By Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN

(CNN) — Before the horrors of October 7, Aya Shahar never considered leaving her busy life in the bustling metropolis of Tel Aviv and moving south to an agricultural life in a kibbutz near the Gaza border.

“It wasn’t the future I planned for myself,” Shahar told CNN.

But after Hamas-led militants stormed through border fence in 2023, killing more than 1,200 in Israel and taking more than 250 people hostage, Shahar felt a need to help rebuild the kibbutzim that were ravaged and subsequently emptied in the wake of the attacks.

A kibbutz is a type of Jewish agricultural commune built on socialist principles. Much of the area along Israel’s border with Gaza is made up of kibbutzim, and the communities have played an important part in the national psyche throughout the country’s existence.

“What happened there made me understand that I have no way of living my life without connecting (it) to what is going on here,” Shahar said.

The 29-year-old is one of nearly 2,500 new residents who moved to kibbutzim close to the Gaza border since October 2023, according to data from the Tekuma Administration, the Israeli government agency responsible for the rehabilitation of communities in the area.

The new arrivals join some 62,000 returnees who have gradually come back to their homes after a lengthy displacement, during which the area was declared a closed military zone.

Some have returned home in defiance of the war, while others who never previously lived there have moved to help repopulate the empty kibbutzim.

Reviving a peace movement

Shahar joins a group of peace activists who want to revive a leftist movement that first flourished in Israel in the 1950s.

Hashomer Hatzair, “The Youth Guard” movement, was founded in eastern Europe on the eve of the First World War, based on a Zionist ideology espousing socialism and farming, with life in the kibbutz perceived as the correct way of living.

Aided by the Kibbutz Movement Rehabilitation Fund – which is dedicated to supporting and guiding communities on their recovery – some 100 members of Hashomer Hatzair have started new lives in kibbutzim just miles from the Gaza border.

Yarden Machol, spokesperson for Hashomer Hatzair, said that the movement is calling for an end to the fighting and future co-existence.

“We need to do a peace agreement. It would be the best thing ever,” Machol told CNN. “We’re really into peace.”

Israelis publicly calling for peace with Palestinians has become increasingly rare since October 7.

In the Peace Index survey from Tel Aviv University, which was published in March, only 20% of Israeli Jews said they believed in the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, but 92% said they believe the continuation of the conflict harms their country. A total of 47% supported the establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in Gaza after the end of the war, and 71% supported Israel providing incentives that would lead to the voluntary departure of Palestinians from the strip.

Nonetheless, the majority of Israelis believe it is time to end the conflict in Gaza, according to multiple polls. A survey by the Israel Democracy Institute in September found that two years on from the Hamas attacks, 66% of Israelis said the time has come to end the war in the battered enclave.

The shrinking peace movement in Israel is seen by many Israelis as aspiring to an unachievable fantasy, with some of its proponents saying they face mockery.

Shahar says that when she says she is pro-peace, people ask her, “Do you not want to be safe?”

Avshalom Zohar Sal, 28, who moved to Nir Oz in August with his girlfriend after

Por Federico Leiva, CNN en Español

Después de 17 jornadas a puro tackle, pase, carrera, touchdowns y unas cuantas lesiones de rodilla, la NFL está casi lista para lo mejor de la temporada: los playoffs. A falta de solo una rueda de partidos, el camino al Super Browl LX tiene ya definidas gran parte de sus paradas obligadas, aunque no todo está dicho.

Tanto en la Conferencia Americana como en la Nacional hay seis equipos confirmados para los playoffs, una vacante y ocho franquicias eliminadas, con unas cuantas sorpresas entre ellas, como la de los Chiefs de Kansas City, los Bengals de Cincinnati y los Lions de Detroit.

Empezando por lo más fácil, en la Americana hay que tachar a los Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, Kansas City Chiefs y Las Vegas Riders. Ninguno de ellos llega con vida a la semana 18.

Por el contrario, los New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos y Los Angeles Chargers ya saben que jugarán fútbol americano en la postemporada, pero aún deben resolver varios interrogantes.

El primero es definir al séptimo pasajero, que no saldrá de los Pittsburgh Steelers y los Baltimore Ravens, que definirán mano a mano el liderato del Norte de la Americana en la última jornada. Los Acereros, que serán locales, tiene solo una victoria de ventaja sobre los Cuervos, por lo que una derrota invertirá los papeles. La matemática es simple: el que pierda el domingo empezará sus vacaciones.

Además del Norte, la división Sur tampoco tiene ganador, aunque Jaguars y Texans ya están clasificados. En la última rueda de partidos se decidirá quien se queda con el liderato y quién con el lugar de comodín, lo que en la práctica acabará definiendo quién es local y quién es visitante en la primera ronda de la postemporada. Por ahora, la ventaja es de los de Jacksonville.

