Greta Thunberg to trademark 'Fridays for Future'

BBC, London

Climate change activist Greta Thunberg says she is trademarking her name and the #FridaysForFuture movement to stop people from impersonating her. In 2018, Ms Thunberg's school strike grew into a global movement that became known as #FridaysForFuture. Millions of people in countries such as Australia, Ghana, Germany and the UK have taken part in the protests. She said on Instagram that people had tried to sell products and collect money in the movement's name. "My name and the #Fridaysforfuture movement are constantly being used for commercial purposes without any consent whatsoever," the 17 year old said.

Vanessa Bryant ‘completely devastated’
AFP,  Los Angeles

Vanessa Bryant spoke out Wednesday for the first time since her husband Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna were killed in a horrific helicopter crash, saying the family is “completely devastated” by the tragedy. Vanessa, who married Kobe in 2001 when she was still a teenager, took to Instagram to communicate her grief but said she was at a loss for words. “We are completely devastated by the sudden loss of my adoring husband, Kobe - the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful, sweet Gianna - a loving, thoughtful, and wonderful daughter, and amazing sister to Natalia, Bianka, and Capri,” she wrote on her account.

Qatar welcomes US Mideast peace plan
AFP, Doha

Qatar responded cautiously Wednesday to US President Donald Trump’s Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, saying it welcomed efforts to broker “longstanding peace” but warned that was unattainable without concessions to the Palestinians. The plan, seen as overwhelmingly supportive of Israeli goals and drafted with no Palestinian input, gives the Jewish state a US green light to annex key parts of the occupied West Bank as well as control over Jerusalem as its “undivided” capital.