International

International


Dutch gov’t staff discouraged from apps such as TikTok

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Netherlands is moving to stop central government employees having apps including popular video sharing service TikTok installed on their work phones, amid concerns over data security. Countries including the United States and Britain, as well as the European Union ‘s executive branch, have banned the use of TikTok on […]

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TikTok updates content rulebook as pressure from West builds

LONDON (AP) — TikTok on Tuesday rolled out updated rules and standards for content and users as it faces increasing pressure from Western authorities over concerns that material on the popular Chinese-owned video-sharing app could be used to push false information. The company released a reorganized set of community guidelines that include eight principles to […]

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TikTok updates rules; CEO on charm offensive for US hearing

LONDON (AP) — TikTok went on a counteroffensive Tuesday amid increasing Western pressure over cybersecurity and misinformation concerns, rolling out updated rules and standards for content as its CEO warned against a possible U.S. ban on the Chinese-owned video sharing app. CEO Shou Zi Chew is scheduled to appear Thursday before U.S. congressional lawmakers, who […]

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Arkansas restricts school bathroom use by transgender people

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday signed a law prohibiting transgender people at public schools from using the restroom that matches their gender identity, the first of several states expected to enact such bans this year amid a flood of bills nationwide targeting the trans community. The bill signed […]

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West spotlights North Korea rights abuses; China opposes

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States, its Western allies and experts shone a spotlight on the dire human rights situation and increasing repression in North Korea at a U.N. meeting Friday that China and Russia denounced as a politicized move likely to further escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula. China blocked the U.S. from […]

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New Arizona hotline sees few calls about race based lessons

PHOENIX (AP) — Only a handful of complaints out of hundreds of calls to a new state hotline for reporting race-based lessons have warranted investigation, Arizona’s top education official said Friday. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne told radio station KTAR News that the Arizona Department of Education found half a dozen complaints to […]

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China appeals for fair treatment after latest TikTok bans

BEIJING (AP) — China appealed Friday to other governments to treat its companies fairly after Britain and New Zealand joined the United States in restricting use of TikTok due to fears the Chinese-owned short video service might be a security risk. Governments are worried TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, might give browsing history or other data about […]

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Colorado proposal would cut public records costs for media

DENVER (AP) — As Colorado’s fall neared in 2021, reporter Jesse Paul wanted to peek behind the curtain of state prisons, submitting a request for a swath of documents regarding inmate deaths, injuries and staff violations — public records made available to ensure government transparency. But then the bill arrived, and Paul, a reporter at […]

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Alaska education board asks state for transgender sports ban

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska board of education has unanimously approved a resolution that urges the state to limit the participation of transgender girls in girls school sports. The resolution passed Thursday urges the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development to create two sports divisions, one for athletes whose sex assigned at birth […]

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New Hampshire Senate passes GOP backed parents’ rights bill

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A “parents’ bill of rights” that critics say is designed to target transgender youth passed New Hampshire’s Republican-led Senate on Thursday. Much of the debate among lawmakers focused on provisions to require school officials, when asked by parents, to disclose that a child is using a different name or being referred […]

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Why TikTok’s security risks keep raising fears

TikTok is once again fending off claims that its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, would share user data from its popular video-sharing app with the Chinese government, or push propaganda and misinformation on its behalf. China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday accused the United States itself of spreading disinformation about TikTok’s potential security risks following a report […]

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Chinese SARS whistleblower Jiang Yanyong dies at 91

BEIJING (AP) — Jiang Yanyong, a Chinese military doctor who revealed the full extent of the 2003 SARS outbreak and was later placed under house arrest for his political outspokenness, has died, a long-time acquaintance and a Hong Kong newspaper said Tuesday. Jiang was 91 and died of pneumonia Saturday in Beijing, according to human […]

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