Stories woven in cloth in Pakistan’s first textile museum

Nasreen and Hasan Askari open Karachi museum with her 1,000-piece centuries-old collection from trade crossroads

As a young medical student in 1970s Pakistan, Nasreen Askari had an encounter that would shape her for ever.

After asking the mother of a sick boy routine questions about his family history, the woman looked outraged. Marching Askari outside, she took off her colourful shawl and laid it on her lap. “Most of the answers to your pointless questions are here,” she said, pointing to intricate embroidery that symbolised everything, from the woman’s community, to her marriage status and her number of children.

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Israel insists it is going ahead with Unrwa ban – what it may mean for Palestinians

UN agency ordered to vacate HQ by Thursday – just as aid is being increased to Gaza after ceasefire

Israel has insisted it will not back down over its plan to close down the Gaza operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa), the UN relief agency for Palestinians, even though critics say the move will jeopardise urgent humanitarian aid efforts.

Israel has ordered the UN agency to vacate its headquarters in East Jerusalem by Thursday, after the Israeli Knesset passed a law on 28 October banning its operations in Israel and the Palestinian territories. It has not yet said how it will implement a related law ending all Israeli government cooperation with Unwra, which could come into force on the same day and strangle its operations in the West Bank and Gaza.

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‘Very rare’ sighting of juvenile Antarctic minke whale off Sydney coast

Scientists unsure what prompted juvenile whale to leave icy southern waters for warmer shallows, but ‘it may be a case of mis-navigation’

A young Antarctic minke whale has treated ferry passengers to a rare spectacle after surfacing beside a wharf to the south of Sydney.

Christine Hack, the manager of Cronulla and National Park Ferry Cruises, which manages the Cronulla ferry, said the whale began following the vessel as it approached Bundeena wharf at about 10am on Monday.

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Giant iceberg is on a collision course with island home to seals and penguins – NPR

  1. Giant iceberg is on a collision course with island home to seals and penguins  NPR
  2. Largest Iceberg Heading Toward South Georgia Island  The Weather Channel
  3. World's biggest iceberg could be on collision course with Antarctic penguin island: "Game of Thrones-esque"  CBS News
  4. GOES East Tracking A23a – The World’s Largest Iceberg  nesdis
  5. World’s largest iceberg on possible collision course with island in South Atlantic Ocean  Fox Weather
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In ‘The Siren’s Call,’ Chris Hayes discusses on how attention has become currency – NPR

  1. In 'The Siren's Call,' Chris Hayes discusses on how attention has become currency  NPR
  2. Lawrence and Chris Hayes discuss the thing Trump most wants from you — and what you can do about it  MSNBC
  3. You’re Being Alienated From Your Own Attention  The Atlantic
  4. Chris Hayes on Why Donald Trump and Elon Musk Thrive in the Attention Age  Vanity Fair
  5. Quantum TikTok + Memecoin Mania + Chris Hayes on the Attention Wars  The New York Times
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Weather tracker: cold wave sweeps China as new year approaches

Temperatures in some areas could fall to more than 10C below seasonal average. Plus, blizzard fears in Alaska

China was hit by snowstorms and a significant cold wave over the weekend, and the extreme conditions are expected to persist as the country approaches the new year on Wednesday.

Temperatures are forecast to drop to more than 10C (18F) below the seasonal average in some areas, with northern regions experiencing the most severe weather. Maximum temperatures in Shenyang are expected to plummet by more than 13C, while Yinchuan could tumble to -8C.

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Belarus’s Strong-Arm Leader, Aleksandr Lukashenko, Cruises to Re-election – The New York Times

  1. Belarus’s Strong-Arm Leader, Aleksandr Lukashenko, Cruises to Re-election  The New York Times
  2. Lukashenko heads for massive win in Belarus election scorned by the West  Reuters
  3. ‘Europe’s Last Dictator’ Wields the Ax  Columbia Journalism Review
  4. Hungary Blocks Joint EU Statement On Presidential Elections In Belarus -- Sources  Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
  5. People choose jail and exile, Belarus president Lukashenko tells BBC  BBC.com
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Bill to reinterpret founding treaty with Māori would make New Zealand a ‘laughing stock’, MPs told

Introduced to parliament by a minor coalition party, the treaty principles bill seeks to abandon a set of principles that guide the relationship between Māori and ruling authorities

A marathon public hearing into a bill that seeks to radically reinterpret New Zealand’s founding treaty between Māori tribes and the British Crown began on Monday amid widespread outcry the proposed changes are unconstitutional, socially divisive and an attack on Māori rights.

The treaty principles bill, which was introduced to parliament by the minor coalition Act party, seeks to abandon a set of well-established principles that guide the relationship between Māori and ruling authorities in favour of its own redefined principles.

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Thieves blow up museum door and steal ancient artifacts, including 2,500-year-old gold helmet – CNN

  1. Thieves blow up museum door and steal ancient artifacts, including 2,500-year-old gold helmet  CNN
  2. Thieves Blow Up a Dutch Museum Door to Steal a Golden Helmet  The New York Times
  3. Explosion rocks Dutch museum before gold masterpieces stolen: "This is a dark day"  CBS News
  4. Trump’s New Hollywood Pal Wins This Week’s Box Office Battle  The Daily Beast
  5. Italy Offers to Take Mona Lisa as Louvre's Condition is Criticised  ARTnews
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Sanity Check After Trump’s First Week Back in Office – The Bulwark

  1. Sanity Check After Trump’s First Week Back in Office  The Bulwark
  2. Analysis | Trump shocks the system. Will he solve problems voters care about most?  The Washington Post
  3. Inside Trump’s first week in office: confusing the enemy and seizing more power than ever  The Telegraph
  4. What did we learn from Trump's first week?  ABC News
  5. Trump's first week: Congress, courts consider their "checks and balances"  CBS News
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Trump says to ‘clean out’ Gaza, urges Arab countries to take more refugees – The Washington Post

  1. Trump says to ‘clean out’ Gaza, urges Arab countries to take more refugees  The Washington Post
  2. Trump Wants to Settle Displaced Palestinians Anywhere but Gaza. Israel's Far-right Agrees  Haaretz
  3. Trump’s Palestinian refugee idea falls flat with Jordan and confounds a Senate ally  The Associated Press
  4. Trump Pushes Jordan and Egypt to Take in Palestinians to ‘Clean Out’ Gaza  The New York Times
  5. Donald Trump's comments on Gaza trigger tensions with his Arab-American supporters  Sky News
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