Features

LONDON — The first complete ichthyosaur skeleton, believed to have been found by the fossil hunter Mary Anning, was thought to have been lost forever when German bombs rained down on London in World War II.

But two plaster casts of the distinctive dolphin-like reptile have now been unearthed, even though there was no record of them ever being made.

Researchers Dean Lomax, from the University of Manchester in northwest England, and Judy Massare, from New York State University, described the finds as “historically important”.

“The specimen was the first skeleton of an extinct marine reptile in the scientific literature and the most complete ichthyosaur skeleton known at the time,” they said.

One cast, found at the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University in the United States, is likely to be a “cast of a cast” and was donated to the institution in 1930.

It mentions it is an ichthyosaurus specimen from Lyme Regis on the Jurassic coast of Dorset, southern England, where Anning and her family went fossil-hunting in the early 19th century.

The other, at the Natural History Museum in Berlin, says only that it is a “plaster cast of an ichthyosaur skeleton from an unknown location”.

Lomax and Massare wrote in the journal Royal Society Open Science published on Wednesday that the latter was in excellent condition and likely to be a later cast using newer methods as it was more detailed.

Comparisons of both casts led the researchers to conclude they were of the lost ichthyosaur skeleton bought for £100 by the Royal College of Surgeons after it failed to sell at an auction by Anning in 1820.

The sum is the equivalent to nearly £7,500 ($8,600) today.

“Considering that the original was destroyed during World War II, it is somewhat ironic that the cast in the best condition is in the Berlin museum,” the researchers noted.

Ichthyosaurus, whose name translates to “fish lizard”, was part of a larger group called ichthyosaurs which were distant relatives of lizards and snakes.

They lived between 251 million and 65.5 million years ago and were common in the Jurassic period, which began about 200 million years ago.

Well-preserved fossils have been found in Germany and England.

They were about three metres in length, with four flippers, large eyes, a pointed snout and rows of sharp teeth.

Although they lived in water, they were air-breathers and would have had no capacity to survive on land.

“Ammonite”, a fictional film inspired by Anning’s life, was released in 2020 starring Kate Winslet.

LOS ANGELES — Music’s A-listers will celebrate a new crop of legends entering the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this weekend, among them country queen Dolly Parton and rap agitator Eminem.

Pop futurists Eurythmics, smooth rocker Lionel Richie, new wave Brits Duran Duran, confessional lyricist Carly Simon and enduring rock duo Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo round out the class of 2022.

The Cleveland-based Hall of Fame — which surveyed more than 1,000 musicians, historians and industry members to choose the entrants — will honor the seven acts in a star-studded gala concert on Saturday at Los Angeles’s Microsoft Theater.

The inclusion of Parton, 76, prompted a characteristically humble response from the beloved icon, who initially requested her name be taken out of the running.

“Even though I’m extremely flattered and grateful to be nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I don’t feel that I have earned that right,” said the music pioneer, who’s penned thousands of songs including “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You”.

But voting was already under way, and the Hall of Fame insisted she was far more than a country star.

“With her trailblazing songwriting career, distinctive voice, campy glamour, business savvy and humanitarian work, Dolly Parton is a beloved icon who transcends the genre she transformed forever,” the organisation said.

For years the institution has defined “rock” less in terms of genre than of spirit, with a number of rappers, pop, R&B and country stars included.

“I just felt like I would be taking away from someone that maybe deserved it, certainly more than me, because I never considered myself a rock artist,” Parton said later.

“But obviously, there’s more to it than that.”

Eclectic group 

The 2022 group of hall of famers is among the organisation’s most eclectic in years.

Detroit rapper Eminem burst onto the world stage in the late 1990s with darkly comical hits off his major label debut “The Slim Shady LP” including “My Name Is”.

“The Marshall Mathers LP” cemented his superstar status, becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time and setting up the rapper as one of pop’s master provocateurs with a blistering flow.

He joins fellow rappers including Jay-Z, Tupac Shakur, Ice Cube and Grandmaster Flash along with his loyal producer and mentor Dr Dre in the hall of rock’s elite.

Eminem gained the recognition in his first year of eligibility: Acts can be inducted 25 years after their first commercial music release.

Lionel Richie, the crooner behind enduring love songs “All Night Long” and “Hello”, earned the distinction after already scoring the majority of music’s top honors.

