Category: World

KANYE West’s first paid screening for wife Bianca Censori’s film was chaotic as fans were made to wait hours before she made a bizarre appearance as a performance artist.

Kanye, 47, and Bianca, 30, reportedly both reached out to divorce attorneys earlier this month amid rumors of a split.

But they appeared to still be together at their second art event at a warehouse in Los Angeles on Sunday evening.

The U.S. Sun can confirm Kanye was selling $100 tickets for the screening of Bianca’s first feature-length film, which was produced by the rapper and shot in Japan.

It came after an earlier premiere saw hundreds of people line up outside the venue in Koreatown on Saturday night.

But the first paid event was a different story, as Kanye advertised three different screenings at 6 pm, 8 pm, and 10 pm, and nothing went to plan.

Sources said the doors didn’t open until 8 pm and the film didn’t start until after 10 pm.

It was hours before the venue was even half full, and the VIP area was still being constructed with workers banging and walking around with ladders.

Only around 250 people appeared to have attended the event in total.

One onlooker said: “It was so unorganized and none of us knew what was going on, or whether the movie would ever play.

‘EMPTY VIP’

“The first half was deafeningly loud and the ground was shaking in the venue, it was almost unbearable.

“There was no clapping when it finished and it wasn’t that impressive, even though the imagery was great.

“Everyone was then ushered to the side of the venue for Bianca’s performance piece on the floor, but it was so dark most people didn’t think it was even her.

“She was dressed like a nurse or a nun, nobody was sure, in a white headband, a long white dress with a high stiff collar, and white heels.

“Bianca was sitting on the side of a vintage bed only blinking for about 10 minutes before Kanye whispered to a security guard who went over to her.

“He then whispered in her ear and she stood up and slowly began making the bed.”

Bianca then stood by the bed for a long time and some fans were seen leaving the venue early, the source added.

She was then ushered backstage and the film began again on a large screen as many of the attendees headed out.

Another onlooker said, “Visually it was great but the event planning was not, it was a bit of a mess.”

Bianca is seen in several different scenes of the film, including one segment where she cuts her hair.

She also appears almost naked in another clip wearing a tiny thong as she slowly writhes around on the floor.

Bianca is not believed to have spoken to any fans at the event and kept very low-key, while Kanye agreed to sign some autographs.

He even drew a swastika on the back of a vinyl record for one die-hard following his Nazi rants on X.

The VIP area at the event was only a small free bar with around 20 people mingling around.

An eyewitness said Kanye was seen standing by alone and eating takeout before heading to the car.

He had been seen floating through the crowd on the odd occasion dressed in a jacket that had the word ‘Security’ written on the back.

The U.S. Sun understands Kanye and Bianca arrived in a dark SUV which was backed into the VIP area and she spent the majority of the time in the car out of sight.

At the premiere on Saturday, Bianca was completely covered up in a black robe and shroud covering her body and face.

Kanye later boasted about the project on Instagram, deleting everything from his page apart from the poster, which sees Bianca lying naked on the floor with her back to the camera.

He wrote alongside it: “I’M SO PROUD OF MY WIFE FOR STARRING IN HER FIRST FEATURE FILM SHOT IN JAPAN DIRECTED BY VANESSA BEECROFT PRODUCED BY ME.”

The united front came just days after it was reported that the pair were headed for divorce and Kanye went on a bizarre hate-filled rant on X and Instagram.

During his frenzy, Ye claimed to “love Hitler” and labeled himself a Nazi after his previous anti-semitic rants.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/13615216/bianca-censori-makes-cameo-at-kanye-wests-screening/

PRESIDENT Donald Trump has given a chilling World War Three warning to Europe over the Russian-Ukraine peace plans following “productive” talks with Emmanuel Macron.

The Republican and French President shared a tense, 10-second handshake outside the White House as uncertainty looms regarding the future of transatlantic relations.

France’s President Macron became the first European leader to visit the White House since Trump returned to office, on the day marking the third anniversary of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking at a news conference with “friend” Macron, Trump repeated that the war in Ukraine would “never have happened if I was President”.

But he also made a stern warning that any overspill could have a devastating outcome if a peace deal isn’t secured.

He said: “There will be a point where it is not going to stop at those two countries.

“Already there is such involvement from other countries and it could really lead to a very big war, World War III, and we are not gonna let that happen either.”

Trump added: “It’s time to restore peace and I think we’re going to do it.

“We have had some great conversations, including with Russia.”

The Republican said the focus is now “achieving a ceasefire as soon as possible, and ultimately a permanent peace”.

He also turned to the funding of the war, arguing that the “cost and burden” is not to come just from the US.

Trump said: “I’m also pleased that Macron agrees that the cost and burden of securing the peace must be borne by the nations of Europe, not alone by the US, and Europe must take that central role in ensuring long-term security of Ukraine, which they want to do.”

He added that the US has handed over more aid to Ukraine than any other nation – with a “big difference” between the total spent by Europe and America.

Trump also believes that Russia is going “all-out” to make sure the war ends and said Putin “has no problem” with European peacekeepers.

Meanwhile Macron echoed Trump’s words of the talks marking “substantive steps” – but made it clear that Ukraine’s future should be prioritised and that the US and Europe need to “shoulder” responsibilities.

He said: “This peace must not mean a surrender of Ukraine or a ceasefire without guarantees, it must allow for Ukrainian sovereignty and allow Ukraine to negotiate with other stakeholders regarding the issues that affect it.

“It is also a country in which we need to shoulder our responsibilities so that we ensure security and stability for Ukraine and for the entire region.

“For Europeans this is an existential issue.”

And on the prospect of European troops being used as peacemakers in Ukraine, Macron clarified that troops “would not be on the front line, but mark a presence in Ukraine as a guarantee”.

The French leader grimaced after Trump incorrectly suggested European assistance to Ukraine would be in the form of loans.

Macron said: “Europe is willing to step up to be a stronger partner, to do more on defence and security on this continent, as well as to be a reliable partner.”

He added that there is “good reason” to re-engage with Putin, but “being strong and having deterrence capabilities is the only way” to ensure an agreement is “respected”.

Macron said that his aim is to “try to get something first which can be assessed, checked and verified” and “ensure that we build sufficient guarantees in the short-run”.

The French president added: “This is where we are ready to be engaged.

“A lot of my European colleagues are ready to be engaged.

Fears, doomsday scenarios and conspiracy theories are the lifeblood of the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD).

When it became clear on election night (February 23, 2025) that the far-right party would achieve a historic victory in the federal elections, but with their result of just over 20% would come in in second rather than first playe, the comment sections on social media went into overdrive: “Election fraud!”, “Good night, Germany!”, “We’re all going to die”, “Last resort: Trump!”.

AfD supporters believe that Germany, the world’s third-largest economy, is on the brink and has been for years, if not decades. To bring about change, they are calling for Trump-style “Germany first” policymaking.

Donald Trump, the AfD and conspiracy theorists

Jürgen Elsässer is an ardent supporter of US President Donald Trump. He is also a fervent conspiracy theorist. Elsässer used to be a left-wing extremist. Today, he is an extreme right-wing media entrepreneur and influential AfD campaign supporter with his publishing house Compact.

Efforts to ban Compact are currently underway in the German courts. It disseminates “antisemitic, racist, anti-minority, historical revisionism and conspiracy theory content,” according to Germany’s Interior Ministry. The AfD’s candidate for chancellor and co-chair of the party Alice Weidel has called the move to ban the publication a “serious blow to the freedom of the press.”

On election Sunday, Elsässer hosted a three-hour live broadcast on YouTube channel Compact TV which has over 475,000 subscribers. According to Elsässer, war is coming to Germany and Friedrich Merz, leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and likely next chancellor, is responsible.

During the live broadcast, Elsässer proffered a solution for Germany: “Perhaps we need a temporary occupation by the peace powers, the US and Russia.” A former AfD member of the Bundestag seconded the proposal, elaborating that the so-called enemy state clause from World War II is still applicable because it allows the former victorious powers, Russia and the US, “to intervene politically and militarily in Germany without a UN Security Council resolution if they are convinced that the political situation is becoming unstable.”

Common friends, common enemies

Today’s far right see Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin as the saviors of the German nation. And even if the talk of a two-front war and myriad conspiracy theories bear little relationship to reality, the resonance of such narratives can have an impact on the real world. As the 2025 federal elections have shown, many people in Germany have fears and anxieties about the future, and that includes the prospect of war.

The day after the election, Weidel talked up cooperation with the US, Russia and China who she referred to as “partners.” With her new contacts to the Trump administration Elon Musk and US Vice President JD Vance, both of whom supported her election campaign, Weidel suggested the AfD could simply bypass any future German government on foreign policy. “We are the point of contact for our negotiating partners on the international stage,” she explained confidently.

Although the AfD will likely be shut out of any coalition government, foreign policy pressure from within could still pose a challenge for the future chancellor. “The Trump administration has no interest in maintaining Europe as a strong player. Their approach seems to be that supporting radical nationalists weakens the European Union,” Boris Vormann, a political scientist at Bard College Berlin, told DW.

Given what Vormann calls its “ideological proximity” to the Trump administration, the AfD could well become an instrument for the US to undermine the authority of the German government. “There is a common understanding of what is wrong with society, for example, a rejection of wokeness and support for a traditional family image and conservative values,” Vormann said.

And like Donald Trump, the AfD has a certain admiration for Vladimir Putin and Russia. “Today it is a country that is not only associated with negative connotations, but one or two people also hope that it could be the champion of a world of free and sovereign states without hegemonic influence,” enthused Björn Höcke, one of the most influential AfD politicians, in an interview in January 2023.

The fact that Putin is waging a bloody war of aggression in Ukraine that has killed tens of thousands of people is not an issue for the AfD. Nor is the fact that the Trump administration is running roughshod over the rule of law. The AfD wants to present itself as an equally powerful force on the world stage. Should the conflicts between Europe and the US or Russia escalate, they hope to position themselves as a viable alternative on foreign policy.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-afd-proxies-for-trump-and-russia/a-71735104

Winning the most votes and providing Germany’s next chancellor — the conservative Union of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) has achieved this goal. “We won the 2025 federal election,” enthused Friedrich Merz, CDU leader and the Union’s chancellor candidate, on election night in Berlin.

The celebrations at party headquarters were muted, however. The conservatives had expected a much better result: “30% plus X,” as they said on the campaign trail.

In the end, they secured about 28% of the vote — not enough to govern alone under Germany’s electoral system. The CDU/CSU will need to find coalition partners to form the required majority.

Looking purely at the numbers, the second-place Alternative for Germany (AfD) could be an option. One in five German voters chose the populist party, parts of which are considered right-wing extremist.

“We have doubled! They wanted to halve us, but the opposite has happened,” triumphed AfD co-leader Alice Weidel on Sunday, after the results were revealed. According to Weidel, the CDU and CSU would only be able to fulfill their election promises, such as ending irregular migration, by working with the AfD.

However, during the election campaign, the CDU/CSU categorically ruled out forming a coalition government with the AfD. “We have fundamental differences of opinion, for example in foreign policy, in security policy, in many other areas, on the topics of Europe, NATO and the euro currency,” reiterated Merz on Sunday.

“You can hold out your hand as much as you like,” he told Weidel, who in turn threatened that, as the largest opposition force, the AfD would put pressure on the government. “We will hound the others, so they make sensible policies for our country,” she said.

Merz promises change

The main topic during the campaign, apart from the weak economy, was asylum policy. “You can sense the uncertainty among Germans,” is how CSU head Markus Söder analyzed the success of the AfD. People were not sure that the CDU/CSU would really implement their promises. That’s why many voters had “wound up” with the AfD, Söder said, adding: “We will do everything we can to organize a change of direction in Germany.”

The center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and environmentalist Greens are potential coalition partners. Both parties, which were in the previous government, must first cope with their losses. The SPD was hit hard — suffering its worst election result since 1890 with about 16% of the vote.

“That is a bitter election result for the Social Democratic Party,” conceded Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who remains in the role until the new government takes over. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius spoke of a “devastating, catastrophic result.”

Chancellor Scholz, SPD punished by voters

Scholz is the only German chancellor not to be reelected in the past five decades. His coalition of the SPD, Greens and neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) had ruled for less than three years when it collapsed in early November 2024 over budget disputes. Scholz has already announced that he does not want a ministerial role if the SPD is part of the new government.

It wasn’t only the SPD that was punished by voters. The FDP lost drastically, failing to clear the so-called “5% hurdle” of voter support — meaning they will not be represented in the next Bundestag parliament. FDP leader Christian Lindner announced his retirement from politics following the defeat.

The Greens managed to contain their losses. The party’s top candidate, Robert Habeck, spoke of a “respectable election result,” saying: “We were not so severely punished, but we wanted more, and we have not achieved that.” If the CDU/CSU needed the Greens to form a coalition, his party was ready to talk, Habeck said.

Left Party secures its place in Bundestag

The Union had already ruled out a coalition with the socialist Left Party . After the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) split from the Left in early 2024, support for the Left Party had dwindled to 3 % in the polls. However, the Left Party made an unexpected comeback on Sunday; with more than 8% of the vote, it was the surprise winner among the smaller parties.

No matter how complicated the coalition negotiations become, Germany’s future government faces enormous challenges. In view of the many pressing issues, the process of forming a government must be quick, said Merz on the evening of his election victory. “The world is not waiting for us, nor is it waiting for lengthy coalition talks and negotiations,” he said.

Germany must quickly become ready for action again, “so we can again be present in Europe and the world perceives that Germany is governed reliably.” According to the CDU, this could be more successful if the coalition agreement were designed more like a “framework” rather than hashed out in detail.

Germany faces biggest economic crisis since reunification

Merz favors economic growth, and has called for cuts to social services. The biggest challenge for the new government is financing its future budgets. Tax revenue is no longer enough to pay for all upcoming government tasks. Growing military spending, restoring broken infrastructure, transforming the country to be climate friendly — all of this will gobble up billions of euros. This comes at a time when Germany is in the midst of its biggest economic crisis since reunification in 1990.

This federal election was the first since Russia’s major offensive against Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Since then, the German government has allocated about €28 billion ($29 billion) to military support for Ukraine. This has made Germany the second-biggest supporter of the Kyiv government after the US.

But conditions have changed since US President Donald Trump took office for a second time in January, and the new US government has turned its back on Europe. Further help for Ukraine is primarily a job for the Europeans, according to Washington. From now on, Europe must also take greater responsibility for its own defense capability.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/germany-election-transformation-cdu-csu-friedrich-merz-economy-immigration-v1/a-71726769

There are many benefits of sleeping next to a partner each night, from better quality rest to a closer bond. However, your avoidant ex or that one-night stand probably won’t guarantee a good night’s rest.

According to Dr. Thomas Michael Kilkenny, director of the Institute of Sleep Medicine at Northwell Staten Island University Hospital, “Sleeping in pairs can enhance physical and emotional security.”

Sleeping With a Partner Has Many Benefits—But Your Toxic Situationship Doesn’t Count

“Studies using brain waves showed significantly increased sleep durations when co-sleeping,” Kilkenny told The Post. “The subjects also felt significantly more relaxed after having slept with their partner.”

However, this is really only the case for couples who have a foundation of emotional connection.

On the other hand, “People who slept in the same bed who were not emotional[ly] or socially attached to each other did not demonstrate any of these synchronization patterns,” Kilkenny explained.

So, I hate to break it to you…but if you’re bringing a stranger home from the bar for the night, you likely won’t miraculously get a better night’s rest just because you’re sleeping next to another human. Of course, that doesn’t mean there’s any judgment for doing so—you do you!

But to experience the pros of co-sleeping with a partner, you’ll likely—at the very least—need some sort of prior healthy attachment to them.

And the better your connection is, the more in-tune you’ll become during your sleep, according to Kilkenny.

“Data shows that the heart rhythms of co-sleeping individuals gradually change over the night as a result of the interaction with each other,” Kilkenny continued.

Source : https://www.vice.com/en/article/sleeping-next-to-your-partner-has-many-benefits-but-your-toxic-situationship-doesnt-count/

Meghan Markle has been dropped by WME, multiple sources tell Page Six, after months of speculation about her relationship with the top Hollywood agency.

But the agency denies it has given the star the royal flush and says it’s still working with her.

We’re told that the Duchess of Sussex has not held any meetings with the agency’s uber powerbroker Ari Emanuel since January last year — though she is believed to have met with her day-to-day agents.

An industry insider said Markle, 43, was let go because she was “too demanding” and “difficult to work with.”

It is unclear exactly when she was dropped, though WME insists they are still working with her.

“WME continues to represent Meghan and Archewell,” said a rep.

Indeed, sources said the agency is still working on some of her projects for Archewell, the foundation she runs with her husband, Prince Harry.

In addition to this, we hear that Markle had an outburst in January 2024, right after the holidays, when the Duchess demanded a meeting “and expected decks and plans,” though it’s unclear if this was for herself or Archewell.

This led to a dispute and “Ari was done with her,” says the insider. The incident was confirmed by another source.

The news comes as the mom-of-two prepares to launch her new Netflix lifestyle show, “With Love, Meghan,” next Tuesday.

Markle had only been with the top agency since April 2023 and was being looked after personally by WME big hitters Brad Slater, who reps Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Jill Smoller, who represents the former “Suits” star’s longtime friend, tennis champ Serena Williams.

But, another Hollywood source told us, “I don’t know what those projects are, but WME is definitely not working on Meghan’s personal business.”

Markle has been busy relaunching herself on Instagram in time for her Netflix show.

However, she was recently forced to rebrand her lifestyle business to “As Ever” after a series of trademark setbacks for “American Riviera Orchard.”

As Page Six revealed this weekend, the products – which Markle confirmed would include her heavily promoted jam — won’t be ready for sale for months after her show debuts.

She is working on the product line alongside Netflix.

Markle and Prince Harry have had a hard time keeping their team together with former employees dating back to their time in London dubbing themselves the “Sussex Survivors Club.”

Buckingham Palace previously made an inquiry to bullying claims leveled at Markle, though they never released the findings.

Although Markle denied this, her former press secretary, Jason Knauf, told “60 Minutes Australia” over the weekend that he stands by the allegations he made against the former royal in 2018.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/02/24/royal-family/hollywood-buzzing-that-wme-dropped-meghan-markle/

The US has twice sided with Russia in votes at the UN to mark the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, highlighting the Trump administration’s change of stance on the war.

First the two countries opposed a European-drafted resolution condemning Moscow’s actions and supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity, which was passed by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

Then they backed a US-drafted resolution at the UN Security Council calling for an end to the conflict but containing no criticism of Russia.

The Security Council resolution was passed but two key US allies, the UK and France, abstained in the vote after their attempts to amend the wording were vetoed.

The competing resolutions were tabled as French President Emmanuel Macron visited President Donald Trump at the White House in an attempt to address their sharp differences over the war.

On Thursday, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will likewise visit the new American leader.

Trump’s White House has upended the transatlantic alliance, currying favour with Moscow and casting doubt on America’s long-term commitment to European security.

That rift was laid bare on the floor of the 193-member UNGA on Monday as US diplomats pushed their limited resolution mourning the loss of life during the “Russia-Ukraine conflict” and calling for a swift end to it.

European diplomats tabled a more detailed text, blaming Russia for its full-scale invasion, and supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“We need to reconfirm that the aggression should be condemned and discredited, not rewarded,” said Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa.

UNGA members backed the European resolution by 93 votes but, extraordinarily, the US did not abstain but actually voted against it, along with Russia, Israel, North Korea, Sudan, Belarus, Hungary and 11 other states, with 65 abstentions.

The UNGA also passed the US resolution but only after it was amended to include language supporting Ukraine, which led to the US abstaining.

At the much more powerful UN Security Council, which has 15 members, the unamended US resolution was passed by 10 votes, with the UK, France, Denmark, Greece and Slovenia abstaining.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7435pnle0go

Friedrich Merz’s conservatives have won, but Germany’s 2025 election has thrown up some important and fascinating stories that reveal a country in flux.

Alternative for Germany, or AfD, has doubled its support in just four years to 20.8%, and has spread out from its support base in the east to become the second biggest political force in parliament.

Meanwhile, outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD had its worst performance in decades, only securing 16.4% of the vote.

Here are five key takeaways.

Screens at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development were apparently hacked today, displaying the message: “LONG LIVE THE REAL KING” while an AI video of president Donald Trump sucking the toes of Elon Musk played in the background.

Videos of the hacked screens were posted on Monday morning to social media. It is not known who was behind the hack. This comes after the Trump administration proposed cutting half of federal workers at the nation’s housing agency.

The cuts targeted employees who support disaster recovery, rental subsidies, discrimination investigations and first-time homebuyers, according to two documents obtained by The Associated Press.

More than a dozen programs within the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s portfolio would be affected by the loss of some 4,000 positions detailed in the documents.

On Thursday HUD spokesperson Kasey Lovett said the leaked documents “should not be taken as final” as staffing is evaluated throughout the agency. The documents, which aren’t clearly dated but were circulated this week, include total staffing numbers, expected resignations, as well as a projected “Day 120 Headcount” and reduction percentage of staff at individual HUD offices.

The caption refers to Trump’s self-proclaimed “king” status in a Truth Social post last week. The president boasted about having “saved” New York, and controversially referred to himself as a king.

“Congestion pricing is dead. Manhattan, and all of New York, is saved. Long live the King!” he wrote.

But the “real king” line insinuates that Musk is actually in charge. During a joint interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity earlier this month Trump appeared to jokingly refer to Musk as “President Musk” while speaking about his claims the media is trying to create tension between him and the world’s richest man.

“Actually Elon called me and said ‘You know they’re trying to drive us apart,’ I said absolutely,” Trump said. “They said, we have breaking news Donald Trump has ceded control of the presidency to Elon Musk. President Musk will be attending a cabinet meeting tonight at 8 o’clock.”

Musk’s DOGE has led sweeping cuts to key government agencies over the last several weeks, with many opponents claiming the mass firings of federal employees and withholding of congressionally allocated funds is illegal. Several of Musk’s efforts and Trump’s executive orders surrounding DOGE have been blocked by federal judges, including DOGE’s access to sensitive treasury department records.

Trump was reportedly left bewildered by the wild antics of ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk, according to a new book from renowned author Michael Wolff. In Wolff’s new book ‘All or Nothing: How Trump Recaptured America’, the author reveals a scene that left Trump shaking his head in disbelief. Musk, wearing a black “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) hat and an untucked T-shirt, bounced around the stage while exposing his stomach.

Source : https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/breaking-video-trump-kissing-elon-973979

Responses to the Elon Musk-directed email to government employees about what work they had accomplished in the last week are expected to be fed into an artificial intelligence system to determine whether those jobs are necessary, according to three sources with knowledge of the system.

The information will go into an LLM (Large Language Model), an advanced AI system that looks at huge amounts of text data to understand, generate and process human language, the sources said. The AI system will determine whether someone’s work is mission-critical or not.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management emails were sent to federal workers on Saturday, shortly after Musk wrote in a post on X that “all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”

The OPM email did not mention the resignation threat, but said: “Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager. Please do not send any classified information, links, or attachments. Deadline is this Monday at 11:59pm EST.”

The reason the email requested no links or attachments was because of the plan to send the information to the AI system, the sources said.

A request for comment from OPM as to whether humans will be involved in reviewing the responses was not answered immediately. The White House declined to comment.

After the deadline for employees to reply to the email had passed late Monday, OPM did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding how many workers replied and how many were required to do so.

In an email to its workforce earlier Monday, the Justice Department said that during a meeting with the interagency Chief Human Capital Officers Council, OPM informed agencies that employee responses to the email are voluntary. OPM also clarified that despite what Musk had posted, not responding to the email does not equate to a resignation, the email said.

Musk complained about backlash to the directive on his social media platform late Monday.

“The email request was utterly trivial, as the standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send! Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers. Have you ever witnessed such INCOMPETENCE and CONTEMPT for how YOUR TAXES are being spent?” he wrote.

In a subsequent tweet, he seemed to indicate that a second email could be sent to government workers who don’t respond to the first one.

“Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination,” he wrote.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the post.

The initial directive has faced pushback from unions, workers and even some agencies since it was sent, but the effort was praised by President Donald Trump earlier Monday.

“I thought it was great,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, where he was meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.

“We have people that don’t show up to work and nobody even knows if they work for the government, so by asking the question ‘tell us what you did this week,’ what he’s doing is saying are you actually working. And then, if you don’t answer, like, you’re sort of semi-fired or you’re fired,” he said, claiming without providing evidence that “a lot of people are not answering because they don’t even exist.”

“There was a lot of genius in sending it,” Trump said. “If people don’t respond, it’s very possible that there is no such person or they’re not working.”

A coalition of unions and groups that have been fighting the Trump administration’s mass layoffs of probationary workers charge the effort was unlawful. They amended their lawsuit against the U.S. Office of Personnel Management over the weekend to add a claim involving the OPM email directing workers to justify their workweek.

The lawsuit charges that the administration didn’t follow proper procedure for such an order and should be voided by a judge.

“The mass firings ordered by OPM are illegal and betray the trust of countless federal employees. The patronizing demand that federal workers still on the job have to justify themselves by enumerating five accomplishments just adds insult to injury. That too is against the law,” lawyer Norm Eisen said in a statement on behalf of the plaintiffs.

Musk has been tasked by Trump with reducing the size of the government, and the email is seen as part of his push to reduce the federal workforce by as much as 10%.

Some agencies, including ones led by close Trump allies, had told their employees to ignore the directive.

Justice Department employees were informed earlier Monday that they did not need to respond to the message, according to emails seen by NBC News. “Due to the confidential and sensitive nature of the Department’s work, DOJ employees do not need to respond to the email from OPM. If you have already responded to this email, no further action is needed,” read one email sent by Assistant Attorney General for Administration Jolene Ann Lauria.

FBI Director Kash Patel instructed employees over the weekend to “pause any responses” to the email, and said his agency would do its own review. Employees of the State Department, the National Institutes of Health, the Defense Department, the National Security Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence were also told not to respond to the email.

The Department of Agriculture also sent out an unsigned email to employees informing them that any response to the email “is voluntary and not required.”

The email was also sent to an unknown amount of judicial branch employees, including judges and court staffers. Spokespeople for federal courts in Manhattan and the Northern District of Illinois confirmed to NBC News that “some” people had gotten the message.

Julie Hodek, a spokesperson for the Northern District of Illinois, also confirmed the email and said the court’s chief judge and clerk “communicated with the staff that as we are judiciary employees, our policies and procedures are governed by the Judicial Conference of the United States and our local court HR handbooks.”

A spokesperson for the Southern District of New York said personnel there had been directed not to respond to the email.

Managers within the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday sent employees model responses to the email to make it easier for them.

“As empathy for their staff, they sent examples,” said one agency employee who shared two of the managers’ own responses with NBC News. The employee asked NBC not to publish the managers’ responses in full out of fear of reprisal.

Officials at the Health and Human Services Department and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services directed employees to respond by the deadline. HHS informed employees of OPM’s changed guidance later on Monday, and warned that whatever information they choose to share may “be read by malign foreign actors.”

An email sent to Department of Transportation employees and obtained by NBC News instructed them to respond to OPM’s weekend email asking for five bullet points of their work. The message also asked employees to exclude any classified info from their responses. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy embraced the challenge himself in a post on social media.

Musk appears to be following the same playbook he used when he bought Twitter, which he renamed X.

Musk began his tenure there with massive layoffs, asking employees to commit to “Extremely hardcore” work in an email titled “A Fork in the Road” or be fired. The email subject line is the same as the email sent out to federal employees by the Office of Personnel Management offering buyouts in January. About 75,000 federal employees took the deal.

Twitter employees who stayed were then asked to print out pages of code they’d written from the last month and prepare to present the work to Musk personally. The code reviews reportedly were abandoned, and instead, managers were asked to rank their employees, according to The Verge.

Musk and DOGE’s access to government data and information has become a central point of friction between the group and its critics. In at least 11 lawsuits, plaintiffs have argued that DOGE has flouted laws and rules around data and privacy. Some of the lawsuits have referenced allegations that DOGE is using artificial intelligence to analyze and process government data. The Washington Post reported in February that DOGE was using artificial intelligence to analyze spending at the Education Department, citing two people familiar with the project.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Monday touted Musk’s work in remarks that seemed to confirm the AI reports.

“Elon has cracked the code. He is now inside the agencies. He’s created these algorithms that are constantly crawling through the data. And as he told me in his office, the data doesn’t lie. We’re going to be able to get the information. We’re going to be able to transform the way the federal government works at the end of this, and that is a very exciting prospect. It is truly a revolutionary moment for the nation,” Johnson said at an event in Washington.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, had some harsh words for the way DOGE was operating, calling the email sent to federal workers “intimidation,” and saying that she’s hearing from federal workers who are being “treated with a level of disregard to their service and to their tenure.”

“Just a little bit of humanity and dignity to the process, I think, is what many of the Alaskan federal employees are asking for, and I don’t think that that’s asking for too much,” Murkowski said.

DOGE’s work has led to criticism and instances of workers having to be rehired after they were removed from essential jobs. On Monday, two people familiar with the matter said the administration was reinstating some employees in the Food and Drug Administration’s medical devices division after dozens were laid off as part of DOGE’s cost-cutting initiative.

The medical devices division is responsible for approving and monitoring the safety of a range of products, from X-ray machines to surgical implants. The layoffs took place earlier this month, and included physicians and cybersecurity experts.

Some of those employees received phone calls or emails over the weekend informing them that their termination had been rescinded. It’s unclear how many employees were offered their jobs back, or how many would ultimately return.

Source : https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/doge/federal-workers-agencies-push-back-elon-musks-email-ultimatum-rcna193439

The US voted against a United Nations resolution to condemn Russia’s war in Ukraine on the third anniversary of the conflict Monday, siding instead with Moscow on the largely symbolic show of support for Kyiv.

The resolution passed with 93 votes in favor, 18 against, and 65 abstentions. Kyiv’s European allies led the push to pass the Ukraine-backed resolution.

The vote reflected the growing schism between Europe and the US: Bloc officials rallied in Kyiv around Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Monday, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saying the war remained “the most central and consequential crisis for Europe’s future.” The bloc also pledged €3.5 billion in new aid.

Not is kYiv was French President Emmanuel Macron, who was instead in Washington, DC to meet US President Donald Trump. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will also visit the White House this week, as both leaders try to ensure Ukraine and Europe are included in any further peace talks following Trump’s sudden rapprochement with Moscow.

Russia has an opportunity to split the West

Roberta Flack, the fearless singer and pianist who made Grammy history with the sublime No. 1 hits “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” died Monday in New York. She was 88.

“We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning,” according to a statement from her rep. “She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.”

In November 2022, it was revealed that she had been diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and could no longer sing. In 2016, she suffered a stroke, and she retired from performing two years later.

The North Carolina native and accomplished classical pianist became the first artist to win the Grammy for Record of the Year in consecutive years with the haunting “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” in 1973 and “Killing Me Softly With His Song” in ’74. (U2 and Billie Eilish duplicated the feat in 2001-02 and 2020-21, respectively.)

After working as a teacher and moonlighting as a nightclub singer in Washington, D.C., Flack was signed by Atlantic Records and in 1969 released her debut album, First Take, followed a year later by Chapter Two. The albums did not create much of a stir.

