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Macron backpedals after castigating video games during riots

French President Emmanuel Macron is extending an olive branch to video gamers after previously linking computer games to rioting that rocked France earlier this year.

Posting on social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, Macron backpedaled on remarks in June where he blamed video games for having "intoxicated" some young rioters.

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Netanyahu, Musk discuss antisemitism on X, artificial intelligence

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kicked off a U.S. trip in California to talk to billionaire businessman Elon Musk about antisemitism on his social media platform X — while Musk asked him to address his judicial overhaul in Israel. The two also discussed artificial intelligence in a sparsely attended livestream event.

Netanyahu's high-profile visit to the San Francisco Bay Area comes at a time when Musk is facing accusations of tolerating antisemitic messages on his social media platform, while Netanyahu is confronting political opposition at home and abroad. Protesters gathered early Monday outside the Fremont, California, factory where Tesla makes its cars.

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Glossary of UN General Assembly meeting lingo

The U.N. General Assembly's yearly meeting of world leaders is here — and with it, an array of acronyms, abbreviations, titles and terms that can be confounding to observers. Here's some key vocabulary, decoded.

FOR STARTERS...

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Pope meets Russian ambassador as Ukraine peace envoy plans 2nd mission to Moscow

Russia's new ambassador to the Vatican met Monday with Pope Francis for a protocol visit, as signs emerged that the Vatican's Ukraine peace envoy could soon be undertaking a second mission to Moscow.

The Vatican said Ambassador Ivan Soltanovsky was presenting his credentials to Francis, signaling the official start of his term. His motorcade was seen leaving the Russian embassy Monday morning, bound for the Vatican, and returning about two hours later.

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Israel criticizes UN vote to list prehistoric ruins as World Heritage Site in Palestine

A U.N. committee voted Sunday to list prehistoric ruins near the ancient West Bank city of Jericho as a World Heritage Site in Palestine, a decision that angered Israel, which controls the territory and does not recognize a Palestinian state.

Jericho is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities on earth, and is in a part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank that is administered by the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority. The listing refers to the Tell es-Sultan archaeological site nearby, which contains prehistoric ruins dating back to the ninth millennium B.C. and is outside the ancient city itself.

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28th European Film Festival to begin in Lebanon on Sep. 25

The Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon, in partnership with the Metropolis Cinema Association and in cooperation with the European Union Member States, has announced that the 28th European Film Festival in Lebanon will be held from September 25 to October 4, 2023.

The festival will open on Monday, September 25 with the Spanish film Ramona by Andrea Bagney, which won the Best Screenplay Award at the 2022 Rome Film Fest. 

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Netanyahu to meet Musk as X faces antisemitism controversy

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet billionaire businessman Elon Musk during a trip to the United States next week, the Israeli leader's office said.

Netanyahu's office said their meeting, which is scheduled for Monday, will include discussions about artificial intelligence. It comes at a time when Musk is facing accusations of tolerating antisemitic messages on his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

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'Moments of Being' art exhibition showcases Syrian artists in Beirut

The UK Office for Syria (UKOS) in partnership with The British Council have organized a joint art exhibition in Beirut. "Moments of Being", a multimedia art exhibition featuring the works of 12 talented Syrian artists, took place at the Matossian Gallery, Haigazian University, Beirut, from September 7th to September 15th.

"Moments of Being"

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Paintings on pesos illustrate Argentina's currency and inflation woes

A jaguar lies beside George Washington. The United States' first president holds a rifle with one hand as he rests the other on the dead Argentine predator.

The backdrop is a U.S. dollar and an Argentine 500-peso note joined like a book, a clear allusion to the rapid depreciation of the local currency, the peso. That has made it difficult for Argentines to make ends meet. The peso has depreciated around 60% compared to the U.S. dollar over the past year. It has occurred in parallel to one of the world's highest inflation rates. Together, the economic travails have have bolstered an anti-establishment candidate who admires former President Donald Trump.

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Over 3 years after theft, Van Gogh painting recovered but with some damage

More than three years after it was stolen from a museum that was shut to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, a painting by Dutch master Vincent van Gogh has been recovered, a little worse for wear, the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands said.

Van Gogh's "The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring," which was painted in 1884, was snatched in an overnight raid in March 2020 from The Singer Laren museum east of Amsterdam. It was there on loan from the Groninger Museum.

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