Court rules against Lone Star in $125.9-mil. tax case
An appeals court on Thursday ruled against U.S. private equity firm Lone Star Funds in its suit against the Korean and Seoul city governments to return a combined 168.2 billion won ($125.9 million) in taxes. The Seoul High Court handed down the ruling against Lone Star after the Supreme Court returned the case to the appeals court for review in April last year. The Texas-based firm had earlier filed the suit against the state and the municipality, seeking the return of withheld taxes in connection with profits from its investments in Korea. Lone Star and affiliate firms purchased large shares of Korea Exchange Bank, Kukdong Engineering Construction and Starlease between 2002 and 2005, and made huge profits by selling some of the shares in 2007. They paid smaller taxes than local companies would have, citing the tax treaty that Korea has with Belgium where the company that made the investment was based. The National Tax Service (NTS) levied additional corporate taxes against Lone Star and its entities, offsetting them with withheld taxes. Lone Star then filed a suit seeking cancellation of
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NSA warns organizations to patch security flaws identified by AI
The National Security Agency (NSA) warned organizations Wednesday to immediately patch a pair of security flaws or take their systems offline after artificial intelligence discovered vulnerabilities in a key programming language. "Effective Immediately, all organizations using PHP for their systems are advised to be prepared for an update addressing two critical vulnerabilities," the NSA's cyber...
Judge orders Meta to pay New Mexico $25B in Cambridge Analytica case
A judge in New Mexico ordered the technology giant Meta to pay $25 billion after a jury found the company liable for misleading users about its privacy and content policies. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez (D) announced the judge's order Wednesday, calling it "one of the single largest — if not the largest —...
Reign of the Black Empire is Hearthstone’s grittiest expansion yet
Hearthstone’s latest expansion latest expansion, Reign of the Black Empire is officially live! The expansion adds 135 cards and introduces Assemble, a new keyword that allows players to create custom minions. It also brings the four Old Gods, C’Thun, Yogg-Saron, N’Zoth, and Y’Shaarj, back at the height of their power as they go on an
China expresses 'firm opposition' to Trump administration sanctions tied to former Google engineer
China slammed the Trump administration's move to sanction five Chinese companies linked to a former Google engineer accused of intellectual property theft, calling it "egregious." The State Department announced the sanctions on Monday, stating the firms are connected to Chinese national Linwei Ding, who was convicted earlier this year of stealing AI-related trade secrets from...
Musk: SpaceX, Tesla merger a 'good idea'
Elon Musk said Tuesday that his two companies, SpaceX and Tesla, have formed independent special committees to discuss the potential merger, calling it "a good idea." "I think it would be a good idea, but it's really up to the special committees of both companies," Musk told investors on a conference call, according to a...
GOP rep: 'We got to investigate' Starlink slowdown report
Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) is calling for a congressional investigation into the Starlink slowdown in Ukraine after a report that SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk personally ordered it. “We got to call the witnesses, got to bring them in, put them under oath, and get to the bottom of it,” Fitzpatrick told CNN’s...
Need a notary? here’s how eNotarization works in the Philippines
MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos can now have digital documents notarized online. The Supreme Court began offering electronic notarization (eNotarization) on Monday, October 19, 2026, through three accredited platforms: Twala, QLegal and NotarizeIT. An electronically notarized document has the same validity, force and effect as one notarized under the 2004 Notarial Rules, and it can be
OPPO Find X10 Pro Max launches at S$2,199 (512GB), and that’s before pre-order bonuses *Updated*
As part of OPPO’s new Find X10 series, the Find X10 Pro Max will be joined by the more affordable Find X10 and Find X10E.
Outright ban? Parental controls exist for social media platforms
A lot has happened since I first wrote about the Child Protection Act. Amidst the Discord ban that caused (former) DICT Henry Aguda to be replaced, to the Act being ratified while I was sitting at the SOS forum for child safety, there are still some thoughts I wanted to put down in the public
Tesla signs deal to integrate Alipay into its cars as China competition heats up
Tesla has agreed a deal to integrate Chinese fintech giant Ant Group’s Alipay digital payment software into its vehicles in China, as Elon Musk’s firm steps up efforts to offer localised smart features amid intense competition in the Chinese market. The agreement, signed on Tuesday, will see Tesla roll out an Alipay-powered smart parking service across its Chinese fleet, according to the fintech firm. Neither side revealed a launch date or which car models would receive the feature, though...
Polymarket blocks wagers on fate of Cornell students accused of sexual assault
After facing public backlash, Polymarket has removed a market that allowed users to wager on the fate of the seven Cornell University students accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a fraternity house in 2024. The prediction market archived the market, which asked whether any of the so-called Cornell 7 would be charged with a...
Washington’s DeepSeek ban may deter US firms from adopting Chinese AI models: experts
The US government’s latest ban on Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek could have a chilling effect on the wider American business community and deter companies from adopting low-cost Chinese AI models, industry experts say. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek products and third-party services built on the Chinese AI model from their IT systems, according to a directive signed in July and published on Monday. The...