However, when Clint Eastwood employed “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” for his touching nature walk and love scene with Donna Mills in the otherwise chaotic Play Misty for Me (1971), it was released as a single in February 1972 and rocketed to No. 1, spending six weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100. (Eastwood paid $1,000 for the rights to the song, producer Joel Dorn says in the 2022 documentary Roberta.)

She received a second Grammy in 1973 for “Where Is the Love,” her duet with her college friend and frequent collaborator, the late Donny Hathaway. That song made it as high as No. 5.

“Killing Me Softly,” which also earned Flack a Grammy for best pop vocal performance, was No. 1 for five weeks in 1973. She topped the charts again in ’74 with “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” which netted her three of her 14 career Grammy nominations.

She received a long-overdue Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.

“I always say that ‘love is a song’ — meaning that music reaches beyond age, race, nationality and religion to touch our hearts,” she wrote in a 2020 email to NPR’s Ann Powers, who described the artist as “an interpreter as bold and discerning as her role models Nina Simone and Frank Sinatra.”

Roberta Cleopatra Flack was born on Feb. 10, 1937, in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and raised in Arlington, Virginia. Her father, Laron, worked as a draftsman for the Veterans Administration, and her mother, Irene, was a church organist.

Flack took classical piano lessons — at 13, she played the complete score of Handel’s “Messiah” for her church choir — attended Stevens Elementary School in Washington and Hoffman-Boston High School in Arlington and won a full musical scholarship to Howard University when she was 15.

As a child, she created an alter ego, Rubina Flake, a renowned concert artist who dazzled crowds at Carnegie Hall and, Powers said, “helped Roberta endure the indignities faced by gifted Black children in the South.”

At 19, she left graduate school at Howard when her father died and went to work as an English teacher in Farmville, North Carolina, and Washington. She gave music lessons on the side and performed at nightclubs including the Capitol Hill hotspot Mr. Henry’s, where she was discovered by jazz great Les McCann in 1968 and signed by Atlantic.

“Her voice touched, tapped, trapped and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known,” McCann wrote in the liner notes for First Take. “I laughed, cried and screamed for more … she alone had the voice.”

She was 32 when she arrived in New York knowing 600 songs to spend just 10 hours recording her inaugural album, which contained “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” — written in 1957 by British singer-songwriter Ewan MacColl and first recorded by his wife, Peggy Seeger — and a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye.”

In a 2012 interview with The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Flack described talking with Eastwood, who had heard “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” on the radio while driving to work one day:

“I’m in my house in Virginia. My mom was living with me at the time. The phone rings and she says, ‘Roberta, it’s Clint Eastwood.’ I thought somebody was playing a joke,” she recalled.

“He really surprised me. I didn’t faint but I came pretty close because I mean, this was a big thing. The conversation went like this (imitates Eastwood’s voice): ‘I’d like to use your song in this movie I’m doing. It’s called Play Misty for Me. It’s about a disc jockey, and it has a lot of music in it. I’d use it in the only part of the movie where there’s absolute love.’

“I said OK. We discussed the money. Of course I was shocked. I gulped and said OK. He said, ‘Anything else?’ And I said, ‘I want to do it over again. It’s too slow.’ He said, ‘No, it’s not.’”

(Flack later recorded “This Side of Forever,” which played over the closing credits of Eastwood’s 1983 Dirty Harry film, Sudden Impact.)

After releasing the albums Quiet Fire in 1971 and Robert Flack and Donny Hathaway in 1972, she recorded Killing Me Softly in 1973. (The title track was co-written and originally recorded by Lori Lieberman, who penned it after attending a Don McLean concert. Flack heard it for the first time when it was offered as part of the in-flight entertainment options on a cross-country flight.)

She followed with 1975’s Feel Like Makin’ Love — its title tune was another Record of the Year nominee and made her the first female vocalist since 1940 to top the chart in three consecutive years — and 1977’s Blue Lights in the Basement, which included the No. 2 hit “The Closer I Get to You,” another wonderful duet with Hathaway.

After Hathaway died by suicide in 1979 — he and Flack had been in the studio earlier that day — she toured with Peabo Bryson, and they had a Top 20 song in 1983 with “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love.” Another duet, “Set the Night to Music,” with Maxi Priest, reached No. 6 in 1991. She also championed and recorded often with Luther Vandross.

Her last album was 2012’s Let It Be Roberta: Roberta Flack Sings the Beatles. Many of her LPs she produced as Rubina Flake.

For television and film, Flack also performed “Together Through the Years,” the theme for the 1986-91 NBC-CBS series Valerie/The Hogan Family; sang in the choir for The Wiz (1978); and contributed songs to the Richard Pryor movie Bustin’ Loose (1981).

She was married to bassist Steve Novosel from 1965 until their 1972 divorce. In the ’80s, she lived in The Dakota in New York where her next-door neighbors were John Lennon and Yoko Ono; their son, Sean Lennon, called her “Aunt Roberta.”

Source : https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/roberta-flack-dead-killing-me-softly-with-his-song-1236145376/

Clint Hill, the Secret Service agent who leaped onto the back of President John F. Kennedy’s limousine after the president was shot, then was forced to retire early because he remained haunted by memories of the assassination, has died. He was 93.

Hill died Friday at his home in Belvedere, California, according to his publisher, Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. A cause of death was not given.

Although few may recognize his name, the footage of Hill, captured on Abraham Zapruder’s chilling home movie of the assassination, provided some of the most indelible images of Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.

Hill received Secret Service awards and was promoted for his actions that day, but for decades blamed himself for Kennedy’s death, saying he didn’t react quickly enough and would gladly have given his life to save the president.

“If I had reacted just a little bit quicker. And I could have, I guess,” a weeping Hill told Mike Wallace on CBS’ 60 Minutes in 1975, shortly after he retired at age 43 at the urging of his doctors. “And I’ll live with that to my grave.”

It was only in recent years that Hill said he was able to finally start putting the assassination behind him and accept what happened.

On the day of the assassination, Hill was assigned to protect first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, and was riding on the left running board of the follow-up car directly behind the presidential limousine as it made its way through Dealey Plaza.

Hill told the Warren Commission that he reacted after hearing a shot and seeing the president slump in his seat. The president was struck by a fatal headshot before Hill was able to make it to the limousine.

Zapruder’s film captured Hill as he leaped from the Secret Service car, grabbed a handle on the limousine’s trunk and pulled himself onto it as the driver accelerated. He forced Mrs. Kennedy, who had crawled onto the trunk, back into her seat as the limousine sped off.

Hill later became the agent in charge of the White House protective detail and eventually an assistant director of the Secret Service, retiring because of what he characterized as deep depression and recurring memories of the assassination.

The 1993 Clint Eastwood thriller “In the Line of Fire,” about a former Secret Service agent scarred by the JFK assassination, was inspired in part by Hill.

Hill was born in 1932 and grew up in Washburn, North Dakota. He attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, served in the Army and worked as a railroad agent before joining the Secret Service in 1958. He worked in the agency’s Denver office for about a year, before joining the elite group of agents assigned to protect the president and first family.

Since his retirement, Hill has spoken publicly about the assassination only a handful of times, but the most poignant was his 1975 interview with Wallace, during which Hill broke down several times.

“If I had reacted about five-tenths of a second faster, maybe a second faster, I wouldn’t be here today,” Hill said.

“You mean you would have gotten there and you would have taken the shot?” Wallace asked.

“The third shot, yes, sir,” Hill said.

“And that would have been all right with you?”

“That would have been fine with me,” Hill responded.

In his 2005 memoir, “Between You and Me,” Wallace recalled his interview with Hill as one of the most moving of his career.

In 2006, Wallace and Hill reunited on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” where Hill credited that first 60 Minutes interview with helping him finally start the healing process.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/clint-hill-obit-secret-service-kennedy-california-85448af2ed6c4d6aa3c40febfa567bb4

Nazi—excuse me, Roman—salutes have become all the rage on the American right.

It started with Elon Musk, on the day of Trump’s inauguration. Musk was onstage in Washington, D.C., winding up the end of his speech, and claimed the arm gesture was simply the physical expression of his subsequent statement that “my heart goes out to you.”

Musk’s most strident critics saw it as something more sinister. Most ordinary people, including the Anti-Defamation League, gave it a pass.

Then a local GOP official in Pennsylvania lost her job for recreating Musk’s gesture in a TikTok video. Finally, from the CPAC stage over the last few days, we’ve had two more: Steve Bannon, and Mexican actor Eduardo Verástegui. Jordan Bardella, the leader of the National Rally in France—a country where the use of Nazi imagery and slogans is punished by law—pulled out of the conference as a result.

What exactly is going on here? The standard answer is trolling. This is plausible in light of the alternative explanation, which is that they all really mean it and figures like Rachel Maddow and Joy Reid have been right since 2016 in asserting that MAGA is a fascist movement.

Say what you will about these men: None of them proclaims a Hitlerian worldview. Not too long ago, Steve Bannon was taking a page out of Al Sharpton’s book and denouncing Silicon Valley bosses for not hiring enough blacks and Hispanics, which would make his brand of Nazism quite peculiar. Elon Musk has time and again pledged support for the Jewish people. He visited Israel in late 2023 and wore dog tags given to him by the father of an Israeli hostage in Gaza. Later, he went to Auschwitz with Ben Shapiro.

But it’s too easy to say that these people are simply trolling and leave it at that. A good troll—and as someone who has done quite a bit of trolling myself, I have a deep appreciation for the art form—makes an underlying point, stimulates thought, provokes serious discussion and, best-case scenario, is open to interpretation. Worst-case scenario, it confuses the weaponization of taboos for the taboos themselves, and instead of resisting their weaponization, winds up denying their original purpose.

Nazi salutes are therefore deeply offensive to me on two levels. I abhor the underlying ideology such gestures represent. But also I think they’re incredibly lazy—the cheapest imaginable way to get a rise out of people.

Source : https://www.thefp.com/p/nazi-salutes-are-back

For the first time since the Second World War, a far-right party has come second in a German national election, a result that will keep it outside government but make it a fearsome opponent of the ruling parties.
The Alternative for Germany, which has morphed since it was founded in 2013 from a party of libertarian economists to an anti-immigration, pro-Russia group, is forecast to have won the backing of one-in-five Germans.

The AfD has little chance of joining the government as the other parties maintain a “fire wall” to keep it out of office, but leader Alice Weidel implied in her victory speech that it was only a matter of time before that changed.
“Our hand remains outstretched to form a government,” she told supporters, adding that it would be tantamount to “electoral fraud” if the first-placed conservatives chose to govern with left-wing parties rather than them.
If that happened, she said, “next time we’ll come first.”

Weidel, the leader of a nativist party that preaches traditional family values while raising her children with a Swiss-based woman of Sri Lankan background, said the AfD was now “a mainstream party”.
Once internationally isolated, it now has an ally in the White House, where Donald Trump’s adviser Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, regularly posts his support.
“It’s the most amazing feeling. I’ve been here since its founding and to see it on 20% is amazing. We’ll be kept out of coalition, but as you can see, the conservatives are taking all of our positions,” said Gilbert Kalb, an AfD member celebrating at the party’s headquarters.

If cheers were slightly muted, that was because, although its vote share doubled since 2021, the result fell short of the more optimistic expectations.
Traditionally a pensioners’ party, the AfD made inroads among the young, many of whom have experienced years of sluggish economic growth. Exit poll data indicated 22% of 25-to-34-year-olds voted for the party, compared to 10% of those aged 70 and over.
Ahead of the result, young men in close-fitting suits milled around at the headquarters, drinking beer and eating bratwurst.
The AfD has undergone successive waves of radicalisation since its founding and is today under surveillance by security services as an anti-democratic threat to Germany’s constitutional order.
Policies include drastically restricting migration, disbanding the European Union and dropping support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

STILL ISOLATED?

Papal thriller “Conclave” claimed the top prize on Sunday at Hollywood’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, and Timothee Chalamet’s portrayal of Bob Dylan made him the surprise best actor winner, at the last major honors ahead of next weekend’s Oscars.
The “Conclave” cast of Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini won best movie ensemble at the SAG Awards, a red-carpet ceremony that streamed live on Netflix (NFLX.O). The film tells the story of the secret maneuvering at the Vatican during the selection of a fictional pope.

Fiennes spoke on behalf of the cast about the need for supportive communities, in filmmaking and in life, as he accepted the SAG trophy on stage in downtown Los Angeles.
“We do recognize the supreme importance of (community) in our work and in the world,” Fiennes said. “That’s what we’re celebrating tonight.”
“Conclave” was feted as the real-life pope, 88-year-old Pope Francis, remained in critical condition with double pneumonia. Italian actress Rossellini wished him well during and after the ceremony.

“We are very, very worried for our pope,” she told reporters after the SAG event. “We love this pope.”
The “Conclave” win signaled the movie could take the prestigious best picture trophy at the Academy Awards on March 2. Members of the SAG-AFTRA actors union pick the SAG winners, and actors form the largest voting body for the Oscars.
But the race for best picture at the Oscars is unusually murky this year.
While “Conclave” also captured the top prize at the Britain’s BAFTA awards, the big trophies from Hollywood producers and directors went to “Anora,” a drama about a sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch.
Chalamet scored the SAG award for best movie actor for playing a young Dylan as he arrives in New York to try to make it in music in “A Complete Unknown.”

The outcome was an upset over Adrien Brody, who landed several acting trophies earlier in the season for playing an immigrant and architect in “The Brutalist.”

The 29-year-old Chalamet said he “poured everything I had” into his portrayal of Dylan.
“The truth is, I’m really in pursuit of greatness,” Chalamet said. “I want to be one of the greats.”
Demi Moore was honored as best movie actress for her role as a fading celebrity seeking a fountain of youth in “The Substance.” The actress recalled getting her SAG union card in 1978 at age 15.
“It changed my life because it gave me meaning, it gave me purpose and it gave me direction,” she said. “I was a kid on my own who had no blueprint for life.”
The supporting movie actor and actress trophies went to Kieran Culkin for “A Real Pain” and Zoe Saldana for “Emilia Perez.”
In television honors, the cast of FX’s “Shogun,” a tale of political machinations in imperial Japan, was named best ensemble in a drama. “Only Murders in the Building” won best ensemble in a comedy series for stars including Selena Gomez, Martin Short and Steve Martin.
“Wait, we never win. This is so weird,” a surprised Gomez said. “Marty and Steve aren’t here because, you know, they don’t really care,” she added, drawing laughter from the crowd.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/hollywoods-sag-awards-kick-off-last-sprint-oscars-2025-02-24/

President Donald Trump’s administration said on Sunday it was placing all personnel at the foreign assistance agency USAID, except leaders and critical staff, on paid administrative leave and eliminating 1,600 positions in the United States.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has led an effort to gut the U.S. Agency for International Development, the main delivery mechanism for American foreign assistance and a critical tool of U.S. “soft power” for winning influence abroad.

“I regret to inform you that you are affected by a Reduction in Force action,” said an email sent to one of the workers being fired that was reviewed by Reuters. Those who got the note will be let go from federal service effective April 24, the email said.
USAID said on its website that just before midnight on Sunday U.S. Eastern Time, all direct hires except essential workers will be put on leave and 1,600 USAID personnel in the U.S. would be cut.
An earlier notice sent to staff and reviewed by Reuters said about 2,000 U.S. positions would be eliminated.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Friday, a federal judge cleared the way for the Trump administration to put thousands of USAID workers on leave, a setback for government employee unions that are suing over what they have called an effort to dismantle it.
Two former senior USAID officials estimated that a majority of some 4,600 USAID personnel, career U.S. Civil Service and Foreign Service staffers, would be placed on administrative leave.
“This administration and Secretary (of State Marco) Rubio are shortsighted in cutting into the expertise and unique crisis response capacity of the U.S.,” said Marcia Wong, one of the former officials. “When disease outbreaks occur, populations displaced, these USAID experts are on the ground and first deployed to help stabilize and provide aid.”

Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on January 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe.
The administration has approved exceptions to the freeze totaling $5.3 billion, mostly for security and counter-narcotics programs, according to a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters that included limited humanitarian relief.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-eliminating-2000-usaid-positions-us-notice-says-2025-02-23/

An Indian-origin man has claimed that he was left stranded in Rome after his flight was rerouted due to a security issue. The flight from New York to New Delhi was abruptly diverted to Rome on Sunday due to a reported ‘security issue’, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

X user Lucky Chawla took to social media to share a post seeking help from American Airlines after his flight was diverted and his bags went missing.

“AA292 getting rerouted due to a bomb threat has left me stranded at a Rome hotel—my checked bags are at the airport. Crew & ground staff were amazing, but I’m extremely stressed—I urgently need my bags to rebook my trip. Unable to get any help. Please help,” he wrote in his message.

American Airlines replied to his post and apologised, assuring him of help. “We’re sorry to hear you were unable to get your bag. We’ve reached out to our team in FCO to see if we can you additional information,” the response read.

What happend to flight AA292?

The American Airlines flight AA292 departed from New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport and was headed to New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday when diversion occurred.

The plane landed safely at Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Rome at 5:30 pm after the crew raised security concerns, an AFP report said, quoting the FAA.

The US aviation authority did not disclose the nature of the security issue but news agency Reuters quoting sources and the Flight Emergency Site reported that the flight was diverted due to an alleged bomb threat.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/trending/indianorigin-passenger-on-american-airlines-delhi-flight-sends-sos-from-rome-hotel-im-extremely-stressed-101740368621093.html

The opposition conservatives led by Friedrich Merz won a lackluster victory in Germany’s election Sunday and Alternative for Germany doubled its support in the strongest showing for a far-right party since World War II, projections showed.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded defeat for his center-left Social Democrats after what he called “a bitter election result.” Projections for ARD and ZDF public television showed his party finishing in third place with its worst postwar result in a national parliamentary election.

Merz said he hopes to put a coalition government together by Easter. But that’s likely to be challenging.

The election took place seven months earlier than planned after Scholz’s unpopular coalition collapsed in November, three years into a term that was increasingly marred by infighting. There was widespread discontent and not much enthusiasm for any of the candidates.

The campaign was dominated by worries about the yearslong stagnation of Europe’s biggest economy and pressure to curb migration — something that caused friction after Merz pushed hard in recent weeks for a tougher approach. It took place against a background of growing uncertainty over the future of Ukraine and Europe’s alliance with the United States.

Germany is the most populous country in the 27-nation European Union and a leading member of NATO. It has been Ukraine’s second-biggest weapons supplier, after the U.S. It will be central to shaping the continent’s response to the challenges of the coming years, including the Trump administration’s confrontational foreign and trade policy.

The projections, based on exit polls and partial counting, put support for Merz’s Union bloc around 28.5% and the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, about 20.5% — roughly double its result from 2021.

They put support for Scholz’s Social Democrats at just over 16%, far lower than in the last election and below their previous post-war low of 20.5% from 2017. The environmentalist Greens, their remaining partners in the outgoing government, were on about 12%.

Out of three smaller parties, one — the hard-left Left Party — strengthened its position, winning up to 9% of the vote after a remarkable comeback. The pro-business Free Democrats, who were the third party in the collapsed government, looked likely to lose their seats in parliament with about 4.5%. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, or BSW, was hovering around the 5% threshold needed to win seats.

A difficult task for the winner

Whether Merz will have a majority to form a coalition with Scholz’s Social Democrats or need a second partner too, which would realistically have to be the Greens, will depend on whether the BSW gets into parliament. The conservative leader said that “the most important thing is to reestablish a viable government in Germany as quickly as possible.”

“I am aware of the responsibility,” Merz said. “I am also aware of the scale of the task that now lies ahead of us. I approach it with the utmost respect, and I know that it will not be easy.”

“The world out there isn’t waiting for us, and it isn’t waiting for long-drawn-out coalition talks and negotiations,” he told cheering supporters.

The Greens’ candidate for chancellor, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, said that Merz would do well to moderate his tone after a hard-fought campaign.

“We have seen the center is weakened overall, and everyone should look at themselves and ask whether they didn’t contribute to that,” said Habeck. “Now he must see that he acts like a chancellor.”

The Greens were the party that suffered least from participating in Scholz’s unpopular government. The Social Democrats’ general secretary, Matthias Miersch, suggested that their defeat was no surprise — “this election wasn’t lost in the last eight weeks.”

A delighted far-right party doesn’t have a partner

AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla told cheering supporters that “we have achieved something historic today.”

“We are now the political center and we have left the fringes behind us,” he said. The party’s strongest previous showing was 12.6% in 2017, when it first entered the national parliament.

The party’s candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel, said it is “open for coalition negotiations” with Merz’s party, and that “otherwise, no change of policy is possible in Germany.” Merz has repeatedly ruled out working with AfD, as have other mainstream parties — and did so again in a televised post-election exchange with Weidel and other leaders.

Weidel suggested AfD wouldn’t have to make many concessions to secure a theoretical coalition, arguing that the Union largely copied its program and deriding its “Pyrrhic victory.”

“It won’t be able to implement it with left-wing parties,” she said. If Merz ends up forming an alliance with the Social Democrats and Greens, “it will be an unstable government that doesn’t last four years, there will be an interim Chancellor Friedrich Merz and in the coming years we will overtake the Union.”

Source : https://apnews.com/article/germany-election-merz-scholz-far-right-afd-ebf16ed38e0beaff7fed9a6d29b32a24

Ukraine’s president has said he would step down in return for peace and NATO membership for his country.

“If [it means] peace for Ukraine, if you really need me to leave my post, I am ready,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a news conference.

“I can exchange this for NATO [membership], if that condition is there, immediately,” he added.

Donald Trump has previously said Ukraine is unlikely to become a NATO ally and membership is a red line for Russia.

Mr Zelenskyy’s comment appeared to be a response to Mr Trump recently calling him a “dictator” as Ukraine hadn’t held fresh elections – despite laws prohibiting it during wartime

During a wide-ranging conference in Kyiv, Mr Zelenskyy also said talks on a minerals deal with the US were moving forward, adding “all is OK”, despite concerns of a stalemate in negotiations.

President Trump said on Saturday a deal was “pretty close” and he was determined to get payback for billions of dollars of aid provided to Ukraine.

Ukraine wants the deal to include robust security guarantees over any future peace settlement with Russia.

Mr Zelenskyy also told Sky’s Deborah Hayes that next week’s visits to Washington by Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron were vital.

He said Europe had to be “at the table” when a peace deal is negotiated.

“Who will represent Europe – I can’t tell you now exactly,” he said.

“But I think one person will represent the EU. And of course, the UK has to be at the table, if we speak, for example, about security guarantees.”

The UK prime minister has said he’s prepared to deploy British troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force.

‘Biggest drone attack of war’

The Ukrainian leader was speaking after his country was hit overnight with what he called the biggest drone attack since the war started.

Mr Zelenskyy condemned Russia for the “aerial terror” – a day before the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

“Every day, our people stand against aerial terror,” Mr Zelenskyy wrote on X.

“On the eve of the third anniversary of the full-scale war, Russia launched 267 attack drones against Ukraine – the largest attack since Iranian drones began striking Ukrainian cities and villages.”

A total of 138 of the drones were shot down and another 119 disappeared from radars after being jammed by electronic warfare, Ukraine’s air force said.

Damage was reported across five regions.

Mr Zelenskyy said nearly 1,150 drones, more than 1,400 guided aerial bombs and 35 missiles had been launched at Ukraine in the past week.

He thanked those operating air defences and called on allies to stand united to secure a “just and lasting peace”.

“This is achievable through the unity of all partners – we need the strength of all of Europe, the strength of America, the strength of everyone who seeks lasting peace,” he said.

It comes amid concerns over Mr Trump’s recent war of words with Mr Zelenskyy and his false claim that Ukraine had started the war.

At a conservative conference on Saturday, Mr Trump – who alarmed Europe and Ukraine by holding a recent call with Vladimir Putin – repeated his optimism that a peace deal is possible under his watch.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/zelenskyy-would-quit-for-peace-and-nato-membership-after-biggest-drone-attack-of-war-13315475

Alice Weidel may not be the person you would imagine at the top of Germany’s far-right political movement.

She’s gay with a Sri Lankan partner, the film-maker Sarah Bossard. And Ms Weidel, the co-leader and candidate for chancellor of a party that obsesses about its love for Germany, is not even a full-time resident of the country.

Instead, she splits her time between Berlin and Switzerland, along with her partner and their two sons.

What’s more, she’s a West German at the top of the AfD, which is, and has always been, far stronger in East Germany.

In a party that is often accused of harbouring extremists, Ms Weidel, it is said, is the AfD’s key to reaching Germans from three crucial areas – the middle classes, the politically unsure, and the country’s West.

But it would be wrong to consider her a moderate. She may have joined the AfD because of its economic policies, but she has enthusiastically endorsed the party’s move to focus more on migration and German nationalism.

Immigrants, she once said, were made up of “burqas, girls in headscarves, knife-wielding men on government benefits and other good-for-nothing people”. It was a phrase that earned her censure from rivals in the centre, and respect from those on the right who see migration as a national threat.

As a speaker, she is strident, radical and unapologetic. She describes herself as a “liberal conservative” but, when I saw her speak at her party conference earlier this year, she demanded the “large scale repatriation of foreigners” – a policy once seen as toxic, but now spelt out by her in syllables – “re-mi-gra-tion”, Ms Weidel said, emphatically, to the sound of cheers.

Ms Weidel, a gay parent, has endorsed the definition of a family as being specifically mother, father and children. She says legalising gay marriage is unimportant.

She has claimed that Germany is the real victim of the war in Ukraine, due to the economic damage it has, and will, suffer. The war, she said, “is not our issue at all” and claims that, when it ends, Ukraine should be held to account.

Ms Weidel was born in Gutersloh, a town of around 100,000 people roughly halfway between Dortmund and Hanover, where she said she was repeatedly insulted and abused by immigrants from the Middle East.

She studied in Germany’s east, in Bayreuth, then worked for Goldman Sachs and the Bank of China, spending six years living in China.

She is a fan of economic liberalism – declaring Margaret Thatcher to be her role model, and championing, for example, low taxes and the abolition of inheritance tax. Only recently, grudgingly, has she accepted it is no longer practical for Germany to stop using the Euro as its currency, but her Euroscepticism remains.

The past of her country and her own family sit over her role as the AfD’s leader. Ms Weidel’s grandfather, Hans Weidel, was a Nazi judge, appointed by Adolf Hitler, a fact of which she claims to have been oblivious until researchers revealed it to her.

During a live chat with Elon Musk, since viewed millions of times online, she claimed the Nazis were “not right-wing” and said Hitler was “a communist, socialist guy”. In fact, Hitler loathed communists and socialists; they were some of the first people sent to concentration camps.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/alice-weidel-the-woman-at-the-top-of-germanys-far-right-afd-party-13312517

“Who else could start a beauty revolution with her mugshot?” That’s how Julia Louis-Dreyfus introduced the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement winner Jane Fonda during Sunday night’s telecast.

The Oscar-winning actress, whose career has been a political lightning rod, then took the stage to deliver a call to arms for a movement—a movement, one would presume, against the current Trump administration and its firehose of edicts.

When listing all of Fonda’s career achievements, Louis-Dreyfus highlighted that beyond her trophy wins was her “spot on Richard Nixon’s enemies list.”

“I consider that the ultimate trophy,” Louis-Dreyfus said, likely referring to Fonda’s controversial political stances in the late ’60s and early ’70s.

Accepting her trophy, Fonda joked about her longevity. “Probably in my 90s I’ll be doing my own stunts in action movies,” she said.

The rest of her speech was a rally cry. She joked about how characters are often misinterpreted. The men she rose up against on film, she said, are often called, “losers or p—ies.”

She specifically praised Sebastian Stan, who plays Donald Trump in his Oscar-nominated performance in The Apprentice. She called on viewers to understand people—and then rally against them.

“Make no mistake, empathy is not weak or woke. And by the way, woke just means you give a damn about other people,” Fonda said to huge applause. “A whole lot of people are going to be really hurt by what is happening, what is coming our way. And even if they are of different persuasion we need to call upon our empathy and listen with our hearts and welcome them into our tent. Because we are going to need a big tent to resist successfully what is coming at us.”

She then recalled her film career beginning in 1958 at the tail end of McCarthyism, remarking that “Hollywood resisted,” before tying everything back to current politics and how film creates empathy.

”Have any of you watched a documentary about one of our movements, like apartheid or the civil rights movement or Stonewall and asked yourself, ‘would you have been brave enough to walk a bridge?’ Or ‘would you have been able to take the hoses and the batons and the dogs?’ We don’t have to wonder anymore because we are in our documentary moment. This is it. And it’s not a rehearsal. This is it.”

Source : https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/jane-fonda-calls-for-the-nation-to-protest-trump-in-sag-speech/

Kieran Culkin took an unprompted shot at fellow nominee Adrien Brody at Sunday’s Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) Awards while accepting his statue for supporting actor, which he won for 2024’s A Real Pain. “Thank you for this incredibly heavy award. I don’t think there’s any way anyone can hold this for 45 seconds… which is the allotted time, Adrien Brody!” Culkin jabbed before walking it back seconds later: “There was no reason to take that shot. I love you, it’s a joke.” Brody was nominated for SAG’s Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Lead Role for his part in The Brutalist. He has already won a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and a Critics Choice Award this year for his performance in the historical Holocaust epic. Culkin need not worry that his freewheeling and at times awkward speech might turn off Oscars voters, as voting for this year’s Academy Awards has already closed.

Source : https://www.thedailybeast.com/kieran-culkin-takes-shot-at-adrien-brody-in-salty-sag-speech/

THIS is the terrifying moment two fighter jets escort an American Airlines flight after a mid-air bomb threat was received.

The flight that took off from JFK Airport in New York City to New Delhi, India, made a U-turn and had to be grounded in Rome due to a “possible security issue,” the airline said.

American Airlines confirmed Flight 292’s ordeal on Sunday, where the plane was flying near Turkmenistan when a bomb threat was received.

Footage captured of the gargantuan jet shows it flying between two fighter jets before landing at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci Airport.

In another clip, a group of people are stood watching in horror as the aircraft landed on the airport runway – with the fighter jets following closely behind.

The jet had departed at around 8:30pm on Saturday and was travelling over the Caspian Sea when the airline chillingly warned the crew of a bomb threat, sources claim.

It was eventually grounded in Rome, Italy, around three hours after departure time due to a bomb threat that was received by email, ABC reports.

The terrifying concern was later determined as being “non-credible,” the airline said.

A senior official told ABC that Indian authorities requested the aircraft be checked prior to landing in New Delhi.

Spokesperson for the airport Francesco Garibaldi didn’t give the specific reason for the diversion but said that security checks would be performed as soon as all the passengers and crew got off the aircraft.

Italian law enforcement checked and cleared the aircraft to re-depart, according to American Airlines.

And passengers are to stay overnight so the crew can rest before they head off to New Delhi on Monday.

One passenger who was onboard the flight during the incident, Yash Raj, said on X that everyone “safely deboarded the aircraft”.

He said: “Huge credit to the cabin crew for handling the situation so well.

“Everyone in the aircraft was calm.”

American Airlines said: “Safety and security are our top priorities and we thank our customers for their understanding.

“We are working closely with local authorities and will provide updates as the situation develops.”

American Airlines is still reeling from when its jet collided with a helicopter over Washington DC – despite it being a clear night.

