US Court of Appeals says Trump can't block people on Twitter


Donald Trump's love of Twitter is legendary and often ridiculed; it is also the source of frequent controversy.
The US president is huge fan of ranting, raving and venting steam in tweet storms, but his famed love of sycophants also comes to the fore. Many people who have responded to his tweets critically have found themselves blocked. Now the US Court of Appeal says this is a violation of their First Amendment rights.
As the US government shutdown rolls on, numerous TLS certificates expire, leaving sites inaccessible


With the US government shutdown in its third week, President Trump continues to try to convince both his own party and the Democrats to agree to fund one of his campaign promises -- a wall on the southern border.
So far, the shutdown has seen national parks and more left unstaffed, and today is the first payday on which hundreds of thousands of federal workers will not receive a paycheck. Another side effect of the shutdown is that numerous government websites are offline as their TLS certificates have expired, and no one is available to renew them.
FCC will suspend many operations tomorrow if Trump's government shutdown continues


President Trump's partial shutdown of the US government is now well into its second week, with little sign of the impasse over funding for a wall on the southern border coming to an end. Large numbers of government employees are already feeling the pinch due to a lack of pay checks, and the impact is on the verge of spreading further.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced that it will suspend "most operations" at midday on Thursday, January 3 "in the event of a continued partial lapse in federal government funding".
Trump imposes $200bn of import tariffs on China -- but the Apple Watch is spared


Donald Trump has imposed import tariffs of $200 billion on Chinese goods brought into the US, with the threat of even more on the way.
The tariffs have been blamed on China's "unfair policies and practices", but despite the president's pleas for Apple to shift production from China to the US, the Apple Watch will be exempt from the 10 percent import tax. Also exempt are Apple's AirPods and a range of other technology products.
Trump threatens China tariffs, tells Apple to make products in US when company complains about costs


President Trump proposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese products -- and there is the threat of a further $267 billion-- has caused Apple to write to the US Trade Representative to point out that this would lead to increased productions costs for many of its products.
Responding to this, Trump said that the company could avoid Chinese import tariffs by switching production to the US. Referring to his suggestion as "exciting", the president said that Apple should start building new factories in America.
Google denies bias after Trump launches accusatory attack on the search giant


Donald Trump has accused Google of rigging its search results so that "good news" about the president is drowned out by unfavorable stories from the "Fake News Media".
Using his preferred medium of Twitter, he alleged that 96 percent of search results for "Trump News" were from the "National Left-Wing Media", something he described as "very dangerous". Google denied these accusations of political bias, saying searching results are controlled by constantly-updated algorithms.
Turkey to boycott US electronics as Trump implements ZTE and Huawei ban


Donald Trump has signed the Defense Authorization Act into law which imposes a watered-down ban on ZTE and Huawei products by the US government and IT contractors. The ban also covers a number of other Chinese telecoms manufacturers.
There has been much to-ing and fro-ing about whether these sanctions would actually be introduced, but now and for the next two years they will be in place -- something Huawei denounces as "ineffective, misguided, and unconstitutional". But while this latest bill signing sees Trump wielding his power, the president will be unimpressed by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan -- the president of Turkey -- saying his country will boycott US electronics.
Twitter responds to Donald Trump's allegations that Republicans are being shadow banned


Out of the blue today, Donald Trump took to his favorite medium of Twitter to complain that the company was "shadow banning" prominent Republicans -- and it wasn't long before Donald Trump Jr sided with his father.
The allegations stem from a Vice article that suggested Twitter was limiting the visibility of searches for key Republican figures -- something Twitter denies. The company says that a bug is to blame and it is actively working on addressing it.
Who cares what Trump thinks about Europe's record fine for Google?


It's just days since the Europe hit Google with a record fine for what it described as "very serious illegal behavior" in an antitrust case about the company's abuse of Android to dominate the competition.
Unsurprisingly, a lot of people have an opinion not only about the way Google has acted, but also of the European commission's ruling itself. Among those with an opinion to share is none other than Donald Trump who used the fine as a way to paint the US as a victim at the hands of Europe.
Senate opposes Trump and votes to reinstate US ban on ZTE


ZTE has had a tough time of things in the US, having been slapped with a Denial Order that forced it to close its main operations. Despite the sanctions, President Trump expressed a desire to get the company back up and running, implementing a huge fine which ZTE agreed to pay in order to be allowed to operate in the US again.
But in a blow to the Trump administration and its work with Chinese president Xi Jinping, the Senate has voted to amend the National Defense Authorization Act to reinstate sanctions on the company.
Microsoft issues statement distancing itself from ICE's separation of children from parents


The separating of children from parents at the US southern border has created international outrage -- and lots of rhetoric from President Trump on Twitter. When Microsoft removed from its website a reference to working with ICE, the company found itself pulled into the political debate.
A blog post from January this year saw Microsoft stating it was "proud" to be working with ICE. When this was spotted, people took to social media to call out Microsoft, making references to the child separation policy; shortly afterwards, the ICE reference was deleted. Now it is back, and Microsoft has issued a statement clarifying its position about border policy.
USB fans gifted to reporters at Trump-Kim summit spark security fears


Reporters covering the historic meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un in Singapore have been given a gift bag that has security experts concerned.
In addition to bottled water and a local guidebook, the gift bag also contained a USB fan. While on the face of it this would seem to offer a way to combat the Singaporean heat, the fan also sparked warnings that it could be laced with malware.
ZTE agrees to pay $1 billion fine to stop US Denial Order


ZTE has been persona non grata in the US for some time now, with the Trump administration having slapped a Denial Order on the company preventing it from operating in North America. The president expressed a desire to get the Chinese firm "back into business" and today that is a step closer to happening.
Today the US Department of Commerce has come to an agreement with the company, which will pay a $1 billion fine for violating sanctions. In addition, ZTE will make changes to management, and put a further $400 million in escrow to cover possible future fines.
Judge dismisses Kaspersky lawsuits about US government software ban


Kaspersky has had something of a tough time of it over the last year, first being hit by a ban on its software being used by the US government, and then a ban on advertising on Twitter. The Russian company sued the Trump administration over the software ban, and a judge has now dismissed the suits.
Kaspersky Lab had been looking to overturn the governmental ban, saying "we've done nothing wrong" in response to claims that the company is linked to the Russian government. The firm says it plans to appeal against the latest ruling.
Trump to hit ZTE with $1.3 billion fine before it can operate in the US again


Having slapped Chinese company ZTE with a denial order which significantly hampered its US operations, President Trump has said that the firm will pay a $1.3 billion fine and change its board and management in order to continue to operate within North America.
ZTE had complained that the denial order was unacceptable, and Trump has more recently indicated a desire to get the company "back into business". Now it seems that the president has come up with a deal that involves the Chinese telecoms firm not only making security guarantees, but also buying components from US companies.
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