Browsing: National
Meta spokesperson Ashly Nikkole Davis speaks to the media outside the court in Los Angeles, California, yesterday. (Reuters) A Los Angeles jury found Alphabet’s Google and Meta liable for $3mn in damages yesterday in a landmark social media addiction lawsuit that will influence thousands of similar cases against the tech companies. Punitive damages for the companies will be decided next. The jury may consider whether Google or Meta’s products caused the plaintiff physical harm or whether the companies disregarded the health of other users, Judge Carolyn Kuhl said in court. The case involves a 20-year-old woman who said she became addicted to Google’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram at a young age because of their attention-grabbing design. The jury found Google and Meta were negligent in the design of both apps and failed to warn about their dangers.“Today’s verdict is a referendum — from a jury, to an entire industry — that accountability has arrived,” the plaintiff’s lead counsel said in a statement. Shares of Meta were up 1% and Alphabet shares were up 0.2%, little changed after the verdict.Meta disagrees with the verdict and its lawyers are “evaluating our legal options,” a company spokesperson said. Google plans to appeal, said company spokesperson José Castañeda. The plaintiffs in the Los Angeles proceeding focused on platform design rather than content, making it harder for the companies to avert liability. Snap and TikTok were also defendants in the trial. Both settled with the plaintiff before it began. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed. Large technology companies in the US have faced mounting criticism in the last decade over child and teen safety. The debate has now shifted to courts and state governments. The US Congress has declined to pass comprehensive legislation regulating social media. At least 20 states enacted laws last year on social media usage and children, according to the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, an organisation that tracks state laws. The legislation includes bills that regulate the use of cellphones in schools and require users to verify their ages to open a social media account. NetChoice, a trade association backed by tech companies such as Meta and Google, is seeking to invalidate age verification requirements in court. A separate social media addiction case brought by several states and school districts against technology companies is expected to go to trial this summer in federal court in Oakland, California. Another state trial is slated to begin in Los Angeles in July, said Matthew Bergman, one of the attorneys leading the cases for the plaintiffs. It will involve Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat. Source link
At least 18 people were killed after a passenger bus carrying about 40 people plunged into the Padma River in central Bangladesh while attempting to board a ferry.Local authorities reported that the accident occurred after the driver lost control of the bus as it approached the ferry. The bus was traveling from Kushtia to Dhaka.Rescue teams managed to recover the bus and continued the search despite difficult weather conditions. Bodies, including those of women and children, were recovered Thursday morning, while the fate of some passengers remains unknown.Officials fear that others may still be missing. Hundreds of people die every year in road and ferry accidents in Bangladesh. Source link
South Korea’s low-cost carriers (LCCs) are cutting international flights to mitigate the impact of surging fuel costs amid prolonged tensions in the Middle East.Aviation industry sources reported Thursday that some companies plan to suspend 50 flights between April 20 and May 31, citing limited local refueling conditions in Vietnam.The country’s three largest LCCs are also considering cutting services on select Southeast Asian routes, according to industry watchers.Jet fuel prices in Asia and Oceania rose 16.6% to $204.95 per barrel in the week of March 13-20, compared with the previous week, and were sharply higher than the prior month’s average, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Source link
The Ministry of Finance and Economy of South Korea announced on Thursday that South Korea will significantly expand its temporary fuel tax cut in a bid to ease the financial burden on consumers amid the prolonged conflict in West Asia.Under the latest measures, the tax reduction rate on gasoline will rise from 7 percent to 15 percent, and on diesel from 10 percent to 25 percent, as part of the government’s efforts to support living costs.The measure, which had been set to expire in April, will be extended through the end of May, according to the ministry.As a result, fuel taxes per liter, including value-added tax, will fall by KRW 65 (USD 0.04) to KRW 698 for gasoline and by KRW 87 to KRW 436 for diesel.The decision is aimed at easing the burden of rising oil prices and supporting small and midsize businesses, as well as vulnerable households affected by the prolonged conflict.South Korea first introduced the fuel tax cut in November 2021 as a response to rising energy prices. The government has since extended the measure, adjusting the rates in accordance with changes in the global energy market. Source link
