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Израиль трещит по швам. Политики объявили Нетаньяху войну


Израиль сотрясает землетрясение отставок, угрозы которых вот уже некоторое время не сходили с повестки дня. Бени Ганц и Гади Айзенкот вышли из военного кабинета, обвинив премьер-министра Нетаньяху в ситуации в секторе Газа.

На фоне массовой резни в секторе Газа, продолжающейся уже более восьми месяцев, израильский военный кабинет, находившийся в центре внимания в связи с угрозами отставок со стороны его членов, в конце концов дал трещину. Эта комиссия была сформирована перед наземным вторжением в Газу после операции “Потоп Аль-Аксы”, начавшейся 7 октября 2023 года. Члены кабинета Бени Ганц (Benny Gantz) и Гади Айзенкот (Gadi Eisenkot) ушли со своих постов в правительстве премьер-министра Биньямина Нетаньяху.

Вынудил министра обороны выйти из правительства

“С сожалением объявляю о своем официальном уходе из правительства”, – заявил Ганц на пресс-конференции. По его словам, Нетаньяху мешает Израилю “двигаться к настоящей победе” и принимает решения, исходя из политических соображений. Ганц призвал Нетаньяху как можно скорее провести досрочные выборы и предложил министру обороны Йоаву Галланту (YoavGallant) также выйти из правительства. Заявив о поддержке выдвинутого президентом США Джо Байденом предложения об обмене пленными между Израилем и ХАМАС, Ганц потребовал от Нетаньяу проявить смелость для достижения этого соглашения. Так, 18 мая Ганц пригрозил, что, если премьер-министр до 8 июня не утвердит план относительно послевоенного будущего в секторе Газа, то его партия выйдет из правительства.

“Нетаньяху мешает победе”

Через несколько минут после этого объявления пришло известие о том, что член израильского военного кабинета и бывший начальник Генерального штаба израильской армии Гади Айзенкот также покинул военный кабинет. Было объявлено, что Айзенкот ушел из правительства чрезвычайного положения. Как сообщила израильская газета “Едиот ахронот”, Айзенкот уведомил премьер-министра Нетаньяху об отставке, отметив: “Кабинет, который вы возглавляете, не принял необходимых решений для достижения целей войны”. Экс-начальник Генштаба подчеркнул, что уклонение от принятия этих решений наносит ущерб стратегии и национальной безопасности Израиля, и, обращаясь к Нетаньяху, добавил: “Мы видим, что решения, принятые вами в последнее время, не мотивированы интересами страны”.

Кроме того, в тот же день подал в отставку командующий дивизией “Газа” израильской армии. По сообщению израильского государственного телеканала KAN, бригадный генерал Ави Розенфельд (Avi Rosenfeld) подал в отставку, поскольку провалил свою миссию по защите районов на границе с анклавом. Розенфельд отметил, что каждый должен взять на себя свою долю ответственности за произошедшее 7 октября 2023 года.

Лапид: пора заменить правительство

Нетаньяху же резко ответил Ганцу. Премьер-министр Израиля в своем заявлении в соцсети Х отметил: “Эй, Бени (Ганц), Израиль ведет экзистенциальную войну на нескольких фронтах. Сейчас не время отказываться от кампании, сейчас самое время объединить усилия”. Нетаньяху объявил, что его дверь открыта для всех партий. Ведущий лидер израильской оппозиции Яир Лапид (YairLapid) отметил: “Решение Ганца и Айзенкота покинуть несостоявшееся правительство является важным и правильным”. Лапид добавил: “Пришло время заменить это экстремистское правительство здравомыслящим, которое вернет безопасность и похищенных людей, восстановит международную репутацию Израиля”.

Для Байдена очертили красную линию

В столице США, Вашингтоне, прошла крупнейшая за последнее время демонстрация в поддержку Палестины. Тысячи активистов, окруживших Белый дом, осудили администрацию Байдена, оказывающую полную поддержку Израилю, скандируя: “Геноцид – наша красная линия”. В акции протеста приняли участие многие группы населения, в том числе евреи-антисионисты.

The post Израиль трещит по швам. Политики объявили Нетаньяху войну first appeared on The News And Times.


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Новости


Новости Радио Свобода: точность, оперативность, беспристрастность

The post Новости first appeared on The News And Times.


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Transparency of International Agreements Under the Revised Case-Zablocki Act: An Assessment After Six Months


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This article is cross-posted at Lawfare.

In December 2022, Congress enacted sweeping transparency reforms for executive agreements, which took effect in September 2023. In this post, we assess how well this new transparency system is working based on publicly available information. As we will explain, the law has led to substantially more transparency for these agreements, as Congress had intended. In at least one respect, however, the executive branch’s compliance raises questions for Congress to consider, and there are other aspects of the new transparency regime that could be improved. As Congress knew when it enacted the law, more work remains to be done.

Case-Zablocki Act

Since World War II, the vast majority of international agreements concluded by the United States have been done as “executive agreements” rather than as Senate-approved treaties. Many of these executive agreements are authorized or approved by statutes (“congressional-executive agreements”), but others are concluded based on authority conferred by treaties (“treaty-based executive agreements”) or on the President’s independent constitutional authority (“sole executive agreements”).

The Case-Zablocki Act, first enacted in 1972, requires that the State Department report these various executive agreements to Congress. Until recently, the Act required reporting within 60 days after the agreements took effect. Another related statute has long required publication of the agreements on a State Department website within 180 days after they took effect.

The State Department’s reporting of agreements has often been late or incomplete, and Congress has amended the Case-Zablocki Act on a number of occasions in an effort to improve compliance, without much success. Over time, State Department regulations also exempted many categories of agreements from publication, such that the public was often not given information about what was being reported to Congress. Moreover, although in its reports to Congress the State Department included a brief background statement containing a citation of its legal authority for concluding the agreements, these background statements were not made public.

In addition to these limitations on transparency, neither the Case-Zablocki Act nor the publication statute covered non-binding agreements concluded by the executive branch, even though these agreements have grown over time and often resemble binding executive agreements in form and substance. We discussed some of these deficiencies in transparency in a law review article we published in 2020. More recently, we published another article discussing the increasing use of non-binding agreements by the executive branch, including by various administrative agencies.

Recent Amendments

In December 2022, Congress amended the Case-Zablocki Act to impose significant new transparency mandates for both executive agreements and some non-binding agreements. The revised Act now requires the State Department to transmit executive agreements to Congress on a monthly basis. In addition, the Department is required to transmit to Congress “qualifying non-binding instruments,” which are defined as non-binding instruments that “could reasonably be expected to have a significant impact on the foreign policy of the United States” or that are subject to a written communication from the chair or ranking member of the congressional foreign affairs committee.

