Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA
By Siyabonga SishiMOOI RIVER, Feb 12 (Reuters) – South Africa’s beef exports fell 26% in 2025, despite growing global demand, partly due to China’s ban on the African country’s red meat products as it battles its worst foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in recent memory.The country has faced resurgent foot-and-mouth infections since early 2025 when the disease spread to seven of its nine provinces.Beef shipments to China fell 69% to 1,687 metric tons last year following the ban imposed in May, according to statistics from industry body Red Meat Industry Services (RMIS) seen by Reuters on Wednesday.China was South Africa’s third biggest…
PARIS (AP) — As a French teetotaler, Justine Bobin knows how challenging it can be to not drink in a country where wine, beer and other boozy beverages still lubricate many social interactions, even if France is less hooked on alcohol than it used to be.“People are convinced that you can’t have fun if you don’t drink alcohol in France,” she says.Which is one of the reasons that Bobin trekked up to Paris this week, to check out the growing array of zero- and low-alcohol drinks — predominantly red, white, rosé and sparkling wines from around Europe, South Africa, Australia…
James Van Der Beek, star of “Dawson’s Creek” and “Varsity Blues,” has died at age 48, according to his publicist and a post from his wife on social media.Van Der Beek announced in November 2024 that he had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. His cause of death was not shared.”Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning,” his wife Kimberly wrote on Instagram. “He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace. There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come. For now we ask…
By Jody Godoy and Courtney RozenLOS ANGELES, Feb 11 (Reuters) – The top executive at Meta Platforms’ Instagram defended the social media platform’s choices around features that some company insiders called harmful to young users, at a trial on claims the app helped fuel a youth mental-health crisis.Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, testified in Los Angeles as part of a trial on what plaintiffs call “social media addiction” in children and young adults. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is also expected to testify in the coming weeks.A California woman who began using Instagram at age 9 is suing Meta and…
NEW YORK (AP) — Mount Sinai nurses have approved a new contract, ending a monthlong walkout at its hospitals in New York City.The hospital system said Wednesday that an overwhelming majority of its unionized nurses on strike voted to ratify new three-year pacts.Brendan Carr, CEO of Mount Sinai, said its nurses will begin reporting back to work Saturday.He urged hospital staff to come together with empathy and respect and a “shared culture” as its unionized nurses return to work starting with the morning shift Saturday.“The past several weeks have been challenging, emotional, frustrating, and exhausting in different ways for all…
On Wednesday, xAI took the rare step of publishing a full 45-minute all-hands meeting video on X, making it publicly accessible. Details of the Tuesday night meeting were previously reported by The New York Times, which may have influenced xAI’s decision to post the video online. The full video reveals significant new details about Musk’s plans for the AI lab, including its product roadmap and its ongoing ties to the X platform. The most immediate revelation concerned a string of departing employees, which Musk described as layoffs resulting from a changing organizational structure at the company. While reorganizations are common,…
Prosecutors in Utah have filed a first-degree felony rape charge against Brigham Young University standout wide receiver Parker Kingston, officials said Wednesday. Kingston, 21, is being held without bail in St. George, a city near Arizona, Washington County prosecutors said. His initial appearance in court is scheduled for Friday. The investigation began last February, prosecutors said in a news release. A woman who was 20 years old at the time told officers at a St. George hospital that Kingston assaulted her on Feb. 23, 2025, prosecutors said. Police gathered digital and forensic evidence and interviewed the parties involved and other…
Modal Labs, a startup specializing in AI inference infrastructure, is talking to VCs about a new round at a valuation of about $2.5 billion, according to four people with knowledge of the deal. Should the deal close at these terms, the funding round would more than double the company’s valuation of $1.1 billion announced less than five months ago. General Catalyst is in talks to lead the round, the people told TechCrunch. Modal’s annualized revenue run rate (ARR) is approximately $50 million, our sources said. The discussions are early, and terms could still change. Modal Labs co-founder and CEO Erik…
OpenAI has disbanded a team that was designed to communicate the company’s mission to the public and to its own employees. At the same time, the team’s former leader has been given a new role as the company’s “chief futurist.” OpenAI confirmed to TechCrunch that the team’s members have now been assigned to other roles. The news was first reported by Platformer. The disbanded team in question appears to have been formed in September of 2024. Platformer reports that the team was dedicated to promoting “the company’s stated mission to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.” An…
Earlier this week, Dr. Mehmet Oz encouraged Americans to get the measles vaccine in one of the most public statements supporting the shot from a top public health official within the Trump administration.Oz, who is the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, warning about the dangers of measles amid a number of outbreaks around the country.”Take the vaccine, please. We have a solution for our problem,” Oz said. “Not all illnesses are equally dangerous, and not all people are equally susceptible to those illnesses. But measles is one [where]…