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[1/5] Former tennis player Boris Becker attends a news conference to promote documentary 'Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker' at the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 19, 2023. "You have to be a bit crazy to cross the line and do things nobody else has ever achieved before." "You expect world champions in a sport to be like everyone else but we aren't," he told a news conference. "What I liked about Boris is that unlike many athletes he is a great storyteller," Gibney said.

[1/2] Director Sean Penn attends a photo call on the red carpet to promote the documentary 'Superpower' at the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Nadja WohllebenBERLIN, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Late in the evening of Feb. 24, 2022, just some 15 hours after Russia triggered its invasion of his country, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy found time to receive American actor Sean Penn. Sitting in a bare, apparently windowless room, Zelenskiy speculated on Vladimir Putin's motives for the invasion. In fighting against the Russian invasion, Ukraine is "fighting a fight on all of our behalf," Penn told the audience at the premiere. "You're Sean Penn.

BERLIN, Feb 15 (Reuters) - This year's Berlin International Film Festival marks a resurgence for the global film industry after years in the doldrums due to the COVID-19 pandemic, industry expert Scott Roxborough said on the eve of the event. "The film industry is starting to come out of the pandemic, starting to revive itself," said Roxborough, Europe bureau chief of the Hollywood Reporter. "It's going to be here in Berlin where we really see the green shoots of the future of cinema." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will address Thursday's opening night gala by video link, the festival announced on Wednesday. One of China's biggest stars, her lengthy absence had prompted speculation she had fallen foul of China's leadership.

☆ A 75-year-old woman who led far-right extremists accused of an elaborate coup plot to topple the German government
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Five members of a German extremist group were charged with treason for a coup plot. This belief ties in with the country's nascent Reichsbürger movement, or "Citizens of the Reich," which does not recognize Germany's current parliamentary democracy as legitimate. As of 2022, there are approximately 23,000 Reichsbürger members in Germany, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution estimated. Getty ImagesThis week's indictment follows another widely reported coup attempt — one that the principles of the Reichsbürger movement also guided. The multiple coup attempts and the rise of the Reichsbürger movement point to a growing trend of extremist ideology in Germany and across the European continent.

☆ Why do people buy crackpot conspiracy theories?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

When it comes to the spread of cockamamie conspiracy theories, Twitter was a maximum viable product long before Elon Musk paid $44 billion for the keys. The more you think you're right all the time, a new study suggests, the more likely you are to buy conspiracy theories, regardless of the evidence. It'd be better, or at least more reassuring, if conspiracy theories were fueled by dumb yahoos rather than self-centered monsters. Still, most scientists thought conspiracy theories weren't worth their time, the province of weirdos connecting JFK's death to lizard aliens. Pennycook's findings also suggest an explanation for why conspiracy theories have become so widely accepted.

☆ Mother, politician, trailblazer. How Jacinda Ardern became an icon for millions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Aina J. Khan | Aina Is A Freelance Reporter With Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

In the six years since then, she has become an icon of the left and a champion for women in public life, bringing a compassionate and authoritative energy to the hypermasculine realm of world politics. Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's prime minister, during a news conference in Sydney in June. Data released last year to New Zealand’s Newshub media outlet showed police recorded 18 threats to the prime minister in 2019, 32 in 2020 and 50 in 2021. If that person receives more than two-thirds of caucus support, Ardern said, she will resign soon after and the new leader will be sworn in as prime minister. Ardern said she plans to remain in Parliament until April, avoiding the need for a snap vote in her suburban Auckland electorate.

☆ Tucker Carlson insults New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern as 'the lady with the big teeth' while gleefully reporting her resignation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Fox News host Tucker Carlson seemed happy to report New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern's resignation. He aimed a petty personal insult at Ardern and accused her of being a totalitarian. Ardern is a hate figure for the US far right and anti-vaxxers over her COVID-19 policies. On his show Wednesday, Carlson aimed a personal insult at Ardern's teeth, and accused her of being a "totalitarian" who was beholden to China. On Wednesday Carlson labelled her an "appalling abuser" of human rights and described her as "the lady with the big teeth who tormented her citizens."

