As TikTok Ban Nears, Peeved Users Flock to Other Chinese Social Media Apps

Some TikTok users aren’t waiting until the upcoming Jan. 19 ban to test out other short-form video sharing apps, but instead of Meta’s social media sites or the Fediverse, they’re swarming to other Chinese-owned mobile software platforms. Two apps owned by Chinese companies — Xiaohongshu (which translates to “little red book” and has also been called RedNote) … Read more

New York City lawsuit against Exxon, BP, Shell over climate change dismissed By Reuters

By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) -A judge has dismissed New York City’s lawsuit seeking to hold Exxon Mobil , BP (NYSE:) and Shell (LON:) liable for misleading the public about their products, and their commitment to renewable energy and fighting climate change. In a decision on Tuesday, state Supreme Court Justice Anar Patel said … Read more

How the Gaza Cease-Fire Deal United Teams Biden and Trump

When President-elect Donald J. Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Saturday to pressure him on a cease-fire deal in Gaza, there was someone on the speakerphone: Brett H. McGurk, President Biden’s longtime Mideast negotiator. Mr. McGurk was in Doha, Qatar, leading the final round of negotiations … Read more

Mistral signs AFP deal for fact-based chatbot in riposte to ‘free speech’ rivals

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. French artificial intelligence start-up Mistral has struck a multimillion-euro deal with Agence France-Presse to incorporate thousands of the newswire’s articles into its chatbot, pitching the tie-up as a European bulwark against attacks on fact-checking from … Read more