Meta concludes the fact-checking program
Meta will stop using third-party fact-checkers on Facebook, Threads, and Instagram. Instead, it will rely on users to add notes to posts that may be false or misleading, similar to the system used in X. Watch our live broadcast.
The reversal is a clear sign of how Meta has repositioned itself for the Trump presidency, and has clearly worked in favor of several other major companies. The company recently briefed Trump officials about the change, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also said yesterday that Meta has added Dana White, the head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and a longtime friend of Trump. to its board.
Zuckerberg said that this change will begin in the United States in the coming months.
“It's time to go back to our roots around freedom of expression,” he said, adding that the current system had “reached a point of too much wrongdoing and too much censorship.” He acknowledged that there would be more “bad stuff” on the platform as a result of the decision, calling it a “trade-off” that would result in fewer “posts by innocent people” being deleted.
Reactions: Trump liked this step. At a press event at Mar-a-Lago, the president-elect said Meta had “come a long way.” He also admitted that the change was “probably” due to threats he made against Meta and Zuckerberg. His conservative allies were quick to applaud the decision. Many of them felt they were unfairly targeted by the program. Several digital rights groups condemned the decision.
At least 126 people died as a result of the earthquake in Tibet
At least 126 people were killed in a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in Dingri County, one of the most historic cities of Tibet, in western China yesterday. At least 188 people were injured. The earthquake was the country's deadliest since December 2023, when a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck the northwestern provinces of Gansu and Qinghai, killing 151 people.
At least 1,000 homes have been damaged and rescue efforts are being hampered by logistical problems, Chinese state television said. The remoteness of the area along the Himalayan border with Nepal made it difficult to deliver resources. Rescuers rescue workers as temperatures drop to as low as 5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 15 Celsius) in the region short window to find survivors.
US officials have said that genocide has occurred in Sudan
The United States yesterday declared that the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group, and their allies committed genocide in the fight against the country's army in Sudan. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the wave of violence was in western Darfur, where men, boys and babies were targeted and killed, while women were raped “on ethnic lines”.
The genocide determination came after months of government debate as officials reviewed the merits of the case. The ruling could provide a new impetus for accountability in Africa's biggest war, It killed up to 150,000 people.
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Snakes compete for the same resources and spaces as humans, often with dire consequences. Venomous snakes kill about 120,000 people a year, most of them in parts of Africa where very poor people live, far from clinics and without proper care.
The problem was overlooked until recently, but scientists are now trying to better measure it. Read more.
The Lives He Lived: Jean-Marie Le Pen, the crazy founding father of France's modern political far right, He died at the age of 96.
Peter Yarrow of the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, known for such hits as “Puff the Magic Dragon”, He died at the age of 86.
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Celebrate Austen's England (and her birthday).
Author Jane Austen would have been 250 years old this year, and there are celebrations throughout the year in the south west of England. Austen was at her most prolific as a novelist in Hampshire, home of her cottage, now a museum.
Austen's former home is one of the Travel Desk's favorites this year. His list “52 places to visit in 2025” also includes India's Assam for its tea gardens and pyramids, and Angola for its beaches and sacred waterfalls. In Koh Samui, Thailand, fans of the show “White Lotus” can walk around the sandy beaches and jungle where the upcoming season is filmed.