Two of the world’s richest people are pitching in ideas to tackle the issue of homelessness, suggesting that Twitter convert its headquarters to a shelter home.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Sunday (April 10) backed an idea put forth by Elon Musk, who recently became Twitter’s largest shareholder, to convert the social networking firm’s San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter as few people are working there during the pandemic.
Bezos tweeted an article by technology-focused blog GeekWire from May 2020 about Amazon’s eight-floor family homeless shelter attached to its Seattle headquarters, saying the initiative worked out great and makes it easy for employees who wish to volunteer.
Bezos also suggested converting at least a portion of Twitter’s headquarters, if not all of it, into a homeless shelter. Musk agreed in another tweet, calling it a “Great idea.”
Musk, who has more than 81 million followers on Twitter, started a poll on Saturday, asking users to vote if the building should be converted. The poll gained over a million votes in less than a day, with more than 90% saying yes.
The chief executive of electric vehicle maker Tesla, who frequently tweets about his company and other topics, has been known to leave people confused as to whether he is joking. However, Musk clarified this time he was not joking. “I’m serious about this one btw,” he tweeted, following up on the topic on Sunday.
A separate poll by Musk on Sunday asked if “w” should be deleted from Twitter’s name, leaving two voting options, “yes” and “of course.”
Musk had suggested a raft of changes to the Twitter Blue premium subscription service on Saturday, including reducing its price, banning advertising and giving an option to pay in the cryptocurrency dogecoin.
North Korea unveiled a new portrait of state leader Kim Jong Un at a national meeting on Sunday (April 10) to commemorate 10 years of Kim’s rule, as part of events expected to be held within the week to showcase the regime’s power.
In a speech during the meeting, Choe Ryong Hae, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and one of the most senior officials under Kim, said the North Korean leader “has finally achieved a historic goal of completing the state’s nuclear power programme.”
Kim assumed power after his father Kim Jong Il died in December 2011. Monday (April 11) marked 10 years since the younger Kim was elected as the top party and state leader. In practice, only one candidate appears on each ballot in North Korean elections and the Kim family has ruled the country for its entire history.
North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006, four of which during Kim Jong Un’s rule. Tensions in the Korean peninsula have sharply escalated after North Korea tested two ballistic missiles on Feb. 26 and March 4 that involved a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system that the country is developing, and as it conducted a full ICBM test – the first since 2017 – on March 24.
France’s centrist leader Emmanuel Macron will take his hunt for extra votes on Monday to the industrial heartlands of northern France, a blue-collar stronghold of his far-right rival Marine Le Pen who he will face in an April 24 presidential runoff vote.
Macron and Le Pen came out on top in Sunday’s first-round vote, setting up a repeat of the 2017 runoff between the pro-European economic liberal and euro-skeptic nationalist
Left-wing voters will be crucial to determining the outcome of the election. Third-placed challenger, hard-left veteran Jean-Luc Melenchon, told supporters not one single vote should go to the far right but stopped short of endorsing Macron.
An interior ministry count showed that with 97% of votes counted, Macron had won 27.60% of voters’ support. Le Pen secured 23.41% and Melenchon 21.95%.
Polls predict a close-fought second round with one survey projecting Macron will win with just 51% of the vote and 49% for Le Pen. The gap is so tight that victory either way is within the margin of error.
