ResidentialBusiness

A London espionage trial has provided rare insight into the activities of Jan Marsalek, the former payments executive, and how Moscow is outsourcing its spyingView the full article

Prime minister also open to exploring how French atomic weapons can protect whole continentView the full article

Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle Bowman, one of the central bank's more inflation-wary officials, said the balance of risks for monetary policymaking could soon shift. View the full article

With tax season in full swing, smart filers are looking to maximize every deduction available to them. We're all familiar with common tax deductions like mortgage interest, charitable donations, and retirement contributions. However, there are plenty of unexpected deductions and other little-known uses for pre-tax money. Andy Phillips, Vice President of H&R Block’s Tax Institute, shares some more unexpected facts about deductions. For instance, people who are wrongfully incarcerated may be able to exclude settlement money they receive to compensate them. And if you’re just starting to repay your student loans for the first time, you might not know that most taxpayers can deduct up to $2,500 of student loan interest payments each year. Here are some more of the strangest tax deductions people have claimed and actually gotten away with. Gambling lossesWhile gambling winnings are taxable income, the IRS allows taxpayers to deduct their gambling losses up to the amount of their winnings. This deduction is often claimed by professional gamblers and those who frequent casinos. Your pool or hot tubIf you are self-employed and use your backyard pool or hot tub to entertain clients or employees, you may be able to deduct a portion of your operating costs and even the initial installation. Just make sure to carefully document the business uses. SnacksDaycares can deduct set amounts for the breakfast, lunch, and snacks provided to children in their care. TamponsMenstrual care products like tampons and pads are qualified expenses you can pay with your health savings account. Pet care for service animalsFor the most part, deducting medical expenses for pets is not allowed as a medical expense on your tax return. The only exception is when an animal is a certified service animal, like a guide dog, to assist you. Service animals generally aren’t considered pets though. If you have a physical disability or are hearing or visually impaired, you can deduct medical expenses for your pets if they are certified service animals. Expenses that may be covered include purchasing, training, and maintenance of the animal which includes food, grooming, and medical care. Some cosmetic surgeriesA taxpayer can deduct medical expenses for cosmetic surgery necessary to improve a deformity arising from, or directly related to, a congenital abnormality, a personal injury resulting from an accident or trauma, or a disfiguring disease. Breast reconstruction after cancer and vision correction surgery are examples of a deductible surgery. Clarinet lessonsBelieve it or not, the IRS has allowed deductions for clarinet lessons as a medical expense in certain circumstances where the lessons were recommended by a doctor to help treat a health condition like stammering or neurological issues. You'll need a physician's letter to claim this one. EV chargersIf you install an electric vehicle charger in your home, you may be eligible for a tax credit. Similarly, while you can’t just run an extension cord out the window and make bank letting people charge their EVs, there are other ways to monetize a home EV charger. Construction expensesIf you build a house, construction expenses you can include are the land, materials, architect fees, building inspection fees, and building permit fees. The bottom lineRemember to keep accurate records and consult with a tax professional if you have any questions or concerns. While the above deductions might not apply to you, there are still plenty of deductions to make sure you're taking advantage of—like home office perks or retirement contributions. And if you want to avoid the April 15 scramble, be sure to check out the best filing services for 2025. View the full article

Your current cloud use plays a role. By Hitendra Patil Client Accounting Services: The Definitive Success Guide Go PRO for members-only access to more Beth Bellor. View the full article

Your current cloud use plays a role. By Hitendra Patil Client Accounting Services: The Definitive Success Guide Go PRO for members-only access to more Beth Bellor. View the full article