A catalogue of errors, including staffing issues and the use of the wrong flight path, could be to blame for the crash

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13609624/american-airlines-plane-diverted-bomb-scare/

“Conclave,” a thriller about the election of a new pope, triumphed at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, winning the top prize for best motion picture cast. “Shōgun,” an epic look at feudal Japan, and “Only Murders in the Building,” a mystery satire, won the TV ensemble prizes in the drama and comedy categories.

It was a night filled with tributes to Los Angeles, which is recovering from the devastation caused by this year’s wildfires. “The city and the people in it have been put through the wringer,” Kristen Bell, the show’s host said, before introducing tables of first responders. “There is no way to properly express our gratitude to all of you,” she added.

The ceremony also had contended with technical glitches. At one point, a pre-recorded announcement interrupted Jane Fonda’s lifetime achievement award acceptance speech, and several presenters, such as Andrew Scott and Adam Brody, had to deal with finicky microphones.

“Shōgun” led the TV categories with four wins, picking up best lead and lead actress in a drama series for Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai, who play a conniving warlord and his trusted interpreter, as well as a prize for its stunts. Both the show and its stars have dominated awards season, earning top honors at the Golden Globes and the Emmys. “I feel like I’m in a dream of dreams,” Sanada said, fighting back tears.

The film awards spread the wealth, as no movie earned more than a single prize. “Conclave’s” victory comes during an unusually tumultuous awards season, one that’s seen early frontrunners like “Emilia Pérez” derailed by controversies. “Anora,” which lost the ensemble prize to “Conclave,” won the Directors Guild and Producers Guild honors, making it the favorite to be named best picture at the Oscars. However, “Conclave’s” victory at SAG, along with its win last week at the BAFTAs, signals it could ultimately triumph at the Academy Awards.

Timothée Chalamet (“A Complete Unknown”) and Demi Moore (“The Substance”) captured the leading actor and actress trophies. Chalamet transformed into a folk era Bob Dylan, while Moore played an actress and fitness guru fired by misogynistic higher ups for the sin of being middle aged.

“We’re in a subjective business but the truth is I’m really in pursuit of greatness,” Chalamet, who won over the heavily favored Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”), said. “I know people don’t usually talk like that, but I want to be one of the greats. I’m inspired by the greats. I’m inspired by the greats here tonight. I’m as inspired by Daniel Day, Lewis, Marlon Brando and Viola Davis, as I am by Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, and I want to be up there.”

“The Substance” has marked a remarkable career comeback for Moore, who spent years in the Hollywood wilderness, a victim of the ageism and sexism that her film depicts. “That little girl who didn’t believe in herself,” Moore said, growing visibly overwhelmed. “The words are kind of beyond me, so I’m just gonna have to say thank you.”

Jean Smart won best actress in a comedy series for the third time for playing a legendary stand-up comic in “Hacks,” while Martin Short picked up best actor in a comedy series for his role as a Broadway producer in “Only Murders in the Building.” Neither performer attended the show — Smart was shooting a project and Short was sick.

“A Real Pain’s” Kieran Culkin, a previous SAG nominee for his turn as an acerbic corporate princeling on “Succession,” won best supporting actor playing a motormouthed young man on a trip to Poland. “It is funny that the heaviest of all awards is the one that’s given by actors,” Culkin quipped while gesturing to his hefty statue. “It’s like, you know, us, what we do means so much.”

Zoe Saldaña was crowned best supporting actress for her performance as a lawyer for a cartel leader who undergoes gender-affirming surgery in “Emilia Pérez.” “I believe that everybody has the right to be who they are,” she said. “‘Emilia Perez’ is about truth and it is about love.”

Jessica Gunning, who portrayed a stalker in “Baby Reindeer,” earned best actress in a TV movie or limited series. Colin Farrell, who played the deranged crime boss at the center of “The Penguin,” was named best actor in a TV movie or limited series. He paid tribute to his chosen profession. “It’s play time,” he said. “You don’t get to fully grow up. You get to kind of keep the dream of a child alive, to try to figure out what it is to be human.”

This year’s awards were handed out at a time of political upheaval, one that has seen Donald Trump, who most people in the SAG awards audience oppose, return to power. Hollywood’s corporate leadership, fearful of getting on the wrong side of the White House, has been more muted since Trump was sworn in as president. But Fonda, as famous for her activism as she is for her performances in films like “Klute” and “9 to 5,” used her moment on stage to urge her fellow performers not to stay silent.

“This is big time serious folks, so let’s be brave,” Fonda said. “This is a good time for a little Norma Rae or Karen Silkwood or Tom Joad. We must not isolate. We must stay in community. We must help the vulnerable. We must find ways to protect an inspiring vision of the future.”

Beyond offering an endorsement of the kind of liberal politics currently under attack, the broadcast’s theme was one of regional pride. Along with tributes to Los Angeles, there was also a montage of films and shows — from “Chinatown” to “Baywatch” — that were shot in the city, highlighting its beauty and iconography. Though still the entertainment industry’s capital, shooting in Los Angeles has become a rarer occurrence, as productions have fled to places like Georgia and the United Kingdom that offer tax incentives. In the wake of the fires, some have advocated for more movies and series to be filmed in the city to help reinvigorate the economy.

The SAG Awards were shown live on Netflix for the second year in a row. It was the second time Bell, the star of the streaming service’s rom-com “Nobody Wants This,” served as emcee, having previously overseen the broadcast in 2018 back when it was on cable.

See the full list of winners below.

“Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

“Conclave”

“Anora”
“A Complete Unknown”
“Emilia Pérez”
“Wicked”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Demi Moore, “The Substance”

Pamela Anderson, “The Last Showgirl”
Cynthia Erivo, “Wicked”
Karla Sofía Gascón, “Emilia Pérez”
Mikey Madison, “Anora”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Timothée Chalamet, “A Complete Unknown”

Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist”
Daniel Craig, “Queer”
Colman Domingo, “Sing Sing”
Ralph Fiennes, “Conclave”

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

“Only Murders in the Building”

“Abbott Elementary”
“The Bear”
“Hacks”
“Shrinking”

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

“Shōgun”

“Bridgerton”
“The Day Of The Jackal”
“The Diplomat”
“Slow Horses”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

A British couple in their seventies have been arrested by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife Barbie, 75, were returning to their home in Bamiyan on 1 February when they were detained.

The couple have been running training projects in Afghanistan for 18 years and their daughter, Sarah Entwistle, told the BBC she had not heard from her parents in more than two weeks.

It is not known exactly what the couple were arrested for but projects run by them include one training mothers and children, which had apparently been approved by the local authorities despite a ban by the Taliban on women working and on education for girls older than the age of 12.

The couple, who originally met at the University of Bath, married in Kabul in 1970. Since 2009 they have been running training projects in five schools in Kabul and one project in Bamiyan training mothers and children.

While the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 saw most of their staff leave – along with most westerners – Mr and Mrs Reynolds insisted on staying put.

After their arrest, the couple were initially able to keep in touch with their four children by text message. The family knew that their parents were being held by the interior ministry and were assured by them that they were “fine”.

Three days later, however, the texts stopped. The children have heard nothing since.

Ms Entwistle, who lives in Daventry, Northamptonshire, told the BBC: “It’s been over two weeks since the messages stopped, and they were taken into custody.

“We would like the Taliban to release them to go back to their home and continue their work.”

She told the Sunday Times: “They said they could not leave when Afghans were in their hour of need.

“They were meticulous about keeping by the rules even as they kept changing.”

Their daughter told the Times: “My mother is 75 and my father almost 80 and [he] needs his heart medication after a mini-stroke. They were just trying to help the country they loved. The idea they are being held because they were teaching mothers with children is outrageous.”

The couple were arrested alongside their American friend Faye Hall and a translator from their business, the PA news agency reported quoting an employee.

The employee, who described the pair as “the most honourable people I have ever met”, said Mr Reynolds had been denied access to heart medication and his condition was “not good”.

Ms Entwistle and her three siblings have written a letter to the Taliban, pleading with them to release their parents.

“We do not understand the reasons behind their arrest,” they wrote. “They have communicated their trust in you, and that as Afghan citizens they will be treated well.”

“We recognise that there have been instances where exchanges have been beneficial for your government and western nations. However, our parents have consistently expressed their commitment to Afghanistan, stating that they would rather sacrifice their lives than become part of ransom negotiations or be traded.”

The Foreign Office is aware two British nationals have been detained in Afghanistan. But assistance is limited by the fact that the UK does not recognise the Taliban and has no embassy in Kabul.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0rznw4j2e4o

The study was led by Shi Zhengli, Chinese virologist from the controversial Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), where the Covid-19 was alleged to have emanated from.

Beijing: A Chinese team of virologists have found a new bat coronavirus that carries the risk of animal-to-human transmission because it uses the same human receptor as the virus that causes Covid-19, a media report said.

The study was led by Shi Zhengli, Chinese virologist from the controversial Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), where the Covid-19 was alleged to have emanated from.

Shi, who is known as the Bat Woman for her research on viruses from the Bats, as well as the Chinese government deny that the virus was leaked from the Wuhan lab.

The latest discovery is a new lineage of the HKU5 coronavirus first identified in the Japanese pipistrelle bat in Hong Kong.

The new virus comes from the merbecovirus subgenus, which also includes the virus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers), the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post reported.

The virus is able to bind to the human angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE2), the same receptor used by the Sars-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, to infect cells.

“We report the discovery and isolation of a distinct lineage (lineage 2) of HKU5-CoV, which can utilise not only bat ACE2 but also human ACE2 and various mammalian ACE2 orthologs [– genes found in different species with a common origin],” the team of virologists headed by Shi wrote in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Cell on Tuesday, according to the Post report.

The researchers found that when the virus was isolated from bat samples it could infect human cells as well as artificially grown masses of cell or tissue that resembled miniaturised respiratory or intestinal organs.

Source : https://www.deccanherald.com/health/chinese-virologists-say-new-bat-coronavirus-could-infect-humans-via-same-route-as-covid-19-3417391

Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) on Saturday reported record annual profits and boosting its cash stake to $334.2 billion, as Warren Buffett used his annual shareholder letter to caution Washington to spend money wisely and take care of those who get the “short straws in life.”

Buffett’s admonition came as many investors worry U.S. lawmakers won’t rein in soaring fiscal deficits, and could make them worse by extending tax cuts backed by President Donald Trump.

The 94-year-old Buffett, the world’s sixth-richest person and arguably its most famous investor, also acknowledged his advanced age, telling shareholders he uses a cane and will spend less time fielding their questions at Berkshire’s annual meeting on May 3.
He nonetheless assured shareholders they would be in good hands after he turns over the conglomerate’s reins to Vice Chairman Greg Abel, saying the 62-year-old Abel has “vividly shown his ability” to deploy capital.
“It won’t be long” before Abel takes over, Buffett said.

Buffett’s letter was accompanied by Berkshire’s annual report, where it reported a third straight record annual operating profit, rising 27% to $47.44 billion.
Quarterly operating profit rose 71% to $14.53 billion, also a record, and which analysts viewed as solid.
Net income for the full year totaled $89 billion, including gains from Berkshire’s common stock investments such as Apple (AAPL.O) and American Express (AXP.N)

Berkshire’s cash stake reflected high business valuations and nine straight quarters of selling more stocks than it bought. The selling included Apple, which remained its largest stock investment.

“Often, nothing looks compelling; very infrequently we find ourselves knee-deep in opportunities,” Buffett wrote.

‘FISCAL FOLLY’

Germans were voting in a national election on Sunday that is expected to restore power to Friedrich Merz’s conservatives while the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is forecast to achieve its best result yet in Europe’s ailing economic powerhouse.
Merz’s CDU/CSU bloc has consistently led polls but is unlikely to win a majority given Germany’s fragmented political landscape, forcing it to sound out coalition partners.

Those negotiations are expected to be tricky after a campaign that exposed sharp divisions over migration and how to deal with the AfD in a country where far-right politics carries a particularly strong stigma because of its Nazi past.
That could leave unpopular Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a caretaker role for months, delaying urgently needed policies to revive Europe’s largest economy after two consecutive years of contraction and as companies struggle against global rivals.
It would also create a leadership vacuum in the heart of Europe even as it deals with a host of challenges, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of a trade war and attempts to fast-track a ceasefire deal for Ukraine without European involvement.

Germany, which has an export-oriented economy and has long relied on the U.S. for its security, is particularly vulnerable.
Germans are more pessimistic about their living standards now than at any time since the financial crisis in 2008. The percentage who say their situation is improving dropped sharply from 42% in 2023 to 27% last year, according to pollster Gallup.
Attitudes towards migration have also hardened in a profound shift in German public sentiment since its “Refugees Welcome” culture during Europe’s 2015 migrant crisis.
Polls opened at 0800 local time (0700 GMT) and will close at 1800 (1700 GMT) when vote counting will start and exit polls will be released. About 60 million people in Germany are eligible to vote.

MUSK WEIGHS IN

Cycling rates in Paris have soared in recent years. But the death of 27-year-old Paul Varry – who was allegedly run over by a driver – has exposed a darker side to Paris’s cycling revolution.

“This was not an accident,” Paul’s colleague Corentin believes.

We’re standing on the edge of a bike lane on Boulevard Malesherbes, steps away from the place where Paul was crushed by an SUV on 15 October 2024.

The moments preceding his death are subject to a criminal investigation.

Paul was cycling home from work. The cycle path is separated from the road by a slightly raised curb.

According to witnesses and CCTV, the driver of the SUV began driving in the bike lane. Prosecutors say the driver ran over Paul’s foot. Paul banged his fist on the bonnet.

The motorist reversed at first, but then allegedly drove towards the 27-year-old. An autopsy confirmed “the marks of the vehicle crossing his body”.

The 52-year-old driver has been charged with murder. His lawyer says he may have lost control of the vehicle in a stressful situation that he was trying to get out of.

At a hearing attended by news agency AFP, he broke into tears and said “I’m sorry for what happened. I never meant to run him over.”

Paris has seen a surge in cycling as part of a broader transformation spearheaded by Mayor Anne Hidalgo. Over the last decade, the city has invested €400m (£331m) in cycling infrastructure, creating more than 1,000 kilometres of bike lanes.

According to a recent study, cycling now makes up more than 11% of trips within Paris, compared to just 4% by car. Walking is still the most popular way of getting around – accounting for 53% of journeys, followed by public transport (30%).

But despite the investment, cycling in Paris still feels precarious.

Bike lanes are patchy, lack uniformity and often don’t have designated traffic lights. The rules surrounding right of way aren’t always clear and are often flouted, making it difficult for cyclists to safely navigate.

Paul Varry’s death was extreme, but it resonated and has become a symbol of the daily struggle for space on the streets of Paris.

His mother, Nathalie Tison, remembers her son as a carefree spirit who embraced the freedom of cycling. “He was a very happy and very bubbly person, he had a lovely sense of humour and was always very gentle with the people around him. It’s such an injustice because he didn’t deserve at all what happened.”

She told me she had always been concerned about the dangers of her son riding in Paris, where she detected a sense of entitlement among some drivers.

“Drivers can be super aggressive – nothing can get in their way,” she said. “For some, the car is an extension of their virility and if anyone touches their car… it’s taken as a personal attack.

“I was afraid for him.”

Paul understood these risks, and was an active member of the cycling group Paris en Selle – Paris in the Saddle. He campaigned for more segregated space for bicycles and safer junctions.

Advocates hope the progress made in Paris will continue.

Rémi Féraud, a socialist senator and Anne Hidalgo’s top choice for future mayor, doesn’t dream of a car-free future, “because there are Parisians who have cars”.

“But by reducing space for the car, we reserve it for those who really need to come by car,” he says. “We want a city that is 100% cyclable… It is an offer of freedom.”

Carving out more street space for cyclists has involved restricting space for cars. The number of parking spaces in Paris have been slashed by a half and certain vehicles have been banned from driving through the city.

Some drivers, particularly those from the suburbs, feel that the city’s car reduction policies have made their lives more difficult.

“Driving in Paris is like going to war,” says Shamy, a reserved 24-year-old midwife. “There are no rules.” I’m sitting in his car as he straddles a cycle path – he can’t reverse because people are walking there and in front of us cars are bumper to bumper.

What does he do if there’s a confrontation with a cyclist? “I just say sorry.”

Shamy lets me out as we approach a zone in the city centre where through-traffic has been outlawed – one of several measures that has drawn anger from business owners.

Patrick Aboukrat, who owns a fashion boutique in the Marais shopping district, has launched a lawsuit with other members of Comité Marais Paris, the business association he leads, to try to roll back some of the new rules.

He says they’re losing customers and that some were planning on selling up. “When young people say they want to open a shop, I say ‘open a shop in the suburbs, go outside of Paris.’

“We do understand the need to have fewer cars in the centre. I say to the Mayor we want to work together, to change the plan. But they don’t listen. It’s ideological. ”

But Féraud, the senator, instead suggests the rise in online shopping is to blame.

According to polls, most of those who live within the main Paris ring road – of whom only 30% own a car – don’t mind the traffic-limiting measures.

Those on the outskirts tend to drive more, but they are not eligible to vote for the Paris mayor or influence its traffic polices.

Alexandra Legendre, who represents a motorists lobby group – the Drivers’ Defence League – says “no one [drives] for pleasure in Paris, it’s hell.” She feels authorities have prioritised cyclists at the expense of everyone else.

She accuses politicians of being blinkered by a desire to transform Paris into a cyclists’ paradise – ignoring road safety. She insists car drivers can’t be treated as “the only bad guys”.

There’s a consensus that Paul Varry’s death was a tragedy, but Ms Legendre doesn’t think it had anything to do with him being a cyclist.

Paris is navigating the challenges of its cycling revolution as European capitals are under pressure to curb transport-related carbon emissions. The EU’s green deal aims to achieve a 90% reduction in transport-related greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Corentin, Paul’s colleague, points out that while Paris is still far from perfect, the infrastructure has improved significantly, making it easier and safer than ever to enjoy the view.

“We are in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and there is no better way to see it than by bike.”

The constant stream of cyclists buzzing down Rue de Rivoli – which was a major highway until 2020 – suggests that the shift towards bike-friendly urban spaces is irreversible.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9deyw95xzzo

Imagine waking up in Rome 2,000 years ago, on the Nile in ancient Egypt or on the streets of London during the Black Death in the 1300s – complete with realistic sights, sounds and daily struggles.

In recent weeks, AI-generated videos showing the points of view of people waking up in different historical time periods have gone viral on TikTok.

Dan and Hogne are the creators behind two of the accounts – POV Lab and Time Traveller POV.

Dan, based in the UK, tells the BBC he creates these videos as the “idea of seeing the past through a first-person perspective felt like a unique way to bring history to life”.

Hogne, a 27-year-old from Norway, adds that his videos are teaching people “about cool parts of history and helping them learn something new”.

Despite the videos offering millions a window into history, a number of historians have shared concerns about the accuracy of the content and whether AI can truly resurrect the past, or are we just seeing a polished, modernised version of history designed for engagement?

Murky and misty streets, coughing townsfolk, and the distant toll of a plague doctor’s bell all feature in Hogne’s most-watched video, which has racked up 53 million views.

It has sparked fascination among many, but historian Dr Amy Boyington describes the medieval-themed video as “amateurish” and “evocative and sensational” rather than historically accurate.

“It looks like something from a video game as it shows a world that is meant to look real but is actually fake.”

She points out inaccuracies like the depiction of houses with large glazed windows and a train track running through the town which wouldn’t have existed in the 1300s.

Historian and archaeologist Dr Hannah Platts has also noticed significant inaccuracies in a video depicting the eruption of Mount Vesuvius at Pompeii.

“Due to Pliny the Younger’s eyewitness account of the eruption, we know that it didn’t start with lava spewing everywhere so to not use that wealth of historical information available to us feels cheap and lazy.”

She also spots smaller mistakes – stemmed wine glasses and pepper mills didn’t exist and people would be reclining while eating not sitting on dining chairs.

“The bread roll in the video is a modern loaf and given we actually have carbonised loaves from the time it’s a real shame the person making the video didn’t do some research and include that.”

Dan, who created the video of Pompeii, says he recognises a lots of details in his videos are historically inaccurate.

“AI-generated content isn’t perfect, and while I strive for accuracy, these videos are more about evoking the feeling of a time period rather than being a 100% factual recreation.

“They’re more like artistic interpretations rather than strict documentaries.”

US President Donald Trump doubled down on his stance on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) by bringing up the alleged USAID funding to India for the fourth time in a row, saying New Delhi “does not need the money”.

The row erupted after the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) declared its latest move to reduce expenditures by cancelling millions of dollars in funding for various countries, including the $21 million allocated for enhancing “voter turnout in India.”

Speaking on the money given to India for its elections, Trump said at the Conservative Political Action Conference, “Why the hell? Why don’t we go back to old paper ballots and let them help us with our elections? They don’t need money.”

“We’re giving money to India for elections, well they don’t need money. They take advantage of us. They are one of the highest tariffs nations in the world. They have a 200 per cent tariff and then we give them a lot of money for elections,” he added.

Since before the US presidential elections last year, Trump has complained about India’s high tariffs and called it a “very big abuser” of trade. He introduced reciprocal tariffs on all imports shortly before meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the White House, highlighting that “India has more tariffs than nearly any other country”.

‘Ended Left-Wing Scam’: Trump On USAID

During his speech at CPAC on Saturday, Trump referred to USAID as a “left-wing scam” and said, “The agency’s name has been removed from its former building and that space will now house agents from Customs and Border Patrol.”

This came as a federal judge allowed Trump to move forward with pulling thousands of USAID staffers off the job in the United States and around the world. US District rejected pleas to keep his temporary stay on the government’s plan to remove all but a small fraction of USAID staffers from their posts.

President Donald Trump and the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency tied to billionaire Elon Musk have moved swiftly to shutter USAID, calling its programs out of line with the president’s agenda and asserting without evidence that its work is wasteful.

India Expresses Concern Over USAID Row

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday addressed Trump’s claims on USAID funding for India, calling them “worrisome” and that the agency was allowed in good faith, not for activities in bad faith.

“It’s worrisome, and if there’s something to it, then the country should know who the people are involved in it,” he said at an event.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) previously called the accusations “deeply troubling” and led to concerns about foreign interference in India’s internal affairs. “Relevant departments and agencies are looking into this matter. It would be premature to make a public comment at this stage,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Friday.

On Friday, Trump repeated his claim that $21 million was given to India for “voter turnout”, contradicting a report that claimed that the funding was actually meant for Bangladesh. This led to another war of words between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress in India.

An Indian Express report claimed that a $21 million USAID grant was allocated in 2022 for Bangladesh, not India. The Congress, waving the report, dismissed the BJP’s charge of alleged foreign interference in India’s electoral process.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/donald-trump-intensifies-attack-usaid-funding-india-voter-turnout-bjp-congress-doge-elon-musk-latest-news-9237448.html

When Netflix announced the release of its documentary, American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson, I thought to myself, how is it even possible to make yet another documentary on this topic, especially after the hugely successful dramatized version The People Vs O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (Network: FX), starring Cuba Gooding Jr. as Simpson, and O.J.: Made in America, the documentary? However, I came away from the 4-part series surprised that the makers managed to bring to light various factors which hadn’t been dissected in the other shows, especially the shocking number of evidences that weren’t part of the trial, and testimonies from new witnesses and those involved.

About the case

In 1995, former legendary NFL player and actor O.J. Simpson was on trial for the double murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Nicole and Ron were found stabbed to death outside her Brentwood condominium, with Nicole’s head almost severed from her body, outside Brown’s condo in Los Angeles on June 12, 1994. The televised trial, which carried on for 8 months, lasted from January 24 to October 3, 1995.

For years, Miss Tammie Ong had imagined herself in a white coat with a stethoscope, working as a paediatrician and helping young patients the way that she had seen doctors do on television.

Then in 2021 when she was 17, she was the one who ended up on a hospital bed needing medical treatment.

She had gone to sleep one night as usual but by morning, she woke up feeling inexplicably unwell, experiencing a bout of severe headaches and vomiting several times.

After she went to multiple hospitals and did various tests, they revealed that she had several rare, incurable conditions that would change the course of her life.

One of them is gastrointestinal dysmotility, meaning there is a problem with her digestive system – the muscles and nerves in the gastrointestinal tract that moves food along are not working as they should.

A gastrostomy tube now delivers essential nutrients to her body, replacing meals she can no longer eat.

Another condition that affects her is dysautonomia, which disrupts her autonomic nervous system, affecting vital functions such as blood pressure and heart rate.

Both conditions leave her constantly fatigued and in pain.

Her doctors told her that she may never get better.

Just before I met her on a warm February afternoon at her family home in the west of Singapore, I was slightly worried about how the interview would go with someone who was not in the best physical state.

However, from the moment she greeted me at the door, I knew Miss Ong would come up with the energy to power through our interview.

She ushered me into the living room, brought out chilled drinks, adjusted the air-conditioner right away for this perspiring journalist and for the first 30 minutes, peppered me with questions about my day-to-day job, her curiosity turning the interview on its head.

She was a picture of youthful exuberance and I learnt that before she fell ill, she loved to dance.

Everything about her presence suggested she was thriving – until she reminded me that she wasn’t.

“Having these conditions really engulfs your life. It’s consuming, and it feels like I have no break from it,” Miss Ong said.

“I’m always very tired, always very weak, and the pain gets worse over time.”

Her bedtime routine alone is an ordeal: She has to administer a series of intravenous nutrition and medications through a central line – a tube connected into a large vein in the heart – before preparing the various medicines she needs to use for the next day.

It takes four hours before she can call it a night and even then, sleep is elusive. The pain often makes it hard for her to doze off.

Every morning, she wakes up to yet another round of time-consuming yet essential medical tasks.

Leaving the house requires double the preparation: She has to tape the central line, pack the medicines that she is required to take mid-day and charge her wheelchair battery to ensure that it does not run out, among other things.

“The doctors cannot pinpoint what’s causing all the pain, but they know roughly it’s because of my condition and that it will continue to progress,” she said.

For the first time during the interview, her shoulders dropped slightly as she talked about how her pain shadows her everywhere she goes.

“We’ve exhausted almost every option and there isn’t any extra treatment.”

RELENTLESS IN HER PURSUITS

All afternoon, Miss Ong – who will turn 21 in April – spoke candidly and patiently when describing the symptoms she experienced on a daily basis.

It was a heavy subject, but there was a lighthearted mood in the spotless dining room where we sat.

When she spoke, there was an inherent air of optimism and determination in her voice.

I recalled some of that vibe in her TikTok videos, where she shows snippets of her life with her own brand of quirk and humour.

Long before the debilitating illnesses tightened its grip on her, Miss Ong had already harboured dreams of going to medical school.

So determined was she to pursue this dream as a 16-year-old, she made a decision few teenagers would: She deleted all her social media applications on her mobile devices and computer six months before her N-Level examinations, shutting out distractions to focus entirely on her studies.

“Back then, my average daily screen time was just 30 minutes,” she said, laughing.

Her sacrifice paid off. She graduated top of her 2020 cohort at Kranji Secondary School and was admitted into Singapore Polytechnic’s biomedical science diploma course in 2021.

That was the year her body crumbled and encroached upon her plans before she even got going.

In the four years since her admission to the polytechnic, Miss Ong has completed just one semester of studies, her condition keeping her largely confined at home or in the hospital.

She last attended lessons at the polytechnic two years ago. Even then, Miss Ong has refused to stop learning.

At the start of 2023, she set her sights on Harvard Medical School’s three-month online fundamentals course in immunology.

In her application essay, she described how her life had changed overnight: “One moment, I was out dining with friends and, the next thing I knew, I was setting up tube feeds and relying on total parenteral nutrition (tube feeding through a vein) to survive.

“I felt overwhelmed and struggled with my condition, but later found strength and saw this as a calling to understand more about myself and children or young persons with rare disorders.”

She completed the course in March that year.

Just a few months later, an opportunity arose – an attachment at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, where she would shadow a team of general surgeons.

For a couple of years after she fell sick, she had been the one lying on hospital beds, enduring countless procedures.

Then, for the first time, there she was standing on the other side, observing the operations with a newfound understanding. And it rejuvenated her.

“It was really fun. I got to sit in on almost all of the procedures,” she said with a chirp in her voice.

“I went through some of these surgeries as a patient myself and just being on the other side was so interesting, because you finally see how everything works.”

“THIS CAN HAPPEN TO ANYBODY”

Just as she was gaining momentum, her body betrayed her once again.

In the later half of 2023, she was diagnosed with pancreatitis, an excruciating condition of the pancreas that left her unable to walk and in constant pain.

Then, in the span of a few months, she battled three separate bouts of sepsis – a life-threatening complication where bacteria enters the bloodstream and the body has an extreme response to infection.

Each time, she found herself back in the very hospital wards where she had hoped to work one day.

I asked if she had moved on completely from the idea of becoming a doctor.

She hesitated, then glanced back briefly at the intravenous drip stand she uses twice a day in the living room a few paces away.

“It’s not impossible,” she finally said. “But it’s really tiring. You’re like your own nurse and yet, you still have to study (for many years to come).”

Throughout it all, Miss Ong has also faced the deeply personal struggle of her body’s newfound limitations.

A video she posted on TikTok last month showed her crestfallen and in tears while she folded and kept the ballet clothes that had been sitting idle in her wardrobe for years, to the soundtrack of an emotional ballad in the background.

Dancing was once an integral part of her life, an avenue for her to express herself, and the sight of her unworn leotards was a constant reminder of the freedom she used to have.

Miss Ong, who started ballet dancing at four years old, said: “I put off keeping them aside because I always thought that I could always go back to dance. I just never imagined that I can’t.”

As for her TikTok videos, she said: “The reason I post these videos is to encourage people, because people often take for granted what they can do.”

Then she emphasised her point. “This,” she said while gesturing at herself in a somewhat self-deprecating manner, “can happen to anybody.”

A VOICE FOR OTHER SUFFERERS

Initially, the clips she made for the video-sharing platform was just a way for her to process her emotions.

Then, when strangers began reaching out – some battling illnesses of their own, others simply moved by her resilience – she realised that her voice carried weight.

If she cannot heal people in a hospital, she decided that she would help do so in another way, by giving a voice to sufferers going through all kinds of pain like she was.

Since 2021, Miss Ong has been posting educational and day-in-the-life videos on TikTok, documenting the pain she endures and the treatments she undergoes daily.

Her raw honesty struck a chord with many viewers and today, more than 200,000 people follow her on the account.

Miss Ong put across to me that what she shared was not just about her. It was also to bring to people’s mind that there is a broader community of chronically ill individuals among us who often feel unseen – or in some cases, the subject of unwanted attention.

“When I’m outside, people often outright stare at me, wondering what this tube up my nose is,” she said.

“People squeeze into lifts and refuse to give way even when I’m in a wheelchair … Singapore can be a much kinder society.”

Miss Ong wants not just to raise awareness of the plight of people whose health batters them daily, but to take action as well.

Over the years, she has launched fundraisers for causes close to her heart, rallying her online community to support patients with chronic illnesses.

To date, she has raised S$23,000 for non-profit organisations such as Make-A-Wish and the Rare Disorder Society of Singapore.

