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TikTok hit with €345M fine for violating children’s privacy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:08:21 GMT

Booming social media application TikTok needs to pay up in Europe for violating children’s privacy. The popular Chinese-owned app failed to protect children’s personal information by making their accounts publicly accessible by default and insufficiently tackled risks that under-13 users could access its platform, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) said in a decision published Friday. The regulator slapped TikTok with a €345 million fine for breaching the EU’s landmark privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).The penalty comes amid high tensions between the European Union and China, following the EU’s announcement that it plans to probe Chinese state subsidies of electric cars. European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová is also set to visit China next Monday-Tuesday and meet Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing to discuss the two sides’ technology policies, amid growing concerns over Beijing’s data gathering and cyber esp...

EU suspends trade talks with Monaco after financial watchdogs’ warning

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:08:21 GMT

The EU has suspended trade talks with Monaco after the bloc’s financial watchdogs warned of “deep concerns” that closer ties with the tiny country would create risks for European consumers and open a backdoor into Europe for illegal money. In a statement on Friday, the European Commission said the two sides had agreed to suspend negotiations aimed at reaching an association agreement by the end of the year, without detailing any reasoning. The statement followed a meeting on Thursday between Commission Executive Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and Isabelle Berro-Amadei, Monaco’s minister of foreign affairs.“The European Union is and will remain a privileged partner of the Principality. The European Commission remains available and ready to continue negotiations for an association agreement in the future.”The decision comes after POLITICO revealed the EU’s banking, markets and insurance regulators had warned in a letter that a deeper relationship with Mon...

Apple to issue iPhone 12 update in France after sales halted over radiation levels

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:08:21 GMT

Paris (CNN) — Apple plans to update iPhone12 software for users in France after the country’s regulators ordered a pause on sales of the 2020 model over radiation concerns.“We will issue a software update for users in France to accommodate the protocol used by French regulators. We look forward to iPhone 12 continuing to be available in France,” an Apple (AAPL) spokesperson told CNN Friday.France’s National Frequency Agency, the ANFR, ordered Tuesday an immediate withdrawal of the iPhone 12 from the French market, saying it exceeded European radiation exposure limits. The ANFR also ruled that for iPhone 12s already in use, Apple must adopt “all necessary corrective measures to bring the telephones into conformity as soon as possible” or it would have to recall the devices.Apple told CNN Friday that the suspension of sales was related “to a specific testing protocol used by French regulators and not a safety concern.”“Since it was introduced in 2020, iPhone 1...

Patriots mailbag: Will big-name option fill biggest current need?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:08:21 GMT

A once daunting AFC East doesn’t look as intimidating after Aaron Rodgers’ unfortunate Achilles tear in Week 1.The Patriots can take a major step in improving their chances within the division with wins in Weeks 2 and 3 against the Dolphins and Jets.Miami proved that adept offenses can move the ball on them Week 1 against the Chargers. And the Jets now much start Zach Wilson for the foreseeable future at quarterback.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Devin McCourty unsurprised but impressed with how Patriots replaced him at free safety New England Patriots | Patriots extra points: Ezekiel Elliott endorses signing ex-Cowboys O-lineman New England Patriots | Patriots aren’t underestimating Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa ahead of Week 2 New England Patriots | Patriots-Dolphins injury report: Pats defensive back hurt Thursday, could affect Tyreek Hill plan New England Patriots | Why Patriots...

After attacks, British prime minister says American XL Bully dogs are dangerous and will be banned

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:08:21 GMT

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday described American XL Bully dogs as a “danger to our communities” and announced plans to ban the breed following a public outcry after a series of recent attacks.Sunak said he has asked government ministers to bring together police and canine experts to legally define the characteristics of the American XL Bully, which is not recognized as a breed by groups such as the Kennel Club in Britain or the American Kennel Club in the United States.“It is not currently a breed defined in law, so this vital first step must happen fast,’’ Sunak said in a video statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “We will then ban the breed under the Dangerous Dogs Act and new laws will be in place by the end of the year.’’The government has been under pressure to take action after an 11-year-old girl was attacked and seriously injured by an American XL Bully on Saturday in Birmingham, England. Those concerns deepened on Thursday after a m...

