Author: ALJAZEERA

Bezos has gained $23bn in 2024, while Musk has lost $31bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.Jeff Bezos has dethroned Elon Musk to reclaim his title as the world’s richest man. The Amazon founder’s net worth currently stands at $200bn, topping the Tesla chief’s $198bn, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed on Tuesday. Bezos has gained $23bn so far in 2024, while Musk has lost about $31bn, according to the index. The billionaires’ wealth gains and losses closely tracked the stock market fortunes of Amazon and Tesla, who count their founders as their biggest shareholders. Amazon’s share price has surged by…

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Use of the death penalty surged by 43 percent following huge protests prompted by Mahsa Amini’s death.Iran hanged at least 834 people in 2023, the second-highest number of executions in two decades, according to a report released by rights groups. The report, released on Tuesday by Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), suggests that the 43 percent spike in the use of capital punishment last year came in reaction to nationwide protests prompted by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini in 2022. However, while nine executions were directly linked to attacks…

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Lee Hsien Loong says deal to lure pop star not ‘unfriendly’ to other countries in Southeast Asia.Singapore’s prime minister has defended striking a deal with Taylor Swift to ensure she did not perform in any other Southeast Asian country following complaints from regional neighbours. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday acknowledged for the first time that the city-state had signed an exclusivity deal with the global pop icon but denied that the arrangement was “unfriendly” to other countries in the region. “Our agencies negotiated an arrangement with her to come to Singapore and perform, and to make Singapore her…

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Killings continue in Gaza as US Vice President Kamala Harris backs Israel a day after seeking a ceasefire.Here’s how things stand on Tuesday, March 5, 2024: Fighting and humanitarian crisis An Israeli air attack on a home in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Tuesday morning killed at least eight people and injured several more, the Wafa news agency reported. Omar Shakir, Human Rights Watch’s director for Israel and Palestine, said attacks by Israeli forces on people seeking aid in Gaza were part of a “decades-long pattern” of deadly abuses against Palestinians. Using their bare hands, people have been digging…

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Ex-CEO Parag Agrawal and other top executives accuse Musk of believing ‘rules don’t apply to him’.Former top Twitter executives, including ex-CEO Parag Agrawal, have sued Elon Musk seeking more than $128m in unpaid severance. In the lawsuit filed in a San Francisco court on Monday, the four former executives accused the Tesla CEO of firing them without cause and demonstrating a “cavalier attitude” towards his financial obligations. “Under Musk’s control, Twitter has become a scofflaw, stiffing employees, landlords, vendors, and others,” the plaintiffs said in the 39-page lawsuit. “Musk doesn’t pay his bills, believes the rules don’t apply to him,…

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Vice President Kamala Harris meets Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz amid growing pressure over the US’s Gaza war stance.United States Vice President Kamala Harris has reiterated her country’s support for Israel and pushed for more humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip in talks with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz. In a readout of Monday’s meeting in Washington, DC, the White House said Harris “expressed her deep concern about the humanitarian conditions in Gaza”, a narrow Palestinian enclave that has been the subject of a deadly Israeli military offensive since October 7. The statement explained that Harris emphasised…

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Bucharest, Romania – Under the catchy name “One Love Central Studio”, a renovated apartment with an open kitchen on Doamnei Street in Bucharest is advertised on the vacation rental website Booking.com for 53 euros ($57.30) per night in February. “It is very well located,” mentioned a review on Google Maps. “The building is quite neglected,” posted another user. “Nice view,” the user added. “Old elevator,” a third one said. However, the advertisement doesn’t specify this apartment is located in a building with a red dot, meaning it is classified as seismic risk class 1. On a scale of 1 to…

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Palestinian group has repeatedly denied allegations its fighters committed acts of sexual violence during the October 7 attack.A team of United Nations experts has said there are “reasonable grounds to believe” sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, occurred during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7. Led by UN special envoy for sexual violence Pramila Patten, the team travelled to Israel between January 29 and February 14 and published a report with their findings on Monday. The Palestinian group Hamas, which governs Gaza, has repeatedly denied allegations its fighters committed acts of sexual violence during the attacks. “Credible…

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Spotify says Apple prevented music-streaming services from informing users of payment options outside its App Store.The EU has issued Apple with an antitrust fine of over 1.8 billion euros ($1.95bn) following a complaint by music streaming service Spotify. The US tech giant immediately vowed on Monday to appeal the penalty. It was the first-ever antitrust fine slapped on the company by Brussels. The European Commission announced that the charge was triggered after Spotify complained in 2019 that Apple had prevented music-streaming services from informing users of payment options outside its App Store. The European Union’s competition regulator said Apple’s restrictions…

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