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Big Tech lobbyists get stuck in to UK’s landmark competition bill

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:27 GMT

LONDON — As the U.K. prepares to overhaul its competition regime, a fierce lobbying battle has broken out between the world’s largest tech companies and their challengers.Ministers are gearing up to publish new competition legislation in late-April, giving regulators more power to stop a handful of companies dominating digital markets.But concern over the U.S. tech giants’ influence in Westminster has prompted ministers close to the bill to warn that the new legislation could be watered down.Two ministers have expressed concerns that Big Tech firms are seeking to weaken the process for appealing decisions made by the country’s beefed-up competition regulator, according to multiple people who were either present at those discussions or whose organizations were represented there. They requested anonymity to discuss private meetings.One MP said a minister had also approached them to raise concerns, while at an industry roundtable, two ministers spoke of worry about Big Tech firms...

Analysis: Saudi prince pivots to peace after years of war

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:27 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — In the years since Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman catapulted to power, it has been hard to find a controversy in the Middle East that doesn’t somehow involve the 37-year-old heir to the throne. Now he’s pivoting to his next audacious plan: Giving peace a chance.The moves toward reaching a détente with Iran, reestablishing ties to Syria and ending the kingdom’s yearslong war in Yemen could extricate Prince Mohammed from some of the thorniest regional issues he faces. Whether it succeeds will have profound impacts on the wider Middle East and on his expansive plans to reshape the kingdom away from oil and further into his image. Failure threatens not only his impending rule over a nation crucial to global energy supplies, but a wider region shaken by years of tensions, inflamed in part by his decisions. Prince Mohammed’s rise accelerated in 2015 after his father, King Salman, appointed him as deputy crown prince. That ...

Kosovo ex-president Hashim Thaci stands trial in The Hague

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:27 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The trial of Kosovo’s ex-president and three other former high-ranking members of the Kosovo Liberation Army charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity opens Monday.Hashim Thaci resigned from office in 2020 to defend himself against charges including murder, torture and persecution allegedly committed during his country’s war for independence from Serbia.The case has stirred an outpouring of support from across the political spectrum in Kosovo. On Sunday, thousands of people took to the streets to show their support for the defendants. Many Kosovars consider the Netherlands-based court an injustice and view it as an attempt to rewrite the history of their struggle for independence.The trial is taking place at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, which is based in the Netherlands but is part of Kosovo’s legal system.Thaci is standing trial along with Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi for offenses allegedly committed across Ko...

Lone suspect in 1980 Paris synagogue bombing goes on trial

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:27 GMT

PARIS (AP) — A Lebanese-Canadian academic who is the lone suspect in a 1980 bombing outside a Paris synagogue will go on trial Monday, nearly 43 years after four people were killed and 46 wounded in the unclaimed attack.French authorities identified Hassan Diab as a suspect in 1999. They accuse him of planting the bomb on the evening of Oct. 3, 1980, outside the synagogue where 320 worshipers had gathered to mark the end of a Jewish holiday. Diab, 69, has denied involvement in the attack and said he was at a university in Beirut at the time of the western Paris bombing. His supporters and lawyers in France and Canada claim Diab has been wrongly pursued by the French judicial authorities as a victim of a mistaken identity. French investigators attributed the synagogue attack to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-Special Operations. Canada authorized Diab’s extradition to France at the end of 2014. He spent three years in pretrial detention but anti-terrorism judges the...

WSJ: McDonald’s to close offices briefly ahead of layoffs

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:27 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A report says McDonald’s has closed its U.S. offices for a few days as the company prepares to inform employees about layoffs. The Wall Street Journal cited an internal email from the Chicago-based fast-food giant saying U.S. corporate staff and some employees overseas should work from home while the company notifies people of their job status. McDonald’s did not immediately reply to emailed requests for comment. The report said McDonald’s would inform its employees this week about staffing decisions that are part of a wide restructuring of the company announced earlier. Though the U.S. labor market remains strong, layoffs have been mounting, mainly in the technology sector, where many companies over-hired after a pandemic boom. IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce, Facebook parent Meta, Twitter and DoorDash have all announced layoffs in recent months.Policymakers at the Federal Reserve have forecast the unemployment rate may rise to 4.6% by the end of this year, a siz...