As she had pointed out to me repeatedly all afternoon, the treatments for her illnesses do not come cheap at all. The medicine and hospital visits are thankfully covered by insurance, but the medical equipment she needs every month – such as the infusion pump that delivers saline and nutrients through out her body – are not.

One of her goals is to monetise her videos on social media to achieve financial independence for her own future.

Recounting another event where she spread awareness, she said that she left the hospital a week after admission, which was at the tail end of 2023. This was to deliver a TED Talk at Nanyang Technology University, on living life as a chronically ill teenager. She checked herself right back into the hospital ward after that.

“There were six speakers that day,” she recalled. TED, short for “technology, entertainment and design”, is a nonprofit dedicated to sharing ideas and knowledge as well as performances with a global audience through short speeches and presentations called TED Talks.

I asked if she felt nervous or intimidated at the event and she chided me in jest for stating the obvious.

“I was the youngest and the rest of them were professors!”

Those 15 minutes, though, were a lifelong dream, she said, and she is incredibly proud of having achieved it despite having some minor hiccups during the speech.

A promotional poster of the event is kept in her home, though not hung up as a memento.

What was on display around the cosy apartment, however, were framed family photographs covering almost every wall.

I had asked if it was possible to speak with either her parents or her two older siblings who live with her.

She said that she has a tight-knit relationship with her family but preferred to keep the other aspects of her life at home private.

What was important, Miss Ong said, was that on especially tough days, she knew that the support system she had at home was a strong and sturdy one.

“This experience made me realise that there’s nobody more important than your family and friends. They have supported me throughout and for that, I’m very, very thankful.”

FACING THE INEVITABLE

I hesitated before asking if her doctors had given her any indication of how long she might live. It was a question I had never posed to anyone with a debilitating illness.

Her response was a quiet acceptance that there was no clear answer to this question.

“Of course, we’re scared. I’m scared. I don’t want to die,” she said, before letting out a slight chuckle.

“If I have a dream now, it’s that I still hope to be cured.”

When I asked if she would prefer to know a definite prognosis, her answer was surprising.

A slight smile played on her lips as she shrugged.

“I actually prefer not to know,” she said. “If you know, you would live your life differently. But life is better when it’s spontaneous.”

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/today/up-close/teenager-incurable-chronic-illness-aspiring-doctor-4949501

Pope Francis was in critical condition Saturday after he suffered a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis while being treated for pneumonia and a complex lung infection, the Vatican said.

The 88-year-old pope, who remains conscious, received “high flows” of oxygen to help him breathe. He also received blood transfusions after tests showed low counts of platelets, which are needed for clotting, the Vatican said in a late update.

“The Holy Father’s condition continues to be critical, therefore, as explained yesterday (Friday), the pope is not out of danger,” the statement said. It was the first time “critical” had been used in a written statement to describe Francis’ condition since he was hospitalized Feb. 14.

The statement also said that the pontiff “continues to be alert and spent the day in an armchair although in more pain than yesterday.” Doctors declined to offer a prognosis, saying it was “reserved.”

Doctors have said Francis’ condition is touch-and-go, given his age, fragility and pre-existing lung disease.

Doctors warn of the possible onset of sepsis

They have warned that the main threat facing Francis would be the onset of sepsis, a serious infection of the blood that can occur as a complication of pneumonia. As of Friday, there was no evidence of any sepsis, and Francis was responding to the various drugs he is taking, the pope’s medical team said in their first in-depth update on the pope’s condition.

Saturday’s blood tests showed that he had developed a low platelet count, a condition called platelopenia or thrombocytopenia. Platelets are cell-like fragments that circulate in the blood that help form blood clots to stop bleeding or help wounds heal. Low platelet counts can be caused by a number of things, including side effects from medicines or infections, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Francis, who has chronic lung disease and is prone to bronchitis in winter, was admitted to Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14 after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened.

Doctors first diagnosed the complex viral, bacterial and fungal respiratory tract infection and then the onset of pneumonia in both lungs. They prescribed “absolute rest” and a combination of cortisone and antibiotics, along with supplemental oxygen when he needs it. Saturday’s update marked the first time the Vatican has referred to Francis suffering an “asthmatic respiratory crisis of prolonged magnitude, which also required the application of oxygen at high flows.”

Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the head of medicine and surgery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, said Friday the biggest threat facing Francis was that some of the germs that are currently located in his respiratory system pass into the bloodstream, causing sepsis. Sepsis can lead to organ failure and death.

“Sepsis, with his respiratory problems and his age, would be really difficult to get out of,” Alfieri told a news conference Friday at Gemelli. “The English say ‘knock on wood,’ we say ‘touch iron.’ Everyone touch what they want,” he said as he tapped the microphone. “But this is the real risk in these cases: that these germs pass to the bloodstream.”

“He knows he’s in danger,” Alfieri added. “And he told us to convey that.”

Canadians are cancelling their American vacations en masse — as the next front in the US-Canada trade war is being fought at airports, gas stations and gift shops, The Post Has learned.

Both air and land travel have been impacted, as the US northern neighbors protest the impact of tariffs on their country’s economy — an offensive that could cost the American economy $2.1 billion and 14,000 jobs, the US Travel Association has estimated.

Carlo Tarini from Montreal traded his family’s April vacation to New York City for the Bahamas instead.

“We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore,” Tarini told The Post, adding that the US is wiped off the map for the next four years as far as his family’s travels are concerned.

For Tarini, what did it was US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian imports, and the impact it’s already had on the country’s economy – the Canadian dollar tumbled to a two-decade low after the announcement, before going back up only slightly at the news of a 30-day reprieve.

“He’s threatening our economy,” said Tarini. “It’s a family decision and we’re sticking with it.”

Quebec’s Minister of Education has even urged 10th graders — who plan annual sojourns from Montreal to the Big Apple — to rethink their plans.

“We are all on the front lines,” Bernard Drainville said earlier this month at Quebec’s National Assembly.

Schools in Quebec – and also in Manitoba – have since traded in trips to the Empire State for the city of Toronto.

In a letter to parents, Nancy Paquet, general secretary of the Monts-et-Marées school service center, cited “decisions by the US government which could have a significant impact on the parents’ employment,” as the reason, referring to jobs that would be lost if the tariffs get the go-ahead.

For others, it’s the sheer insult of the jokes around Canada being the 51st American state.

“With each passing day of more annexation threats, our family decided we have to cancel our March break Florida trip,” wrote a self-described “angry Canuck” and mother of four in a Reddit group where Canadians trade tales of US boycott.

The travel rebellion is already having an impact.

Canadian airlines are considering cutting down on their flights to the US this spring in the face of a decreasing demand of around 25%, according to WestJet.

And the number of Canadians returning from the US by car has fallen by about 15,000 in January, the first drop since the pandemic, according to Statistics Canada.

Florida is one state that’s sure to feel the pain – it’s a darling of Canadian travelers, with many retirees – “snowbirds” as they’re known, spending the winters in the Sunshine State. The Fort Lauderdale area especially is flush with Canadians, with many returning to the same spots winter after winter. This year the area had been expecting between 1.3 and 1.5 million Canadian visitors, spending $950-975 million dollars.

“Canadian snowbirds are just part of the fabric of this community all winter long, and have been for decades – at least 50 years,” Stacy Ritter, CEO of Visit Lauderdale, told The Post.

Ritter said she’s already been fielding emails from regulars who explained why they’re not coming back.

It felt like a “gut punch” lamented Ritter. “It makes me want to cry.”

North of the 49th parallel, the owner of Maple Leaf Tours, who sells packaged group travel, told The Post an “alarming” number of vacationers cancelled US tours this year.

“It’s taken a turn for the worse across the industry,” said Kristine Geary.

She estimates US cancellations at 40%, and her losses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“I’ve never seen this,” said Geary, whose family has owned the business for more than 30 years.

Americans, meanwhile, haven’t been boycotting Canadian travel.

In January, the number of US travelers to Canada by car was 707,000, up more than 23% from the same month last year, according to Statistics Canada data.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/02/22/us-news/canadians-cancelling-us-travel-en-masse-in-face-of-tariff-threats/

The release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners planned for Saturday has been postponed “until the release of the next hostages is secured without humiliating ceremonies”, Israel has said.

In a statement early on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office accused the Palestinian militant group Hamas of “repeated violations” as it lashed out at “disgraceful ceremonies” during the handover of Israeli captives in Gaza.

The Israeli PM’s office said: “In light of the repeated and ongoing violations by Hamas – including the disgraceful ceremonies that dishonour the dignity of our abductees and the cynical use of captives for propaganda purposes – it has been decided to postpone the release of the terrorists that was planned for yesterday until the release of the next group of abductees is secured, and without the humiliating ceremonies.”

The statement came as vehicles apparently carrying prisoners left the open gates of Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank, only to turn around and go back in.

The release of 620 Palestinian prisoners had been delayed for several hours and was meant to happen after six Israeli hostages were released on Saturday.

Five of the six captives were escorted by masked, armed militants in front of crowds – displays that the United Nations and others have criticised as cruel after previous handovers.

The final hostage was released to the Red Cross in private.

The Gaza ceasefire deal continues to hold, despite tensions rising earlier in the week when Hamas initially handed over the body of an unidentified Palestinian woman instead of Israeli mother-of-two Shiri Bibas.

The hostage-prisoner exchange earmarked for Saturday was supposed to be the last for the first phase of the ceasefire.

Israel had been expected to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, including a man who has been detained for more than 40 years, and many more given life sentences.

However, as night fell across the region, they remained behind bars, with Hamas claiming their release had been delayed because some of them had been “assaulted”.

An Israeli spokesperson has denied the assaults and said the Red Cross were present at the prison.

Who are the freed Israeli hostages?

The first two hostages released on Saturday were Tal Shoham and Avera Mengistu.

Mr Shoham, 40, was visiting his wife’s family in Kibbutz Be’eri when Hamas militants stormed into the community during the October 7 attacks in 2023.

His wife, two young children and three other relatives were also abducted, but they were freed in an exchange in November 2023.

Mr Mengistu, a 39-year-old Ethiopian-Israeli, had been held in Gaza since he entered the territory on his own in 2014.

Watching the moment he was freed on TV, his family broke out in song as he walked free for the first time in more than a decade.

Later on Saturday, Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov and Omer Wenkert were handed over to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza.

Mr Shem Tov, 22, was taken during the October 7 attacks on the Nova music festival.

The computer programmer had shared his live location with his family, who eventually noticed he was headed towards Gaza and contact with him was lost.

Mr Cohen, 27, was also taken from the Nova festival, alongside his fiancee.

Released hostages have said that he was kept in chains and deprived of food and sunlight during his time in captivity, according to reports.

Mr Wenkert, 23, was taken from Nova. He suffers from colitis and requires special medical care, it has been reported.

Finally, Hisham al Sayed, 28, was handed over in a private ceremony.

The Bedouin-Israeli, from the village of Hura in the Negev desert, has been a captive since he crossed into Gaza in 2015.

Who were the Palestinian prisoners due to be released?

More than 600 Palestinian prisoners had been set to be released on Saturday.

According to the prisons office, which is run by Hamas, they included 50 who had been sentenced to life imprisonment, 60 described as having “high” sentences, 47 prisoners from the “Wafa al Ahrar” 2011 prisoner exchange deal who had since been re-arrested, and 445 who were arrested after 7 October attacks.

The “Wafa al-Ahrar” deal was the 2011 prisoner exchange agreement that saw the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1027 Palestinian prisoners.

Among the most high-profile Palestinians who had been set to be released was Nael Barghouti – the longest-serving prisoner, who has been inside for 43 years.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/israel-postpones-release-of-more-than-600-palestinian-prisoners-after-humiliating-hostage-ceremonies-13314557

MAGA influencer Ashely St. Clair claims in a new legal filing that Elon Musk acknowledged being her baby’s father by texting her, “I want to knock you up again.”

Musk has so far refused to directly address St. Clair’s claims since she publicly broke the baby news last week, but he has made several indirect posts about the situation on X.

Now, St. Clair has sued the DOGE director for sole legal custody, slamming him as an absentee father in the process, People reported.

In the petition filed with the New York Supreme Court on Friday, St. Clair says that Musk was not present at the infant’s birth in September and has only met him three times.

Moreover, St. Clair alleges that the tech billionaire “has had no involvement in his care and upbringing,” according to the petition. St. Clair also said that Musk has not seen the child since Nov. 30, 2024, when they spent 30 minutes together.

In total, Musk has spent three and a half hours with his son, who is identified as “R.S.C,” according to St. Clair’s petition.

The filing also reveals intimate details about St. Clair and Musk’s romantic relationship.

St. Clair, a 26-year-old right-wing columnist, says that she and Musk became romantically involved in May 2023 and their child was conceived in January 2024.

In the court filing, St. Clair says that Musk previously affirmed being her baby’s father as he expressed concerns about his safety in text messages.

“If I make a mistake on security, [R.S.C.] will never know his father,” Musk allegedly wrote.

In addition to texting St. Clair, ”I want to knock you up again,” the filing alleges Musk also declared that they have “a legion of kids to make.”

She included screenshots of the messages in the filing, and St. Clair’s petition asks the court to order Musk to address the paternity claim.

St. Clair’s representative, Brian Glickich, told People that St. Clair “has made every effort to collaborate with Mr. Musk before taking this step. She has no further comment on the contents of the petitions, which speak for themselves.”

Musk’s lawyer did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment on the claims made in the petition.

Source : https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-baby-mama-ashley-st-clair-says-elon-musk-admitted-paternity-in-steamy-text-messages/

The Dubai-based Bybit exchange confirmed the record-breaking crypto theft.

Fraudsters were able to access the £1billion wallet and transfer the contents to an unidentified address.

Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence have now accused North Korea’s Lazarus Group of being behind the hack.

The firm posted on social media that one of their trusted online sleuths gave them “definitive proof” that the attackers were from the infamous North Korean hacker group.

Despite Arkham’s claims, the perpetrators are yet to be confirmed.

The CEO of Bybit, Ben Zhou, shared a statement on X after the costly incident.

He said: “Bybit is solvent even if this hack loss is not recovered, all of clients assets are 1 to 1 backed, we can cover the loss.”

The CEO described this crime as “the worst hack in history”.

Zhou said his company received more than 350,000 withdrawal requests following the strike.

He said: “ALL withdraws have been processed.”

Bybit added that it had reported the crime to the police and said it was working “quickly and extensively” to find the criminals.

The company added: “We have fortunately worked quickly and extensively with on-chain analytics providers to identify and demix the implicated addresses.”

Bybit, founded in 2018, holds a staggering £15billion in assets and offers users various cryptocurrencies.

This £1billion attack caused the value of Ethereum to drop by about four per cent on Friday.

North Korea stole an estimated $800 million in crypto back in 2024, according to Redbord.

In 2022, it stole an estimated $1.7 billion in crypto, according to threat intelligence platform Recorded Future.

Other major cryptocurrency attacks in the past have seen hundreds of millions of pounds taken from people’s online wallets.

A whopping £32million worth of Bitcoin was stolen from a Binance exchange in 2019.

The platform said hackers ran off with over 7,000 bitcoin and carried out a “large scale security breach”.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/money/13604654/worst-hack-history-cybercriminals-steal-crypto-ethereum-bybit/

A knife attack in in the eastern city of Mulhouse, France left one passerby dead and three police officers wounded. The suspect, a 37-year old Algerian man, was arrested and is currently in custody.

President Emmanuel Macron described the incident as an “Islamist terror act.” Macron said the “solidarity of the nation” was with the attack victim and his family.

The attack in Mulhouse took place near a covered canal-side market. A 69-year-old Portuguese man was killed, officials said. He was a civilian passerby who tried to intervene.

France’s anti-terror prosecutors unit (PNAT) said local police officers were the suspect’s first target. He allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) during the incident.

PNAT said it is now investigating the attack as both murder and attempted murder “in connection with a terrorist enterprise.”

Suspect was on terror watchlist

Prosecutors said that the suspect was on a terrorism prevention watchlist.

The watchlist, called FSPRT, compiles data from various authorities on individuals with the aim of preventing radicalization. It was launched following the deadly 2015 attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and a Jewish supermarket.

“Horror has seized our city,” Mulhouse Mayor Michele Lutz said on Facebook. The incident was being investigated as a terror attack, she said, but “this must obviously still be confirmed by the judiciary.”

French interior minister castigates Algeria over the attack

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau traveled to Mulhouse later on Saturday and visited a fire station.

Retailleau told the TF1 television channel that the Algerian suspect was supposed to return to Algeria, but the Algerian government wouldn’t take him back. Retailleau claimed that France tried to send back the suspect 10 times, but the Algerian government wouldn’t budge on the issue.

The French interior minister blamed migration and “Islamist terrorism” for the attack. The suspect, he said, came to France in 2014 and was later convicted of glorifying terrorism.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/france-knife-attack-leaves-1-dead-several-wounded/a-71715934

Freedom of expression is guaranteed in Article 5 of the Basic Law, the German constitution, which also makes clear that this freedom has limits in order to, for example, to protect young people, privacy or personal honor.

The protection of personal honor plays a particularly important role in the German legal system, said lawyer Ralf Poscher, director of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law in Freiburg. “This originates from the time in history when notions of honor were even more important. They were then embraced by the middle classes too, and were incorporated into our legal system.”

Is libel allowed?

It is a criminal offense in Germany to insult others, and it is also illegal to spread lies that demean others. That means freedom of speech is much more restricted in Germany than, for example, in the US, says Nadine Strossen, a professor at New York Law School. A former president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Strossen is known as a strong advocate for free speech.

“The United States First Amendment law, which is our constitutional provision that protects free speech, is one of the strongest, I think it’s fair to say it’s the most speech protective national law in the world,” says Strossen. The First Amendment prohibits laws that restrict free speech.

This also means that insults and defamatory lies are largely covered by free speech. “So if you think the message is hateful, or you think the message is extremist, or you think the message is advocating violence: Whatever negative content the message has, that alone is never going to be enough to justify suppressing it in our country.”

Denying the Holocaust is illegal

Strossen’s father survived the Buchenwald concentration camp. Nonetheless, she believes that it should also be legal to deny the Holocaust. In Germany, on the other hand, it is a criminal offense to publicly deny the Nazi genocide.

This falls under what is known as “incitement to hatred.” Anyone who incites hatred or violence against certain ethnic, religious, or national groups can be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

Expressing your political opinion is allowed as long as it is not hate speech, says legal expert Poscher. “Freedom of expression and freedom of assembly protect all kinds of opinions. Even those at the extreme ends of the political spectrum.”

This is why, for example, right-wing extremist groups are allowed to hold demonstrations in Germany. “Of course, they are not allowed to cross the line when it comes to intimidation, insults, degradation, and the like, but they are certainly allowed to spread ideas that are not in line with the constitution.”

Only when those deemed as enemies of the constitution become organized in such a way that they pose a threat to democracy may the state intervene. In this case, associations and parties may also be banned. Known as ‘defensive’ democracy, the objective is to prevent Germany from becoming a dictatorship again, as it was during the Nazi era.

Is it better to ignore than to ban?

Strossen believes that all of this is well-intentioned. However, she says it would not get any closer to the goal of protecting human dignity. “I think that paternalistic approach is actually not only denying individual liberty but it is ultimately ineffective,” she said. “History shows that the best way to get attention for your message is to hope that somebody protests it and tries to shut it down.”

“A very troubling vector is the rise of the AfD,” says Strossen, referring to Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party which has doubled in support over the last three years. “Many analysts say this is happening not despite efforts to punish hateful expression, including by leaders of that party, but precisely because of it. That increases the attention, that increases the sympathy, that increases suspicion and distrust of the mainstream parties.” Strossen believes that this is why it is better to ignore hate and agitation than to ban them. False claims can be refuted, she says.

The debates about the limits of freedom of expression have intensified since the rise of social media. It has become possible for anyone to publicly express their opinion — even if that means spreading hate and agitation.

According to a study sponsored by Germany’s Family Ministry, almost one in two people in Germany have been verbally abused online. A quarter of respondents said they have been subjected to physical violence and 13% to sexualized violence. Of those surveyed, 55% said they were less likely to take part in discussions as a result.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/why-hate-speech-is-punishable-by-law-in-germany/a-71700225

In an Instagram post on Sunday, Oscar-winning actress Julianne Moore wrote she was “deeply saddened” by the Trump administration’s decision to put her 2007 children’s book “Freckleface Strawberry” under review and removing it from schools serving the children of US military personnel and civilian defense employees.

The book tells the tale of a red-headed youngster who hates her freckles but eventually learns to love them — as well as the differences of others. According to The Guardian, the Department of Defense circulated a memo stating that all library books “potentially related to gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology topics” were being looked into, and that a “small number” of said books were being held for “further review” as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

“It is a book I wrote for my children and for other kids to remind them that we all struggle, but are united by our humanity and our community” the Oscar-winner wrote in her social media post. “I am truly saddened and never thought I would see this in a country where freedom of speech and expression is a constitutional right.”

Many in the world of arts and humanities fear that a climate of censorship is impending — and it’s far from the only concern.

‘Assault on free expression’

In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that mandated all federal agencies end Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs. The move was felt in the arts scene, namely in several dozen major museums that receive federal funding, including the Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Art. These institutions were left to determine whether their programs fit with the new directives that consider diversity efforts to be discriminatory. The National Gallery of Art already announced it would close its Office of Belonging and Inclusion.

“The DEI assault of the Trump administration and… censorship of activities that in any way touch on race is upon us. And it’s very incoherent because there’s no clear guideline for what it means to be racially biased when in fact you’re simply trying to redress grievances of the past,” says Maxwell Anderson, a former museum curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and director of the Whitney Museum. “So there’s a kind of free-floating assault on free expression.”

Anderson, who now runs the foundation Souls Grown Deep, which supports Black artists in the southern US, says he and other equality-driven organisations are keeping a close eye on the maneuvers of the new administration.

“Because it seems that it’s now becoming illegal in the United States to talk about the history of race,” Anderson said. “This kind of erasure is so reminiscent of the fascist movements in the ’30s, so for us in the US, it’s shocking. We all assumed that if Trump was elected, it would be a devastating blow to culture, but we didn’t know how deep it would cut.”

Federal support for the arts gets the ax

During his first term in office, Trump dissolved the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, a historically non-partisan group established by Republican president Ronald Reagan on “the fundamental belief that creativity, diversity, and democracy are intrinsically bound, and that the arts and the humanities can be a powerful force for social change.”

The committee has brought together prominent artists, academics and museum professionals to advise on cultural policy. In the past, it has included members such as Frank Sinatra and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, among others.

In 2017, President Trump banned the group after 17 members resigned over his response to the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Joe Biden reinstated the group in 2022, citing the importance of arts and humanities. Then in January, Trump dissolved the group once again in a series of executive orders aimed at rolling back the previous administration’s policies on art and culture and historical commemoration.

Already, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), a federal agency that is the largest funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide, cut its FY26 Challenge America grants, which gave millions in federal funding to small arts organizations that extended outreach to underserved communities in the US. The organization announced that funds and manpower would now go towards the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence — which along with the creation of a new national sculpture garden, is one of the president’s planned projects.

Kennedy Center takeover

Yet almost ironically, President Trump recently came to the helm of one of the largest performing arts institutions in the US: The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

The president orchestrated a veritable takeover of the cultural enterprise that — uniquely — is part of the US government. It hosts more than 2,000 performances a year across artistic disciplines and is home to the National Sympony Orchestra and the National Opera.

President Trump fired many of the previous board members, replacing them with hand-picked allies, including Second Lady Usha Vance, his advisor Dan Scavino and his chief of staff Susie Wiles, among others. They, in turn, elected him chairperson.

President Trump said he wants the institution to move away from “woke culture,” writing on social media that there would be “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA – ONLY THE BEST.”

A number of artists have since cancelled upcoming performances out of protest at the takeover — as well as eyebrow-raising program changes that occurred at the same time but supposedly have nothing to do with it. “Finn,” a children’s musical, about a young shark who realizes he relates more to smaller fish than other sharks, was canceled. The National Symphony Orchestra concert titled “A Peacock Among Pigeons” which was described as a “celebration of love, diversity, and the vibrant spirit of the LGBTQ+ community” was also postponed indefinitely shortly after the regime change on the board.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/trump-administration-sparks-fears-of-censorship-to-us-arts-scene/a-71675389

President Donald Trump praised Elon Musk’s work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), but encouraged him to “get more aggressive.”

“ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Saturday morning. “REMEMBER, WE HAVE A COUNTRY TO SAVE, BUT ULTIMATELY, TO MAKE GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE. MAGA!”

Musk, who was appointed to lead the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has spearheaded an initiative to downsize the federal workforce. Since Trump’s inauguration on January 20, DOGE has implemented a 10% reduction in government employees, cutting more than 77,000 positions through a buyout program. The department claims these cuts have saved over $55 billion.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO recently addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where he wielded a chainsaw before sharing his lighthearted approach to his recent work in the public sector. “We are trying to get good things done,” he said, wearing sunglasses for the entirety of his thirty minutes on stage. “Ultimately, have a good time doing it and have a sense of humor.”

Despite the administration’s praise for Musk’s efforts, the scope of the layoffs has drawn criticism, as has the DOGE team’s unprecedented access to and authority over government systems.

The chaotic manner with which the decisions are carried out has also faced scrutiny. Some workers were fired and brought back, only to be fired again. Federal workers in probationary periods—who can be dismissed without cause—have been among the hardest hit, with the Department of Veterans Affairs, NIH, and IRS seeing significant cuts.

Source : https://www.latintimes.com/trump-says-elon-musk-doing-great-job-get-more-aggressive-576448

German police arrested a suspect in the stabbing on Friday evening at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial that seriously injured a man two days before a watershed national election.
Berlin’s police department gave no details on the identity of the suspect or his possible motive.
“Our forces have detained a suspect in the vicinity of the crime scene,” city police posted on X. “Investigations continue.”
Video of the scene showed emergency vehicles and heavily armoured police lined along one side of the memorial site, a vast field of grey concrete pillars where the attack took place. The memorial is across a street from the U.S. Embassy.

The victim “was so seriously injured that he had to be taken by the fire brigade to hospital for emergency treatment,” police spokesperson Florian Nath said.
The attack occurred around 6 p.m. (1700 GMT). The victim’s life was not in danger and he was being prepared for surgery, Nath added. Police were collecting forensic material at the site, he said.
The monument, one of the German capital’s most sacred sites, commemorates the 6 million Jews murdered by Adolf Hitler’s Nazis during World War Two, one of the darkest episodes in human history and a continuing focus of German historical atonement.

An eyewitness told local broadcaster RBB24 that the two men had appeared to approach each other before the victim was suddenly stabbed. Specialist fire brigade officers were offering trauma counselling to the witnesses, police said.
The area surrounding the monument, a 1.9 hectare (4.7 acres) site in the heart of the city, was sealed off.
The national election campaign, in which polls suggest a far-right party could come in second place for the first time in nine decades, has been marred by a series of high-profile attacks.
One of those was a stabbing in which two were killed, including a toddler that was blamed on an Afghan immigrant. That prompted a fraught debate on immigration and demands from the front-runner conservatives for the border to be closed.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/man-seriously-hurt-stabbing-berlin-holocaust-memorial-tagesspiegel-newspaper-2025-02-21/

President Donald Trump on Friday fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, and pushed out five other admirals and generals in an unprecedented shake-up of U.S. military leadership.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he would nominate former Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to succeed Brown, breaking with tradition by pulling someone out of retirement for the first time to become the top military officer.

The president will also replace the head of the U.S. Navy, a position held by Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead a military service, as well as the air force vice chief of staff, the Pentagon said. He is also removing the judge advocates general for the Army, Navy and Air Force, critical positions that ensure enforcement of military justice.
Trump’s decision sets off a period of upheaval at the Pentagon, which was already bracing for mass firings of civilian staff, a dramatic overhaul of its budget and a shift in military deployments under Trump’s new America First foreign policy.

While the Pentagon’s civilian leadership changes from one administration to the next, the uniformed members of the U.S. armed forces are meant to be apolitical, carrying out the policies of Democratic and Republican administrations.
Brown, the second Black officer to become the president’s top uniformed military adviser, was serving a four-year term meant to end in September 2027.
A U.S. official said Brown was relieved with immediate effect, before the Senate confirms his successor.
Reuters in November was first to report that the incoming Trump administration planned a sweeping shakeup of the top brass, with firings including Brown.

Democratic lawmakers condemned the decision by Trump, a Republican.
“Firing uniformed leaders as a type of political loyalty test, or for reasons relating to diversity and gender that have nothing to do with performance, erodes the trust and professionalism that our servicemembers require to achieve their missions,” said Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Representative Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat, said the firings were “un-American, unpatriotic, and dangerous for our troops and our national security.”
“This is the definition of politicizing our military,” he said.

‘WOKE’ GENERALS

During last year’s presidential campaign, Trump spoke of firing “woke” generals and those responsible for the troubled 2021 pullout from Afghanistan. But on Friday, the president did not explain his decision to replace Brown.

“I want to thank General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family,” Trump wrote.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had been skeptical of Brown before taking the helm of the Pentagon with a broad agenda that includes eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the military.
In his most recent book, Hegseth, a former Fox News personality and military veteran, asked whether Brown would have gotten the job if he were not Black.
“Was it because of his skin color? Or his skill? We’ll never know, but always doubt – which on its face seems unfair to CQ. But since he has made the race card one of his biggest calling cards, it doesn’t really much matter,” he wrote in his 2024 book “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.”
Brown, a former fighter pilot who has held commands in the Middle East and Asia, recounted experiencing discrimination in the military in an emotional video posted online after the 2020 killing of George Floyd, which sparked nationwide protests for racial justice.
Brown was on official travel when Trump made the announcement. Hours before Trump’s announcement, Brown’s official X account had posted images of him meeting troops on the U.S. border with Mexico, deployed in support of Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
“Border Security has always been critical to the defense of our homeland. As we navigate unprecedented security challenges… we will ensure our troops at the border have everything they need,” Brown posted.
A spokesperson for Brown did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

WOMEN LEADERS FIRED

Franchetti was the first woman to command the U.S. Navy.
Her 2023 nomination by then-President Joe Biden had been a surprise. Pentagon officials had widely expected the nomination to go to Admiral Samuel Paparo, who at the time led the navy in the Pacific. Paparo was instead promoted to lead the U.S. military’s Indo Pacific Command.
On his first day in office, Trump fired Admiral Linda Fagan as head of the U.S. Coast Guard. She had been its first female commanding officer.
Last month, Trump’s Pentagon lashed out Mark Milley, a retired Army general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, by revoking his personal security detail and security clearance. It also removed his portrait from the walls of the Pentagon.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-pushes-out-top-us-general-nominates-retired-three-star-2025-02-22/

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday reported that measles cases so far this year had jumped to 93 from 14 a week ago, mainly driven by an outbreak in Texas.
An outbreak in Gaines County, Texas, where cases have now risen to 57 from 22 on February 11, has raised concerns over its spread to other parts of the state. Texas reported 90 cases overall as of Friday.
The Texas Department of State Health Services reiterated from last week that more cases of the highly contagious disease were likely to surface due to an outbreak in Gaines County.

