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France’s parliament gave final approval on Sunday to the government’s latest measures to tackle the COVID-19 virus, including a vaccine pass contested by anti-vaccine protestors.

Users of Word have taken to social media to express their discontent with the new ‘woke’ feature

Microsoft Word has started offering ‘politically correct’ alternatives to some words and expressions, but a new “inclusive language feature” has left many users unimpressed.

The tech giant announced last year that it was working “to remove non-inclusive language commonly found within the technology and cybersecurity sectors.”

In line with that goal, the latest version of Microsoft Word in Office 365 has an additional editor tool that suggests “more inclusive” alternatives to commonly used words and phrases that might offend someone in relation to gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. When the new function is used, any potentially offensive words, like all other ‘errors,’ are underlined, allowing the writer to fix them if they wish.

According to media reports, the new tool suggests, for example, replacing “mankind” with “humankind” or “humanity,” and offers to change “maid” to the genderless “house cleaner” and, in a similar vein, “mistress” to “lover.” It recommends using “principal” instead of “headmaster” and “workforce” in place of “manpower.”

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‘Woke capital incarnate’: Microsoft event opens with land acknowledgments & pronouns

The introduction of the feature has prompted some to complain on social media. “Microsoft says we need to say humankind instead of mankind so we don’t offend someone. Stop catering to them… These woke rules hurt us, never help us,” one person commented on Twitter.

“I am so sick of this damn ‘wokeness.’ I’m dropping Word,” another person tweeted.

Seemingly anticipating backlash, Microsoft said in a statement that it realized “not every Editor suggestion may be suitable for all users and all scenarios” and reminded users that the new feature was “completely optional” and could be used or not used at will.

This is not the first time the company has become an object of ‘wokeness’-related criticism. In November last year, Microsoft was mocked over footage of its virtual conference, Ignite 2021, that opened with senior managers introducing themselves using their gender pronouns.

Potential deal could remove Netanyahu from the Israeli political stage for years, according to media reports.

President Joe Biden has called the hostage situation an “act of terror”

The FBI has identified the man who took four people hostage at a Texas synagogue on Saturday as Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old British citizen.

In a Sunday statement, authorities said they are continuing to investigate but do not believe other individuals beyond Akram were involved.

The FBI said its Evidence Response Team (ERT) is still processing the scene at the Colleyville, Texas synagogue, while the FBI’s Shooting Incident Review Team (SIRT) will conduct a “thorough, factual, and objective investigation of the events.” 

The hostage situation ended with the death of Akram after police entered the synagogue following hours of negotiations.

Multiple US media outlets speculated on Saturday that Akram was the brother of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist charged in 2010 with attempting to murder US soldiers and FBI agents overseas. Siddiqui is currently serving an 86-year sentence in the US, and Akram was reportedly negotiating for her release, referring to her as his “sister.” 

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Biden calls Texas synagogue attack an ‘act of terror’

However, a lawyer for Siddiqui’s biological brother confirmed that they are not related to the now-deceased suspect. The imprisoned woman, who many argue is an innocent political prisoner, also condemned the actions of Akram.

US President Joe Biden described the hostage situation as an “act of terror,” on Sunday, even suggesting it was too easy for the suspect to arm himself. The president called background checks on gun purchases “essential.”

“I don’t think there is sufficient information to know about why he targeted that synagogue, why he insisted on the release of someone who’s been in prison for over 10 years, why he was engaged, why he was using an anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli comments,” Biden told reporters.

The UK government also condemned Akram, referring to his actions as “an anti-semitic act of terror.”

“We condemn this act of terrorism and anti-semitism. We stand with US in defending the rights and freedoms of our citizens against those who spread hate,” Foreign Minister Liz Truss tweeted.

Proposals to extend Paris Metro Line 1 are meeting fierce pushback from a local environmental collective, which says the project would destroy part of the capital’s Vincennes forest and permanently destroy biodiversity in the area.  

Mali’s former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who led the West African country from 2013 until he was ousted in a coup in 2020, died at the age of 76 in the capital Bamako on Sunday, his family said. The former French president, François Hollande, paid tribute to him on the antenna of France 24.

Lacking Military Options US Considers Disastrous Plan to Sponsor Partisan War in Ukraine
News Topic 391

U.S. Considers Backing an Insurgency if Russia Invades Ukraine

U.S. Considers Backing an Insurgency if Russia Invades Ukraine

Conversations about how far the United States would go to subvert Russia in the event of an invasion have revived the specter of a new Cold War. WASHINGTON – For years, U.S. officials have tiptoed around the question of how much military support to provide to Ukraine, for fear of provoking Russia.