The 73-year-old artist has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as designated a Kennedy Centre Honoree and a winner of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

Eurythmics — the duo comprised of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart — earlier this year also entered the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The synthpop innovators behind “Sweet Dreams [Are Made Of This]” will now take their place among rock’s greatest.

“We were always changing. That was the point,” Lennox told Rolling Stone shortly after the inductees were announced. “That’s what kept our spark going.”

Duran Duran is set to reunite with their former guitarists Andy Taylor and Warren Cuccurullo, at the night that’s more supergroup concert than ceremony.

“We didn’t have so-called ‘acrimonious splits’. It was gentlemanly and it was understood. And pretty much mutual,” frontman Simon Le Bon told Rolling Stone.

Simon, the singer-songwriter behind the 1970s classic “You’re So Vain”, will finally be inducted following almost two decades of eligibility.

“There’s that first thought of, ‘I don’t believe it. It must be the House of Pancakes I just got into,’” said Simon.

And power couple Benatar and Giraldo, who dominated the 1980s with hits like “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”, will also finally get rock hall recognition for their prolific body of work.

Judas Priest along with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis will also receive awards for musical excellence, while Harry Belafonte and Elizabeth Cotten will be recognised for early influence prizes.

The gala will begin at 7:00pm Pacific time, and will later be broadcast on November 19 on HBO.

CHICAGO — Her Godmother of Punk Rock icon status made her a household name, but for Patti Smith, it’s writing where she finds her true artistic voice.

Along with her musical performance and literary pursuits, Smith is a painter and photographer, but if she had to choose one form? 

“I’d pick writing.”

“Writing is my most essential form of expression,” the artist told AFP in Chicago, where she recently received the prestigious Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.

Smith, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, is perhaps best known for her seminal punk album “Horses”.

But poetry was an earlier love, and “Horses” begins with lines from a poem that she penned.

“Performing poetry, reading poetry was very strong in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s,” she said. 

But “I had so much energy and was really a child of rock and roll, so standing there reading a poem was never satisfying to me,” Smith continued. 

“I quickly merged my poems with a few chords as something to propel me to improvise more poetry, and it sort of evolved into a rock and roll band.”

While Smith’s album and her band went on to critical acclaim, writing always was at its backbone, she said, pointing to her song “Redondo Beach” which was initially a poem.

“Throughout all my albums and even the prose that I write, poetry is still a thread,” she said.

“Horses” is widely considered one of the best albums of all time, but for Smith it was her 2010 book “Just Kids” — a memoir she promised her best friend and muse Robert Mapplethorpe that she would write hours before he died — that became her life’s greatest success.

“I’d never written a book of nonfiction, but he asked me if I would write our story,” she recalled.

Mapplethorpe, a photographer, died at age 42. He and Smith shared a deep friendship, romance and lifelong creative bond.

“My greatest success in my life has been the book that he asked me to write and it almost makes me cry. Robert got his wish and I kept my vow and wrote the book as best I could.”

“Just Kids” won The National Book Award and introduced Smith to an entirely new generation of fans, while outselling all of her music albums along the way.

She said young people used to tell her “Horses” changed their lives — but “it was usurped by ‘Kids’”. 

“I think it’s really opened up many doors for me,” she continued. “Other books were examined and people read them and now when we have our concerts, it’s a wonderful thing to step on stage and see a sea of people under 30, even under 25.”

“To see all these young people who are interested in your work and giving of their energy, I’m so grateful for that.”

Smith, who turns 76 this December, said she has no plans to slow her output.

She’s set to release “A Book of Days” later this month, a volume based on her Instagram account’s musings.

She’s also considering a serialised book entitled “The Melting”, based on her Substack account posts.

Smith has maintained her prolific output for years but she says “things don’t necessarily come easy.”

“I’ve had to plug away my whole life.”

She considers herself an optimist but she’s “deeply concerned and heartbroken” about the state of the world right now, citing environmental crises along with the rise of nationalism globally and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“There’s so many things happening simultaneously right now, it’s overwhelming,” she said. “But I have kids, so I’m always seeking in my mind ways to make the world better for them.”

Persevering means writing daily and trying her best to help others.

“We just have to keep doing our work and find a way to keep ourselves healthy and just help one another. It seems so elemental but it’s also required,” she said.

