Justice Department launches antitrust probe of Big Tech
The U.S. Department of Justice opened a sweeping antitrust investigation of big technology companies and whether their online platforms have hurt competition, suppressed innovation or otherwise harmed consumers.
It comes as a growing number of lawmakers have called for stricter regulation or even breaking up of the big tech companies, which have come under intense scrutiny following a series of scandals that compromised users’ privacy.
President Donald Trump also has relentlessly criticized the big tech companies by name in recent months. He frequently asserts, without evidence, that companies such as Facebook and Google are biased against him and conservative politicians.
The Justice Department did not name specific companies in its announcement.
The focus of the investigation closely mirrors a bipartisan probe of Big Tech undertaken by the House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust. Its chairman, Rep. David Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat, has sharply criticized the conduct of Silicon Valley giants and said legislative or regulatory changes may be needed. He has called breaking up the companies a last resort.
Immigration roundup that targeted 2,100 nets 35 arrests
WASHINGTON — An immigration enforcement operation that President Donald Trump said was part of an effort to deport “millions” of people from the United States resulted in 35 arrests, officials said Tuesday.
Trump billed the operation targeting families as a major show of force as the number of Central American families crossing the southern border has skyrocketed. There are about 1 million people in the U.S. with final deportation orders, the operation targeted 2,100.
Of those arrested, 18 were members of families and 17 were collateral apprehensions of people in the country illegally encountered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. None of those arrested resulted in the separation of family, officials said.
While the effort was demonized by Democrats as a full-force drive to deport families and trumpeted by Republicans as a necessary show of force to prove there are consequences for people coming here illegally, career ICE officers described it as a routine operation, one expected to net an average of about 10 to 20% of targets.
A separate nationwide enforcement operation targeting immigrants here illegally who had criminal convictions or charges netted 899 arrests. And officers handed out 3,282 notices of inspection to businesses that may be employing people here illegally.
Boris Johnson chosen as new UK leader, now faces Brexit test
LONDON — Boris Johnson, Britain’s blustering Brexit campaigner, was chosen as the U.K.’s next prime minister on Tuesday, with a resounding mandate from the Conservative Party but conflicting demands from a politically divided country.
Johnson is set to become prime minister on Wednesday after winning an election to lead the governing Conservatives. He will have just over three months to make good on his promise to lead the U.K. out of the European Union by Oct. 31.
Famed for his bravado, quips in Latin and blond mop of hair , Johnson easily defeated Conservative rival Jeremy Hunt, winning two-thirds of the votes of about 160,000 party members across the U.K. He will become prime minister once Queen Elizabeth II formally asks him to form a government, replacing Theresa May.
The embattled May announced her resignation last month after Parliament repeatedly rejected the withdrawal agreement she struck with the 28-nation bloc, leaving Britain stranded in Brexit limbo. The U.K.’s departure from the EU was delayed from its long scheduled exit in March.
Johnson radiated optimism in a brief victory speech to hundreds of party members and lawmakers, pledging to “deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn,” leader of the opposition Labour Party.
ICE releases US citizen, 18, wrongfully detained near border
HOUSTON — A U.S.-born 18-year-old was released from immigration custody Tuesday after wrongfully being detained for more than three weeks.
Francisco Erwin Galicia left a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Pearsall, Texas, on Tuesday. His lawyer, Claudia Galan, confirmed he had been released, less than a day after The Dallas Morning News’ reporting about his case drew national attention.
ICE did not immediately comment. Nor did U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which oversees the Border Patrol, the agency that first detained Galicia.
Galicia lives in the border city of Edinburg, Texas, and was traveling north with a group of friends when they were stopped at a Border Patrol inland checkpoint. According to Galan and the Morning News, agents apprehended Galicia on suspicion that he was in the U.S. illegally even though he had a Texas state ID.
Galicia was detained for three weeks by the Border Patrol, then transferred to the ICE detention center.
Senate approves bill to extend 9/11 victims fund
WASHINGTON — The Senate gave final legislative approval Tuesday to a bill ensuring that a victims’ compensation fund related to the Sept. 11 attacks never runs out of money.
The 97-2 vote sends the bill to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it.
The vote came after Democratic senators agreed to allow votes on amendments sponsored by two Republican senators who had been blocking the widely popular bill. The Senate easily defeated the amendments proposed by GOP Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky. The two men were the only senators who voted against the bill’s final passage.
Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said 9/11 first responders and their families have had “enough of political games” that delayed passage of the bill for months.
“Our 9/11 heroes deserve this program as written,” Gillibrand said. “Let our heroes go home and live in peace and finally exhale.”
Documents: $6 million to Armstrong family in wrongful death
CINCINNATI — An Ohio hospital paid the estate of astronaut Neil Armstrong $6 million in a confidential agreement to settle allegations that post-surgical complications led to Armstrong’s 2012 death, according to court documents and a report in the New York Times.
The 2014 settlement went to 10 family members, including Armstrong’s two sons, sister, brother and six grandchildren, according to documents filed with the Hamilton County Probate Court in Cincinnati which were publicly available on Tuesday. Armstrong’s widow, Carol, did not receive any money in the settlement.
Armstrong’s sons, Mark and Rick, contended care provided by Mercy Health-Fairfield Hospital cost their father his life, according to the New York Times.
The 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon was celebrated Saturday. He died on Aug. 25, 2012.
A Sept. 24, 2014 motion to seal the settlement said the hospital and its caregivers stood by the treatment they provided.
US economy dodges the threat of painful spending cuts
WASHINGTON — The budget agreement that congressional leaders and President Donald Trump forged late Monday lifted a big potential drag on the U.S. economy for this year and next.
Under the agreement, the economy was spared from a series of deep spending cuts that were set to take effect under a far-reaching budget law enacted in 2011. Monday’s agreement nullified those cuts and increased spending by $320 billion over two years.
Still, that additional spending isn’t expected to deliver a significant boost to the economy. That’s because the $320 billion figure is somewhat misleading. It’s an increase compared with the deep cuts that would have been required under the 2011 law. But it’s only a small gain compared with the current level of spending.
“It’s not so much that it’s a big boost, but it’s a pain that was avoided,” said Michael Pugliese, an economist at Wells Fargo Securities.
Like most economists, Pugliese hasn’t revised his economic forecasts based on Monday’s deal. He still expects economic growth to slip to 2.6% this year, a solid pace, from 2.9% in 2018.
Cellphones sought in Puerto Rico as political crisis deepens
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A Puerto Rico judge issued search warrants for the cellphones of government officials involved in a crude online chat whose leak has set off a political crisis that threatens to bring down the U.S. territory’s governor.
One of the search warrants said that government officials used the chat to transmit official and confidential information to private citizens in potential violation of ethics laws.
Kelvin Carrasco, a spokesman for the island’s Justice Department, said Tuesday that the warrants were approved overnight and issued to those who had yet to turn over their phones. He did not identify the officials and would not comment further.
The possibility that some of the 12 men in the chat, including former and current government officials, could face legal trouble deepened the crisis around Gov. Ricardo Rosselló.
One of the men who was part of the chat, Rosselló confidant and chief of staff Ricardo Llerandi, announced his resignation Tuesday, saying he and his family have received threats.