EU's von der Leyen is in the running to be new NATO chief

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:27 GMT

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (pictured) is in the running to be the new head of NATO, The Sun newspaper reported on Friday (31 March), citing a diplomatic source.A number of NATO member states have suggested von der Leyen would take over the alliance this October, the report said.NATO's current Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is expected to end his term as planned in October, after his mandate has been extended three times and having served for a total of almost nine years.The Sun report, citing UK sources, also said Britain would likely veto von der Leyen, who was the former German defense minister, citing her poor track record in charge of Germany's Armed Forces.German newspaper Welt am Sonntag has reported that Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Britain's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace were among the leading candidates to succeed Stoltenberg.

Ukraine vows never to forget or forgive on Bucha anniversary

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:27 GMT

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated Friday (31 March) that the country would not forgive Russian troops for the atrocities committed in Bucha. The anniversary of Bucha's recapture was marked by a celebration near Kyiv.In late March 2013, Ukrainian forces retook control of Irpin and Bucha, two small towns located to the northwest Kyiv. This was after the Russian invasion force gave up their attempts to seize the capital.Moscow refutes accusations of executions, tortures, and rapes by its occupying forces who abandoned bodies on the streets after they fled."Russian evil will fall right here in Ukraine and will never rise again," Zelenskiy said. Zelenskiy, who led a ceremony in Bucha that saw the Ukrainian flag raised, stated that humanity will prevail.The president presented medals to soldiers involved with the recapturing of the town. Relatives received medals in memory of those who had died."When Bucha became de-occupied, we realized that the devil wasn't out there, but w...

Infant killed after driver hits family walking on sidewalk in Orange County

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:27 GMT

An 11-month-old child was killed Sunday in Orange County after a driver lost control of his vehicle, hopped a curb and struck a family of three as they were walking on the sidewalk, authorities announced.  The incident occurred at around 4:15 p.m. near Antonio Parkway and Oak Tree Lane in the Las Flores area, according to California Highway Patrol.  Authorities said a 54-year-old San Clemente man was traveling northbound on Antonio Parkway in a 2017 Hyundai Sonata when he left the roadway for an unknown reason and hit the family as they were walking with their child in a stroller on the sidewalk.  The 34-year-old man, 31-year-old woman and their infant, residents of Rancho Santa Margarita, were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. CHP officials said that despite the efforts of Orange County Fire Authority paramedics, hospital doctors and nurses, the child succumbed to its injuries and was pronounced dead at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo.  The 54-year-old driver...

4 hurt in German hospital fire, suspect detained

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:27 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Four people were seriously hurt in an overnight fire at a hospital in Berlin, including a patient who sustained life-threatening injuries, authorities said Monday. A man was detained in connection with the blaze.The fire on the third floor of the Klinikum am Urban in the German capital was extinguished early Monday morning, the fire service said. Three patients and a nurse were seriously injured, among them a patient who got stuck in an elevator and whose life was in danger. Forty people were evacuated as smoke spread through the building.Firefighters said the blaze appeared to have started with burning beds in a corridor, but it wasn’t immediately clear how they caught fire, German news agency dpa reported. Police said a man was arrested and arson couldn’t be ruled out.Source

Prohíben uso de TikTok a personal de la OTAN en sus dispositivos

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:27 GMT

(CNN) — La Organización del Tratado del Atlántico Norte (OTAN) prohibió oficialmente a su personal que descargue la aplicación de redes sociales TikTok en sus dispositivos proporcionados por la OTAN, alegando problemas de seguridad, según dos funcionarios de la OTAN familiarizados con el asunto.Los funcionarios de la OTAN enviaron una nota al personal el viernes por la mañana anunciando la prohibición, dijeron los funcionarios. La nota hizo oficial la prohibición, pero TikTok no era realmente utilizable en los dispositivos de la OTAN antes, de todos modos, dijeron los funcionarios, debido a las restricciones internas de tecnología.EE.UU. prohíbe el uso de TikTok en dispositivos gubernamentales“La ciberseguridad es una prioridad máxima para la OTAN. La OTAN tiene requisitos sólidos para determinar las aplicaciones para uso oficial de negocios. TikTok no es accesible en los dispositivos de la OTAN”, dijo un alto funcionario de la OTAN a CNN.La OTAN es el último organ...