Summary List PlacementGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel has criticised Twitter for blocking US President Donald Trump's Twitter account, arguing that lawmakers rather than private tech companies should decide on the limits to freedom of speech. "The right to freedom of opinion is of fundamental importance," Merkel's chief spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Monday at a regular news conference, in comments reported by Reuters. "Given that, the chancellor considers it problematic that the president's accounts have been permanently suspended," he said. Twitter on Friday permanently suspended President's Trump's Twitter account, which he used dozens of times a day to communicate with over 70 million followers and which helped him to capture the Republican nomination and the presidency in 2016....

Dear Amy: My eldest daughter got married five years ago. My husband and I were not consulted about the wedding and were shocked when she told us she was getting married. My husband refused to go to the wedding and has not spoken to her since. I’m in the middle of all this upset, so I now rarely have contact with her. I understand why he was so angry, as family and weddings are very important in his culture. He is unable to forget the disrespect she showed us both. This has caused so many arguments that I’ve considered leaving him. I’m ashamed to admit I sometimes wish he was just … gone. I feel like running away. Can you offer any advice for me? — A Dear A: It is ironic that family and weddings are revered in your husband’s culture, and yet he has decided to sever a relationship with his o

A Civil War vet (Tom Hanks) agreed to deliver an orphan (Helena Zengel) to her relatives in “News of the World.” | Universal PicturesRough-and-tumble Texas road-trip movie finds the right balance of character insight and bare-knuckled action. There was an era — and that era was the 1970s — when a Time magazine poll named news anchor Walter Cronkite as “the most trusted man in America,” and Watergate investigative heroes Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were largely responsible for the occupation of journalist regularly charting near the top of the rankings of most admired professions in the USA. (Even today, 99% of mainstream American journalists remain committed to delivering the truth, despite the delusional cries of “Fake News!” popularized by certain public figures.) If we were to co

Summary List PlacementAfter briefly topping Forbes' rich list, Elon Musk has now fallen back to second place behind Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos, after tumbling shares in his electric vehicle company Tesla on Monday chopped $13.5 billion off his fortune. Musk became the world's richest person on Thursday — a result of his fortune growing by more than $150 billion in a year. But shares in Tesla fell nearly 8% on Monday, their largest one-day fall since late September. Based on estimates from Forbes, this pushed his total wealth down to $176.2 billion, compared to Bezos' $182.1 billion fortune. Despite Musk's wealth loss, he still stands more than $20 billion above Bernard Arnault, the CEO of French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH and the world's third-richest person, per Forbes' estimates. As...

Summary List PlacementThe store that has everything wants to launch a fintech. Walmart said on Monday afternoon it was starting a fintech "to develop and offer modern, innovative and affordable financial solutions," according to a release.  Details on the venture are vague, outside of the involvement of well-known fintech investor Ribbit Capital — which has backed the likes of Affirm, Robinhood, and Coinbase. Walmart is no stranger to the world of fintech. It already runs a fintech accelerator — TailFin Labs — with banking-as-a-service provider Green Dot.  And while it's unclear what Walmart hopes to do with this unnamed fintech, there is no doubt it's already in a fantastic position to succeed. The retail giant has millions of customers and employees to target with whatever it's offeri...

A 31-year-old woman was arrested Jan. 12, 2021, after striking a barricade in the 400 block of North Wabash Avenue, near Trump Tower. | Adobe Stock PhotoThe 31-year-old was driving a Honda sedan north on Wabash Avenue when she intentionally drove around officers onto the sidewalk in the 400 block of North Wabash Avenue and struck a barricade. A woman was arrested Tuesday morning after driving through a barricade near Trump Tower on the Near North Side. About 4 a.m., the 31-year-old was driving a Honda sedan north on Wabash Avenue, when she intentionally drove around officers onto the sidewalk in the 400 block of North Wabash Avenue and struck a barricade, Chicago police said. She was not injured and was taken into custody, police said. Charges are pending. ...read more Source:: Chic...

