS

RBSS online resistance has galvanized Raqqa’s civilians, he said.

Many people internationally have the idea that most people living in Raqqa or IS territories support the group. But, for example, in Raqqa less than 1 percent of the people joined IS, which means that most people are against IS, he said.

“Most decided to stay civilians and not join ISIS despite the perks that if you joined ISIS you get salaries in dollars, cars for free, oil for free, they would get women, power, whatever they want,” he said. Today, he added, “there are thousands of people providing us with news, and what is happening in IS occupied territories.”

Al-Hamza was not trained to be a journalist. Before the Syrian revolution, he was studying biochemistry. Others like him were studying to be doctors or lawyers. 

“When the Syrian revolution started, I didn’t think I would end up in this situation or here talking with you,” he said. “But it was that kind of duty that all of us had to do, and we’ve decided that we will not stop. So, we’ve lost family members, friends, relatives doing this work,” he said. 

As for their newfound publicity through Heineman’s documentary City of Ghosts, al-Hamza said “it was important to show our faces, because especially when we started, many people started to say that we are a government group or a government organization, we wanted people to know that we are local. We are from the city.” 

How will end? “Either we will win or they will kill all of us,” he said.
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From: MeNeedIt

The Perseid meteor shower peaks every year about this time as the Earth passes debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet, but this year the annual shower will come about a week before a total solar eclipse.

The meteor shower, which occurs each year in July or August, will see hundreds of meteors pass through the sky in an event that will be visible around the world.

Experts expect the shower to peak overnight Saturday into Sunday, though the Perseids could be a bit harder to see this year with the moon nearly full. Typical rates are about 80 meteors per hour – last year, 2016, the rate was 150-200 meteors per hour.

The shower occurs when the Earth travels through the tail of dust and ice left behind as the Swift-Tuttle comet orbits the sun. The actual meteors are usually no bigger than a grain of sand, but when they hit the Earth’s atmosphere traveling at speeds upwards of 60 kilometers per second, they burn up in a mesmerizing color show of white, orange and green hues.

The Perseids are named after the Perseus constellation, as that is where they appear to originate from in the northeastern night sky.

While the Perseids likely will draw large crowds of spectators around the world, those based in the United States will have the chance to see an even bigger astronomical event next week when the U.S. will witness the first total solar eclipse across the country in almost 100 years.

During the eclipse on August 21, the moon will pass between the Earth and the sun, completely blocking the face of the sun and darkening skies all the way from Oregon on the West Coast to South Carolina on the East Coast.

While total solar eclipses happen somewhere on Earth almost every year, they mostly occur in remote locations or over the ocean, where few if any people actually witness them. The last time a total eclipse happened over the contiguous U.S. was in 1979.
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From: MeNeedIt

Pilates is a fitness regimen that has been around for nearly 100 years, using controlled movements to build strength and improve flexibility. Now, a pilates class in New York City is taking on a 21st century malady specific to our digital culture and obsession with texting. VOA’s Tina Trinh went to the Gramercy Pilates NYC studio to check out their “Pilates for Text Neck” class.
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From: MeNeedIt

Around the world, support is growing for electric cars. Automakers are delivering more electric models with longer range and lower prices, such as the Chevrolet Bolt and the Tesla Model 3. China has set aggressive targets for electric vehicle sales to curb pollution; some European countries aim to be all-electric by 2040 or sooner.

Those lofty ambitions face numerous challenges, including one practical consideration for consumers: If they buy electric cars, where will they charge them?

The distribution of public charging stations is wildly uneven around the globe. Places with lots of support from governments or utilities, like China, the Netherlands and California, have thousands of public charging outlets. Buyers of Tesla’s luxury models have access to a company-funded Supercharger network. 

Charging stations scarce

But in many places, public charging remains scarce. That’s a problem for people who need to drive further than the 200 miles or so that most electric cars can travel. It’s also a barrier for the millions of people who don’t have a garage to plug in their cars overnight.

“Do we have what we need? The answer at the moment is, ‘No,’” said Graham Evans, an analyst with IHS Markit.

Take Norway, which has publicly funded charging and generous incentives for electric car buyers. Architect Nils Henningstad drives past 20 to 30 charging stations each day on his 22-mile (35-kilometer) commute to Oslo. He works for the city and can charge his Nissan Leaf at work; his fiancee charges her Tesla SUV at home or at one of the world’s largest Tesla Supercharger stations, 20 miles away.

It’s a very different landscape in New Berlin, Wisconsin, where Jeff Solie relies on the charging system he rigged up in his garage to charge two Tesla sedans and a Volt. Solie and his wife don’t have chargers at their offices, and the nearest Tesla Superchargers are 45 miles (72 kilometers) away.

