Author: News Room

For months, Instagram has watched and waited to see what would happen to rival TikTok under a new federal law that would ban the app in the United States. On Sunday, the day that law took effect, Instagram pounced.The social media app, which is owned by Meta, announced a new app called Edits, a video-editing product that appeared to be a clone of CapCut, which is used by millions of people to stitch together short videos for TikTok. CapCut and TikTok are owned by ByteDance, the Chinese internet giant, which led to U.S. scrutiny of the apps for national security…

David Schneiderman, an editor turned publisher turned chief executive of The Village Voice, the granddaddy of alternative newspapers, whose 28-year tenure ran from its era of downtown-bestriding indispensability to a long, slow fade in the internet era, died on Friday in Edmonds, Wash., near Seattle. He was 77.His daughter, Kate Schneiderman, said the cause of his death, in a hospital, was pneumonia brought on by chronic lymphocytic leukemia, with which he was diagnosed two years ago. He lived in Woodway, Wash.After being named editor in chief in 1978, Mr. Schneiderman elevated The Voice’s journalistic game, diversified a newsroom that was…

A man was arrested in connection with a fire set early on Sunday in response to “recent talks” of banning the popular video app TikTok, the authorities said. The fire was at a strip mall that includes a district office of a Wisconsin congressman who has been critical of the app.The man, 19, who was not identified, was arrested after being found near a Fond du Lac, Wis., mall that houses an office of the congressman, U.S. Representative Glenn Grothman, a Republican, the city’s police department said in a statement.No one was injured and the mall was unoccupied when police…

The Trump family’s new crypto token surged in just two days to become one of the most valuable forms of digital currency in the world, creating the potential for a multibillion-dollar payout to the family but also generating a storm of questions about the conflicts of interest the new venture creates.President-elect Donald J. Trump announced the launch of the new token, $Trump, on Friday night as hundreds gathered for a crypto-inspired inauguration ball not far from the White House.The venture won praise by some as a sign of how digital currencies are now going mainstream in the United States.But economists…

Starting on Saturday night, TikTok, the short-form video app owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, was unavailable in the United States as a result of a new law that banned the company’s apps in the country. By around noon on Sunday, it was back.Though the law calls on ByteDance to sell TikTok to non-Chinese owners or face a ban starting Sunday, TikTok said it was responding to new “clarity” from President-elect Donald J. Trump when it restored service.Mr. Trump vowed early Sunday to stall the implementation of the ban to give TikTok more time to make a sale that would…

A deep-tissue massage. Housekeeping and laundry services. A haircut after lunch.For most, that’s a vacation at an all-inclusive resort. For many Silicon Valley workers, it was just a typical day at the office.Over the past two decades, the tech industry became famous (or infamous) for its “perks culture,” a custom of providing employees with fanciful and luxurious amenities. Companies like Google and Meta tried outflanking one another in offering the most extravagant extras on Skittles-colored campuses as they competed for talent.How it’s pronounced/pərks kəl-chər/But widespread industry layoffs and an expensive pivot to building artificial intelligence led to a decline of…

President-elect Donald J. Trump said on Sunday that he would issue an executive order to stall a federal ban of TikTok, just hours after major app stores removed the popular social media site and it stopped operating for U.S. users.“I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark,” Mr. Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.”The ban stems from a 2024 law that requires app stores and…

When it comes to the federal payroll, two seemingly contradictory things are true.One, the Biden administration went on a hiring spree that expanded the government work force at the fastest pace since the 1980s. And two, it remains near a record low as a share of overall employment.In the four years separating President-elect Donald J. Trump’s two terms, the federal civilian head count has risen by about 4.4 percent, according to the Labor Department, to just over three million, including the Postal Service.But that’s a much slower pace than private payrolls have grown over the past four years. And it…

For Klem’s, a general store in rural Massachusetts, each year has seemed more challenging than the last.First, there was the pandemic, then a global supply chain breakdown that left the store short of lawn mowers and shoes. Next, a spate of inflation raided American pocketbooks. All along, Amazon continued to pull customers away from brick and mortar stores like Klem’s.Now Jessica Bettencourt, Klem’s owner, says she is facing a new challenge that has left her wondering if the store — which was started by her grandparents in 1949 — will survive. The sweeping tariffs that President-elect Donald J. Trump has…

Mr. Hegseth is poised to move from “Fox & Friends Weekend” to overseeing the Pentagon. Sean Duffy, a Fox Business host, is Mr. Trump’s pick for transportation secretary. Tom Homan, a Fox contributor, has been tapped to be his border czar. Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, who explained the Covid pandemic to Fox viewers, is nominated for surgeon general. (None are still on the Fox payroll; the network terminated its contracts with anyone who was tapped by Mr. Trump.)There’s Mike Huckabee, who hosted a Fox News show for seven years, as ambassador to Israel. Tulsi Gabbard, who left a Fox gig in…