PARIS (AP) — France’s competition authority fined Google 150 million euros ($166 million) on Friday for “abusing its dominant position” in the online ad market. The agency said the U.S. tech company mistreated buyers of ads based on keywords. Methods used by its Google Ads platform are “opaque and difficult to understand” and the company […]

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday strongly rejected Western criticism of a 1939 Soviet pact with Nazi Germany, arguing that Western powers, not the Soviet Union, were responsible for trying to appease the Nazis. World War II still evokes painful memories in Russia, which lost an estimated 27 million in the war. […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter says it has removed nearly 6,000 accounts it has deemed tied to a state-backed information operation in Saudi Arabia. Twitter says the accounts violated its “platform manipulation policies” and targeted discussions related to Saudi Arabia and advancing its geopolitical interests. The 5,929 accounts removed are part of a larger group […]

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has signaled it will file an appeal against its four-year Olympic ban due to World Anti-Doping Agency sanctions which President Vladimir Putin on Thursday branded “unfair.” The Russian anti-doping agency’s supervisory board voted Thursday to file an arbitration case with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland. WADA last […]

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson signaled an end to Britain’s era of Brexit deadlock Thursday, announcing a packed legislative program intended to take the U.K. out of the European Union on Jan. 31, overhaul everything from fishing to financial services and shore up the country’s cash-starved public services. The commanding House of Commons […]

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Prosecutors in Bolivia’s capital issued an arrest warrant against former President Evo Morales on Wednesday, accusing him of sedition and terrorism. Interior Minister Arturo Murillo recently brought charges against Morales, alleging he promoted violent clashes that led to 35 deaths. Officials say he ordered supporters to blockade cities in order […]

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog on Wednesday signaled its willingness to push for stricter rules to counter Google and Facebook ‘s dominance of online advertising. The Competition and Markets Authority said in an interim report it’s concerned that the U.S. tech giants have become “entrenched” players in the U.K.’s 13 billion pound ($17 billion) […]

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Two Lebanese-Australian brothers were sentenced to decades of prison time for their roles in a 2017 bombing plot of an airliner that was foiled with the help of Israeli intelligence. Khaled and Mahmoud Khayat targeted an Etihad Airways flight from Sydney to the United Arab Emirates. The New South Wales Supreme Court […]

RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — Brazil has opened a new trade office in Jerusalem as a first step to moving its embassy to the Israeli capital next year. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, attended the opening ceremony on Sunday side by side with Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of Brazilian President Jair […]

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish authorities on Friday arrested a far-right leader and plan to charge him with public incitement of hatred against Jews, officials said. The Internal Security Agency arrested Jacek Miedlar, who is also a former priest, according to the agency and the prosecutor’s office in the western city of Wroclaw. Stanislaw Zaryn, […]