For both the executive agreements and the qualifying non-binding instruments, the executive branch is supposed to include a “detailed description” of the legal authority that provides support for the agreement or instrument. When the legal support is Article II of the Constitution, moreover, the executive branch must explain its basis for relying on it. The revisions to the Act also require publication of most of what must be reported to Congress, including the descriptions of legal authority. These changes took effect in September 2023, and the State Department enacted regulations implementing them the following month. The regulations include, among other things, a list of factors that the executive branch must consider in determining whether a non-binding instrument is one that could reasonably be expected to have a significant impact on the foreign policy of the United States.

Transparency Reforms Prompted by the Statute

After six months of reporting and publication, we can begin to assess the executive branch’s compliance with the new statute. There have been substantial and important improvements, and a few disappointments.

Government Organization

The government appears to have organized itself to better serve the transparency and accountability aims of the new law. The State Department issued updated regulations in light of the statute and has been engaging with the dozens of agencies that conclude binding and non-binding agreements to ensure that they are aware of the new requirements. The Secretary of State has appointed a Chief International Agreements Officer, as required by the revised law.  The Department of Defense has also appointed a Chief International Agreements Officer of its own, as required. Other agencies are likewise making progress on this requirement. This is an important structural improvement, ensuring that there is someone accountable for compliance with the new law, as well as preexisting reporting obligations.

Publication of Binding Executive Agreements

The State Department has improved the public transparency of executive agreements. Starting in October 2023, it began publishing on a website the information that it was reporting monthly to Congress about executive agreements. (The actual text of the agreements unfortunately appears on a different website.) Between October 2023 and March 2024, the Department reported 36 executive agreements as well as the legal authority for the agreements in terms of citations without further explanation.

This website a major improvement in international agreement accountability. The government in the past published only about half of its binding executive agreements. Public access to the other half depended on enterprising private sources that were available only by paid subscription. At least as important, the legal authority for each agreement is now published, as the new law requires. This legal authority, which is usually but not always statutes, was previously conveyed to Congress but not made public. As directed by the new law, the citations are also more specific than they were in the past, indicating the specific section of a statute that the executive branch is relying on.

These changes are important for several reasons. They allow the public to know what executive agreements the government is making in its name. And they allow significantly broader scrutiny of the legality of binding executive agreements. Our previous work provided empirical and conceptual reasons to think that many executive agreements lacked a solid legal basis but noted that it was hard—due to resource constraints and imprecise legal citations—for the relevant congressional committees to scrutinize the legality of the agreements. The somewhat more elaborate citations, and especially their availability to the public, should in theory permit scholars and other experts to assess and criticize executive branch legality claims and bring doubtful ones to the attention of Congress. It also presumably requires the executive branch to focus at least a bit more thoroughly on the legal basis for such agreements—something that our prior work suggested it was not always doing.

One could argue that even the slightly more elaborate and now public explanation of the legal authority for agreements does not meet the new statutory requirement for a “detailed description” of such authority. A citation by itself might not amount to a description, let alone a detailed one. A separate issue is that when the Department cites to Article II of the Constitution, its explanations for why it is doing so have been cryptic—for example, just a reference to the “conduct of foreign relations,” even though there is no such general power listed in Article II, or to the provision in Article II directing that the President is to take care that the laws are faithfully executed.

There are ways that Congress could require further specification of legal authority, as we explained in our 2020 article, The Failed Transparency Regime for Executive Agreements: An Empirical and Normative Analysis. But for now the question is best left to negotiation over time between congressional staffers and the State Department. This is a new statutory regime, and the executive branch has made a number of important changes in its practice to comply with it. Congress was not specific about what it wanted the legal citations to look like, and it might be burdensome to require the State Department to give lengthy explanations for the legality of each agreement. Providing the specific statutes that the executive branch is relying on, and making them public, is at least a very good first step.

Publication of Non-Binding Agreements

The Department has another website that contains the texts of the qualifying non-binding instruments that it reports to Congress. Between October 2023 and March 2024, the Department reported 32 such instruments from several executive branch agencies. This is a major improvement since non-binding agreements in the past were generally available to Congress and the public only if an agency decided to publish them voluntarily. Few chose to do so, meaning that Congress and the American public were left in the dark even about important non-binding agreements. This new system for publicizing binding and non-binding agreements is a revolution viewed from this perspective.

It is noteworthy that, even though the Department is obligated to report only “qualifying non-binding instruments”—those deemed “significant” or subject to a communication by the Chair or Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee or Senate Foreign Relations Committee—it is reporting nearly as many such instruments as executive agreements (which are not subject to a significance threshold).  There are, therefore, likely many more non-binding agreements concluded than is reflected in the number of reported agreements. This fact supports a critical empirical finding from our article, The Rise of Nonbinding International Agreements: non-binding instruments increasingly have become a central part of U.S. diplomatic relations.

But State Department practice on another aspect of its statutory duties concerning non-binding agreements is disappointing. The revised Case-Zablocki Act and the State Department’s regulations require a “detailed description” of legal authority for these instruments, just as for binding executive agreements. The Department has decided to comply with this obligation with a blanket assertion of authority that it includes in each monthly report to Congress and on the public website.  That blanket statement provides, in full:

Unless otherwise indicated, the following statement of legal authority in accordance with 1 USC 112b(a)(1)(A)(iii) applies to all listed instruments: The authority to enter into non-binding instruments with foreign states and other foreign actors in connection with the conduct of foreign relations derives from the President’s powers under Article II of the Constitution. The President has authority under Article II to represent the nation in foreign affairs, including the authority to communicate with foreign governments and to determine the form and manner in which the Executive engages in diplomacy. As applied to the entry into non-binding instruments with foreign states and other foreign actors in connection with the conduct of foreign relations, these authorities are exercised on a day-to-day basis by the agencies and departments of the executive branch under the general supervision of the President as Chief Executive, and in consultation with the Secretary of State.

Unless otherwise indicated, no new or amended statutory or regulatory authority is anticipated to be required to implement the listed instruments.

This statement may meet the letter of the law, but it almost certainly does not satisfy its spirit. That said, given that non-binding instruments do not purport to change the law, it is unclear what other information Congress was seeking with respect to the executive branch’s legal authority to conclude them.

What Remains To Be Done

Despite the substantial improvements in the transparency regime for executive agreements and non-binding instruments, additional changes should be considered.

First, as already noted, Congress might wish to insist that the reporting of the legal basis for both binding and non-binding agreements be more specific or detailed. The blanket assertion of a single legal basis for non-binding agreements is particularly uninformative and appears inconsistent with Congress’s intent.

Second, while the executive branch is to be commended for complying with the statutory requirements, the design of the public websites leaves a great deal to be desired. In order to access a binding executive agreement, one must click on the link for the month, find the agreement in a list, and then go to another website to find the text of the agreement. To find a non-binding instrument, one must click on the link for the month and then open zipped files of all the instruments for that month. It is impossible to search on these websites for a particular subject or country. While searching the posted agreements at this early stage is not difficult, given that only six months of reports have been posted, that will become more and more cumbersome over time. Moreover, the separation of the legal citations from the text of the agreements makes accessing the relevant legal basis for a given binding agreement more difficult than necessary. Likely a private company like HeinOnline will download and catalog these agreements and introduce a search function, but that will mean that only members of the public with access to a paid subscription service will be able to have functional access to the agreements.

