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Charles Martinet, the Voice of Nintendo’s Beloved Mario Character, Steps Down 

A person passes an ad featuring the Nintendo character Mario at Narita airport in Narita near Tokyo on June 10, 2022. (AP)
A person passes an ad featuring the Nintendo character Mario at Narita airport in Narita near Tokyo on June 10, 2022. (AP)
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Charles Martinet, the Voice of Nintendo’s Beloved Mario Character, Steps Down 

A person passes an ad featuring the Nintendo character Mario at Narita airport in Narita near Tokyo on June 10, 2022. (AP)
A person passes an ad featuring the Nintendo character Mario at Narita airport in Narita near Tokyo on June 10, 2022. (AP)

Charles Martinet, the original voice of Mario in Nintendo games since the 1990s, is stepping down.

Nintendo of America confirmed Monday that Martinet will now serve in the role of “Mario Ambassador,” traveling around the world to promote the beloved plumber, signing autographs and performing Nintendo character voices.

“It’s been a privilege working with Charles to help bring Mario to life for so many years and we want to thank and celebrate him,” Nintendo said in a statement.

In addition to being the original voice of Mario, he’s also voiced Luigi, Wario and Waluigi in the video games. While he did not voice Mario in the recent movie, he did have a small role as Mario’s dad.

In a question and answer session at a Canadian gaming and comics expo two years ago, Martinet told the audience “I want to voice Mario until I drop dead” in response to a fan's question, according to gaming blog The Game Crater.

But he added “if someday I think I am no longer capable of doing it, I will tell Nintendo to look into finding someone else.”

Nintendo did not give say why Martinet is stepping down or who would replace him as Mario's voice.

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Lawyers: Kardashian Ready to 'Confront' her Paris Attackers in Court

FILE - American television and social media personality,socialite, and model Kim Kardashian attends the Cannes Lions 2015, International Advertising Festival in Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, June 24, 2015. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File)
FILE - American television and social media personality,socialite, and model Kim Kardashian attends the Cannes Lions 2015, International Advertising Festival in Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, June 24, 2015. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File)
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Lawyers: Kardashian Ready to 'Confront' her Paris Attackers in Court

FILE - American television and social media personality,socialite, and model Kim Kardashian attends the Cannes Lions 2015, International Advertising Festival in Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, June 24, 2015. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File)
FILE - American television and social media personality,socialite, and model Kim Kardashian attends the Cannes Lions 2015, International Advertising Festival in Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, June 24, 2015. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File)

Kim Kardashian is ready to "confront" her Paris attackers as the US celebrity prepares to testify in person next week at a trial over an armed robbery of her jewelry in 2016, her lawyers said Monday.

"She is committed to attending in person the trial and to confronting those who attacked her. She will do so with dignity and courage," her French lawyers Leonor Hennerick and Jonathan Mattout told AFP.

In late April, 10 suspects went on trial in Paris over the 2016 robbery of the US celebrity, which saw some $10 million worth of jewelry stolen from the reality TV star and influencer.

On the night of October 2-3, 2016, Kardashian, then 35, was robbed while staying at an exclusive hotel in central Paris. She was threatened with a gun to the head and tied up with her mouth taped up.

Kardashian, who has been keeping abreast of developments during the first week of the trial, is due to testify on May 13 in a court appearance certain to attract huge media attention.

The lawyers, who are representing Kardashian alongside her American counsel Michael Rhodes, declined to comment on the content of her upcoming testimony.

"We want to give everyone the opportunity to hear her testimony in her own words so we won't be commenting on the substance of what she will say," they said in a statement.

During what the French press has dubbed the "the heist of the century", masked men walked away from the Parisian hotel with millions of dollars worth of jewels in 2016, including a diamond ring gifted by her then-husband, rapper Kanye West.

The theft was the biggest against a private individual in France in the past 20 years.

Those on trial are mainly men in their 60s and 70s with previous criminal records and underworld nicknames like "Old Omar" and "Blue Eyes" that recall the old-school French bandits of 1960s and 1970s film noirs.

Kardashian, her lawyers said, "is genuinely grateful for the way in which the French authorities conducted the investigation that led to the discovery of the persons facing charges in this trial.

"Throughout the process, the utmost respect and consideration has been given for Ms. Kardashian," they said.

She "will cooperate with the judicial process and answer all questions," her lawyers added.

The trial is due to last until May 23.