Latest news with #GonzaloFuentes
The Star
3 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Microsoft unit in Russia to file for bankruptcy, database shows
FILE PHOTO: A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft offices in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo (Reuters) -One of Microsoft Corp's subsidiaries in Russia plans to file for bankruptcy, according to a note published on the official Fedresurs registry on Friday. Microsoft did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. President Vladimir Putin said this week that foreign service providers like Microsoft and Zoom should be "throttled" in Russia to make way for domestic software solutions. Microsoft continued providing key services in Russia after Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but in June 2022 it said it was significantly scaling down its operations due to changes to the economic outlook and the impact on its business there. The U.S. tech giant had already removed Russian state-owned media outlet RT's mobile apps from the Windows App store and banned advertisements on Russian state-sponsored media in the days after the invasion. The note posted on Fedresurs on Friday said that Microsoft Rus LLC was intending to declare bankruptcy. The TASS news agency reported that Microsoft has three other Russian units - Microsoft Development Centre Rus, Microsoft Mobile Rus and Microsoft Payments Rus. It was not immediately clear how those units might be affected. Alphabet-owned Google's Russian subsidiary filed for bankruptcy in 2022, saying that the seizure of its bank account by Russian authorities had made it untenable for its Russian office to function, including paying Russia-based employees, suppliers and vendors. (Reporting by Alexander Marrow, Gleb Stolyarov and Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Susan Fenton)
The Star
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Star
Soccer-Eiffel Tower set to sparkle for PSG's big European night
FILE PHOTO: Eiffel Tower is silhouetted against the sunset as seen from Trocadero Square in Paris, France, January 14, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - The city of Paris will show its support for Paris St Germain during their date with destiny in Saturday's Champions League final by lighting up the city's iconic landmark, the Eiffel Tower, which is also set to sparkle should the team score. The Eiffel Tower will turn to red and blue one hour before kickoff, and the fans in the capital will hope to see it sparkle as often as possible. "Saturday, everyone behind PSG. After the title in the France championship and the Coupe de France, all of Paris is with the players to win the Champions League," city mayor Anne Hidalgo said in a statement. "Paris has a date with the history of football. You make us dream! We are counting on you to make Paris shine." While the final takes place in Munich, a large security operation will be in force in the French capital, with 5,400 police officers deployed in the city in an effort to avoid disturbances. PSG are aiming to win their first Champions League trophy, having reached the final in 2020 only to lose to Bayern Munich. They would become the second French club to win the competition, after Olympique de Marseille's success in 1993. Marseille triumphed in the first year the competition was rebranded from the European Cup to the Champions League, and their win came in Munich, and against another side from Milan, Inter's neighbours AC Milan. (Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
Straits Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Eiffel Tower set to sparkle for PSG's big European night
FILE PHOTO: A Police officer stands guard on the Champs Elysees avenue, next to the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris, France, April 26, 2025. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor/File Photo FILE PHOTO: Eiffel Tower is silhouetted against the sunset as seen from Trocadero Square in Paris, France, January 14, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo MUNICH, Germany - The city of Paris will show its support for Paris St Germain during their date with destiny in Saturday's Champions League final by lighting up the city's iconic landmark, the Eiffel Tower, which is also set to sparkle should the team score. The Eiffel Tower will turn to red and blue one hour before kickoff, and the fans in the capital will hope to see it sparkle as often as possible. "Saturday, everyone behind PSG. After the title in the France championship and the Coupe de France, all of Paris is with the players to win the Champions League," city mayor Anne Hidalgo said in a statement. "Paris has a date with the history of football. You make us dream! We are counting on you to make Paris shine." While the final takes place in Munich, a large security operation will be in force in the French capital, with 5,400 police officers deployed in the city in an effort to avoid disturbances. PSG are aiming to win their first Champions League trophy, having reached the final in 2020 only to lose to Bayern Munich. They would become the second French club to win the competition, after Olympique de Marseille's success in 1993. Marseille triumphed in the first year the competition was rebranded from the European Cup to the Champions League, and their win came in Munich, and against another side from Milan, Inter's neighbours AC Milan. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
