International

Facebook agrees to pay $725 million to settle privacy suit

| By AFP |

Facebook parent Meta has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a long-running lawsuit that accused the social network of allowing third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, to access users’ private data.

The amount was disclosed in a court filing late on Thursday.

“The proposed settlement of $725,000,000 is the largest recovery ever achieved in a data privacy class action and the most Facebook has ever paid to resolve a private class action,” lawyers for the plaintiffs said in the filing.

Facebook has not admitted any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, which still requires approval by a judge in the San Francisco division of the US District Court.

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“We pursued a settlement as it’s in the best interest of our community and shareholders,” Meta spokesperson Dina El-Kassaby Luce said in a statement. “Over the last three years we revamped our approach to privacy and implemented a comprehensive privacy program.”

It was reported in August that Facebook had reached a preliminary agreement, although the amount and terms of the settlement were not announced.

The lawsuit was initiated in 2018, when Facebook users accused the social network of violating privacy rules by sharing their data with third parties that included the British firm Cambridge Analytica, which had been linked to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Cambridge Analytica, which has since shut down, then collected and exploited the personal data of 87 million Facebook users without their consent, the lawsuit alleged.

That information was allegedly used to develop software to steer US voters in favor of Trump.

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Facebook has since removed access to its data from thousands of apps suspected of abusing it, restricted the amount of information available to developers, and made it easier for users to calibrate restrictions on personal data sharing.

Federal authorities fined Facebook $5 billion in 2019 for misleading its users and imposed independent oversight of its personal data management.

International

German president warns Iran war could spread and disrupt Strait of Hormuz

The president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, warned Monday that the war involving Iran could expand and further disrupt shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. He urged a swift end to hostilities between Iran, United States and Israel.

Speaking in Panama City during a joint appearance with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, Steinmeier said available information suggests Iran has significant capacity to disrupt maritime traffic through the key oil route.

“Iran has considerable potential to interfere with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” Steinmeier said through an interpreter. “We should therefore reach an end to the hostilities as soon as possible and call on all parties involved to make that happen.”

The remarks came during Steinmeier’s visit to Panama, the first by a German president to the Central American nation.

The German leader described the possibility of the conflict spreading as “very dangerous,” saying recent developments indicate that such a scenario cannot be ruled out.

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Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump urged allied nations to help ensure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran moved to block the waterway in response to U.S. strikes. However, several allies—particularly in Europe—have shown little support for the proposal.

“Some are very enthusiastic, others are not, and some are countries we have helped for many years,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have protected them from terrible external threats, and they’re not that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm is important to me.”

Meanwhile, Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said the Strait of Hormuz falls “outside NATO’s scope” and stressed that “the war involving Iran is not Europe’s war.”

International

Mexico security chief meets DEA director in Washington to boost anti-drug cooperation

Mexico’s Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Omar García Harfuch, met in Washington with the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Terrance Cole, to discuss cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking and illegal arms flows.

The Mexican official said Monday on social media that he attended the meeting in representation of the Mexican government’s Security Cabinet.

“In Washington, D.C., I represented the Security Cabinet to hold talks with DEA Director Terrance Cole on the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation to combat drug trafficking, curb the flow of weapons into our country, and reduce violence in Mexico through significant arrests,” García Harfuch wrote.

He added that, following instructions from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, the government will continue strengthening international cooperation on security matters.

For his part, Cole said the meeting focused on cross-border collaboration to tackle drug trafficking and to build safer communities on both sides of the border.

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The meeting comes as Mexico and the United States begin a new round of dialogue on economic and security issues.

Earlier Monday, President Claudia Sheinbaum said she will look for the “best moment” to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, adding that maintaining a good relationship with Washington is a priority for her administration.

International

Venezuela’s foreign minister accuses UN rights chief of “immoral bias”

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil criticized the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, accusing him of having an “immoral bias” and acting as an “echo chamber for falsehoods” regarding the situation in Venezuela.

Gil’s remarks came after Türk stated that his office had not received an official list from Venezuelan authorities detailing the release of political prisoners, nor authorization to carry out visits related to the issue.

“The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights insists on a narrative biased against our country, repeating unfounded accusations while deliberately omitting the impact of unilateral coercive measures on the rights of the Venezuelan people,” Gil said in a message posted on his Telegram channel.

Without directly addressing the question of prisoner releases, the Venezuelan foreign minister also accused Türk of aligning with what he described as the “agenda of extremism in Venezuela.”

Gil added that, despite serious human rights violations occurring in other parts of the world, the UN official has chosen to maintain what he described as an “immoral bias” against Venezuela.

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The criticism is part of a broader dispute between the Venezuelan government and the UN human rights office over reports and investigations concerning the human rights situation in the country.