The CDC said cases were reported from Alaska, California, Georgia, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, Rhode Island and Texas.
It added that 95% of the cases were in individuals who either had not been vaccinated or had an unknown status, with 4% of the total patients receiving one dose of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, and none getting the two doses the agency recommends.
Out of all the cases in the country, 28 were in children below the age of two, and 48 were in individuals between five and 19 years old.

Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, meaning there was no continuous transmission of the disease for a year. The virus can spread via travelers from countries where measles is common.
The CDC said there have been three outbreaks reported in 2025. For comparison, there were 16 outbreaks during 2024, with a total 285 cases reported.
In recent years, federal health officials have attributed some outbreaks to parents refusing to vaccinate children.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-cdc-reports-five-fold-increase-measles-cases-last-week-2025-02-21/

The Associated Press on Friday sued senior aides to President Donald Trump over a decision by the White House to restrict the news outlet’s access to the president and other officials for continuing to refer to the Gulf of Mexico in its coverage.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., alleges that the White House’s decision to bar AP reporters from the Oval Office and Air Force One violates the U.S. Constitution, including First Amendment protections for free speech, by trying to control the language that it uses to report the news.

“The press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not be retaliated against by the government,” the complaint states.
Responding to questions about the lawsuit posed by conservative commentator Mercedes Schlapp, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, speaking during an appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference, said: “We feel we are in the right in this position. We are going to ensure that truth and accuracy is present at that White House every single day.”

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, in a statement, called the lawsuit “a blatant PR stunt masquerading as a first amendment case.”
Trump signed an executive order last month directing the Interior Department to change the name of the body of water long known as the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
The AP, citing editorial standards, said it would continue to use the gulf’s established name, while acknowledging Trump’s move to change it.
The AP says in its stylebook that the Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years and that it must use identifiers that are easily recognizable for global audiences.

The White House in response barred AP reporters from the Oval Office, where Trump has held several press events since returning to the presidency, and the presidential plane, Air Force One.
Trump’s ban prevents the AP’s journalists from seeing and hearing him and other top White House officials as they take newsworthy actions or respond in real time to news events.
The move has been criticized by several press freedom groups and the White House Correspondents’ Association. Reuters released a statement in support of the AP.
The lawsuit claims the White House’s decision retaliated against the AP over coverage decisions, which are protected under the Constitution. It also alleges the AP did not have an opportunity to challenge the White House’s decision to bar its access.
The lawsuit names Leavitt, chief of staff Susie Wiles and deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich as defendants.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ap-sues-trump-aides-restricting-access-over-gulf-mexico-name-2025-02-21/

Mauritius Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be the Guest of Honour at the nation’s National Day celebrations.

Ramgoolam also highlighted the honour of hosting such a leader, especially given PM Modi’s packed schedule and recent international engagements in Paris and the United States.

Addressing the Parliament, Ramgoolam said, “I have great pleasure to inform the House that following my invitation, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, has kindly agreed to be the Guest of Honour for our National Day celebrations. It is indeed a singular privilege for our country, to host such a distinguished personality who is doing us this honour, despite his very tight schedule and his recent visits to Paris and the United States.”

Ramgoolam further said that the visit serves as a testament to the strong and enduring relationship between the two countries.

He added, “He has agreed to be here as our special guest. The visit of Modi is a testimony of the close relations between our two nations.”

The country will celebrate its National Day next month.

Earlier in November 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Dr Navin Ramgoolam on his historic electoral victory in Mauritius.

PM Modi in his wishes had said that he looks forward to working closely with Dr. Ramgoolam to further strengthen their “unique partnership.”

Sharing a post on X, PM Modi wrote, “Had a warm conversation with my friend @Ramgoolam_Dr, congratulating him on his historic electoral victory. I wished him great success in leading Mauritius and extended an invitation to visit India. Look forward to working closely together to strengthen our special and unique partnership.”

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/world/pm-modi-to-be-guest-of-honour-for-national-day-celebrations-mauritius-pm-navin-ramgoolam

PRESIDENT Donald Trump has denied claims that he will visit Vladimir Putin in Moscow for the May 9 victory day parade.

It comes after French outlet Le Point claimed, citing Russian sources, that the Republican would be in attendance,

Trump rubbished the report he will fly to Russia for Victory Day celebrations on May 9.

The Red Square showcase celebrates Russia’s defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 and has become a marquee event for the Russian strongman.

It would mark the first visit by a US president since mad Vlad launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and a remarkable revers of fortunes for Putin.

But President Trump was quick to squash the claim, responding “no, I’m not” upon being asked if he was to attend.

Putin’s puppet Dmitry Peskov also denied Trump’s attendance to Russian media.

Trump also said on Friday that Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have to “get together” in order for the breakthrough Ukraine war peace deal to progress.

Trump pointed to the horrifically high casualty numbers in the war to describe why he wants to “get the deal done,” adding that there is “a chance” to make it happen.

Victory Day a showcase of Russia’s military in Moscow’s Red Square.

This year’s Victory Day parade is expected to follow suit of last year’s lacklustre celebrations, where Putin vowed Russia was “always” ready to strike the West and snubbed Britain in a snarling World War 2 rant.

Questions also surround whether the parade, for the third year in a row, will include just one measly tank – reportedly an 80-year-old T-34.

Last year the mad Russian dictator did one of his shortest Victory Day speeches than ever before, lasting just seven minutes.

Putin also had his nuclear briefcase on show in Red Square as he issued a chilling warning of a new global war.

Plain-clothed aides carried the nuclear briefcase or ‘football’ – which could be used to start World War Three – as well as protection shields to use in the event of an assassination attempt against the dictator.

Three of his hulking Yars atomic missile launchers also thundered over the cobbles in a show of force to the West.

The military parade broadcast on smart TVs was also reportedly targeted by anti-war hackers for at least 20 seconds.

Footage suddenly appeared across Russia showing the reality of the war in Ukraine – fields of dead troops, wrecked equipment and scores of helmets of fallen soldiers.

It also lined up images of Moscow’s troops in a ‘Z’ formation next to German World War 2 soldiers forming a Nazi swastika.

It comes after Trump slammed Ukrainian President Zelensky’s approval ratings, called for fresh Ukraine elections and appeared to suggest that Ukraine started the war with Russia following the historic peace talks in Saudi Arabia.

Putin praised the Republican for “changing his position” when he “began to receive objective information” on Wednesday – a mere few hours after Zelensky slammed Trump for living in a “Russian disinformation bubble”.

The tyrant said he welcomed Tuesday’s talks between Russian and US officials in Saudi Arabia, dubbing them the “first step” to restore relations with Washington.

Speaking from a drone factory in Saint Petersburg, smug Vlad said: “I was briefed [on the talks]. I rate them highly, there is a result.

“In my opinion, we made the first step to restore work in various areas of mutual interests.”

He added that ensuring there’s a resolution to the conflict is a top priority for Russia, but explained that his country has to build trust with the US to achieve this.

The dictator also shared that Trump was starting to receive “objective information”, without elaborating.

He said: “We will be ready to return to the negotiating table”.

In Kyiv, Deputy Minister of Defence Serhii Boiev hit back at Donald Trump’s claim that European troops in Kyiv will spark World War Three.

He warned that without the presence of British or European allies, Putin will pretend to agree to a ceasefire while secretly “firing on all cylinders in recruiting and training”.

The silver-haired top minister added that without a fresh pledge of military support from Trump, in three months time the army will experience a critical dip in weapons supplies.

In a secret briefing room, Mr Boiev told The Sun that Sir Keir Starmer was completely right to pledge “British boots on the ground” in Ukraine.

The Prime Minister made a rallying cry to Europe urging leaders to “step up” and deploy peacekeeping troops to Ukraine.

The PM vowed the UK will “do our bit” to try and enforce a peace deal.

Mr Boiev said: “If Ukraine doesn’t go to Nato then Nato needs to go to Ukraine.

“We want European forces to be here to ensure a sustainable peace.

“The security guarantees that come out of this war are essential including the contingency of allies on the ground.”

Labour MPs David Taylor and Phill Brickell, who met with Mr Boiev in Kyiv, said: “If the US falter, the UK must be willing to step up. The front line here in Ukraine is the front line for Brits. The evil tyrant Putin will not stop.

“Keir Starmer must set a rapid path to at least 2.5% on defence. We must look to support a new, protected supply chain of easy to make and easy to use warfare drones.

“And, we must designate all members of the United Russia Party as terrorists, using any sanctioned money for the war effort.”

Zelensky accused Moscow of misleading Trump in a press conference earlier – which the US President has since responded to in a tirade on his social media platform, Truth Social.

SEAN “Diddy” Combs’ lawyer has sensationally quit the music mogul’s legal team plunging the rapper into a new crisis.

Anthony Ricco issued a mysterious statement saying he “cannot continue”.

Ricco issued a surprise motion to withdraw from counsel on Friday in New York.

The lawyer’s message to the court included a cryptic message hinting at why he dropped Diddy.

His motion said: “Although I have provided Sean Combs with the high level of legal representation expected by the court, under no circumstances can I continue to effectively serve as counsel for Sean Combs.”

Ricco added: “There are sufficient reasons (related to the protections afforded by the attorney/client privilege) for brevity in my application for withdrawal as counsel in this case”.

The lawyer also said his decision to leave would allow the music mogul to move forward with the case and start his trial without delay.

Diddy is due to start his trial on sex trafficking and racketeering charges in May.

The rapper denies all the allegations against him.

Ricco also said he spoke with the disgraced rapper’s lead counsel, Mark Agnifilo, before filing the motion.

Combs, 55, is currently locked up in a Brooklyn jail while awaiting trial.

The famed rapper is accused of abusing several women and leading Bad Boy Records as a “criminal enterprise” for more than a decade.

He has pleaded not guilty to these charges but could face life in prison if he is convicted on all counts.

Several people have filed indictments against the rapper.

Diddy was previously charged with subjecting “Victim-1” to sex trafficking, who is believed to be his former girlfriend, singer Casandra Ventura, also known as Cassie.

Federal prosecutors then added “Victim-2” and “Victims-3” to his bombshell case.

Lead counsel Marc Agnifilo claimed the shocking update was “flawed”.

He said: “The latest Indictment contains no new offenses. The prosecution’s theory remains flawed.”

SICK ORDERS

Diddy was also hit with a lawsuit from his former assistant Phillip Pines.

Pines claimed the rapper once ordered him to have sex with a girl to prove his loyalty to the “king”.

US President Donald Trump’s remark that his country spent $21m to boost voter turnout in India’s elections has triggered a political slugfest in the country.

He made the remark days after a team led by Elon Musk said it had cancelled the payout as part of its crackdown on a US agency providing foreign aid.

India’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called the payout an “external interference” and accused the opposition Congress party of seeking this intervention.

The Congress denied the allegation, calling Trump’s claims “nonsensical”. The US has not provided any evidence to support its claim.

On Friday, India’s foreign ministry said it found the claims “deeply troubling”.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said it was “premature” to make public statements about the matter at this stage and that relevant authorities were investigating it.

Trump vowed to boost the US economy and soon after returning to office, he created the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), led by Musk, to slash federal spending and jobs. Musk says Doge’s mission is to save taxpayer money and cut national debt.

One of its biggest moves – now making global headlines – is a crackdown on USAID, the US agency overseeing humanitarian aid since the 1960s. Musk, who has called USAID a “criminal organisation”, announced on Sunday that funding for several projects had been cancelled.

The cuts included $486m for the “Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening”, with “$21m for voter turnout in India” and “$22m for inclusive and participatory political process in Moldova”.

Defending Doge’s cuts, Trump said India “had a lot of money” and was among the world’s highest-taxing nations.

On Thursday, he doubled down, questioning the $21m spend on “India’s voter turnout”.

The latest comments came a week after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first Washington visit under Trump’s second term, where Trump announced expanded military sales, increased energy exports and plans for a trade deal and new defence framework.

“I guess they were trying to get somebody else elected. We have got to tell the Indian government,” the US president said at a summit in Miami.

The same day, BJP leader Amit Malviya shared a clip of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi speaking at an event in London before the 2024 general election.

In the clip, Gandhi can be heard saying that major democracies like the US and European countries were “oblivious that a huge chunk of democratic model has come undone [in India]”.

“Rahul Gandhi was in London, urging foreign powers – from the US to Europe – to intervene in India’s internal affairs,” Malviya alleged in his post on X.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh dismissed the claim and urged the government to report on USAID’s decades-long support to governmental and non-governmental institutions during PM Modi’s tenure.

Kfir and Ariel Bibas were last seen on 7 October with their mother Shiri’s hands around them, holding onto her boys surrounded by gunmen and violence, trying to protect them. She couldn’t.

According to the Israeli army, Kfir and Ariel’s last moments were at the “bare hands” of their captors.

How do you eulogise children who have barely lived their lives?

Kfir Bibas, a hostage at just nine months old, did not live to take his first steps or celebrate his first birthday.

Ariel Bibas had only experienced four years of a life that should have been much longer.

A statement from Kibbutz Nir Oz, where the boys were taken hostage from, described Kfir as “a calm and smiley baby, with ginger hair and a laugh that would make anyone’s heart melt. Wherever he went he lit it up with his smile and joy.”

Ariel, they said, was “a playful boy with ginger hair, curious eyes and a big smile. He loved superheroes, tractors and cars, and ran non-stop, climbing and exploring the world.”

The two brothers became the greatest symbol of the hostage nightmare Israelis are enduring. Bringing home the Bibas family was a country’s fervent hope.

Throughout the last 16 months they have been remembered, prayed for, kept in the hearts of people, not just in Israel but by Jews and others across the world.

Images were shared of the boys in their Batman costumes with Ariel’s cape flying in the wind; of older brother Ariel hugging his baby brother Kfir when he was born; of Kfir giggling and gurgling as his father Yarden played with him.

And then the image seared into the minds since Hamas’s attack on 7 October: the boys clutching onto their mother Shiri Bibas, her face tormented in fear, as they were surrounded by gunmen and taken to Gaza.

No one in Israel wanted this ending; where Kfir and Ariel returned, not to their innocent childhood, but with their tender years already over. And where their mother who protected them until the last moment has not even returned with them.

In Israel, there is communal pain and grief.

In a video statement, the Israeli Prime Minister said Ariel and Kfir Bibas and 84-year-old Oded Lifschitz, whose body was also returned on Thursday, were “brutally murdered by Hamas savages.”

Holding up a picture of the boys, Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Today is a tragic day. It’s a day of boundless sorrow, of indescribable pain.

“Their bodies return home to a nation in mourning. A nation that will never forget and never forgive the evil that cut down these beautiful souls…The Bibas children in particular became the symbol of who we are, and who we’re fighting against.”

Netanyahu said: “Who kidnaps a little boy and a baby and murders them? Monsters. That’s who.”

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said in a statement: “Agony. Pain. Our hearts — the hearts of an entire nation — lie in tatters.” He asked for forgiveness on behalf of the country for not protecting them and bringing them home.

Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were aged 32, four and nine months when they were kidnapped during the 7 October attacks.

About 1,200 people – mostly civilians – were killed in the attacks and 251 others taken back to Gaza as hostages. Israel launched a massive military campaign against Hamas in response, which has killed at least 48,297 Palestinians – mainly civilians – according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

This week, in Israel and abroad, people across social media posted images of broken orange hearts to represent the boys with the striking ginger hair.

On Thursday, as the vehicles with the bodies of the Bibas children and Oded Lifschitz crossed into Israel, people lining the streets with Israeli flags shouted out “sorry”.

In October 2023 just weeks after they were kidnapped, the aunt of the Bibas brothers spoke to the BBC.

Ofri Bibas Levy described how Kfir had just started crawling and eating solid food.

“They are civilians and are not supposed to be there. The longer they are there the harder it’s going to be to recover them and the less chance they’re going to come out alive,” she said.

On Friday she wrote on Facebook: “I’m sorry Luli [Ariel], I’m sorry Firfir [Kfir].

“You did not deserve any of this. We will miss you forever. We are not giving up on your mum Shiri.”

In a video statement she added: “Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir were taken alive by a murderous terrorist organization, and it was Israel’s responsibility and obligation to bring them back alive.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8mv5dp0r3o

A South Carolina man on death row has chosen to be killed by firing squad, and if his execution goes forward next month, it would be the first time in 15 years that capital punishment in the US is carried out by gunfire.

Brad Sigmon, 67, is scheduled to be shot to death on 7 March, part of a spate of rapid killings the state has pursued in the last six months as it revives executions after a 13-year pause. South Carolina now directs those on death row to choose how they will be killed – electric chair, lethal injection or shooting. If they decline to make a selection, the state electrocutes them.

Attorneys for men on South Carolina’s death row have previously objected to firing squads, raising concerns about the pain caused by shootings and arguing the method constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. But Sigmon selected a firing squad in part because of concerns about the state’s lethal injection methods, his attorneys said.

The last three executions in the state were carried out with injections of pentobarbital, a sedative. Each time, it took more than 20 minutes for the men to die, and in one case, it appeared to cause a man to suffer a condition akin to drowning and suffocation, lawyers for the men said in court filings. Sigmon’s lawyers have also raised concerns about the secrecy surrounding the state’s lethal injection drugs and protocols.

“He has a right to this choice, but it’s not an informed choice,” Gerald “Bo” King, one of Sigmon’s lawyers, said in an interview. “My frustration is we are in a world where he has to choose between being electrocuted, poisoned or shot, and we can’t even get the most basic facts you would want to make that decision.”

South Carolina had ceased executions since 2011 in part because it ran out of lethal injection supplies as pharmaceutical companies faced pressure to stop selling drugs to facilitate state killings. But lawmakers in 2023 passed a shield law to keep the identity of suppliers secret, allowing officials to restock lethal drugs and resume executions last year.

Sigmon’s attorneys noted in a recent filing that the South Carolina department of corrections (SCDC) was obliged to “disclose some basic facts about the drug’s creation, quality and reliability” and criticized prison officials for failing to provide information about the “potency, purity and stability” of the drugs, their expiration dates, and how they are being tested and stored.

In the execution of Richard Moore in November, autopsy records suggested officials injected him with a second dose of pentobarbital after 10 minutes had passed, even though the SCDC has said the injections are to happen “via a single dose”, lawyers said. His autopsy also showed his lungs were swollen with fluid, “an excruciating condition known as pulmonary edema”.

After the January execution of Marion Bowman, which took roughly 23 minutes, an SCDC official declined to say how many doses were injected, saying: “We followed our protocol and that is not disclosed.”

“You have three executions that have seemingly gone awry,” said King, pointing to previous cases in other states of botched executions by lethal injection and mishandling of the drugs. “It could be excruciatingly painful.”

South Carolina officials have previously said that the firing squad protocols involve strapping the person to a chair with an “aim point” placed on his heart and a hood covering his head. Three men armed with rifles will then shoot from behind a wall 15ft away with an opening in it.

In 2022, a South Carolina judge said this method “constitutes torture” and was “cruel” and unconstitutional. The judge noted the person was “likely to be conscious for a minimum of 10 seconds after impact” and the pain could be extended “if the ammunition does not fully incapacitate the heart”: “During this time, he will feel excruciating pain resulting from the gunshot wounds and broken bones.” If the person’s vital signs were still present 10 minutes after the first shots, staff would fire a second time, the judge noted.

Last year, the state supreme court ruled all methods were lawful since officials were giving the men a choice of method.

Sigmon’s potential killing by firing squad comes at a time of increasing scrutiny of methods of execution across the country, and as Donald Trump has pledged to revive capital punishment at the federal level and help ensure that states have “sufficient supplies” to carry out killings. Alabama has recently been using nitrogen hypoxia, a suffocation method human rights groups say amounts to torture.

Five states currently allow firing squads, and Idaho lawmakers are now pushing to make it the primary execution method. The last firing squad execution in the US was in 2010 in Utah, the only state to use this method in the last 50 years.

“I expect many members of the public will be shocked by the graphic and bloody display that will result from a firing squad execution,” said Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. “Unlike other forms of execution, this will look exactly like what it is: the deliberate and intentional taking of life by the state, using a vivid and brutal method.”

The recent South Carolina executions have been observed by several journalists, and the state’s protocols say the firing squad chair would not directly face witnesses, but observers would see the “right-side profile” of the person being killed.

Chrysti Shain, an SCDC spokesperson, said in an email that its lethal injection policies mirrored federal guidelines and that the last three executions “followed protocol”. The US justice department, however, withdrew its pentobarbital protocol in January, just before Trump’s inauguration, citing “uncertainty” over whether the drug “causes unnecessary pain and suffering”.

Shain also pointed to the court declaration of an anesthesiologist hired by the state, who said pentobarbital on average would cause unconsciousness within 20 to 30 seconds, and that the individual would not feel pain or suffocation.

Sigmon was convicted of the 2001 murders of his ex-girlfriend’s parents. Sigmon admitted his guilt in court, and his lawyers have argued that the killings stemmed from a childhood of physical abuse and neglect and severe, inherited mental illness that went undiagnosed and untreated. In a petition filed on Thursday seeking to stop the execution, his lawyers argued that Sigmon’s trial counsel failed to present evidence of his trauma and mental illness.

Source : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/21/brad-sigmon-death-penalty-firing-squad

Donald Trump has said the US is close to agreeing a minerals deal with Ukraine – after accusing Britain and France of “doing nothing” to end the war.

“We’re signing an agreement, hopefully in the next fairly short period of time,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said on Friday the two countries were “working on a draft agreement”.

His comments came after a conversation between his chief of staff and US national security adviser Mike Waltz on a minerals deal the Ukrainian leader had previously turned down.

“Here’s the bottom line, President Zelenskyy is going to sign that deal, and you will see that in the very short term,” Mr Waltz told the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland.

It is also believed that US negotiators raised the possibility of cutting Ukraine’s access to Elon Musk’s vital Starlink satellite internet system if it did not agree to a deal.

Earlier, Mr Trump called French President Emmanuel Macron a “friend of mine” and UK leader Sir Keir Starmer a “nice guy” but said Russia had only agreed to negotiate “because of me”.

Mr Trump made the comments days before both leaders visit the White House for a meeting in which they must try to press Ukraine’s case while keeping the US leader onside.

The president also continued his criticism of Mr Zelenskyy, saying he had “no cards” to play.

“I’ve been watching for years, and I’ve been watching him negotiate with no cards. He has no cards. And you get sick of it. You just get sick of it. And I’ve had it,” he told a Fox radio show.

The comments come after he recently called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator without elections” – apparently in response to Mr Zelenskyy saying his US counterpart was living in a “disinformation space” after Mr Trump claimed Ukraine had started the war

Ukraine was also excluded from talks between the top US and Russian diplomats in Riyadh earlier this week.

They were intended to set the stage for future negotiations on ending the war, which started when Russia launched a full-scale invasion three years ago.

Speaking on Friday evening, Mr Trump denied speculation he could visit Moscow for talks on 9 May – the day Russia celebrates its victory over the Nazis.

Mr Trump also told reporters the Russian and Ukrainian leaders needed to “work together” to end the war.

However, the US has already dealt a huge blow to Kyiv’s position in any future talks.

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that a return to pre-war borders was “unrealistic” and ruled out NATO membership as a way to guarantee Kyiv’s security.

President Zelenskyy has insisted he will not accept any deal that his country is not involved in.

Ukraine’s leader held talks with US envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv on Thursday, describing it later as a “good discussion”.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/trump-says-us-close-to-ukraine-minerals-deal-and-accuses-france-and-uk-of-doing-nothing-to-end-war-13314377

Dozens of supporters were outside court as the man accused of fatally shooting the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare made his first appearance.

Luigi Mangione has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of murder following the 4 December killing of Brian Thompson, 50, outside a midtown Manhattan hotel.

The 26-year-old is accused of ambushing and shooting the executive as he walked to an investor conference.

Dozens of people who showed up in court to support the suspect including former army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning who was jailed for stealing classified diplomatic cables.

Dozens more queued in the hallway.

Mangione is also facing federal charges that could carry the possibility of the death penalty.

The judge set a deadline of 9 April to submit pre-trial motions.

In addition to the New York cases, Mr Mangione also faces charges of forgery, carrying firearms without a licence, and other counts in Pennsylvania, where authorities arrested him at a McDonald’s.

Police say he was in possession of a gun, bullets, multiple fake IDs and a handwritten document that expressed “ill will” towards corporate America.

He is being held in a Brooklyn jail alongside several other high-profile defendants, including music mogul and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, and disgraced crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/dozens-turn-out-in-support-of-luigi-mangione-over-killing-of-healthcare-boss-13314379

Passengers have reported a suspected norovirus outbreak on a P&O cruise ship off the coast of Belgium.

One passenger on the P&O Iona told Sky News “people have been dropping like flies”, with “a large number” of guests and staff experiencing symptoms.

“People [were] throwing up in restaurants, on decks, outside cabins,” the passenger said.

The P&O Iona, which can carry more than 5,000 passengers and 1,800 staff, is currently on a seven-day cruise across northern Europe, visiting Hamburg, Rotterdam and Zeebrugge. The current passenger numbers are unclear.

P&O Cruises has confirmed to Sky News some of its guests “have unfortunately reported gastrointestinal symptoms,” however, they said it is currently affecting fewer than 1% of the passengers on board.

A large number of families are understood to be on the cruise, which is taking place during the half-term break. It left Southampton on 15 February.

The captain of the ship is understood to have made a public announcement on Thursday informing passengers of the outbreak, and said that staff were doing their best to stop the spread of infection.

Some passengers who are isolating have said staff shortages have resulted in problems with having food delivered, as well as receiving new towels and bed linen.

The passenger added: “Even the entertainment has been adversely affected with many of the scheduled acts unable to perform and replaced with a cobbled together entertainment programme to placate the guests.

“What was also incredulous was the inability to buy or get hold of any medication onboard to help with the symptoms. Not one shop or medical centre onboard could supply guests with gastrointestinal suspension medication or replacement salts/fluid sachets.”

P&O Cruises told Sky News any symptomatic guests who were unable to join shore experiences will receive a full refund.

They also said medication is “readily available through our onboard medical centre” and an emergency support number is available 24 hours a day.

“We are aware that some guests have unfortunately reported gastrointestinal symptoms recently on board Iona’s Northern Europe cruise,” P&O Cruises said in a statement.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/passengers-dropping-like-flies-after-suspected-norovirus-outbreak-on-pando-cruise-ship-13314024

A man has been found guilty of attempted murder for attacking author Sir Salman Rushdie.

The 77-year-old British-American writer was stabbed multiple times as he was preparing to give a speech in New York in 2022.

He was blinded in his right eye in the incident, suffered a severely damaged hand, and spent months recovering.

Following a trial in Chautauqua County Court, a jury convicted 27-year-old Hadi Matar of attempting to murder Sir Salman, after less than two hours of deliberations.

He was also found guilty of assault for wounding Henry Reese, who was on stage with Sir Salman at the time.

Matar gave no obvious reaction to the verdict, and quietly muttered “free Palestine” as he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.

The court heard Matar ran on to the stage at the Chautauqua Institution where the author was about to speak on 12 August 2022, and stabbed him in front of an audience.

The Indian-born writer, who spent most of the 1990s in hiding in the UK after receiving death threats over his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, was stabbed about 15 times.

Sir Salman was attacked in the head, neck, torso, and left hand. He also suffered damage to his liver and intestines.

‘I was dying’

During the trial, Sir Salman described the moment Matar attacked him and told the court: “I only saw him at the last minute.

“I was aware of someone wearing black clothes, or dark clothes and a black face mask. I was very struck by his eyes, which were dark and seemed very ferocious to me.

“I thought he was hitting me with his fist but I saw a large quantity of blood pouring onto my clothes.

“He was hitting me repeatedly. Hitting and slashing.”

The writer then said he felt “a sense of great pain and shock,” and added: “It occurred to me that I was dying. That was my predominant thought.”

The court also heard that Mr Reese, the co-founder of Pittsburgh’s City of Asylum, had suffered a gash to his forehead in the attack.

‘Attack was unprovoked’

During closing arguments earlier on Friday, District Attorney Jason Schmidt showed the jury a video of the attack and said: “I want you to look at the unprovoked nature of this attack.

“I want you to look at the targeted nature of the attack. There were a lot of people around that day but there was only one person who was targeted.”

Matar’s defence team argued prosecutors did not prove he intended to kill the writer, with Andrew Brautigan telling the jury: “You will agree something bad happened to Mr Rushdie, but you don’t know what Mr Matar’s conscious objective was.”

Mr Schmidt said that while it was not possible to read Matar’s mind, “it’s foreseeable that if you’re going to stab someone 10 or 15 times about the face and neck, it’s going to result in a fatality”.

The judge set a sentencing date of 23 April, when Matar could be jailed for up to 25 years.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/man-found-guilty-of-attempted-murder-after-stabbing-author-salman-rushdie-multiple-times-on-stage-13314117

“When they start to whack the lawyers, that’s when I draw the line,” fretted attorney Saul Goodman in an episode of Breaking Bad after one of his colleagues was murdered.

A similar anxiety has now gripped Hollywood’s publicity class amid the Justin Baldoni–Blake Lively legal battle in which several top PR names have become major players in a war that has riveted the town. According to several personal and studio publicists interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter, the scandal has already changed how representatives who are not involved with the case operate — perhaps permanently.

“This will change the personal publicist game forever, 100 percent,” declares one veteran personal publicist. “When a client says, ‘I want you to protect my reputation and get ahead of this story,’ or, ‘I don’t like that headline, can you call reporter?’ No way. If what you’re doing has ramifications for another [celebrity], you’re now going to think that you could get sued.”

Take, for example, one of the claims in Baldoni’s lawsuit: That Lively’s publicist Leslie Sloane lobbied a Daily Mail reporter back in August to change a story. The reporter planned to write that an internal power struggle between Lively and Baldoni on their film It Ends With Us had resulted in the actress being “labeled as difficult.” Sloane insisted via text messages to the reporter: “You have it all wrong … the whole cast hates [Baldoni].”

Sloane’s efforts to change the story were allegedly successful. But as any reporter can attest, a publicist giving additional information on background to try and make a story more friendly to their client isn’t some rare event, but extremely common. Now Sloane is among those being sued by Baldoni, while Lively is suing Baldoni’s crisis manager Melissa Nathan, along with publicist Jennifer Abel.

“I feel bad for them because [some of the things they] were asked to do are things that just about any [publicist] would have done without question,” adds the veteran publicist. “But not now.”

One longtime studio publicist notes, “I think good comms execs will always have plans in place to help protect their clients, but now they have to ask themselves: If their strategy is leaked, would they still stand by it? Protecting a client and playing defense is one thing; targeting others proactively is completely another.”

In addition to the reputational harm and humiliation that might come with a lawsuit, personal publicists are also concerned about racking up financially ruinous legal fees. Studio publicists are typically protected from being sued by their companies. But independent personal publicists, or those who work at small firms, usually don’t have such protection. Their clients are often multimillionaires with extensive resources, yet they pay as little as $5,000 a month and don’t indemnify their representatives in case something goes wrong. “The whole relationship is based on trust,” the veteran rep notes.

“There is zero legal protection for us and [the Baldoni case] does make me more afraid,” says another longtime personal publicist who segued from working at a major agency to launching their own company. This publicist admits he’s not proud of things they’ve done to hide client behavior in the past. “A lot of the times, we are at the mercy of the people who pay our bills,” the publicist says. “When I worked at [a major PR agency], we were instructed that the client came first, and their money came first. So if the client told us to do something, and they were paying for it, then you do it. Now we are all being cautious.”