By now, most people know not to trust everything they see on TikTok. But scams on the platform are becoming increasingly sophisticated, thanks to deepfake technology. A new report from Media Matters for America, published this week, identified multiple TikTok accounts using deepfake influencers and fake storytimes to promote wellness products to unsuspecting users. These accounts appear to be part of an affiliated network, using the same content format and often promoting exactly the same products with little to no scientific backing. One now-deleted TikTok account, which had over 245,000 followers, amassed more than 4.1 million likes promoting its “secret to perfect hair.” Hawking a batana oil to increase hair growth (link in bio), the account featured a number of videos of an influencer claiming to be the wife of Korea’s highest paid plastic surgeon, a former Victoria’s Secret model, and a gynecologist. She claimed this batana oil was the secret to her long luscious hair, despite there being no research to back this up. The secret, in fact, is deepfake technology. A reverse image search by Media Matters strongly suggests that the women in these videos were AI-generated. The same influencer—posed identically, in the same outfit—appeared in multiple videos promoting different brands and products. Fake influencers are not the only trick scammers are adopting. Wellness trends travel fast on TikTok, often gaining momentum through word of mouth and personal anecdotes. Scammers have caught on to this and are now exploiting popular formats like the #storytime trend, which has 36.9 million posts on TikTok, to market their products. “My wife and I have spent three years trying to conceive after getting married without success,” reads a slide from one account that was spotlighted in the Media Matters report. “I felt guilty, helpless and ashamed for not giving her the family we dreamed of.” The slides that follow detail the couples struggle and eventual polycystic ovary syndrome diagnosis. These videos likely resonated with many viewers. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the leading causes of infertility, affecting approximately one in 10 women of childbearing age, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Determined to help her I found this supplement on Amazon that thousands swear by,” the final slide reads. “She started taking it, and for the first time in years, her cycle became regular—we’re finally hopeful again.” Of course, the supplement in question is conveniently linked in bio. Women with PCOS are often the prey of scams promising miracle cures via dubious supplements. But they are not the only ones. “Whoever or whatever created these accounts is trying to capitalize on the internet’s obsession with wellness,” writes Media Matters’s senior investigative researcher Olivia Little. “Nearly every username contains some combination of wellness buzzwords, and the accounts exclusively hawk health and beauty products.” As deepfake technology becomes ever more sophisticated, consumers must remain ever more skeptical of what is being sold to them online. View the full article

Trading could soon be very different on the Nasdaq stock market if the stock exchange gets its way. That’s because Nasdaq president Tal Cohen has announced the exchange’s plans to introduce 24-hour trading to the platform in the near future. The move to 24-hour trading would represent a seismic shift for the Nasdaq—and present opportunities and challenges to investors, businesses, and the media who cover them. Here’s what you need to know. Nasdaq proposes 24/5 trading In a blog post published today, Nasdaq president Tal Cohen has proposed what is colloquially called “24/5 trading”—the ability to trade stocks and other securities on exchange 24 hours a day for 5 days a week. In the blog post announcing Nasdaq’s intention, Cohen calls the potential move a “pivotal moment” of modernization for the exchange. “We are excited to share that Nasdaq has begun engaging with regulators, market participants and other key stakeholders, with a view of enabling 24-hour trading five days a week on the Nasdaq Stock Market,” he wrote, noting that 24-hour trading could “expand wealth-building opportunities” and “broaden investor access.” However, the Nasdaq operates in a highly regulated industry, so it cannot unilaterally decide to offer 24-hour trading. Not only does it need to get regulatory approval, but it must also ensure that it and its technology and financial partners that enable millions to trade securities on its platform have it within their means to facilitate a switch to 24-hour trading. “The U.S. equities markets process millions of messages per second, and every incremental change—whether in trading rules or the guardrails that protect investors—requires seamless industry-wide coordination, thoughtful planning, testing, and coordinated implementation,” Cohen noted. “A harmonized and aligned approach across all markets is key to avoiding operational complexity and ensuring a seamless customer experience.” While Cohen didn’t explicitly state the company’s new proposed 24-hour trading hours, given that they would be five days a week, the new trading period would likely run from 12:01 a.m. on Monday to 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Eastern Time (ET). Currently, the Nasdaq trades from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET Monday to Friday, like other major U.S. markets. The Nasdaq also currently offers extended trading hours. Pre-market trading runs from 4:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. ET, and post-market trading runs from 4:00 p.m. to 4:05 p.m. and 4:05 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, Monday to Friday. If the Nasdaq gets approval for its new 24/5 trading schedule, it will add an additional eight hours to every trading day. Who does 24/5 trading benefit? Well, one of the biggest beneficiaries, of course, is Nasdaq. The exchange makes its money by charging fees for the services it provides with each trade. The more trades being made, the more money Nasdaq stands to make. But Nasdaq would argue that a move to 24/5 trading will benefit investors in general, who would be able to trade any time they want during the five-day workweek. However, another big benefit would be to a specific type of investor: those who live internationally, especially those in Asia. Due to time differences, many investors in Asia—at least retail investors—are typically off work or sleeping for the night when American exchange activity is at its height. For example, there is a 14-hour time difference between Japan and New York. By switching to a 24/5 trading schedule, investors in Asia would have more access to U.S. markets during their normal waking hours. “Attracting more investment to our markets presents a compelling opportunity for both the U.S. and global economy,” Cohen wrote. “It is therefore incumbent on us to enhance access for those operating across different time zones.” Companies and the media may find 24/5 trading challenging Of course, while Nasdaq and international traders might find 24/5 trading beneficial, other entities—including the companies whose shares trade on the Nasdaq and the media who report on them—could find the move challenging. Companies, especially the ones found on the tech-heavy Nasdaq, like Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Nvidia, and more, like to control when investors receive news about them, as much as they can, anyway. The reason for this is that news, especially when it’s first disseminated, can make a stock’s price swing wildly in one direction or another. This is why many companies report their earnings before or after regular market hours. Retail investors typically don’t trade in those hours, which helps mitigate any large-scale fear- or greed-based selling or buying when news hits. If stocks are traded 24/5, companies lose this buffer—which could lead to increased trading volatility. If this change happens, every CEO or CFO will have to be extra careful what they say during earnings calls, as any statement—correctly interpreted or not—could lead to instant trading volatility. And for the media covering Nasdaq companies—and the markets in general—well, they will no longer be able to call it a night after 4 p.m. If the Nasdaq is trading 24/5, that means U.S. financial news is now happening 24/5, and investors are going to want real-time analysis and updates. When does Nasdaq’s new trading begin? Currently, there’s no definitive date for Nasdaq’s 24/5 trading sessions to begin because the change needs to be approved by regulators—and Nasdaq needs to get the buy-in from its partners and the companies that trade on its exchange. However, if everything goes as Nasdaq would like, Cohen says the company anticipates 24/5 trading to begin “in the second half of 2026.” Nasdaq, Inc. shares (Nasdaq: NDAQ) are currently down less than 1% to around $75.56 in early morning trading after the news was announced. View the full article

