Biden set to impose tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, sources say

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WASHINGTON AND SAN FRANCISCO — U.S. President Joe Biden is set to announce new tariffs on China as soon as next week, targeting strategic sectors, including electric vehicles, according to two people familiar with the matter.  The full announcement, which could take place as soon as Tuesday, is expected to largely maintain existing levies, according to one of the people. An announcement could also be pushed back, the person said.  The tariffs were also set to include semiconductors and solar equipment, according to one of the people.  Details on the precise value or categories of tariffs that would be imposed weremore

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Economy is top issue for US voters

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The U.S. economy is one of the biggest issues for voters in the 2024 presidential contest between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Biden campaigned this week on new tech investments. Trump says he will roll back Biden infrastructure spending and increase oil drilling. VOA’s Scott Stearns has the story. …

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Australian study says China uses global apps, games for propaganda

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SYDNEY — An Australian study claims that China’s monitoring of global internet users’ online habits — a practice that has made TikTok controversial in the United States — extends far beyond the popular social media app to numerous other platforms and even online games. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a research organization that receives funding from the Australian government and others overseas, said in a May 2 report that Beijing’s propaganda chiefs are forging ties with Chinese tech companies to gather personal data from a wide range of social media apps or platforms and popular online games. They include ride-sharing appmore

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US Senate passes bill improving air safety, customer service

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washington — The Senate has passed a $105 billion bill designed to improve air safety and customer service for air travelers, a day before the law governing the Federal Aviation Administration expires.  The bipartisan bill, which comes after a series of close calls between planes at the nation’s airports, would boost the number of air traffic controllers, improve safety standards and make it easier for customers to get refunds after flights are delayed or canceled.  The bill passed the Senate 88-4. The legislation now goes to the House, which is out of session until next week. The Senate is considering amore

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Barron Trump, 18, to make political debut as Florida delegate to Republican convention

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Miami, Florida — Former President Donald Trump’s youngest son, Barron Trump, has been chosen to serve as a Florida delegate to the Republican National Convention, the state party chairman said Wednesday. Republican Party of Florida chairman Evan Power said the 18-year-old high school senior will serve as one of 41 at-large delegates from Florida to the national gathering, where the GOP is set to officially nominate his father as its presidential candidate for the November general election. NBC News first reported the choice of Barron Trump as a delegate. Barron Trump has been largely kept out of the public eye, butmore

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TikTok to start labeling AI-generated content as technology becomes more universal

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New York — TikTok will begin labeling content created using artificial intelligence when it’s uploaded from certain platforms. TikTok says its efforts are an attempt to combat misinformation from being spread on its social media platform. The announcement came on ABCs “Good Morning America” on Thursday. “Our users and our creators are so excited about AI and what it can do for their creativity and their ability to connect with audiences.” Adam Presser, TikTok’s Head of Operations & Trust and Safety told ABC News. “And at the same time, we want to make sure that people have that ability to understandmore

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US House rejects effort to remove Speaker Johnson from office

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washington — Hard-line Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene stunned colleagues Wednesday by calling for a vote to oust Speaker Mike Johnson. Lawmakers quickly rejected it.  Greene pressed ahead with her long-shot effort despite pushback from Republicans at the highest levels tired of the political chaos.  One of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters in Congress, Greene stood on the House floor and read a long list of what she called transgressions that Johnson had committed as speaker. Colleagues booed in protest.  It was the second time in a matter of months that Republicans have tried to oust their own speaker, an unheard-of level ofmore

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Africa should forge path for secure data flow across borders, experts say

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Nairobi, Kenya — Digital experts called on African countries Tuesday for laws to protect the data of individuals and businesses, saying that a single digital market in which data can safely flow across borders would help overcome barriers to commerce and trade on the continent. African government information and communications technology representatives, international organizations, diplomats and experts are meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, this week to discuss how data can move freely from one country to another without risking people’s privacy and safety. Kenyan Information, Communication and Digital Economy Minister Eliud Owalo said Africa needs to improve its laws to deal withmore

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US revokes some licenses for exports to China’s Huawei

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Washington — The United States has revoked certain licenses for exports to Chinese tech giant Huawei, the Commerce Department said, drawing opposition from Beijing on Wednesday. The move came after criticism last month by Republican lawmakers, who urged President Joe Biden’s administration to block all export licenses to the company after it released a new laptop powered by a processor by U..S chip giant Intel. “We continuously assess how our controls can best protect our national security and foreign policy interests, taking into consideration a constantly changing threat environment and technological landscape,” said a Commerce Department spokesperson. “We are not commentingmore

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Judge postpones Trump’s classified documents trial indefinitely

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WASHINGTON — The federal judge in Florida presiding over the classified documents prosecution of former President Donald Trump has canceled the May 20 trial date, postponing it indefinitely.  The order from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had been expected in light of still-unresolved issues in the case and because Trump is on trial in a separate case in Manhattan charging him in connection with hush money payments during the 2016 presidential election. The New York case involves several of the same lawyers representing him in the federal case in Florida.  In a five-page order, Cannon said on Tuesday that it wouldmore

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Why do left and right have political meaning?   

