Associated Press

News Agency

After exiting Brazil, Ford pulls plug on production in India

Ford will cease auto production in India after logging accumulated operating losses of more than $2 billion over the past 10 years. An end to production in India comes less than a year after Ford said it would close its three plants in Brazil, ceasing operations in a country where it had operated since 1919. […]

Glitches still plague bitcoin rollout in El Salvador

Salvadorans trying to pay for a cup of coffee or receive money sent from relatives in the United States using the cryptocurrency bitcoin continued struggling to perform transactions Wednesday, a day after El Salvador made it legal tender. Problems still plagued the digital wallet Chivo. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele kept citizens apprised of advances […]

Crushed by pandemic, conventions mount a cautious return

In pre-COVID times, business events _ from small academic conferences to giant trade shows like CES _ routinely attracted more than 1 billion participants each year. The pandemic brought those global gatherings to a sudden halt, emptying convention centers and shuttering hotels. More than a year later, in-person meetings are on the rebound. In late […]

Germany protests to Russia over pre-election cyberattacks

Germany has protested to Russia over attempts to steal data from lawmakers in what it suspects may have been preparation to spread disinformation before the upcoming German election, the Foreign Ministry in Berlin said Monday. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Andrea Sasse said that a hacker outfit called Ghostwriter has been “combining conventional cyberattacks with disinformation and […]

Early stumble as El Salvador starts Bitcoin as currency

El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender Tuesday, but the rollout stumbled in its first hours and President Nayib Bukele said the digital wallet used for transactions was not functioning. For part of the morning, El Salvador’s president became tech support for a nation stepping into the world of cryptocurrency. […]

Australian court rules media liable for Facebook comments

Australia’s highest court on Wednesday made a landmark ruling that media outlets are “publishers” of allegedly defamatory comments posted by third parties on their official Facebook pages. The High Court dismissed an argument by some of Australia’s largest media organizations — Fairfax Media Publications, Nationwide News and Australian News Channel — that for people to […]

US-built databases a potential tool of Taliban repression

Over two decades, the United States and its allies spent hundreds of millions of dollars building databases for the Afghan people. The nobly stated goal: Promote law and order and government accountability and modernize a war-ravaged land. But in the Taliban’s lightning seizure of power, most of that digital apparatus — including biometrics for verifying […]

No cashiers, please: Futuristic supermarket opens in Mideast

The Middle East on Monday got its first completely automated cashier-less store, as retail giant Carrefour rolled out its vision for the future of the industry in a cavernous Dubai mall. Like Amazon’s breakthrough unmanned grocery stores that opened in 2018, the Carrefour mini-market looks like any ordinary convenience store, brimming with sodas and snacks, […]

China's trade accelerates in August despite coronavirus

China’s import and export growth accelerated in August despite disruptions due to the spread of the coronavirus’s delta variant. Exports rose 25.6% over a year earlier to $294.3 billion, up from July’s 18.9% growth, customs data showed Tuesday. Imports rose 33.1% to $236 billion, up from the previous month’s 28.7%. That came despite lingering disruptions […]

Bitcoin brings hopes, doubts for Salvadorans sending money

El Salvador is betting that this week’s pioneering adoption of Bitcoin will spur its economy, especially one of its most crucial sources of revenue: money sent home by Salvadorans in the United States. A fervent proponent of the cryptocurrency, President Nayib Bukele has asked the more than 2 million Salvadorans who live overseas to send […]