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Published  May 21, 2026 9:25 AM EDT article Flowers and candles are seen at a makeshift memorial for murdered American conservative activist Charlie Kirk outside the U.S. embassy as its flag hangs at half-staff on September 14, 2025 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images) A man who lost his job and missed the birth of his granddaughter while jailed over a Charlie Kirk social media post will receive $835,000 to settle a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office. Many people lost their jobs over social media comments following the murder of Kirk, a conservative political activist, but Larry Bushart of Perry County, Tennessee, is believed to be the only person who faced felony charges.  Larry Bushart wins lawsuit The backstory: Bushart, 61, was arrested in September after he refused to take down Facebook memes that joked about Kirk’s killing.  The meme Bushart posted that prompted his arrest read: "This seems relevant today..." and featured President Donald Trump and the words, "We have to get over it." That quote,  » Read More

I. What Are Digital Services Taxes? DSTs are taxes on the gross revenue, such as from advertising and data sales, that certain large and highly profitable digital companies earn from consumers through websites that offer the likes of search engines, social media services, and online marketplaces.  These taxes are imposed without regard to the targeted companies’ physical presence in the taxing country. This distinguishes DSTs from conventional corporate income taxes, which generally require the physical presence of an in-country permanent establishment.  State of Digital Services Taxes in Europe Jurisdiction Status and Effective Date  Rate Scope EU DIGITAL LEVY Proposed (stalled) 3% Marketplaces; advertising AUSTRIA Enacted; Jan. 2020 5% Advertising BELGIUM Proposed; Expected 2027 3% Advertising; intermediation; data transmission CZECH REPUBLIC Proposed (stalled) 5% Advertising; digital services DENMARK Enacted; Jan. 2024 2% Streaming video FRANCE Enacted; Jan. 2019 3% Advertising; digital interfaces; user data Enacted; Jan. 2024 1.2% Streaming video HUNGARY Enacted; July 2017 7.5% Media content; advertising ITALY Enacted; Jan. 2020 3% Advertising; digital interfaces; user data NORWAY Announced Norway may introduce a DST if no OECD/G20 agreement POLAND Enacted;  » Read More

Shared any birthday photos on social media recently? There had better be enough candles on that cake, otherwise your account could be blocked. Meta, the tech company behind Facebook and Instagram, plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) to find and remove the profiles of users under the age of 13 years. Thirteen is the minimum age for a person to create an account on the social media platforms. "We want young people to have safe, positive experiences online," started a press release from Meta in early May when it announced the move.  As part of that effort, the company said, it was always looking for ways to find accounts held by users who should not be on the platforms yet — but who signed up with a false birth date to make them seem old enough. The company will be "using AI technology to analyze entire profiles for contextual clues — such as birthday celebrations or mentions of school grades — to determine if an account likely belongs to someone underage," the press release stated.   » Read More

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Scroll through any Facebook feed in Britain and, between the baby announcements and petty neighbourhood beefs, you’re likely to come across an account with a union jack profile picture and a vague, generic name like Britain Today. These accounts – and there are hundreds, possibly thousands of them – present themselves as the work of British patriots. In one typical, AI-generated video, a middle-aged man claims his local cafe “has stopped serving pork, bacon and sausages just to avoid offending people”. Another post from the same account includes a sepia-tinted set of images of Victorian London, mourning a time when the city “was English, first-world and beautiful”. Alongside this type of reactionary nostalgia, it’s not unusual to see memes that call Islam a “cancer”, decry Muslims praying in public as an “invasion of the west” or promote the “great replacement theory” (which claims that white populations are being deliberately replaced by non-white immigrants). For the past seven months, I have been investigating who is really behind pages like these. The answer,  » Read More

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CAPE TOWN - Violent storms have ravaged the Western Cape, leaving a trail of destruction. Around 150,000 people have been caught in the chaos. Eleven lives have been lost. The Cape Metropole, Winelands and Breede Valley took the full force of the storms. Farmers in those areas are counting heavy losses as the agriculture sector reels. Estimates put the damage in the billions of rand. The Hex River Valley, South Africa’s largest table grape producer, is famed for its sprawling vineyards. Now, the valley is a tableau of devastation. After the storms, hundreds of millions of rand in damage remain. READ | Aid needed for Western Cape residents Juben Von Willingh, Breede Valley Municipality deputy mayor said the devastation to the vineyards was tremendous. Once thriving, Medoc table grape farm now lies in ruin, several hectares of vineyards shredded after just two to three days of relentless rain. Michael Vorster, Medoc table grape farmer said the devastation of the storm is only really visible when you visit the sites and see.   » Read More

As Meta prepares for a fresh round of layoffs on May 20, anxiety is spreading across the company, with employees reportedly bracing for what some have described as a “doomsday” moment inside the tech giant. The Facebook and Instagram parent company is expected to cut nearly 8,000 jobs in the first phase of layoffs this year, amounting to around 10% of its global workforce. Additional cuts are expected later in 2026, according to Reuters. Former Meta employee Adel Wu described the tense atmosphere ahead of the layoffs in a viral post on X, recalling how workers reacted during previous rounds of job cuts at the company. “During my last year at Meta there were probably 4-5 layoffs, but this one on 5/20 is huuuge,” Wu wrote. She added that employees were either hoping to be laid off or were deeply anxious because “the job is their lifeline.” Wu also recalled employees stuffing bags with free snacks, drinks and chargers before earlier layoffs. “Very weird time to be in big tech,” she wrote.  » Read More

Amid many fires across the state of Minnesota, a firefighting plane was hit by what appears to be a bullet on Friday evening, according to the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators say the plane was hit by the bullet after scooping water from Kjostad Lake in Portage Township at around 7 p.m. State, local and federal firefighting crews responded around 4 p.m. a wildland fire in Portage Township, about 15 miles north of Orr. When the plane returned to the Hibbing Airport, officials realized it had been hit. The plane landed safely and the pilot was not injured. Anyone with information is asked to call 911 and reference case number 26066433, according to the sheriff’s office. For Related Stories: Minnesota  Wildfire  » Read More

FARGO, N.D. -- The University of North Dakota track and field teams wrapped up a successful weekend at the 2026 Summit League Outdoor Championships on Saturday in Fargo, N.D.  The UND women recorded its highest finish since the program joined the Summit League by placing second with 196 points while the Fighting Hawk men scored 77 points and placed fifth overall. On the final day of competition, the Fighting Hawks broke a pair of school records and saw 10 earn medalist honors to finish the weekend with four new school records and 22 medals earned.  A trio of Fighting Hawks took home awards, with Jadyn Keeler (women's track), Justina Esangbedo (women's field) and Louis-Lys Fanucchi (men's track) each earning Most Valuable Player honors for the championships in their respective categories.  Keeler was named Women's Track Championship MVP after scoring 38 points. She won three events during the championship, taking gold in the 10,000-meter run, 5,000-meter run, 3,000-meter steeplechase and earned a sliver in the 1,500-meter run. Esangbedo was named Women's Field Championship MVP after scoring in four different events during the championship.  » Read More