French bond yields have topped 5 percent, their highest level since 2002, after widespread protests and violence over the weekend. It's a sign that investors are losing confidence in France's finances, as the government grapples with budget and debt problems. Also in the show: chipmaker Nvidia says it's invested $10 billion in European tech firms to boost the "AI economy", and the UK approves a controversial natural gas field as PM Andy Burnham faces pressure over energy costs.
September’s uptick in inflation dealt Americans with higher prices just before the midterm elections, as Democrats seek to wrestle back control of Congress from the GOP by highlighting affordability concerns. Annual inflation was 3.7 percent last month, according to the consumer price index (CPI). On a monthly basis, the cost of energy, gas and electricity…
September’s uptick in inflation dealt Americans with higher prices just before the midterm elections, as Democrats seek to wrestle back control of Congress from the GOP by highlighting affordability concerns. Annual inflation was 3.7 percent last month, according to the consumer price index (CPI). On a monthly basis, the cost of energy, gas and electricity…
Meta is finally being forced to pay for its near-decade-old falsehoods about the Cambridge Analytica scandal that saw millions of users’ data harvested for political purposes.
On Wednesday, a judge in New Mexico ordered the social media company to pay a $25 billion penalty following a jury’s determination in late September that the company’s executives broke state laws with knowingly false statements they made in the wake of the scandal.
“The extraordinary number of willful violations found by the jury, the duration and repetition of the conduct, the breadth of subjects on which violations occurred, the involvement of senior Facebook leadership, the size of New Mexico audiences reached, and the clear intentional and systematic nature of Facebook’s repeated misstatements established in the trial record support the highest level of penalty allowed by the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act,” New Mexico State District Court Judge Francis Mathew wrote in a court filing.
To refresh your memory, the scandal involved Cambridge Analytica — a political firm financed in part by pro-Trump benefactors — harvesting private data from tens of millions of Facebook users, which was eventually conveyed to members of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and used for political targeting. To be clear, this case was an entirely separate trial from the other landmark trial Meta lost in New Mexico, which found the company liable for placing profits over consumers and knowingly putting children at risk of harms it knew to exist on its platforms.
As Tech Policy Press reported, the false statements deemed willfully deceptive by the jury include comments from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and other executives about things like the company’s response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, users’ data protections, and misinformation and hate speech on its platforms.
For example, the statements include comments from both Zuckerberg and Sandberg about when access to users’ private data was closed off. They also include a comment from Zuckerberg in 2017 saying that Meta — then known as Facebook — had “always taken down any post that promotes or celebrates hate crimes or acts of terrorism.” Another comment deemed willfully deceptive came from Zuckerberg in 2020, when he claimed there were no exceptions for politicians who broke the platforms’ rules about content that “may lead to violence or deprive people of their right to vote.” The jury also found willfully deceptive a 2020 comment from former Meta executive Nick Clegg, who claimed that Meta “doesn’t profit from hate” and that the company applied a “zero tolerance approach” to hateful posts on Facebook and Instagram.
As the Santa Fe New Mexican reported: “‘Meta’s platforms are forums for free expression. We have a First Amendment right to manage those platforms in a way we believe best serves the interests of our community,’ the spokesperson wrote in an email. ‘This means prioritizing free speech, protecting our users’ information and giving them control over their data.’”
Jed Wallace, who's now fighting several legal cases, privately boasted to a billionaire customer that his roster included “world leaders, celebrities, diplomats, high-profile individuals,” explaining, “I have to pick and choose who the fuck I work with.”
GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno (Ohio) said Tuesday he will introduce legislation to expand access to the Trump administration’s investment accounts for children to Americans younger than 40. “This is a game-changer and I’ll lead the bill in the Senate to make it happen,” Moreno wrote on the social platform X. “Trump Accounts are already transforming…
GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno (Ohio) said Tuesday he will introduce legislation to expand access to the Trump administration’s investment accounts for children to Americans younger than 40. “This is a game-changer and I’ll lead the bill in the Senate to make it happen,” Moreno wrote on the social platform X. “Trump Accounts are already transforming…
The Ultimate Beneficial Owner declaration is easy to overlook, but missed updates can expose companies to escalating penalties and licensing complications
The Ultimate Beneficial Owner declaration is easy to overlook, but missed updates can expose companies to escalating penalties and licensing complications
ISLAMABAD – Pakistanis will pay Rs379.31 per litre for petrol on Thursday, October 22, 2026, as the government announced a Rs2.71 cut, while high-speed diesel (HSD) will become slightly more expensive.
A day earlier, the government raised diesel by Rs0.31 per litre to Rs390.11, delivering a mixed fuel-price adjustment for consumers. The revised rates apply for October 22.
Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) revised ex-depot prices under the federal government’s petroleum pricing mechanism. The calculation reflected international developments, including changes in Platts quotations, premiums and incidental costs. Pakistan’s petrol relief comes as crude availability improves in the Middle East, although record shipping costs continue to weigh on the movement of oil from the region.
Fresh data shows that Oman crude’s premium over Dubai, a measure of Middle Eastern market strength, dropped to $4.22 per barrel this week, its lowest since late July. That represents a sharp retreat from approximately $30 per barrel in mid-September.
Regional producers have accelerated shuttle shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman. These operations have increased available supplies, particularly spot cargoes, helping drive the premium lower. Several tanker-tracking services indicate that Middle Eastern crude flows are recovering, with some estimating shipments have already exceeded pre-war levels.
Elon Musk's proposed $3.5 trillion SpaceXTesla merger could unite AI, robotics, electric vehicles, satellite communications and space infrastructure, but regulatory and execution risks remain.
Andy Burnham hit the nail on the (well)head in his first fortnight as prime minister when he said: “The question isn’t whether Britain will still be using oil and gas, the question is, where does it come from?”
It was a nod towards several awkward energy facts. First, oil and gas provided 75% of the UK’s energy in 2025, government data shows. Second, even with the rollout of domestic renewables for generating electricity, about 43% of overall energy was imported last year.
ISLAMABAD – The federal government has announced plans to move Islamabad’s entire electricity transmission system underground.
Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited the Malpur area of Islamabad to review encroachments. The Chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad briefed him on the situation.
Naqvi directed the Islamabad administration to remove illegal occupation of government land in Bhara Kahu. He said that just as the person occupying government land is responsible, the relevant CDA official is equally accountable for allowing the encroachment.
The interior minister said that 150 housing societies in Islamabad are illegal, adding that 108 kanals of land in Malpur have been illegally occupied. He noted that people have been occupying government land for 30 years or more.
Naqvi also ordered the recovery of illegally occupied land in Bhara Kahu. He said that three museums, including an Army Museum, would be established on the 108 kanals of government land once it had been reclaimed.
He further announced plans to redevelop the older sectors of Islamabad, including G-6, G-7, G-9 and G-10.
The interior minister said that there would be no electricity poles left standing in Islamabad within the next two years. He added that the government would work with the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) to remove electricity poles and shift the power transmission infrastructure underground.
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