Smith said she’s working on writing a new song inspired by the women protesting in Iran, and still believes, like one of her famous songs, that people have the power.

“I absolutely believe it,” she said. “It’s just whether we choose to use it or not. That’s what the women of Iran are doing.”

“That’s the only tool we have.”

By Bob Chiarito
Agence France-Presse

MILAN — It took 300 staff working in five cities about five years, but the second edition of one of the most ambitious mash-ups in video games arrived — “Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope”.

The game merges Nintendo’s Mario, the Italian plumber who has given his name to an entire universe of games, with Ubisoft’s Rabbids, a series focused on the adventures of a species of screeching, hyperactive rabbit-like animals.

Nintendo, like other media companies, is highly protective of its creations.

Only fellow Japanese studio Sega has been entrusted with characters from “Mario” before, for special editions games celebrating the Olympic Games where they compete with “Sonic the Hedgehog”.

“Nintendo told us very early on: ‘This is your game, this is your vision, we respect it,’” Ubisoft’s Xavier Manzanares, who is overseeing the new game’s development, told AFP.

“That’s where it’s interesting, so we had real creativity, really interesting room for manoeuvre.”

The first game in the series, “Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle”, has garnered more than 10 million players since its release in 2017, said Manzanares.

“I don’t think we would have bet on that in 2017,” he said.

“It attracted a lot of attention because there are not many brands that do a pair-up with ‘Mario’, that’s for sure.”

A history of mash-ups

The idea of fictional universes colliding — characters from one popping up in another — is far more developed in cinema franchises and comic books than in video games.

Superheroes, for example, have a long history of showing up in a rival’s storylines.

In video games, Nintendo has created mash-ups featuring its own characters, like the “Super Smash Bros” series that brought together the likes of Pikachu, Donkey Kong and others.

Occasionally two studios join forces, like in the “Kingdom Hearts” series, which matched up “Final Fantasy” of the Japanese publisher Square Enix with characters owned by Disney.

This is much closer to the idea of Spiderman and Superman walking into each other’s storylines, as happened in 1970s crossover comics and many times since.

Julien Pillot, an economist specialising in cultural industries, told AFP this kind of collaboration in video games was rare and tricky to pull off.

Issues of rights and royalties cause headaches, he said, and the studio loaning its characters is likely to make onerous demands to ensure its brand is protected.

‘New universes’

Ubisoft, though, said it had been given real leeway, even to create new crossover characters in the form of “Sparks”.

They are star-shaped creatures combining “Rabbids” with “Lumas”, characters from the game “Super Mario Galaxy”.

“For us, it was important not to have ‘Rabbids’ on one side and ‘Mario’ on the other in two separate silos,” said Manzanares.

He said the aim was to “really to create a new universe with both”.

The French firm’s developers have been working across two principal locations in Milan and Paris with support from other studios in China, India and Montpellier in southern France.

Manzanares played down the challenges involved in such a creative endeavour being carried out across so many locations.

“We’ve been working like this for a long time, whether it’s on the games ‘Far Cry’, ‘Assassin’s Creed’ or ‘Just Dance’,” he said.

Analyst Cedric Lagarrigue told AFP video game firms were increasingly working on global lines like this.

North America or Europe often leads on the creative part, he said, then processes like making 3D characters or environments, “can be done anywhere in the world”.

Manzanares said all Ubisoft’s locations had autonomy and each one brought something to the new game.

“We really worked on this merger,” he said.

“It’s been a big eight-year job” bringing the two games to the market.

ALGETE, Spain — With a vast wardrobe catering to everything from “House of the Dragon” to “The Crown”, Spain’s Peris Costumes has carved out a well-tailored niche for itself, renting costumes to producers across the globe.

“Here, you can find everything,” says CEO Javier Toledo showing off a vast array of costumes and accessories — from suits of armour to frock coats, sailor suits and monastic robes.

All around him mannequins dressed in 18th-century gowns stand next to posters of the many films his company has worked on in recent years. 

“There are starting to be rather a lot,” admits the 63-year-old entrepreneur with white hair and a neatly trimmed goatee whose business is based in Algete, a small town just outside Madrid. 

Since Toledo took over 10 years ago, the business has been transformed. 