“If I can’t charge at home, there’s no way for me to have electric cars as my primary source of transportation,” said Solie, who works for the media company E.W. Scripps.

Small percentage of electric vehicles

The uneven distribution of chargers worries many potential electric vehicle owners. It’s one reason electric vehicles make up less than 1 percent of cars on the road.

“Humans worst-case their purchases of automobiles. You have to prove to the consumer that they can drive across the country, even though they probably won’t,” said Pasquale Romano, the CEO of ChargePoint, one of the largest charging station providers in North America and Europe.

Romano says there’s no exact ratio of the number of chargers needed per car. But he says workplaces should have one charger for every 2.5 electric cars and retail stores need one for every 20 electric cars. Highways need one every 50 to 75 miles, he says. That suggests a lot of gaps still need to be filled.

Filling the charging gap

Automakers and governments are pushing to fill them. The number of publicly available, global charging spots grew 72 percent to more than 322,000 last year, the International Energy Agency said. Navigant Research expects that to grow to more than 2.2 million by 2026; more than one-third of those will be in China.

Tesla Inc., which figured out years ago that people wouldn’t buy its cars without roadside charging, is doubling its global network of Supercharger stations to 10,000 this year. BMW, Daimler, Volkswagen and Ford are building 400 fast-charging stations in Europe. Volkswagen is building hundreds of stations across the U.S. as part of its settlement for selling polluting diesel engines. Even oil-rich Dubai, which just got its first Tesla showroom, has more than 50 locations to charge electric cars.

But there are pitfalls. There are different types of charging stations, and no one knows the exact mix drivers will eventually need. A grocery store might spend $5,000 for an AC charge point, which provides a car with 5 to 15 miles of range in 30 minutes. But once most cars get 200 or 300 miles per charge, slow chargers are less necessary. Electric cars with longer range need fast-charging DC chargers along highways, but DC chargers cost $35,000 or more.

That uncertainty makes it difficult to make money setting up chargers, says Lisa Jerram, an associate director with Navigant Research. For at least the next three to five years, she says, deep-pocketed automakers, governments and utilities will be primarily responsible for building charging infrastructure.

There’s also the question of who will meet the needs of apartment dwellers. San Francisco, Shanghai and Vancouver, Canada, are now requiring new homes and apartment buildings to be wired for EV charging.

But without government support, plans for charging stations can falter. In Michigan, a utility’s $15 million plan to install 800 public charging stations was scrapped in April after state officials and ChargePoint objected.

Solie, the electric car owner in Wisconsin, likes Europe’s approach: Governments should set bold targets for electric car sales and let the private sector meet the need.

“If the U.S. were to send up a flare that policy was going to change … investments would become very attractive,” he said. 
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From: MeNeedIt

A judge on Friday threw out a Denver radio host’s case against Taylor Swift in a trial that delved into their dueling lawsuits over whether he groped her during a backstage meet-and-greet and whether she and her team ruined his career.

U.S. District Judge William Martinez determined that the pop star could not be held liable because David Mueller failed to prove that she personally set out to have him fired after the 2013 photo op before a concert. His identical allegations against Swift’s mother and her radio liaison will go to jurors for a verdict.

Mueller denies groping Swift and sued the singer, her mother, Andrea Swift, and their radio handler, Frank Bell, seeking up to $3 million as compensation for his ruined career.

The singer-songwriter said in her countersuit that she wanted a symbolic $1 and the chance to stand up for other women.

With jurors outside the courtroom Friday, attorneys on both sides argued over whether Mueller had presented enough evidence to send his full case to the jury. Those statements and the judge’s questions focused on whether Swift herself had done anything to get Mueller fired.

It comes after days of testimony from the singer and others. Swift spent an hour on the witness stand Thursday defiantly recounting what she called a “despicable and horrifying and shocking” encounter. 

“He stayed attached to my bare ass-cheek as I lurched away from him,” Swift testified.

“It was a definite grab. A very long grab,” she added in her testimony.

Swift’s testy exchange with Mueller’s attorney occasionally elicited chuckles — even from the six-woman, two-man jury. She got a laugh when she said Dent saw Mueller “lift my skirt” but someone would have had to have been underneath her to see the actual groping — “and we didn’t have anyone positioned there.”

Swift testified that after the photo was taken, she tried to get as far away Mueller as she could. She said she told him and his girlfriend, who was also in the photo, “thank you for coming” in a monotone voice before they left.

She also said she was stunned and did not say anything to Mueller or halt the event after he left because she did not want to disappoint several dozen people waiting in line for photos with her.

