Author: Stephanie Gauthier

Bernard Arnault, the head of LVMH, which owns luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Sephora, Tiffany & Co., and the fifth richest person in the world, expresses that he is “worried” and “penalized” by the new tax surcharge implemented by Emmanuel Macron for one year.

Bernard Arnault dénonce la surtaxe des entreprises prévue dans le budget 2025, le gouvernement dit « comprendre sa colère » mais justifie la mesure

— Le Monde (@lemonde.fr) 2025-01-29T12:33:12.321488+00:00

One of the wealthiest men in the world criticizes this temporary tax measure, stating that, in the meantime, his American counterparts continue to thrive.

Back from the United States, Arnault emphasizes that, in his view, the enthusiasm of billionaires there is at its peak, contrasting with his situation in France.

These statements from the billionaire come as the French government has instituted a new surtax primarily targeting large companies in the luxury, defense, and construction sectors.

Incorporated into the 2025 budget by Emmanuel Macron, this measure includes a tax increase of 15 to 18% for giant companies, including LVMH, owned by Bernard Arnault, aimed at reducing France’s growing budget deficit.

According to Le Monde, in 2024, LVMH generated a revenue of 84.7 billion euros (over 93 billion US dollars), recording a decrease of 2% compared to the previous year, with a net profit of 12.55 billion euros (13.1 billion US dollars).

According to Forbes, Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, ranked fifth among the world’s richest individuals, with an estimated fortune of 168.8 billion dollars as of January 1, 2025.

A man from Indiana, among the more than 1,500 people recently pardoned by Trump for their participation in the January 6, 2021, riot, was shot by police on January 26 during an incident in which he allegedly resisted arrest.

An Indiana man who was recently pardoned for his participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was shot and killed during a traffic stop by a sheriff's deputy on Sunday.

— NBC News (@nbcnews.com) 2025-01-27T21:50:49.543Z

A deputy from the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office reportedly intercepted Matthew Huttle’s vehicle shortly before the deadly incident on State Road 14, an east-west road running through northern Indiana, late on Sunday afternoon.

According to the Indiana State Police, this traffic stop led the officer to attempt to arrest Matthew Huttle, who was allegedly in possession of a firearm at the time of the interception.

Huttle was still on a 12-month supervised release after his release from prison last summer for his role in the Capitol assault.

He allegedly resisted arrest by the sheriff’s deputy, prompting the deputy to use his firearm, resulting in Huttle’s death.

The Jasper County sheriff’s deputy was reportedly placed on administrative leave during the investigation into the events.

It is worth noting that Huttle, 42, from Indiana, was sentenced in 2023 to six months in prison for his participation in the January 6, 2021, Capitol assault after pleading guilty to unlawful entry into a secured building.

Although he had been free since July 2024, he recently received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump in January 2025, as part of a controversial pardon extended to all defendants associated with this event, which some downplay as a mere protest, despite its nature as an attempted coup orchestrated by Trump, his allies, and his supporters.

Jim Acosta, news presenter at CNN since 2007, announced his immediate departure at the end of his live show. In a heartfelt and emotional message, he urged viewers not to succumb to lies or fear, encouraging them to hold on to truth and hope.

This message comes after he was relegated from his morning show to a night slot, from midnight to 2 AM, a decision widely seen as a clear signal intended to push Jim Acosta out.

Today’s show was my last at CNN. My closing message: It’s never a good time to bow down to a tyrant… don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to fear. Hold on to the truth… and hope.

— Jim Acosta (@jimacosta.bsky.social) 2025-01-28T18:07:30.523Z

Known for challenging Trump during his first administration and openly criticizing his actions, Acosta represented positions that CNN now seems to want to exclude from its network.

In a message filled with grace despite the tense circumstances with his employer, Acosta took the time to thank everyone working behind the scenes at CNN as well as the network itself for nearly 18 years spent within the organization.

However, after careful consideration of the new time slot that had been offered to him, he decided to turn the page.

In his resignation message, it is clear that Acosta chose not to comply with an alleged directive from CNN aimed at avoiding criticism of Trump and his administration:

“It’s never good to bow down to a tyrant.”

“One last message: do not give in to lies, do not give in to fear. Hold on to truth and hope. Even if you have to, pick up your phone and record this message: I will not give in to lies, I will not give in to fear. Post it on your social media so that people can hear it from you.”

It should be noted that a recent restructuring was announced at CNN to bring significant changes for several other iconic figures at CNN, including Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper, but for Jim Acosta, it was perceived as a major setback, as the company sidelined him from strategic time slots.