What began as a small family firm set up by tailors specialising in theatre costumes in the eastern coastal city of Valencia in 1856 has become a world leader in costume hire for the film industry.

And it’s a success story closely linked to the rise of on-demand streaming giants such as Netflix, Disney+ and HBO. 

“We have responded to the changes that have taken place in the market,” he told AFP, pointing notably to the explosion in popularity “of the series”.

When he bought the company, Peris Costumes only had a dozen staff, all based in Madrid. 

Today, the group employs 250 people and has offices or workshops in 15 capital cities, including Budapest, Berlin, Paris and Mexico City. 

“During the first half of the year, we were involved in almost 600 productions. And by the end of the year we’re hoping that will be more than 1,000,” says marketing director Myriam Wais. 

Among the films and series that have chosen the company are numerous super-productions which are very demanding in terms of period or fantasy costumes.

Whether it’s “The Rings of Power”, “Mulan” or “Marco Polo”, many productions prefer to rent costumes rather than invest in making their own.

“Trying to make [the costumes] from scratch is practically impossible because of the time and costs involved,” says Toledo. 

And producers appreciate “having costumes that have been worn in and aged with time”, he explains.

To expand its catalogue, Peris Costumes has in recent years has bought up millions of gowns, hats, pairs of shoes and uniforms from studio giants like Warner Bros. 

And all these complement its own in-house collections put together in the workshops of its costume designers. 

“In total, we have more than 10 million articles” of clothing and accessories, says Wais, reeling off a list of the most popular styles and eras.

It is, she says, “the biggest wardrobe in the world”. 

In a nearby room, four garment makers are working with pieces of leather, with a hammer-like maul and pliers on hand.

“Right now, we’re working on our inventory but there are also orders,” she says. 

In another room is the jewellery workshop, where close to 20,000 pieces are stored, including the jewels worn by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 epic “Cleopatra” and the papal cross worn by Jude Law in the 2016 series “The Young Pope”.

At Peris Costumes, the rule is to never throw anything away, not even if it is damaged during filming. 

“We have an area called ‘The Walking Dead’ in which we put everything that is broken or damaged but that could be reused,” Wais says, the term referencing a TV series about zombie apocalypse survivors.

With demand showing little sign of ebbing, this Spanish outfitter has recently started digitising some of its catalogue with the help of a studio equipped with 144 high-resolution cameras.

Dubbed Peris Digital, this service lets production companies “create 3D images” of costumes which can be used “during post-production”, Wais says. 

And this “virtual wardrobe” has also proved popular with the makers of video games, the company says.

First launched in 2016, the second generation Volkswagen Tiguan was a distinct step up from its predecessor. Only slightly larger, it was, however, a better designed, refined and equipped vehicle. Built on Volkswagen’s modular MQB platform that also underpins the Golf, the second generation Tiguan also delivered improved driving characteristics.

A classier and more upmarket effort, the Tiguan has since been lightly updated and subtly restyled for its 2020 mid-life face-lift, and features improved tech, lighting and infotainment systems.

Crisp and clean style

A mainstream compact crossover now imbued with premium flavours, the MQB-based Tiguan is slightly shorter, wider and longer than the original, and is available in standard and more spacious long wheelbase Allspace versions. The second generation Tiguan is an elegantly conservative and more contiguous design with an emphasis on straight lines and a perception of width. Handsomely mature is design, the Tiguan’s relatively level waistline and restrained rear pillar width lend it an airy ambiance and allow for good driving visibility.

Built with increased lightweight aluminium content for a 50kg weight reduction, the Tiguan features crisp and clean surfacing, with a sharply ridged crease running along its side towards dramatic, almost boomerang-style, rear lights, while a jutting tailgate spoiler lends a certain sporting style. Broader and more dramatic than its predecessor, the face-lifted Tiguan receives a higher bonnet line, wider grille and new bumper treatment. Its aggressively browed front lights are also redesigned and feature a new signature and LED elements.

Confident delivery

More visually assertive in R-line design specification with bigger bumper, broader side intakes and larger alloy wheels, the top-spec Tiguan available in the Middle East is powered by a transversely-mounted turbocharged 2-litre 4-cylinder engine. 

Primarily driving the front wheels, but transmitting more power rearwards as necessary courtesy of its 4Motion all-wheel-drive system, the Tiguan 2.0 TSI channels output through a 7-speed automated dual-clutch gearbox (DSG). It meanwhile produces 177BHP at approximately 6,000rpm and generous 236lb/ft torque throughout a 1,500-4,000rpm band.