In the image, shown to jurors during opening statements but not publicly released, Mueller’s hand is behind Swift, just below her waist. Mueller’s then-girlfriend, Shannon Melcher, is on the other side of Swift. All three are smiling.

Melcher testified Friday that she saw nothing happen during the brief encounter and that she and Mueller were rudely confronted and escorted out of the arena that evening. Melcher said Mueller was devastated by the accusation.

She said she and Mueller started out as co-workers at country station KYGO-FM and became romantically involved in February 2013, a few months before the concert. They drifted apart late in 2013, but Melcher says they remained friends.
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From: MeNeedIt

U.S. stock market indexes posted gains in Friday’s trading, a change in direction after several down days amid tensions between President Donald Trump and North Korea.

In New York, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and the Dow Jones industrial average each advanced about one-tenth of a percentage point, while the Nasdaq composite index rose almost eight-tenths of a percentage point. Earlier, stocks in Paris and London were off 1 percent, while Hong Kong stocks fell 2 percent and Korean shares slid nearly as much.

Global stock prices had been falling for several days, losing nearly $1 trillion in value during angry exchanges between the U.S. and North Korea, which continued Friday.

Investors have reason for concern, according to Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist of IHS Markit. He said the economic consequences of even a conventional conflict would most likely be “horrific” and “devastate” the South Korean economy, hurting that nation’s trading partners, particularly Japan.  

In an email exchange with VOA, Biswas called the possibility that North Korea could actually use nuclear weapons a “nightmare but still low probability scenario” and noted there had been prior incidents of rising tensions on the peninsula.  

A similar view came from Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, who wrote, “All parties, including the North Koreans, have substantial incentives to once again cut a deal rather than fight. Based on past crises, there will be a great deal of theater, only to end in some kind of deal.”

He wrote that military action was “unlikely” in the short term, suggesting “worry is overdone at the moment.” But he wrote that military action “is actually very possible in the medium term.”  

McMillan wrote that such a conflict could have “dramatic and substantial” impact on many economies because South Korea “is a major trading and manufacturing hub.” That means “disruption there would break supply chains around the world” and might last “for months or years.”  

He wrote that rising uncertainty would prompt money to move out of stocks and into less risky investments, which would drive down stock market prices: “Clearly, there are real reasons to try to avoid a war.”
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From: MeNeedIt

You won’t find any pictures of dogs playing poker at dOGUMENTA (I) NYC.

A three-day art exhibition is attracting hundreds of canines to a marina in Lower Manhattan, where hounds and terriers are feasting their eyes, and in some cases their mouths, on nearly a dozen masterpieces created expressly for them.

The idea is the brainchild of former Washington Post art critic Jessica Dawson, who says she was inspired by her rescue dog, Rocky, a tiny morkie (Yorkie-Maltese mix), who regularly joins her at exhibits of the human variety.

“When Rocky accompanied me on my gallery visits, I noticed that he was having a much better time than I was,” said Dawson, who moved to New York four years ago. “He was not reading the New York Times reviews, he was not reading the artists’ resumes, and so I said he has something to teach me about looking, and all dogs have something to teach us about looking at contemporary art and being with it.”

The exhibit, which takes its name from Documenta, which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany, was put on by Arts Brookfield. Organizers staggered the arrival times of the dogs to keep things orderly.

“I think she’s enjoying it,” said Lorraine Gates, who attended with her tiny Japanese Chin, Maltese and Papillon mix. “I love this idea; I think it’s really wonderful.”

The 10 works of art at the outdoor exhibit were all strategically placed at eye level for the canines. One featured an elaborate display of dog biscuits and other treats that attendees were invited to munch on.

At another exhibit, four-legged art critics were lifting their hind legs and “expressing” themselves on a work called “Fountain.” As the dogs left their marks, scribbles of blue streaks were left behind on the white blocks.

Dawson said Rocky had visited several times.

Susan Godwin and her morkie, Tasha, were soaking up the art vibes. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Godwin gushed. “You can go to museums all over New York and you can never bring your dog.”
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From: MeNeedIt

Researchers in the United States have unveiled a prototype of a battery-free mobile phone using technology they hope will eventually be integrated into mass-market products. The phone is the work of a group of researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle and operates by harvesting tiny amounts of power from radio signals, known as radio frequency or RF waves. VOA’s George Putic has details in this report by Kevin Enochs.
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From: MeNeedIt

As the Trump administration reviews a government report that contradicts its views on climate change, another report confirms that humans have pushed the planet to record-setting temperatures. VOA’s Steve Baragona reports.
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From: MeNeedIt

Four U.S. Senate Republicans from oil-refining states Thursday urged the Trump administration not to block oil shipments from Venezuela as part of U.S. sanctions against the country, saying it could raise costs for U.S. fuel consumers.

