Tech News

Rioters target Apple Store in daylight looting in French city

Young rioters went on a daylight looting spree Friday in the French city of Strasbourg, targeting an Apple Store and other shops following the fatal shooting of a teen by a policeman near Paris.. Fearing an outbreak of vandalism, police had earlier locked down access to a shopping mall in the centre of the eastern French city, where one of the Apple Store's entrances is located.

Kenya's president to get pay hike as economy suffers

Kenya's president, his deputy and other state officials are set to receive pay rises despite citizens facing deep economic hardship and higher taxes, according to a government document seen by AFP Friday.. Ruto himself weighed in on the issue on Friday, urging the SRC to reconsider the hikes for top government officials.

July 4th weekend celebration to test US travel system

Travel experts are predicting record volumes for the July 4th weekend, with road traffic peaking Friday as Americans contend with the elements to take part in the annual summer celebration.. A record 50.7 million Americans are expected to venture at least 50 miles from home in the period heading into July 4th, eclipsing the prior peak of 49 million in 2019, according to the American Automobile Association.

Major firms warn EU over AI regulation risks

More than 150 leading companies warned the EU's plans to regulate artificial intelligence risk harming Europe's competitiveness and do not go far enough to tackle challenges, in a letter seen by AFP Friday.. "In our assessment, the draft legislation would jeopardise Europe's competitiveness and technological sovereignty without effectively tackling the challenges we are and will be facing," executives from France's Airbus, Peugeot and Renault, Germany's Siemens, and Facebook parent firm Meta said in the open letter to EU institutions.

EU eyes 3 bn euros a year for Ukraine from Russian asset tax

The European Union could raise three billion euros a year for Ukraine's reconstruction by taxing the interest earned by Russian central bank assets frozen in the bloc, Belgium's prime minister said Friday.. EU diplomats say that about 100 billion euros of the Russian central bank assets is in cash, earning roughly 3 percent, and that is what would be subject to the tax. 

US Fed's favored inflation gauge declined sharply in May

The US inflation measure most closely watched by the Federal Reserve declined sharply in May, official figures showed Friday, returning to a downward trend after a jump a month earlier.. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index measure of inflation eased to 3.8 percent year-on-year in May, a significant drop from 4.3 percent a month earlier, the Commerce Department said in a statement.

Orchestra-conducting robot wows audience in S. Korean capital

A South Korean-made robot made its debut as an orchestra conductor before a sell-out crowd in Seoul on Friday, wowing the audience with a flawless performance in place of a human maestro. . While there have been musical performances led by robotic conductors in the past, including a 2017 concert led by the robot YuMi in Italy, this was the first time South Koreans were able to witness a robotic conductor on stage. 

Falling energy prices push eurozone inflation down

Eurozone inflation eased further in June as energy costs slid but those of food and drinks remained elevated as underlying price pressures persist, official data showed Friday.. According to other Eurostat data published Friday, the unemployment rate in the eurozone remained stable in May at 6.5 percent. raz/rmb/lth

Pokemon Go firm Niantic slashes staff

The maker of mobile game Pokemon Go has said it will slash 230 jobs, almost one-third of its staff, in another blow to the tech industry.. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs in the tech sector over the past year, with firms often blaming over-hiring during the pandemic.

Indian court dismisses Twitter plea on takedown orders

An Indian court on Friday fined Twitter $61,000 after dismissing its plea challenging orders to remove tweets and accounts critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. . At the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2021, the government ordered Twitter and Facebook to remove dozens of posts critical of the government's handling of the outbreak.