Among these major programming changes, The Lead with Jake Tapper, previously aired weekdays from 4 PM to 6 PM (ET), will be moved from 5 PM to 7 PM (ET) starting March 2025, as part of this significant network reorganization.

The schedule change for Wolf Blitzer, who was previously leading The Situation Room aired weekdays from 6 PM to 7 PM (ET), now places him in a new morning slot, from 10 AM to 12 PM (ET), where he will co-host with Pamela Brown, thus replacing the slot previously occupied by Jim Acosta’s show.

Some perceive CNN’s decision as being related to Donald Trump’s return to the White House, with Jim Acosta being one of the most critical hosts of the former and current president.

Acosta also stated in his message that he has always considered it essential for the press to hold power accountable. He claimed to have always attempted to fulfill that role at CNN and expressed his intention to continue doing so in the future.

He made history in 2018, notably during a direct confrontation with President Trump, who wanted to silence him.

Acosta stated he would share his future plans in the coming days while expressing gratitude for the honor of being welcomed into viewers’ homes all these years at CNN.

His departure undeniably represents a major loss for CNN.

Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of JFK, did not hold back her words regarding RFK Jr., publishing a letter and a series of videos on social media urging senators not to confirm RFK Jr. as the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

RFK Jr.’s cousin claims she feels compelled to break her silence to warn about the dangers that his appointment to this position would pose, calling him a “predator” and adding that he “exploits the despair of parents with sick children.”

Caroline Kennedy labels her cousin a “hypocrite,” claiming that RFK Jr. would have vaccinated all his children while manipulating other parents into not vaccinating theirs. She accuses his conspiracy theories and half-truths about vaccines of costing lives and criticizes his financial gain from his anti-vaccine positions.

Notably, by suing HPV vaccine manufacturers, claiming they are masking health risks, RFK Jr. is increasing both his visibility and financial resources, according to Caroline Kennedy.

His cousin accuses him in this matter of “profiting at the expense of access to a vaccine that can prevent almost all forms of cervical cancer and has been safely administered to millions of boys and girls.”

Last year, RFK Jr. reportedly received over $850,000 through an arrangement with Merck regarding the Gardasil vaccine.

If one thought the strange stories about RFK Jr., such as him allegedly picking up a dead bear cub only to leave it in Central Park as a joke, or transporting a whale carcass on the roof of his car for hours, creating a nightmarish scene with foul odors and “whale juice” with his children onboard, were the most bizarre about him, Caroline Kennedy reveals an even more disturbing one.

She claims her cousin took a disturbing pleasure in showing how he put chicks and baby mice in a blender to feed his hawks, a scene she describes as a “perverse mix of despair and violence.”

Caroline Kennedy states that her father, JFK, and her uncle Bobby, “who gave their lives to public service,” as well as her uncle Teddy, “who dedicated his career in the Senate to improving the healthcare system,” would be disgusted” by RFK Jr.’s actions.

She accuses him of having “exploited the image of his father” during his electoral campaign, only to lower himself to request a position on Donald Trump’s team, all while leveraging the “painful public tragedies of their own family” for publicity.

One of the key presenters employed by CNN since 2007, Jim Acosta, is leaving the network after being relegated to a much less strategic time slot in the schedule, a decision that some interpret as an effort to ease tensions with the president or respond to alleged demands from the Trump administration towards CNN and the media.

Jim Acosta leaving CNN after being pulled from network’s programming schedule

— New York Post (@nypost.com) 2025-01-28T03:33:13.032Z

Jim Acosta is certainly one of the major victims of a significant reorganization at CNN and its programming under the leadership of its CEO, Mark Thompson, in order to, according to company executives, adapt to the changes in the media landscape and strengthen its digital presence.

This restructuring has brought significant changes for several iconic figures at CNN, including Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper, but for Jim Acosta, it has been perceived as a major setback, as the company has pushed him out of strategic time slots.

Among these major changes in programming, the show The Lead with Jake Tapper, previously aired on weekdays from 4 PM to 6 PM (ET), will be moved from 5 PM to 7 PM (ET) starting in March 2025, as part of this significant reorganization of the network.

The time change for Wolf Blitzer, who previously hosted The Situation Room aired on weekdays from 6 PM to 7 PM (ET), now places him in a new morning slot from 10 AM to 12 PM (ET), where he will co-host with Pamela Brown, thus replacing the time slot previously occupied by Jim Acosta’s show.