Third, as we pointed out at the time the law was passed, there are significant gaps in the law’s scope. Most important of all, the Department of Defense (DOD) and Intelligence Community (IC) are exempted from the reporting requirements for non-binding instruments even though it appears likely that the DOD concludes more non-binding instruments than the rest of the U.S. government combined. That is a loophole that Congress should consider closing. If there are particular concerns relevant to the DOD or IC, those could be addressed when drafting an expansion of the reporting requirements. Through FOIA litigation, we have received thousands of the non-binding instruments concluded by the DOD, and we are unaware of any good reason to exclude the DOD from the transparency requirements for its unclassified instruments. The DOD and IC are, indeed, already subject to all other Case Act requirements. They are simply excluded from the coverage of non-binding instruments in the new law.

IMAGE: The U.S. Department of State is seen on January 6, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

The post Transparency of International Agreements Under the Revised Case-Zablocki Act: An Assessment After Six Months appeared first on Just Security.

The post Transparency of International Agreements Under the Revised Case-Zablocki Act: An Assessment After Six Months first appeared on The News And Times.


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The “aggravating factors” that could send Donald Trump to prison


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As a dank prison cell looms in the distance of convicted felon Donald Trump’s future, many people are speaking out about how they see Donald Trump’s criminal sentencing turning out. One of these people is Fordham Law professor Adam Shlahet.

Shlahet told Salon in an interview that while he initially did not think Trump would get a prison sentence, he’s since changed his mind and now thinks it’s more likely that he will. “When the person who’s going to be deciding your sentence is the judge, it’s also a real good idea not to antagonize the judge at every opportunity”, the law professor explained.

“Every time he (Trump) gets a microphone, he insults the judge and calls the judge crooked and calls the judge conflicted and shows no respect for the jury’s verdict. And that is not how a defendant who wants probation should be acting.”

Indeed, it’s not. But it IS the way a pathetic, miserly, cowardly, sociopath, and malignant narcissist would act. These people can’t ever help themselves in any way because their egos burns brightly in the place where their souls are supposed to be.

The professor also soberly spoke of the ten violations of the gag order and suggested that those violations may also play a role in sentencing. Shlahet said that many “aggravating factors” in the convicted felon’s case might make Prison more likely.

This sentencing should be very, very interesting. I don’t know if Trump will get prison time, though he might get SOME. Based on what many legal minds are saying, many others think so as well.


. . .



So yes, prison waits in the distance for the convicted felon, like a lurking thief in the night, waiting to snatch away the felon’s dignity, pilfer his privilege, and steal his freedom.

The post The “aggravating factors” that could send Donald Trump to prison appeared first on Palmer Report.

The post The “aggravating factors” that could send Donald Trump to prison first appeared on The News And Times.


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Behind a dramatic election in France, the rise of a new Jewish leader — and also antisemitism


In the wake of yesterday’s election for candidates to the European Parliament, everything and nothing has changed in France. 

Nothing changed insofar as pollsters had long predicted an electoral slam dunk by Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement national (RN), or National Rally. Led by its president, the 20-something Jordan Bardella, the party won slightly over 31% of the vote. France now has the dubious reputation of sending the largest contingent of ethno-nationalist and illiberal parties to Strasbourg, the eastern French city that is home for the parliament. 

But if you look at the also-rans, everything has changed in French politics. As significant as the electoral wave that lifted the RN to first place was the surprising surge that nearly catapulted the Socialist Party into second place. With 14% of the vote, the Socialists finished just behind President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance Party, whose flat performance reflects less a rebirth than a still birth. 

This was an event, announced Le Monde, that Renaissance “didn’t see coming.” For months, Macron and his staff insisted that the real threat came from the far-left La France insoumise, or Defiant France, led by the suitably defiant and divisive Jean-Luc Mélenchon, which constitutes the largest leftwing party in the country’s National Assembly. As for the Socialist Party, Macron’s team could not be bothered, claiming that it simply “did not exist.” Period. 

In a way, it was true that the Socialists did not exist. When Macron won the presidential election in 2017, his political party, then called En Marche!, marched over the seemingly lifeless body of the Socialist Party. A desultory five years under the floundering presidency of the Socialist François Hollande left the party in disarray. In 2017, their presidential candidate, Benoît Hamon, won only 6% of the popular vote; in 2019, they were virtually erased from Parliament in the previous European election. On life support, the Socialists subsequently joined an unwieldy leftwing coalition thrown together by Mélenchon that, largely due to his party’s scarcely veiled anti-Zionism after Oct. 7, has since collapsed. 

Though the decline and fall of the Socialist Party has been gradual, it has also been seismic. Ever since its founding in the late 19th century, the party has played a key role in pushing France to live up to its revolutionary ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity. It was the party that was the first to rally, at the urging of Jean Jaurès, to the defense of Alfred Dreyfus in the 1890s; the party to enact a series of labor and social reforms that transformed the lives of French workers in the 1930s; the party whose members were among the first to join the resistance against the Nazi occupation a decade later; and the party that abolished the death penalty, decriminalized homosexuality, and created a ministry of women’s rights in the 1980s.

Leon Blum became prime minister of France in 1936. Photo by Getty Images

Notably, the Socialists also happen to be the first party led by a Jew, Léon Blum, who was also the first Jew to lead France when, in 1936, he became prime minister in the Popular Front government. This provides a curious context to what has just happened in France. The leader of the Socialist list is Raphaël Glucksmann. His grandparents were leftwing Zionists from Eastern Europe who emigrated to France in the mid-1930s; joining the Resistance, his grandmother survived the war, but his grandfather died in 1940 when the ship that was transporting him was torpedoed and sunk.

In the 1970s, their youngest child, André Glucksmann, after a long flirtation with Maoism, became a leading member of the so-called nouveaux philosophes. Telegenic and iconoclastic, Glucksmann and his comrade Bernard-Henri Lévy lambasted the previous generation of French intellectuals who, beholden to the Marxist vulgate, were blind to the crimes of Soviet communism. (This critique was not so nouveau. Raymond Aron had made a more devastating case in his 1955 classic The Opium of the Intellectuals, but perhaps because he had lacked the good looks and glib phrasing of Glucksmann and Lévy, he was largely overlooked.)

By the time he died in 2015, Glucksmann had pivoted from his revolutionary militancy on the left to a hawkish neoliberalism on the right. He was a guest of honor at the last public event for conservative Nicolas Sarkozy’s successful 2007 presidential campaign and brought along his son Raphaël. This was inevitably controversial, even though the Glucksmanns subsequently penned a book arguing that Sarkozy, who scored political points by excoriating the student rebellion of 1968, did not understand that it was fundamentally liberal as well as liberating. 