The United States sanctioned President Nicolas Maduro and other Venezuelan officials after Maduro established a constituent assembly run by his Socialist Party loyalists and cracked down on widespread opposition. It has not placed sanctions on the OPEC member’s oil industry.

Four senators

Senators John Cornyn of Texas, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, and Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker of Mississippi said in the letter, which was seen by Reuters, that unilaterally blocking oil exports could harm the U.S. economy and the Venezuelan people.

The United States imports about 740,000 barrels per day of oil from Venezuela.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the letter, which was addressed to President Donald Trump.

“We believe it is critical to consider the role the U.S. energy industry and refining sector play in our economic and national security interest,” the senators wrote. “Blockading imports could inflict great harm on this industry and burden U.S. taxpayers with the cost.”

Effects on Venezuela

The senators said sanctions on shipments of Venezuelan oil to the United States could also increase the likelihood of a disorderly default by Venezuela, given the oil business is its main source of revenue. Creditors could then seize Venezuelan oil assets and cut off the government’s remaining sources of financing.

They also noted that such sanctions could expand the interests of China and Russia in Venezuela’s oil business. Both countries have invested in Venezuela for years.

Sources have said the United States could use heavy crude from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve held in caverns along the Gulf Coast, to relieve any short-term supply pressure if Venezuela’s shipments were blocked. Nearly 680 million barrels of oil are in reserve.

A drilling boom in the United States has allowed the government to store more oil than it needs to meet international spare supply agreements. 
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From: MeNeedIt

A historical film about the last Russian czar’s affair with a ballerina has been cleared for release, the Culture Ministry said Thursday, despite passionate calls for its ban.

“Matilda,” which describes Nicholas II’s relationship with Matilda Kshesinskaya has drawn virulent criticism from some Orthodox believers and hard-line nationalists, who see it as blasphemy against the emperor, glorified as a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church.

Russian lawmaker Natalya Poklonskaya, who previously had served as the chief regional prosecutor in Crimea following its 2014 annexation by Moscow, spearheaded the campaign for banning the film. She even asked the Prosecutor General’s office to carry out an inquiry into “Matilda,” which is set to be released on the centennial of the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.

The lavish production, filmed in historic imperial palaces and featuring sumptuous costumes, loosely follows the story of Nicholas II’s infatuation with Kshesinskaya that began when he was heir-apparent and ended at his marriage in 1894.

The czar and his family were executed by a Bolshevik firing squad in July 1918. The Russian Orthodox Church made them saints in 2000.

“Matilda” opponents have gathered signatures against the film, and earlier this month several hundred people gathered to pray outside a Moscow church for the movie to be banned.

The film’s critics were recently joined by Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed regional leader of Chechnya, and authorities in the neighboring province of Dagestan, who argued that “Matilda” should be barred from theaters in the mostly Muslim regions in Russia’s North Caucasus.

Director Alexei Uchitel has rejected the accusations and prominent Russian filmmakers have come to his defense. The film’s critics and its defenders both have appealed to the Kremlin, but it has refrained from publicly entering the fray.

On Thursday, the Russian Culture Ministry finally announced that the film has received official clearance.

Vyasheslav Telnov, the head of the ministry’s film department, said it checked “Matilda” and found it in full compliance with legal norms.

Asked to comment on statements from Chechnya and Dagestan, Telnov said that the film has been cleared for release nationwide, but the law allows regional authorities to make their own decisions.

“There is no censorship in Russia, and the Ministry of Culture stays away from any ideological views of beliefs,” he said. “A feature film can’t be banned for political or ideological motives.”

Disputes over the movie reflect the rising influence of the Russian Orthodox Church and the increasing assertiveness of radical religious activists.

Russia’s growing conservative streak has worried many in the country’s artistic community. A Moscow art gallery recently shut down an exhibition of nude photos by an American photographer after a raid by vigilantes, and a theater in the Siberian city of Omsk canceled a performance of the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar” following a petition by devout Orthodox believers.
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From: MeNeedIt

Egypt’s official statistics agency says the country’s inflation rate has jumped to 33 percent in July – up from 29.8 percent in June.

The announcement comes as Egyptians struggle in the face of steep price hikes as part of the government’s economic reform plan.

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics made the announcement Thursday.

Economists believe the hike is driven by an increase in fuel prices. They expect inflation to remain above 30 percent over the next two months, especially after an increase in electricity, transportation and drinking water prices.

Egypt raised fuel prices in June by 55 percent for the commonly used 80-octane gasoline and diesel. It also doubled the price of the butane gas canisters, used in the majority of Egyptian households for cooking.
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From: MeNeedIt