Author: potus

Countries condemn US sanctions on the ICC alleging impunity for serious crimes and weakening international law.Donald Trump’s decision to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) increases the “risk of impunity” for serious crimes, 79 parties to the global tribunal have said. In a statement on Friday, a group of 79 countries – about two-thirds of the court’s membership – affirmed its support for the ICC and said that sanctions would weaken international law after Trump signed an executive order sanctioning the court for investigating Israel. “Such measures increase the risk of impunity for the most serious crimes and threaten to erode…

French prosecutors on have opened an investigation into Elon Musk’s X over allegations that it distorted its algorithms to manipulate discourse taking place on the social media platform.The Paris public prosecutor’s office said it received a report from a French lawmaker on Jan. 12 criticizing X over “biased algorithms” that were “likely to have distorted the operation of an automated data processing system.”Magistrates and specialized assistants of the office’s cybercrime section have been tasked with analyzing the report and carrying out initial technical checks on the platform, the prosecutor’s office told CNBC Friday, in emailed comments.CNBC has contacted X for comment.X, which…

Tax season has officially started, so you should prepare to file your 2024 tax return, and prepare for the scammers who are already prowling. Don’t get baited and hooked.Many people are lax about protecting their personal information online, and there’s more reason than ever to be wary given widespread hacks such as the massive data breach of background check company National Public Data that exposed an estimated 2.9 billion records, including Social Security numbers.Protecting yourself is important for many reasons, including how time-consuming and difficult it can be to recover from tax-identity theft, said Andy Phillips, vice president of The…

As millions of federal workers face a looming deadline to decide whether to accept the Trump administration’s unprecedented buyout offer, questions remain over whether the plan is even valid without Congress’ approval, according to interviews with federal law and labor experts.More than 60,000 employees have already agreed to resign as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to rapidly reduce the government workforce, with more being coaxed to take the deal ahead of a Monday deadline.That same day, a federal judge in Boston is expected to hear arguments over the merits of the “deferred resignation” program, which is being challenged by…

(The Center Square) — Gov. Janet Mills’ proposal to set a new tax on prescription drugs is drawing widespread criticism from the industry, which argues that it will force family-owned pharmacies to pass the added costs onto consumers or shut down.The taxing plan, tucked into Mills’ two-year $118 billion preliminary budget, calls for charging Maine pharmacies 70 cents for each prescription they fill in the state. Revenue from the proposed levy would be used to leverage matching federal funds to increase MaineCare reimbursements for pharmacies, according to the Mills administration.The Mills administration said the plan will be aggregately revenue neutral…

U.S. Vice President JD Vance attends a joint press conference of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., Feb. 4, 2025. Leah Millis | ReutersVice President JD Vance on Friday called for the rehiring of a DOGE staffer who resigned from a sensitive Trump administration post over the exposure of tweets advocating for racism and eugenics.Vance’s call came in a reply to a poll that DOGE chief Elon Musk launched on his social media platform X asking users whether 25-year-old staffer Marko Elez should be rehired to…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government no longer backs transgender minors and their families in Tennessee who are challenging a state ban on gender-affirming care, the Trump administration told the Supreme Court Friday.The court’s conservatives, at arguments in December, had already seemed likely to uphold the state ban on puberty blockers and hormone treatments. The formal notification of the change is the latest in a flurry of actions by the new administration regarding transgender people. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in his second week in office halting federal support for gender-affirming health care for transgender people under age…

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday that Canada must think “tactically and strategically” on how to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to impose hefty tariffs on all Canadian imports.Speaking in Toronto at the opening of a one-day summit on the Canada-U.S. economic relationship, Trudeau told the gathering of trade, business and labor experts the country must work with the U.S. to avoid tariffs.He also said Canada needs to eliminate internal trade barriers and expand its trade with other nations.“This is a moment,” said Trudeau. “This is a time in our country’s history that…

Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesPinterest shares surged 19% after beating Wall Street’s fourth-quarter sales estimates and showing robust user growth from a year ago.The image-sharing company reported revenues of $1.15 billion, ahead of a $1.14 billion estimate from analysts surveyed by LSEG. The figure represented 18% year-over-year growth.Along with the revenue beat, the company offered an upbeat sales outlook. Pinterest said its expects revenues between $837 million and $852 million during the first quarter, versus and LSEG estimate of $833 million.”Our strategy is paying off,” said Pinterest CEO Bill Ready in a statement. “People are coming to Pinterest…

SoftBank is close to finalizing a $40 billion primary investment in OpenAI at a $260 billion pre-money valuation, sources told CNBC’s David Faber.SoftBank would pay out the funding, which would mean a $300 billion post-money valuation for OpenAI, over the next 12 to 24 months, with the first payment coming as soon as spring, Faber reported Friday. SoftBank would be able to syndicate as much as $10 billion of the amount.The new funding would mean SoftBank surpasses Microsoft as the artificial intelligence startup’s top backer. OpenAI was last valued at $157 billion by private investors in October.The round was initially…