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X Offices Raided in France Amid Grok Investigation, Nigeria Villages Attacked, and Economic News
Paris, France – The French offices of Elon Musk's social media company, X, were raided by the Paris prosecutor's cyber-crime unit as part of an investigation into suspected offenses, including unlawful data extraction and complicity in the possession of child pornography, according to the BBC. The prosecutor's office stated that both Musk and former X chief executive Linda Yaccarino had been summoned to appear at hearings in April. Musk responded on X, calling the raid a "political attack." The company released a statement regarding the raid, the details of which were not provided.
Separately, the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) announced a probe into Musk's AI tool, Grok, over its "potential to produce harmful sexualised image and video content," according to BBC Technology.
In other news, more than 160 people were killed in attacks on two villages in western Nigeria, marking the country's deadliest armed assaults this year, The Guardian reported. The attacks occurred in Woro and Nuku in Kwara state on Tuesday. According to a local politician, armed men rounded up residents, bound their hands behind their backs, and shot them. The Nigerian military stated last month that it had launched an offensive against terrorist elements in Kwara state.
On the economic front, the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is expected to hold interest rates steady at its first meeting of the year, BBC Business reported. The MPC had previously cut the Bank rate from 4 to 3.75 in December and suggested rates were "likely to continue on a gradual downward path." The Bank rate is a key tool used to manage inflation, aiming to keep it close to 2%. The majority of analysts predict the MPC will keep the Bank rate on hold at 3.75 when it announces its latest decision.
The US has launched an effort to form a trade zone for critical minerals, essential for manufacturing smartphones and weapons, to counter China's dominance in the industry, according to BBC Business. The State Department hosted the first Critical Minerals Ministerial event on Wednesday, attended by countries and organizations including the UK, European Union, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Delegates discussed the availability of and access to minerals crucial to the manufacture of things like computers.
Finally, shares in Novo Nordisk, the Danish company that makes Ozempic and Wegovy, plunged 18% after the company warned that price cuts would be "painful," BBC Business reported. Chief Executive Maziar Mike Doustdar called pricing pressures "unprecedented" and "painful" on Wednesday. Novo Nordisk had reported it expected profits and sales to fall by as much as 13%. The company cited a deal with former US President Donald Trump to lower the cost of weight-loss drugs for Americans as amplifying the situation. The company has also announced thousands of job cuts amid warnings of increasing competition.
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