Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s bid to appear virtually at the Academy Awards has been rejected for the second year in a row, Vanity Fair said on Thursday. Mike Simpson, a high-powered Hollywood agent from the WME agency who also represents directors Quentin Tarantino and Bong Joon Ho, was supposedly sent …
Read More »Israel has accomplished its mission, prime minister reportedly says
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid told municipal leaders that the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) military operation in Gaza has achieved its objectives and would be wound down, local media reported. As Lapid spoke, Egyptian-brokered ceasefire talks between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad continued. The prime minister told the group …
Read More »Britain and US reportedly pressure NATO hopefuls
Washington and London are allegedly leading a lobbying campaign to pressure Sweden and Finland into accepting demands made by Turkey, which is blocking NATO membership for the two countries. The claim was made by Turkish MPs who visited a NATO event in Lithuania last week, as reported by Turkish media …
Read More »Five reportedly killed at protests over soaring food prices
Protests sweeping Iran over surging food prices have left five people dead, according to media reports. Officials in Tehran have provided no confirmation of potential casualties. The unrest follows the government’s decision to cut food import subsidies, as part of an austerity package unveiled by President Ebrahim Raisi earlier this …
Read More »Taliban reportedly orders beheading of shop mannequins
The Taliban has ordered clothes shops in Afghanistan’s Herat province to behead all mannequins because they are “idols,” according to media reports. According to The Times newspaper, the ruling was issued last week by the local office of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, …
Read More »Bye, evil Facebook? Zuckerberg reportedly wants new name for his VR ‘metaverse’ to show that it’s bigger than just social media
The rebranding may be announced on October 28 during the annual Connect conference or even sooner, according to the Verge. The outlet compares the looming switch to how Google renamed its parent company Alphabet in 2015 to stress that it is more than a search engine showing its users some …
Read More »US-abandoned Bagram base reportedly operational for first time in two months, as rumors swirl of Chinese military presence
A photo shared on social media purportedly shows the base on Sunday night with its floodlights on. There are claims that several planes have landed at and taken off from the airfield in recent hours. If confirmed, it would be the first time Bagram had served aircraft in almost 50 …
Read More »Backlash as students reportedly told wearing second-hand clothes can be ‘example of white privilege’ in mandatory diversity test
Students at the University of Kent will receive a gold star should they correctly answer 13 questions concerning race and white privilege. If they answer incorrectly, they are redirected to take the course again, The Telegraph reports. The course forces students to agree with a number of unusual statements, including …
Read More »Arctic oil & gas production reportedly booming despite climate concerns
According to the group’s data, there are currently 599 oil and gas fields in the resource-rich Arctic region, with some 220 sites already in production. Also, some 338 new fields have been discovered and may enter development at any time. This means that if the companies find the necessary financing …
Read More »Australian police probe video of cop throwing man on floor reportedly leaving him ‘unconscious’ amid Melbourne protests (GRAPHIC)
The 12-second clip, which began circulating Wednesday night, shows an unidentified man talking to a group of Victoria Police officers at the Flinders Street railway station. Another officer then walks over to them, grabs the man from behind and throws him to the floor. A loud thud is heard as …
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