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Apple to fight EU’s Spotify charges at closed-door hearing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

Apple will try to sway European Union antitrust officials at a closed-door hearing on Friday against pushing forward with a potential fine or order against app restrictions in a probe sparked by music-streaming service Spotify. The Commission is in the final leg of a three-year probe into the tech giant over rules for app developers that sell their services on Apple’s App Store. Apple takes a cut of some subscriptions sold on the store that some developers complain is unfair.The hearing comes just days before Big Tech giants must notify themselves as gatekeepers that can govern access to key digital services and shortly after EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said she may leave her post before the end of her mandate to run for the top job at the European Investment Bank.Apple will spend several hours laying out its defense against a February statement of objections, two people involved in the case told POLITICO. European Commission officials will attend the hearing and bot...

Stoltenberg to stay on as NATO chief another year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

Jens Stoltenberg is set to stay on as NATO’s chief for another year, four people familiar with the decision told POLITICO.A U.S. official said the secretary general’s leadership extension is “a done deal.” Asked if that was the case, a senior diplomat from Western Europe said “yes,” adding it “will be formalized next week.” A senior diplomat from Eastern Europe and a senior NATO official also confirmed there is consensus within the alliance for an extension.The officials were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to preview the move before the official announcement. A spokesperson for NATO didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.The move to retain Stoltenberg was widely rumored and expected ahead of a major NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania next month, billed as one of the most important alliance gatherings in years amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.Allies wanted to make a decision on whether to keep the secretary general in place or find new leadership before th...

Mike Pence meets with Zelenskyy in surprise trip to Kyiv

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

Former Vice President Mike Pence met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday in a surprise trip to Kyiv, marking the first time that a Republican presidential candidate has made such a visit since the Russian invasion.“I believe America’s the leader of the free world,” Pence told NBC News, which was first to report the trip. “But coming here just as a private citizen — being able to really see firsthand the heroism of the Ukrainian soldiers holding the line in those woods, see the heroism of the people here in Irpin that held back the Russian army, to see families whose homes were literally shelled in the midst of an unconscionable and unprovoked Russian invasion — just steels my resolve to do my part, to continue to call for strong American support for our Ukrainian friends and allies.”The trip comes as Ukraine is in the midst of a crucial counteroffensive against Russian forces that have had ample time to solidify their defenses, while Moscow continues to manage t...

Theresa May: UK is ‘falling behind’ on climate action

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

The U.K. is “falling behind” other countries in the fight against climate change and has been “too slow to act” in response to U.S. and EU subsidies for green industries, former Prime Minister Theresa May said.In a speech on Thursday to mark the fourth anniversary of the U.K. putting its 2050 net zero target into law — a move made under May’s leadership — the former leader said that the energy transition was the “growth opportunity of the century.”But she warned that foreign subsidies were “reshaping global supply chains before our eyes” and that, without a “clear response,” the U.K. was “putting at risk its reputation as a leader in climate policy.”May’s words echoed criticism from the government’s own independent climate advisers, who said this week that the U.K. had “lost its clear global leadership position” on climate change.The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the EU’s Green Deal Industrial Plan were both “already impacting” the U.K. economy, May sa...

‘French Murdoch’ sparks fears of far-right lurch at iconic paper

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

PARIS — French conservative media tycoon Vincent Bolloré’s influence on France’s media landscape is raising concerns — again. For the second weekend in a row, French readers won’t find their traditional reading at newsstands or online, as journalists at the flagship Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD) have been on strike following the appointment of a controversial editor. The naming of right-wing personality Geoffroy Lejeune as the publication’s top editor has stirred outrage not only in the newsroom, but also among politicians and a broad swath of intellectuals and celebrities, including filmmaker Nicole Garcia and the rapper and producer JoeyStarr, who are worried that the influential mainstream newspaper will become a mouthpiece for the far right. A proud friend of Marine Le Pen’s niece Marion Maréchal, the 34-year-old Lejeune openly backed far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour in last year’s campaign. “It’s almost a provocation,” Céline ...

French politicians push for EU clampdown on influencers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

French lawmakers are pushing for the European Commission to mimic French rules that crack down on social media influencers flogging risky products and services such as crypto or cosmetic surgery.French socialist lawmaker Arthur Delaporte, one of the authors of the French bill, said tougher rules need to be European because content crosses borders.“We know very well that a Belgian influencer can certainly address the Belgian public, but also reach French people,” he told an event in the European Parliament on Wednesday. “The European level is the right one,” he said.The French law goes as far as defining influencers as “individuals or legal entities who, for a fee, mobilize their reputation with their audience” to promote goods and services online. Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, a member of the European Parliament for the Renew group, supports the initiative, saying: “we need to find the right vehicle.” The directive on retail investor protect...

Supreme Court solidifies protections for workers who ask for religious accommodations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday used the case of a Christian mailman who didn’t want to work Sundays to solidify protections for workers who ask for religious accommodations.In a unanimous decision the justices made clear that workers who ask for accommodations, such as taking the Sabbath off, should get them unless their employers show doing so would result in “substantial increased costs” to the business.The court made clear that businesses must cite more than minor costs — so-called “de minimis” costs — to reject requests for religious accommodations at work. Unlike most cases before the court, both sides in the case had agreed businesses needed to show more.The case before the court involved a mail carrier in rural Pennsylvania. The man was told that as part of his job he’d need to start delivering Amazon packages on Sundays. He declined, saying his Sundays are for church and family. U.S. Postal Service officials initially tried to get substi...

3 charged in insider trading case related to taking Trump media firm public, accused of making $22M

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

By LARRY NEUMEISTER (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — Three Florida men were arrested Thursday and charged with illegally making more than $22 million by insider trading ahead of the public announcement that an acquisition firm was going to take a media company owned by former President Donald Trump public.The charges were outlined in an indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court that did not implicate Trump or his media company, which owns his Truth Social platform, in any way.According to the indictment pertaining to the media company, the men were invited to invest in the special purpose acquisition company, Digital World Acquisition Corp., and were provided confidential information that a potential target of DWAC and another acquisition company, Benessere Capital Acquisition Corp., was Trump Media & Technology Group.Authorities said the defendants bought millions of dollars of DWAC securities on the open market before news of the Trump media business was made publ...

Read the opinion: SCOTUS declares affirmative action unconstitutional

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

The Supreme Court on Thursday declared affirmative action in college admissions unconstitutional, ruling that admissions decisions can no longer use look to race as a factor.The vote was 6-3 in the North Carolina case and 6-2 in the Harvard case. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson sat out the Harvard case because she had been a member of an advisory governing board there.You can read the full decision, and the dissents, here.

San Diego rooftop bar among best in US: Enjoy Travel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- It's summertime in San Diego, which means the locals and tourists alike are flocking to the bars offering a view and a breeze.When it comes to rooftop cocktail lounges and sky touching sitting rooms, America's Finest City has a plethora of spots to choose from. 10 of the best rooftop bars in San Diego One San Diego establishment is getting a shoutout from Enjoy Travel, a company that assists travelers with -- well -- all things travel related. That includes finding the best go-to spots in every city. Enjoy Travel just released it's list of the 50 best rooftop bars is the US and one downtown treasure made the list. Altitude Sky Lounge, a swanky club that sits high atop the Gaslamp Marriott, earned itself the #31 spot on the travel advising company's all-time best list.With panoramic views of the downtown San Diego skyline and Petco Park, this rooftop bar creates an "elite after-dark experience." Getting a seat during a Padres games is an added bonus.Enjoy Travel wrote,...