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Apple’s UK engineering teams have ‘doubled in size in five years’A MAN WHOSE parents are stuck in Aleppo amid the recent uprising is calling on the government and embassies abroad to help his family get home. Last week, an Islamist-led rebel alliance , ending five decades of brutal rule by the Assad clan. Ten days ago, Wael Hallaj, a GP in Longford, and his wife Adriana went back to Aleppo in north west Syria to check on their house and visit family – something they’ve rarely done since they fled to Ireland a decade ago. Unbeknownst to them, president Bashar al-Assad would be ousted and safe passage out of the country would become impossible. They are currently staying in a hotel lobby along with people of other nationalities, including workers from the United Nations. They want to exit Syria and make their way to Europe through Turkey, but Turkey isn’t allowing them passage. Their son Tamer says they’ve contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ireland, which directed them to the Irish Embassy in Egypt, but so far its efforts to create a safe path have failed. Tamer is calling for constructive communication between the Irish and Turkish governments so that they may come to an arrangement that allows his parents to get home safely. “I don’t think there is a reason or a logic not to allow people who don’t live [in Syria] to stay there, or to not to allow them to cross the border to go back to their own home,” he told . “I really hope that this helps and that our voices are heard ... to get our parents out of there and away from uncertainties.” Tamer left Syria with his parents and siblings when he was 15 years old, in the wake of a bloody civil war. The civil war was caused by widespread discontent with Assad rule, which led to insurgence and ultimately a government crackdown on anyone suspected of dissent. Assad maintained a complex web of prisons and detention centres to keep Syrians from straying from the Baath party line, and his defeat has sparked celebrations around the country and in the diaspora around the world. Tamer says the recent political developments were “the most bizarre shock”. Life under Assad was “not dignified living,” he said, describing his defeat as a “relief”. “But again, there’s this uncertainty of who is going to come up next, and we’re hoping for someone who is reasonable, someone who is not extremist, and someone who will ensure a democratic and more free way of living,” he said. Around 500,000 people were killed in the civil war and half the country were forced to flee from their homes, some of whom – like the Hallaj family – found refuge in Ireland. Tamer and his siblings have minimal contact with their parents. All the people in the hotel lobby are using the one wifi source, which has limited capacity. “Thankfully, we have been able to contact them most days, but it’s for short periods of time ... you don’t know when the connection would drop,” he said. Currently, if his parents want food, they have to leave the hotel, but that is dangerous. Tamer is particularly concerned about his father, who has diabetes and triple vessel disease. “He is on chronic medications and insulin ... So far he still has his own supply, but it’s with the uncertainty of when he would be able to leave the country, and with the uncertainty of the availability in Syria of medications.” Tamer says his family today received a response from the Taoiseach’s office acknowledging their email. “That’s all we’ve received for now, but that was only today, so we’re hoping for good news.” His father’s cousin still lives in Aleppo, where the situation for residents is “very dire”. “They try, whenever it’s safe to do so, to see each other, but there’s really not much help as a person living in Syria ... that you can offer to somebody who is stuck there from abroad,” Tamer explained. He described his parents as brave people “who make their own way and do their best to create a prosperous life for themselves and for us”. Tamer is a doctor currently completing his basic specialist training in internal medicine. He and his sister Taima live here with their parents. Their brothers, Sari and Nibras, are both in Romania, where they also have citizenship.
Victor Wembanyama went to a park in New York City and played 1-on-1 with fans on Saturday. He even lost a couple of games. Not in basketball, though. Before the San Antonio Spurs left New York for a flight to Minnesota, “Who wants to meet me at the SW corner of Washington Square park to play chess? Im there,” Wembanyama wrote. It was 9:36 a.m. People began showing up almost immediately. Washington Square Park is a known spot for chess in New York — Bobby Fischer among others have famously played there, and it's been a spot used for multiple movie scenes featuring the game. Wembanyama was there for an hour in the rain, from about 10-11 a.m. He played four games, winning two and losing two before departing to catch the Spurs' flight. Wembanyama had been trying to get somewhere to play chess for the bulk of the team's time in New York — the and won at Brooklyn on Friday night. The schedule never aligned, until Saturday morning. And even with bad weather, he bundled up to make it happen. with a couple of dozen people who showed up, braving a morning of cold rain to play chess with one of the NBA's biggest stars. “We need an NBA players only Chess tournament, proceeds go to the charity of choice of the winner,” he wrote on social media after his chess trip was over. Wembanyama is averaging 25.2 points and 10.1 rebounds this season, his second in the NBA after winning rookie of the year last season. AP NBA:Bill Clinton admitted to US hospital with a fever
Viewers of the BBC series Strike were left scratching their heads as the latest episode aired. The show, based on J.K. Rowling's novel The Ink Black Heart, penned under her pseudonym Robert Galbraith, follows Cormoran Strike as he investigates crimes. This series centres around the shocking murder of a cult YouTube cartoon writer, who had confided in Robin about being harassed and threatened by someone she believed was the anonymous creator of an unofficial spin-off game. As the latest episode unfolded, fans took to social media to share their thoughts. Some expressed confusion, with one fan tweeting: "So many names. I've totally lost track of who everyone is! #Strike," while another added: "#strike I'm lost with this storyline." A third viewer shared: "#strike bbc1 #TheInkBlackHeart Can't say I'm really understanding what this current Strike series is all about, not being into gaming or reading comics. Good acting throughout, no foul language but the storyline is for youngsters, presumably." However, not all viewers were perplexed, with some praising the series as "brilliant". One wrote: "#Strike @BBCOne Loving the latest series #TheInkBlackHeart Amazing as always. Brilliant cast and great storyline," while another chimed in: "Another great season of Strike. Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger have great chemistry. This season was definitely different from the rest, but the atmosphere and style were still quality. 10/10 series. #TheInkBlackHeart #Strike." A third viewer pleaded: "Could you drop 4 more i really dont want to wait another 2 years #Strike #TheInkBlackHeart," while a fourth enthused: "Every case ends with each season of Strike but the romantic intrigue just keeps intriguing. And I'm drowning in it. Help!" For many fans, the highlight of the show is the blossoming romance between Cormoran and Robin. Speaking about their on-screen relationship, actress Holliday Grainger revealed: "Their relationship is so complicated and there's a real fear of stepping over the line and there being a sense of no return. "It's written so well in the book, the breakdown of thoughts Robin has, of not knowing if he's going to regret it in the morning, if he's drunk a bit too much, or if this is not the right thing for him, and what it would mean for their business. It's only afterwards that she's like, 'Oh, that could have been something, maybe I was overthinking it.'" She added: "That moment makes her realise how she feels towards him properly for the first time, I think. But in that moment there's also fear of rejection, and of losing what they have, which is friendship. Robin has very few close friends, which is a big element." *Strike airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.Vernon elementary students get creative for entrepreneur fair