WASHINGTON: Elon Musk said Friday that his much-hyped cage fight with Mark Zuckerberg would take place in Italy, as authorities there confirmed talks about hosting a “great charity event.”
While any showdown between the two tech titans has yet to be officially confirmed, Musk said on his X social media platform — formerly known as Twitter — that arrangements were advancing.
“I spoke to the PM of Italy and Minister of Culture,” Musk wrote, referring to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “They have agreed on an epic location.”
Meta chief Zuckerberg responded on his Threads social network, posting a photo of himself shirtless and pinning down an opponent in his “backyard octagon.”
A martial arts enthusiast who has taken part in jiujitsu competitions, Zuckerberg said, “I love this sport and I’ve been ready to fight since the day Elon challenged me.”
“If he ever agrees on an actual date, you’ll hear it from me. Until then, please assume anything he says has not been agreed on.”
Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano confirmed speaking to Musk about “how to organize a great charity event evoking history” but said any match “will not be held in Rome.”
Musk apparently hopes the fight would take place in the ancient Colosseum, a UNESCO World Heritage site, posting about the idea in late June.
In a statement, Sangiuliano said any event with Musk would raise “a huge sum, many millions of euros, (that) will be donated to two important Italian pediatric hospitals.”
“It will also be an opportunity to promote our history and our archaeological, artistic and cultural heritage on a global scale,” he said.
Musk meanwhile said “everything done will pay respect to the past and present of Italy” and that proceeds will “go to veterans.”
He said the cage match would be managed by foundations run by himself and Zuckerberg and not by UFC, the Las Vegas-based mixed martial arts promoter.
UFC boss Dana White, still seeking participation in the event, told Mike Tyson’s podcast this week that he believed the fight would generate $1 billion in revenue.
Zuckerberg said in his Threads post that he would want to work with a professional organization such as the UFC to create a line-up that spotlights elite athletes in the sport.
The two tech tycoons, who have occasionally jousted from afar, became direct competitors after Zuckerberg’s Meta launched its Twitter-like Threads platform in early July.
In a slightly frivolous aside, Musk later Friday posted a phrase in Latin that translates as “it is delightful to play the fool occasionally.”
Musk did not mention a date for the proposed fight, but said he may need to undergo “minor surgery” to resolve a “problem with my right shoulder blade rubbing against my ribs.”
“Recovery will only take a few months,” he added.
The world’s richest person has a titanium plate holding two vertebrae together but said Friday it is currently “not an issue.”
Elon Musk says cage fight with Meta’s Zuckerberg will be in Italy
https://arab.news/2yrc4
Elon Musk says cage fight with Meta’s Zuckerberg will be in Italy
- Musk says he spoke to Italy's PM and culture minister and "They have agreed on an epic location”
- Zuckerberg says he's ready to fight but Musk should first agree on an actual date
In southeast Pakistan, Ramadan brings Hindus and Muslims closer
MITHI: Partab Shivani, a Hindu in Muslim-majority Pakistan, has fasted on and off during Ramadan for years, but this time is different as he practices abstinence for the entire holy month.
Every year, he and his friends in the southeastern city of Mithi arrange iftar, when Muslims break their daily fast, to foster peace and solidarity between the two religions.
“I believe we need to promote interfaith harmony. First, we are humans — religions came later,” Shivani, a 48-year-old social activist, told AFP, adding that he also reads the teachings of the Buddha.
“His message is about peace and ending war. Peace can spread through solidarity and by standing with one another. Distance only widens the gap between people,” he added.
Ninety-six percent of Pakistan’s 240 million people are Muslim. Just two percent are Hindu, most of them living in rural areas of Sindh province where Mithi is located.
In Mithi itself, most of the 60,000 inhabitants are Hindu.
Many of the city’s Hindus also observe Ramadan and iftar has become a social gathering where people from both faiths happily participate.
“This has been a wonderful tradition of ours for a very long time,” said Mir Muhammad Buledi, a 51-year-old Muslim friend who attended Shivani’s iftar gathering.
“It is a beautiful example of harmony between the two communities.”
Like brothers
Discrimination against minorities runs deep in Pakistan.
Following the end of British rule in South Asia in 1947, the subcontinent was partitioned into mainly Hindu India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.
That triggered widespread religious bloodshed in which hundreds of thousands were killed and millions displaced.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, freedom of religion or belief is under constant threat, with religiously motivated violence and discrimination increasing yearly.
State authorities, often using religious unrest for political gain, have failed to address the crisis, the independent non-profit says.
But such tensions are absent in Mithi.
“I am a Hindu but I keep all the fasts during this month,” said Sushil Malani, a local politician. “I feel happy standing with my Muslim brothers.
“We celebrate Eid together as well. This tradition in the region is very old.”
Restaurants and tea stalls are closed across Pakistan during Ramadan.
Ramesh Kumar, a 52-year-old Hindu man who sells sweets and savoury items outside a Muslim shrine, keeps his push cart covered and closed until iftar.
“There is no discrimination among us if someone is Muslim or Hindu. I have been seeing this since my childhood that we all live together like brothers,” he said.
Muslim shrine, Hindu caretaker
Locals say Mithi’s peaceful religious coexistence can be traced to its remote location, emerging from the sand dunes of the Tharparkar desert, which borders the modern Indian state of Rajasthan.
Cows — considered sacred in Hinduism — roam freely in Mithi city, as they do in neighboring India.
At two Sufi Muslim shrines in the middle of the city, Hindu families arrange meals, bringing fruit, meals and juices for their Muslim neighbors to break their fasts.
“We respect Muslims,” said Mohan Lal Malhi, a Hindu caretaker of one of the shrines.
Mohan said his parents and elders taught him to respect people regardless of religion or color, and the traditions pass from one generation to the next.
Local residents said both communities consider their social relationships more important than their religious identity.
“You will see a (Sikh) gurdwara, a mosque, and a shrine standing side by side here,” Mohan said. “The atmosphere of this area teaches humanity.”