The show CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta was aired on weekdays from 10 AM to 11 AM (ET). With the announced restructuring, Jim Acosta has been offered a time slot from midnight to 2 AM, a decision that significantly reduces his visibility and represents a heavy blow for the presenter.

Some view this decision by CNN as being related to Donald Trump’s return to the White House, with Jim Acosta being one of the most critical hosts towards the former and current president.

This hypothesis seems even more plausible when recalling the November 2018 incident during a press conference following the midterm elections, where Acosta, then CNN’s White House correspondent, had a heated exchange with Trump, resulting in his temporary ban from the White House.

This raises the question: did Trump exert influence pushing CNN to get rid of Jim Acosta?

Smart take on my interview with Burchett on Jan. 6. We can’t let the truth about that day be destroyed. newrepublic.com/article/1905…

— Jim Acosta (@jimacosta.bsky.social) 2025-01-23T11:45:44.071Z

It is worth noting that Jim Acosta joined CNN in 2007 as a national political correspondent. He gained prominence covering Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012.

In 2018, he was named chief White House correspondent, becoming a prominent figure at CNN, particularly due to his often heated exchanges with Trump during his first presidential term. Acosta also reported on major historical moments, such as the 2020 elections and the significant events of January 6, 2021.

His departure will undoubtedly leave a void within CNN, a company that in recent years seems to have lost its bearings and struggles to clearly define its position.

The surprise arrival of the AI DeepSeek, a Chinese product, has caused a significant upheaval in global financial markets.

Anxiety about China's DeepSeek sent US stocks tumbling, with Nvidia plunging 13%, the Nasdaq 100 down 3.6% and the S&P 500 falling 2.3%

— Bloomberg (@bloomberg.com) 2025-01-27T14:49:44.772Z

DeepSeek-R1 is an open source reasoning model that introduces a logical chain allowing for requests to be processed in successive steps, enhancing the deductive and analytical capabilities of the AI.

This model, offering high performance, now competes with GPT-4 and challenges the monopoly of American companies like OpenAI, Nvidia, Microsoft Copilot, XAI, Google Gemini, Anthropic, and Meta.

Microsoft’s stocks, the developer of AI Copilot, fell by $15.94 (-3.59%) at the market opening, while Google’s stocks, creator of AI Gemini, dropped by $5.05 (-2.50%). Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) also recorded a decrease in its market value of $5.63 (-2.81%). For its part, NVIDIA, known for its advanced AI model optimized for high-performance computing thanks to its leading GPUs, experienced a significant drop with a decline of $20.94 (-14.68%).

Overall, the Nasdaq Composite, representing the largest tech companies, recorded a drop of 3.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a more moderate decline of around 0.4%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 fell by nearly 2%.

This situation clearly reflects the concerns of investors in an economic context destabilized by the arrival of a new competitor in the market.

Elon Musk, who seems to enjoy meddling in the electoral processes of various countries and having contributed to Donald Trump’s victory in the United States, has now virtually involved himself during the launch of the election campaign of the AfD (Alternative for Germany), the German far-right party.

The chairman of Israel's official Holocaust memorial has accused Elon Musk of insulting the victims of Nazism and endangering Germany’s democratic future after the billionaire addressed a rally for Germany’s far-right party.

— NBC News (@nbcnews.com) 2025-01-26T22:07:01.854Z

His statements made on this occasion sparked strong condemnation reactions in Germany and internationally.

In front of a crowd of about 4,500 supporters, Musk made highly criticized remarks, as he was recently accused of performing a “Nazi salute” during Donald Trump’s inauguration.

During his speech, Musk notably harshly criticized multiculturalism, claiming that it diluted German culture and urged far-right supporters to “be proud to be Germans,” comments quickly denounced by several, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and also by family members of Holocaust victims.

German history, profoundly marked by Nazism and the Holocaust, is a sensitive subject that Germans approach with great responsibility, focused on memory and the fight against extremist ideologies.

In this context, outside interventions, even from influential figures like Elon Musk, can be perceived as interference in a matter that remains deeply internal.

The criticisms directed at Musk in this context accuse him of exploiting perceptions and ignorance regarding the depth of the historical context, thereby minimizing the complexity of the issues for divisive political ends. His interventions are seen as seeking to exacerbate tensions.

Many observers believe these issues fall exclusively under the responsibility of the Germans, who are solely capable of managing their past and shaping their future without external influence. In other words, many people in different countries think that Musk should focus on his own affairs rather than meddling in other nations’ politics.

This recent interference by Musk raises questions, especially as he has recently intensified his involvement in various political issues around the world, fueling speculation about his motivations.