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Meta rolls out paid ad-free option for European Facebook and Insta users after privacy ruling

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Facebook and Instagram users in Europe are getting the option to pay for ad-free versions of the social media platforms as a way to comply with the continent’s strict data privacy rules, parent company Meta said Monday.Starting in November, users on desktop browsers can pay about 10 euros ($10.50) a month while iOS or Android users will pay roughly 13 euros. The higher prices reflect commissions charged by the Apple and Google app stores on in-app payments, the company said in a blog post.The fee will cover all linked Facebook and Instagram accounts until March, when Meta will start charging 6 euros for each additional account. The Wall Street Journal reported on the plan earlier this month.The U.S. tech giant is rolling out the subscription option after the European Union’s top court ruled that under strict EU data privacy rules, Meta must first get consent before showing ads to users. The ruling jeopardizes the company’s ability to make money by tailoring advertiseme...

Walmart stores are getting a new look. Here’s what the redesigned stores look like

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

New York (CNN) — Walmart unveiled over a hundred revamped stores on Monday that have been recalibrated to pull in more customers and keep them in stores for longer, too.The aim is to get them to shop at Walmart for things other than staples like groceries and everyday necessities.During the pandemic, customers were flocking to big box stores for all manner of stay-at-home gadgets, including huge televisions and exercise equipment. But when people began to return to their pre-pandemic lives – and as inflation took a bite – people started giving up on those kinds of discretionary purchases.Although Walmart has fared better than Target and other rivals in recent months, it’s not immune to consumers focusing more on their needs and less on their wants. While the retailer has remained competitive with Target and other discounters on food sales, it has struggled to get shoppers to buy the the sort of items, like home goods and electronics, that bring in much larger profits.So Walmart said...

EU commissioner Breton to visit Beijing and Hong Kong

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s industry chief Thierry Breton will visit China next month, an aide told POLITICO on Tuesday.The trip will take Breton to Beijing from November 8 to 10, as well as Hong Kong on November 11, according to the aide.The visit by Breton, the European commissioner for the internal market, follows a series of recent trips to China by senior eurocrats, including trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis, his digital colleague Věra Jourová and the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell. It comes amid heightened trade friction between the EU and China, most notably over a recent European Commission probe into state subsidies behind made-in-China electric vehicles.Beijing has yet to confirm the timing of a planned EU-China Summit, even though the EU hasproposed a couple of dates in December, POLITICO has learned. Breton will be the first top EU official to visit Hong Kong since pro-democracy protests there in 2019.

Man accused of opening fire in Boston’s North End pleads not guilty 

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

The man accused of opening fire in the North End over the summer pleaded not guilty in court Tuesday as he faces charges related to the incident. Officials said Patrick Mendoza allegedly fired multiple shots at a man on Hanover Street on July 12 before riding away on his bike.The man was not hurt but the shooting damaged the window of the nearby Modern Pastry. Video from the night of the shooting obtained by 7NEWS showed a man who police say was Mendoza as he rode up on a bicycle and began firing. The victim could be seen running away after taking cover behind a nearby vehicle. Authorities obtained an arrest warrant for Mendoza, 54, after the shooting. Police then took Mendoza into custody on July 21 at a detox facility in Falmouth. Mendoza is the now-former owner of Monica’s Trattoria in the North End. He was indicted in August on various charges. 

Suspect sought in unprovoked attack on GO train near Agincourt station

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

Toronto police are looking to identify a suspect who they say assaulted a passenger in an unprovoked attack on a GO train over the weekend.Police were called to the scene just before 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 29, for an alleged assault between Milliken and Agincourt stations.Investigators say a man randomly struck a passenger in the face with a heavy object. He then exited the train at Agincourt Station and headed towards Sheppard Avenue.The victim was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.Police say the suspect is male, six-feet tall, 200 pounds, with short black hair and a black beard. He was wearing sunglasses, a black leather jacket with grey stains, black hooded sweater, black jeans with grey stains, black shoes with white soles, and untied laces. He was also walking with a brown wooden cane at the time.

