the festive Jewish celebration that marks the completion and beginning of the annual cycle of weekly Torah readings. During the festivities, celebrants dance with Torah scrolls in hakafot (literally, "circles") in the synagogue and on the streets outside. Celebrants also enjoy festive meals and recite blessings.

11October 23: Diwali

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Just when the days begin to shorten in autumn, Diwali comes around to light a fire in the middle of the darkness. Also called the festival of lights, Diwali is celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs around the world. The festival of Diwali symbolizes the victory of light over dark, good over evil and knowledge over darkness. For some, the day marks the Hindu legend of Rama and Sita's return to Rama's kingdom after years in exile. Celebrants observeand this made recruiting sources that much harder in the future.

In his pardon application, Manning’s lawyer said otherwise: “None of the disclosed documents caused any real damage to the United States. Instead, these documents simply embarrassed our country by revealing misconduct by the Department of Defense and unethical practices by the Department of State.”

Manning was among 273 people granted clemency Tuesday by Obama.

The former Army intelligence analyst had asked Obama last November to commute her 35-year sentence for giving classified government and military documents to the WikiLeaks website. Manning, a transgender woman who was known as Bradley Manning at the time of her 2010 arrest, is more than six years into the sentence. After Obama’s decision, she is to be released from prison in May.

Republicans blasted the decision