U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Google’s search engine of promoting negative news articles and hiding “fair media” coverage of him, vowing to address the situation without providing evidence or giving details of action he might take.

Trump’s attack against the Alphabet Inc unit follows a string of grievances against technology companies, including social media Twitter Inc and Facebook Inc, which he has accused of silencing conservative voices, and Amazon.com Inc, which he has said is hurting small businesses and benefiting from a favorable deal with the U.S. Postal Services.

He frequently berates news outlets for what he perceives as unfair coverage. Google denied any political bias, saying in a statement that its search engine is “not used to set a political agenda and we don’t bias our results toward any political ideology.”

Trump said in several tweets on Tuesday that Google search results for “Trump News” were “rigged” against him because they showed only coverage from outlets like CNN and not conservative publications, suggesting the practice was illegal.

“I think Google is really taking advantage of our people,” Trump said on Tuesday in the Oval Office. “Google, and Twitter and Facebook, they are really treading on very, very troubled territory, and they have to be careful. It’s not fair to large portions of the population.”

Facebook declined to comment. Twitter did not comment when asked for a response. In congressional testimony, both companies have denied engaging in partisan censorship. Neither Trump nor the White House detailed how or under what legal justification they would use to probe Google.

Trump’s economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, later told reporters that the White House was “taking a look” at Google, saying the administration would do “some investigation and some analysis,” without providing further details.

Earlier this summer, the new Republican chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Joseph Simons, said the agency would keep a close eye on big tech companies that dominate the internet.

In a previous investigation, the FTC decided that Google was likely justified in developing a search function that harmed other companies.

In June Representative Keith Ellison, a Democrat, asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google’s alleged anticompetitive behavior in the online search and advertising markets.

Congressional sources cautioned that it may be difficult for Trump to find a way to probe Google about news search results, and that Congress is unlikely to pass any applicable laws.

U.S. member of Congress Ted Lieu, a Democrat, said in a tweet directed at Trump that such restrictions on Google would violate the U.S. Constitution: “If government tried to dictate the free speech algorithms of private companies, courts would strike it down in a nanosecond.”

Trump’s criticism of media

While the exact science behind Google searches on the internet is kept secret, its basic principles are widely known to be generated with a variety of factors measured by the company’s algorithms.

The factors Google uses to determine which websites appear first in search results include how often that page is linked to on other sites, the use of keywords, the popularity and respectability of the news site, and personal browsing history of the person conducting the search.

Highly trafficked and cited websites like CNN.com and NYTimes.com, two of the most Trump’s most frequent targets, often appear first in search results.

Trump’s accusation of bias on the part of Google comes as social media companies have suspended accounts, banned certain users and removed content as they face pressure from the U.S. Congress to police foreign propaganda and fake accounts aimed at disrupting American politics, including operations tied to Iran and Russia.

Companies such as Facebook and Twitter have also been pressed to remove conspiracy driven content and hate speech.

Tech companies have said they do not remove content for political reasons. Some Republican U.S. lawmakers have also raised concerns about social media companies removing content from some conservatives, and have called Twitter’s chief executive to testify before a House of Representatives panel on Sept. 5.

Earlier this month, Alphabet’s YouTube joined Apple Inc and Facebook in removing some content from Infowars, a website run by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Jones was also temporarily suspended on Twitter.

(REUTERS)

British Prime Minister Theresa May pledged Tuesday to make Britain the biggest investor in Africa from the developed world, as she began a three-nation tour of the continent.

With Britain due to leave the European Union in March 2019, May is seeking to bolster Britain’s ties with other regions around the world, notably Africa. As part of that strategy, May is visiting three of Africa’s largest economies — South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya — along with her trade minister and a delegation of 29 business leaders.

“I am committed to Africa and committed to using every lever of the British government to support the partnerships and ideas that will bring benefits for generations to come,” May said in a rainy Cape Town at the start of her tour that is being promoted under the slogan “U.K.-Africa: Partners For Opportunity.”

May has high ambition, envisioning Britain becoming the biggest investor in Africa from the world’s major industrial economies — the Group of Seven that also includes the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Only China would be ahead of Britain.