Multiple publicists say they’re considering adding legal indemnification into future contracts so that clients are obliged to protect them. “This is something publicists are talking about, but it’s not actually a thing yet,” one says. The obvious concern is that such a move could result in a loss of business, as there are always plenty of young publicists who are struggling to build their brands and eager to add a famous name to their client list without being too picky about contract terms.

The boutique agency owner notes that the Baldoni case has also impacted his business in an entirely unexpected way. “I had a prospective client say to me, ‘Because of this, I don’t know if I want to get a publicist right now. I don’t want people thinking I have something to hide.’”

This publicist isn’t a crisis manager — a branch of publicity known for aggressive and secretive tactics — but notes such distinctions are not widely understood. “Clients don’t see the difference [between a crisis manager and a publicist],” he says, adding with a laugh: “They think that’s what we all do — sit in our ivory towers and look for who we can take down to get our clients ahead.”

All of this isn’t to say that publicists believe the representatives involved in the Lively vs. Baldoni case are entirely blameless for their fates. Nathan and Abel infamously traded text messages that sounded like they were gleefully plotting to smear Lively (Baldoni’s suit insists the duo’s ideas were never successfully implemented or, in some cases, that they were joking).

“From the very start of the Lively-Baldoni shitshow, it was PR who kind of made the situation worse,” notes a third veteran publicist, who believes that the case is “changing the face of PR.”

The fiasco, notes a veteran studio publicist, brings to mind something that publicists are taught at the very start of their careers. “All comms folks are taught from day one: Never put anything in writing you wouldn’t want on the front page of The New York Times,” she says. “This has been a reminder of that all-important rule.”

Source : https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/blake-lively-justin-baldoni-publicity-pr-changes-1236141364/

The Associated Press sued three Trump administration officials Friday over access to presidential events, citing freedom of speech in asking a federal judge to stop the blocking of its journalists. “We’ll see them in court,” the White House press secretary said in response.

The lawsuit was filed Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., 10 days after the White House began restricting access to the news agency. It was assigned to U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee.

The AP says its case is about an unconstitutional effort by the White House to control speech — in this case not changing its style from the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” as President Donald Trump did last month with an executive order.

“The press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not be retaliated against by the government,” the AP said in its lawsuit, which names White House chief of staff Susan Wiles, deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich and press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

“This targeted attack on the AP’s editorial independence and ability to gather and report the news strikes at the very core of the First Amendment,” the news agency said. “This court should remedy it immediately.” The Constitution’s First Amendment guarantees freedom of the press, speech and religion and bars the government from obstructing any of them.

Leavitt said that she learned about the lawsuit Friday while driving from the White House to an appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

“I wanted to get the White House counsel on the phone before taking this stage to see what I can and cannot say but, look, we feel we are in the right in this position,” she said. “We’re going to ensure that truth and accuracy is present at that White House every single day.”

Trump directly cited AP’s editorial decision

In stopping the AP from attending press events at the White House and Mar-a-Lago, or flying on Air Force One in the agency’s customary spot, the Trump team directly cited the AP’s decision not to fully follow the president’s renaming.

“We’re going to keep them out until such time as they agree that it’s the Gulf of America,” Trump said Tuesday.

This week, about 40 news organizations signed onto a letter organized by the White House Correspondents Association, urging the White House to reverse its policy against the AP. They included outlets like Fox News Channel and Newsmax, where many of the on-air commentators are Trump supporters.

“We can understand President Trump’s frustration because the media has often been unfair to him, but Newsmax still supports AP’s right, as a private organization, to use the language it wants to use in its reporting,” Newsmax said in a statement. “We fear a future administration may not like something Newsmax writes and seek to ban us.”

While AP journalists have still been allowed on White House grounds, they have been kept out of the “pool” of journalists that cover events in smaller spaces and report back to its readers and other reporters. The AP has been part of White House pools for more than a century.

The lawsuit said the AP had made “several unsuccessful efforts” to persuade the administration that its conduct was unlawful. Julie Pace, AP’s senior vice president and executive editor, traveled to Florida this week to meet with Wiles.

The AP Stylebook is a sticking point

In an email to AP, Wiles said the news organization was targeted because its influential stylebook is used as a standard by many journalists, scholars and students across the country, the lawsuit said. She said the administration was hopeful the name change would be reflected in the AP Stylebook “where American audiences are concerned.”

The Stylebook is used by international audiences, as well as those within the United States. The AP has said that its guidance was offered to promote clarity, and that even though Gulf of Mexico will continue to be used, journalists should also note Trump’s action to change the name.

A Trump executive order to change the name of the United States’ largest mountain back to Mount McKinley from Denali is being recognized by the AP Stylebook. Trump has the authority to do so because the mountain is completely within the country he oversees, AP has said.

Wiles also wrote to the AP that its stylebook’s influence “has been misused, and at times weaponized, to push a divisive and partisan agenda,” according to the lawsuit.

In an Axios story last week, Budowich noted other AP Stylebook entries that have rankled some conservatives. They include the decision to capitalize Black but not white in racial references, guidance on gender-affirming medical care and direction not to use the term “ illegal immigrants.”

In a radio interview with Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade on Friday, Trump referred to the Associated Press as “radical left lunatics.” He said that “Associated Press is a third-rate outfit with a first-rate name.”

He said “just about everybody” accepted the Gulf of America name change but “AP wants to be cute.” There has been a mixed response from other news organizations: The New York Times and Washington Post are continuing to use Gulf of Mexico, while Fox News has switched to Trump’s choice. Google Maps is using Gulf of America for users in the United States.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/ap-lawsuit-trump-administration-officials-0352075501b779b8b187667f3427e0e8

Russia has spent more than a year creating an electronic database of its LGBTQ+ citizens, independent Russian media has reported.

The country’s top court declared the international LGBTQ+ rights movement ‘extremist’ in November 2023.

In the months since, law enforcement officials have been building a register to track ‘extremist’ LGBTQ+ Russians, insiders told Meduza.

The officials, members of Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, are creating the list using police records of LGBTQ+ people arrested in recent raids.

Moscow views LGBTQ+ people as a shadowy cabal of ‘paramilitary groups’ calling for an ‘open gender war’ and engaging in ‘devil worship’, they said.

Citing ministry insiders, people making the watch list include the dozens of LGBTQ+ club-goers and venue owners detained in recent months under Russia’s ‘gay propaganda’ ban.

The law, which prohibits describing LGBTQ+ lives as normal, has led to even My Little Pony conventions being targeted by police.

One queer bar owner told Meduza that during a raid, ‘security forces copied the entire database from the computer where we keep track of reservations’.

Dmitry Chukreev, of the pro-Kremlin political party United Russia, confirmed to Meduza that ‘records have been kept since the Supreme Court ruling came into force’.

‘Everyone is being recorded and put on record,’ he added.

However, ministry sources said funds and employee numbers are too scarce to establish the database properly amid the Ukraine war.

‘There is only one district police officer left for every six districts,’ they said.

‘They’re not going to go knocking on people’s doors and say, “So, you f*****s, are you going to check in?”‘

Attempts to monitor LGBTQ+ activity in Russia are also happening along the border, human rights campaigners said.

Officers from Russia’s Federal Security Service, or the FSB, are reportedly asking people going into Russia whether they are ‘affiliated with the LGBTQ+ community’ or have ‘plans to change gender’.

These interrogations can last up to five hours, claimed Evelina Chaika, the founder of EQUAL PostOst who said their group has been approached by the FSB and the Ministry of Defence.

Trans people who have since fled from Russia have had the doors of their old homes knocked by officers, added activist Yael Demedetskaya.

‘In February 2024, a man from Vladivostok came to us, he is a trans man and as soon as he and his wife crossed the [American] border, a local police officer came to his home,’ Demedetskaya said.

‘He asked where he was now and whether he had really changed his documents.’

Source : https://metro.co.uk/2025/02/21/kremlin-accused-creating-a-database-lgbtq-russians-monitor-them-22599911/

HAMAS has handed over the body of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas, it claims, after it sent the wrong remains in a sick mix-up.

It’s the second attempt at returning the hostage for the terror group after it claimed to have handed over the mum with her two children on Thursday.

The Red Cross collected a body from the Gaza Strip that Hamas claim is Shiri, two officials have told The Times of Israel.

The remains have been passed to the IDF who will take them to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute for identification.

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardwai told Hamas-run Al-Aqsa television that this body is the right one, in a humiliating statement for the terror group.

It’s the second attempt Hamas have had at handing over Shiri’s body after it returned the bodies of Shiri’s 9-month-old Kfir and four-year-old Arie.

Hours after the initial twisted handover ceremony on Thursday, the IDF announced they couldn’t identify the body as Shiri’s.

In turn, Hamas said it was investigating a “mistake” in identifying the human remains.

A Hamas senior official Ismail al-Thawabteh said Shiri’s body was “turned into pieces” in an Israeli airstrike – which Israel vehemently denies ever took place – and may have been “mixed with other bodies under the rubble”.

A statement by Hamas said the group was dealing with the claims with “complete seriousness” and it would announce the results “clearly”.

A member of Hamas’s political bureau, Basem Naim, blamed “unfortunate mistakes” adding that Hamas has no interest in keeping any bodies or not to abide by the signed agreements.

They claimed that the casket which Hamas said belonged to the mum actually contained “an anonymous, unidentified” person with “no match” found for any other hostage.

The harrowing statement from the IDF added that it was a “violation of utmost severity” by Hamas.

They demanded the terror group “return Shiri home along with all our hostages” immediately.

The heinous move by the terror group to allegedly lie about the handover has been widely condemned.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as an “unspeakable” act which shows “the cruelty of the Hamas monsters know no bounds”.

He added in a video statement: “We will act with determination to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages – both living and dead – and ensure Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement.”

Netanyahu also claimed the body handed over at the twisted parade on Thursday morning belonged to an unknown Gazan woman.

Hamas reportedly attempted to explain their way out of the fury by claiming the remains belonged to the mum as well as a mixture of other human remnants.

A Hamas official told AFP they are investigating the “mistake”.

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon quickly slammed the Palestinian militants as he said they treated the coffin like a “worthless shipment”.

“This is a new low, an evil and cruelty with no parallel,” he said in a statement.

“There are no words that can describe such an atrocity.”

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the killing of the two children, which Hamas denies, and the failure to return Shiri’s body was “sick”.

“The vile killing of the Bibas children by Hamas terrorists is sick and abhorrent, as is the failure to return the body of their mother Shiri to the grieving family,” the Foreign Secretary posted on X.

“Her body must be returned. The hostages must be released. This nightmare must end.”

US president Donald Trump’s envoy for hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, said the stunt now puts the ceasefire deal into serious jeopardy.

He warned Hamas must release all the remaining hostages or face “total annihilation”.

Shiri’s despairing face as she was kidnapped while clutching her two children became a symbol for the horror of the October 7 massacre.

The IDF say they have managed to identify the bodies of Shiri’s young sons, Ariel and Kfir as well as retired Israeli journalist Oded Lifshitz.

The apparent causes of the deaths were also revealed.

According to the IDF, citing intelligence and forensic findings, the two little boys were “brutally murdered” by the Hamas thugs in November 2023.

So was Lifshitz who had originally been kidnapped alongside his wife.

Baby Kfir – the youngest captive – was only nine months old when he was barbarically forced to spend the majority of his life as a Hamas prisoner.

Israel say he likely died when he was only 11 months old.

The official flag of Israel has been turned orange on social media in honour of the brothers due to their ginger hair.

The IDF confirmed that while Hamas’ violation would be “dealt with severely,” Saturday’s prisoner swap is expected to go ahead as planned.

At least 66 hostages still remain captive in Gaza over 500 days on from the initial bloodshed with those who died in captivity finally being returned to their loved ones.

Only half are believed to be still alive, Israel fears.

A top Hamas official said another six living hostages will be freed on Saturday before another set of bodies are returned.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13600783/shiri-bibas-body-returned-israel/

Dubai Police detained a tourist who had engaged in behaviour that caused Emma Raducanu distress during her match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the Government of Dubai said on Thursday.
Britain’s Raducanu was visibly distressed and reduced to tears early in her match against Karolina Muchova as she stood behind the umpire’s chair while a spectator was escorted away by security personnel.

The individual was seated in the first few rows during Raducanu’s match. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) later said the individual was ejected and banned from all WTA events pending a threat assessment.
“Following Raducanu’s complaint, Dubai Police detained a tourist who approached her, left her a note, took her photograph and engaged in behaviour that caused her distress during the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships,” the government of Dubai said.
“While Raducanu later chose to drop the charges, the individual signed a formal undertaking to maintain distance from her and has been banned from future tournaments.”

Source : https://www.reuters.com/sports/tennis/dubai-police-detain-spectator-that-left-raducanu-distressed-during-match-2025-02-20/

For Ukrainian director Kateryna Gornostai, her new documentary, “Timestamp,” about daily school life during Russia’s now three-year-long invasion, had its Berlin Film Festival premiere at a key moment for her homeland.
“It’s really crucial,” Gornostai told Reuters in the German capital on Thursday.
“I feel like I’m not a filmmaker, but a delegation of diplomats. In a way we are all, because the teachers and our protagonists are here,” she added.

“These are real people from Ukraine that are working there, staying there and struggling to be not insane in the moment.”
“Timestamp” is the first Ukrainian-directed film to compete for the festival’s Golden Bear top prize in nearly 30 years. The only documentary in the competition is up against 18 other films, with the winner announced on Saturday.
It comes as recent comments by U.S. President Donald Trump have heightened concerns among European allies that his approach to ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict could benefit Moscow.

According to a U.N. official, more than 12,650 civilians have been killed since the start of the war. Russia now controls about 20% of Ukraine and has carried out frequent strikes on cities and towns far from the eastern and southern front lines.
Gornostai, whose debut feature film “Stop-Zemlia” also premiered at the Berlinale, in 2021, expressed hope that viewers would see her new film and “maybe make a lot of good decisions about what to do”.
“Timestamp” shows classrooms across Ukraine at varying distances from the frontline. Scenes of students learning a dance for their graduation day are interspersed with lessons taking place in bunkers due to air raid sirens.

Variety magazine called it “a beautifully observed” documentary, while Screen Daily described it as “powerful”.
Gornostai said she decided to focus on schools because they had an element of hope. “It’s about this young generation that stays and it thrives. So we need to support it and respect it,” she said.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/crucial-show-ukraine-documentary-timestamp-berlinale-says-director-2025-02-20/

Elon Musk, the billionaire tasked with slashing U.S. federal government spending, took to the stage at a conservative conference outside Washington on Thursday with a gift from Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei: a chainsaw.
“This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy,” said Musk, holding the gleaming power tool aloft at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

The red metallic chainsaw, given to Musk by Milei earlier in the day, was engraved on its side with the Argentine leader’s coarse Spanish slogan: “Viva la libertad, carajo,” which loosely translates to “Long live freedom, damn it!”

Musk is leading sweeping cuts under U.S. President Donald Trump that have targeted bank regulators, forest workers, rocket scientists and tens of thousands of other government employees.
On Thursday, 6,000 employees at the U.S. Internal Revenue Service were told they would be fired, a person familiar with the matter said.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/elon-musk-wields-chainsaw-conservative-gathering-gift-argentinas-milei-2025-02-21/

Spain’s High Court has found former soccer federation head Luis Rubiales guilty of sexual assault for kissing player Jenni Hermoso without her consent and fined him over 10,000 euros ($10,434) in a case which caused a nationwide furore.
It acquitted him of a charge of coercion, the court said on Thursday in a ruling seen by Reuters. Rubiales told Reuters he would appeal, saying: “I am going to keep fighting.”

Hermoso’s lawyer, Angel Chavarria, told Reuters the player will appeal too, without providing further details.
Prosecutors had sought a prison sentence for Rubiales, 47, over the incident that provoked a heated debate in Spain about sexism in women’s football and wider Spanish society and gave momentum to a “Me Too” movement in the country.
The court said it had also acquitted Rubiales’ three co-defendants who were accused of attempting to coerce Hermoso into saying the kiss, at the 2023 World Cup awards ceremony in Sydney, was consensual. The ensuing scandal overshadowed Spain’s victory in the tournament.

Rubiales, who is the target of a separate corruption investigation into commissions paid over a lucrative deal to stage the Spanish Super Cup competition in Saudi Arabia, has maintained throughout this month’s trial that Hermoso had consented to be kissed amid the celebrations.
But Judge Jose Manuel Fernandez-Prieto said he believed Hermoso’s testimony that she had not.
He found Rubiales guilty of sexual assault. But he said that while this was “always reproachable”, this instance was of minor intensity as there was no violence or intimidation.
As it involved a kiss rather than a more serious action, Rubiales should be spared time in prison, Fernandez-Prieto said.
“The pecuniary penalty must be chosen, which is less serious than the custodial sentence,” he said in his ruling.
The ruling also banned Rubiales from going within a 200-m (218 yards) radius of Hermoso and from communicating with her for one year. He will also have to pay Hermoso 3,000 euros as compensation. The fine was set at 20 euros a day over an 18-month period.

Rubiales’ gross annual salary at the RFEF federation was 675,762 euros.
During the trial, Hermoso said the unsolicited kiss and the commotion that followed “tainted one of the happiest days of my life”, while her teammates testified it left her overwhelmed, crying and exhausted in the following hours and days.
The captain of Spain’s women’s team said she respected the court’s decision but that she was surprised there was no conviction regarding the charges of coercion.
“I think the conviction for sexual assault is correct. What I find somehow striking and strange is that there is no conviction for coercion,” Irene Paredes said at a press briefing ahead of a game of the national team on Friday.
Paredes, who testified during the trial, said her opinion of the ruling reflected the reaction of the players in the locker room after training on Thursday.
The overall sense of the verdict, if not the mild sentence, was hailed as a victory for women’s rights in a country where macho attitudes are still deeply ingrained in some sectors of society despite considerable progress in recent decades.
“When there is no consent there is assault and that is what the judge certifies in this sentence. The victim’s word is honoured, as the law stipulates, and should not be questioned,” Equality Minister Ana Redondo in the leftist government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on X.
Prominent feminist politician Irene Montero, a member of the European Parliament, also said the ruling was a victory for the movement, although she lamented the “minimum fine and damages”.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/spanish-court-sentences-ex-soccer-boss-rubiales-pay-fine-over-kiss-without-2025-02-20/

A planned news conference between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy was cancelled, as political tensions deepened between the two countries.

The event was originally supposed to include comments to the media by Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy and retired US Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, but it was changed at the last minute to a simple photo opportunity.

Neither side delivered statements or questions from the media.

The change was requested by the US side, Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhii Nikiforov said.

Mr Zelenskyy wrote on X that he had a detailed and productive conversation with Lt Gen Kellogg about prisoners of war, effective security guarantees that would be part of any peace agreement and the battlefield situation.

He later said the meeting “restores hope” but there were few additional details from the US side.

Lt Gen Kellogg’s trip to Kyiv coincided with recent feuding between Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy that has cast further doubt on the future of US support for Ukraine’s war effort.

During a White House briefing on Thursday, national security adviser Mike Waltz said “some of the rhetoric” coming out of Kyiv and “insults to US President Donald Trump were unacceptable”.

His comments were in response to Mr Zelenskyy accusing his US counterpart of living in a “disinformation bubble” after Mr Trump blamed Ukraine for the war.

The US leader responded furiously, labelling the Ukrainian president a “dictator without elections”.

When asked if Mr Trump blames Russia or Ukraine for the war – which was launched by Moscow in February 2022 – Mr Waltz would not give a direct answer.

Instead, he said Mr Trump is “obviously very frustrated” with the Ukrainian leader.

“Well, look, his goal here is to bring this war to an end, period,” he said, referring to Mr Trump.

“And there has been ongoing fighting on both sides. It is World War One style trench warfare.”

He went on to insist Mr Trump is the best person to negotiate with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, despite concerns the US will force Ukraine into concessions after kicking off talks this week without Europe or Kyiv.

US vice president JD Vance added that he believed an end to the conflict was near and there was no stopping the war without speaking to Russia.

The US government has previously floated a deal between Ukraine and Russia that would give America access to Ukraine’s minerals resources, but Kyiv rejected the initial plan as it did not include security guarantees.

Has Russia got an ‘appetite’ for peace?

European leaders, including the UK government, have reacted strongly to the way Mr Trump has begun talks.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the UK will be a “bridge” between the US and Europe during Ukraine peace negotiations, adding he doubted whether Russia had “an appetite to really get to that peace”.

“That peace could be achieved by leaving Ukraine tomorrow,” he said after a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in South Africa.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who is due to meet with Mr Trump in Washington on Monday, said he would tell
the president not to be “weak” on Mr Putin.

He also spoke with Mr Zelenskyy to discuss recent diplomatic efforts between European partners and allies, ahead of his visit to the US.

Russian officials, meanwhile, are basking in Washington’s attention and offering words of support in light of Mr Trump’s stance.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “the rhetoric of Zelenskyy and many representatives of the Kyiv regime in general leaves much to be desired” – a veiled reference to Ukrainian criticism of Mr Putin.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/trump-very-frustrated-with-zelenskyy-as-ukraine-us-news-conference-cancelled-13313544

Nigel Farage has said Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not a dictator and everything Donald Trump says should be taken “truthfully not literally”.

Speaking to Sky News’ US correspondent James Matthews, the Reform UK leader also said he did not think Ukraine started the war with Russia and claimed Mr Trump was talking about “causal factors” when he suggested as such.

Mr Trump has called Mr Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections” and told him “you should have never started it [the conflict]”, after the Ukrainian president complained of being left out of peace talks between Washington and Moscow.

Mr Farage, who counts the US president as a close friend, was asked whether he thinks Mr Zelenskyy is a dictator.

“No don’t be ridiculous,” he replied.

“If that’s what he [Donald Trump] thinks, that’s what he thinks. Take everything Trump says truthfully, but not literally.”

The Clacton MP went on to claim Mr Trump “doesn’t literally say Ukraine started the war” and is focused on bringing peace.

It was put to him that he did say that, and Mr Farage said: “Okay, he did. If you’re happy.”

He added: “Putin started the war. We all know that. What he’s talking about are the causal factors that go back for years.”

Asked why we should not take Mr Trump at his word, given he has done everything he said he would upon taking office, Mr Farage said: “Look, he promised a negotiation. He promised he’d talk to Putin. And he is. This is progress.

“We may not at the moment like how it looks, but we haven’t seen the final shape of the deal.”

Mr Farage was speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland, after being criticised for being silent on Mr Trump’s attacks on the Ukrainian president over the past two days.

Other party leaders have strongly backed the Mr Zelenskyy, with Sir Keir Starmer phoning him to voice his support, telling him it was “perfectly reasonable” for Ukraine to “suspend elections during wartime as the UK did during World War Two”.

Mr Farage also called on President Zelenskyy to set out a timeline for an election.

The Reform leader argued the UK had an election during the Second World War, in 1945, so Ukraine could also do so.

The war had come to an end in Europe in May 1945 and Winston Churchill reluctantly called an election two weeks later – after 10 years without a vote – due to pressure from his Labour coalition partners.

However, Allied troops were still fighting in the Pacific, with VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day) not taking place until August that year.

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge told Sky News’ Politics Hub programme it was “incredibly trite” of the Reform UK leader to call for President Zelenskyy to hold elections.

Speaking to Sophy Ridge, he added: “Winston Churchill was not a dictator, but he didn’t hold elections during the war because we had a war on.

“The idea the priority for Zelenskyy should be elections is crazy.

“He is under existential attack day and night – we have to stand by them.”

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/farage-says-zelenskyy-is-not-a-dictator-and-trump-should-not-be-taken-literally-13313289

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the Resolute Desk has been temporarily removed from the Oval Office to be “refinished,” a touch-up that occurred just days after Elon Musk’s son seemingly picked his nose and wiped it on the historic piece of furniture.

“A President, after election, gets a choice of 1 in 7 desks,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday. “This desk, the ‘C&O,’ which is also very well-known and was used by President George H.W. Bush and others, has been temporarily installed in the White House while the Resolute Desk is being lightly refinished—a very important job. This is a beautiful, but temporary replacement!”

The C&O desk was originally made for the owners of Chesapeake & Ohio Railway in 1920, but was later gifted to the White House as a donation. While George H.W. Bush used it in the Oval Office, other former presidents like Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan used it in the West Wing Study.

The Resolute Desk, however, is an iconic mainstay of the Oval Office, having recently been used by former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, as well as by Trump in his first term. The desk is a seminal part of the Oval Office’s iconography—and was known for being a young John F. Kennedy Jr.’s favorite hiding spot.

During a press conference on all things DOGE last week, Musk’s son X Æ A-12 spun social media into a frenzy after being caught picking his nose and wiping it on the Resolute Desk.

Source : https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-sends-resolute-desk-for-touch-up-after-musks-son-seemingly-wiped-a-booger-on-it/

Grimes accused ex Elon Musk of ignoring her calls as one of their three children suffers a mysterious “medical crisis.”

“I am sorry to do this publicly but it is no longer acceptable to ignore this situation,” the “Genesis” singer wrote in a since-deleted post on X Thursday.

“This requires immediate attention. If you don’t want to talk to me can you please designate or hire someone who can do that we can move forward on solving this. This is urgent, Elon.”

“I’m not giving any details but he won’t respond to texts call or emails and has skipped every meeting and our child will suffer life long impairment if he doesn’t respond asap, so I need him to f–king respond and if I have to apply public pressure then I guess that’s where we are at,” she added.

The exes share sons X Æ A-Xii, 4, and Techno Mechanicus, 2, and daughter Exa Dark Sideræl, 3.

Reps for Musk, 53, and Grimes, 36, weren’t immediately available to Page Six for comment.

Last week, Grimes was also forced to call out Musk via X for bringing their son X with him to a meeting with President Trump at the Oval Office in Washington, DC.

The toddler was photographed sitting on the tech billionaire’s shoulders as Trump signed an executive order to give Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency additional power.

The photos of X with Musk caused Grimes to worry about their son’s privacy, as she wrote on social media, “He should not be in public like this.”

The “Oblivion” singer also thanked fans for bringing the photos to her awareness, adding, “I did not see this, thank u for alerting me.”

The pop star and the Tesla founder were involved in an on-and-off relationship from 2018 to 2022.

Musk is also the father to late son Nevada, twins Griffin and Vivian, triplet sons Kai, Saxon and Damian, twins Strider and Azure and an unidentified child born in 2024.

Last week, author Ashley St. Clair took to X to allege that she birthed Musk’s 13th child last year.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/02/20/celebrity-news/grimes-publicly-urges-elon-musk-to-respond-to-childs-mysterious-medical-crisis/

One of four bodies returned from Gaza to Israel on Thursday is not hostage Shiri Bibas, as claimed by Hamas, the Israeli military said.

The news that Shiri Bibas, 32, and her two sons, Ariel and Kfir, who would now be aged five and two, were dead triggered an outpouring of grief in Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has informed the Bibas family that the bodies of her sons have been identified after their remains were given to Israel by Hamas on Thursday.

But the third body was not that of their mother, the IDF says.

It demanded the return of her body along with the other remaining hostages. Hamas has not yet commented on Israel’s claim.

“During the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received is not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage. This is an anonymous, unidentified body,” the IDF posted on X.

“This is a violation of utmost severity by the Hamas terrorist organisation, which is obligated under the agreement to return four deceased hostages. We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all our hostages.”

The IDF said that the two children “were brutally murdered by terrorists in captivity in November 2023”, according to intelligence and forensic findings. Hamas had said the boys and their mother were killed in an Israeli bombing.

Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were aged 32, four and nine months when they were kidnapped during the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023.

The children’s father Yarden Bibas, 34, was released by Hamas on 1 February.

Israel has confirmed that the fourth body returned on Thursday was that of veteran peace activist, Oded Lifshitz.

The release of hostages’ bodies was agreed as part of the ceasefire deal which came into effect on 19 January, and Israel has confirmed it expects eight bodies will be handed over.

The two sides agreed to exchange 33 hostages for about 1,900 prisoners by the end of the first six weeks of the ceasefire.

Talks on progressing to the next phase of the deal – under which the remaining living hostages would be released and the war would end permanently – were due to start earlier this month but have not yet begun.

Twenty-eight hostages and more than 1,000 prisoners have so far been exchanged.

Sixty-six hostages taken on 7 October are still being held in Gaza. Three other hostages, taken more than a decade ago, are also being held. About half of all the hostages still in Gaza are believed to be alive.

About 1,200 people – mostly civilians – were killed in the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 and 251 others taken back to Gaza as hostages. Israel launched a massive military campaign against Hamas in response, which has killed at least 48,297 Palestinians – mainly civilians – according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Also on Thursday, three buses exploded in Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, in what Israeli police said is a suspected terror attack.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjry3jzedl1o

A meeting between Chinese president Xi Jinping and some of the country’s foremost business leaders this week has fuelled excitement and speculation, after Alibaba founder Jack Ma was pictured at the event.

The charismatic and colourful Mr Ma, who was one of China’s most prominent businessmen, had withdrawn from public life after criticising China’s financial sector in 2020.

His reappearance at Monday’s event has sparked a wave of discussion, with experts and analysts wondering what it means for him, China’s tech sector and the economy in general.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive – tech stocks, including those of Alibaba, rallied soon after the event.

On Thursday, the e-commerce giant reported financial results that beat expectations, with shares ending the trading day in New York more than 8% higher. The company’s shares are up 60% since the beginning of the year.

So what are analysts reading into Mr Ma’s appearance at the event alongside other high-profile guests – including DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng?

Rescuers have ended a 44-day search operation after they found the bodies of five men who were trapped inside a flooded coal mine in India’s north-eastern state of Assam.

DNA tests will be conducted to identify the men as the bodies are in a decomposed state, a state official told the BBC.

On 6 January, nine miners were trapped after water flooded the so-called “rat-hole” mine, which is a narrow hole dug manually to extract coal.

Four bodies were recovered within the first week, and search operations had continued until Wednesday, when the remaining bodies were found.

“The process to identify the remains has been initiated,” Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on the social media platform X.

The families of the miners have also been called to identify the bodies. They will be given compensation by the state government, said Riki Phukan, an official from Assam’s District Disaster Management Authority.

The search operations – at the Umrangso coal mine in Assam’s Dima Hasao district – were jointly conducted by special disaster forces alongside the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, the state police and the district disaster authority.

Divers and helicopters were also deployed but the remote, hilly terrain of the mine had posed severe challenges.

Earlier, one of the men rescued from the mine had shared with the BBC a harrowing account of the moments after the tunnel was suddenly engulfed by water.

Ravi Rai, a worker from Nepal, said that he was working inside the mine when water entered the pit.

“We were holding on to a rope in 50-60ft (15-18m) deep water for at least 50 minutes before being pulled out,” he said.

Despite a ban on “rat-hole” mining in India since 2014, small illegal mines continue to be operational in Assam and other north-eastern states.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpq2zd2ep8ro

Delta Air Lines is offering US$30,000 (£23,792) to each person on board a plane that crash-landed in Toronto on Monday – all of whom survived.

As it landed in the Canadian city, the plane skidded along the runway in flames before flipping over and coming to a halt upside down. Passengers described their amazement as most of them walked away without injuries.

