US

Lego Builds First Factory in the United States
Business, News, Technology, US

Lego Builds First Factory in the United States

Lego wants to build its first factory in the United States, specifically in Virginia in the east. The toy manufacturer intends to increase its market share in this way. It concerns an investment of 1 billion dollars. “If we look at the potential in the US, we still have a long way to go,” US chief operating officer Carsten Rasmussen told Bloomberg news agency. The popularity of colourful building blocks across the ocean is much lower than in Europe. “We are already strong on the east coast and the north, but there is still much potential elsewhere. We think we can succeed in the coming years.” The Danish company competes globally for first place with American toy giants Mattel and Hasbro. Over the past four years, Lego has doubled its turnover in the US, but there is still much ...
Chinese Spy Balloon Collected Information About US Military Bases
China, News, US

Chinese Spy Balloon Collected Information About US Military Bases

The Chinese balloon launched over the coast of the US state of South Carolina on February 4 was indeed able to collect sensitive information. Various sources report this to the American channel NBC News. In February of this year, the world was under the spell of suspicious objects over North American skies. On February 4, an American F-22 fighter jet shot down a large white balloon. A Chinese spy balloon, the United States declared. China has always denied that and spoke of a weather balloon. Nevertheless, the discovery of the balloon certainly caused a lot of tension between the two countries. After further investigation, the United States found that the balloon, first spotted over Alaska on January 28, could gather information. China could steer the balloon to fly over some lo...
Newspaper: US Prosecutors Investigate Bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank
Business, News, US

Newspaper: US Prosecutors Investigate Bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank

US prosecutors have launched an investigation into the bankrupt Silicon Valley Bank. The US regulator for stock exchange trading, the Securities and Exchange Commission, is also investigating the California bank that was taken over by US authorities last Friday. The Wall Street Journal reports this based on insiders. According to the business newspaper, the investigation is still in an exploratory phase, and it is far from a foregone conclusion that there will be formal accusations against SVB or its directors. Public prosecutors and the regulator often start an investigation when financial services companies run into problems. The investigation at SVB would focus on, among others, directors who sold shares a few days before the bank collapsed.
Apple Falls on Lower Wall Street on Unrest in China
Business, China, News, US

Apple Falls on Lower Wall Street on Unrest in China

The American technology group Apple was under pressure on the stock exchanges in New York on Monday. The company relies heavily on China to produce its devices, and investors are concerned about the social unrest arising in that country over the strict corona measures. In major Chinese cities, people took to the streets to protest President Xi Jinping's zero-covid policy. Apple lost 1.4 percent. According to the Bloomberg news agency, the unrest at Apple's largest iPhone production site in China may result in a production slump of 6 million devices. However, a lot depends on how quickly Foxconn, the Taiwanese company that operates the factory, can get people back on the assembly line after the violent protests against the corona measures. Electric car manufacturer Tesla, which h...
Twitter Invents New Verification Checkmark
News, Technology, US

Twitter Invents New Verification Checkmark

Twitter seems to be returning to previous plans around the verification check marks. Paid unverified check marks will be added, but Twitter also wants to roll out an extra check mark to recognize the authentic accounts of, for example, governments. Just days after the first announcement of plans for a paid subscription to Twitter, the messaging service appears to be addressing some of the criticisms of those plans. For those lucky enough to have missed all the fuss: it revolves around (among other things) 'blue checkmarks', the check mark next to someone's account name on Twitter. Currently, only accounts whose identity has been verified by the company will receive such a checkmark. Therefore, the check marks are used by, for example, government organizations and public figures,...
US Federal Investigation into Tesla Autopilot Claims
News, Technology, US

US Federal Investigation into Tesla Autopilot Claims

The US Justice Department wants to find out whether Tesla misled its customers with claims about the self-driving capabilities of its cars. The research focuses on the Autopilot software. The Department of Justice started an investigation into Tesla's driver guidance software as early as 2021, the Reuters news agency reported. The so-called Autopilot is sold as 'fully self-driving' in the United States. According to CEO Elon Musk, the software makes Tesla the safest car on the market. However, US regulators do not fully agree. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), among others, has already contradicted the claims. And now, the Ministry of Justice is also going into more detail. According to Reuters, the government wants to determine whether Tesla has misled...
US Stock Market Watchdog Fines Kim Kardashian for Promoting Crypto Currency
Business, News, US

US Stock Market Watchdog Fines Kim Kardashian for Promoting Crypto Currency

The US stock market regulator SEC fined reality star Kim Kardashian more than 1 million dollars. This is because Kardashian would have advertised a crypto coin without knowing that she was being paid for it. That is against US regulations. According to the SEC, Kardashian used social media to promote EMAX crypto coins. For this, Kardashian was paid more than $250,000 by EthereumMax, the coin provider. Kardashian must now repay the amount and interest and a $1 million fine. It also agrees to stop advertising cryptocurrencies for three years. The SEC has been warning for some time against celebrities touting cryptocurrencies. Boxer Floyd Mayweather, among others, was fined in 2018 for the same reason as Kardashian. According to the SEC, cryptocurrencies fall under the sto...
Top Man of VR Project Horizon Resigns from Meta
News, Technology, US

Top Man of VR Project Horizon Resigns from Meta

Vivek Sharma, the vice president of VR platform Horizon, is stepping down from Meta. Horizon is one of the spearheads of the metaverse that the company is building above Facebook. Vivek Sharma spent six years at Facebook's parent company, previously responsible for Marketplace and the Gaming business unit, among other things. As vice president, he expanded Horizon: the VR business unit that has shaped the emerging metaverse. Horizon Worlds is one of the VR projects he watched: a project that is very reminiscent of the ancient online game Second Life, but with an extra layer of virtual reality. But Vivek Sharma is equally responsible for Horizon Workrooms and Venues: the apps for collaborating and meeting in a VR environment or going to live events virtually. It is unknown why...
US Inflation Lower Than Expected
Business, News, US

US Inflation Lower Than Expected

US inflation is slowing faster than expected. That is according to data from the US Department of Labor on Wednesday.   On an annual basis, inflation rose by 8.5 percent in July. That's less than the 9.1 percent recorded in June - the most significant increase in four decades. Compared to June, consumer prices remained unchanged in July. However, falling fuel and energy prices compensated for price increases for food and housing. As a result, food prices rose by 10.9 percent year-on-year. It is the biggest jump since 1979. Core US inflation - excluding volatile food and energy prices - stood at 5.9 percent yoy in July and 0.3 percent in June. Analysts at Bloomberg news agency had expected total inflation of 8.7 percent and 0.2 percent on an annual and monthly basis. They had estim...
French Student Arrested in Morocco for Hacking American Companies
France, Morocco, News, Technology, US

French Student Arrested in Morocco for Hacking American Companies

In Morocco, 21-year-old Sebastien Raoult has been arrested at the request of the FBI. The man is accused of hacking and stealing data from various American companies.   Raoult's arrest dates back to June 1 but only became known through French and Moroccan media last week. He was arrested at Rabat airport while trying to catch a flight to Brussels. According to the FBI, Raoult is part of the ShinyHunters hacker group. In it, he would have hacked several American companies since 2020 and sold their data. As a result, the man was signalled to Interpol and could be arrested. The question now will be whether the man will be extradited to the US. He risks a prison sentence of up to 116 years, but his lawyer is against it. He argues that the facts would have been committed in France by a...