“By 2022, I want the U.K. to be the G-7’s number one investor in Africa, with Britain’s private sector companies taking the lead in investing the billions that will see Africa’s economies grow by trillions,” said May.

In response to questions, May said she will discuss South Africa’s controversial land reform plans with President Cyril Ramaphosa later Tuesday.

“The U.K. has for some time supported land reform in South Africa that will be a legal, transparent and democratic process,” said May.

She said that from previous comments from Ramaphosa, she is convinced it will not be a “smash and grab” process but one responsibly designed to encourage economic growth. May’s support for Ramaphosa’s plans for land redistribution is dramatically different from U.S. President Donald Trump, who last week was critical of the policies in a tweet.

Before speaking, May visited the I.D. Mkhize High School in Gugulethu township where she met with students.

May’s trip is the first working visit by a British leader to South Africa since 2011.

AP

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu says his country will next month hold its biggest military exercise in almost four decades.

The exercise, dubbed Vostok-2018 (East-2018), will be held in central and eastern Russian military districts, Russia’s news agencies quoted Shoigu as saying on Tuesday.

The minister further said that about 300,000 troopers, more than 1,000 military aircraft, two of Russia’s naval fleets, and all of its airborne units, will take part in the drill.

The military exercise will be the biggest since 1981, Shoigu added.

It was not clear how long the drill would last.

The drill comes amid tensions between Moscow and NATO, which regularly holds war games, although near Russia’s western borders.

NATO member states, largely made up of Western European countries, have significantly increased their military activities near Russia’s western borders in recent years.

Russia, perceiving those activities as a security threat, has held several military drills to maintain preparedness, and the NATO countries have then pointed to those drills as signs that Russia has aggressive intentions.

NATO severed ties with Russia and subsequently increased its military presence in the Baltic region following the 2014 integration of the Crimean Peninsula with Russia.

The trial of more than two dozen people, including a former intelligence agency informant, suspected in the killings of two UN sanctions monitors last year in central Congo resumed on Monday after a 10-month suspension, defense lawyers said.

Zaida Catalan, a Swede, and Michael Sharp, an American, were killed in March 2017 while investigating an armed conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kasai region between government forces and the local Kamuina Nsapu militia.

The Congo’s government has blamed their kidnappings and killings on the militia but some Western governments and rights groups suspect state officials may have been involved as Catalan and Sharp were conducting investigations in an area where the United Nations has accused Congo’s military of war crimes.

Congolese government officials initially said no state agents were involved in the killings and that they did not know at the time that the two experts were in the region. But they later said they could not exclude the possibility state agents were involved.

Among the 13 defendants appearing in court on Monday in the Kasai city of Kananga were suspected militia leaders Constantin Tshidime Bulabula and Vincent Manga, who were arrested earlier this year, Bulabula’s lawyer Tresor Kabangu told Reuters.

Kabangu said Bulabula denies wrongdoing. Manga’s lawyer, Moise Bidua, also says he denies the accusations against him.

Another dozen defendants are scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday to be identified, Kabangu said, including his client Jose Tshibuabua, who was arrested late last year.

Reuters and Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported in December that Tshibuabua was working as an informant for Congo’s national intelligence agency (ANR) when he helped Sharp and Catalan organize their trip to the town of Bunkonde. Kabangu says Tshibuabua denies any wrongdoing.

According to phone logs in the Congolese prosecutor’s file reviewed by Reuters and RFI, Tshibuabua exchanged dozens of text messages with a local ANR boss in the days before and after Sharp and Catalan were killed.

Congo’s top ANR official, Kalev Mutond, said Tshibuabua had repeatedly assured him during interrogation that he had not informed ANR officials about his contacts with the UN monitors and suggested Tshibuabua was acting on behalf of the militia.

The trial began in June of last year. It was suspended in October pending the arrival of a team of UN experts meant to assist the investigation.

The experts have complained that Congolese security officials are interfering with their work, including by not granting access to key witnesses. Swedish prosecutors working the case also say Congolese authorities have not been cooperative.

Congo denies those accusations and says its justice system is conducting an impartial investigation.

(Source: Reuters)