It remains unclear what caused the incident, which is under investigation.

There were 76 passengers and four crew on the flight, which had travelled from the US city of Minneapolis before making its crash-landing in Canada.

A spokesperson for Delta said the money offer had no strings attached and did not affect customers’ rights.

Toronto law firm Rochon Genova says it has been retained by certain passengers and their families over the crash-landing.

Lawyer Vincent Genova said the group expected a “timely and fair resolution”, highlighting that his clients “suffered personal injuries of a serious nature that required hospital attention”.

In an email to the BBC, Mr Genova said the $30,000 compensation is an “advance” payment meant to assist plane crash victims with short-term financial challenges, and the airline will seek to deduct it from any later settled claims.

There is precedent to these types of payments, like in 2013, when Asiana Airlines offered passengers of a San Francisco plane crash $10,000 in initial compensation.

Last year, Alaska Airlines offered a $1,500 cash payment to passengers after mid-air door-plug blowout on a flight from Portland.

Following this week’s incident in Toronto, the plane crew and emergency responders were praised for their quick work in removing people from the wrecked vehicle. The plane’s various safety features have also been credited for ensuring no loss of life.

All of the 21 passengers who were taken to hospital had been released by Thursday morning, the airline said.

Delta’s chief told the BBC’s US partner CBS News that the flight crew were experienced and trained for any condition.

The airline’s head Ed Bastian told CBS the plane crew had “performed heroically, but also as expected”, given that “safety is embedded into our system”. He said Delta was continuing to support those affected.

Several theories about what caused the crash have been suggested to the BBC by experts who reviewed footage, including that harsh winter weather and a rapid rate of descent played a role.

One passenger recalled “a very forceful event”, and the sound of “concrete and metal” at the moment of impact. Another said passengers were left hanging upside down in their seats “like bats”.

The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder have been recovered from the wreckage. The investigation is being led by Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB), supported by US officials.

On Wednesday evening, the wreckage was removed from the airport runway.

The accident was the fourth major air incident in North America in a space of three weeks – and was followed on Wednesday by a crash in Arizona in which two people lost their lives when their small planes collided.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg5d6dq44e7o

Pope Francis’ overall clinical condition is “improving slightly” and his heart is working well as he battles pneumonia, the Vatican said Thursday, as some of his cardinals cheered him on and insisted that the Catholic Church was very much alive and well even in his absence.

In a late update, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Francis has no fever and that his key heart parameters “continue to be stable.”

The 88-year-old pope was admitted to the hospital on Feb. 14 after a case of bronchitis worsened; doctors later diagnosed the onset of pneumonia in both lungs on top of asthmatic bronchitis and prescribed “absolute rest.”

“If you really want him to rest, you have to hospitalize him,” quipped Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, the archbishop of Marseille, France, referring to Francis’ work ethic.

Aveline was speaking at a Vatican news conference about a Mediterranean youth peace initiative alongside his counterpart from Barcelona, Cardinal Juan Josè Omella. But given the limited amount of information about Francis’ condition, they were peppered with questions about the pope’s health and whether he might decide to resign if he doesn’t recover fully.

Regardless, Omella insisted that the life of the church continued even with Francis in the hospital.

“Popes change, we bishops change, priests in parishes change, communities change. But the train continues being on the move,” Omella said.

Another cardinal, Gianfranco Ravasi, had commented earlier in the day on the possibility of resignation when asked if Francis might decide to follow in the footsteps of Pope Benedict XVI and step down if he becomes too ill. Benedict became the first pope in 600 years to retire when he concluded in 2013 that he didn’t have the physical strength to carry on the rigors of the globe-trotting papacy.

“There is no question that if he (Francis) was in a situation where his ability to have direct contact (with people) as he likes to do … was compromised, then I think he might decide to resign,” Ravasi was quoted as telling RTL 102.5 radio.

Francis has already confirmed that shortly after being elected pontiff he wrote a resignation letter in case medical problems impeded him from carrying out his duties. There is no provision in canon law for what to do if a pope becomes incapacitated.

There is no indication Francis is in anyway incapacitated. Bruni said he woke up Thursday, got out of bed and had breakfast in an armchair, and worked from his hospital room with his aides. Blood tests have showed a “slight improvement” in some inflammation indices but it will still be some time before doctors will know if the various therapies are working.

The pope had an acute case of pneumonia in 2023 and is prone to respiratory infections in winter.

Doctors say pneumonia in such a fragile, elderly patient makes him particularly prone to complications given the difficulty in being able to effectively expel fluid from his lungs. While his heart is strong, Francis isn’t a particularly healthy 88-year-old. He is overweight, isn’t physically active, uses a wheelchair because of bad knees, had part of one lung removed as a young man, and has admitted to being a not-terribly-cooperative patient in the past.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-recovers-pneumonia-hospital-e489cc4f7f4e0d43b7c9079667953e9d

THIS is the terrifying moment buses burn in a suspected “terror attack” in Israel after bombs exploded.

Three coaches erupted into flames near Tel Aviv while two more explosives were found on public transport luckily having not gone off.

There have been no casualties or injuries reported as the bombs went off while the buses were empty and at the depot.

The Israeli Defence Minister accused “Palestinian terrorist organisations” of carrying out terror blasts and instructed the IDF to increase the “intensity of activity” in the West Bank in response.

Shocking footage showed the buses burning as thick black smoke billowed into the sky.

The dramatic explosions occurred late Thursday night Israeli time in three buses parked in a lot in Bat Yam.

Two other explosives were defused when they were also found on buses.

They say the “identical” devices which came with “a timer” failed to explode.

The police said in a statement: “Preliminary report – Suspected terror attack.

“Multiple reports have been received of explosions involving several buses at different locations in Bat Yam.”

A security service source claimed the bombs weighed “between four and five kilograms” and were “intended to detonate tomorrow morning and kill hundreds of civilians,” according to the Jerusalem Post.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz ordered the IDF to step up counter-terror operations.

He said: “We will hunt down the terrorists to the bitter end and destroy the terror infrastructure in the camps used as frontline posts of the Iranian evil axis.

“Residents who give shelter to terror will pay a heavy price”.

Cop commander Haim Sargarof said in a televised briefing that the devices used to set off the terrifying blasts were similar to those found in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

A large number of police were deployed to search for suspects, a police statement said, adding that “police bomb disposal units are scanning for additional suspicious objects”.

Cops also “urge the public to avoid the areas and remain alert for any suspicious items”.

Searches are being conducted on additional buses in Dan Bloc – where the two unexploded devices were found.

Initial investigations suggest the explosions occurred within a mere few minutes of each other, with the final being 10 minutes after.

Police spokesperson Aryeh Doron said the “event is ongoing” as officers scramble to locate more bombs in the Tel Aviv area.

He added to Channel 12 that the public must be alert for “every suspected bag or object” which “could make the difference”

The spokesperson said: “We may be lucky if indeed the terrorists set these timers to the wrong hour. But it’s too early to determine.”

Channel 12 also claims that one of the undetonated devices was discovered by a passenger who notified the drive of the suspicious bag.

Terrified local residents have described their fear and confusion over the incident.

Ayala, who lives near to one of the sites where a bus was on fire, recalled to the Jerusalem Post: “We heard an explosion, and then another one.

“At first, we didn’t understand what was happening. We knew there was a ceasefire, so we realized it wasn’t a rocket.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13590572/buses-explode-israel-terror-attack/

A professor and former Department of Labor economist is warning that unelected White House advisor and multi-hyphenate billionaire Elon Musk is sending the United States headlong into a huge recession.

In a post on Bluesky, Jesse Rothstein, a University of California, Berkeley public policy professor who was the DOL’s chief economist at the start of the Obama administration, addressed the dire situation we could soon be facing.

“It seems almost unavoidable at this point,” Rothstein wrote, “that we are headed for a deep, deep recession.”

Between the hundreds of thousands of government jobs on the chopping block and the cancellations of countless federal contracts, the economist noted that upcoming employment reports are looking quite scary indeed.

“The March employment report (to be released April 4) seems certain to show bigger job losses than any month ever outside of a few in 2008-9 and 2020,” the professor wrote in his multi-post thread. “Add on to that enormous private market uncertainty — how could you hire in these conditions? — and this is going to be very, very bad.”

The basic idea is that higher unemployment leads to drops in consumer spending, which can slow economic activity and growth, which in turn leads to fewer hires, closing the recession circle.

But there remains some uncertainty when it comes to what Musk’s newfound role as federal spending slasher might mean for the economy. That’s in large part due to the chaos Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency has wrought.

As Rothstein points out, “I worry that [the US Office of Personnel Management] itself doesn’t yet know how many workers were fired. It may be some time before it can report accurately to the [Bureau of Labor Statistics].”

But the ripple effects of major hiring freezes could be “very large,” he argued. “Universities and others are already instituting hiring freezes.”

Where the major job losses will leave the fate of the US economy in the short term remains to be seen. But chances are, it won’t be pretty, even according to Musk himself.

The billionaire said during a campaign stop for Trump just ahead of the election that America would likely be in for some financial “hardship” the exact should he begin trimming the fat, as he saw it.

“We have to reduce spending to live within our means,” Musk said, seemingly using the royal we to refer to the hoi polloi despite being a billionaire himself. “And, you know, that necessarily involves some temporary hardship, but it will ensure long-term prosperity.”

Source : https://futurism.com/economist-elon-musk-recession

Kanye West is back huffing laughing gas again, multiple concerned sources tell The Post.

“When he [West] got back to LA he got dental work again and I think that’s when he relapsed,” a friend said, referencing his return to the city after six months away at the end of January.

The 47-year-old rapper and clothing designer’s recently erratic behavior has worsened by using nitrous oxide – commonly known as laughing gas, an anesthetic.

A second source told The Post West’s nitrous use has been a major pain point in his relationship with wife Bianca Censori.

“The nitrous took over in Los Angeles. After the Grammy party [on Feb. 2], he met people and it kind of escalated to things that he never does anymore when he’s in Japan,” the source claimed, referencing Kanye’s most recent destination before heading back to the US.

A third source told The Post how West uses nitrous oxide as “medication.”

“There is an issue with nitrous and his dentist, and the medication leads to this meltdown. When he comes off the nitrous he’s crazy, he just wants to be able to do anything he wants,” the third source told The Post.

“It’s as if thoughts are coming to him and he speaks his mind. It’s like a cultural Tourettes experience, his entire life is a video game.”

A source who previously worked at Yeezy claimed he is “very easily influenced,” but still made the decision to previously fire an employee “over not wanting to put the swastika on a T-shirt,” referring to West selling a Nazi symbol emblazoned on a T-shirt online last week.

Shopify took down the rapper’s website over the shirt last Tuesday.

The stunt capped a four-day blitz of tweets where he claimed “Hitler was sooooo fresh,” “I’m a Nazi,” said antisemitism is “just some bulls – – t Jewish people made up,” and “Any Jewish person that does business with me needs to know I don’t like or trust any Jewish.”

“His memory is so messed up this point,” the former employee told The Post, explaining that Kanye would forget conversations and even people he worked closely with within a few days span.

“You can kind of just convince [West] of things and he doesn’t really fact check them. You can just say something that is not true, but if you say it with enough conviction at the right time he’ll believe it.”

However, the ex-employee was also clear to add it doesn’t excuse his behavior and “no one forced him to tweet.”

West, who has officially changed his name to Ye, also recently re-enlisted far right radical Milo Yiannopoulos, 40, as his manager after previously firing him last year.

Last August Yiannopoulos accused dentist Thomas Connelly of getting the rapper addicted to nitrous oxide – which is not an illegal substance, although in California it is an offense to buy it “with the intent to inhale” – in a sworn affidavit filed with the California Dental Board.

“Connelly got Ye hooked on nitrous – laughing gas. It is my belief that Connelly sought to diminish Ye’s mental faculties so that Connelly and his business associates could extract millions of dollars from him,” Yiannopoulos claimed in a series of posts on X last August, which included the affidavit.

The Post has reached out to Connelly for comment. It is unknown if he was behind the rapper’s most recent dental work.

A source close to West’s camp declined to comment on his nitrous oxide use.

Meanwhile, reports swirled last Thursday Censori and West are going their separate ways after two years of marriage, but sources feel that is unlikely.

“Ye is a pretty stubborn person. I do believe that he loves her [Censori]. We were doing music dedicated to her as of the last six months. He’s becoming more of a family man it seems. He’s his own person,” a source close to Ye told The Post.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/02/20/entertainment/kanye-west-relapsed-and-is-inhaling-nitrous-oxide-sources/

“When is the last time the country was able to solve any of its problems?” ambitious congresswoman Alexandra Mullen (Lizzy Caplan) screams at her father and former POTUS George Mullen (Robert De Niro) in Netflix’s just-launched Zero Day.

It is a fair question for the six-episode political thriller, and for America 2025.

Certainly, in a week that has seen a sitting U.S. president parroting Kremlin bullet points while his manic billionaire buddy takes a blowtorch to the federal government, the political thriller created by Eric Newman, Noah Oppenheim and Michael S. Schmidt and starring De Niro, Caplan, Angela Bassett, Joan Allen, Jesse Plemons, Bill Camp, Connie Britton, Dan Stevens, McKinley Belcher III and Matthew Modine, may provide a much needed sugar high of hope — fictional or not. At the same time, ripped right out of the toxic underbelly of modern America as much as the headlines, Zero Day will show it can happen here, non-fiction or not.

Without going into a spoiler-rich chapter and verse of Zero Day, here’s the gist: Out of the chaos of a crippling minute-long cyber attack that exposes the nation’s vulnerabilities and kills more than 3,400, President Evelyn Mitchell (Bassett) tasks revered ex-President Mullen to lead an investigation into what happened, and who was behind it.

That task is strategically easier said than done, with deep divisions in the country, and now the Zero Day Commission having the ability to suspend of the rule of law fuels the already blazing extremists on all sides. Add to that, a cunning House Speaker (Modine), tech overlords, Wall Street power brokers and some White House secrets from Mullen’s single term in office. The show is also full of real-life talking heads including Savannah Guthrie, Wolf Blitzer and Nicolle Wallace, with Fox News and ABC banners popping up frequently to further suspend disbelief at the best and worst times in the Lesli Linka Glatter-directed series.

With all that, Zero Day is at its core not about attacks foreign and domestic. It’s about regrets.

The regrets of a nearly forgotten and sometimes confused old man who reached the height of power, but, like many a Greek myth and Shakespearean tragedy, lost that which was most important to him. The regrets of a nation and a world that is watching in real time as the most powerful nation in history stumbles backwards and downwards. Drawn out over an almost one-month period after the initial attack, the lines between fact and fiction blur pretty fast in Zero Day, just like in our echo chamber America.

Now, for you tea-leaf readers, Zero Day was written and filmed before Kamala Harris ran for President last year and before the Project 2025-juiced Donald Trump was voted back in. For you trivia fans, it’s also De Niro’s first small-screen lead role. Sadly, perhaps much of what the Oscar winner is doing here will be lost in the blowback the unsweetened Trump critic will undoubtedly be subjected to from the MAGA minions and their kingpin in the days to come. Perhaps, but what does De Niro really care? George Mullen is a role the 81-year-old Great American Actor has likely been waiting to play as he goes into the almost sixth decade of his career, and he certainly chews up the screen.

Having said that, while Zero Day is on Netflix, the show is no House of Cards. Yes, Zero Day tries to make your chest rise with patriotic pride at times, and settles a few geopolitical scores, but it’s no West Wing either. There are as many leaps of faith in Zero Day as at an Olympic qualifying meet.

To that, in the short attention span and anecdotal America we live in, just surf the Zero Day wave.

Where you’ll end up at is a very watchable yarn that plays with some big ideas and holds together as a bruised and jaded 21st century version of The American President. In its struggle of the soul, national and personal, with a swig or two of liberal cosplay, Zero Day is maybe even a spiritual sequel to the 1995 Michael Douglas flick. Certainly George Mullen could be Douglas’ Andrew Shepherd 30 years later with a few tweaks here and there and some thick glasses — and that’s just dandy, actually.

Again, not to give anything away among the multitude of twists and turns Zero Day takes, but while De Niro is in almost every scene, damn it is sure great to see Joan Allen back on screen too. Here, as former First Lady and federal bench nominee Sheila Mullen, the three-time Oscar nominee emerges deftly as the series’ secret weapon.

Source : https://deadline.com/2025/02/zero-day-review-robert-de-niro-netflix-1236295639/

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday accused Donald Trump of wanting to “become an emperor of the world”, calling on the US president to respect other countries’ sovereignty.

Post-World War II democracy has been an example of the best governance of the last 70 years, said Lula in an interview with a local radio station, “but the way (Trump) acts, he is trying to become an emperor of the world”.

“He is trying to chime in on all countries and in all public policies,” he added.

Lula’s comments come after Trump lashed out at Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky, branding him a “dictator” and blaming him for Russia’s invasion of his country.

Washington has irritated Kyiv by entering into direct talks with Russia in a bid to end the war.

Lula did not give specific examples, but urged Trump to “realize that the sovereignty of each country must be respected.”

Lula, who has not spoken with Trump since he took office in January, reiterated that the United States was an important commercial partner to Brazil and asked for greater gestures of “friendship.”

Source : https://www.barrons.com/news/brazil-s-lula-says-trump-wants-to-be-emperor-of-the-world-498f1c26

The James Bond movie franchise has gotten a shake-up, with Amazon MGM Studios and Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli forming a new joint venture to house the movie property’s intellectual property rights.

Under the terms of the agreement, Amazon MGM Studios will gain creative control of the James Bond franchise, while Wilson and Broccoli will remain co-owners of the 60-year-old property. In 2022, Amazon acquired MGM, including a vast catalog with more than 4,000 films and 17,000 TV shows.

Since the MGM acquisition, Amazon has held rights to distribute all of the James Bond films, and following completion of the joint venture transaction will control the creative on future productions.

“We are grateful to the late Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman for bringing James Bond to movie theatres around the world, and to Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for their unyielding dedication and their role in continuing the legacy of the franchise that is cherished by legions of fans worldwide. We are honored to continue this treasured heritage, and look forward to ushering in the next phase of the legendary 007 for audiences around the world,” Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, said in a statement on Thursday.

Wilson added he was stepping back from producing James Bond movies to focus on art and charitable projects. “Therefore, Barbara and I agree, it is time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to lead James Bond into the future,” Wilson said in his own statement.

News of the joint venture comes amid continuing speculation about Bond 26, the next iteration of the 007 franchise, after Daniel Craig hung up the tuxedo for good in 2021’s No Time to Die. Barbara Broccoli echoed that it was time for her to step aside and allow Amazon MGM Studios to take over the creative reins.

Source : https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/amazon-mgm-studios-james-bond-franchise-1236141794/

In February 2023, I published an article in The New Republic about Americans, particularly from marginalized communities, who were looking to exit the country amid the rise of gun violence and far-right politics. It had been some time since I’d thought about that piece. But almost exactly one year to the day after it was published, it garnered the attention of HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher, in which the show’s titular host featured it in a segment that ridiculed the notion of people fretting about their safety in this country, imploring us instead to stay here and make it a better place. Maher took great pains to condescendingly wonder if I knew that being gay is criminalized in dozens of countries—well, duh—and about capital punishment in China. (Unlike, Maher, I actually lived there for three years, so—once again—duh.)

Still, I was more or less flattered by the attention, despite the maladroit purposes to which my original piece was put. But if Maher is reading this, then I’d like to invite him over for a delicious slice of crow pie. Because now that Donald Trump and unelected sidekick Elon Musk are taking a wrecking ball to our country and its democracy, my prediction of two years ago is coming true amid a rise in worrying signs that many people in this country indeed have their eyes on the exits, including those with skill sets we can ill afford to lose.

On February 8, German newsmagazine Der Spiegel reported that the Max Planck Society—one of the world’s top scientific research institutions—is experiencing an uptick in applications from American scientists. Its president said the society regards the U.S. as “a new talent pool” at a time when the Trump administration seeks to cut billions in funding to the National Institutes of Health. There’s a deep historical irony in these recent developments: During the Third Reich, it was the Max Planck Society—then known as the Kaiser Wilhelm Society—that lost its best and brightest to the U.S. and other countries, including Albert Einstein.

A day prior, Irish broadcaster RTÉ reported that Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs has seen a 50 percent increase in the number of Americans seeking Irish passports, with some people specifically citing the new administration as a reason. Searches for terms like “dual citizenship” and “jus sanguinis” likewise saw significant spikes on Election Day and Inauguration Day, according to Google Trends. And a representative of Polaron, an Australian company that helps people obtain European citizenship by descent, told me that her firm has also “seen a steep increase in Americans wishing to leave their country, with many more keen to use their EU passport as a plan B.”

Some of the people who worked so hard to establish a new home in the U.S. as refugees are now desperate to get back out: The Guardian reported that Canadian police apprehended more than a dozen people from Venezuela, the Middle East, and Africa trying to cross the border in dangerously cold temperatures without proper clothing, as the Trump administration revoked humanitarian parole for Venezuelans, Haitians, and others, but threw open the door for white South African “refugees.”

These are small statistics and anecdotes. Moreover, most of the initial wave of American emigration will likely feature those with the means to leave—those who possess foreign passports, job opportunities abroad, or lots of disposable income. But this all points in the same direction: With Trump back in office and faithfully executing the blueprint for wrecking the country known as Project 2025 while collaborating with the world’s richest man to trash democracy and wage a war on brain cells in the federal government, a growing number of people in this country see the writing on the wall, and they’re looking for their bug-out plan. According to a Gallup poll released before the election, the 17 percent of Americans who said they wanted to leave the country in 2023 rose to 21 percent in 2024.

One user on TikTok posted a video of herself waiting in the car as her Mexican-American husband applied for dual citizenship at the Mexican consulate in Houston, noting that she plans to as well. “For me, I don’t think it’s going to stop with Mexicans,” she said in the video. “It’s going to keep going on down the list, and at some point, Black folks here in the U.S., we’re going to feel what’s happening—we’re already seeing what’s happening, so I don’t feel exempt.”

That she, her husband and others would want to take such precautions should come as no surprise. As conditions in the U.S. worsen and the country becomes increasingly poorer, increasingly authoritarian, and increasingly violent, there is a good chance that more will consider leaving. It’s not as if the Trump administration has gone out of its way to remind people that all are welcome in his America.

With executive orders, Trump has abolished official recognition of transgender and non-binary people, erasing references to trans people from the official website of the Stonewall National Monument. He has rolled back diversity, equity, and inclusion programs—and even discarded the 60-year-old Executive Order 11246, which bans discrimination based on race and other categories. We’re now careening toward a constitutional crisis as Trump threatens to simply ignore court decisions overturning his executive orders—including a decision that barred Musk and his army of mini-me flunkies from accessing sensitive information on millions of Americans and controlling payment systems at the Treasury Department—a move that would basically end the rule of law.

And as he fired hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration employees weeks after a fatal plane crash in Washington, Trump posted a quote on social media, “He who saves his country does not violate any law”—a quote apocryphally attributed to Napoleon but more recently made famous by Anders Breivik, the Norwegian white supremacist terrorist who murdered 77 people in 2011—in what could be interpreted as a proclamation that he’s above the law, a signal to his followers to commit violence on his behalf, or both.

No less dispiriting has been the cavalcade of mainstream media organizations normalizing the new regime, or the corporations kissing Trump’s ring and doing a 180 on support for DEI and LGBTQ people—not to mention the weak responses from many elected Democrats. It’s things like this that have convinced some people that the shining city on a hill is experiencing severe urban decay.

Brett, a San Diego-based TikTok user who did not disclose his last name, started a channel, Escape the USA, making videos that provide practical advice to Americans hoping to leave the country. While the channel is only a little more than a month old, it already has close to 11,000 followers. Having previously lived in Paris for nearly a year in 2014 following a health scare, he hopes to return to Europe and either find a job or publish his fantasy novel. But he specifically cited the Trump administration as his main reason for wanting to leave and said he began researching how to leave the country after the January 6 Capitol insurrection, and then saving money when Trump announced his candidacy. Now, he sees the potential for history to repeat itself.

“Hitler went after those who were not the same as others: disabled, LGBTQ individuals and clearly Jews,” said Brett, who is also gay and from a Jewish family, in an interview. “[Trump is] already categorizing subsets of individuals. It may not be tomorrow, but it’s definitely bound to happen soon.”

Naturally, descent into full-blown genocidal tyranny is not yet inevitable, particularly as Trump and Musk’s actions have encountered resistance, especially from the courts. And with many Western countries, especially in Europe, experiencing their own problems with far-right politics, the number of safe havens from autocracy is depressingly low, particularly as figures like Musk and Vice President JD Vance openly interfere in German elections by endorsing the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party, as Vance did in a February 14 speech at the Munich Security Conference that left European leaders stunned. Nevertheless, Trump and his cronies have clearly spent their four years out of power carefully studying the authoritarian playbook of leaders like Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orbán. Now, Hungarians are warning us that if we don’t stop Trump, we could suffer their country’s fate. And lest anyone think far-right authoritarians are better at economic management, Hungary is a sign of what’s to come: Their economy is teetering while it hemorrhages people who no longer see a future there for themselves.

I hope we do stop Trump and Musk’s takeover of this country. But we have to be honest and acknowledge that if we fail—and fail we might—it could be a long and difficult time before democracy returns. It took 17 years for that to happen in Chile and 36 years in Spain. The Third Reich lasted “only” 12 years, but Hitler’s spell over Germany didn’t break until after the world’s deadliest war and genocide.

Even if the Democrats retake both houses of Congress and the White House, they will preside over a profoundly broken nation, where Trump distilled centuries’ worth of American poison into a fascist movement that will remain a threat for decades to come, with a best-case scenario being a whiplash cycle every four to eight years of decency and horror.

Obviously, emigrating won’t solve this country’s problems. But many of those problems will take a lot more than an election to solve because they stem from deep structural flaws in our system of government rooted in an antiquated constitution and a political culture contaminated by selfishness, ignorance, cruelty, violence, and authoritarian white, Christian supremacy. This is why it’s seemingly impossible to meaningfully address even serious problems like gun violence, let alone have nice things like universal health care, while other industrialized nations have accomplished both feats and more with little to no fuss. It’s why this country rejected a highly qualified presidential candidate who happened to be a Black woman, in favor of a psychopathic fascist who all but promised to ruin it.

If people wish to stay here and fight for a better country, then all power to them. But it’s also important to understand that many Americans have spent their lives fighting just to exist, and they have now watched 77.2 million fellow citizens spit in their faces by voting for Trump and countless more recklessly enable Trump’s victory by voting third-party, or abstaining from voting altogether. Thus, they may conclude that leaving for the sake of their well-being and sanity is a better choice than struggling in vain to save a country that apparently doesn’t value them from itself.

It’s a very personal choice, whether to stay and fight or go into exile, as New York University historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat illustrated in a January 3 Substack post, after receiving frequent queries from Americans about the possibility of leaving. Most, she wrote, will neither stay and fight nor flee: “You stay put, keep your head down and your criticism of the government private. That way you and your loved ones can minimize any adverse consequences while you ‘wait it out.’” And life in exile is hardly romantic–it’s filled with longing for home and a lot of guilt.

But if people decide it’s better to bug out, that’s really none of Bill Maher’s business, and it’s certainly not his place to scold those who are not straight, white, male multi-millionaires like him. So why get all worked up about it?

The reason it stings some people is because the entire notion of the U.S. being a country people flee from rather than fleeing to turns American exceptionalism on its head. Much like right-wing superpatriots’ reflexive defensiveness when someone points out how far we lag other industrialized nations in areas like health care access or public transportation, it’s a reminder of the hollowness of the refrain that we are “The Greatest Nation in the World”—a pin popping the balloon that is the American ego. Maher inadvertently reinforced this when he correctly pointed out that the U.S. is a nicer place to live than China or Uganda, but had to resort to jokes about bland Dutch food and elderly Italians playing bocce when comparing us to other industrialized democracies. It shows how full of ourselves we remain as a country, even as our political conditions have degraded to the point that some of us see a better life abroad than at home.

Source : https://newrepublic.com/article/191421/trump-emigration-wave-brain-drain

Shares of Walmart Inc. were hit hard Thursday after the retail behemoth provided a disappointing earnings outlook, including a warning for the first year-over-year decline in quarterly profit in three years.

“The company’s guidance assumes a generally stable consumer and continued pressure from its mix of products and formats globally,” Walmart said in a statement.

The downbeat guidance offset beats in profit, sales and same-store sales for the fiscal fourth quarter through January, and a 13% hike to the company’s dividend.

The stock
WMT

-6.53%
dropped 6.5% on Thursday. The selloff came four days after the stock closed at a record high, and was its worst day since it lost 8.1% on Nov. 16, 2023.

The weakness was also weighing on shares of some of Walmart’s rivals, as Costco Wholesale Corp.’s stock
COST

-2.61%
fell 2.6% and Target Corp. shares
TGT

-2.00%
shed 2%, to underperform the S&P 500 index’s
SPX

-0.43%
0.4% decline.

Chief Executive Doug McMillon said on the post-earnings call with analysts that the mix pressure the company has been seeing is from the continued shift in demand toward products that are less profitable (lower margin) — particularly groceries and health and wellness, which includes the pharmacy business — and away from higher-margin general merchandise items.

In the U.S., Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said, grocery was a “standout” in the latest quarter, with sales growth in the mid-single-digit percentage range, compared with overall comparable sales growth of 4.6%.

For health and wellness, Rainey said growth was even faster, in the mid-teens percentage range, “due largely to GLP-1 sales.” GLP-1 refers to the class of diabetes and obesity drugs that includes Novo Nordisk’s
NVO

+0.41%
Ozempic and Wegovy and Eli Lilly & Co.’s
LLY

+0.70%
Mounjaro and Zepbound.

When asked on the call how President Donald Trump’s tariffs and their potential effects on consumer spending might impact results, Rainey said, according to a FactSet transcript: “We don’t have any explicit assumption in our guidance around tariffs. We feel like we’ll be able to navigate that.”

Walmart said it expects first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 57 cents to 58 cents, down from 60 cents a year ago and below the FactSet consensus of 64 cents.

That would be the first year-over-year decline in quarterly adjusted EPS since the results for the quarter that ended in April 2022.

For the full year of fiscal 2026, adjusted EPS is projected to be $2.50 to $2.60, which surrounds fiscal 2025 EPS of $2.51 but misses the current FactSet consensus for 2026 of $2.77.

Rainey said the outlook assumes a “relatively stable” economic environment but also acknowledges there are still uncertainties related to consumer behavior and the political landscape.

Also included in the sales-growth outlook were the negative effects of an extra day of sales last year resulting from the leap year and a strengthening of the U.S. dollar, as well as the positive effect of sales from Vizio, whose acquisition was completed on Feb. 20, 2024.

Jefferies analyst Corey Tarlowe said investors shouldn’t be discouraged by Walmart’s outlook, and he recommended buying the stock on the pullback. He believes management is setting 2025 up to be “a year of beats and raises.”

D.A. Davidson’s Michael Baker reiterated his buy rating on the stock, saying investors shouldn’t worry about the outlook given Walmart’s recent history of basically underpromising so it can overdeliver.

“[Walmart] has a recent track record of beating, then guiding the next quarter low, then beating that, and giving initial full-year guidance that ends up being beatable,” Baker wrote in a note to clients. “Thus, we are not overly concerned with the guidance, and to us, the bottom line is that [Walmart’s] business trends remain strong.”

