Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg’s compensation rose 53.5 percent to $8.9 million in 2017, a regulatory filing showed Friday, largely because of higher costs related to the 33-year old billionaire’s personal security. About 83 percent of the compensation represented security-related expenses, while much of the rest was tied to Zuckerberg’s personal usage of private aircraft. Zuckerberg’s security expenses climbed… more
The U.S. Interior Department will hike fees at the most popular national parks to $35 a vehicle, backing off a plan that would have cost visitors $70 a vehicle to visit Yellowstone and other well-known parks, the agency said Thursday. The new plan boosts fees at 117 parks by $5, up from the current $30… more
A federal jury in Washington on Thursday convicted former Texas Republican Congressman Stephen Stockman of numerous counts of fraud, including stealing charitable contributions for campaign and personal expenses. U.S. attorneys said Stockman used his position as a public servant to defraud donors and break federal law. They say his conviction shows no one is above… more
U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that his administration might allow the sale of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol year-round, which could help farmers by firing up corn demand but faces opposition from oil companies. The proposal marked the latest move by the Trump administration to navigate the rival oil and corn constituencies as they clash over the nation’s biofuels policy.… more
Facebook says it will stop spending money to fight a proposed California ballot initiative aimed at giving consumers more control over their data. The measure, known as the “California Consumer Privacy Act,” would require companies to disclose upon request what types of personal information they collect about someone and whether they’ve sold it. It also… more
A data leak that enabled political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to access personal information from about 87 million Facebook users has generated an uproar and concerns over online privacy and the power of the major internet platforms. On VOA’s Plugged In with Greta Van Susteren experts explore the issue and next steps to better protect… more
The next robot you see may have more in common with climbing pea plants than people. Faith Lapidus explains how plants are inspiring a scientific team at Stanford University to develop the next generation of robots. …… more
California Governor Jerry Brown has agreed to deploy 400 National Guard troops in response to President Donald Trump’s request to states that border Mexico. “Let’s be clear on the scope of this mission,” Brown wrote in a letter to the Trump administration. “This will not be a mission to build a new wall. It will… more
America’s allies are offering to join a possible military response to a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. But they’re urging Washington to avoid swift retaliation, saying that before a reprisal is launched, more evidence is needed that Syria was behind the chemical attack. In very direct terms,… more
Immigrants in detention in the U.S. will no longer be getting legal advice, at least temporarily. The Executive Office for Immigration Review is planning this month to halt a program that provides incarcerated immigrants with information about their rights in immigration court — the latest in a series of immigration measures taken by the Trump… more
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told lawmakers Wednesday the internet sector will need some form of regulation. After weathering heated questions from two Senate panels, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg returned to Capitol Hill Wednesday to face more questions from the House Energy and Commerce Committee about the social media platform’s transparency and user privacy. Zuckerberg said… more
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday his company would step up efforts to block hate messages in Myanmar as he faced questioning by the U.S. Congress about electoral interference and hate speech on the platform. Facebook has been accused by human rights advocates of not doing enough to weed out hate messages on… more
Dumping sewage into a local river is common practice in some of America’s older cities. With the benefits of modern engineering, cities like Washington D.C. will soon be able to divert hundreds of millions of liters of raw sewage every day to wastewater treatment plants instead of a river. Arash Arabasadi reports. …… more
Amid unresolved questions about the role of its military in Africa, the U.S. has kicked off a two-week exercise in Agadez, Niger, designed to strengthen security partnerships and train elite counterterrorism units in the volatile Sahel region. Flintlock, an annual military exercise directed by the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, involves participants… more
The Federal Reserve on Tuesday proposed new rules that could allow some large banks to reduce the amount of capital they must hold as a cushion against a future economic shock. The proposal may clear the way for some large banks to reduce their capital levels in the future, but the largest firms on Wall… more
President Donald Trump lifted a U.S. travel ban on citizens from Chad on Tuesday after a six-month U.S. government review found improvements in the African country’s security standards, the White House said. The Trump administration added Chad to a revamped travel ban list in September after it said the Chadian government had failed to send… more
U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday demanded better personal data protection at Facebook, whose CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, weathered heated questions from two Senate panels over data breaches affecting tens of millions of users of the mammoth social media platform. “There was clearly a breach of consumer trust and a likely improper transfer of data,” said Judiciary Committee… more
The group known as the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots says fully autonomous lethal weapons that can strike selected targets are no longer within the realm of science fiction. The coalition says it wants pre-emptive action taken to ban them. Government experts will spend the next two weeks discussing the issue at a meeting of… more
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to testify publicly Tuesday before a group of U.S. senators after apologizing for the way his company handled data for millions of users. He is due to appear before a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Commerce Committee, and on Wednesday will go before House lawmakers.… more
The U.S. military is bracing for a possible strike in Syria. Preparations for a high-risk North Korea summit are barreling forward. The White House staff is on edge, unsure who will be fired next, and when. And the national security team is holding its breath to see whether their new leader will be a shock… more
Apple on Monday said it had achieved its goal of powering all of the company’s facilities with renewable energy, a milestone that includes all of its data centers, offices and retail stores in 43 countries. The iPhone maker also said nine suppliers had recently committed to running their operations entirely on renewable energy sources like… more
Arizona is sending 225 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and Governor Doug Ducey said more troops would be deployed Tuesday. “Border security is a top concern here. Two-thirds of our border already has a wall. If we want to fill in the other third with a wall, I would welcome that. I don’t… more
Senator Tammy Duckworth has given birth to a baby girl, making her the first U.S. senator to give birth while in office. The Illinois Democrat announced she delivered her second daughter, Maile Pearl Bowlsbey, on Monday. Her office says Duckworth is recovering well and asked for privacy. Duckworth, a 50-year-old veteran who lost her legs… more
On the eve of an expected grilling by U.S. lawmakers, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg once again apologized for inadequately protecting the data of millions of social media platform users and highlighted steps the firm is taking to prevent a repeat. In multiple interviews with news media outlets and in prepared remarks to be delivered… more
Social media giant Facebook is starting to notify 87 million of its users whether their personal data was harvested without their knowledge by Cambridge Analytica, the Britain-based voter profiling company U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign hired to target likely supporters in 2016. Facebook believes most of the affected users, more than 70 million, are in… more
Congress has plenty of questions for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who will testify on Capitol Hill Tuesday and Wednesday about the company’s ongoing data-privacy scandal and how it failed to guard against other abuses of its service. Facebook is struggling to cope with the worst privacy crisis in its history – allegations that a… more