Cameco shares up after reporting Q3 profit and raising revenue outlook for 2023

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

SASKATOON — Shares in Cameco Corp. rose nearly 10 per cent after it raised its revenue outlook for 2023 and reported a profit of $148 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss a year ago.The uranium miner says the profit amounted to 34 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a loss of $20 million or five cents per diluted share a year earlier.Revenue for the quarter totalled $575 million, up from $389 million in the same quarter last year.On an adjusted basis, Cameco says it earned 32 cents per diluted share, up from an adjusted profit of three cents per diluted share a year earlier.In its updated outlook, Cameco says it now expects consolidated revenue between $2.43 billion and $2.58 billion for 2023, up from its earlier expectations for between $2.38 billion and $2.53 billion, primarily driven by higher expected average realized prices under its contract portfolio. Cameco shares were up $4.85 at $57.21 in early Tuesday trading on the Toronto S...

Wisconsin’s Democratic governor sues Republican Legislature over blocking ‘basic functions’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday sued the Republican-controlled Legislature, arguing that it is obstructing basic government functions, including signing off on pay raises for university employees that were previously approved.Evers is asking the liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court to take the case directly, bypassing lower courts.In addition to not approving the pay raises for about 35,000 University of Wisconsin employees, Evers argues that the Legislature is blocking state conservation programs, updates to the state’s commercial building standards and ethics standards for licensed professionals.The Legislature included a 6% pay raise for UW employees over two years in the state budget it passed earlier this year that Evers signed. But pay raises also must then be approved by a committee of legislative leaders. That panel on Oct. 17 approved pay raises for state workers, but not UW employees because Republican Assembly Speaker Robin...

Tropical Storm Pilar dumps heavy rains on Central America leaving at least 2 dead

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Tropical Storm Pilar lashed Central America on Tuesday with heavy rains that have been blamed for two deaths in El Salvador as the storm meanders off the Pacific coast.The U.S. National Hurricane Center said early Tuesday that Pilar was located about 175 miles (280 kilometers) south-southwest of San Salvador with winds of 50 mph (85 kph) and was moving east-northeast at 3 mph (6 kph).The storm was expected to maintain that general track Tuesday, stall for a day or more just off the coast and then abruptly turn around and head back out to sea Thursday without making landfall, the center said.The storm was forecast to dump five to 10 inches (12-24 centimeters) of rain from El Salvador to Costa Rica with as much as 15 inches (38 centimeters) in some areas.A 24-year-old man and a 57-year-old woman were swept away by swollen streams Sunday in the province of La Union, according to Fermín Pérez, the assistant director of El Salvador’s civil defense office....

US consumers feeling slightly less confident in October for 3rd straight month

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — American consumers are feeling increasingly less confident these days as fears of an oncoming recession remain elevated.The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 102.6 from 104.3 in September.The index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months. The index measuring Americans short-term outlook for income, business and job market declined again, to 75.6 in October from 76.4 in September. Readings below 80 for future expectations historically signal a recession within a year.Consumers’ view of current conditions also fell this month, to 143.1 from 146.2 in September.Consumer spending accounts for around 70% of U.S. economic activity, so economists pay close attention to the mood of consumers to gauge how it may affect the broader economy.Matt Ott, The Associated Press

Senior Chinese official visits Myanmar for border security talks as fighting rages in frontier area

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — A high-ranking official from China has made a visit to military-ruled Myanmar to discuss security along the countries’ shared border, Myanmar state media reported Tuesday. The visit by Chinese State Council member and Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong comes as fighting rages along Myanmar’s northeastern frontier, where an alliance of ethnic minority groups launched an offensive against the military government.The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that Wang met the Home Affairs minister, Lt. Gen. Yar Pyae, on Monday in the capital, Naypyitaw. It said they discussed “peace and tranquility” in border areas, and the promotion of law enforcement and security cooperation.Wang’s visit came three days after the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, calling themselves the Three Brotherhood Alliance, launched a coordinated offensive to seize military targets in the northern ...