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Hamilton ready to join sports social media boycott, F1 not committed

AFP/Editor

World champion Lewis Hamilton said on Thursday he is ready to join this weekend’s widespread sports boycott of social media in a stand against racism even if Formula 1 is not convinced.

“I think I probably will follow and support this weekend,” said Hamilton on the sidelines of the Portuguese Grand Prix.

A coalition of football organisations including the English Football Association and Premier League revealed they would not post on their channels this weekend and the boycott has grown, with other sports bodies, sponsors and broadcasters joining in.

On Friday, UEFA also said it would follow suit.

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“For me it’s clear and clearly in this sport that racism continues to be an issue,” added Hamilton who boasts 22 million followers on Instagram and 6.3 million on Twitter.

“And I think social media platforms do need to do more to combat this and so I am fully supportive of the initiative and if me also doing it helps put pressure of those platforms in order to help fight against it, I am happy to do so.”

He added: “I’m not sure why Formula 1 is not part of that.”

However, there was far from widespread support in the paddock in a reflection over the split on the grid in 2020 when some drivers took a knee to protest racism while others stood.

“Is boycotting a good solution? Not sure,” said McLaren driver Lando Norris.

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A Formula 1 spokesman said the ruling body will not commit to the boycott which gets underway on Friday.

“We support the actions of the Premier League and other sporting bodies and athletes in highlighting that more must be done to eradicate online abuse that they are receiving directly,” he said.

“However, we continue to work with all platforms and our own audiences to promote respect and positive values and put a stop to racism.”

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FBI Most Wanted Fugitive Arrested in Mexico and Deported to U.S.

Authorities in Mexico announced Thursday that Samuel Ramírez Jr., a U.S. citizen accused of murdering two women and listed among the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, was arrested in the northern state of Sinaloa.

Ramírez Jr., 33, was detained Tuesday in Culiacán just 1 hour and 13 minutes after being added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Ten Most Wanted list, the agency said in a statement.

The suspect, who was born in California, has already been deported to the U.S. state of Washington, where he faces charges related to the fatal shooting of two women at a bar in Federal Way in May 2023.

A court issued an arrest warrant for Ramírez in November last year, and the FBI initially offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to his capture, later increasing the amount to up to $1 million.

“To protect individuals’ privacy and ensure continued cooperation from the public, the FBI does not confirm the identity of those who provide information,” the agency said in its statement.

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UN experts warn Nicaragua runs vast transnational network to monitor exiled dissidents

Nicaragua maintains an “extensive” transnational network to monitor and intimidate opposition figures living in exile, affecting “hundreds of thousands” of people, the United Nations Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua warned on Tuesday.

In a statement, the experts said their report “details an extensive transnational architecture of surveillance and intelligence used to monitor, intimidate and attack the hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans living abroad.”

The report, which will be presented on March 16 to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, states that the structure maintained by the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo includes the army, the police, migration authorities and diplomatic missions.

According to the statement, “the government has arbitrarily stripped 452 Nicaraguans of their nationality, left thousands more exiled in a situation of de facto statelessness, and prevented many from returning to Nicaragua.”

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Trump: ‘We Think It’s True’ Amid Claims Iran’s Supreme Leader Was Killed

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he believes multiple reports claiming the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during the U.S. and Israeli offensive against the Islamic Republic are likely true, though he stopped short of confirming the news.

“We have a feeling that the information is correct,” he said, according to NBC News. “I don’t want to say anything definitive until I see it, but we think that’s the case. And many of their leaders have disappeared,” he added.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were “many indications” that Khamenei had died in an attack on his residential compound.