A Russian court on Friday found Twitter guilty of three counts of violating regulations on restricting unlawful content and fined the company 8.9 million rubles (about $117,000) for not removing posts that encouraged minors to take part in unauthorized protests, according to AP.
Why it matters: The fine comes amid a broad crackdown on the social media company in the country. In March, Russian authorities threatened to ban the platform entirely if the company did not remove some 3,000 posts containing content the government had deemed illegal.
President Biden on Friday revoked the sanctions imposed by his predecessor on officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Secretary of State Tony Blinken said in a statement.
Why it matters: Biden had promised to lift the sanctions during the campaign, but he delayed doing so at the request of Israel, which was attempting to block an ICC investigation into the situation in the West Bank and Gaza.
A train in Taiwan derailed Friday when it hit an unmanned vehicle that rolled onto the track, leaving at least 50 dead and dozens of others injured, AP reports.
The big picture: It's believed to be the deadliest rail disaster in Taiwan's history. The crash came on the first day of the Tomb Sweeping Festival, a four-day holiday weekend in which people frequently travel home to see relatives and pay respects at the graves of their ancestors, per AP. The train was carrying more than 400 people.
President Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday for the first time since taking office, as U.S. and NATO officials warn of a Russian military buildup near eastern Ukraine that could ignite the long-simmering conflict, according to the White House.
Why it matters: It took more than two months for Biden to speak directly with the president of Ukraine, a key frontline partner in eastern Europe that has been pleading for more help from the West in its fight against Russian aggression.
The U.S. and Iran are expected to hold indirect “proximity talks” in Vienna next Tuesday to try and break the deadlock over a potential return to the 2015 nuclear deal, Western diplomats tell me.
Why it matters: At the moment, next week’s talks are not expected to include U.S. and Iranian diplomats sitting in the same room, but it's a small step forward when it comes to U.S.-Iran engagement.
Big Tech players in China like Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu are facing challenges all-too-familiar to Amazon, Facebook and Google.
Why it matters: Antitrust has become a big theme for Beijing and this could hamper growth of China’s tech sector should authorities decide to regulate with a heavy hand.
The hosts of both of the two biggest global sporting events on the 2022 calendar are facing boycott threats, but they're handling the scrutiny much differently.
Driving the news: When European qualifying for the 2022 World Cup kicked off last week, players from three countries seized the opportunity to protest the human rights conditions in host nation Qatar.
Facing a brutal new wave of coronavirus cases,India on Thursday made anyone over 45 eligible for vaccination. But the scramble to vaccinate as many people as possible has also meant sharply curtailing exports.
Why it matters: The hopes of vaccinating the world have largely fallen on the shoulders of India, a vaccine manufacturing powerhouse and home to the world’s largest producer, the Serum Institute.
Canada's three biggest provinces this week announced new coronavirus restrictions amid a surge in cases largely driven by COVID-19 variants, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Details: Ontario will enter a four-week limited lockdown — its third lockdown since the beginning of the pandemic — starting Saturday, which will ban all indoor activities. Earlier this week, Quebec closed schools and non-essential businesses, and British Columbia banned indoor activities, including places of worship.
As the Derek Chauvin trial wraps its first week of testimony in the U.S., Mexico is reckoning with its own case of police brutality.
Why it matters: The death of Victoria Salazar, a Salvadoran refugee who had lived in Tulum for years, is the most recent case of Mexican law enforcement being accused of killing someone of Central American origins.
Two men who work as coyotes, or human smugglers, told Noticias Telemundo that for those desperate enough, a payment of $8,000 each will suffice to get them into the U.S. through the desert.
Details: To cross people by car, hiding them in secret compartments, they’ll charge up to $20,000 because the coyotes swear U.S. immigration officers get a cut to turn a blind eye.
HSBC Global Research analysts are taking an increasingly granular look at which nations are the most and least resilient to climate change.
The big picture: A report this week ranked 77 countries on their capacity to adapt, shift away from fossil fuels, and benefit from growing cleantech markets.
A Hong Kong court has found media tycoon Jimmy Lai, barrister Martin Lee and five other pro-democracy leaders guilty of participating in an an authorized protest in 2019, per Bloomberg. They'll receive sentences at a later date.
Why it matters: The verdict is a further blow for the city's pro-democracy movement. It comes a day after China's government a passed a law that critics say effectively ends democratic elections in Hong Kong. The pro-democracy figures were convicted under a draconian national security law the Chinese government imposed on the territory last year.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday warned that "cyberthreats are coming dangerously close to threatening our lives" as he announced a series of "sprints" designed to counter online attacks.
Why it matters: "Our government got hacked last year and we didn’t know about it for months," Mayorkas said. It wasn't until cybersecurity firm SolarWinds "got hacked itself and alerted the government" when federal officials learned the extent of the problem, he noted.
United Nations special envoy to Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener told the UN Security Council during a meeting Wednesday that "a bloodbath is imminent" in Myanmar and urged the council to act, according to AFP.
Why it matters: The military junta that usurped power from Myanmar's democratically elected government in February has killed hundreds of protesters during anti-coup demonstrations across the country.
The G7 trade ministers released a joint statement on Wednesday pledging to work together to achieve a "strong economic recovery."
What they're saying: The trade ministers said it was necessary to discuss the impact of "harmful industrial subsidies" and to collectively address them. The officials expressed concern about China's support for its domestic companies, stressing the importance of fostering "a truly level playing field" in trade."