It turns out 2025 isn’t the year for legalized sports betting in Georgia. Efforts to send a state constitutional amendment to voters failed Thursday in the state legislature, as neither the amendment nor a bill laying out details ever came to a vote in the House. Voters in Missouri narrowly approved sports betting in a 2024 referendum, making it the 39th state to legalize the practice. But like in Georgia, legalization faces high hurdles in the 10 remaining states that bar sports gambling. Thursday was the deadline for each Georgia chamber to pass its own legislation to the opposite chamber. The measures still could be revived in the last month of the session, but it much less likely. Lawmakers could still consider the measures in the 2026 half of Georgia’s two-year session. “It came in late and I guess people just weren’t there yet,” said House Higher Education Committee Chairman Chuck Martin, an Alpharetta Republican, referring to a bill and constitutional amendment that were introduced only last week. “We’ll keep working with people and trying to do what’s in the best interest of the state,” Martin said, saying a referendum was still possible in on the November 2026 ballot. Sports wagering is backed by Atlanta’s professional sports teams, business groups and Republican Lt. Gov Burt Jones. But those powerful proponents have struggled to pass a law in the seven legislative sessions since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 struck down a federal law that banned commercial sports betting in most states. In Minnesota, a proposal failed on a 6-6- tie vote in a Senate committee on Feb. 13, even though the sponsor said his bill was supported by the state’s 11 Native American tribes, which operate casinos, the state’s two horse racing tracks, charitable gambling operations and local sports teams. California voters rejected wagering in 2022. A proposal to legalize sports betting passed the Texas House in 2023, but the state Senate spurned the proposal. One state where the issue is making progress is Hawaii, where the state House on Tuesday passed a bill that would legalize online sports betting. Missouri is currently making rules and taking applications from sportsbooks, with the launch of legal betting delayed until late summer or early fall. Without Democratic votes in Georgia, a constitutional amendment couldn’t achieve the two-thirds majorities needs to pass the state House and Senate. Republicans in the state are far from unified. Some GOP lawmakers oppose sports betting, warning that legalizing sports betting will provide a pathway to addiction, especially for younger gamblers. House Minority Whip Sam Park, a Lawrenceville Democrat, said Wednesday that his party wants to prioritize use of any tax money for prekindergarten. That was part of the constitutional amendment proposed by Martin’s committee. Supporters have argued that Georgians should get a chance to vote, arguing many already bet on sports illegally. “I believe strongly — and Georgians by wide margins agree with me — that this change will not only bring in much needed revenue to educate our youngest learners but also provide consumer protections that don’t exist in today’s black market,” State Rep. Marcus Wiedower, the Watkinsville Republican who sponsored the measure, said in a statement. Of the 38 states that currently allow sports betting, some allow only in-person bets, although most allow electronic betting from anywhere. —Jeff Amy, Associated Press View the full article

Four satellite operators in talks with Brussels and other capitals on providing back-up connectivity for KyivView the full article

