Wagner in Mali: US sanctions top junta officials over alleged ties
Wagner fighters overseeing Malian troops are accused of targeting civilians and other rights abuses.
1970-01-01 08:00
Is Cillian Murphy multilingual? Robert Downey Jr praises 'Oppenheimer' co-star for his commitment to 'behemoth' role
Rober Downey Jr heaped praise on Cillian Murphy for his performance as J Robert Oppenheimer in 'Oppenheimer'
1970-01-01 08:00
Vera Pauw ‘a bit concerned’ about Louise Quinn fitness for Republic-Canada game
Vera Pauw is “a bit concerned” about Louise Quinn’s fitness as the Republic of Ireland look to put a losing start in the Women’s World Cup behind them against Canada. A 1-0 defeat against tournament co-hosts Australia in Sydney last week was compounded by Quinn suffering a foot injury, with the defender touch and go to face the Olympic champions in Perth on Wednesday. She lightly trained on Monday and was put through her paces in their final practice session on Tuesday, but Pauw revealed “plan B is ready” should Quinn unexpectedly fail her fitness test. “We’re a bit concerned but we think that she can play,” the Ireland head coach told a press conference. “It’s an injury that is not very straightforward and it’s relying on how she reacts (during) training. Plan B is ready.” The Girls in Green go into their next match knowing a defeat would spell the end of their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages in their historic maiden World Cup campaign. “Winning starts with not losing,” Pauw said. “If you play a game like this against an Olympic champion, I have to stay realistic but it’s clear that if we want to go through in this group, we need a result. “If we win, we have it in our own hands. If we have a draw then we depend on other results. “Canada is a very, very experienced team and they know how to have patience in getting their results. They often get their results in the later stages so that shows they have the trust to keep on going.” But Kyra Carusa feels Ireland can take heart from their battling performance against Australia, where they rallied after Steph Catley’s second-half penalty without being able to find a way through. “Those last few minutes of the Australia game did light a fire under us and show this 90-plus minutes that we have in us and the dangers we have in us throughout an entire game,” Carusa said. “That’s definitely something we take away from that game. We are reliable and have that endurance and longevity to make sure we come up with a result at any minute in the game.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live
1970-01-01 08:00
Who was Aniah Blanchard? Mother of dead woman speaks out after Carlee Russell confesses she lied about being kidnapped
'Of course deep down inside I’m very angry. I do not regret anything at all,' Angela Harris, who had been actively involved in the search for Russell
1970-01-01 08:00
Saquon Barkley, Giants settle on 1-year deal worth up to $11 million, AP source says
Saquon Barkley and the New York Giants settled on a contract for the star running back just in time for training camp, signing a one-year contract worth up to $11 million, a source close to the negotiations told The Associated Press on Tuesday
1970-01-01 08:00
Springboks try new Williams-Libbok halfback pairing in 9 changes for Argentina
South Africa will start a new halfback pairing of Grant Williams and Manie Libbok against Argentina on Saturday in a final home game before its Rugby World Cup title defense
1970-01-01 08:00
Who is Adrian Griffin's son? Milwaukee Bucks coach's 2-year-old grandson declared dead after child's dad found him unresponsive
'My grandson Jayce was very special to me and my family and his passing is an agonizing tragedy that will be felt forever,' said Adrian Griffin
1970-01-01 08:00
Elon Musk’s ‘X’ already trademarked by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta for ‘social networking services’
Elon Musk may face legal difficulties after rebranding Twitter to X, trademark experts have warned, with tech rivals Meta and Microsoft both owning intellectual property rights for the letter. The tech billionaire renamed the social network on Monday, nine months after taking over the company in a $44 billion deal. The name change forms part of his plan to turn the platform into an “everything app”, which will offer services akin to China’s WeChat and India’s PayTM. X chief executive Linda Yaccarino said the company wanted to “transform the global town square” to integrate payments, banking and create a “global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities”. Before achieving this goal, however, IP lawyers claim Mr Musk’s firm may face challenges from its competitors. “There’s a 100 per cent chance that Twitter is going to get sued over this by somebody,” US trademark lawyer Josh Gerben told Reuters, noting that there are nearly 900 active US trademark registrations that already cover the letter X. These include Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, which owns a federal trademark for a blue-and-white letter ‘X’ relating to “social networking services in the fields of entertainment, gaming and application development”. Microsoft also has registered trademarks for the letter ‘X’ relating to its Xbox video game console. Neither company responded to a request for comment. Mr Musk first owned the X.com domain in 1999, when he founded a financial services company that later went on to become PayPal. He reacquired the domain in 2017 after making a deal with his former company, before tweeting in October 2022 that buying Twitter was “an accelerant to creating X, the everything app”. It is not clear whether Mr Musk has applied for a trademark for X, but if he succeeds he may still face difficulties in protecting the registered rights against other brands using the letter. “The very essence of trade mark registration is obtaining an exclusive right to the brand that is registered,” Matthew Harris, a trademark lawyer with Pinsent Masons, told The Independent. “It may be difficult to obtain for Elon Musk under the ‘X’ rebrand, not to mention the difficulty, should he obtain registered protection, in trying to enforce any registered rights in ‘X’ against other brands using a similar name.” Read More What is Elon Musk’s ‘everything app’ X? Twitter to X: Why Elon Musk rebranded the social networking platform Twitter rebrands to X as Elon Musk loses iconic bird logo What is Elon Musk’s ‘everything app’ X?