Summary List PlacementGlobal stocks rose on Tuesday, shaking off the political turmoil in Washington DC, where Democrats are preparing to impeach Donald Trump for a second time, and rising COVID-19 cases around the world, while bond yields marched higher and Bitcoin recovered after a harsh sell-off. On Monday, Republicans blocked an attempt by House Democrats to introduce a resolution for Pence to forcibly remove Trump. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave Pence a deadline to invoke 25th Amendment or the House will move to impeach the president. Democrats have planned to take up a vote to impeach Trump on Wednesday for his role in the insurrection; he could become the first president to be impeached twice. Yet financial markets showed little reaction to the developments on the political, or ...

Dear Amy: I have a very dear friend who I have known for many years. I share things with her that I never share with anyone else. Amy Dickinson I have been trying to open a savings account with her as the beneficiary; however, I need her Social Security number to do this. With the pandemic, appointments at the bank are difficult to get. I opened an account with my son as the POD  [payable-on-death beneficiary] a few years ago, and he did not need to be there. He provided his Social Security number later. This time, when the bank manager finished the account, I said my friend would stop by with her SS number. The bank would not allow that. I called my friend and she was reluctant to provide it over the phone. She said she would come to the bank, so I waited, holding up other customers. My f

Children’s minister Vicky Ford said she would be ‘urgently’ look into the matter (Picture: Reuters / Marcus Rashford)The Government has promised to investigate the free school meal parcels sent to families after they were called ‘woefully inadequate’. Children’s minister Vicky Ford said she would be ‘urgently’ look into the matter after complaints the amount of food provided has been far too small. Although entitled to a box of food worth £30, one mum valued the contents of her parcel at no more than £5.22 if bought from Asda. She was given two jacket potatoes, a can of beans, eight single cheese slices, a loaf of bread, two carrots, three apples, two Soreen Malt Lunchbox Loaves, three Frubes, some pasta and one tomato. The mum wrote alongside the image: ‘Issued instead of £30

Summary List PlacementWhatsApp's rivals got a massive boost after the messaging app announced on Wednesday it would make users share some personal data with its parent company Facebook. WhatsApp told users they would have to agree to let Facebook and its subsidiaries collect WhatsApp data — including phone numbers and locations — before February 8, or else lose access to the app. WhatsApp has since clarified this only affects users outside of the EU and UK, and said that the change "does not affect the privacy of your messages with friends or family in any way." Data from app analytics firm Sensor Tower shows Signal, a rival encrypted messaging service, saw an enormous surge in user numbers following WhatsApp's announcement. "From January 6 to January 10, Signal saw approximately 7.5 m...

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Daily exercise should be ‘quick’ and ‘close to home’ but bike rides of 70 miles are acceptable, the policing minister has said. Kit Malthouse was accused of sending conflicting messages to the public in interviews this morning amid widespread confusion over the Government’s ‘stay local’ rule. It comes after Boris Johnson was accused of breaking his own Covid rules as he was spotted cycling more than seven miles away from Downing Street. The rules were muddled even further when ministers backed police who fined two women £200 each for driving five miles for a walk – a move Derbyshire officers have since gone back on. Speaking to on LBC th

DEAR HARRIETTE: I feel like my adult kids are losing respect for me. When your kids are young, they look up to you for everything and trust in you. My kids are all of college age and older. They are leaving the nest and not looking back. Harriette Cole They throw their childhood bad memories at me, saying that I was manipulative and a liar. But as parents, we know what it’s like when your kids throw a tantrum, or when they get into trouble as a teenager and just won’t listen. I did what I needed to do to raise smart, strong kids, and I feel like I succeeded. All I want now is to enjoy a mature adult relationship with my kids, but they want nothing to do with me. I feel like I gave my life to them, and now I am hated and alone. Was I a bad mother? Miss My Kids DEAR MISS MY KIDS: I’m so sorr