TECH NEWS

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Drone exclusion zones around British airports will be extended and operators made to register under new rules announced after drone sightings wrought havoc at London’s Gatwick in the run-up to Christmas. Police will also be allowed to fine users up to £100 (112 euros, …

Tokyo, Japan | AFP | The case of auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn has gripped Japan and the business world since his stunning arrest in November, and now he is finally getting his day in court. Ghosn will be able to make his first public statement at a brief hearing on …

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP |  Saudi courts will notify women by text message when they get divorced, in a new regulation that took effect on Sunday, officials said. The measure approved by the justice ministry appears aimed at curbing seemingly rampant cases of men secretly ending marriages without informing …

Washington, United States | AFP | The newly installed US Congress is expected to see a fresh effort to develop new regulations for big technology firms, with a focus on tougher enforcement of privacy and data protection. The wave of data scandals that have hit Facebook and other online platforms …

The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | US internet giant Google used a legal mechanism to transfer almost 20 billion euros from the Netherlands to Bermuda in 2017 for tax purposes, a Dutch newspaper report said Friday. Google, which is owned by US parent company Alphabet, moved 19.9 billion euros ($22.7 …

Tokyo, Japan | AFP | Former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn is likely to appear in a Japanese court next Tuesday to hear the reasons for his detention, after his lawyers deployed a little-used article of the Constitution. The shock move was the latest in a series of unexpected twists in …

Ottawa, Canada | AFP | Thirteen Canadians have been detained in China following the arrest on December 1 of a senior executive from Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei, Ottawa said Thursday, with eight subsequently released. Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Guillaume Berube confirmed the detentions to AFP, adding the figures excluded …

Washington, United States | AFP | For years, researchers at the University of Illinois have been trying to find out whether it is possible to genetically modify a crop to boost its growth. In results published in Science on Thursday, they confirmed they had been successful in making tobacco plants …

Berlin, Germany | AFP | US chipmaker Qualcomm said Thursday it had fulfilled the requirements set out by a court in a patent dispute case against Apple to ban the sale of older iPhone models in Germany. The court in the German city of Munich had ruled in favour of …

Washington, United States | AFP | Apple’s bombshell news — a sharply weaker revenue outlook and lower iPhone sales — has raised questions over the future of the California giant, which until recently had been seen as the undisputed innovation leader in the tech sector. Apple’s rare admission on Wednesday …