AFP USA

A US judge on Tuesday rejected the government’s demand that Google sell its Chrome web browser as part of a major antitrust case, but imposed sweeping requirements to restore competition in online search.The landmark ruling came after Judge Amit Mehta found in August 2024 that Google illegally maintained monopolies in online search through exclusive distribution agreements worth billions of dollars annually.”Today’s decision recognizes how much the industry has changed through the advent of AI, which is giving people so many more ways to find information,” said Google vice president of regulatory affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland.”This underlines what we’ve been saying since this case was filed in 2020: Competition is intense and people can easily choose the services they want.”Mulholland added that Google has “concerns” about how court-imposed requirements to share search data and limit distribution of services will affect user privacy.Judge Mehta’s decision represents one of the most significant rulings against corporate monopoly practices in two decades and could fundamentally reshape the tech giant’s future.The Justice Department called the remedies “significant.””We will continue to review the opinion to consider the Department’s options and next steps regarding seeking additional relief,” Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater said in a release.However, Tuesday’s decision fell short of expectations from some observers who had anticipated more radical changes to Google.”It sounds like the judge felt that it was too draconian to provide some of the remedies that prosecutors or the Department of Justice wanted,” said professor Carl Tobias of the University of Richmond Law School.”Google is certainly not going to be broken up, and it’s not clear that its business model is going to change a whole lot.”The US government had pushed for Chrome’s divestment, contending the browser serves as a crucial gateway to internet activity and facilitates a third of all Google web searches.But in his ruling, Mehta warned that a Chrome divestiture “would be incredibly messy and highly risky” and said US attorneys had overreached.The case focused on Google’s expensive distribution agreements, paying billions for Apple, Samsung, and other smartphone manufacturers to establish Google as the default search engine on iPhones and other devices.- ‘Crippling’ effects -In his decision last year, Judge Mehta said Google’s default status on the iPhone allowed the company to evolve into an internet powerhouse, insulated from competitive threats.But in a surprise move, Mehta on Tuesday said an outright ban of these deals was off the table, insisting that such a prohibition could have too profound an effect on other businesses.”Google will not be barred from making payments or offering other consideration to distribution partners for preloading or placement of Google Search, Chrome, or its GenAI products,” the judge wrote.Minutes after the decision, shares in Google parent Alphabet rocketed by 7.5 percent in after-hours trading. Apple’s stock rose by more than three percent.”This is a monster win for [Apple] and for Google it’s a home run ruling that removes a huge overhang on the stock,” said Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities.Under the judge’s order, Google must make available to “qualified competitors” search index data and user interaction information that rivals can use to improve their services.The ruling also specifically addresses the emerging threat from generative artificial intelligence chatbots like ChatGPT, extending restrictions to prevent Google from using exclusive deals to dominate the AI space as it did with traditional search.A technical committee will oversee implementation of the remedies, which take effect 60 days after the judgment is entered.- Offensive against Big Tech  -Google faces another legal case, awaiting a federal court decision in Virginia regarding its web display advertising technology business. A separate judge ruled earlier this year that Google’s ad tech operations also constitute an illegal monopoly that stifles competition.These cases are part of a broader government and bipartisan campaign against Big Tech. The US currently has five pending antitrust cases against major technology companies.The original search engine case against Google, along with a separate case targeting Meta, originated during the first Trump administration in 2020. The Biden administration maintained these prosecutions while launching additional cases against Apple and Amazon, as well as a second case challenging Google.