The Japanese government on Thursday started releasing state-held oil to stabilize supplies amid the ongoing US-Israeli war with Iran, as part of the largest-ever drawdown of reserves stockpiled in the country.The release of oil equivalent to 30 days of domestic demand, or around 8.5 million kiloliters, is set to conclude by the end of April and follows the freeing up of 15 days’ worth held by the private sector, which commenced last week.According to Japan’s Kyodo News Agency, there is growing concern about an oil supply shortage in Japan, which relies on the Middle East for over 90% of its crude oil imports, as Tehran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz – a vital waterway for global energy supplies – following the attacks on Iran launched by the US and Israel on Feb. 28.To deal with the energy supply disruption, the Japanese government decided to release about 80 million barrels of oil, equivalent to 45 days’ worth of domestic consumption and 1.8 times the amount released after the massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 that devastated Japan’s northeast.The average retail price of gasoline in Japan rose to a record-high 190.80 yen per liter in mid-March, with the government resuming state subsidies to bring down the price.While the number of oil tankers arriving in Japan after passing through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen drastically, the chemical sector is also facing difficulties in procuring naphtha, a liquid derived from crude oil that is used to produce ethylene, a raw material for plastics and synthetic fibers. Source link
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (4th left) poses with members of the Air Force in front of a supersonic aircraft during its unveiling ceremony…
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr speaks during a press conference after declaring a state of national emergency amid rising fuel prices due to the ongoing conflict…
People hold placards as ABC staff and journalists strike outside the national broadcaster’s headquarters in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday.(Reuters) Hundreds of staff at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation began a one-day strike Wednesday, the first walkout in 20 years, over pay and working conditions, disrupting live news coverage at the public broadcaster.Live programming was diverted to content from the UK broadcaster BBC when the strike began at 11:00am (0000 GMT).Flagship programmes on TV and radio were also expected to be replaced by reruns during the 24-hour strike. Journalists and staff walk out of the…
File photo: Bear, an Australian koolie, scanning the Two Thumbs Wildlife Trust Sanctuary for koalas in the Numeralla, Peak View and Nerriga areas of New South…
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and North Korean leader Kim Jong-unn attend a welcome ceremony at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday. (Reuters) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Pyongyang Wednesday with a white-horse cavalry and 21-gun salute, cementing ties between two close allies of Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Kim has provided Moscow with millions of rounds of ammunition for its war in Ukraine and sent troops to help Russia expel Ukrainian forces who invaded its western Kursk region. Lukashenko allowed Belarus to be used as a launchpad for Russia’s invasion in February 2022, and subsequently agreed to host Russian tactical nuclear missiles on its territory, which borders three Nato alliance countries.Kim greeted Lukashenko with an embrace and laid on a lavish welcome ceremony with ranks of soldiers, cavalry and the gun salute after flag-waving children had cheered his arrival at the airport.Lukashenko’s foreign minister, Maxim Ryzhenkov, told Belarusian state media that the two sides would sign a friendship and cooperation treaty during the two-day visit. Current trade was “modest” but there was potential to boost it in sectors including food and pharmaceuticals, he said.Valery Tsepkalo, a prominent exiled opponent of Lukashenko, said there was no substance to the summit beyond a display of solidarity. “There will be no benefit to Belarus from this visit. The same for North Korea. They are just demonstrating that they’re not isolated and they can have a meeting. They don’t have any normal trade,” he told Reuters.North Korea and Belarus have withstood years of external economic pressure: the former is under UN sanctions because of its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and the latter is subject to Western sanctions over its human rights record and backing for Putin in Ukraine.”The current situation is simply pushing us into each other’s arms. We’re looking for friends. Friends may be far away, but they are very loyal, reliable, and respectful,” Belarusian minister Ryzhenkov was quoted as saying.Despite the isolation of both countries, US President Donald Trump has engaged with their leaders. Trump met Kim three times in 2018 and 2019, during his first term in the White House, but their encounters failed to yield substantive results. Trump said last year he would “love another meeting”, which Kim said could happen if the US dropped its “absurd obsession” with getting North Korea to give up nuclear weapons.Trump last year re-established direct contact with Lukashenko, who had been treated as a pariah by his predecessor Joe Biden. In recent months, the US has begun to ease sanctions on Belarus in return for releases of political prisoners. Lukashenko’s trip to North Korea comes six days after he met Trump’s envoy John Coale and announced the freeing of 250 more detainees. The US side has said Lukashenko may soon visit the White House. …