Apple has unveiled its most powerful Mac to date, introducing the new Mac Studio, powered by the M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips. The latest iteration of Apple’s high-performance desktop features Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, up to 512GB of unified memory, and up to 16TB of SSD storage, all within a compact design. The new Mac Studio is now available for pre-order, with official availability beginning March 12. “The new Mac Studio is the most powerful Mac we’ve ever made,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering. “A complete game-changer for pros around the world — powering both home and pro studios — Mac Studio sits in a class of its own, offering a staggering amount of performance in a compact, quiet design that fits beautifully on your desk. With this new Mac Studio, we’re delivering even more extreme performance with M4 Max and M3 Ultra, support for half a terabyte of unified memory, up to 16TB of superfast storage, and Thunderbolt 5 connectivity. Mac Studio truly is the ultimate pro desktop.” Performance Upgrades with M4 Max and M3 Ultra The Mac Studio with M4 Max is designed for professionals in video editing, software development, photography, and other creative fields. Apple claims that M4 Max offers “phenomenal single-threaded CPU performance with the world’s fastest CPU core.” The chip features an up to 16-core CPU, an up to 40-core GPU, and a Neural Engine that is over three times faster than the M1 Max. Apple states that the M4 Max variant of the Mac Studio is “up to 3.5x faster than Mac Studio with M1 Max and up to 6.1x faster than the most powerful Intel-based 27-inch iMac.” The device supports up to 128GB of unified memory and boasts a powerful Media Engine for video processing, featuring two ProRes accelerators. For even more intensive workflows, the Mac Studio with M3 Ultra offers a significant leap in performance. It features an up to 32-core CPU, an up to 80-core GPU, and a 32-core Neural Engine. According to Apple, this version delivers “nearly 2x faster performance than M4 Max in workloads that take advantage of high CPU and GPU core counts.” It also supports up to 512GB of unified memory and up to 16TB of SSD storage. Thunderbolt 5 and Expanded Connectivity The Mac Studio now features Thunderbolt 5, which enables transfer speeds of up to 120 Gb/s—three times faster than the previous generation. This enhancement allows for improved external storage performance, expansion chassis connectivity, and support for professional hub solutions. The M3 Ultra-powered Mac Studio can drive up to eight Pro Display XDRs at full 6K resolution. Other connectivity options include a 10Gb Ethernet port, an HDMI port, an SDXC card slot on the front for quick media import, and built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Designed for AI and Apple Intelligence The new Mac Studio is built to handle artificial intelligence workloads, capable of running large language models (LLMs) with over 600 billion parameters entirely in memory. Apple Intelligence, the company’s AI-powered personal assistant, is integrated into the Mac Studio experience. This feature supports advanced AI-driven tasks such as live transcription, writing assistance, and enhanced Siri functionality. Apple Intelligence processes many of its features on-device for enhanced privacy, while more complex requests are handled through Private Cloud Compute. Apple states that “users’ data is never stored or shared with Apple; it is used only to fulfill their request.” Environmental Commitment Apple emphasized its commitment to sustainability, stating that the new Mac Studio features “over 30 percent recycled content overall, including 100 percent recycled aluminum in the enclosure and 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets.” The company aims to be carbon neutral across its entire supply chain by 2030. Pricing and Availability Mac Studio is available for pre-order starting today on apple.com/store, with in-store availability beginning March 12. The base model starts at $1,999, with an education discount price of $1,799. Configure-to-order options are available for expanded memory and storage capacities. Customers who purchase Mac Studio directly from Apple can access Personal Setup services for guided assistance with their new device. Additionally, AppleCare+ offers extended service and support, including coverage for accidental damage and battery service. Image: Apple This article, "Apple Introduces New Mac Studio with M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Apple has unveiled its most powerful Mac to date, introducing the new Mac Studio, powered by the M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips. The latest iteration of Apple’s high-performance desktop features Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, up to 512GB of unified memory, and up to 16TB of SSD storage, all within a compact design. The new Mac Studio is now available for pre-order, with official availability beginning March 12. “The new Mac Studio is the most powerful Mac we’ve ever made,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering. “A complete game-changer for pros around the world — powering both home and pro studios — Mac Studio sits in a class of its own, offering a staggering amount of performance in a compact, quiet design that fits beautifully on your desk. With this new Mac Studio, we’re delivering even more extreme performance with M4 Max and M3 Ultra, support for half a terabyte of unified memory, up to 16TB of superfast storage, and Thunderbolt 5 connectivity. Mac Studio truly is the ultimate pro desktop.” Performance Upgrades with M4 Max and M3 Ultra The Mac Studio with M4 Max is designed for professionals in video editing, software development, photography, and other creative fields. Apple claims that M4 Max offers “phenomenal single-threaded CPU performance with the world’s fastest CPU core.” The chip features an up to 16-core CPU, an up to 40-core GPU, and a Neural Engine that is over three times faster than the M1 Max. Apple states that the M4 Max variant of the Mac Studio is “up to 3.5x faster than Mac Studio with M1 Max and up to 6.1x faster than the most powerful Intel-based 27-inch iMac.” The device supports up to 128GB of unified memory and boasts a powerful Media Engine for video processing, featuring two ProRes accelerators. For even more intensive workflows, the Mac Studio with M3 Ultra offers a significant leap in performance. It features an up to 32-core CPU, an up to 80-core GPU, and a 32-core Neural Engine. According to Apple, this version delivers “nearly 2x faster performance than M4 Max in workloads that take advantage of high CPU and GPU core counts.” It also supports up to 512GB of unified memory and up to 16TB of SSD storage. Thunderbolt 5 and Expanded Connectivity The Mac Studio now features Thunderbolt 5, which enables transfer speeds of up to 120 Gb/s—three times faster than the previous generation. This enhancement allows for improved external storage performance, expansion chassis connectivity, and support for professional hub solutions. The M3 Ultra-powered Mac Studio can drive up to eight Pro Display XDRs at full 6K resolution. Other connectivity options include a 10Gb Ethernet port, an HDMI port, an SDXC card slot on the front for quick media import, and built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Designed for AI and Apple Intelligence The new Mac Studio is built to handle artificial intelligence workloads, capable of running large language models (LLMs) with over 600 billion parameters entirely in memory. Apple Intelligence, the company’s AI-powered personal assistant, is integrated into the Mac Studio experience. This feature supports advanced AI-driven tasks such as live transcription, writing assistance, and enhanced Siri functionality. Apple Intelligence processes many of its features on-device for enhanced privacy, while more complex requests are handled through Private Cloud Compute. Apple states that “users’ data is never stored or shared with Apple; it is used only to fulfill their request.” Environmental Commitment Apple emphasized its commitment to sustainability, stating that the new Mac Studio features “over 30 percent recycled content overall, including 100 percent recycled aluminum in the enclosure and 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets.” The company aims to be carbon neutral across its entire supply chain by 2030. Pricing and Availability Mac Studio is available for pre-order starting today on apple.com/store, with in-store availability beginning March 12. The base model starts at $1,999, with an education discount price of $1,799. Configure-to-order options are available for expanded memory and storage capacities. Customers who purchase Mac Studio directly from Apple can access Personal Setup services for guided assistance with their new device. Additionally, AppleCare+ offers extended service and support, including coverage for accidental damage and battery service. Image: Apple This article, "Apple Introduces New Mac Studio with M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on any work-related questions that you want to talk about (that includes school). If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet*, but this is a chance to take your questions to other readers. * If you submitted a question to me recently, please do not repost it here, as it may be in my queue to answer. View the full article