Capable and familiar, the Tiguan 2.0 TSI’s engine is responsive from standstill, with little of the spooling lag expected from turbocharged vehicles. Refined in operation and eager in delivery, the Tiguan’s power accumulation is underwritten by a generous wave of torque across a broad and easily accessible mid-range, for confident overtaking. 

Reasonably brisk, it is estimated to dispatch the 0-100km/h benchmark in 7.7-seconds and onto a 208km/h top speed, while combined cycle fuel consumption is estimated at a moderate 7.4l/100km.

Quick and composed

Versatile in accelerating when cruising, the Tiguan’s engine is well complemented by its DSG gearbox’s broad ratio range in terms of performance and efficiency. The DSG is meanwhile quick and slick in executing shifts in a sequence, as it features two clutches for odd and even gears, whereby the next anticipated ratio is already lined-up and ready for seamlessly quick cog changes. Built primarily for road use, the Tiguan’s driving modes can leverage its gearbox response profile for modest off-road driving.

With generous 200mm ground clearance and stability and traction control-based off-road assistance features, the Tiguan’s all-wheel-drive system can also divert power to the rear wheels for added traction over loose surfaces. The Tiguan is meanwhile smooth and comfortable on road. Riding on MacPherson strut front and multilink rear independent suspension, the Tiguan delivers confidently comfortable highway stability, and good cabin refinement from noise, vibrations and harshness. The Tiguan’s vertical control is meanwhile comparatively well composed and settled over most dips and crests.

Smooth and spacious

Capable and confident, rather than outright exciting, the Tiguan’s dynamics are nevertheless reassuring, and it is tidy in, and through, corners. Not as agile as a Golf, the taller and heavier Tiguan is, however, nimble for a crossover and dispatches corners with comparatively nimble precision and only moderate body lean. Better absorbing road imperfections with smaller alloy wheel options, it can be slightly firm over sudden bumps and potholes when fitted with larger alloys. Steering is meanwhile light yet precise. 

Inside, the Tiguan features a well-adjustable, supportive and comfortable seating position, and good road visibility for manoeuvring and parking. Classy, uncluttered and logical in presentation, the Tiguan features good build quality inside. Offering notably good space for rear passengers, for its segment, it also generously accommodates 615-litres luggage capacity, which expands to 1,655-litres with rear seats folded. Well-equipped with standard and optional features, the face-lifted Tiguan is available with digital touch panel controls, an improved infotainment system and digital cockpit instrumentation.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 2-litre, turbocharged, transverse 4-cylinders

Bore x stroke: 82.5 x 92.8mm

Valve-train: 16-valve, DOHC, direct injection

Gearbox: 7-speed dual clutch automated, four-wheel-drive

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 177 (180) [132] @4,000-6,000rpm

Specific power: 89.2BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 107BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 236 (320) @1,500-4,000rpm

Specific torque: 161.3Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 194Nm/tonne

0-80km/h: 5.2-seconds (estimate)

0-100km/h: 7.7-seconds (estimate)

Top speed: 208km/h

Fuel consumption, 7.4-litres/100km (estimate)

Fuel capacity: 60-litres

Height: 1673mm

Wheelbase: 2677mm

Track, F/R: 1576/1566mm

Headroom, F/R (w/sunroof): 1004/967mm

Minimum ground clearance: 200mm (estimate)

Cabin width, F/R: 1503/1491mm

Luggage volume, min/max: 615/1655-litres

Kerb weight: 1650kg (estimate) 

Steering: Electric-assisted rack & pinion

Turning circle: 11.5-metres

Suspension, F/R: MacPherson struts/Multi-link

Is comparing yourself to others only making you feel bad about yourself and your body? Let’s not waste energy on comparisons, as it keeps us from achieving our goals.

“Envy makes us feel empty even when we’re full,” says pastor Alex Ehly is referring to how people compare themselves to others while looking at their cups as half empty instead of half full. Little did he realise how much his statement hits a cord with us desperate dieters. We spend our days craving all sorts of things we can’t have that we miss enjoying what we can have!

We tend to believe that the grass is always greener on the other side. Sadly, all that comparing, craving and coveting steals our joy as we waste our days chasing after the wind!

