CATEGORIES

COLONIAL PIPELINE CONFIRMS IT PAID $4.4M TO HACKERS

The operator of the nation’s largest fuel pipeline confirmed it paid $4.4 million to a gang of hackers who broke into its computer systems.

FTC SUES FRONTIER FOR DELIVERING INTERNET THAT'S TOO SLOW

The Federal Trade Commission and six states are suing Frontier Communications for not delivering the internet speeds it promised customers and charging them for better, more expensive service than they actually got.

DAIMLER TRUCK TO SHIFT SPENDING TO BATTERY, HYDROGEN RIGS

Daimler’s truck and bus division says it plans to shift most of its vehicle development resources to zero-emission vehicles by 2025 and predicts that battery and hydrogen-powered trucks could be competitive with diesels on cost later this decade.

AMAZON TO EXTEND PAUSE ON POLICE USE OF FACIAL RECOGNITION

Amazon said that it will extend its ban on police use of its face-recognition technology beyond the one-year pause it announced last year.

PENTAGON RECONSIDERING HUGE JEDI CLOUD COMPUTING CONTRACT

The Pentagon is reconsidering how to make a massive shift to cloud computing, officials said Monday, suggesting it could scrap the so-called JEDI contract potentially worth $10 billion that was awarded to Microsoft Corp. but is mired in legal challenges.

GERMAN WATCHDOG BANS FACEBOOK FROM PROCESSING WHATSAPP DATA

A German privacy watchdog banned Facebook on Tuesday from gathering data on users of its WhatsApp chat app, citing an update to its privacy policy that it said breaches stringent European data protection rules.

TESLA TO STOP ACCEPTING BITCOIN FOR CAR PAYMENTS

Electric car maker Tesla will stop accepting Bitcoin as a payment, CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Wednesday, citing environmental concerns.

CHINA SAYS XIAOMI REMOVAL FROM U.S. BLACKLIST “BENEFICIAL”

China’s commerce ministry on Thursday welcomed the removal of Xiaomi Corp. from a U.S. government blacklist, a day after the U.S. reversed a ban on U.S. investments in the smartphone maker that was imposed under former President Donald Trump.

KENTUCKY PLANT BENEFITING FROM LATEST APPLE INVESTMENT

Apple deepened its ties to a Kentucky plant on Monday by awarding another $45 million to support Corning Inc.’s work to supply glass for the tech giant’s iPhones and other devices.

FACEBOOKBACKED DIGITAL CURRENCY PROJECT DIEM SHIFTS TO US

A once-ambitious Facebook-backed digital currency project — formerly known as Libra, now called Diem — is shifting operations from Switzerland to the U.S. and said it plans to launch a cryptocurrency tied to the U.S. dollar later this year.

JAPANESE TYCOON PLANNING SPACE STATION VISIT, THEN MOON TRIP

The Japanese fashion tycoon who’s booked a SpaceX ride to the moon is going to try out the International Space Station first.

AMAZON WINS EU COURT FIGHT OVER $300 MILLION TAX RULING

In the latest setback to European Union efforts to tackle corporate tax avoidance, a court on Wednesday annulled a ruling by the European Commission that a tax deal between Amazon and Luxembourg’s government amounted to illegal state support.

BIDEN SIGNS ORDER TO BEEF UP FEDERAL CYBER DEFENSES

President Joe Biden signed an executive order meant to strengthen U.S. cybersecurity defenses in response to a series of headline-grabbing hacking incidents that highlight how vulnerable the country’s public and private sectors are to high-tech spies and criminals operating from half a world away.

ALIBABA RECORDS FIRST QUARTERLY OPERATING LOSS SINCE IPO

Alibaba had its first quarterly operating loss since it went public in 2014 after Beijing slapped a record $2.8 billion fine on the nation’s largest e-commerce company for abusing its market position.

WALMART INVESTS IN GM'S CRUISE AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE SUBSIDIARY

Walmart and some institutional investors have joined the latest investment in Cruise, bumping the capital influx into the General Motors autonomous vehicle subsidiary from over $2 billion to $2.75 billion.