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The divide between left and right is one of the most fundamental markers in politics. But have you ever stopped to think about why we use those directional terms to describe ideological camps? It may surprise you to learn that this terminology traces back to the seating arrangements of French revolutionaries over 200 years ago. …

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More money going to African climate startups, but huge funding gap remains

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NAIROBI, Kenya — When Ademola Adesina founded a startup to provide solar and battery-based power subscription packages to individuals and businesses in Nigeria in 2015, it was a lot harder to raise money than it is today. Climate tech was new in Africa, the continent was a fledgling destination for venture capital money, there were fewer funders to approach and less money was available, he said. It took him a year of “running around and scouring” his networks to raise his first amount — just under $1 million — from VC firms and other sources. “Everything was a learning experience,” hemore

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US Air Force leader takes AI-controlled fighter jet ride in test vs human pilot

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EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — With the midday sun blazing, an experimental orange and white F-16 fighter jet launched with a familiar roar that is a hallmark of U.S. airpower. But the aerial combat that followed was unlike any other: This F-16 was controlled by artificial intelligence, not a human pilot. And riding in the front seat was Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall. AI marks one of the biggest advances in military aviation since the introduction of stealth in the early 1990s, and the Air Force has aggressively leaned in. Even though the technology is not fully developed, the servicemore

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AI scams could become ‘growth industry of all time,’ warns Buffett

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omaha, nebraska — Warren Buffett cautioned the tens of thousands of shareholders who packed an arena for his annual meeting that artificial intelligence scams could become “the growth industry of all time.”  Doubling down on his cautionary words from last year, Buffett told the throngs he recently came face to face with the downside of AI. Someone made a fake video of Buffett, apparently convincing enough that Buffett himself said he could imagine it tricking him into sending money overseas.  The billionaire investing guru predicted scammers will seize on the technology and may do more harm with it than good.  “Itmore

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Group of Republicans unite to defend legitimacy of US elections

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ATLANTA, GEORGIA — It was Election Day last November, and one of Georgia’s top election officials saw that reports of a voting machine problem in an eastern Pennsylvania county were gaining traction online. So Gabriel Sterling, a Republican who had defended the 2020 election in Georgia amid an onslaught of threats, posted a message to his nearly 71,000 followers on the social platform X explaining what had happened and saying that all votes would be counted correctly. He faced immediate criticism from one commenter about why he was weighing in on another state’s election while other responses reiterated false claims aboutmore

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Holocaust survivors take on denial and hate in new digital campaign

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DUESSELDORF, Germany — Herbert Rubinstein was 5 years old when he and his mother were taken from the Jewish ghetto of Chernivtsi and put on a cramped cattle wagon waiting to take them to their deaths. It was 1941, and Romanians collaborating with Germany’s Nazis were rounding up tens of thousands of Jews from his hometown in what is now southwestern Ukraine. “It was nothing but a miracle that we survived,” Rubinstein told The Associated Press during a recent interview at his apartment in the western German city of Duesseldorf. The 88-year-old Holocaust survivor is participating in a new digital campaignmore

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Yellen says threats to democracy risk US economic growth

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WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen argues that a fractured democracy can have destructive effects on the economy — an indirect jab at Donald Trump. Yellen delivered an address Friday in Arizona, using economic data to paint a picture of how disregard for America’s democratic processes and institutions can cause economic stagnation for decades. Yellen, taking a rare step toward to the political arena, never mentioned Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, by name in her speech for the McCain Institute’s Sedona Forum, but she hinted at the former president’s potential impact if he regains the White House. Her remarks servemore

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Democratic US congressman indicted over ties to Azerbaijan

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WASHINGTON — Democratic U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas and his wife were indicted on conspiracy and bribery charges and taken into custody Friday in connection with a U.S. Department of Justice probe into the couple’s ties to the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan. From 2014 to 2021, Cuellar, 68, and his wife allegedly accepted nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijan-controlled energy company and a bank in Mexico, according to the indictment. In exchange, Cuellar is accused of agreeing to advance the interests of the country and the bank in the U.S., also according to the indictment. Among other things,more

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China carries Pakistan into space

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islamabad — Pakistan on Friday witnessed the launch of its first lunar satellite aboard China’s historic mission to retrieve samples from the little explored far side of the moon in a technologically collaborative mission that signals deepening ties between the countries. China’s largest rocket, a Long March-5, blasted off from the Wencheng Space Launch Center on Hainan Island at 09:27 UTC, ferrying China’s 8-metric-ton Chang’e-6 probe. If successful, the uncrewed mission will make China the first country to retrieve samples from the moon’s largely unexplored South Pole, also known as the “far side” of the moon that is not visible frommore

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