People and businesses across Europe are increasing their use of such smart thermometers to keep an eye on how much gas they are using. In the winter of 2021-22, the proportion of homes with heating switched on across Europe passed 90% on November 28. The European Union imports 80% of its gas and gas represents 22% of Europe's energy consumption and meets 32% of households' energy needs, according to the EU. "Some 79% of energy consumption in a private home is heating and hot water," said Tado's Managing Director Christian Deilmann. It is still too early to tell from Tado's data whether households' energy discipline is slackening.

☆ Jimmy Fallon jokes that the new Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 sounds like Elon Musk's son's name
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Jimmy Fallon joked that the new Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 sounded like Elon Musk's son's name. Fallon appeared to be referring to the name of Musk's son, X Æ A-Xii. He appeared to be referring to the name of Musk's son, X Æ A-Xii. Musk's son, X Æ A-Xii, was born in 2020. As Insider previously reported, the couple appeared to have changed the spelling of the baby's name from X Æ A-12 to X Æ A-Xii to comply with California state law.

"I can confirm a shipment of the BioNTech vaccine is on its way to China," the person told journalists in Berlin. In return, Chinese citizens in Europe can be vaccinated with China's SinoVac (SVA.O), the spokesperson said. Experts predict that the country of 1.4 billion people could face more than a million COVID deaths next year. China is stuck between rising Covid-19 cases and stalled vaccination ratesNO WESTERN SHOTSChina has nine domestically developed COVID vaccines approved for use, more than any other country. While the shots became available in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, the regulatory review for mainland China has not been concluded.

REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File PhotoBERLIN, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The German Foreign Office tweeted screenshots on Friday of the accounts of journalists suspended by Twitter, warning the platform that the ministry had a problem with moves that jeapordised press freedom. Twitter suspended the accounts of several prominent journalists who had posted about its new owner Elon Musk, prompting protests from their media organisations. German regulators are already pushing government institutions to stop posting announcements exclusively to privately-held platforms, touting alternatives like the fledgling decentralised social media network Mastodon. Twitter also suspended the Mastodon network's account and attempts to link to Mastodon accounts in tweets frequently triggered error messages on Friday. But with some 8.5 million registered users, Mastodon is still a minnow compared to Twitter with half a billion users.

Sydney CNN —Australia will overturn a three-year ban on tennis player Novak Djokovic entering the country, paving the way for the former world No. 1 to contest the 2023 Australian Open. Australia’s Immigration Minister Andrew Giles will repeal the ban, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told CNN on Tuesday. Earlier on Tuesday, Tennis Australia’s CEO Craig Tiley said he was hopeful Djokovic will play at the Australian Open in January next year. “There’s a normal visa application process that everyone is going through right now, and everyone will go through the right timing,” Tiley told told the Australian Associated Press (AAP) news agency.

For the most part, Mastodon looks like Twitter, with hashtags, political back-and-forth and tech banter jostling for space with cat pictures. People swap posts and links with others on their own server - or Mastodon "instance" - and also, almost as easily, with users on other servers across the growing network. But the jump in Mastodon users in a matter of days has still been startling. loadingBefore Musk completed the Twitter acquisition on Oct. 27, Mastodon's growth averaged 60-80 new users an hour, according to the widely-cited Mastodon Users account. Rochko started Mastodon in 2017, when rumours were spreading that PayPal founder and Musk ally Peter Thiel wanted to buy Twitter.

ROME, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Italy's new government on Monday delayed the application of a justice reform required to obtain European post-pandemic funds and scrapped a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health workers. Both moves mark discontinuity from the previous administration of Mario Draghi, who imposed tough COVID curbs and pushed through the contested justice reform aimed at speeding up Italy's slow judicial proceedings. Speaking at a news conference after cabinet approved the measures, Meloni accused her predecessors, Draghi and Giuseppe Conte, of taking an "ideological" approach to COVID and said she would do things differently. It would have been hard to start in a worse way," said Enrico Letta, head of the centre-left Democratic Party. The decision to delay the reform, which Meloni said was taken at the request of all Italy's prosecutors' offices, sparked criticism from the opposition, lawyers, and experts.