Nevertheless, the political path since taken by Glucksmann fils has been a mirror image of Glucksmann père, moving from the neo-conservatism embraced by his father to what we might call a neo-socialism that embraces a realist understanding of the limits of state power. He began as a literary essayist and documentary filmmaker; his film Tuez-les tous! (Kill Them All!), a searing account of the 1994 Hutu massacre of Tutsis in Rwanda, rightly lays partial responsibility at the door of Mitterrand’s government. Subsequently, Glucksmann served as an advisor first to Mikheil Saakashvili, the reformist president of Georgia whose career eventually became mired in charges of corruption and human rights abuses, then as an adviser to the leaders of the pro-European protests in Ukraine, which led to the ouster of the country’s pro-Russian regime.

From his role behind the stage of European politics, Glucksmann stepped directly onto the stage of French politics in 2018, when he co-founded Place Publique, a party committed to green revolution and European integration. Five years later, as the leader of Place Publique, Glucksmann allied with the diminished Socialist Party to present a common list for Sunday’s election. As telegenic as his father, Glucksmann’s presence on the campaign trail has resurrected the seemingly defunct Socialists and remade them, instead of Defiant France, the leading party of the left.  

The revival of the French Socialists, however, has been accompanied by the revival of French antisemitism. In the wake of the Dreyfus Affair, antisemitism continued to play a powerful role in French culture and politics. By the 1930s and the rise of the Popular Front, it became explosive. For example, when Blum became prime minister, the deputy Xavier Vallat welcomed him with a warning: “Your arrival is without doubt a historic date. For the first time this ancient Gallo-Roman land is to be ruled by a Jew…It would be better to have someone whose origins, however modest, lie deep in our soil rather than a subtle Talmudist.” (Not surprisingly, Vallat went on to become Vichy’s first Commissioner for Jewish Affairs in 1940.)

For the moment, the expression of antisemitism today has been neither as virulent nor explicit as it was in the 1930s. What is disconcerting, though, is that it issues not from the far-right but instead from the far-left. Not only have antisemitic incidents in France risen sharply since the Hamas massacre last October, but justifications for the massacre and condemnations of Israel — not simply the current Israeli government — have also multiplied. The leadership of Defiant France, in part to attract votes from immigrant neighborhoods, not only refused to identify Hamas as a terrorist organization or clearly condemn the massacre, but allowed certain members to declare, long after details of the massacre became known, insisted it was an “act of resistance.” 

It seems the resistance is also alive and well in France. Last week, dozens of Place Publique-Socialist posters in several cities were defaced with swastikas and SS emblems, as well as a Hitlerian mustache inked on Glucksmann’s image. (As Glucksmann declared, the reason his posters alone were defaced “is as depressing as it is obvious: my name. Glucksmann. A Jewish name.”)

The irony is that Glucksmann has explicitly and repeatedly called for a cease-fire, demanded the recognition of a Palestinian state, and condemned the disproportionate response of the Israeli military. The problem for those to his left, it seems, is that he has also called for a hostage exchange and condemnation of Hamas. “Nothing justifies the horror of massacred civilians,” Glucksmann declared last week, “just as nothing justifies the torrent of hatred, dehumanization and glorification of the murder of Israeli and Palestinian civilians since the pogrom of Oct. 7. The sickening calls for Israel’s destruction — whether from Hamas, Iran, and certain activists in France — and the abject dehumanization of Palestinians by Israeli leaders can only intensify the agony of both peoples.”

But along with the irony, there is tragedy. Upon learning of the poster incidents, Glucksmann denounced Mélenchon’s baseless claim that antisemitism in France had become “residual.” With a sigh, he observed that “this hatred has not disappeared.” No single election will ever change that. Yet tragedy does not entail passivity. 

“We achieved a success that no one expected,” Glucksmann declared once the election results were in, but it is a success that condemns us to tireless struggle.”

The post Behind a dramatic election in France, the rise of a new Jewish leader — and also antisemitism appeared first on The Forward.

The post Behind a dramatic election in France, the rise of a new Jewish leader — and also antisemitism first appeared on The News And Times.


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The 9 best kitchen faucets of 2024


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Three kitchen faucets displayed on a blue gradient background.Our picks for best kitchen faucet include options from trusted brands like Delta, Moen, and Kohler.

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A well-designed kitchen faucet can immediately upgrade the look, feel, and utility of your kitchen sink. The best kitchen faucets are durable, attractive, and easy to use, clean, and install. 

I chose the faucets in this guide based on recommendations from experts and my own expertise as a residential contractor. Our best overall pick is the Delta Trinsic, which combines a simple and easy-to-clean design with innovative features like flow activation technology. If your kitchen is regularly used for hosting and preparing large meals, the best commercial-style faucet is the Kohler Sous Pull-Down Sprayer Faucet. We love that the docking arms swivel out of your way when not in use.

We recommend most people choose a single-handle faucet with a pull-out or pull-down design. This style is the most compact and easiest to install and maintain. However, we include side-sprayer and dual-handle picks if you’re working with a specific sink setup.

Learn more about how Insider Reviews tests and researches home products.

Our top picks for kitchen faucets

Best overall: Delta Trinsic Single-Handle Pull-Down Faucet – See at Amazon

Best commercial-style: Kohler Sous Pro-Style Single-Handle Pull-Down Sprayer Faucet – See at The Home Depot

Best pull-out: Delta Grant Single-Handle Pull-Out Faucet – See at The Home Depot

Best budget: Wewe Single-Handle High-Arc Pull-Out Faucet – See at Amazon

Best low-arc: Moen Adler Single-Handle Low Arc Standard Kitchen Faucet – See at The Home Depot

Best touchless: Moen Arbor MotionSense Faucet – See at Amazon

Best dual-handle: Pfister Ladera 2-Handle Kitchen Faucet with Optional Side Spray – See at The Home Depot

Best side-mounted sprayer: Delta Single-Handle Faucet with Side Sprayer – See at Ace Hardware

Best brass: Kraus Britt Single-Handle Pull-Down Sprayer Kitchen Faucet – See at Amazon

Best overall

What sets the Delta Trinsic apart from other kitchen faucets is its Touch20 technology, which allows you to activate the water flow by touching your finger or forearm anywhere on the faucet. Landers recommends the feature for tasks like cutting raw chicken so you don’t have to worry about contamination.

Single-handle faucets eventually wear out and begin to leak, which is another reason this Touch20 system is so valuable. By reducing the wear and tear on the handle, you extend the faucet’s lifespan. Plus, the water supply lines are built into the body of the faucet itself, which helps reduce the chances of leaks over time. The more exposed the supply lines are, the more likely they’ll develop leaks.

The faucet’s color-changing LED light (blue for cold, red for hot) allows you to monitor your water temperature visually, which is great if you have small children.