A US House of Representatives committee released a first batch of documents on Tuesday from the investigation into notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a case that has become a political lightning rod for the Trump administration.More than 33,000 pages of records related to Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell were uploaded to a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform website after being handed over by the Justice Department.”We’re in the process of uploading those documents for full transparency so everyone in America can see those documents,” Republican committee chairman James Comer said.”It’s going as quick as we can get them uploaded,” Comer told reporters. “We want those to be public as soon as possible.”Epstein, a wealthy financier with high-level connections, died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for alleged sex trafficking of underage girls recruited to provide him with sexual massages.President Donald Trump’s supporters have been obsessed with the Epstein case for years and held as an article of faith that “deep state” elites were protecting Epstein associates in the Democratic Party and Hollywood — but not Trump.Many of his supporters have been up in arms since the FBI and Justice Department said in July that Epstein had committed suicide, did not blackmail any prominent figures, and did not keep a “client list.”Comer’s committee had subpoenaed the Justice Department for the documents and a first batch of records was turned over last month.It was not immediately clear what is new in the documents released on Tuesday, some of which are completely redacted.Thousands of documents related to the Epstein probe have been released previously and Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House committee, said most of the records released on Tuesday had already been made public.- ‘Horrific’ -The House committee said in a statement that it expects to receive more records from the Justice Department and they are being redacted to protect “victim identities” and remove “any child sexual abuse material.”Trump was once a friend of Epstein and, according to The Wall Street Journal, the president’s name was among hundreds found during a Justice Department review of the Epstein files, though there has not been evidence of wrongdoing.The House Oversight Committee also heard closed-door testimony on Tuesday from victims of Epstein and Maxwell.”The stories were horrific and infuriating,” Garcia said on X. “In the days and weeks ahead we will be hearing more from these victims.”The Justice Department released a transcript and audio recording last month of an interview with Maxwell in which she said Trump was friendly with Epstein but was “never inappropriate with anybody.”Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for recruiting underage girls for Epstein, was interviewed by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal lawyer.The 63-year-old Maxwell, the only former Epstein associate convicted in connection with his activities, was moved from a prison in Florida to a minimum security facility in Texas following the interview with Blanche.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, calling the Democratic-run midwestern city a “hellhole” ravaged by gun crime.”We’re going in,” the Republican president told reporters, while hinting that he would also send soldiers to Baltimore, another Democratic-run city.Trump denied charges he is strictly targeting cities run by his political opponents for his anti-crime campaign and his crackdown on undocumented migrants.”I have an obligation,” he said, citing Chicago crime statistics. “This isn’t a political thing. I have an obligation when 20 people are killed over the last two and a half weeks and 75 are shot with bullets.”Trump, who already sent National Guard troops into the streets of Democratic-run Washington last month, declined to say exactly when he would send soldiers to Chicago, where the Democratic state governor and mayor strongly oppose the plan.”Chicago is a hellhole right now. Baltimore is a hellhole right now,” Trump said.Posting earlier on his Truth Social platform, the Republican president said he “will solve the crime problem (in Chicago) fast, just like I did in (Washington).””Chicago is the worst and most dangerous city in the World, by far,” he said, adding that JB Pritzker, the Democratic governor of the state of Illinois where Chicago is located, “needs help badly, he just doesn’t know it yet.”Trump followed up with a provocative, all-caps post: “CHICAGO IS THE MURDER CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!”Pritzker has clashed with Trump over the deployment, accusing the president of preparing “an invasion.””Chicago does not want troops on our streets,” the Democratic governor said at a press conference on Tuesday.”Crime is down in Chicago. Murders are down by almost 50 percent in the last four years,” he said.”None of this is about fighting crime or making Chicago safer,” Pritzker added. “For Trump, it’s about testing his power and producing a political drama to cover up for his corruption.”- President as police chief? -Trump ordered the deployment of the National Guard into Washington in August, and repeated his claims on Tuesday that it has improved city safety.”It’s now a safe zone,” he said. “We have no crime.”Thousands of National Guard troops and US Marines were deployed to Los Angeles in June to assist police as they cracked down on protests and unrest in the California city over Trump’s sweeps for undocumented migrants.On Tuesday, a federal judge declared that Trump effectively violated the law when he used troops in Democratic-run Los Angeles, and barred National Guard reservists or Marines from performing police functions including arrests or searches and seizures.District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco warned in his ruling that Trump appears intent on “creating a national police force with the President as its chief.”Breyer’s injunction, however, would only come into force on September 12, potentially leaving an opening for the conservative-majority Supreme Court to rule on the case.rotesters marched through parts of Chicago on Monday in a “Workers over Billionaires” rally that also saw people vocalize their opposition to Trump sending troops into the city.

