“Honda is willing to resume takeover talks to create the world’s fourth-biggest car producer if Nissan’s chief executive Makoto Uchida steps down, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations. The 58-year-old had been one of the strongest advocates within Nissan for a deal with Honda. However, relations between Uchida and his counterpart Toshihiro Mibe deteriorated as Honda became frustrated with the speed of Nissan’s restructuring and the depth of its financial troubles. The merger talks broke down after Honda demanded that Nissan become a fully owned subsidiary instead of establishing a holding company, with the two companies on an ‘equal footing.’ Honda would be prepared to revive negotiations under a new boss who can better manage internal opposition, according to one person.” (02/17/25)
“The Israeli military is keeping troops at five southern Lebanese posts despite a Tuesday withdrawal deadline. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will, for the time being, remain at the outposts in Lebanon ‘so we can continue to defend our residents and to make sure there’s no immediate threat,’ Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an IDF spokesperson, said on Monday. Israel’s military identified the handful of strategic locations in southern Lebanon overlooking northern Israeli communities. … Israel and Hezbollah ended a year-long war in November, in a ceasefire brokered in part by the United States. A deadline for Israel to withdraw, originally set for January, was extended to February 18 at Israel’s request.” (02/18/25)
“New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said she’s meeting with ‘key leaders’ at her Manhattan office Tuesday to discuss a ‘path forward’ after four top officials in NYC Mayor Eric Adams'[s] administration resigned. … [Maria] Torres-Springer and deputy mayors Meera Joshi, Chauncey Parker and Anne Williams-Isom resigned after a top Justice Department official requested federal prosecutors drop federal bribery and fraud charges against the indicted mayor and Adams'[s] cooperation with the Trump administration on border security [sic]. The mayor, who has denied any wrongdoing in the case and pleaded not guilty to all charges, has resisted pressure to resign.” (02/18/25)
“The US State Department has dropped a statement from its website which stated that Washington does not support Taiwan’s independence — a move which has sparked anger in China. China said the revision ‘sends a wrong … signal to separatist forces advocating for Taiwan independence,’ and asked the US to ‘correct its mistakes.’ The department’s fact sheet on Taiwan-US relations earlier included the phrase ‘we do not support Taiwan independence’ — this was removed last week as part of what it said was a ‘routine’ update. A US spokesperson was quoted as saying that it remains committed to the ‘One China’ policy, it said, where US recognises and has formal ties with China rather than Taiwan. China sees self-governed Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be part of the country, and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve this.” (02/17/25)
“Elon Musk is taking aim at federal workers and organizations, through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Now, Musk-owned X (formerly Twitter) is blocking Signal.me links, a URL used by encrypted messaging service Signal that allows people to quickly contact others directly, the blog Disruptionist reports. Federal workers have used Signal to covertly report relevant and dangerous activities. Anyone who attempts to post a Signal.me link in a DM, public post or on their profile page receives error messages such as, ‘This request looks like it might be automated. To protect our users from spam and other malicious activity, we can’t complete this action right now. Please try again later.’ Other responses include, ‘We can’t complete this request because this link has been identified by X or our partners as being potentially harmful.’ Engadget confirmed the block in a test.” (02/17/25)
“The world’s first openly gay imam in the Muslim faith was shot and killed in what local authorities say may be a hate crime. Police are ‘hot on the heels’ of the alleged suspects and an investigation is underway behind the shooting death of Muhsin Hendricks in Bethelsdorp, South African Deputy Justice Minister Andries Nel told Newzroom Afrika TV. Hendricks, 57, and an unidentified driver were seen on Saturday inside a gold-colored Volkswagon TRoc on Haley Place near Extension 24 at around 10 a.m. local time. A silver-colored Hilux double cab truck stopped in front of the vehicle and ‘blocked them from driving off,’ the Eastern Cape provincial police wrote in a statement. … ‘Two unknown suspects with covered faces got out of the vehicle and started firing multiple shots at the vehicle,’ officials added.” (02/17/25)
“Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is facing a criminal complaint Monday over comments he made during a campaign rally when he said 15 senators should be killed in a bomb attack to allow more vacant seats for his political party’s candidates to contest. The alleged illegal utterances and inciting to sedition were contained in a complaint filed by police Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre III to the Department of Justice. They are the latest legal trouble to face the former president and his family under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. … Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, is facing an impeachment trial partly for publicly threatening to have Marcos, his wife and House Speaker Martin Romualdez assassinated if she herself were fatally attacked amid an escalating political rivalry between the two highest leaders of one of Asia’s most unwieldy democracies.” (02/17/25)
“Conservative activist Ed Martin, who echoed Donald Trump’s baseless claims of a stolen 2020 election and defended Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol rioters, was nominated by the president on Monday to be the top federal prosecutor in Washington on a permanent basis. Martin had been serving as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia on an interim basis since just after Trump, a Republican, was sworn in for his second term on Jan. 20. His appointment must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. … Martin supervised legal clinics for low-income residents as director of the human rights office for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis and, for two decades before becoming U.S. attorney, ran his own law practice and was active in Republican politics, including as the head of the Missouri Republican Party.” (02/17/25)
“A Delta Air Lines passenger jet crash landed at Toronto’s airport on Monday, the airport authority said, flipping upside down and leaving at least eight people injured, according to local media. The Endeavor Flight 4819 was landing in Canada’s biggest city from Minneapolis in the US state of Minnesota when it crashed, the airline said. Public broadcaster CBC said up to eight people were injured, including three critically. One of those three was a child, it said, adding they had been taken to hospital.” (02/17/25)
“Pope Francis is sick with a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract, the Vatican said Monday. The 88-year-old Argentine pontiff was diagnosed following testing ‘carried out over the past few days,’ the Vatican’s press office said. With the results, he’ll have a change in drug therapy. He had initially been admitted to Policlinico Agostino Gemelli in Rome on Friday for bronchitis treatment, and preliminary tests showed he had a respiratory tract infection and slight fever. Testing over the past days paints a ‘complex clinical picture,’ the Vatican said Monday, and he’ll need to remain in the hospital for an ‘appropriate’ amount of time. Polymicrobial diseases are caused by combinations of viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites, according to the National Library of Medicine.” (02/17/25)