Shocking video footage shows the woman’s brush with death in the Brussels metro

A man pushed a woman in front of an oncoming train in the Belgian capital, with the driver coming to a halt inches from her body. The incident was captured on video and the man arrested shortly afterwards.

Video captured at Rogier metro station on Friday evening shows the man creeping up behind the woman, before using two hands to shove her onto the tracks in front of an oncoming train. Thankfully, the driver was able to brake before the woman’s motionless body was caught beneath the train.

With the suspect fleeing, a crowd of bystanders rushed to pick the woman up off the tracks.

(⚠️Vidéo choc)
Tentative de meurtre dans la station de métro Rogier à Bruxelles ce vendredi vers 19h40. pic.twitter.com/dT0ag5qEFu

— Infos Bruxelles🇧🇪 (@Bruxelles_City) January 14, 2022

“The driver reacted very well but is very much in shock, as is the victim,” a spokesman for Brussels public transit company STIB told the Brussels Times.

The Brussels’ public prosecutor’s office said that the man was arrested several minutes later at another metro station in the city. He has been charged with attempted homicide.

A similar incident took place hours later in New York, when a 40-year-old woman was pushed to her death at Times Square subway station on Saturday morning. The man who pushed her had a criminal history, was described by police as “emotionally disturbed,” and did not appear to have a prior relationship with his victim. He turned himself in to transit police shortly after the “unprovoked” attack, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell told reporters at the station.

The former president unloaded on Joe Biden at a packed rally in Arizona

Former President Donald Trump held his first campaign-style rally of 2022 in Arizona, lashing out at President Joe Biden’s “destructive” economic policies, his vaccine mandates, and the alleged persecution of Trump’s supporters.

Citing soaring inflation, rising gas prices, and shortages of food and consumer goods, Trump told a thousands-strong crowd in Florence, Arizona that Biden has caused “more destruction than five presidents in the last year,” and has set America on a path to becoming “a large-scale version of Venezuela.” The allegory was apparently referring to the hyperinflation that has plagued the Venezuelan economy over the past decade.

“Our country is being destroyed… it’s not even believable,” Trump told the crowd.

Though he has not yet formally announced another run for the White House in 2024, Trump has held several rallies since leaving office last year. At every one, he has restated his claims that Biden’s electoral victory in 2020 was fraudulent, and Saturday’s event was no different, with the former president claiming that “more and more” information was coming out to prove that the election was “rigged and stolen.”

Trump also slammed the Democrats’ focus on last January’s Capitol Hill riot, calling the Democrat-run committee investigating the riot “the unselect committee of political hacks.” The former president also drew attention to claims that the riot was orchestrated by federal agents or informants in the crowd, as pro-Trump news outlet Revolver News has reported.

“Exactly how many of those present at the capitol complex on January 6th were FBI confidential informants, agents or otherwise working directly or indirectly with an agency of the United States government?” 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/ArHLvWrJnQ

— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) January 16, 2022

Scores of Trump’s supporters remain detained without trial in Washington, DC since the riot, and allegations of abuse in the DC jail have surfaced. Trump, who until now has been mostly silent on the alleged suffering of these detainees, drew attention to their plight on Saturday.

“They release dangerous criminals from jail, but January 6 defendants are living in hell,” he thundered. “They’re being hounded like the worst animals. The jails are filthy and disgusting. We should help them defend themselves.”

Trump’s nod of support to the January 6 defendants suggests the former president is listening to his most fervent supporters, who have long called for him to condemn their alleged mistreatment. Likewise, Trump came out strongly against vaccine mandates and other coronavirus measures on Saturday, several weeks after he drew the ire of his supporters by calling on them to get vaccinated.

“They’re wrecking and devastating people’s lives, firing Americans from their jobs, forcing innocent children to grow up in masks… locking people into their homes. What they’ve done over the last year… going mandate-crazy… I say enough is enough and we’re not going to take it any more,” Trump declared. 

President Trump Calling Out The Crazy Mandates

“I say enough is enough and we’re not going to take it anymore!” pic.twitter.com/95X5e0rBnz

— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) January 16, 2022

At another moment during his speech, Trump mockingly quipped that Biden has made Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci “the king,” prompting the crowd to chant “Lock him up!”

“In 2024, we are going to take back the White House,” Trump declared during Saturday’s rally. However, the former president has previously stated that a formal announcement regarding his possible candidacy will “probably” come after this November’s midterm elections.

Kyiv accuses Russia of waging ‘hybrid war’ after Microsoft said dozens of gov’t computer systems infected with malware.