I am also a fan of this model’s Touch-Clean spray holes. These rubber nozzle heads can be scrubbed clean instead of plastic holes that can accumulate mineral deposits and often require chemical soaks. 

Even with the solenoid (an electromagnet) needed to power the sensor, installation of the best overall kitchen faucet is straightforward with pliers and an Allen key. Delta did a nice job with the instruction manual and also has some helpful videos that supplement it nicely.

Best commercial-style

The Kohler Sous Pro-Style Single-Handle Pull-Down Sprayer Faucet features the sturdy construction of a commercial kitchen-style faucet with a modern style that looks right at home in a residential kitchen. It’s great for an active kitchen and the ideal faucet for tackling large piles of dishes.

This faucet has a magnetic docking arm that the spray head firmly attaches to when not in use. Unlike other of the best commercial-style faucets, the docking arm swivels out of the way when you’re working.

The spring-loaded design of the pull-down spray head has the perfect amount of tension: not so tight that it restricts movement but solid enough to feel in control when using it. The downside of spring-tensioned mechanisms is that debris can become lodged in the gaps, but the entire spring of Kohler’s Sous Pro-Style is simple to remove, and you can spray the whole thing off on the sink.

In addition to the standard stream setting, the faucet also features “Sweep Spray” technology, turning the stream into a linear broom-style pattern. This is great for washing away food from dishes and the sink itself, which standard sprayers don’t do as well.

If you’re installing this faucet with a stainless-steel sink, you will need to add a small 0.5-inch plywood support piece under the counter. It’s nothing too difficult, but an extra step nonetheless.

Best pull-out

What makes the best pull-out faucets like this one so convenient to use is that you gain a lot of nozzle maneuverability without a ton of extra spout length. Since you’re pulling the nozzle out instead of down (unlike pull-down models), I’ve personally found it easier to position and direct the nozzle around the sink. The 20-inch hose and 120-degree swiveling spout of the Delta Grant Single-Handle Pull-Out Faucet increase mobility even more. This swiveling design makes it especially convenient for those with double sinks. At less than 10 inches high, you’re also getting a low-profile design that won’t obscure any windows or living spaces behind it. 

The two-function wand switches from a solid to spray stream at the push of a button, and just like the Delta Trinsic Single-Handle Pull-Down Faucet, the head itself features one of my favorite design elements of any faucet: touch-clean spray holes. Unlike plastic spray holes that require scrubbing or chemical cleaners to remove calcium and lime buildup, these soft rubber nubbins can be cleared by simply rubbing your finger across them. 

With a stainless steel finish and ceramic disc valve, long-term durability shouldn’t be an issue, and if any issues do arise, Delta’s limited lifetime warranty has you covered. If you’re interested in a faucet with a bit more personality, this model is also available in a matte black finish. 

Installation of the Delta Grant Single-Handle Pull-Out is also simple and straightforward, with all parts and supply lines included. It also comes with an escutcheon mounting plate, so it’s compatible with one or three-hole setups.

Best budget

Typically, lower-priced faucets look nice on the surface but skimp on components behind the scenes. The Wewe Single-Handle Faucet is surprisingly robust, with braided supply lines for durability, an ABS plastic aerator (think of the tough plastic used to make Lego bricks), and ceramic disk valves. 

When it comes to functionality, the Wewe Single-Handle High Arc provides a pull-down spray head with a variety of stream settings. I was most impressed with the spray head’s water pause button, which allows you to temporarily stop the flow of water, though you do have to continuously hold down the button.

The brushed nickel finish is relatively easy to keep clean with just a soft cloth and soapy water. Plus, its matte finish disguises water spots and fingerprints better than a glossy, polished finish. Just avoid using abrasive cleaning pads and ammonia-based cleaners.

Installation is simple and should be doable for anyone willing to crawl under their sink and spend 30 minutes down there. You’re not getting the “quick-connect” technology that pricier models have, so you’ll be tightening the supply lines the old-fashioned way with your fingers and a couple of wrenches.

The main downside is that zinc alloy parts are less durable than stainless steel, but that’s likely a trade-off for the low price. That said, it still has the reliability and quality construction to make it a worthwhile choice.

Best low-arc

If you don’t want or require the high arc spout of most of the best kitchen faucets, this low-arc Moen model provides just as much functionality, without obscuring the view through your window or across a kitchen island. The faucet’s low-profile design, smooth curves, and minimalistic style allow it to fit in practically any modern kitchen. It’s available in chrome or stainless, so you can easily match your existing appliances. 

Both of these finish options make the Moen Adler Single-Handle Low Arc Kitchen Faucet convenient to keep clean as well. Whether you go with the shiny chrome, which Horton finds to be the easiest to clean of all the finishes, or the spot-resistant stainless steel, the faucet will be easy to wipe clean without too much effort. Thanks to a ceramic disk valve, the single handle is also durable enough for busy kitchens.

The quick-connect system makes the Moen Adler Single-Handle Low-Arc Kitchen Faucet extremely simple to mount and install and, with no tools required, a great choice for inexperienced DIYers who would prefer not to hire a plumber. The included side sprayer allows for convenient dish and sink cleanup, but if you prefer a basic faucet setup, this model is also available without it. 

Best touchless

If convenience and cleanliness are your priorities, this Moen model could be exactly what you’re looking for. Its hands-free operation and dual sensor design — one on top and the other in front — allows you to turn the water on and off with a wave of your arm. This makes it easy to keep the lever and faucet neck clean, greatly reducing the risk of cross-contamination. 

The factory default temperature setting is lukewarm, but a small control box located under the sink allows you to adjust this temperature to your family’s preference. If you frequently use your faucet for drinking water, this ability to keep the default setting colder could be very convenient.  

You can also easily disable one or both of the sensors. Just hold your hand in front of either sensor for five seconds and it will disengage. While they’re disabled, you can still use the lever handle to control the faucet manually. 

The 100-degree high-arc spout of the Moen Arbor MotionSense Faucet makes it great for filling and cleaning large pots. The pull-down spray head also offers three functions: an aerated stream, a strong “PowerClean” spray for heavy-duty cleaning (1.5 gallons per minute maximum), and a pause that temporarily stops the water flow.

If you’re intimidated by the installation of the control box, don’t be. Moen’s faucets are among the easiest to install, and the combination of the Duralock Quick-Connect system and one-way connections make them almost impossible to install incorrectly.

Best dual-handle

This dual-handled model would be a perfect choice for those who want to add a traditional-style appliance to a modern kitchen. Its elegant, sweeping shape provides a clean and minimal look, and although it doesn’t feature a pull-down or pull-out spout, it can still rotate 360 degrees, providing a good amount of maneuverability. If you prefer to add even more functionality, the optional side sprayer is easy to mount and maintains the same elegant style across the sink.

It’s also easy to keep clean, thanks to the option of a spot-defense stainless steel finish. If you prefer something a bit more flashy, you can go with polished chrome. California residents will be able to purchase this faucet without issue, thanks to its compliance with California energy commission (CEC) water-efficiency standards. 