A different strategy

What would happen if we tried a different strategy to replace things that leave us feeling empty with something that actually fills us? No, I’m not talking about doughnuts (Nice try!). What if we spent less time trying to look like the perfect neighbours next door and more time getting to know them?

You’ll find that they have their own challenges and we don’t have a monopoly on that. You might learn something from them to help you deal with your issues. 

You’ll also discover that when you go beyond outward appearances, you stop defining people by how they look. Instead, you begin to see them less through superficial lenses and more through a deeper understanding of who they are as human beings.

Think about how much time you’ll save when you stop comparing yourself to others. That time could be put to better use thinking about something life-giving instead of life-sucking. The only person we should be comparing ourselves to is our own self as we seek to do better today than we did yesterday and the day before.

There are a million improvements we each can work on that we can practice daily if we set our mind to it but when we’re busy looking at someone else, we end up taking our focus off our own goals.

It’s time to pause

Halt. Stop. Quit fooling yourself into believing the lies the world keeps trying to feed us. This is how advertisements and television commercials work. They try to sell you something you’ll never use, making you think you can’t live without it. They make it look so cool and show other people envying you for buying their product. Not to mention all the junk food commercials that make you feel hungry even when you’re not, causing you to break down and give in to the cravings.

The crazy thing is that we’ve all done this because we naturally envy and crave what we see. It takes intentionality to become aware of our thoughts and to stop doing what everyone else is doing, even if it means swimming upstream in a culture that keeps going downstream!

You deserve better. Give yourself some credit and take the higher road less travelled. Here’s to a healthier life physically, mentally and emotionally as we joyfully start living our lives to our fullest potential. 

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk on Friday began his first full day leading Twitter, with critics and fans anxious to see how the planet’s richest man will run one of the world’s leading social media platforms.

The mercurial Tesla chief’s tumultuous, $44 billion bid to buy the company concluded after months of uncertainty and speculation, and now users could start to see his plans.

Musk tweeted “the bird is freed” on Thursday, a jokey reference to the firm’s logo, shortly after he said he made the purchase “to help humanity, whom I love”.

Yet, the idea of Musk running Twitter has alarmed activists who fear a surge in harassment and misinformation, with Musk himself known for trolling other Twitter users.

European politicians were quick to warn him that the continent had regulations for social media companies.

“In Europe, the bird will fly by our rules,” tweeted Thierry Breton, the EU internal market commissioner, in response on Friday to Musk’s “bird” message.

Musk said on Thursday Twitter “cannot become a free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences”.

He had previously vowed to dial back content moderation and was expected to clear the way for former US president Donald Trump to return to the platform.

The then-president was blocked over concerns he would ignite more violence like the deadly attack on the Capitol in Washington to overturn his election loss.

Far-right users were quick to rejoice over the purchase on the network, posting comments such as “masks don’t work” and other taunts, under the belief that moderation rules will now be relaxed.

“Free speech will always prevail,” tweeted Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, prompting hundreds of mostly angry replies accusing her of hypocrisy.

Benefit of the doubt 

Among Musk’s first acts in power on Thursday were the reported firing of chief executive Parag Agrawal and other senior officials — though the company did not reply to AFP’s request for comment and Agrawal still listed himself as CEO on his Twitter profile.

Agrawal previously went to court to hold Musk to the terms of the deal, and the takeover came just before a deadline imposed by the judge.

Musk, who is using a combination of his own money, funds from wealthy investors and bank loans to finance the deal, has conceded he is overpaying for a company that has regularly posted eye-watering losses.

Twitter says it has 238 million daily users, dwarfed by the likes of Facebook’s 2 billion, but has not been able to monetise in the same way as its rivals.

However, Twitter holds an outsized influence on public debate because it is the favoured platform for many companies, politicians, journalists and other public figures.

Musk, though, has expressed frustration at content moderation and critics fear his ownership will be seen as a greenlight for hate speech and misinformation.

Musk is already the boss of car firm Tesla and rocket company SpaceX and it is not clear what his Twitter role might be, though unconfirmed reports suggested he might become interim CEO.

The closure of the deal marks the culmination of a long back-and-forth between the billionaire and the social network.