1970-01-01 08:00
Transgender swimmers to be included in the trial of an open category at competitions
The governing body of swimming says it will set up an “open category” that will include transgender competitors
1970-01-01 08:00
Russian paramilitaries to stay in Africa despite Wagner mutiny
Ever since Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin staged a mutiny in Russia last month, questions have been raised over the future of his group in Africa, the...
1970-01-01 08:00
Brazil to begin taxing sports betting, aiming to boost revenues
BRASILIA Brazil's government issued an executive order on Tuesday to initiate taxation on sports betting, in line with
1970-01-01 08:00
Putin signs off law banning Russians from changing gender in latest blow to LGBT+ community
Vladimir Putin has signed a new controversial legislation banning surgical gender reassignment in Russia in yet another blow to the country’s LGBT+ population. Crackdowns against the LGBT+ community and gender minorities in the country have only gathered pace ever since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year as the Russian president seeks popularity among citizens. The latest move by Mr Putin on Monday marks Russia’s final step in rendering gender-affirming procedures illegal and depriving its transgender population of their right to access gender-reassignment services. The bill, cleared unanimously by both houses of the Russian parliament and signed by Mr Putin, now bans any “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person” along with changing one’s gender in official documents and public records. Under the bill, exceptions will only be made for a permissible list of medical interventions “related to the treatment of congenital physiological anomalies in children”. The list of these “anomalies in children” will be drawn up by the Kremlin. Couples who transitioned to their new genders after they adopted children will have their marriages annulled. The law thus bans them from becoming foster parents. The regressive legislation has stemmed from the Kremlin’s crusade to protect what it calls are the country’s “traditional values” and according to Russian lawmakers, it is meant as a safeguard against “Western anti-family ideology”. Some lawmakers have dubbed gender transitioning “pure satanism”. State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said the decision to pass the bill “will protect our citizens and our children” after it was set to undergo its third reading. The bill described gender reassignment as “the path leading to the degeneration of the nation”. The future remains bleak for Russia’s transgender population, which earlier had access to gender-reassignment surgeries and treatments like hormone replacement therapy. A transgender man in Russia, identified as Alexei, said he always had plans to change the gender label on his passport, but is now enduring “hell”. The 23-year-old told The Moscow Times that he is in panic, while stating that the process of his gender transition was already lagging as he was living on his own since he turned 18. He also told the newspaper that he did not have enough money, but will now have to start urgently. Russia ranked 46 out of 49 European nations in advocacy group Rainbow Europe’s annual LGBT+ rights rankings. The country’s politicians are “harming transgender and intersex people by continuing to deploy cynical ‘family values’,” according to Human Rights Watch. Read More Russian president signs legislation marking the final step outlawing gender-affirming procedures The upper house of Russian parliament approves a ban on gender changes Russian lawmakers pass a bill outlawing gender-affirming procedures to protect 'traditional values' Parents take on struggle for trans rights for their kids and others in conservative Poland Spain votes in general election that could see it become latest EU country to veer to the right
1970-01-01 08:00