Las divisiones Este y Oeste ya tienen ganador: Patriots y Broncos, respectivamente. Además, los Bills y los Chargers tienen sitios asegurados como comodines, pero aún hay una lucha en juego. Los de Denver y los de Nueva Inglaterra definirán en la última semana quién se queda con el número uno de la conferencia, que tiene como privilegios ser el único equipo que descansa una semana y ventaja de localía en todas las series hasta llegar al Super Bowl.

Broncos y Patriots tienen 13 victorias y tres derrotas, pero el sistema de desempate tiene a los de Colorado como actual número uno. Una victoria el próximo fin de semana sellará ese destino. Si pierden y los Pats ganan, serán ellos los mejores clasificados. También tienen alguna chance los Jaguars (12-4), pero el milagro pinta difícil.

En la Nacional sucede algo bastante similar. Dallas Cowboys, Washington Commanders, New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons y Arizona Cardinals ya están eliminados.

Filadelfia Eagles, Chicago Bears, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams y Green Bay Packers tienen amarrados seis de los siete lugares de los playoffs.
El último boleto se definirá entre los Carolina Panthers y los Tampa Bay Buccaneers, que jugarán mano a mano en Florida por el liderato de la división Sur: el ganador tendrá postemporada y el perdedor lo mirará por televisión. El estadísticamente improbable empate favorecerá a los de Carolina, que tienen una victoria de ventaja.

Habrá otros puntos interesantes a resolver. El primero es cómo se definirá la llamada “división de la muerte”, la Oeste, donde tres de los cuatro integrantes están clasificados a playoffs: los Seahawks, los 49ers y los Rams. Los de Seattle son hoy por hoy líderes de la zona y sembrados número uno de toda la conferencia, pero eso podría cambiar en la semana 18, cuando tengan que visitar San Francisco, que está solo un juego por detrás. El premio será doble, porque el ganador no so

By Jessie Yeung, CNN

(CNN) — Actor George Clooney and his family have been granted French citizenship, official government documents show, after he has previously voiced concern about raising his children amid the glitz of Hollywood.

A gazette notice listing all new French naturalizations, released on Saturday, includes Clooney – as well as his wife, Amal Clooney, and their twin children, Alexander and Ella.

Clooney, who also holds US citizenship, and Amal, a British-Lebanese humanitarian lawyer, are already well familiar with their new adopted country. Though they also have homes in England and near his family in Kentucky, their primary residence is a farm in France, the actor told the New York Times in February.

“Growing up in Kentucky, all I wanted to do was get away from a farm, get away from that life,” Clooney told the paper. “Now I find myself back in that life. I drive a tractor and all those things. It’s the best chance of a normal life.”

He made similar comments in an interview with Esquire in October.

“I was worried about raising our kids in LA, in the culture of Hollywood,” Clooney said. “I felt like they were never going to get a fair shake at life. France – they kind of don’t give a sh*t about fame,” he added.

“I don’t want them to be walking around worried about paparazzi. I don’t want them being compared to somebody else’s famous kids,” he said.

The actor and director has long been vocal about his privacy concerns surrounding his family, and in 2021 wrote an open letter urging the media to keep his children’s faces out of the press for their safety.

France has strong privacy protection laws: it’s illegal to photograph someone in a private place, or disclose personal information like their home addresses or phone numbers. It’s also illegal to publish pictures of celebrities in public places unless that appearance is related to their position as public figures.

When paparazzi in France try to photograph celebrities during their personal time, outside of media appearances, “the celebrity’s security or assistant will take a picture or video of the paparazzi,” litigation attorney Chassen Palmer wrote in a 2020 article in the California Western International Law Journal.

“Later, the picture and/or video are sent to the celebrity’s attorney, and the local media outlets are informed that the celebrity will seek civil damages if the photograph or video is published,” which has “largely deterred taking photographs of celebrities out in public,” he wrote.

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* WHAT…Northeast winds 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 55 mph
expected.

* WHERE…Interstate 5 Corridor, Santa Susana Mountains, Western San
Gabriel Mountains and Highway 14 Corridor, and Western Santa
Monica Mountains Recreational Area.

* WHEN…Until 3 PM PST Tuesday.

* IMPACTS…Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree
limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result.
Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high
profile vehicles. Use extra caution.

The post Wind Advisory issued December 29 at 7:22PM PST until December 30 at 3:00PM PST by NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard CA appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

* WHAT…North to northeast winds 20 to 35 mph with gusts of 40 to
50 mph.

* WHERE…Ventura County Coast, Malibu Coast, Ventura County
Valleys, western Los Angeles County Valleys, Southern Ventura
County Mountains, Eastern Santa Monica Mountains, and Eastern San
Gabriel Mountains.

* WHEN…Until 3 PM PST Tuesday.

* IMPACTS…Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree
limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result.
Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high
profile vehicles. Use extra caution.

The post Wind Advisory issued December 29 at 7:22PM PST until December 30 at 3:00PM PST by NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard CA appeared first on News Channel 3-12.