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I’m on day 14 of lockdown in Shanghai so no visits to stores and the only food is deliveryI use 4 aggregator apps like Eleme that deliver from many stores, and 5 store apps like Aldi, Sam’s, etcI check each app about once every 10 minutes all day – but no orders through today— Jared T Nelson (@Jaredtnelson) April 1, 2022
France 24 รายงานว่าบางคนไม่ได้ออกจากบ้านมานานกว่า 2 สัปดาห์แล้ว ขณะที่วิดีโอที่ถูกเผยแพร่บนโซเชียลมีเดียของจีนได้แสดงให้เห็นว่าประชาชนส่วนหนึ่งเริ่มออกมาแสดงความไม่พอใจกับการจัดการกับโควิด-19 ของรัฐบาล ซึ่งทำให้บางพื้นที่ขาดแคลนอาหารและการรักษาพยาบาล
ขณะที่รายงานจาก South China Morning Post เมื่อเดือนมี.ค. ที่ผ่านมาชี้ให้เห็นว่าไม่ใช่แค่ประชาชนในเมืองเซี่ยงไฮ้เท่านั้นที่เริ่มไม่พอใจกับมาตรการรับมือโควิด-19 ของรัฐบาล แต่นักศึกษาจำนวนหนึ่งของมหาวิทยาลัยเสฉวน ในนครเฉิงตู ได้ออกมาประท้วงการขยายมาตรการล็อกดาวน์ที่ห้ามไม่ให้พวกเขาเดินทางออกจากมหาวิทยาลัยนานร่วม 2 สัปดาห์ แม้ว่าเมืองจะไม่มีผู้ติดเชื้อรายใหม่มาระยะหนึ่งแล้ว
Voting started in France on Sunday (April 10) in the first round of a presidential election, with far-right candidate Marine Le Pen posing an unexpected threat to President Emmanuel Macron’s re-election hopes.
In Paris’ 18th arrondissement, voters were seen casting their ballots when polling stations opened at 8 a.m. (0600 GMT). Voting ends at 1800 GMT when the first exit polls will be published. Such polls are usually very reliable in France.
Until just weeks ago, opinion polls pointed to an easy win for the pro-European Union, centrist Macron, who was boosted by his active diplomacy over Ukraine, strong economic recovery and the weakness of a fragmented opposition.
But his late entry into the campaign, with only one major rally, that even his supporters found underwhelming, and his focus on an unpopular plan to increase the retirement age, have dented the president’s ratings, along with a steep rise in inflation.
Opinion polls still see Macron leading the first round and winning a runoff against Le Pen on April 24, but several surveys now say this is within the margin of error.
Going door to door, the advocacy group ‘A Vote’, is trying to inform and encourage young people to vote.
Pollster Ipsos last month forecast a record number of voters would abstain in this month’s election, which if confirmed would raise the likelihood of a surprise, analysts said.
While young voters often engaged in issues such as climate change, analysts said abstainers eschew party politics due to lack of interest or because politicians were seen as failing to improve their lives.
Capucine Blond should vote on Sunday in her first presidential election but the disconnect the French teenager feels with the ruling elite is so great that she has decided there is no point. Blond, 18, who earns 500 euros per month working on a short-term contract at her town hall, said she doubted any of the candidates would improve her job prospects to the point where she could afford to move out of her mother’s house.
“For me, politics, politicians, all of that, it’s always debates that aren’t constructive because no one is listening to one another and it never leads to anything,” said Blond, who lives in the northern city of Arras.
Turnout rates in French elections have been on a downwards trend since the 1980s. In 2017, more than a fifth of French voters sat out at least one round, Interior Ministry data shows. A disproportionate number of them were youngsters, according to the official INSEE statistics office.
Ipsos forecast that nearly a third of voters may sit out this month’s election. That would be a record for a presidential vote in France and exceed the number voting for any candidate.
Drama graduate Louis Labarthette, 25, voted for Macron in 2017 to keep Le Pen out of power but said he felt let down by the former investment banker’s results over his five-year term.
“(Macron) was disappointing during his mandate. So, the spark of hope we had five years ago has disappeared,” he said, speaking to Reuters in his home in the wealthy suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt.
Bucking the trend, Alioune Kebe, 25, while speaking to ‘A Vote’ volunteers checking that he is registered to vote, said he never felt the inclination to cast his ballot but said he felt motivated to go to the polls this time around.
“The best solution (to our problems) is to vote and not to abstain too much, because otherwise, we could never change the situation,” adding that he is voting for far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon.
The presidential race appears set to be a re-run of the 2017 duel between incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and far-right challenger Marine Le Pen.
Twelve candidates are running for president. Among them are two far-right candidates, a communist, a hard-left veteran and contenders from the beleaguered mainstream centre-right and centre-left parties.
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