News

US targets $1.3 billion in French imports in tech tax clash

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Friday announced plans to impose taxes on $1.3 billion in French imports — hitting handbags and makeup but sparing cheese and wine — in retaliation for France’s digital services tax on U.S. technology giants. But the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the levies would be delayed […]

Amazon says email to employees banning TikTok was a mistake

Roughly five hours after an internal email went out Friday to Amazon employees telling them to delete the popular video app TikTok from their phones, the online retailing giant appeared to backtrack, calling the ban a mistake. “This morning’s email to some of our employees was sent in error,” Amazon emailed reporters just before 5 […]

Germany seizes server hosting pilfered US police files

BOSTON (AP) — At the behest of the U.S. government, German authorities have seized a computer server that hosted a huge cache of files from scores of U.S. federal, state and local law enforcement agencies obtained in a Houston data breach last month. The server was being used by a WikiLeaks-like data transparency collective called […]

Facebook civil rights audit: 'Serious setbacks' mar progress

A two-year audit of Facebook’s civil rights record found “serious setbacks” that have marred the social network’s progress on matters such as hate speech, misinformation and bias. Facebook hired the audit’s leader, former American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) executive Laura Murphy, in May 2018 to assess its performance on vital social issues. Its 100-page report […]

Civil rights groups denounce Facebook over hate speech

Facebook keeps telling critics that it is doing everything it can to rid its service of hate, abuse and misinformation. And the company’s detractors keep not buying it. On Tuesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg met with a group of civil rights leaders, including the organizers of a growing advertising boycott […]

COVID-19 data on Medicare's nursing home site is incomplete

WASHINGTON (AP) — When the Trump administration required nursing homes to report their COVID-19 cases, it also promised to make the data available to residents, families and the public in a user-friendly way. But some facilities that have had coronavirus cases and deaths turn up as having none on Medicare‘s COVID-19 nursing home website. Those […]

TikTok to leave Hong Kong as security law raises worries

HONG KONG (AP) — TikTok said Tuesday it will stop operations in Hong Kong, joining other social media companies in warily eyeing ramifications of a sweeping national security law that took effect last week. The short-form video app’s planned departure from Hong Kong comes as various social media platforms and messaging apps including Facebook, WhatsApp, […]

Uber buys Postmates, ups delivery game in $2.65 billion deal

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Uber has widened its reach in the fiercely competitive delivery market by acquiring Postmates in a $2.65 billion all-stock deal, the company said Monday. The acquisition enables the ride-hailing giant to increase its delivery offerings at a time when the global pandemic has suppressed customers’ desire for rides while boosting […]

Germany to revamp financial oversight after Wirecard scandal

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s finance minister says he wants to revamp the oversight system for the country’s financial industry in the wake of the accounting scandal at payment systems provider Wirecard. The Munich-based Wirecard filed for bankruptcy recently after auditors couldn’t find accounts in the Philippines that were supposed to contain 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 […]