CATEGORIES

Australia Wants Facebook Held Liable for Anonymous Comments

Australia’s prime minister described social media as a “coward’s palace” and warned that digital platforms including Facebook should be held liable for defamatory comments posted anonymously.

UNITED AIRLINES WILL ADD NEW INTERNATIONAL ROUTES NEXT YEAR

United Airlines said Thursday it will launch its biggest expansion of transatlantic service next year, a vote of confidence that international travel will rebound from the depths of the pandemic.

CHINA SET TO SEND 3 ASTRONAUTS ON LONGEST CREWED MISSION YET

China is preparing to send three astronauts to live on its space station for six months — a new milestone for a program that has advanced rapidly in recent years.

US REGULATORS SEEK ANSWERS FROM TESLA OVER LACK OF RECALL

U.S. safety investigators want to know why Tesla didn’t file recall documents when it updated Autopilot software to better identify parked emergency vehicles, escalating a simmering clash between the automaker and regulators.

WILLIAM SHATNER, TV'S CAPT. KIRK, BLASTS INTO SPACE

Hollywood’s Captain Kirk, 90-year-old William Shatner, blasted into space Wednesday in a convergence of science fiction and science reality, reaching the final frontier aboard a ship built by JeffBezos’ Blue Origin company.

MICROSOFT SHUTTING DOWN LINKEDIN IN CHINA

Microsoft is shutting down its LinkedIn service in China later this year after internet rules were tightened by Beijing, the latest American tech giant to lessen its ties to the country.

HYDROPOWER DECLINE ADDS STRAIN TO POWER GRIDS IN DROUGHT

After water levels at a California dam fell to historic lows this summer, the main hydropower plant it feeds was shut down. At the Hoover Dam in Nevada — one of the country’s biggest hydropower generators — production is down by 25%. If extreme drought persists, federal officials say a dam in Arizona could stop producing electricity in coming years.

INSTACART CEO SAYS ONLINE GROCERY SHOPPING HAS ROOM TO GROW

When the pandemic hit the U.S. last year, grocery delivery company Instacart suddenly became a lifeline for millions of consumers. Sales volumes skyrocketed; in one month, the company added 300,000 drivers to keep up with its orders.

WITH HUMOR, VENOM 2 LEANS INTO RELATIONSHIPS

“Venom: Let There Be Carnage” is best when it’s not trying to be a comic book movie.

WHO HONORS HENRIETTA LACKS, WOMAN WHOSE CELLS SERVED SCIENCE

The chief of the World Health Organization honored the late Henrietta Lacks, an American woman whose cancer cells were taken without her knowledge during the 1950s and ended up providing the foundation for vast scientific breakthroughs, including research about the coronavirus.

CIA Creates Working Group on China as Threats Keep Rising

China is an especially difficult challenge for the U.S. intelligence community.

US AUTO SALES SLUMP STALLED BY CAR COMPUTER CHIP SHORTAGE

In a normal month before the pandemic, Con Paulos’ Chevy dealership in Jerome, Idaho, sold around 40 new vehicles. In September, it was only six. Now he’s got nothing new in stock, and every car, truck or SUV on order has been sold.

TRADING APPS MOVE TO GET A LIVE PERSON TO HEAR YOUR PROBLEMS

It’s one of the downsides of apps that make things like ordering food or buying stocks and cryptocurrencies easier: What happens when something goes wrong?

HOME NOT SO SWEET IN NFL THIS SEASON DESPITE RETURN OF FANS

The fans are back and the crowds are loud, but home-field advantage still isn’t a factor early in this NFL season.

GOOGLE SAYS FLIGHT SEARCH TOOL CAN HELP YOU FLY ‘GREENER'

A basic search for flights will give an estimate of how many kilograms of carbon dioxide the flight will spew from start to finish.

EX-FACEBOOK MANAGER CRITICIZES COMPANY, URGES MORE OVERSIGHT

Haugen's accusations were buttressed by tens of thousands of pages of internal research documents she secretly copied before leaving her job in the company's civic integrity unit.

MICROSOFT: RUSSIA BEHIND 58% OF DETECTED STATE-BACKED HACKS

Russia accounted for most state-sponsored hacking detected by Microsoft over the past year, with a 58% share, mostly targeting government agencies and think tanks in the United States, followed by Ukraine, Britain and European NATO members, the company said.

BARRY DILLER'S IAC BUYING MAGAZINE CO MEREDITH FOR $2B

Barry Diller’s IAC is buying Meredith, one of the country’s largest magazine companies and the publisher of People, Southern Living and InStyle, in hopes of accelerating a digital shift as print fades.

SURGING NATURAL GAS PRICES: THREAT TO CONSUMERS THIS WINTER?

Brace for a rude surprise on your winter heating bills.

US, EU AGREE TO FURTHER TRADE AND TECHNOLOGY TALKS

The United States and the European Union agreed Wednesday to carry on the work of 10 expert-level panels to explore and recommend solutions to a variety of trade disputes and challenges.

US SLIGHTLY REVISES UP ITS GDP ESTIMATE FOR Q2 TO 6.7%

The U.S. economy expanded at a 6.7% annual pace from April through June, the Commerce Department said Thursday, slightly upgrading its estimate of last quarter’s growth in the face of a resurgence of COVID-19 in the form of the delta variant.

UK PERMITS DEVELOPMENT OF GENE-EDITED CROPS IN LIMATE FIGHT

Britain’s government plans to allow researchers to use gene-editing techniques to develop crops that can increase yields, reduce the need for pesticides, and cut greenhouse gas emissions as the U.K.’s exit from the European Union allows it to deviate from the bloc’s rules.

MERCK SPENDS $11.5B FOR ACCELERON, POSSIBLE BLOCKBUSTER DRUG

Merck will spend about $11.5 billion to buy Acceleron Pharma and its potential treatment for high blood pressure in vessels that connect the lungs and heart.

BAN ON SINGLE-USE PLASTIC BAGS GOES INTO EFFECT ON FRIDAY

A ban on single-use plastic bags that was originally scheduled to begin on the first of this year will go into effect Friday across Washington state.

AT&T TO REQUIRE VACCINES FOR 90,000 OF ITS UNION WORKERS

AT&T has become one of the largest employers in the U.S. to mandate vaccines for a significant number of frontline workers.

CHINA SAYS ALL CRYPTO TRANSACTIONS ILLEGAL; BITCOIN TUMBLES

China’s central bank declared all transactions involving Bitcoin and other virtual currencies illegal, stepping up a campaign to block use of unofficial digital money.

AMAZON UNVEILS ‘JETSONS'-LIKE ROAMING ROBOT FOR THE HOME

Amazon’s new robot can hear, see and follow you around the home, but its no Rosey the Robot.

Apple, Google Raise New Concerns by Yanking Russian App

Big Tech companies that operate around the globe have long promised to obey local laws and to protect civil rights while doing business.

California 1st to Set Quota Limits for Retailers like Amazon

California became the first state to bar megaretailers from firing warehouse workers for missing quotas that interfere with bathroom and rest breaks under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that grew from Amazon’s drive to speed goods to consumers more quickly.

Apple Won't Let Fortnite Back Until Case Ends

Tim Sweeney, CEO of Fortnite maker Epic Games Inc., said Wednesday it’s been told by Apple that the game will be “blacklisted from the Apple ecosystem” until the companies’ legal case is resolved and all appeals are exhausted, which could take as long as five years.