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‘Vast worldwide sewer’: Paris mayor quits X with swipe at Elon Musk

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo on Monday announced she would leave X, formerly Twitter, because the social media platform has become a “weapon of mass destruction of our democracies” in recent years.Without naming him, Hidalgo pointed to Elon Musk’s responsibility for changes made to the site since he took over the company in October 2022.“This platform and its owner act deliberately to exacerbate tensions and conflicts,” Hildago said in a statement posted on X, adding it had become a “vast worldwide sewer.”“It’s a clear political project which wants to do without democracy and its values in favor of powerful private interests,” the socialist mayor said, adding: “I refuse to endorse this fateful scheme.”Hidalgo is the first high-profile French politician to announce they are quitting the platform.X has faced criticism over the spread of disinformation since Musk bought the company, which culminated in recent weeks rel...

China has changed since David Cameron’s ‘golden era,’ Rishi Sunak says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

HAMPTON COURT PALACE, England — Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says China has changed since David Cameron’s “golden era” of close economic ties with the nation.Sunak was speaking at the government’s second Global Investment Summit in Hampton Court Palace, where he was pressed on the countries’ relationship following David Cameron’s surprise appointment as foreign secretary.“I think if David was here, what he would say is that China today is not the China that he dealt with over a decade ago,” Sunak said during a panel discussion at the summit. “It has changed; it’s right that our strategy evolves to take account of that.”As prime minister, Cameron famously heralded a “golden era” of close economic relations with China, hosting President Xi Jinping for a state visit in 2015. He has since faced scrutiny over his role in promoting a controversial Chinese-built port city in Sri Lanka.His appointment as foreign secretary has led to speculation of a thawing of U.K.-China relations.Sunak said ...

Elon Musk visits kibbutz attacked by Hamas during visit to Israel

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

Hong Kong (CNN) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog is expecting to meet with Elon Musk on Monday as the world’s richest man continues to face a firestorm of criticism over his public endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory on his social media platform, X.As part of his visit to Israel, Musk was taken to Kfar Azza — one of the kibbutzim attacked by Hamas on October 7 — by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The kibbutz was the home of Abigail Edan, a four-year-old American dual citizen abducted by the militant group that day and released Sunday.Musk is scheduled to meet with Herzog behind closed doors during his visit on Monday afternoon, where the president will emphasize the need to combat rising antisemitism online, according to the president’s office.In a statement, the president’s office said that representatives of the families of hostages held by Hamas were also expected to join the meeting, where they would share “the horro...

Ozzy Osbourne opens up about health struggles, saying he will ‘die a happy man’ if he can perform one last show

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

(CNN) — Rock icon Ozzy Osbourne opened up about his health struggles in a recent interview with Rolling Stone, and said he would “die a happy man” if he could perform one more show to express his gratitude to his fans from the stage.“If I can’t continue doing shows on a regular basis, I just want to be well enough to do one show where I can say, ‘Hi guys, thanks so much for my life.’ That’s what I’m working towards, and if I drop down dead at the end of it, I’ll die a happy man,” he said.The 74-year-old announced in February that his touring career was over as he is no longer “physically capable (of it)” after suffering several health setbacks. In July, he withdrew from an appearance at a music festival scheduled for October.Osbourne damaged his spine in a major accident four years ago, has undergone multiple surgeries since, and revealed his Parkinson’s diagnosis in January 2020.The fall and subsequent surgeries “really knocked me about,” Osbourne said...

Merriam-Webster’s 2023 word of the year is the real deal

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

(CNN) — As the all-important question of truth and facts continues to dominate current affairs, it may come as no surprise to learn that Merriam-Webster’s word of the year is “authentic.”The online dictionary says there has been a high volume of searches for the word’s definition for several years, but 2023 saw a “substantial increase,” thanks to “stories and conversations about AI, celebrity culture, identity, and social media.”The reason so many look it up is because “authentic” has several meanings, according to the announcement on the dictionary’s website, including “not false or imitation” and “true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character.”A synonym of real and actual, authentic is “clearly a desirable quality,” according to Merriam-Webster, and is often linked with expressions of identity, such as cuisine.The dictionary said it has also been a term favored by celebrities like singers Lainey Wilson, Sam Smith and Taylor Swift, who have ...

