News Archives - Page 36 of 81

Indian Regions Relax Measures Against Coronavirus

14Jun

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

India, News

Indian Regions Relax Measures Against Coronavirus

Several Indian regions relaxed various corona measures on Monday as the number of infections fell to the lowest level in more than two months. In the capital, New Delhi, all shops and shopping centres are allowed to open again. The cafes, gyms, cinemas and parks in New Delhi will remain closed. Furthermore, the state of Tamil Nadu, for example, allows more people to be in the workplace and liquor stores can open their doors again. If the number of infections rises again, India wants to reintroduce the restrictions. The second wave of infection in India started in April and peaked in early May, with more than 400,000 confirmed cases per day. Authorities reported just over 70,000 new cases on Monday, the lowest number since March 31. The pressure to relax is great as many millions ...

Trump Administration Seized Democrats Data From Apple

11Jun

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

US, News

Trump Administration Seized Democrats Data From Apple

During the early days of Donald Trump's presidency, the US Department of Justice has subpoenaed Apple to obtain information about at least two Democratic representatives, their employees and their families. One of them was leading Democrat Adam Schiff and The New York Times reports citing insiders. According to the paper, prosecutors were trying to identify the media sources, which at the time reported contacts between Trump associates and Russia. The Justice Department's suspicions focused on Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee. Schiff is now chairman and was its leading Democrat at the time. The files of at least twelve people - including a minor child - who had a link with the committee were seized in 2017 and early 2018. Apple would only have handed over m...

Joe Biden Talks to Boris Johnson about Special Relationship

10Jun

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

US, News, UK

Joe Biden Talks to Boris Johnson about Special Relationship

US President Joe Biden will meet British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday in Carbis Bay in Cornwall, England. It is the first leader to speak to Biden on his first foreign trip as president. It will be a man-to-man conversation with no officials or ministers, which is pretty much a tradition in US-UK relations that presidents and prime ministers invariably refer to as a special relationship. Biden will give the impression that his country is entirely back and reliable in world politics after his predecessor Donald Trump. The latter wanted to focus on domestic affairs. Biden and Johnson have not met as far as is known, and previously Biden dismissed British Conservative politician Johnson as a "physical and emotional clone of Trump". Biden will also reportedly elaborate o...

Volkswagen Settles With Former Executives

9Jun

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, News

Volkswagen Settles With Former Executives

Volkswagen has reached a settlement with former company executives over the diesel scandal. Together, the directors, including ex-CEO Martin Winterkorn, coughed 288 million euros to buy off claims related to the scandal. The agreement mainly consists of a payment of 270 million euros from the directors' liability insurance. Former Audi boss Rupert Stadler will also have to contribute. The deal still needs to be approved at the annual shareholders' meeting on July 22. At the end of March, Volkswagen said it would demand compensation from Winterkorn and Stadler for violating the duty of care. As part of the deal, Winterkorn and Stadler will pay 11.2 million and 4.1 million euros correspondingly. Previous Audi board member Stefan Knirsch agreed to a settlement of 1 million euros. ...

US Recovers Most Ransom After Major Cyber Attack on Oil Pipeline Company

8Jun

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

US, Business, News, Technology

US Recovers Most Ransom After Major Cyber Attack on Oil Pipeline Company

The US government has recovered much of the ransom paid after the cyber attack on oil pipeline company Colonial Pipeline. The FBI found 63.7 bitcoins, which is worth about 1.7 million euros today. The unprecedented cyber attack forced Colonial Pipeline to shut down its network and endanger the fuel supply of large parts of the US. The US Justice Department "found and recovered most" of the ransom paid by Colonial Pipeline, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said at a news conference. It concerns 63.7 bitcoins! At the time of the hacking, bitcoin was worth a lot more. The company paid the cybercriminals nearly $5 million. The FBI was able to recover the bitcoins because it is in possession of the "private key" (the password) to open the hackers' bitcoin wallet. How the FBI got ...

China Blocks Series of Crypto-Related Social Media Accounts

7Jun

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, China, News

China Blocks Series of Crypto-Related Social Media Accounts

China has blocked many accounts on the Chinese Weibo platform, similar to Twitter, for their link to cryptos. The ban is in line with Beijing's stricter policy against trading and mining cryptocurrencies. The blockade is certainly not the last action China will take against digital currencies. Many crypto activities in China are expected to be linked to the country's criminal law, analysts, and financial regulators. This means that mining and trading digital coins may become an illegal activity shortly. Beijing vowed last month to crack down on bitcoin mining and trading. That happened shortly after three agencies in the country banned crypto-related financial payment services. The Weibo interventions also come at a time when Chinese media are harsher in their coverage of crypto...

The European Commission Starts Investigation into Possible Abuse of Facebook

4Jun

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Technology, Business, Europe, News

The European Commission Starts Investigation into Possible Abuse of Facebook

The European Commission begins a formal investigation into Facebook. According to Brussels, the social media company may have abused its dominant position to promote its own Marketplace service. This would put competitors in the advertising market at a disadvantage and violate European competition rules. Facebook would also use data from advertisers on the platform to compete with those same advertisers. The marketplace is a service on which users can place personal advertisements, such as looking for or want to sell things. Facebook's nearly 3 billion users may be more likely to opt for the service than competitors such as eBay, Marktplaats or Craigslist because of the company's promotions. In addition, Facebook receives a lot of data via the service with which the American grou...

Cinema Chain AMC Continues to Occupy Minds on Wall Street

3Jun

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, News, US

Cinema Chain AMC Continues to Occupy Minds on Wall Street

Cinema chain AMC Entertainment was also in the spotlight with investors on Wall Street on Thursday. The company, which saw its stock market value double a day earlier, filed an application with the US stock watchdog SEC to sell almost 12 million shares in the future. The stock plunged more than 16 percent, where it seemed before the market that it would continue its rise. The leading Dow-Jones index lost 0.5 percent to 34,413 points in early trading. The broad S&P fell 0.6 percent to 4,182 points. The Nasdaq also stepped back. The tech gauge fell 0.9 percent to 13,554 points.

Car Dealers Sell Record Number of Second-Hand Cars

2Jun

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, News

Car Dealers Sell Record Number of Second-Hand Cars

Recently, car dealers are selling more used cars than ever before. According to new figures from trade association BOVAG, 561,100 used passenger cars were involved in the first five months of this year. That's almost 11 percent more than a year ago and the highest number ever. The industry attributes its success to the need for personal transportation. It has grown significantly since the start of the corona crisis. It also emerged this week that new car sales are recovering. In January and February, used car sales were still in a dip because the showrooms were forced to close. But since the reopening at the beginning of March, the specialist trade has been selling around 120,000 second-hand passenger cars every month. Last month, 123,629 used cars were delivered, which is a reco...

Catholic Church Tightens Penalties for Child Abuse

1Jun

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

News

Catholic Church Tightens Penalties for Child Abuse

Pope Francis tightens sentences for priests guilty of sexually abusing children. Criminal law within the Catholic Church has also become stricter for several other offences. They are the most drastic changes in almost forty years. The Catholic Church has been working on amendments to the so-called Codex of Canon Law since 2009. Critics argue that this code is outdated and not transparent. The new version, which will come into effect from December 8, states, among other things, that priests will be removed from office after sexual abuse of minors and will also face "other just punishments". This also applies to priests who are guilty of grooming children or vulnerable adults. Grooming occurs when a perpetrator tries to gain the trust of another to abuse this person sexually. The...