Stock market today: US markets inch higher before opening bell with a winning week in sight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:08:21 GMT

TOKYO — U.S. markets were slow to gain traction before the opening bell Friday with global shares mostly higher on news that China’s slowing economy showed signs of stabilizing.Futures for the S&P 500 inched up 0.1% while the Dow Jones industrials rose 0.2%.U.S. markets look to finish with gains after a busy week of economic data hinted at a mostly healthy economy with the Federal Reserve holding its next policy meeting next week. About 13,000 U.S. auto workers stopped making vehicles and went on strike Friday after union leaders and negotiators for Detroit’s three automakers couldn’t reach a deal before the four-year contracts expired at 11:59 p.m. Thursday. Members of the United Auto Workers union began picketing at three different Midwest plants, one each for General Motors, Ford and Stellantis.If the strike lasts a long time, dealers could run short of vehicles and prices could rise, impacting a U.S. economy already under strain from elevated inflation.Boosting m...

Princess Diana’s sheep sweater smashes records to sell for $1.1 million

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:08:21 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A red sweater adorned with a flock of sheep worn by the young Princess Diana has sold at auction for $1.1 million, many times its presale estimate and a record for an item owned by the late royal.The playfully patterned wool jumper featuring a single black sheep in a grid of white ones was bought by an unidentified bidder at Sotheby’s online Fashion Icons sale.The auction house had valued it at between $50,000 and $80,000 ahead of two weeks of bidding that ended Thursday. With 15 minutes left until the sale closed, the highest offer stood at $190,000, but leapt to $1.1 million after a final flurry of bids.The previous record for a piece of Diana memorabilia was $604,800 for a Victor Edelstein-designed ballgown sold by Sotheby’s in January.The sale also smashed the existing auction record for a sweater, the $334,000 paid in 2019 for Kurt Cobain’s green cardigan from Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged concert.The 19-year-old Lady Diana Spencer was photographed in the eye-catc...

A daughter of long-detained activist in Bahrain is blocked from traveling to the island kingdom

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:08:21 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A daughter of a long-detained human rights activist in Bahrain tried to return to the island kingdom on Friday to press for her father’s release but was turned away from her flight in London. Maryam al-Khawaja was accompanied by a phalanx of other activists, including the secretary-general of Amnesty International, Agnès Callamard, seeking to prevent authorities from immediately detaining her. But before she could board her British Airways flight, she said she was prevented from checking in as Bahraini immigration officials told the airline not to allow her on the plane.Her attempted trip came as her father, 62-year-old Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, has resumed a hunger strike to protest the conditions of his yearslong imprisonment on internationally criticized charges stemming from him leading 2011 Arab Spring demonstrations in Bahrain. The attempt also renews pressure on Denmark, where both al-Khawajas have citizenship, and the United States, which...

Big Pharma’s Johnson & Johnson under investigation in South Africa over ‘excessive’ drug prices

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:08:21 GMT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — U.S.-based pharmaceuticals company Johnson & Johnson is being investigated in South Africa for allegedly charging “excessive” prices for a key tuberculosis drug, the country’s antitrust regulator said Friday.J&J’s Belgium-based subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals is also under investigation, South Africa’s Competition Commission said.The commission, which regulates business practices, said it opened the investigation this week based on information that the companies “may have engaged in exclusionary practices and excessive pricing” of the tuberculosis drug bedaquiline, which is sold under the brand name Sirturo.The Competition Commission declined to give further details of its investigation, but health advocacy groups in South Africa say the country is being charged more than twice as much for bedaquiline than other middle- and low-income countries. Bedaquiline was approved in 2012 and is used to treat drug-resistant TB. It is ...

Americans overwhelmingly support Medicare drug negotiations, but Biden sees little political boost

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:08:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is trumpeting Medicare’s new powers to negotiate directly with drugmakers on the cost of prescription medications — but a poll shows that any immediate political boost that Biden gets for enacting the overwhelmingly popular policy may be limited. Three-quarters of Americans, or 76%, favor allowing the federal health care program for the elderly to negotiate prices for certain prescription drugs. That includes strong majorities of Democrats (86%) and Republicans (66%), according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About one in five Americans are neutral on the issue, while 6% outright oppose it. But the poll shows Biden’s approval rating, at 40%, is about where it’s been for the last year. Americans are split on how the Democratic president is handling the issue of prescription drug prices — 48% approve, making it a relative strong point for him, but 50% disapprove.Seven in 10 Democra...