US experts on Tuesday denounced a Trump administration climate report for reviving the tobacco-industry’s tactics to sow doubt around scientific consensus.In a 440-page rebuttal, 85 scientists accused the government of relying on a handful of contrarians who drew on discredited studies, misrepresented evidence, and bypassed peer review to reach pre-determined conclusions.The administration’s 150-page report, released on the Department of Energy’s website in late July, was intended to support its proposal to overturn the 2009 “Endangerment Finding” — the legal basis for numerous federal regulations of greenhouse gases.”This report makes a mockery of science,” said Andrew Dessler, a climate scientist at Texas A&M University and a co-author of the rebuttal.”It relies on ideas that were rejected long ago, supported by misrepresentations of the body of scientific knowledge, omissions of important facts, arm waving, anecdotes, and confirmation bias.”Entitled “A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the US Climate,” the DOE document made a series of startling and at times contradictory claims. These include that extreme weather events linked to emissions are not increasing, US temperatures are not rising, higher atmospheric carbon dioxide would boost agriculture, and solar activity could explain warming trends.- ‘Zombie arguments’ -The rebuttal marshals experts from multiple disciplines to challenge each assertion.”Just as the tobacco industry funded scientists to question the harms of smoking, the fossil fuel industry engaged in a coordinated campaign throughout the 1990’s to fund scientists willing to argue that it was the Sun, and not humans, causing the climate change observed up to that point,” said Ted Amur, a climate scientist at Aon Impact Forecasting, adding he was alarmed to see “zombie arguments” brought back.The DOE report claimed that the “Dust Bowl” years of 1930–1936 — among the nation’s hottest summers — disproved the reality of human-caused warming. But the counter report said this was deeply misleading, since poor land management at the time had turned the Great Plains into a desert-like wasteland that amplified the heat.On agriculture, the rebuttal notes that while elevated carbon dioxide can sometimes spur yields in isolation, rising heat and shifting rainfall patterns are expected to cause overall declines.The DOE report also downplays the threat of ocean acidification, claiming “life in the oceans evolved when the oceans were mildly acidic” billions of years ago. But the rebuttal counters this is “irrelevant” since complex life was not present during Earth’s early history.Ecologist Pamela McElwee of Rutgers University faulted the report for largely ignoring impacts on biodiversity despite the outsized social and economic consequences. “US coral reefs alone provide an estimated $1.8 billion in coastal protection from storms and floods annually,” she said.Since returning to office in January, President Donald Trump has gone far beyond the pro-fossil fuel agenda of his first term. Republicans recently passed the “Big Beautiful Bill,” gutting clean energy tax credits and opening sensitive areas to drilling.He has also withdrawn the United States from the Paris Agreement and is pressing his fossil fuel agenda abroad –requiring the EU to buy more US liquefied natural gas in a trade deal and pressuring the World Bank to scale back its climate focus, among other actions.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed social media rumors that have swirled about his health — including that he had died — as “fake news” during a press conference at the White House.Trump did not schedule any public appearances or hold any press conferences for several days last week, a noticeable absence from the cameras for the publicity-loving 79-year-old.Combined with his age — he is the oldest person ever to be elected US president — and recent images of his bruised hand and swollen ankles, the quiet from the Oval Office ignited widespread speculation that something was seriously wrong with Trump’s health.Many users even suggested that the 45th and 47th US president may have passed away, and that the White House was covering it up.”Really? I didn’t see that,” the Republican said when a reporter on Tuesday asked him jokingly, “How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead?””That’s fake news,” he added as the reporter, Fox News’ Peter Doocy, told him of the speculation.Trump complained that he had done several news conferences last week “then I didn’t do any for two days and they said ‘there must be something wrong with him.'””It’s so fake. ‘Is he ok, how’s he feeling, what’s wrong?'”Trump, who began his second term in office in January, actually had no public events for six consecutive days before Tuesday’s press conference.But he was heard playing music in the Rose Garden on one of those days, and was then seen heading to play golf on three of them over the long US Labor Day weekend.”I was very active over the weekend,” Trump insisted.- Hand make-up -Trump’s right hand however appeared on Tuesday to be heavily made up, as it has on a number of recent occasions.The topic “#trumpdead” continued to trend on Tuesday on the X social network, owned by Trump’s former political ally Elon Musk.In July the White House said that discoloration on Trump’s right hand was “tissue irritation from frequent handshaking” and the use of aspirin as part of a standard cardiovascular treatment.It said his legs were swollen by chronic venous insufficiency, a common, benign vein condition.The condition involves damaged leg veins that fail to keep blood flowing properly.Presidential physician Sean Barbabella said Trump “remains in excellent health” despite the condition, in a letter released by the White House at the time.The billionaire frequently boasts of his good health and energy levels while the administration even posted an image depicting him as Superman.The health of US presidents has always been closely watched, but with the White House seeing its two oldest ever occupants since 2017 the scrutiny is now heavier than ever.Trump has alleged that Democrats covered up the mental and physical decline of his predecessor, Joe Biden, who was 82 when he left office in January.Biden’s health was a key issue in the 2024 election, and the then-president was forced to drop his campaign for a second term after a disastrous debate performance against Trump.