One of my favorite features of this faucet is its impressively low price. For a little more than $100, the Pfister Ladera is priced much lower than similar models. If you appreciate the sleek design but don’t have the space for two handles, this faucet is also available in a single-handle pull-down version but for nearly twice the cost. The extra-high spout also makes it great for filling large pots. 

Best side-mounted sprayer

The side-mounted sprayer of the Delta Single-Handle Faucet with Side Sprayer offers a ton of maneuverability and will typically reach farther than an integrated spray head that’s connected to the faucet neck. This makes it easier to spray inside and around the sink and would be especially convenient for those with a sink that has a built-in drying area. 

Landers recommends shorter spout heights like this one for kitchen islands, since taller faucets can look out of place and distract from the rest of the room. The faucet neck of the Delta Single-Handle Faucet with Side Sprayer swivels 180 degrees, and the center-mounted single-handle faucet is convenient to use for both right and left-handed users. Plus, it’s available in either brushed stainless steel or shiny chrome. 

Installation is fairly straightforward and, with supply lines integrated directly into the faucet itself, should be accomplished without much effort. Delta also guarantees leak-free operation for the life of the faucet, too, so you’ll be covered if any issues do arise.

Keep in mind that the sprayer won’t have the water pressure that an integrated spray head would, and you’ll need to hold the trigger down at all times during use. 

Best brass

If you’re looking for something a bit more visually unique, consider this brushed brass faucet from Kraus. Its textured finish adds a warm, bright look to your kitchen, but unlike polished versions, it’s muted enough not to be distracting. Plus, it hides fingerprints and water spots much easier than smoother finishes, making it a great choice for busy kitchens.

Its open-coil, high-arc spout not only creates a striking silhouette, but also makes the Kraus Britt Single-Handle Pull-Down Sprayer Kitchen Faucet an extremely versatile faucet. It’s tall enough to easily fill up large pots or tall pitchers, and the retractable hose allows it to stretch, reach, and angle the sprayer head in pretty much any direction you need. A convenient fixed handle mount keeps the sprayer head wrangled and secure when not in use.

The single-hole mount of the Kraus takes up minimal space on your countertop and contributes to its relatively hassle-free installation. With a quick-connect sprayer hose, snap-on counterweight, and pre-attached water lines, even amateur DIYers should be able to handle installing this model.

What to look for in a kitchen faucet

Functionality: To ensure that you get the most out of your faucet, consider the specific tasks that you’ll be using it for. If you have a large, wide sink, for example, a pull-down spout will make it much easier to rinse off the sides and bottom during cleaning. If you frequently work with raw meat or fish, a touchless model would be helpful in preventing the spread of bacteria. 

The biggest mistake homeowners make when considering a faucet is not taking into consideration how they use their space, according to Lee. A common issue is that the faucet is too low and doesn’t have enough clearance for big pots and pans. “We recommend finding something that is going to give you enough space to work in the sink,” she said. 

Ease of cleaning: Since kitchen faucets are one of the most frequently used items in your kitchen, make sure to choose one that won’t be a challenge to keep clean. If you do a lot of cooking and have a busy kitchen, consider a faucet with a “spot-free” finish. This coating resists fingerprints and water spots, so you’ll have to clean it less frequently. The material the faucet is made out of is a major factor in ease of cleaning as well. Horton considers chrome to be the easiest finish to keep clean overall and added that brushed nickel also tends not to show spots and fingerprints. Solid brass, on the other hand, shows fingerprints more easily.

Durability: Kitchen faucets can be substantial financial investments, so you’ll want them to hold up over thousands of uses a year. To reduce the chances your handle develops leaks or drips over time, make sure to choose a faucet with ceramic valves. These are extremely durable and will last significantly longer than other types. 

Finish: There are many different finishes and color variations to choose from, making it easy to find one that matches your personal style and taste. According to Landers, stainless steel and polished nickel are classic finishes. “These finishes pair nicely with an array of different styles in the home, making them both versatile options,” she said. Landers explains that it’s also important to choose a finish that is consistent with your home’s style and how much maintenance you want to do.

Faucet mounting style: Depending on the style and layout of your new faucet, it may require one, two, three, or four holes to be mounted properly, especially if you have a side sprayer. If you want to keep installation as easy as possible, purchase a faucet with the same amount of mounting holes as your old faucet. If your new model has fewer holes than you have currently, make sure it includes an escutcheon plate to cover up any extra holes. If your new sink has more holes, you’ll need to drill new ones in your countertop or sink.

Flow rate: The flow rate of a kitchen faucet is measured in gallons per minute (GPM). While the flow rate is dependent on your home’s water supply, faucet design can affect it as well. If you frequently use a lot of water, like filling large pots, go with a faucet with a higher flow rate. If you don’t use your sink as much or just want to save money on your water bill, choose a lower GPM. 

How we chose the best kitchen faucets

I chose the faucets in this guide based on my expertise as a residential contractor and the input of two experts: Jensen Landers, senior interior designer at Marrokal Design and Remodeling, and Stephanie Lee, a lead designer at renovation and kitchen-design company Block. They provided valuable insight and the criteria necessary for choosing the best kitchen faucets, including which types are in demand. 

I used the criteria outlined in the previous slide to evaluate brands and models for this list. After extensive online research, I physically handled as many products as I could in appliance showrooms and hardware stores to narrow my list of options to the eight on this list.

Kitchen faucet FAQs

How long should my faucet last?

According to Horton, the best kitchen faucets should typically last between 15 and 20 years, depending on factors such as hard water, the manufacturer, installation, and use of the fixture. Choosing an option with a ceramic cartridge valve will be a primary factor in ensuring a long lifespan.

Can I increase my flow rate?

Yes. According to Horton, you can increase the flow rate of your faucet. You can either choose an entirely new faucet with a higher flow rate, or if your aerator is the culprit, you can replace it with a higher GPM version. Your current aerator may be clogged with mineral deposits or it could simply be a low-flow version.  

How much should I spend on a kitchen faucet?

That all depends on your expectation level. “You can get a basic model that will get the job done for $50 or a $1,250 faucet that is not on the shelf at Lowe’s or Home Depot,” Horton explains. If you’re looking for a good place to start, Horton says that a good rule of thumb is anything $250 and under is where most homeowners dwell on a replacement basis. 

How do you measure for a kitchen faucet?

When measuring for a new faucet, the first thing you should do is figure out how tall your potential faucet can be without impeding any cabinets or windows. This is easily done with tape measure. To determine spout depth, measure from the mounting hole (where the faucet base will sit) to the center of your sink. This will help eliminate any faucet options that could end up spraying too far out. Landers explained that the sinks she usually purchases for clients’ kitchens are 33 inches wide and any regular pull-down faucet will work for something of that size.

Do I need a touchless or touch-sensitive faucet?

