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Berlin and Paris CNN  —  The clasped hands of French and German leaders have long embodied the spirit of European unity – most famously in 1984, when François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl stood hand-in-hand at Verdun in a symbol of reconciliation. So, when Chancellor Friedrich Merz grasped President Emmanuel Macron’s hand on the steps of the Élysée palace in early May – a handshake that was long, warm, and accompanied by backslapping – it wasn’t just a photo-op. It was the clearest sign yet that Europe’s most important alliance was back in motion. After years of sputtering and frustration under…

Tania León, the noted composer and conductor who also co-founded Dance Theatre of Harlem, never planned on emigrating to the United States. She wanted to move to Paris.When León received the opportunity to leave Cuba on a resettlement flight to Miami in 1967, she took it, thinking she would eventually end up settling in France where she would join the Conservatoire de Paris and become a concert pianist. Instead, she moved to New York and within months met Arthur Mitchell, the New York City Ballet dancer who achieved international acclaim and integrated the art form as its first Black star.“You…

INGLEWOOD, Cali. (AP) — The Weeknd made a triumphant return to SoFi Stadium just outside of Los Angeles on Wednesday night, his first of a four-night run. “I came back with a vengeance, man,” the four-time Grammy Award winning singer said on stage. “And that’s because of you.” For those in the know, it was like something straight out of a movie. That’s because a previous performance on that stage became the catalyst for The Weeknd’s first leading role in a feature film, which he also co-wrote, “Hurry Up Tomorrow.” The Weeknd performs on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at SoFi…

Nikos Pekiaridis | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesRobert F. Kennedy Jr.’s revamped government panel of outside vaccine advisors on Thursday recommended the use of Merck’s shot to protect infants from respiratory syncytial virus, a temporary reprieve for public health officials and companies concerned about the Health and Human Services secretary’s immunization policy.The group, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, also voted unanimously to include Merck’s shot in the government’s list of recommended childhood immunizations that receive wide insurance coverage.The votes in favor of the injectable antibody, Enflonsia, are a sigh of relief for drugmakers and the medical community…

by Mia Taylor Last updated: 3:40 PM ET, Wed June 25, 2025 Blue Diamond Resorts is expanding its portfolio to include a new, adults-oriented brand that aims to “reimagine the all-inclusive experience.”The new brand, Royalton Vessence, is set to make its debut in Barbados in 2026 with the Royalton Vessence Barbados, An Autograph Collection All-Inclusive Resort- Adults Only. Formerly introduced as Royalton CHIC Barbados, the Barbados resort has been updated and evolved into an experience that “aligns more closely with the essence of the destination, offering a setting where authenticity, calm, and creativity come together seamlessly,” the company said in…

Nonprofit Creative Commons, which spearheaded the licensing movement that allows creators to share their works while retaining copyright, is now preparing for the AI era. On Wednesday, the organization announced the launch of a new project, CC signals, which will allow dataset holders to detail how their content can or cannot be reused by machines, as in the case of training AI models. The idea is meant to create a balance between the open nature of the internet and the demand for ever more data to fuel AI. As Creative Commons explains in a blog post, the continued data extraction…

Over the past several months, Republican lawmakers in at least 10 states have introduced measures aimed at undermining same-sex marriage rights. These measures, many of which were crafted with the help of the anti-marriage equality group MassResistance, seek to ask the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell. MassResistance told NBC News that while these proposals face backlash and wouldn’t change policy even if passed, keeping opposition to same-sex marriage in the public eye is a win for them. The group said it believes marriage laws should be left to states, and they question the constitutional basis of the 5-to-4 Dobbs ruling.…

CNN  —  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed an agreement with the Council of Europe (CoE) to create a tribunal that would allow for the prosecution of senior Russian officials who have led the war on Ukraine. Zelensky signed the accord on Wednesday alongside CoE Secretary General Alain Berset in the French city of Strasbourg, where the organization is headquartered. The Ukrainian leader has portrayed the special tribunal as paramount to holding Russian officials responsible for the full-scale invasion of his country, which began in February 2022 and has grinded on for more than three years, with a huge human…

Elon Musk’s xAI is the subject of scrutiny in Memphis, where natural gas turbines powering its Colossus data center have raised alarm among residents concerned about air pollution. On Tuesday, the city of Memphis released the results of initial air quality testing performed by a third party, saying that levels of the 10 pollutants tested were not dangerous. But the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), which is threatening to sue xAI on behalf of the NAACP, said that the tests omitted a key pollutant, ozone, also known as smog. “It’s unclear why the city would not test for this harmful…

WASHINGTON — A top Justice Department official boasted at a private Republican gathering that the Trump administration was able to kill a Texas law that gave undocumented immigrants in-state tuition “in six hours” by coordinating with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to a recording obtained by NBC News.On June 4, the Justice Department sued Texas over the Texas Dream Act, then quickly filed a joint motion with Texas asking a judge to declare the law unconstitutional and permanently enjoin Texas from enforcing the law. The same day, the judge did. Outside organizations sought to invalidate the ruling Tuesday, arguing…