January, 2020

• 18 January

  Amazon’s snooping on Alexa spurs EU privacy response

  

  Bloomberg European Union (EU) privacy watchdogs are gearing up to police digital assistants after revelations that Amazon.com Inc workers listened in on people’s conversations with their Alexa digital assistants. Bloomberg first reported in April that Amazon had a team of thousands of workers around the world listening to Alexa audio requests with the goal of improving the software. Similar issues ...

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• 18 January

  Spotify in talks to buy Ringer in sports push

  Bloomberg Spotify Technology SA has considered an acquisition of the Ringer website and podcast network, according to people familiar with the situation, part of a broader push into sports content. Spotify has held talks about a deal, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. But it’s not clear whether the transaction will happen ...

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• 18 January

  Facebook foes sue to force Mark Zuckerberg to sell majority stake

  

  Bloomberg Facebook Inc was sued by four potential competitors who accuse it of anticompetitive behavior and who asked a judge to order Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg to give up control of the social media behemoth. The companies also said if Facebook isn’t forced to sell its WhatsApp and Instagram assets, it’ll integrate them into the social network, “consolidating its ...

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• 18 January

  Trump trial set to open with questions on Ukraine ‘favour’

  

  Bloomberg “Read the transcript!” That’s the rallying cry of President Donald Trump and supporters who say he did nothing wrong in the Ukraine impeachment saga. Democrats countered that the White House readout of Trump’s call with Ukraine’s president offers strong evidence of his guilt. The key line they point to is this: “I would like you to do us a ...

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• 18 January

  North Korea replaces its foreign minister

  

  Bloomberg North Korea’s Ri Yong Ho has been replaced as foreign minister after about four years as the country’s top diplomat, NK News reported, citing people familiar with the matter in Pyongyang. The name of his replacement has not been made public, although NK News said it may be announced on or before an event for resident diplomats, scheduled for ...

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• 18 January

  Dems try to reassure Latinos over Trump’s cry of socialism

  

  Bloomberg Democrats seeking to counter President Donald Trump’s use of “socialism” as a slur can look to a yearlong effort to fight back now underway in Florida. Trump frequently attacks Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders as socialists in the mold of progressives in Congress like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who are pushing the party to adopt far-left policies. This attack has ...

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• 18 January

  Pompeo threatened with House subpoena

  Bloomberg The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee threatened to subpoena Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to testify about the administration’s policy in Iran, Iraq and the Middle East following the US drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad. The warning comes as Democrats continue to demand clarity over why Qassem Soleimani — the head of ...

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• 18 January

  HK mustn’t lose faith in youth: Paul Chan

  

  Bloomberg Hong Kong must not give up on its youth and should invest in future generations, finance secretary Paul Chan said at a forum on Saturday, Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) reported. The city faces declining income and a growing deficit as it tries to deal with ongoing social issues, Chan said. Hong Kong has endured seven months of violent ...

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• 18 January

  Iran to send black boxes of crashed jet to Ukraine

  

  Bloomberg Iran will transfer the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder of a crashed Boeing aircraft to Ukraine for further investigation, according to Iranian media. “The black boxes of Flight 752 will not be decoded in Iran and will be transferred to Ukraine instead as per the country’s request,” semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, citing Hassan Rezaeifar, head ...

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• 18 January

  Boris Johnson is flying into dangerous skies

  

  You know British politics has been turned on its head when a Conservative government jumps in to rescue a failing company, and Labour supporters criticise the bailout as market distorting and wasteful. Yet that’s the odd situation that arises from the UK’s decision to save struggling regional airline Flybe. When faced with the collapses of travel agent Thomas Cook, contracting ...

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