International

International


Australia rejects Elon Musk’s claim that it plans to control access to the internet

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian Cabinet minister on Friday rejected X Corp. owner Elon Musk’s allegation that the government intended to control all Australians’ access to the internet through legislation that would ban young children from social media. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said Musk’s criticism was “unsurprising” after the government introduced to Parliament on Thursday […]

Read More


Supreme Court allows multibillion-dollar class action to proceed against Meta

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing a multibillion-dollar class action investors’ lawsuit to proceed against Facebook parent Meta, stemming from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm. The justices heard arguments in November in Meta’s bid to shut down the lawsuit. On Friday, they decided that they were wrong to […]

Read More


Mexico’s president says government is investigating reported ransomware hack of legal affairs office

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president said Wednesday that the government is investigating an alleged ransomware hack of her administration’s legal affairs office after what appeared to be samples of personal information from a database of government employees were posted online. The website Cybernews said a group called Ransomhub had posted a sample of apparently […]

Read More


EU lawmakers seal a deal to rubber-stamp one of the bloc’s most right-leaning executives

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union lawmakers on Wednesday ended a week of bickering to rubber-stamp a new team of policy commissioners that will head one of the most rightward-leaning executive branches ever chosen in the bloc for the next five years. The main centrist pro-European political groups in the European Parliament set aside their political […]

Read More


Tech companies settle lawsuit alleging they overcharged the US Army

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two companies agreed to pay the U.S. government $2 million each to settle a lawsuit that alleged the businesses fraudulently inflated the price of computers and other hardware sold to the U.S. Army, the Department of Justice announced on Tuesday. Both Iron Bow — a company that resells technology products to the […]

Read More


Judge tosses Huckabee lawsuit against Meta over ads suggesting he endorsed marijuana gummies

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — A federal judge in Delaware on Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee against social media giant Meta over advertisements using his name and image to sell CBD products. Huckabee, a Baptist minister and President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Israel, claimed Meta allowed […]

Read More


Ohio offers a new way to use public money for Christian schools. Opponents say it’s unconstitutional

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Around the country, advocates for Christian education have been finding legal ways to tap taxpayer money used more typically for public schools. One new approach in Ohio is benefiting schools tied to a burgeoning conservative political group and facing objections from defenders of the separation of church and state. In President-elect […]

Read More


Whistleblower sounds alarm about destruction of tribal sites in North Carolina

Spear points, hammer stones and picks lost to history under layers of leaves, roots and rocks — it was the evidence Scott Ashcraft was looking for. The ancient tools were inadvertently unearthed in 2021 by a bulldozer fighting a wildfire along a steep slope in western North Carolina. Ashcraft, a career U.S. Forest Service archaeologist, […]

Read More


AI could help scale humanitarian responses. But it could also have big downsides

NEW YORK (AP) — As the International Rescue Committee copes with dramatic increases in displaced people in recent years, the refugee aid organization has looked for efficiencies wherever it can — including using artificial intelligence. Since 2015, the IRC has invested in Signpost — a portfolio of mobile apps and social media channels that answer […]

Read More


Maine elections chief who drew Trump’s ire narrates House tabulations in livestream

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine’s elections chief, a former civil liberties advocate who sparred with President-elect Donald Trump over ballot access, is acting like a play-by-play sports announcer as she describes the state’s process of determining a congressional winner through ranked choice voting. Shenna Bellows is spending the week streaming the effort live on YouTube […]

Read More


A ship suspected of carrying toxic waste docks at a port in Albania to have its cargo inspected

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — A ship suspected of carrying a large amount of hazardous waste was allowed to dock on Friday at Albania’s main port, where its cargo was being unloaded for inspection on the orders of the prosecutor, officials said. Albania had prevented the Turkish-flagged Moliva XA443A from docking early last week at the […]

Read More


As sports betting addiction takes hold in Brazil, the government moves to crack down

SAO PAULO (AP) — “King” doesn’t disclose his real name. Even clients of his Sao Paulo newsstand have to call him by his moniker. The Brazilian online sports gambling addict lowered his profile after a loan shark threatened to put bullets in his head if he didn’t pay up. Broke and embarrassed, King sought treatment […]

Read More