Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday said the United States needs a federal privacy law to protect the personal data of internet users."We at Apple are in full support of a comprehensive federal privacy law in the United States," Cook told a conference in Brussels.He said such a law should allow for personal data to be minimized and force companies to de-identify customer data or not collect them in the first place.Users should also have the right to know what data are being collected and what for, a

World Business Oct. 24, 2018

Italy's competition authority on Wednesday said it was fining Apple and Samsung 10 and five million euros ($11.5 and $5.7 million) respectively for the "planned obsolescence" of their smartphones.The ruling is believed to be the first against the manufacturers following accusations worldwide that they encourage operating system updates for older phones which slow them down, thereby encouraging the purchase of new phones. (Yonhap)An investigation by the anti-trust authority revealed that "Apple a

Industry Oct. 24, 2018

A Canadian rapper died after falling from the wing of a flying plane he was walking on during a music video shoot, his management team said.Jon James, 33, died instantly in the "wing-walking" accident in Vernon, British Columbia, on Saturday, according to a statement.Jon James (via Jon James Instagram)"He had trained intensely for this stunt but as Jon got further out onto the wing of the plane, it caused the small Cessna to go into a downward spiral that the pilot couldn't correct," said the st

World News Oct. 24, 2018

US President Donald Trump launched a fresh assault Tuesday against Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, saying he threatened economic growth and seemed to enjoy raising interest rates.In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump hinted that he regretted nominating Powell in the first place."Every time we do something great, he raises the interest rates," Trump told the Journal.He "almost looks like he's happy raising interest rates," the president added.US President Donald Trump shakes

World News Oct. 24, 2018

Test flights of a driverless hover-taxi will take place in Singapore next year, a German aviation firm said, the latest innovation to offer an escape from Asia's monster traffic jams.Millions of commuters in the region's cities have to contend with chronic gridlock every day, sparking a race to develop new ways to avoid the snarl-ups.While the developed city-state of Singapore does not suffer major congestion, it is seen as a perfect test-bed for new technologies due to its compact size and open

World News Oct. 24, 2018

British royal Meghan Markle recounted her own struggles to afford university as she passionately promoted female education to Fijian students in her first speech of the Oceania royal tour Wednesday.The pregnant American-born wife of Britain's Prince Harry took centre stage at the University of the South Pacific to push the case for open access to education, particularly for women."For women and girls in developing countries this is vital," she said. "Providing them with access to education is th

World News Oct. 24, 2018

Rebecca Witzofsky, a 20-year-old deaf student at Gallaudet University in Washington, and her hearing friend Nikolas Carapellatti wanted to get a coffee. But on Tuesday, Witzofsky finally didn't have to struggle to make her order understood.US coffee giant Starbucks opened its first "signing store" in the United States in northeast Washington near the campus of Gallaudet, the world's only university with an entire curriculum designed to accommodate the deaf and hard-of-hearing.At the store, all s

World Business Oct. 24, 2018

Thousands of Honduran migrants heading to the United States -- a caravan President Donald Trump has called an "assault on our country" -- stopped to rest Tuesday after walking for two days into Mexican territory.Sleeping on cardboard boxes or plastic bags, the migrants set up a massive, impromptu camp in the southern town of Huixtla, 70 kilometers (45 miles) from the Mexico-Guatemala border.Many nursed bleeding feet mangled by 10 days of walking nearly 800 kilometers in plastic shoes or flip-flo

World News Oct. 24, 2018

President Donald Trump said Monday the United States will start cutting aid to three Central American countries as a caravan of thousands of mostly Honduran migrants rolled on toward the US border.The United Nations said more than 7,000 people were now heading toward the United States, as more migrants joined the original group, including some Central Americans who were already in Mexico.Trump meanwhile kept up his almost-daily Twitter attacks on the approaching caravan, calling it a national em

World News Oct. 23, 2018

DUNDO, Angola (AFP) -- About 380,000 illegal migrants, mostly from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, have left Angola in less than a month during a massive operation targeting diamond smuggling, a minister said Saturday.On a visit to Dundo in northern Angola on the border with DR Congo, Pedro Sebastiao dismissed allegations that the migrants had been violently expelled and often beaten by police. Congolese migrants who were living in Angola gather near the Congolese border town of K

World News Oct. 22, 2018

KABUL (AFP) -- Problems plagued hundreds of Afghan polling centres Sunday in the shambolic legislative election's second day of voting, fuelling criticism of organisers and eroding hopes for credible results after a ballot marred by deadly violence.As voters once again braved the threat of militant attacks, an AFP tally of casualty figures from across the war-torn country showed the number of civilians and security forces killed or wounded in polling-related violence on Saturday was nearly 300.T

World News Oct. 22, 2018

YILAN, Taiwan - At least 17 people have died after a train derailed and flipped over in Taiwan Sunday, authorities said.The Taiwan Railways Administration confirmed the toll and said more than 70 people had also been injured in the accident in northeastern Yilan county.At least five carriages had flipped over and were lying on their side, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.Images from the site showed the high-speed Puyuma Express train completely derailed and lying zig-zagged across the t

World News Oct. 21, 2018

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) -- Lionel Messi is expected to be out for three weeks after fracturing his right arm during Barcelona's win over Sevilla on Saturday.Messi will now miss Barca's Champions League game at home to Inter Milan on Wednesday, as well as the season's first Clasico four days later against Real Madrid.A Barcelona club statement read: "Tests carried out on Leo Messi have confirmed that he has a fracture of the radial bone in his right arm. He will be out for approximately three week

Soccer Oct. 21, 2018

CIUDAD HIDALGO, Mexico (AFP) -- Mexican authorities allowed dozens of women and children from a US-bound Honduran migrant caravan to enter the country Saturday but thousands remain stranded on a border bridge between Guatemala and Mexico where riot police barred their progress.Mexico’s ambassador to Guatemala Luis Manuel Lopez told AFP the women and children would be processed by immigration authorities and taken to a shelter in the city of Tapachula, 40 kilometers (25 miles) away.Hundreds of ot

World News Oct. 21, 2018

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said in an interview for publication Sunday he backed a global minimum fiscal regime for multinationals as Europe looks to levy tax notably on US tech giants."We need a minumum tax rate valid globally which no state can get out of (applying)," Scholz, a social democrat in conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government, told the "Welt am Sonntag" weekly.Europe is trying to devise a strategy to tax profits from the likes of Google, Amazon, Facebook

World Business Oct. 21, 2018