Still, the stock was the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s
DJIA

-1.01%
biggest decliner on the day.

Earnings for the past quarter beat expectations, and the dividend was raised

In the fiscal fourth quarter to Jan. 31, net sales rose 4% to $178.83 billion, while total revenue, which includes membership and other income, increased 4.1% to $180.55 billion. The FactSet consensus was for net sales of $178.71 billion and for total revenue of $180.19 billion.

Walmart’s U.S. sales grew 5% to $123.5 billion, to beat expectations for $122.95 billion. And comparable-store sales, or sales of stores open at least a year, rose 4.6% to beat expectations for a 4.4% rise.

For Walmart’s membership-based warehouse retailer Sam’s Club, comparable sales increased 6.8%, well above expectations for 5% growth, as the number of transactions rose by 5.4% and the average ticket was up 1.3%.

Net income for the quarter slipped to $5.25 billion, or 65 cents a share, from $5.49 billion, or 68 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.

Source :https://www.marketwatch.com/story/walmarts-stock-dives-as-disappointing-outlook-offsets-an-earnings-beat-3215a1e8

U.S. President Donald Trump denounced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as a “dictator” on Wednesday and warned he had to move quickly to secure peace or risk losing his country, deepening a feud between the two leaders that has alarmed European officials.
The extraordinary attacks – a day after Trump claimed Ukraine was to blame for Russia’s 2022 invasion – heightened concerns among U.S. allies in Europe that Trump’s approach to ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict could benefit Moscow.

Less than a month into his presidency, Trump has upended U.S. policy on the war, ending a campaign to isolate Russia with a Trump-Putin phone call and talks between senior U.S. and Russian officials that have sidelined Ukraine.
“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” Trump wrote on social media, using an alternate spelling for the Ukrainian president’s name.
In response, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said no one could force his country to give in.

“We will defend our right to exist,” Sybiha said on X.
Later in the day while speaking to investors and executives in Miami, Trump doubled down on his comments, again calling Zelenskiy a “dictator” and suggesting the Ukrainian president wanted to prolong the war to “keep the gravy train going,” a reference to U.S. military aid.
Zelenskiy’s five-year term was supposed to end in 2024, but elections cannot be held under martial law, which Ukraine imposed in February 2022 in response to Russia’s invasion.
Trump’s outburst followed Zelenskiy’s comments on Tuesday that the U.S. president was parroting Russian disinformation when he asserted that Ukraine “should never have started” the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday warned Zelenskiy against “badmouthing” Trump.

“Everyone who knows the president will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration,” Vance said in his West Wing office, the Daily Mail reported.
Russia has seized some 20% of Ukraine and is slowly but steadily gaining territory in the east. Moscow said its “special military operation” responded to an existential threat posed by Kyiv’s pursuit of NATO membership. Ukraine and the West call Russia’s action an imperialist land grab.
The Ukrainian leader said Trump’s assertion that his approval rating was just 4% was Russian disinformation and that any attempt to replace him would fail.
“We have evidence that these figures are being discussed between America and Russia. That is, President Trump … unfortunately lives in this disinformation space,” Zelenskiy told Ukrainian TV.
The latest poll from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, from early February, found 57% of Ukrainians trust Zelenskiy.
Following Trump’s latest remarks, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Zelenskiy “sits in office after duly-held elections.” When asked who started the war, Dujarric responded that Russia had invaded Ukraine.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said it was “false and dangerous” for Trump to call Zelenskiy a dictator, German newspaper Spiegel reported.
U.S. security ally Australia, which has provided A$1.5 billion in support to Ukraine in its war with Russia, rejected Trump’s assertions about Ukraine.

Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles said “the war in Ukraine must be resolved on Ukraine’s terms, because the aggressor here is Russia”. The country’s opposition leader Peter Dutton said bluntly: “I think President Trump has got it wrong”.
“Australia should stand strong and proud with the people of Ukraine. It’s a democracy, and this is a fight for civilisation. Vladimir Putin is a murderous dictator, and we shouldn’t be giving him an inch,” said Dutton.
A few of Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress said they disagreed that Zelenskiy was a dictator and that Ukraine bore responsibility for Russia’s invasion. But they stopped short of criticizing Trump directly, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune – a longtime supporter of Ukraine – saying Trump needed “space” to work on a peace deal.

EUROPE LEFT SCRAMBLING

Zelenskiy has suggested giving U.S. companies the right to extract valuable minerals in Ukraine in return for U.S. security guarantees.
He rejected a U.S. proposal last week that would have seen Washington receiving 50% of Ukraine’s critical minerals, including lithium, a key component in electric car batteries. Zelenskiy told reporters on Wednesday that the deal was too focused on U.S. interests, saying “I can’t sell our country.”
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday, Trump claimed that Ukraine had “more or less” agreed to the proposal and complained that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was treated “rather rudely” while visiting Kyiv. He said he would seek to resurrect the minerals deal.
European officials have been left shocked and flat-footed by the Trump administration’s Ukraine moves in recent days.
At a second meeting of European leaders in Paris, hastily arranged by French President Emmanuel Macron earlier in the day, there were more calls for immediate action to support Ukraine and bolster Europe’s defense capabilities, but few concrete decisions.
Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit Washington next week, according to White House national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Following Trump’s latest attacks, Zelenskiy discussed approaches to a peace settlement with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Macron and Starmer, including the importance of security guarantees.
Starmer expressed support for Zelenskiy as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader, Starmer’s office said on Wednesday.
Keith Kellogg, the U.S. Ukraine envoy, traveled to Kyiv on Wednesday to meet with Zelenskiy and said as he arrived that he understood “the need for security guarantees,” adding that part of his mission would be “to sit and listen.”
The 27-member European Union on Wednesday agreed on a 16th package of sanctions against Russia, including on aluminium and vessels believed to be carrying sanctioned Russian oil.
Trump said he may meet Putin this month. In Moscow, Putin said that Ukraine would not be barred from peace negotiations, but success would depend on raising the level of trust between Moscow and Washington.
Putin, speaking a day after Russia and the U.S. met in Riyadh to hold their first talks on how to end the conflict, also said it would take time to set up a summit with Trump, which both men have said they want.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/zelenskiy-says-trump-is-disinformation-bubble-ukraine-2025-02-19/

A $1.4 billion counterfeit luxury market thrives in the United States, with fake designer bags, watches, and accessories sold on street corners from New York to Los Angeles. While most shoppers know these items aren’t authentic, new research reveals surprising insights about who’s most likely to buy them.

Research published in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research shows that people who know less about fashion and luxury brands are actually more drawn to counterfeit items than those who consider themselves fashion experts. This finding helps explain why the counterfeit market continues to grow despite widespread awareness that buying fake goods is illegal.

The study discovered that when people don’t know much about luxury brands’ history, craftsmanship, and heritage, they’re more likely to convince themselves that buying counterfeits is acceptable. They often justify their purchases by saying the authentic items are overpriced, or that buying fakes doesn’t really harm anyone.

‘Moral disengagement’ drives counterfeit purchases

Led by Ludovica Cesareo, an assistant professor of marketing at Lehigh University, and Silvia Bellezza, an associate professor of business at Columbia University, the study focused on how different levels of fashion knowledge affect people’s attitudes toward counterfeits. The researchers worked with nearly 1,000 participants — including both everyday consumers and members of university fashion clubs — across a series of four studies. They found that fashion expertise dramatically changed how people viewed fake luxury goods.

At the heart of this research is a psychological concept called moral disengagement — the mental gymnastics people use to justify actions they know aren’t entirely right. The researchers found that shoppers with less fashion knowledge were more likely to morally disengage when it came to counterfeit goods. They’d tell themselves things like “I’ll buy the real thing someday” or “Everyone else does it” to make their interest in fakes feel more acceptable.

Cesareo tells StudyFinds Editor-in-Chief Steve Fink that people may be more prone to moral disengagement when it comes to spending money. “People may find it easier to morally disengage in financial transactions because they can rationalize their actions through justifications like affordability, perceived harmlessness, or social norms,” she explains. “Additionally, when products like counterfeits are widely available, consumers may feel a diffusion of responsibility, making it easier to ignore ethical considerations.”

Knowledge is power

This moral disengagement showed up in the study in three main ways. First, people would justify buying counterfeits by pointing to situational factors, like being a student with limited money. Second, they’d spread out the responsibility by saying that since lots of people buy fakes, it couldn’t be that bad. Third, they’d downplay the consequences, convincing themselves that buying counterfeits doesn’t really harm the luxury brands.

Fashion experts, on the other hand, were far less likely to use these mental shortcuts. Their deeper knowledge of the industry made them more aware of how counterfeiting affects everything from brand heritage to worker conditions. They understood that fake goods often fund criminal enterprises and exploit workers in unsafe conditions. This knowledge made it harder for them to morally disengage from the real impacts of counterfeiting.

During one experiment, researchers gave participants a scenario about owning an authentic luxury item and then encountering a counterfeit version being sold on the street. Those with less fashion knowledge often expressed interest in the fake items, reasoning that they could get the same status symbol for a fraction of the price. More knowledgeable participants, however, showed strong negative reactions to the counterfeits, viewing them as cheapening the authentic brand’s value.

The study also revealed interesting patterns in how people talk about luxury brands on social media. Less knowledgeable consumers who encountered counterfeits were actually more likely to post about the authentic brands online. This suggests they might be using social media to validate their connection to luxury brands, even when considering fake versions.

How brands can win the counterfeit war

For luxury brands, these findings point to a new strategy in fighting counterfeits. Instead of focusing solely on legal enforcement or anti-counterfeiting technology, brands might be more successful by targeting consumer knowledge. Local governments should also invest more effort into bringing the reality behind counterfeiting to light.

“Both brands and governments have roles to play,” says Cesareo. “Brands should educate consumers through targeted campaigns that highlight the authenticity and craftsmanship of their products, while governments should strengthen regulations and enforcement against counterfeiting. Public awareness campaigns, such as those run by crime prevention agencies, can also help reduce consumer demand for counterfeit goods.”

Many luxury houses are already moving in this direction, creating museums, exhibitions, and educational programs that showcase their history and expertise.

Louis Vuitton, for example, recently launched a traveling exhibition featuring 200 versions of their iconic trunk, demonstrating the evolution of their craftsmanship over two centuries. Gucci has opened a museum in Florence that traces the brand’s history from its founding as a leather goods shop to its current status as a global fashion powerhouse. These initiatives help consumers understand the value behind authentic luxury goods.

The research suggests this educational approach might be particularly effective with younger consumers who are just beginning to develop their fashion knowledge. By helping them understand the artistry and tradition behind luxury brands, companies might prevent them from viewing counterfeits as acceptable alternatives.

The connection between knowledge and moral reasoning can certainly be applied to to fashion. The researchers suggest that expertise in any field might make people more attuned to ethical issues in that area. Just as fashion experts see the problems with counterfeits more clearly, music aficionados might be more concerned about pirated content, or food experts more troubled by fake ingredients.

As online shopping makes luxury goods more accessible than ever, brands face new challenges in communicating their value to consumers who might never visit a physical store or interact with knowledgeable sales staff. Digital platforms might need to find new ways to convey the heritage and craftsmanship that justify luxury prices.

“We hope consumers can become more aware of their own moral disengagement when purchasing counterfeit goods,” says Cesareo. “Consumers can actively question their justifications for purchasing counterfeits and educate themselves on the negative consequences, such as links to organized crime, poor labor conditions, and economic harm to original brands.”

Source : https://studyfinds.org/why-counterfeit-luxury-goods-appeal-to-consumers/

Ever wondered how much money it would take for someone to quit their job and travel the world? According to new research, the magic number is $287,731. That’s the average amount Americans say they need in the bank before they’d feel comfortable leaving their current life behind to explore the globe.

A nationwide survey by Talker Research on behalf of Travelbinger.com asked 2,000 Americans about what it would take to make their travel dreams a reality. The results show that different generations have very different ideas about the cost of freedom.

Young adults from Generation Z would take the leap for around $211,000, while Baby Boomers want a more substantial cushion of $335,000 before they’d consider trading their current lifestyle for a world of adventure. This difference isn’t too surprising when you consider that older adults often have more financial responsibilities and established careers they’d need to leave behind.

The survey revealed some interesting extremes in people’s attitudes toward travel. About a third of Americans (32%) say they’d need more than $500,000 before they’d even consider such a dramatic life change. On the flip side, some people are ready to embrace adventure on a much tighter budget – one in six Americans (18%) would pack their bags for less than $50,000.

Money isn’t everything, though. The survey found that 17% of Americans wouldn’t leave their current life behind for any amount of money. For these folks, the comforts of home and their established routines matter more than the allure of far-off destinations.

The researchers also asked people how they’d spend a million dollars if they had to use it all on travel. The responses showed that Americans are a generous bunch – the most popular choice (37%) was taking family and friends along for the ride on a dream vacation. Who wouldn’t want to share an amazing experience with their loved ones?

Road trips remain a classic American dream, with 24% saying they’d use their million dollars to explore the U.S. or another country by car. Many would seek out the world’s most famous sights, with 21% wanting to visit landmarks and 19% hoping to explore historical wonders like the Great Pyramids, the Colosseum, and the Taj Mahal.

Some people prefer to take their time and really get to know a place. About 18% said they’d try “slow traveling” – spending months in each location instead of rushing from one tourist spot to the next. The same percentage would rather take frequent weekend trips to new places or work through a travel bucket list filled with adventures like African safaris, Northern Lights viewing, or diving the Great Barrier Reef.

Luxury isn’t off the table either. Many respondents dreamed of high-end experiences, with 17% wanting to splurge on fancy hotels and resorts. But it’s not all about comfort – 12% said they’d use their travel budget to volunteer or give back to the communities they visit.

The survey uncovered plenty of other travel dreams too. Some people want to experience different cultures (11%) or visit every continent (11%). Others would splash out on luxury cruises (13%), private jets (8%), or around-the-world plane tickets (8%). A small group (8%) would use their budget to attend major global events like the Olympics or World Cup.

Not everyone shares these wanderlust dreams, though. A small but notable 4% of people said they’d give back a million-dollar travel budget, saying they have zero interest in exploring the world. This matches up with the earlier finding that some Americans just prefer to stay put, regardless of the financial incentives.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/money-give-up-life-travel-world/

Egyptologists have discovered the first tomb of a pharaoh since Tutankhamun’s was uncovered over a century ago.

King Thutmose II’s tomb was the last undiscovered royal tomb of the 18th Egyptian dynasty.

A British-Egyptian team has located it in the Western Valleys of the Theban Necropolis near the city of Luxor. Researchers had thought the burial chambers of the 18th dynasty pharaohs were more than 2km away, closer to the Valley of the Kings.

The crew found it in an area associated with the resting places of royal women, but when they got into the burial chamber they found it decorated – the sign of a pharaoh.

“Part of the ceiling was still intact: a blue-painted ceiling with yellow stars on it. And blue-painted ceilings with yellow stars are only found in kings’ tombs,” said the field director of the mission Dr Piers Litherland.

He told the BBC’s Newshour programme he felt overwhelmed in the moment.

“The emotion of getting into these things is just one of extraordinary bewilderment because when you come across something you’re not expecting to find, it’s emotionally extremely turbulent really,” he said.

“And when I came out, my wife was waiting outside and the only thing I could do was burst into tears.”

Dr Litherland said the discovery solved the mystery of where the tombs of early 18th dynasty kings are located.

Researchers found Thutmose II’s mummified remains two centuries ago but its original burial site had never been located.

Thutmose II was an ancestor of Tutankhamun, whose reign is believed to have been from about 1493 to 1479 BC. Tutankhamun’s tomb was found by British archaeologists in 1922.

Thutmose II is best known for being the husband of Queen Hatshepsut, regarded as one of Egypt’s greatest pharaohs and one of the few female pharaohs who ruled in her own right.

Dr Litherland said the “large staircase and a very large descending corridor” of the tomb suggested grandeur.

“It took us a very long time to get through all that,” he said, noting it was blocked by flood debris and the ceilings had collapsed.

“It was only after crawling through a 10m (32ft) passageway that had a small 40cm gap at the top that we got into the burial chamber.”

There they discovered the blue ceiling and decorations of scenes from the Amduat, a religious text which was reserved for kings. That was another key sign they had found a king’s tomb, Dr Litherland said.

They set to work clearing the debris – expecting that they would find the crushed remains of a burial underneath.

But “the tomb turned out to be completely empty”, said Dr Litherland. “Not because it was robbed but because it had been deliberately emptied.”

They then worked out that the tomb had been flooded – “it had been built underneath a waterfall” – just a few years after the king’s burial and the contents moved to another location in ancient times.

It was through sifting through tonnes of limestone in the chamber that they found fragments of alabaster jars, which bore the inscriptions of the names of Thutmose II and Hatshepsut.

These fragments of alabaster “had probably broken when the tomb was being moved,” said Dr Litherland.

“And thank goodness they actually did break one or two things because that’s how we found out whose tomb it was.”

The artefacts are the first objects to be found associated with Thutmose II’s burial.

Dr Litherland’s said his team had a rough idea of where the second tomb was, and it could still be intact with treasures.

The discovery of the pharaoh’s tomb caps off more than 12 years of work by the joint team from Dr Litherland’s New Kingdom Research Foundation and Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5ym30v356po

On a cold January afternoon, a young pharmacy student, Shin Jeong-min, waited restlessly outside South Korea’s Constitutional Court, as the country’s suspended president arrived to fight his impeachment.

While Yoon Suk Yeol testified, she chanted along with hundreds of his incensed and worried supporters, who have rallied around him ever since his failed attempt to impose martial law. “Release him now. Cancel his impeachment,” they shouted.

“If the president is impeached and the opposition leader is elected, our country will become one with North Korea and Kim Jong Un,” Jeong-min said, citing a theory popular among President Yoon’s most fanatical followers: that the left-leaning opposition party wants to unify with the North and turn South Korea into a communist country.

At 22 years old, Jeong-min stands out from the legion of elderly Koreans who have always feared and despised the North, and make up the bulk of those who hold these far-right conspiratorial beliefs.

That generation of Koreans, now in its 60s and 70s, lived through the Cold War and remembers bitterly the devastating aftermath of North Korea’s invasion in the 1950s.

When Yoon declared martial law in early December, he played on these fears to justify his power grab.

Without citing evidence, he claimed that “North Korean communist forces” had infiltrated the opposition party and were trying to overthrow the country. They needed to be “eradicated”, he said, as he moved swiftly to ban political activity and put the army in charge.

Two months on from his failed coup, an anti-communist frenzy is gripping Yoon’s supporters, young and old.

Even some who had never given North Korea or communism much thought are now convinced their dynamic democracy is on the brink of being turned into a leftist dictatorship – and that their leader had no choice but to remove people’s democratic rights in order to protect them from both Pyongyang and Beijing.

“This a war between communism and democracy,” said one office worker in his 40s, who had slipped out of work to join the protest at the court.

Another man, in his 30s, adamantly argued the president had to be returned to office as soon as possible. “He’s going to arrest all the North Korean spies,” he said.

Such threats were once very real. During the 1960s and 70s, spies would regularly attempt to infiltrate the government.

In 1968, a group of North Korean commandos crawled across the border and tried to assassinate then President Park Chung-hee. A tree atop Seoul’s Bugak mountain still bears the bullet marks from the intense gun battles that raged for nearly two weeks.

In the 1980s, during the final years of South Korea’s violent military dictatorship, a radical far-left student movement began to praise Pyongyang for its “superior” political system. They were labelled regime “sympathisers”.

It was also common for authoritarian leaders to accuse their political adversaries of being North Korean conspirators.

“Anti-communism became the dominant ideology of South Korea’s military dictators, who used it to control society and justify restricting people’s freedom,” said Shin Jin-wook, a sociology professor at Chungang University.

Today, these threats have dissipated. Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and advanced cyber-hacking abilities pose the greater risk, and you would struggle to find anyone in South Korea who wants to emulate life in the North. The political left and right are merely divided over how to deal with their troublesome neighbour.

While the approach of Yoon’s conservative People Power Party has been to try to threaten the North into submission with military superiority, the left-leaning Democratic Party prefers to engage with Pyongyang, believing the two countries can peacefully co-exist.

The president has been accused of exploiting people’s historic fears. “Yoon’s rhetoric almost completely matches that of past dictators, and he is the first president to use this anti-communist ideology so blatantly since Korea became a democracy in 1987,” said Mr Shin.

Not only has Yoon accused the parliament, led by the opposition Democratic Party, of being riddled with Pyongyang sympathisers, but he has dangled the idea that North Korea, with help from China, rigged last year’s parliamentary election.

“This is fake news cooked up by Yoon to demonise the opposition and justify his completely undemocratic move,” one Democratic Party lawmaker, Wi Sung-lac, told the BBC.

“We have a long history of fighting for democracy and freedom in Korea. We are the ones who managed to thwart Yoon’s attempt to destroy Korea’s democracy,” he said, referring to the opposition politicians who pushed past troops and climbed over the parliament’s walls during martial law to vote down the motion.

Such ideas were previously pedalled by extreme conservative groups, said Lee Sangsin, a polling expert at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

“These groups were isolated. People didn’t take much notice,” he explained. “But because Yoon is the president, his words carry weight, and many people have accepted what he said.”

This was evident at one of the pro-Yoon weekend rallies we attended last month. Far from being die-hard conspiracy theorists, nearly everyone we spoke to said Yoon had changed their thinking.

“At first I didn’t support Yoon, but martial law opened my eyes,” said Oh Jung-hyuk, a 57-year-old musician, there with his wife. “We can see how deeply embedded leftist forces are in our society.” One woman in her 40s told us she previously had doubts about Chinese vote rigging but had researched the issue after martial law and “realised it was true”.

Yoon’s supporters often point to real events – how the previous Democratic Party President, Moon Jae-in, met Kim Jong Un to try to orchestrate a peace deal; that the current Democratic leader, Lee Jae-myung, is being investigated for helping to send millions of dollars to North Korea – then use these as evidence of a greater plot.

“This far-fetched conspiracy theory that China rigged the election is becoming more and more accepted,” said the sociology professor Mr Shin. “One of the most basic consensuses in a democracy is the premise of fair and free elections, and now we have people distrusting that. This is very extreme.”

As Yoon’s unsubstantiated claims have taken root, his support seems to have grown. Although the majority of people in South Korea still want him permanently removed from office, the number has fallen. Last week it stood at 57%, compared to 75% in the week after the martial law declaration.

Through his anti-communist rhetoric, Yoon has also effectively tapped into a simmering distrust of China. To fear North Korea now means to be wary of China too.

At a recent weekend rally in Seoul, many supporters had swapped their trademark “Stop the Steal” election fraud placards for ones that read “Chinese Communist Party OUT”.

“I believe China is interfering in all South Korea’s political affairs. It’s pulling the strings behind the scenes,” said 66-year-old Jo Yeon-deok, who was holding one of the signs.

According to the polling expert, Mr Lee, “a growing portion of the public now believes China wants to turn South Korea into some kind of vassal state”.

For those in their 20s and 30s who have never experienced real danger from North Korea, China is a more believable threat. Last year the Pew Research Centre found that South Korea and Hungary were the only two countries where the young had a more negative view of China than the old.

But contrary to the information they are being fed, young people’s fears have nothing to do with communism, said Cho Jin-man, a political scientist at Duksung Women’s University.

Until recently South Koreans felt their country was superior to China, Mr Cho explained – but as Beijing has become stronger and more assertive they have started to see it as a threat, especially since the US started treating it as such.

On top of that, young people have a lot of grievances: they’re struggling to find work or afford a home, and feel resentful when they see their universities catering to Chinese students.

Communism, Mr Cho believes, is being used as a convenient catch-all bogeyman to stir up fear and hate. This message is amplified by far-right YouTube channels, particularly popular with young men.

“North Korea and China are my biggest concerns,” said Kim Gyung-joo, a 30-year-old IT developer, who came alone to one of the rallies. He used to be left-wing like his friends, he said, and was initially very critical of the president’s martial law order. But after researching the issue on YouTube he realised martial law was “unavoidable”.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1lv3g51n9yo

Last spring, when tens of thousands of Georgians were protesting against what they saw as a clear sign of Russian influence on the country’s politics, Georgia’s parliament rushed through amendments to the nation’s tax code.

Transparency International (TI) Georgia, the anti-corruption watchdog, wrote at the time that the change – which allows tax-free transfer of assets from offshore accounts to Georgia – may have been introduced to serve the interests of the country’s richest person and former prime minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili.

He is the founder and honorary chairman of the country’s ruling party, Georgian Dream.

“Now it is clear, those changes were made for him,” says senior economics analyst at TI Georgia, Beso Namchavadze.

With an estimated wealth of $4.9bn (£3.9bn), Mr Ivanishvili made his money in 1990s Russia, in computing, metals and banking. Most of his wealth is believed to be tucked away in offshore companies.

Georgia was plunged into political crisis and daily street protests last May when the country’s MPs passed the contentious “transparency on foreign influence bill”, often dubbed the “foreign agents law”.

Under this legislation, media and non-governmental organisations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad have to register as “organisations acting in the interest of a foreign power”, submit themselves to stringent audits, or face punitive fines. It was widely seen as a move to prevent US and other Western influence on the country.

Protests then continued when the Georgian Dream-led government won disputed parliamentary elections in October. Protests were spurred again at the start of December when it said it would be putting EU accession talks on hold.

Hundreds of peaceful protests were arrested and severely beaten up by the police.

In response to this crackdown, the US government announced sanctions against Mr Ivanishvili at the end of last year.

There is also the possibility of sanctions from the UK. Last month James MacClearly, a Liberal Democrat MP, introduced an Early Day Motion in the UK parliament calling on the government to impose sanctions on Mr Ivanishvili.

The motion expressed “deep concern at the suspension of Georgia’s EU accession process and the increasing use of excessive force against peaceful protesters”.

TI Georgia estimates that if the UK imposed sanctions on Mr Ivanishvili his entire business empire would be affected, because he has holding companies registered in two British Overseas Territories – British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands.

“All his big business, which he has in Georgia, in the hospitality sector, in the energy sector, all the parent companies of these Georgian companies, the last beneficiaries are registered in these so-called offshore territories,” says Beso Namchavadze.

He adds that TI Georgia believes that Mr Ivanishvili and other family members are continuing to transfer ownership of companies they previously controlled through offshore entities to newly established firms in Georgia.

In January of this year, paintings and other artwork worth nearly $500m were imported into Georgia, according to data published by the Ministry of Finance.

Many believe the artwork was from Mr Ivanishvili’s valuable collection.

“For everybody who knows him it’s pretty clear that this is something that he values the most out of all the assets, and all the wealth, that he has,” says Tina Khidasheli, Georgia’s ex-defence minister and the head of the non-governmental organisation Civic Idea.

“He is going to bring paintings back and he does not want to pay tax on it.”

The head of Georgia’s parliamentary committee on finance and budget, Paata Kvijinadze, recently defended the tax-free transfer of assets from offshore accounts to Georgia.

“If anyone benefited from this law, I am happy about it,” he said in a post on social media. “This is exactly what the law was meant to be: to bring companies from offshore zones and attract more investments into the country”.

In response to the proposed UK sanctions, Georgia’s ruling party issued a statement defending Mr Ivanishvili, saying that a threat of sanctions was “without any foundation” against the party founder who brought “democratic breakthrough to the country”.

Separately, Mr Ivanishvili’s lawyer announced last month that his client is suing Swiss bank Julius Baer for, among other reasons, misinterpreting “the so-called” American sanctions, which the lawyer described as “political blackmail”.

The US sanctions on Mr Ivanishvili call for his assets to be frozen, and place restrictions on US citizens and companies from doing business personally with him, but they do not affect his companies or family members.

For more than a decade Mr Ivanishvili has been involved in legal battles with another Swiss bank, Credit Suisse, over fraud and mismanagement of his money.

Some believe that the billionaire’s mistrust of the West and increased use of conspiracy theories at home, such as accusing adversaries of being part of the “global war party”, or “deep state”, originate in his long-standing financial grievances.

Ever since he became convinced that Credit Suisse was part of a grand conspiracy against him, says Tina Khdasheli. “Bidzina Ivanishvili held Georgia hostage to his personal financial issues.”

Experts say that even though Mr Ivanishvili’s current official position is the honorary chairman of the ruling party, there is a clear understanding that he remains the number one person in Georgian politics. Sanctions against him are therefore seen as sanctions against the entire government.

Nika Gilauri was prime minister of Georgia from 2009 to 2012. He now leads a private company called Reformatics, which advises governments around the world on economic reform.

Mr Gilauri says that Georgia’s continuing political instability and international isolation is negatively impacting the economy. “We are seeing a very negative effect on FDI, foreign direct investment, if you take nine months of 2024 compared to nine months of 2023, we have a 40% drop. So going forward this is going to continue to get worse.”

But the Georgian government paints a different picture.

Last month Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze signed a $6bn inward investment agreement with UAE property group Emaar.

Levan Davitashvili, the Minister of Economy described it as the “largest foreign investment deal” in decades, which was expected to contribute 1.5% growth to the economy.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has even suggested that 10% growth was now “absolutely realistic” for the Georgian economy.

But recently published research by Policy and Management Consulting Group (PMCG), a Georgian research firm, said that the prospect for the next six months was “extremely negative”.

It highlighted the impact of the continuing political turmoil, and said that the suspension of EU membership talks “was negatively viewed by all surveyed economists”.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj91xgylkwlo

Actress Kim Sae-ron’s death in an apparent suicide has renewed criticism of South Korea’s entertainment industry, which churns out stars but also subjects them to immense pressure and scrutiny.

Kim – who was found dead aged 24 at her home in Seoul on Sunday – had been bombarded with negative press coverage and hate online after a drink-driving conviction in 2022. Police have not provided further details about her death.

Experts found the circumstances leading to it depressingly familiar. Other celebrities also ended up taking their lives after careers upended by cyberbullying.

As Kim was laid to rest on Wednesday, analysts say they are not optimistic her death will lead to meaningful change.

South Korea’s entertainment industry is enjoying massive popularity. Today, there are more than an estimated 220 million fans of Korean entertainment around the world – that’s four times the population of South Korea.

But there is also increasing spotlight on the less glamorous side of the entertainment industry.

South Korea is known for its hyper-competitive culture in most spheres of life – from education to careers. It has one of the highest suicide rates among developed countries. While its overall suicide rate is falling, deaths of those in their 20s are rising.

This pressure is heightened in the case of celebrities. They face immense pressure to be perfect, and are subjected to the demands of obsessive “super fans” who can make or break careers.

That is why even the slightest perceived misstep can be career ending. Kim Sae-ron became so unpopular, scenes featuring her were edited out of shows such as Netflix’s 2023 drama Bloodhounds.

“It is not enough that the celebrities be punished by the law. They become targets of relentless criticism,” Korean culture critic Kim Hern-sik told the BBC.

He referred to K-pop artists Sulli and Goo Hara, who died by suicide in 2019 after long battles with internet trolls, even though they did not have known brushes with the law.

Sulli had offended fans for not conforming to the K-pop mould, while an internet mob had targeted Goo Hara over her relationship with an ex-boyfriend.