A critically endangered Sumatran rhino named Delilah successfully gives birth in Indonesia

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A critically endangered Sumatran rhino was born in Indonesia’s western island of Sumatra on Saturday, the second Sumatran rhino born in the country this year and a welcome addition to a species that currently numbers fewer than 50 animals.A female named Delilah gave birth to a 25-kilogram (55-pound) male calf at a sanctuary for Sumatran rhinos in Way Kambas National Park in Lampung province, at the southern tip of Sumatra island.The calf is fathered by a male named Harapan, who was born at the Cincinnati Zoo in 2006. He was the last Sumatran rhino in the world to be repatriated to Indonesia, meaning that the entire population of Sumatran rhinos is now in Indonesia.Most of the remaining rhinos live on Sumatra, several in captivity. They are threatened by destruction of tropical forest habitat and poachers who kill the animals for their horns, which are prized for making ornaments and for use in traditional medicine in China and other parts of Asia.“This birt...

Justin Madubuike, the Ravens’ sack leader, is in concussion protocol after exiting win vs. Chargers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

Ravens defensive tackle Justin Madubuike is in the NFL’s concussion protocol after exiting Sunday night’s 20-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, coach John Harbaugh said.Madubuike went down with 2:57 left in the fourth quarter and was tended to by team trainers before heading to the sideline under his own power. He did not return to the game as the Ravens forced a turnover on downs from their own 36-yard line with 1:57 to go before rookie wide receiver Zay Flowers ran for a 37-yard touchdown to seal the victory.A 2020 third-round draft pick, Madubuike has become one of the best players on perhaps the league’s best defense, leading the team with 10 sacks in the final year of his rookie contract. He had a half-sack and three quarterback hits before leaving the game Sunday, helping the Ravens shut down one of the league’s best offenses as the Chargers finished with just 279 total yards and ended a streak of 48 straight games with a first-half touchdown, the lo...

Tesla sues Swedish agency as striking workers halt delivery of license plates of its new vehicles

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Tesla has filed a lawsuit against the Swedish Transport Agency as striking workers in the Scandinavian country halted the delivery of license plates of new vehicles manufactured by the Texas-based automaker, reported Sweden’s Dagens Industri on Monday.Mikael Andersson, a press spokesman for the agency, told local broadcaster SVT that the lawsuit was filed early morning “so we have not seen it yet.”“We need to hear their reasoning first before we can give any further comment,” Andersson told SVT.Leading business paper Dagens Industri reported that Tesla — which is non-unionized globally — was suing the government agency because not accessing the registration plates “constitutes an unlawful discriminatory attack directed at Tesla.” On Oct. 27, 130 members of the powerful metalworkers’ union IF Metall walked out at seven workshops across the country where the popular electric cars are serviced, demanding that the carmaker sign a collective bargaining agreement, which m...

An abducted German priest is said to be freed in Mali one year after being seized in the capital

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — A German priest who was abducted by rebels in Mali’s capital in November 2022 has been released by his captors, a church member and a former colleague told The Associated Press on Monday.Church members in the capital of Bamako learned of the release of Rev. Hans-Joachim Lohre late Sunday, according to Dia Monique Pare, a former colleague who had confirmed his kidnapping. There were few details about his release.“Yesterday, while we were at Mass, a member of priest Hans-Joachim Lohre’s family told us that they had good news about the priest,” Pare said.Abbé Jean-Marie Djibo, a member of the church, said Lohre was released on Sunday and has returned to Germany. “He is doing well,” Djibo said.Authorities in Mali and Germany could not be reached for comment.It was not immediately known if a ransom was paid.Lohre was abducted by al-Qaida-linked rebels in Bamako. It was the first time that militants had seized a foreigner in the capital since their insurgen...

Qatar is the go-to mediator in the Mideast war. Its unprecedented Tel Aviv trip saved a shaky truce

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The deal seemed on the verge of unraveling. Hamas had accused Israel of failing to keep its side of the bargain and Israel was threatening to resume its lethal onslaught on the Gaza Strip.That was the point at which a Qatari jet landed at Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport on Saturday. Negotiators aboard set to work, seeking to save the cease-fire deal between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers before it fell apart and scuttled weeks of high-stakes diplomatic wrangling. The first public visit by Qatari officials to Israel marked an extraordinary moment for the two countries, which have no official diplomatic relations. It also underscored the major role of the tiny emirate in bridging differences between the enemies.“This is something we’ve never seen before,” Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, said of the Qataris’ stay in Israel. “It’s the only external actor in the world with that much leverage on Ha...