Touchless faucets, which activate by waving your hands in front of a sensor, and touch-sensitive models, which turn on and off when you touch any part of the handle or neck, are both convenient and practical choices for many users. Landers explained that both types of faucets are becoming more prevalent in the kitchen and stressed their food-safety benefits. Since you no longer need to use your fingers to turn a handle, these faucets can dramatically reduce the chances of cross-contaminating your kitchen when handling raw meats or seafood.

How do I install a faucet myself?

Installing a kitchen faucet is probably easier than you think. You will need a few common tools, like a basin wrench, and a partner to provide an extra set of hands. Most popular faucet models, including the ones we featured on our list, will have multiple installation videos from both the manufacturer and customers. It’s worth noting that installing a touchless or touch-sensitive faucet will be more intensive, and unless you’re comfortable working around electrical wiring, you may need to hire a professional.

Which brand has the best faucets overall?

While there are several well-respected kitchen faucet brands, we consider Delta faucets to have the best models overall. They’re made to last with quality components and their no-leak guarantee, combined with timely customer service, gives you the confidence that you won’t be left high and dry if any issues come up. We also appreciate Delta’s focus on hassle-free installation, including easily accessible manuals and videos that are well-suited for the average DIY-er. Plus, since they offer such a wide range of faucet styles — both classic and modern — and price points, you should be able to easily find an option that suits your needs.

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The post The 9 best kitchen faucets of 2024 first appeared on The News And Times.

The post The 9 best kitchen faucets of 2024 first appeared on Trump And The FBI – The News And Times.


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A cloud-storage company is using AI to save employees weeks of cybersecurity-threat work


White puffy could in a transparent box on white pedestal, blue studio background.Pure Storage’s AI model is designed to probe for weaknesses that cybercriminals could exploit.

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  • Pure Storage provides cloud-storage systems to over 11,000 customers.
  • It uses AI to help automate and enhance security, finance processes, and product development.
  • This article is part of “CXO AI Playbook” — straight talk from business leaders on how they’re testing and using AI.

For “CXO AI Playbook,” Business Insider takes a look at mini case studies about AI adoption across industries, company sizes, and technology DNA. We’ve asked each of the featured companies to tell us about the problems they’re trying to solve with AI, who’s making these decisions internally, and their vision for using AI in the future.

Pure Storage has been providing cloud-storage systems for more than a decade and is trusted by some of the world’s largest organizations, such as ServiceNow and Domino’s Pizza. It uses generative AI to help make its 2,000 engineers even more efficient.

Situation analysis: What problem was the company trying to solve?

Pure Storage was founded in 2009 and, according to its website, serves over 11,000 global customers. As a result, it has extensive institutional knowledge in providing data storage to companies.

However, making use of that knowledge across complex business processes was a challenge, Ratinder Paul Singh Ahuja, the company’s chief technology officer for security and networking, told Business Insider.

That changed with the popularization of generative-AI platforms in 2022. “I could see how this could be used in a number of business processes,” Ahuja said. “We put together a company-level initiative to do what we call a generative-AI-powered enterprise.”

Ratinder Paul Singh Ahuja, the CTO of Pure StorageRatinder Paul Singh Ahuja is the chief technology officer for security and networking at Pure Storage.

Courtesy of Pure Storage

Ahuja said the company considered several options for deploying generative artificial intelligence, such as using it to sift through queries, support its internal help desk, or help the company’s finance arm.

But the most pressing improvement Ahuja wanted to make was speeding up and bolstering the checks his security team carried out. He quickly hit upon two key areas where AI could help.

Normally, his development, security, and operations program would have to sit through design discussions with company teams and try to find security issues to fix before rolling out products. It was laborious and time-consuming.

The security team at Pure Storage would also be overwhelmed by threat announcements — when providers of hardware or software used by companies, including Pure Storage, announce they’ve found vulnerabilities in their code that need fixing. But these reports are often for products not used by Pure Storage or don’t affect them, so filtering through the announcements is hard.

Key staff and partners

The process of implementing these uses of AI was led by Ahuja, who demonstrated the early examples to the executive team at Pure Storage.

He said that at Pure Storage, the office of the technology officer had more freedom and ability to explore new technologies than the IT department: “They kept it under the office of CTO, as opposed to IT services, just because the field is changing rapidly, and we wanted to have the ability to not be rigidly covered by an IT process.”

AI in action

In its security department, Pure Storage now uses a generative-AI tool that was trained with Ahuja’s presentation slides and knowledge about modeling threats — similar to the way a human staff member would be trained on best practices. “This GPT can now be cut and pasted as a picture of a design, any documentation or code you have written, and it will walk through the STRIDE methodology,” Ahuja said, referring to a standard threat-modeling methodology that stands for spoofing, tampering, repudiation, information disclosure, denial of service, and elevation of privilege.

Other Pure Storage teams, not just security, can use the program, meaning they don’t have to wait for a security specialist to become free to check their plans.

The generative-AI tool scanning the vast volumes of threat announcements and warnings can quickly triage what human security professionals need to pay attention to and what they can ignore. The tech analyzes the threat feed and asks what class of system is affected and which signs to look for to detect the issue. “Then it queries our asset database, and says, ‘Do we have this class of systems? Should I even worry about it?” Ahuja said. If the answer is yes, it’ll continue to analyze until it’s convinced it needs to flag a human, he said.

Did it work, and how did leaders know?

Pure Storage’s AI model is designed to poke holes in new features, products, or services, probing for weaknesses that cybercriminals could exploit. “What used to take a couple of weeks is now an hour’s job, with the bot guiding the different teams through the STRIDE methodology,” he said. “This is really popular with our engineering teams because they don’t have to wait for a security expert.”

Meanwhile, Ahuja said, the triaging tool is so helpful it’s as if the security-operations team has added another worker: “This is really powerful. You could not keep up. They were constantly underresourced.”

What’s next?

Ahuja wants to layer AI on top of Pure Storage’s products. “Gen AI is really good at analyzing configurations — it’s very good at generating code,” he said. “If you look at Pure Storage and many other vendors, we put out complex systems, and you have to configure them.”

He believes generative AI can help automate large parts of that process.

We want to hear from you. If you are interested in sharing your company’s AI journey, email jhood@businessinsider.com.

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The post A cloud-storage company is using AI to save employees weeks of cybersecurity-threat work first appeared on The News And Times.

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Away Flex luggage review: Our favorite bag from Away is an expandable suitcase that’s perfect for overpackers


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side by side showing a close up and a wide shot of a bright blue Away carry on Flex suitcaseAway’s Flex suitcases are our favorite bags we’ve tested from the brand.

Lauren Savoie/Business Insider

A quick glance at our Away luggage review and our guides to the best luggage and best carry-on bags will show you that we’re big fans of Away luggage. Every suitcase we’ve tested from the brand has proved durable, attractive, and well-designed. That said, if we had to choose our very favorite product from Away, it would hands-down be the Polycarbonate Flex; Away’s line of expandable hard-sided luggage.

