U.S News

3 BEIJING (AP) — Financial markets can cope with the impact of a Chinese real estate developer that is struggling to avoid defaulting on $310 billion in debt, the central bank governor said Thursday, in a new effort to assure the public the economy can be shielded from fallout. Yi Gang’s comments by video to a seminar in Hong Kong added to indications Beijing has no plans to bail out Evergrande Group. Fears of a default have rattled financial markets, but economists say the ruling Communist Party wants to avoid sending the wrong signal at a time when it is trying to force companies to cut high debt burdens. “The short-term risks of individual real estate companies will not affect the normal financing function of the medium- and long-term market,” Yi said, according to Chinese news outlets. “Evergrande’s hazard is a market event that will be properly handled in accordance with market principles and law,” Yi said. Investors' interests "will be … [Read more...] about Chinese central banker says market can handle developer debt

LONDON (AP) — Tech tools like digital contact tracing apps and artificial intelligence that European governments rolled out to combat COVID-19 failed to play a key role in solving the pandemic and now threaten to make such monitoring widely accepted, a new report shows. The health surveillance technologies that many European countries deployed after the coronavirus pandemic erupted last year were often adopted without enough transparency, safeguards or democratic debate, according to a report released Thursday by AlgorithmWatch, a nonprofit research group that tracks the impact of AI systems. Authorities scrambled to develop new technologies or use existing ones to combat the virus's spread. They built digital contact tracing apps to track who infected people had been around and later developed vaccine passports to verify people had received COVID-19 shots in order to travel or get into concerts, restaurants and other businesses. Some used drones and devices to enforce social … [Read more...] about Group: Pandemic tech tools raise risk of everyday tracking

A new season of The Apprentice has launched, and the backbiting is fiercer than ever. Old alliances are being broken as the antics get ever more outlandish in the quest to rise to the top of the attention economy. In case you missed this week’s drama, here’s a quick recap: Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw called the Freedom Caucus (whose members include Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Paul Gosar, and Matt Gaetz) “ grifters” and “performance artists .” Radio host Dan Bongino fired back, calling Crenshaw a “false prophet.” Arizona Rep. Wendy Rogers tweeted that Crenshaw “must GO along with [Nancy] Mace and Ronna Romney [McDaniel]!!! Bye!” This is the kind of stuff that would make Omarosa blush, but we’re just getting started. Fan favorite and QAnon-friendly lawyer Lin Wood also continued his attacks on Tucker Carlson and Dan Bongino, while taking additional shots at Sean Hannity, Charlie Kirk, and Seb Gorka. Wood also said he had “severed my relationship with General … [Read more...] about Bongino Rips Crenshaw Who Rips MTG Who Rips Nancy Mace in Trump’s Craziest ‘Apprentice’ Yet

The World Food Programme (WFP) has suspended food distribution in Ethiopia's Kombolcha and Dessie towns after looting of supplies that staff were unable to stop due to intimidation, including being held at gunpoint, the United Nations said on Wednesday. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said a large quantity of humanitarian food supplies, including nutritional items for malnourished children, were stolen and looted in Kombolcha in the Amhara region . "The small-scale theft of food escalated into mass looting of warehouses across Kombolcha in recent days, reportedly by elements of the Tigrayan forces and some members of the local population," Dujarric told reporters. "Such harassment of humanitarian staff by armed forces is unacceptable. It undermines the ability of the United Nations and all of our humanitarian partners to deliver assistance when it is most needed," he added. Ethiopia is at war with itself. Here's what you need to … [Read more...] about UN suspends food distribution in two towns in Ethiopia after looting

Milan Italy's antitrust watchdog said on Thursday it had fined Amazon 1.13 billion euros ($1.28 billion) for alleged abuse of market dominance , in one of the biggest penalties imposed on a US tech giant in Europe. Amazon ( AMZN ) said it "strongly disagreed" with the Italian regulator's decision and would appeal. Global regulatory scrutiny of tech giants has been increasing after a string of scandals over privacy and misinformation, as well as complaints from some businesses that they abuse their market power. As well as Amazon, Alphabet's Google ( GOOGL ) , Facebook ( FB ) , Apple ( AAPL ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ) have drawn heightened scrutiny in Europe. Italy's watchdog said in a statement that Amazon had leveraged its dominant position in the Italian market for intermediation services on marketplaces to favor the adoption of its own logistics service — Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) — by sellers active on Amazon.it. … [Read more...] about Italy fines Amazon $1.3 billion for abuse of market dominance