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UK newspaper group calls for full trial in Meghan Markle case
London (AFP) - Lawyers for a British newspaper group that Meghan Markle is suing for publishing a private letter to her estranged father called on Wednesday for a full trial to "shed light" on the case. The Duchess of Sussex launched legal action against Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline website, for printing extracts of the letter to Thomas Markle. The letter was written in August 2018, a few months after Meghan Markle married Prince Harry, and asked her father to stop talking to tabloids and making false claims about her in interviews. Her legal team ar...
AFP
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World Wide Web inventor opposes Australia's news payment plan
Sydney (AFP) - World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee says Australia's plan to force digital giants to pay media outlets for news content is "unworkable" and undermines a "fundamental principle" of the internet. Canberra is pursuing world-first laws that would require Google and Facebook to compensate Australian news organisations, or pay millions of dollars in fines. The aggressive move to check the tech giants' power has prompted blowback from the US firms, with Facebook warning Australians could be blocked from sharing articles on its "News Feed", while Google has been experimenting with h...
AFP
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US urges Australia to abandon news payment plan for tech giants
Sydney (AFP) - The United States has urged Australia to abandon its plan to force Google and Facebook to pay media outlets for their news content, saying there could be "long-lasting negative consequences" for consumers and companies. Australia wants to force the US tech giants to pay local media organisations for hosting news content or face millions of dollars in fines, in one of the most aggressive moves globally to check their power. It will apply to Facebook's "News Feed" and Google searches, prompting the digital firms to threaten to limit the services they offer Australians. In a submis...
AFP
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Vogue's Wintour defends controversial Kamala Harris cover
New York (AFP) - A Vogue cover photo of a casual Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has sparked controversy, with critics saying it diminishes the politician's achievements, forcing editor Anna Wintour to defend the image Tuesday. Criticism of the cover has spread on social media since it was released on Sunday, with users insisting that what they see as a poorly composed portrait of Harris wearing sneakers is disrespectful to the first Black woman to be elected vice president. The photo -- in which Harris also wears a blazer and jeans -- was taken by American photographer Tyler Mitchell, who ...
AFP
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Murdoch empire calls time on Trump but tries to keep his base onside
New York (AFP) - The storming of the US Capitol has triggered Rupert Murdoch's media empire to call time on Donald Trump, with The Wall Street Journal saying the president should resign and even acolytes on Fox News telling viewers he has reached the end of his shelf life. Murdoch's right-wing outlets helped propel the property tycoon-turned reality TV star to the White House in 2016, remaining steadfastly loyal for four years before cracks in the alliance began to appear on re-election day. Wednesday's rampage around the halls of Congress by a pro-Trump mob, leading to five deaths and worldwi...
AFP
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Singapore designer Mark Ong steps up streetwear sales with CGI influencer
By Celine Chen Sneaker and streetwear designer Mark Ong sold his first pair of uniquely cool, customized Nike shoes online in 2002. The following year, the skateboarding enthusiast launched his own resale sneaker brand - SBTG - which subsequently extended to streetwear clothes that cater to youth culture celebrating hip-hop and skateboarding. Since then, he has redesigned and sold roughly 10,000 pairs of trainers, taking inspiration from Singapore's urban landscape, where he has whooshed through since his teen days, to become a pioneer sneaker artist. In the first decade, his unique creations ...
NNA Business News
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US alarmed as Russia expands rules on 'foreign agents'
Washington (AFP) - The United States on Thursday voiced alarm after Russia expanded rules against NGOs and media considered "foreign agents," accusing Moscow of stifling free expression. "Deeply troubled by Russia's intensifying repression of its civil society," Cale Brown, the State Department's deputy spokesman, wrote on Twitter. "Changes to the 'foreign agents law' are particularly troubling, allowing authorities to selectively apply onerous registration and labeling requirements, veto an organization's activities, and imprison those found in violation," he wrote. "We call on Russia to resp...
AFP
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US 'stands ready' to try mastermind behind Daniel Pearl murder
Washington (AFP) - The US Attorney General said Tuesday the United States "stands ready" to try a militant convicted of murdering American journalist Daniel Pearl whose release was ordered by a Pakistani court. The decision by Sindh High Court to release the accused comes months after it sparked outrage for overturning the murder conviction and death sentence of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, and acquitted three other men connected to the case. The four are being held under the emergency orders of the local government while an ongoing appeal against their acquittals is heard in the Supreme Court, bu...
AFP
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US, EU urge release of Wuhan citizen journalist
Washington (AFP) - The United States and European Union on Tuesday demanded that China release a citizen journalist jailed for reports from Wuhan, with top US diplomat Mike Pompeo accusing Beijing of covering up Covid-19. Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer in custody since May, was Monday handed four years in prison over her early online accounts that provided a rare unvarnished glimpse of the city where the mysterious respiratory illness was first detected a year ago. Pompeo in a statement called on China to "release her immediately and unconditionally." "The Chinese Communist Party has shown once a...
AFP
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German newspapers print emergency issues after cyberattack
German subscribers to the contents of the Funke media group were forced to rely on emergency printed newspaper issues and free online content on Wednesday after the group became the target of a cyberattack this week. A company spokesperson said that the perpetrators had “encrypted data on the IT systems of the Funke media group,” adding that several systems were still not operational nationwide. There was still no further information on the circumstances behind Tuesday's attack. Specialists from the State Criminal Police Office are investigating the case with a special task force from the Esse...
DPA
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