International

International


What is Threads? All your questions about Meta’s new Twitter rival, answered

NEW YORK (AP) — Threads, a text-based app built by Meta to rival Twitter, is live. The app, billed as the text version of Meta’s photo-sharing platform Instagram, became available Wednesday night to users in more than 100 countries — including the U.S., Britain, Australia, Canada and Japan. Despite some early glitches, 30 million people […]

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TikTok and 5 content creators ask federal judge to block Montana from banning app

TikTok Inc. and a group of five content creators who are suing the state of Montana over its first-in-the-nation law to ban the video sharing app are now asking a federal judge to block implementation of the law while the case moves through the courts and before it takes effect in January. The separate requests […]

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Meta takes aim at Twitter with the launch of rival app Threads

LONDON — Meta has unveiled an app called Threads to rival Twitter, targeting users looking for an alternative to the social media platform owned — and frequently changed — by Elon Musk. Threads is billed as a text-based version of Meta’s photo-sharing app Instagram that the company says provides “a new, separate space for real-time […]

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After secret documents leak, Pentagon plans tighter controls to protect classified information

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon on Wednesday announced plans to tighten protection for classified information following the explosive leaks of hundreds of intelligence documents that were accessed through security gaps at a Massachusetts Air National Guard base. Airman 1st Class Jack Teixeira, 21, is accused of leaking the highly classified military documents in a chatroom […]

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Ransomware criminals are dumping kids’ private files online after school hacks

The confidential documents stolen from schools and dumped online by ransomware gangs are raw, intimate and graphic. They describe student sexual assaults, psychiatric hospitalizations, abusive parents, truancy — even suicide attempts. “Please do something,” begged a student in one leaked file, recalling the trauma of continually bumping into an ex-abuser at a school in Minneapolis. […]

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Facebook faces legal setback in EU court decision on data privacy and ads

LONDON (AP) — Facebook lost a legal challenge Tuesday at the European Union’s top court over a groundbreaking German antitrust decision that limited the way the company uses data for advertising. The European Court of Justice said competition watchdogs can consider whether companies like Facebook comply with the continent’s strict privacy rules, which are normally […]

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Meta looks to target Twitter with a rival app called Threads

LONDON (AP) — Meta is poised to unveil a new app that appears to mimic Twitter — a direct challenge to the social media platform owned by Elon Musk. A listing for the app, called Threads, appeared on Apple’s App Store, indicating it would debut as early as Thursday. It is billed as a “text-based […]

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US judge blocks portions of new Florida elections law

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge on Monday blocked Florida from enforcing part of a new elections law that bans non-citizens from handling or or collecting voter registration forms, saying the state can’t restrict individual rights and gave no proof it was necessary to do so. The ruling also blocks a ban on third-party […]

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Iowa auditor says new law will restrict his office’s access to information

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s auditor may face new challenges in his quest to track taxpayer dollars after a new law takes effect Saturday that allows state agencies to deny his office access to information and bars him from making an appeal in court. State Auditor Rob Sand, the only Democrat in statewide office, […]

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Indiana Supreme Court upholds abortion ban, says state constitution gives only limited protections

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Supreme Court ruled Friday that the state’s abortion ban doesn’t violate the state constitution, removing a major hurdle to enforcing the ban Republicans approved last summer ahead of a wave of restrictions by conservative states in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The court’s decision, which does not […]

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Company executives urge Europe to rethink its world leading AI rules

LONDON (AP) — More than 150 executives are urging the European Union to rethink the world’s most comprehensive rules for artificial intelligence, saying Friday that upcoming regulations will make it harder for companies in Europe to compete with rivals overseas, especially when it comes to the technology behind systems like ChatGPT. Officials at companies from […]

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Tech group sues Arkansas over law requiring parental OK for minors creating social media accounts

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A tech industry trade group sued Arkansas on Thursday challenging a new state law that requires parental permission for minors to create social media accounts. NetChoice, a group whose members include Facebook parent Meta, TikTok and Twitter, filed a federal lawsuit over the measure signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee […]

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