Outlay on items including consultants, planning and legal fees jumps from £800mn two years agoView the full article

My Apple devices have over 55,000 items in the Messages app. This includes texts, voice notes, photos, videos, gifs, and other attachments sent and received on multiple devices. Over time, Messages has threatened to become the second-largest occupier of my precious storage space, right after Photos. Fortunately, I took action at the right time to start getting rid of the cruft I don't need. I told myself that I don't need to be an iMessage archivist and I can begin letting go of some messages to free up some space. Here's how you can get rid of unnecessary items from iMessage to free up space on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and iCloud. How to quickly free up iMessage storage space on your iPhone or iPad Credit: Pranay Parab To review how much space iMessage is taking up on your iPhone, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Messages. If you haven’t cleared up unnecessary attachments in a long time, you could be staring at more than 50GB of iMessage attachments. If you are ready to delete entire chats, you can tap Top Conversations and hit the Edit button in the top-right corner. Select all the chats you want to delete and hit the Trash icon in the top-right corner of the page. This is the fastest way to free up a lot of space, but it tends to mess with your iMessage group chats. You may have to get yourself invited to those groups again if you use this method. For a more focused approach to deleting iMessage attachments, once again go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Messages. Here, you can review each type of attachment—photos, videos, GIFs and stickers, and Other—one by one. Tap any of these categories and hit the Edit button in the top-right corner. Then, select all the attachments you don’t need and hit the Trash icon in the top-right corner to free up space. How to stop iMessage from filling up space on your iPhone Credit: Pranay Parab If you’re not careful, you’ll end up just accumulating more junk in iMessage again, so let’s take some preventive measures. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Apps > Messages, and under Message History, tap Keep Messages. You can change this from Forever to 30 Days or 1 Year. This will automatically delete all iMessage texts and attachments older than the time you selected. Similarly, under Audio Messages on the same page, tap Expire and select After 2 Minutes to automatically clear unwanted voice notes. Return to the Messages settings page and scroll to the bottom. Here, you can enable Low-Quality Image Mode to reduce the size of images you send and receive on iMessage. This makes photos look a little blurry and sometimes makes it hard to see the text in screenshots, but if you’re really hurting for storage space, it’ll help. You can also stop your SMS messages from being forwarded automatically to your other Apple devices. To do this, go to Settings > Apps > Messages, SMS Forwarding and disable it for all the devices that you don't need to see those messages on. Note that this will not stop iMessage chats from appearing on those devices. Bulk delete large iMessage attachments on your Mac Credit: Pranay Parab Like on your phone, you can also quickly free up storage space on your Mac by deleting large attachments from the Messages app. On your Mac, go to System Settings > General > Storage and click the i button next to Messages. This will reveal all the large attachments hiding within your Messages app. If you go to each chat manually, these attachments are hard to track down. Instead, click any attachment here, press Command-A to select all of them, and hit the Delete button to get rid of them. How to reduce iMessage’s impact on your iCloud storage space Credit: Pranay Parab iCloud space is also an important part of this conversation. If you find that iMessage is taking up more iCloud space than you can afford to spare, on your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > [YOUR NAME] > iCloud and tap Messages. Now disable Use on this iPhone. This will remove your text messages from your iCloud backups and free up space. However, it’ll also stop syncing SMS messages across Apple devices, so be aware of that. On your Mac, this option is under System Settings > [YOUR NAME] > iCloud > Messages. For a more piecemeal approach, on your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > [YOUR NAME] > iCloud > Messages > Manage Storage. Tap Top Conversations and remove the chats you don’t want on iCloud. You can always still return to the previous page and tap Turn Off and Delete from iCloud to remove Messages from iCloud entirely. View the full article