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that the headquarters of the US Space Command will be moved from Colorado to Alabama, reversing a decision by his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden.The move, which Trump openly linked to his debunked conspiracy theory about election fraud by opponents, follows a bitter, years-long battle between the two states over which should host the facility.The command center oversees US operations in outer space and brings with it a significant boost to jobs in the area where it is located.”I’m thrilled to report that the US Space Command headquarters will move to the beautiful locale of a place called Huntsville, Alabama,” Trump said at the White House.Democrat Biden had decided to keep Space Command — known as SPACECOM — at its temporary location in Colorado, after Republican Trump picked Alabama as the location during his first term.”We initially selected Huntsville for the SPACECOM headquarters. Yet those plans were wrongfully obstructed by the Biden administration,” Trump said.One of the reasons given by Trump for the military reorganization was his dislike for Colorado being one of the US states that allows voters to mail in their ballots.Trump, who himself has cast a vote by mail in Florida, repeated his claim that the method is linked to voter fraud — a theory repeatedly proved to be false, but which is part of the Republican’s broader, unprecedented attempts to discredit trust in US elections.”When the state is for mail-in voting, that means they want dishonest elections, because that’s what that means. So that played a big factor” in the SPACECOM decision, Trump said.Space plays a vital role in just about every aspect of modern warfare, with many military technologies reliant on a network of orbiting sensors and satellites.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed social media rumors that have swirled about his health as “fake news” during press conference at the White House.Trump did not schedule any public appearances or hold any press conferences for several days last week, a noticeable absence from the cameras for the publicity-loving 79-year-old.Combined with his age — he is the oldest person ever to be elected US president — and recent images of his bruised hand and swollen ankles, the quiet from the Oval Office ignited widespread speculation that something was seriously wrong with Trump’s health.Many users even suggested that the 47th US president may have passed away, and that the White House was covering it up.”I didn’t see that,” the Republican said when a reporter on Tuesday asked him jokingly, “How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead?””That’s fake news,” he added as the reporter, Fox News’ Peter Doocy, told him of the speculation.In July the White House said that discoloration on Trump’s right hand was “tissue irritation from frequent handshaking” and the use of aspirin as part of a standard cardiovascular treatment.It said his legs were swollen by chronic venous insufficiency, a common, benign vein condition.The condition involves damaged leg veins that fail to keep blood flowing properly.Presidential physician Sean Barbabella said Trump “remains in excellent health” despite the condition, in a letter released by the White House at the time.The Republican frequently boasts of his good health and energy levels while the administration even posted an image depicting him as Superman.The health of US presidents has always been closely watched, but with the White House seeing its two oldest ever occupants since 2017 the scrutiny is now heavier than ever.Trump has alleged that Democrats covered up the mental and physical decline of his predecessor, Joe Biden, who was 82 when he left office in January.Biden’s health was a key issue in the 2024 election, and the then-president was forced to drop his campaign for a second term after a disastrous debate performance against Trump.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio headed Tuesday on his first trip in office to Mexico, which has so far succeeded in navigating treacherous terrain with President Donald Trump who wants tough action on migration and cartels.Rubio is set to meet Wednesday with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on a trip that will also take him to Ecuador, where Trump ally Daniel Noboa is in charge.The State Department said Rubio would press on both stops for “swift and decisive action to dismantle cartels, halt fentanyl trafficking, end illegal immigration” and counter the “malign” influence of China.Hours before Rubio’s arrival, Sheinbaum said she would draw a line on US military intervention in Mexico, after Trump signed an order authorizing force against cartels.”The United States is not going to act alone because there is an understanding,” she told reporters.”We have been working for months on an understanding to collaborate on security matters,” she said.What Mexico will not accept is “intervention,” she said. “We also don’t accept violations of our territory, we don’t accept subordination. Simply collaboration between nations on equal terms.”Trump has declared drug cartels to be terrorist organizations, although few expect that even the unpredictable US leader would take the drastic step of military action on Mexican soil.