My go-to suitcase is currently the Bigger Carry-On Flex, and our former travel editor Emily Hochberg previously tested and loved the Medium Flex. Both of us are habitual over-packers, and love that these suitcases feel roomy and flexible while still meeting luggage dimension requirements for most airlines.

Here’s what you should know about the Flex line and how ours have held up during multiple cross-country trips, countless hotel stays, and even moving homes.

Design and specs  

Away Medium Flex suitcase laying opened-face on carpet.The roomy bag features multiple compartments for staying organized.

Emily Hochberg/Insider

The Flex offers the durability of Away’s original hard shell combined with a built-in exterior zipper that provides an additional 2.25″ for carry-on sizes and 1.75″ for checked baggage.

That’s pretty cool, but it’s important to note that when fully expanded, the carry-on will be too large to fit overhead bins according to almost all airline baggage guidelines. You may be able to get away with carrying it on (as I have on several flights), but there’s a strong possibility you’ll have to check it. 

These Flex suitcases have all of the same smart features you’ve come to expect from Away, like a TSA-approved combination lock, 360° spinner wheels, an interior compression system, an underside grab handle, a hidden laundry bag, an eraser for tackling any scuffs, and a removable, washable lining. 

Closeup on the interior compression system of the Away Medium Flex suitcase.A close-up shot of Away’s compression panel.

Emily Hochberg/Insider

No matter the size you choose, these features come standard with a sleek and durable exterior that looks exactly like the original polycarbonate hard shell bag from Away, just with the addition of the expandable zipper.

In fact, all the basic measurements for every Flex bag are the same as its original counterpart, aside from the expandable feature, which adds a bit of weight.

So, whether you choose the Carry-On Flex, the Bigger Carry-On Flex, the Medium Flex, or the Large Flex, you’ll have the same dimensions as the original, just with the option to add more room.

What it’s like to use

Expandable zipper on a hard-shell Away Medium Flex suitcase.A close-up of the expandable zipper on the Flex.

Emily Hochberg/Insider

Despite my best efforts, I’m an anxiety packer. It can be really hard to travel carry-on only when you’re someone who worries about being prepared for every possible scenario. It defies some logic, but having more space in my carry-on with the Flex has actually allowed me to pack lighter and smarter. There’s some relief in knowing you have room in your suitcase for any last minute items, or for anything you might buy on your trip. The expansion panel also acts as its own form of compression. I like to pack the suitcase while fully expanded, even if I have leftover room. Once packed, I zip up the suitcase and then zip up the expansion. It eliminates any struggle of having to sit on your suitcase to get it closed and it’s a much easier way of compressing your items without wrestling with the expansion panels.

As for the bigger Flex sizes, former travel editor Emily Hochberg used the Medium Flex as one of her checked suitcases when she moved cross country with her family. She used the Flex to pack most of her daughter’s belongings, which included clothes, baby towels and burp cloths, toys, books, diapers, and more. It made its way through two airports and multiple hotels where it was packed and unpacked with different items. As such, it went through a lot of use and was packed to the brim on more than one occasion. 

Away Medium Flex bag packed with clothes and unable to zip closed fully.While the bag itself is expandable, the zippered compartment is not.

Emily Hochberg/Insider

She found the interior to be roomy and able to fit a lot, even without packing cubes. The compression panel helped secure items, but when over-packed, the side with a zipper panel struggled to close.

In her words: “Had I purchased the original Medium with no expandable option, I’m confident I would not have been able to fit everything I needed or more likely, close the bag at all. The expandable, heavy-duty zipper was what made it possible.”

Both Hochberg and I found the suitcases easy to push, pull, and spin as we navigated airports and transfers, even with multiple bags and a baby stroller in tow.

The TSA-approved locks are easy to set and secure, and it’s nice to not have to keep track of separate lock and key components.

TSA-approved combination lock on the top of an Away Medium Flex suitcase.The TSA-approved lock was easy to use.

Emily Hochberg/Insider

I’ve never had an issue with my Bigger Carry-On being gate-checked by an airline for being too large, but I know it’s a possibility, especially with airlines trying to crack down on “carry-on creep” — the phenomenon of carry-on bags getting bigger and bigger. I feel a little guilty knowing I’m part of the problem when I travel with the bag expanded, so I try to only carry it on when the expansion panel is closed and check it when I need to expand it for extra room. 

Hochberg’s Medium Flex weighed around 40ish pounds at check-in when fully packed to the brim. She felt strongly that if she had used the Large Flex, the expansion function would have led to an overweight bag. 

a blue away carry on flex suitcase on a paved surfaceIn this photo you can see the scratches from our durability testing on the front corner of the bag.

Lauren Savoie/Business Insider

Both of us have experienced significant scuffing on our bags. I intentionally tossed mine around as part of our durability testing of carry-on bags, and there are some pretty gnarly scratches from where it’s hit the ground. Hochberg’s navy blue shell came out with a few scuffs just from regular use. We’ve both used the provided Magic Eraser-style sponge to try and buff them out. While it does lighten them, it does not remove them altogether. But in all, the bags have held up extremely well.

What makes the Away Flex stand out

All of the Away Flex bags are functional, thoughtfully designed, and in this case, provide more space than a standard-size suitcase thanks to the expandable zipper. It’s the only line of Away hard luggage with this feature.

Signature Away features are also included, such as a TSA-approved combination lock, 360° spinner wheels, an interior compression system, a hidden laundry bag, and a removable, washable lining.

An overhead view of the top of the Away Medium Flex suitcase in a living room.A TSA-approved lock, multi-setting handle, and rounded corners are a few features of the sleek design.

Emily Hochberg/Insider

Starting at $325 and $345 for carry-on sizes and $395 and $425 for the Medium and Large Flex sizes respectively, it’s similarly priced to other mid-tier premium competitors and designed to last for life. 

All Away bags come with a 100-day trial and free shipping and returns, so long as it’s not personalized, in which case it may not be returned unless there is a defect covered under the lifetime warranty. I’ve personally exchanged a bag under Away’s lifetime warranty and found the process easy and painless. 

The cons

The expandable feature comes in handy when you have a lot to pack. However, it may also be a risk if you’re flying on a major commercial airline and exceed the weight limit for checked bags. So, keep that in mind when you’re throwing everything possible into your Flex. This is, of course, less of a problem with smaller bags that weigh less, but something to consider before you purchase the Large Flex.

Additionally, when fully expanded, carry-on sizes won’t meet most airline overhead guidelines and may need to be checked. 

The bottom line

Away’s polycarbonate Flex bag is the suitcase we’ve been waiting for since day one. Now you can enjoy all the features of their signature hardshell suitcase with the option to expand for more space. 

Just be careful with overpacking the Large, lest you pay overweight airline baggage fees, and know that both carry-ons might need to be checked when fully expanded.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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