united-states

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By Rory Carroll SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Electric vehicle charging companies are calling for independent oversight of the $2 billion Volkswagen AG is required to invest in clean car infrastructure, saying VW should not have the power to shape the nascent electric car charging space. The German automaker agreed to invest the money, which includes $1.2 billion nationally and $800 million in California, as part of its penalties for equipping hundreds of thousands of its diesel vehicles sold in the United States with software designed to cheat tailpipe emissions tests. While charging station companies called the money a potential “game changer,” they worry that if it is misspent, it could hurt competition.

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(Reuters) – Two youths unaware of their surroundings when they were playing Pokemon GO on their cell phones made an illegal border crossing this week from Canada into the United States in a remote part of Montana, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said. The two, who were not identified, were found by U.S. Border Patrol agents on Thursday, with their attention affixed to their phones as they were trying to hunt down cartoon characters on a journey that took them over the border. “Both juveniles were so captivated by their Pokemon GO games that they lost track of where they were,” said Michael Rappold, a spokesman for the agency.

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By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The United States has set out limits to its use of data collected in bulk about European citizens after a new information-sharing pact was agreed this month, according to documents seen by Reuters. A clear explanation of what information could be used for — preventing its “indiscriminate” and “arbitrary” use — was a key condition of the new Privacy Shield framework that enables firms to easily transfer personal data to the United States. Under the deal, Washington agreed to create a specific new role within the State Department to deal with complaints and enquiries forwarded by EU data protection agencies.

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(Reuters) – Apple Inc said it will soon start charging for iTunes Radio, its music-streaming service that competes with Pandora Media Inc. ITunes Radio, which was announced in 2013, will no longer be free from the end of January, Apple said in statement. The ad-supported service, available only in the United States and Australia, will be folded into Apple Music, which costs $9.99 a month. Beats 1, the global 24/7 radio station, will now be the free music option for listeners.

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By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The EU's highest court struck down a deal that allows thousands of companies to easily transfer personal data from Europe to the United States, in a landmark ruling on Tuesday that follows revelations of mass U.S. government snooping. Many companies, both U.S. and European, use the Safe Harbour system to help them get round cumbersome checks to transfer data between offices on both sides of the Atlantic. The court said Safe Harbour did not sufficiently protect EU citizens' personal data since the requirements of American national security, public interest and law enforcement trumped the privacy safeguards contained in the framework.

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The announcement by FCA US LLC, formerly Chrysler Group LLC, comes more than a month after the company recalled about 1.4 million vehicles in the United States for the software update. FCA said on Friday that it was unaware of any injuries related to software exploitation. The recalled vehicles include 2015 Jeep Renegade SUVs equipped with 6.5-inch touchscreens.

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(Reuters) – A BT Group Plc executive has called for the United States to require its telecommunications companies to allow access to their networks at regulated prices, similar to rules in place in the United Kingdom, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. Bas Burger, president of the British company's Americas unit, told the newspaper that a lack of regulation has hampered competition in the United States, where AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc control about 80 percent of the telephone and broadband lines used by homes and businesses. Burger said BT Group must charge customers more because it has to pay large fees to the U.S. rivals to carry data over these wires.

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By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union and the United States are close to completing negotiations on a deal protecting personal data shared for law enforcement purposes such as terrorism investigations, three people familiar with the matter said. The two sides have been negotiating since 2011 over the so-called “umbrella agreement” that would protect personal data exchanged between police and judicial authorities in the course of investigations, as well as between companies and law enforcement authorities. The protection of personal data in the United States has been a sore point in the EU since former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden revealed mass U.S. surveillance programs involving EU citizens.

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(Reuters) – Apple Inc is likely to quickly ramp production of the Apple Watch after strong pre-orders outstripped limited supply in the first weekend following its launch, some Wall Street analysts said. Apple is widely expected to disclose weekend pre-order numbers at around 8:30 a.m. ET on Monday. According to shopping data firm Slice Intelligence, Apple booked nearly 1 million pre-orders for the Apple Watch in the United States on Friday. The Apple Watch, which allows users to check email, listen to music and make phone calls when paired with an iPhone, goes on sale officially on April 24.

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China's Defense Ministry on Friday denied that it had anything to do with a cyber attack on Register.com, a unit of Web.com, following a report in the Financial Times that the FBI was looking into the Chinese military's involvement. “The relevant criticism that China's military participated in Internet hacking is to play the same old tune, and is totally baseless,” the ministry said in a fax to Reuters in response to a question about the story. It is not clear what the Chinese military would be looking for or what it would gain from Register.com's data. China and the United States regularly accuse each other of hacking attacks.