FACEBOOK REPORTS SOARING QUARTERLY AD REVENUE, STOCK JUMPS

Facebook’s stock jumped Wednesday into record territory after the social media giant reported stronger-than-expected results for the first quarter thanks to soaring ad revenue.

GM: SOFTWARE, NEW BATTERY PARTS WILL SOLVE BOLT FIRE ISSUES

Engineers at General Motors have figured out how to fix a battery problem with the Chevrolet Bolt electric hatchback that caused five of them to catch fire.

DAIMLER TRUCK, VOLVO TO MAKE FUEL CELLS IN EUROPE FROM 2025

Germany’s Daimler Truck AG and Sweden’s Volvo Group say they plan to jointly manufacture hydrogen fuel cells for trucks in Europe starting in 2025 and called on European Union policymakers to boost incentives for climate-neutral technologies.

UBER TO RECRUIT 20,000 UK DRIVERS ON POST-LOCKDOWN DEMAND

Uber plans to recruit 20,000 more drivers in the United Kingdom to help fill swelling demand for rides as the country’s coronavirus lockdown restrictions ease.

CHINA'S HUAWEI SAYS SALES DOWN 16.5% AMID US SANCTIONS

Embattled Chinese tech giant Huawei said first-quarter revenue fell after it sold its lower-priced Honor smartphone brand, but profitability improved.

iPAD PRO 2021: SUPERCHARGED WITH XDR DISPLAY, M1 CHIP, & THUNDERBOLT

The iPad Pro has become something of a workhorse in recent years, offering professionals an alternative to a laptop with cutting-edge capabilities and software.

DUTCH GOVERNMENT PAUSES CORONAVIRUS APP OVER DATA LEAK FEARS

The Dutch government has temporarily disabled its coronavirus warning app amid data privacy concerns for people who have the app installed on phones using the Android operating system.

APPLE PROFIT SOARS IN LATEST QUARTER ON HIGHER iPHONE SALES

Demand for the iPhone and other Apple products drove profits to more than double in the January-March period as the tech giant continued to capitalize on smartphone addiction.

APPLE'S iPHONE PRIVACY CLAMPDOWN ARRIVES AFTER 7-MONTH DELAY

Apple is following through on its pledge to crack down on Facebook and other snoopy apps that secretly shadow people on their iPhones in order to target more advertising at users.

APPLE MUSIC LAUNCHES MORE THAN 100 CITY-FOCUSED MUSIC CHARTS

Apple Music is coming to a city near you — the streaming service has launched daily music charts focused on particular cities around the world, including New York City, Tokyo and Lagos.

US JOBLESS CLAIMS FALL TO 547,000, ANOTHER PANDEMIC LOW

The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid fell last week to 547,000, the lowest point since the pandemic struck and an encouraging sign that layoffs are slowing on the strength of an improving job market.

NASA'S MARS HELICOPTER TAKES FLIGHT, 1ST FOR ANOTHER PLANET

NASA’s experimental helicopter Ingenuity rose into the thin air above the dusty red surface of Mars on Monday, achieving the first powered flight by an aircraft on another planet.

IS IT FINALLY GAME ON FOR VIDEO GAME ADAPTATIONS?

Is there a more woebegone movie genre than the video game adaptation? This is the pantheon of “Max Payne,” “Wing Commander” and “Assassin’s Creed.” In the 27 years since the first video game movie, “Super Mario Bros.,” these adaptations have been so regularly mocked that you might think the genre was -- like a teetering fighter in “Mortal Kombat” surrounded by chants of “Finish him!” -- on its last legs.

US AID LIFTS SOUTHWEST TO Q1 PROFIT, AMERICAN LOSES $1.25B

With a strong push from taxpayers, Southwest Airlines is the first major U.S. airline to report a profit since the pandemic started, and airlines executives say that the worst of the pandemic caused crisis for their industry appears to be over.

ASTRONAUTS FLYING REUSED SPACEX ROCKET, CAPSULE FOR 1ST TIME

For the first time, NASA is putting its trust in a recycled SpaceX rocket and capsule for a crew.