Author: potus
Beata Zawrzel | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesTikTok returned to the Apple and Google app stores Thursday evening.The Chinese-owned social media app had been removed from the the two stores on Jan. 18, moments after TikTok’s leadership temporarily halted service in the U.S. in response to a national security law that went into effect the next day.Nearly a month later, TikTok is once again available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play. Internet service providers like Apple, Google and Oracle could have incurred harsh penalties for violating the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. That law,…
(The Center Square) – Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth pinpointed climate change programs as a potential place for the Department of Government Efficiency to cut Department of Defense spending while traveling in Germany this week.Hegseth ultimately hopes the U.S. will increase its defense budget as he claims the Biden administration “underinvested” in the American military, but things like DOD climate change programs are ripe for cuts, according to the secretary.“The Defense Department is not in the business of climate change, solving the global thermostat. We’re in the business of deterring and winning wars,” Hegseth told reporters Tuesday. “Things like that,…
(The Center Square) – Gov. Josh Shapiro recently unveiled his asks for the coming state budget, and like many of his predecessors, some of his latest proposals are ones he couldn’t get approved in years prior.One such request is the Pennsylvania Climate Emissions Reduction Act, called PACER for short. His administration describes it as a carbon cap-and-trade program that is, ultimately, a tax on the carbon dioxide emissions of energy sources.PACER is Shapiro’s answer to the controversial Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, also known as RGGI, a similar carbon tax program former Gov. Tom Wolf attempted to force upon the commonwealth…
Medan, Indonesia – As the mother of an 18-month-old daughter, Laila Lubis is busy experiencing the challenges and joys of new motherhood. Though her daughter only recently uttered her first words, Lubis is already thinking about how the internet and social media could shape her development long into the future. “I will never give a mobile phone to my child,” Lubis, who works as a humanitarian worker in Mandailing Natal, North Sumatra, told Al Jazeera. “I will not allow my daughter to use a mobile phone for as long as I can. Maybe when my child is around six years old, I…
Vice President JD Vance publicly berated European leaders on a host of issues from free speech to security and illegal immigration, as simmering tensions between the United States and its close allies boiled over at an international conference in Munich on Friday.The vice president used the podium at the high-level security gathering that had been focusing on the invasion of Ukraine and the threat Russia poses Europe and the rest of the world to raise social issues animating many on the American right. “The threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia. It’s not China. It’s…
President Trump on Thursday offered reassurances that Ukraine would be involved in negotiations to end the war with Russia, a day after his remarks left that prospect in doubt and alarmed officials in Kyiv and Ukraine’s European allies with the possibility that they would be left out of peace talks.“Of course they would,” Mr. Trump said in response to a reporter’s question in the Oval Office in Washington about whether Ukraine would have a place at the table. “I mean, they’re part of it. We would have Ukraine, we would have Russia, and we would have other people involved, too.”European…
A United States Navy aircraft carrier collided with a merchant vessel in the Mediterranean Sea shortly before midnight on Wednesday near a port in Egypt, Navy officials said.The U.S.S. Harry S. Truman, a Nimitz-class carrier, had been operating in the Red Sea while deployed under U.S. Central Command since Dec. 14, helping to launch attacks in Yemen against Houthi militias there that have been attacking civilian ships and vessels tied to Israel.There were no reports of flooding or injuries aboard the Truman, and the Navy said in a statement on Thursday that the ship’s propulsion systems, powered by two onboard…
United States President Donald Trump has signed a plan rolling out increased import duties for every trading partner that taxes US imports, stating that he was doing so to bring a sense of “fairness” to commerce. Sitting in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump described the tariffs as reciprocal, meaning that the US would automatically raise its own import taxes to match existing levels in other countries. “On trade I have decided for purposes of fairness that I will charge a reciprocal tariff, meaning whatever countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them. No more, no less,”…
Thomas Fuller | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesAirbnb shares jumped 15% in extended trading on Thursday after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analysts’ estimates.Here’s how the company did compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:Earnings per share: 73 cents vs. 58 cents expectedRevenue: $2.48 billion vs. $2.42 billion expectedRevenue increased 12% from $2.22 billion during the same period last year. Airbnb reported net income of $461 million, or 73 cents per share. A year ago, Airbnb reported a loss of $349 million, or a loss of 55 cents per share.In the first quarter, Airbnb expects to…
(The Center Square) — Louisiana has long been an energy powerhouse, and its existing hydrogen infrastructure puts it in a prime position to lead in the emerging clean hydrogen economy. With major players like Air Liquide, Air Products, and Praxair operating hydrogen pipelines, and a well-established network of refineries and chemical plants that already produce and use hydrogen, the state has the potential to become a national hub for hydrogen and fuel cell development.But that future is a bit uncertain with the new Trump administration. Shifting federal policies, regulatory uncertainty, and looming tax debates have left Louisiana’s hydrogen prospects in limbo.The…