Treasury secretary’s remarks come as Taipei has become nervous about shifting US stance on UkraineView the full article

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday establishing a government reserve of bitcoin, a key marker in the cryptocurrency’s journey towards possible mainstream acceptance. Under Trump’s new order, the U.S. government will retain the estimated 200,000 bitcoin it’s already seized in criminal and civil proceedings, according to Trump’s “crypto czar” David Sacks. “The U.S. will not sell any bitcoin deposited into the Reserve. It will be kept as a store of value. The Reserve is like a digital Fort Knox for the cryptocurrency often called ‘digital gold,'” Sacks said on social media. The executive order calls for a “full accounting” of the government’s bitcoin holdings, which Sacks said have never been fully audited. He added that the U.S. government has previously sold off about 195,000 bitcoin over the last decade for $366 million. He said those bitcoins would be worth about $17 billion if the government hadn’t sold them. Sacks said the order allows for the Treasury and Commerce Departments “to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional bitcoin.” Once a skeptic who said a few years ago that bitcoin “seems like a scam,” Trump has embraced digital currencies and leaned into his unofficial role as the “crypto president” in ways that can both help the crypto industry and enrich himself and his family. Wealthy players in the crypto industry, who felt unfairly targeted by the Biden administration, spent heavily to help Trump win last year’s election. Establishing a bitcoin reserve was one of several crypto-related promises Trump made on the campaign trail last year. Trump is also pushing Congress to pass industry-friendly legislation, and under his administration the Securities and Exchange Commission has started dropping enforcement actions it had taken against some major crypto companies. On Friday, Trump is set to host many key industry leaders at a White House “Crypto Summit.” Bitcoin is the oldest and most popular cryptocurrency. Created in response to the 2008 financial crisis by an anonymous person or persons, bitcoin has blossomed from an experiment by libertarian cryptography enthusiasts into an asset with a market cap of about $1.7 trillion. While it hasn’t taken off as a way to pay for everyday things, bitcoin has found popularity as a store of value that’s not controlled by banks, governments or other powerful entities. Bitcoin’s supply is capped at 21 million coins, a built-in scarcity that supporters say makes it a great hedge against inflation. Critics have long said bitcoin lacks any inherent value, but it’s so far defied naysayers with remarkable price increases. Some supporters of a strategic bitcoin reserve said it could one day help pay off the U.S. national debt. Crypto prices soared after Trump’s victory last year, and when the price of bitcoin first crossed $100,000 in early December, Trump took credit and posted “YOU’RE WELCOME!!!” on social media. But prices have since cooled off. Trump’s executive order did not equate to an immediate price spike for bitcoin, which was trading around $86,000 shortly after his announcement. The executive order also creates a “U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile,” where the government will hold seized cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin. On Sunday, Trump sent crypto prices on a short-lived surge after a surprise announcement that he wanted the government to hold lesser-known cryptocurrencies XRP, solana and cardano. —Alan Suderman, AP Business Writer View the full article