- Sheinbaum stresses cooperation -Sheinbaum hails from Mexico’s left but has searched for common ground with Trump, much like her predecessor and ideological ally Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Trump’s first term.Mexico has cooperated on enforcement of the border against US-bound migrants, who mostly come from Central America or elsewhere rather than Mexico, and extradited people wanted by the United States.She has also taken steps to curb imports from China, whose manufacturers have eyed Mexico as a way into the US market.”President Sheinbaum from the beginning decided that she is going to seek a cooperative and collaborative relationship” with the Trump administration, said Jason Marczak, vice president and senior director at the Atlantic Council’s Latin America Center.”She has been emphatic in defending Mexican sovereignty, but at the same time reaching out to the United States and seeing where they can work together,” he said.The stability in the relationship marks a sharp contrast to Trump’s  pressure campaigns against the outspoken leftist leaders of two other Latin American powers, Brazil and Colombia.Trump has voiced respect for Sheinbaum and earlier this year even took the uncharacteristic step of crediting her with an idea on combatting fentanyl, the painkilling drug behind an overdose epidemic in the United States.”I know everything, and I never learn anything from anybody, and I spoke to this woman, and as soon as she said it, I said, ‘Exactly, what a great idea,'” said Trump, who has also commented favorably on the appearance of Mexico’s first female president.Mexicans are not on board with Trump, who rose to political prominence describing undocumented Mexicans as rapists and vowing to erect a wall to seal off the southern border.The image of the United States has deteriorated more sharply in Mexico than in any other country since Trump returned, according to a Pew Research Center survey published in July, which found that 91 percent of Mexicans lacked confidence in Trump.But Sheinbaum has won high marks for her handling of her US counterpart as well as the rest of her agenda, with polls showing she enjoys support of three-quarters of Mexicans.

US lawmakers returned to work Tuesday after more than a month off, with a countdown beginning as they rush to pass a temporary budget and ward off a federal government shutdown before September 30.The stakes are high: a shutdown would see an abrupt halt to many federal services, including some benefit payments, disruption to air traffic, and the furloughing of hundreds of thousands of civil servants.President Donald Trump’s Republicans have a majority in both chambers of Congress, but due to Senate rules will have to convince at least seven Democratic senators to vote for their budget.It’s a tall order: Democrats have already warned that the Trump administration’s decision last week to cut nearly $5 billion in international aid could destroy any chance of talks.”It is clear that Republicans are prioritizing chaos over governing, partisanship over partnership, and their own power over the American people,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a letter to fellow Democrats. The “only way” to avoid a shutdown is for Republicans to work with Democrats on the bill, he said. But it was far from certain that the White House would take such advice, having made virtually no concessions to Democrats since Trump returned to power in January.Last time Congress faced a shutdown — in March of this year — Republicans refused talks with Democrats over massive budget cuts and the layoff of thousands of federal employees.Ten Democratic senators, including Schumer, reluctantly voted for the bill to avoid the shutdown — provoking party supporters to accuse them of bowing to Trump and his radical agenda.There is one glimmer of bipartisanship in Congress — but it will not be welcome to the White House, as it again stirs up the controversy of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein died in prison in 2019 awaiting trial for alleged sex trafficking of underage girls.He and Trump were once friends, and US media has reported that the president’s name was among hundreds found in the so-called Epstein files, though there has not been evidence of wrongdoing.Trump’s supporters have been obsessed with the Epstein case for years and held as an article of faith that “Deep State” elites were protecting Epstein associates in the Democratic Party and Hollywood — but not Trump.These supporters have been up in arms since the FBI and Justice Department said in July that Epstein had committed suicide, did not blackmail any prominent figures, and did not keep a “client list.”Since coming to power, Trump has repeatedly sought to shrug off allegations surrounding Epstein.But Democrat Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie are expected to launch a push this week to force the House of Representatives to vote on publishing the Epstein files.

President Donald Trump is set to make an announcement Tuesday on moving the headquarters of the US Space Command, reversing a decision by his predecessor Joe Biden.Trump is expected to relocate the base from Colorado to Alabama following a bitter, years-long battle between the two states over which should host the facility.Democrat Biden had decided to keep Space Command — which oversees US operations in outer space — at its temporary location in Colorado despite a ruling by Republican Trump in his first term in 2021 that it should move to Alabama. Colorado, in the western US, leans Democrat while the southern state of Alabama leans Republican.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement sent to AFP that Trump “will be making an exciting announcement related to the Department of Defense” but gave no more details.Trump is due to speak from the Oval Office at 2:00 pm (1800 GMT) in his first official public appearance for a week.The Department of Defense’s image distribution website initially listed Trump’s announcement as being about “US Space Command Headquarters.” It later changed it to say only that “President Trump makes an announcement.”Speculation around Trump’s announcement had earlier centered on his recent statements that he wanted to change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War.