6 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Texas poised to enforce age verification on Apple, Google app stores
FILE PHOTO: Apple logo is seen on the Apple store at The Marche Saint Germain in Paris, France July 15, 2020. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo/File Photo SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -A bill that requires Apple and Alphabet's Google to verify the age of users of their app stores could become law this week in Texas, putting the second-most-populous state in the U.S. at the center of a debate over whether and how to regulate the use of smartphones by children and teenagers. Senate Bill 2420 would require app store owners to verify the age of the user of a device, and, if that user is below the age of 18, require parental consent to download apps or make in-app purchases. Utah was the first U.S. state to pass a similar law earlier this year, and U.S. lawmakers have also introduced a federal bill. The Texas bill is awaiting Governor Greg Abbott's signature after receiving super-majority approval from both houses of the Texas legislature. Another bill, which has not yet passed the state legislature, would restrict social media apps to users over 18. Age limits and parental consent for social media apps are one of the few areas of wide consensus in America, with a Pew Research poll in 2023 finding that 81% of Americans support requiring parental consent for children to create social media accounts and 71% support age verification before using social media. The mental health effect of social media on children has become a growing global concern, with dozens of U.S. states suing Meta Platforms and the U.S. Surgeon General issuing an advisory calling for safeguards for children. Australia last year banned social media for children under 16, with other countries such as Norway also considering new rules. How to implement age restrictions has caused a conflict between Meta, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, and Apple and Google, which own the two dominant app stores in the U.S. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg last year said during a U.S. Senate hearing that he believed parents should not "have to upload an ID or proof they are a parent in every single app that their children use. The easier place to do this is in the app stores themselves." Meta declined to comment for this story. Child online safety groups that backed the Texas bill have also long argued for app store age verification, saying it is the only way to give parents effective control over children's use of technology. "The problem is that self-regulation in the digital marketplace has failed, where app stores have just prioritized the profit over safety and rights of children and families," Casey Stefanski, executive director for the Digital Childhood Alliance, told Reuters. Apple and Google opposed the Texas bill, saying it imposes blanket requirements to share age data with all apps, even when those apps are uncontroversial. "If enacted, app marketplaces will be required to collect and keep sensitive personal identifying information for every Texan who wants to download an app, even if it's an app that simply provides weather updates or sports scores," Applesaid in a statement. Google and Apple each have their own proposals that involve sharing age range data only with apps that require it, rather than all apps. "We see a role for legislation here," said Kareem Ghanem, senior director of government affairs and public policy at Google, told Reuters. "It's just got to be done in the right way, and it's got to hold the feet of Zuckerberg and the social media companies to the fire, because it'sthe harms to kids and teens on those sites that's really inspired people to take a closer look here and see how we can all do better." (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; editing by Diane Craft)
Straits Times
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
French Open 'Merci Rafa' T-shirts resurface online at sky-high prices
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 25, 2025 Spectators in the stands make a heart with special \"Merci Rafa' tees provided for a tribute to former tennis player and record French Open winner Rafael Nadal REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 25, 2025 Former tennis player and record French Open winner Rafael Nadal during a tribute REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes PARIS - French Open organisers handed out 10,000 brick-red T-shirts for Sunday's tribute to 14-times Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal on Monday and while most people took the souvenir home, several tried to sell them online for up to 500 euros. The "Merci Rafa" T-shirts turned the stands into a living canvas, while high in the upper tiers, fans in white shirts formed a mosaic: "RAFA" flanked by hearts and the characters "14 RG". T-shirts were up for sale on Monday morning with prices ranging from 150 to 500 euros, to the disappointment of the French tennis federation (FFT). "That some people are taking the opportunity to make money off the 'Merci Rafa' T-shirt, I find that a bit deplorable, but we weren't going to take the T-shirt back in the end," FFT president Gilles Moretton told reporters. "We did something unique, and with uniqueness sometimes comes this kind of drift. I saw some prices that scared me." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