After months of beta testing, DuckDuckGo's AI integrations are going live for everyone and getting some upgrades at the same time: They're free to use (with certain limits), and stay in line with DuckDuckGo's commitment to user privacy (you don't have to create an account to use them, and your searches aren't tracked). As with Google, Bing, ChatGPT, and others, you can now get AI answers to your web searches at DuckDuckGo. They appear in a small box with an Assist label attached, but they aren't as prominent and don't show up as often as they do on Google or Bing—DuckDuckGo is aiming for a less-is-more approach to the feature. You can decide how much AI you see. Credit: Lifehacker "We're not making AI features just for the sake of making AI features," writes DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg. "They have to be actually useful in everyday use, starting with helping people get faster, high-quality answers to their questions." With this in mind, you can tune down the amount of AI you see—head to the DuckDuckGo settings page, and under AI Features, there's a drop-down menu that lets you choose between Never, On-demand, Sometimes, and Often. If you choose either of the latter two, the search engine uses its best judgment as to which queries might benefit from AI answers and which won't. The second part of DuckDuckGo's AI offering is the Duck.ai chatbot. You can ask follow-up questions of the bot whenever you see an AI Assist response in search results, and you can also access it via its own web portal: You've got access to multiple AI models here, including GPT-4o mini, Llama 3.3, and Claude 3 Haiku. How the AI Assist box looks at the top of results. Credit: Lifehacker Chats are never saved on DuckDuckGo servers, or used to train AI models, and you can wipe all chats from the record using the flame icon in the toolbar on the right. Ideally, DuckDuckGo wants you to use a combination of web search, AI Assist, and AI chat to help you get the answers you're looking for. If you're wondering how all of this stays free without any tracking, DuckDuckGo makes its money from advertising—it's just that the ads aren't as targeted as they are on Google, because DuckDuckGo doesn't know anywhere near as much about you. The company is also exploring the idea of a paid plan for access to more advanced AI models and for extra chats with AI (there's already a $10-per-month pro-level subscription, which includes a VPN and some other extras). Testing out the DuckDuckGo AII spent some time playing around with the new AI features, and on the whole they follow the general DuckDuckGo ethos: Everything is simple, straightforward to use, cleanly presented, and accessible without having to jump through multiple hoops just to get started with these tools. With an AI Assist level of Sometimes, DuckDuckGo usually makes the right call about whether or not AI should get involved. The reason why these search engines are rushing to implement AI is that queries like "how does DNA work?" or "how do I fix a PC that won't boot?" are often better answered by a bot than the traditional list of links—especially if you can ask follow-up questions for clarification. You can quickly get to Duck.ai from the search results. Credit: Lifehacker For more traditional searches, like "Eiffel Tower" or "intermittent fasting," DuckDuckGo sticks to the standard approach (AI models have never been to France, or tried dieting). If you're looking for an AI response and one doesn't appear, you can click the Assist button to generate it. AI companies are often vague and dismissive when it comes to accuracy, so it's good to see DuckDuckGo addressing the issue: The AI Assist answers are "as reliable as the sources from which they are drawn," with measures in place to avoid spammy or satirical sites, and user feedback adding an extra level of verification. The web sources for AI answers are always clearly displayed, so you can click through to see the actual websites. All of the AI answers I received seemed fully accurate: I ran some tests with tech questions; the AI Assist tool picked some well-respected online publications to pull information from, and presented it accurately. There is the question of where we get to when AI is answering everything, and humans are no longer bothering to put enough information online for AI to scrape, but that's a topic for another day. You can ask follow-up questions within the search results themselves. Credit: Lifehacker I found the Duck.ai chatbot didn't appear as often as I would've liked, to ask follow-up questions. It's easy enough to switch to the chatbot manually, but then you find yourself bumping up against the knowledge cut-off points of these various models—they rely on historical training data rather than the latest information online. More work needs to be done on integrating live web search with AI here. On the whole, DuckDuckGo seems to have the balance right, if you want to avoid AI overload: The AI Assist feature doesn't always appear, and doesn't dominate the search results when it does show up. Answers are brief and accurate, and while there's a lot of competition out there, the privacy-first approach is reassuring. View the full article