☆ Conservatives and anti-vaxxers are frantically lobbying Elon Musk to lift Twitter bans on their idols after he took over
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

An assortment of conservatives are lobbying Elon Musk to undo Twitter bans on prominent allies. Musk has said he opposes permanent bans and plans to roll back moderation on Twitter. But Twitter is enforcing legal sanctions on the networks in the EU and UK which prevents people seeing their content. Twitter has said it never shadowbans anybody, though Musk said Friday he was "digging in" to the allegations. Evolutionary biologist and podcaster Bret Weinstein, who has long questioned COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, also called for Musk to reinstate anti-vaxxer Dr Robert Malone.

Speaking to parliament, Scholz also said Germany had freed itself from dependence on Russian gas and was working to bring energy prices down, but warned that the EU imposing a gas price cap risked back-firing. "We will not let Moscow's latest escalation go unanswered ... Scorched earth tactics will not help Russia win the war. The 27 are expected to back an alternative price benchmark for liquefied natural gas and joint gas buying. But they remain split on whether and how to cap gas prices to stem high inflation and stave off recession, after Russia cut gas flows following its invasion of Ukraine. Scholz said that a politically imposed gas price gap risked driving producers to sell their gas elsewhere, meaning the EU could receive less gas as a result.

☆ Covid leads to long Covid, in governments as well as people
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Brian Michael Jenkins | Brian Michael Jenkins Is An Army Combat Veteran Who Currently Serves As Senior Adviser To The President Of The Nonprofit | Nonpartisan Rand Corporation. His Latest Book Is | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

Unlike previous pandemics, however, Covid didn’t see the same offsets in unifying sentiment. There were many explanations for this, including underreporting of Covid deaths in many countries, but the optics were not good. Democratic governments imposed controls that intruded into ordinarily personal space, while authoritarian governments exploited the pandemic to tighten their control. The decline in Covid numbers, if it holds, will not reverse these developments after the November elections. Just as we may talk about societal comorbidity, societies may suffer from long Covid — an impaired functioning of democracy that may persist long after the contagion survives.

A pressure gauge is seen at the landfall facility of the Baltic Sea gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 in Lubmin, Germany, September 19, 2022. "Overnight the Nord Stream 2 landfall dispatcher registered a rapid gas pressure drop on Line A of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline," Nord Stream 2's operator said in a statement. European countries have resisted Russian calls to allow the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to operate and accused Moscow of using energy as a weapon. Gazprom (GAZP.MM) referred questions about the incident to the Nord Stream 2 operator. Russia has cut off gas supplies to several countries and also halted flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, blaming Western sanctions for hindering operations.

☆ Anti-vaxxers evaded social-media content bans by replacing the word 'vaccine' with a carrot emoji, BBC investigation finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-16 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

One large Facebook group used the carrot emoji to replace the word vaccine, per the BBC. The shot glass emoji was also used to replace the word "shot" and disparage vaccines. Per the BBC, several social media groups were using the emoji as a code for the word "vaccine." He said in a Twitter thread on Sunday the carrot emoji symbol was used to replace the word vaccine "presumably to evade censorship. Turqay Melikli/Getty imagesThe BBC flagged the group using the emojis as code to Facebook's parent company Meta, which took them down.

☆ The White House has enlisted dozens of TikTokers, YouTubers, and Twitch streamers to encourage young Americans to get vaccinated
▼ + stars: | 2021-08-02 | by ( Katie Canales | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Biden administration is asking online influencers to promote COVID-19 vaccines to young users. It also shows how the White House recognizes digital platforms' power and cultural impact. As The New York Times' Taylor Lorenz reported Sunday, the Biden administration signed on 50 Twitch, YouTube, and TikTok users to reach their massive follower counts, which largely consist of young users under the age of 30. Lorenz reported that state and local governments are also kicking off similar initiatives with more local online influencers, with some even providing $1,000-a-month incentives to encourage their thousands of followers to get vaccinated. That drive has included 18-year-old musician Olivia Rodrigo, who last month visited the White House in part to chat with chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci about vaccinations.

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