Musk tried several times to step back from the deal after his unsolicited offer was accepted in April, accusing Twitter of misleading him over the number of “bot” accounts.

Twitter dismissed his claims and accused him of inventing excuses, eventually filing a lawsuit to hold him to the agreement.

With a trial looming, the unpredictable billionaire capitulated and revived his takeover plan.

During the tumult, some employees have quit the firm over Musk’s takeover, said a worker who asked to remain anonymous.

“But a portion of people, including me, are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now,” the employee said.

KATHMANDU — US climber Hilaree Nelson’s death has brought home how treacherous the Himalayas are, dangers that guides and experts say are rising due to climate change and as more people seek high-altitude thrills.

Nelson, 49, was fatally swept down from close to the peak of the 8,163-metre Manaslu, the world’s eighth-highest mountain that she and her partner were attempting to ski down.

What are the biggest killers?

Nepal is home to the most popular Himalayan peaks. Between 1950 and 2021, 1,042 deaths were recorded there, 405 of them this century. 

A third of deaths are caused by avalanches, according to the Himalayan Database, and a third by climbers falling. Many also die from mountain sickness and exhaustion. 

The deadliest is 8,091-metre Annapurna massif, with 72 deaths for 365 ascents since the 1950s — or one for every five successful summits. Dhaulagiri and Kanchenjunga both have a death rate of over 10 per cent. 

Steep passages and avalanche danger have earned Pakistan’s K2 the name “savage mountain”, with at least 70 fatalities since 1947.

The most deaths occur on Everest, with more than 300 dying between 1950 and 2021. But with many more climbers, the fatality rate is comparatively low at 2.84 per cent.

How has climate change hit the Himalayas?

A 2019 study warned that Himalayan glaciers were melting twice as fast than before the turn of the century. 

Another study this year, using carbon dating, showed the top layer of ice close to the Everest summit was around 2,000 years old, suggesting that the glacier was thinning more than 80 times faster than the time it took to form.

How has this increased the dangers?

Although no extensive research has been done looking at climate change and mountaineering risks in the Himalayas, climbers have reported crevasses widening, running water on previously snowy slopes, and increasing formation of glacial lakes.

“Wearing snow crampons on thinning ice and exposed rocks can be particularly dangerous,” said the hugely experienced Nepali mountaineer Sanu Sherpa, 47, who has climbed all 14 highest peaks in the world twice.

“Snow coverage is a lot less. I worry that the mountains will be just rocks in the next few generations.”

As glaciers become more unpredictable, avalanche risk can increase. 

In 2014, an immense tumbling wall of snow, ice and rock killed 16 Nepali guides on Everest’s treacherous Khumbu Icefall in one of the deadliest accidents on the Himalayas.

“The weather has become more erratic. Some years warmer, others colder,” a mountaineering blogger Alan Arnette told AFP.

“Overall, the usual historical patterns cannot be used as predictions, so climbing has become much more dangerous concerning the weather.”

What about overcrowding?

But experts say a major killer is also the inexperience of a new wave of ill-prepared mountaineer tourists rushing for summits among the hundreds who flock to Nepal, Pakistan and Tibet every year.

The rapid growth of the climbing industry has created fierce competition among companies for business, raising fears that some were cutting corners on safety.

Nepal this year issued 404 permits for Manaslu peak, double than usual. Pakistan issued about 200 for K2, twice the usual number.

In 2019 a massive traffic jam on Everest forced teams to wait hours in freezing temperatures, lowering depleted oxygen levels that can lead to sickness and exhaustion. 

At least four of the 11 deaths that year were blamed on overcrowding. 

Make mountains safer?

Many tour companies now use drones for remote sensing for risk assessment, monitor real-time climbers’ vital data and some climbers wear GPS trackers.

Expedition organisers are also stocking more oxygen and the quality of weather reports has vastly improved. 

But Lukas Furtenbach of Furtenbach Adventures said that more needs to be done.

“Companies need to invest in avalanche education and training and risk assessment tools for their guides and also in avalanche equipment like beacons and [rescue technology] RECCO,” he told AFP.

But in the end, it comes down to decisions operators make.

“We of course work as hard as we can to get our clients to the top, but only if this can be done within strict margins,” said Mike Hamill of Climbing the Seven Summits.

“We are not afraid to back off of a climb if conditions or weather dictate that it is too dangerous.”