U.S. employers added solid 151,000 jobs last month, but the outlook is cloudy as President Donald threatens a trade war, purges the federal workforce and promises to deport millions of immigrants. The Labor Department reported Friday that hiring was up from a revised 125,000 in January. Economists had expected 160,000 new jobs last month. The unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.1% as the number jobless Americans rose by 203,000. Employment rose in healthcare, finance, and transportation and warehousing. The federal government shed 10,000 jobs, the most since June 2022, though economists don’t expect Trump’s federal layoffs to have much of an impact until the March jobs report. Restaurants and bars cut nearly 28,000 jobs last month on top of a loss of almost 30,000 in January. “The solid February jobs report shows that the economy remains healthy, but fears of what could come next are likely to overshadow the positive news from today’s release,” said Josh Jamner, investment analyst at ClearBridge Investments. The job market has been remarkably resilient over the past year despite high interest rates. Hiring continued, defying expectations that the United States would tip into a recession. The economy’s unexpectedly strong recovery from the pandemic recession of 2020 set loose an inflationary surge that peaked in June 2022 when prices came in 9.1% higher than they’d been a year earlier. In response, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023, taking it to the highest level in more than two decades. The economy remained sturdy despite the higher borrowing costs, thanks to strong consumer spending, big productivity gains at businesses and an influx of immigrants who eased labor shortages. Inflation came down—dropping to 2.4% in September—allowing the Fed to reverse course and cut rates three times in 2024. The rate-cutting was expected to continue this year, but progress on inflation has stalled since summer, and the Fed has held off. Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% last month, down from a 0.4% increase in January. Fed officials will likely see the figures as supporting their current wait-and-see approach toward interest-rate cuts. With inflation still modestly above the Fed’s 2% target, several have made clear in recent remarks that they would like to see more progress before cutting their benchmark rate any further. Steady hiring and an expanding economy make it easier for the Fed to stay on the sidelines. Should companies start laying off workers and the unemployment rate rise, pressure could rise on the Fed to cut rates. On Thursday, Fed governor Chris Waller suggested a cut was unlikely at the central bank’s March meeting, adding that Fed officials would like to see more data before making any further moves. AP Economics Writer Christopher Rugaber contributed to this story. —Paul Wiseman, AP Economics Writer View the full article

Ornella Barra calls take-private deal a ‘strategic milestone’ for UK pharmacy chain View the full article

Independent monetary policymakers have resisted President Trump's call to lower financing costs but could find it harder to ignore employment losses. View the full article

Leaders must empower others, share leadership, and foster an inclusive culture to ensure long-term success. Gear Up for Growth With Jean Caragher For CPA Trendlines Go PRO for members-only access to more Jean Marie Caragher. View the full article

Leaders must empower others, share leadership, and foster an inclusive culture to ensure long-term success. Gear Up for Growth With Jean Caragher For CPA Trendlines Go PRO for members-only access to more Jean Marie Caragher. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Nintendo Switch Lite is already a solid pick for gamers who prefer a portable console, but this deal on Woot makes it even more tempting. For $164.99 (for the next two days or until it sells out)—down from its usual $199—you’re getting an open-box Singapore model that’s been fitted with an official Nintendo USA power adapter. That means functionally, it’s the same as the U.S. version, and it plays all U.S. and international Switch games without any issue. The only catch is that it's an open-box deal, so while it’s brand new, the box has been opened for the adapter swap. And since this is a Woot deal, it comes with a 90-day Woot limited warranty instead of Nintendo’s usual one-year coverage. Prime members get free shipping, but non-members will have to add $6 to their total. Nintendo Switch Lite $164.99 at Woot $199.00 Save $34.01 Get Deal Get Deal $164.99 at Woot $199.00 Save $34.01 If you like gaming on the go, the Switch Lite is a solid choice. It’s compact, lightweight, and easy to toss into a bag without worrying about detachable Joy-Cons sliding around. But that same portability comes with a trade-off—you can’t dock it to a TV, so handheld mode is your only option. Additionally, the controls are built into the system, meaning there’s no swapping Joy-Cons for multiplayer gaming unless you buy compatible controllers separately. But if you’re a solo gamer who mostly plays RPGs, platformers, or indie titles, this won’t be much of a downside. If you’re on the fence, PCMag has a detailed breakdown of whether the standard Switch or the Lite is the better choice. Specs-wise, the Switch Lite holds its own. It’s got an eight-inch screen, a 1.02 GHz processor, and a smooth 60 FPS frame rate. It also supports Bluetooth audio, so you’re not stuck using wired headphones, notes this PCMag review. Battery life is decent, ranging from three to seven hours depending on what you’re playing—Breath of the Wild will drain it faster than Stardew Valley. Storage is where things get tight, though. The built-in 32GB will fill up fast, so you’ll likely need a microSD card sooner rather than later (something like the 512GB SanDisk microSD, which is officially licensed for the Switch, could be a good pick). If you mostly play digital games, factor that into your budget. View the full article

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Google dropped the horrid page annotations feature, thankfully...View the full article