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INSERT INTO `supplychain12` VALUES ('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('what are risks','generative artificial intelligence'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('what are risks','generative artificial intelligence'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.'),('what are risks','generative artificial intelligence'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('what are the top 3 risks','critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense'),('what are the top 3 risks','critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('what are risks','national security risks'),('what are risks','national security risks'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','Error: Article `download()` failed with HTTPSConnectionPool(host=\'www.bbc.co.uk\', port=443): Max retries exceeded with url: /news/world-europe-67007683 (Caused by NameResolutionError(\"<urllib3.connection.HTTPSConnection object at 0x0000027A9B380860>: Failed to resolve \'www.bbc.co.uk\' ([Errno 11001] getaddrinfo failed)\")) on URL https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','Error: Article `download()` failed with HTTPSConnectionPool(host=\'www.bbc.co.uk\', port=443): Max retries exceeded with url: /news/world-europe-67007683 (Caused by NameResolutionError(\"<urllib3.connection.HTTPSConnection object at 0x0000027A985D5520>: Failed to resolve \'www.bbc.co.uk\' ([Errno 11001] getaddrinfo failed)\")) on URL https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','Error: Article `download()` failed with HTTPSConnectionPool(host=\'www.cbc.ca\', port=443): Max retries exceeded with url: /news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813 (Caused by NameResolutionError(\"<urllib3.connection.HTTPSConnection object at 0x0000027A989336E0>: Failed to resolve \'www.cbc.ca\' ([Errno 11001] getaddrinfo failed)\")) on URL https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','Error: Article `download()` failed with HTTPSConnectionPool(host=\'www.cnn.com\', port=443): Max retries exceeded with url: /2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo (Caused by NameResolutionError(\"<urllib3.connection.HTTPSConnection object at 0x0000027A986A7E90>: Failed to resolve \'www.cnn.com\' ([Errno 11001] getaddrinfo failed)\")) on URL https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','Error: Article `download()` failed with HTTPSConnectionPool(host=\'www.cbc.ca\', port=443): Max retries exceeded with url: /news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813 (Caused by NameResolutionError(\"<urllib3.connection.HTTPSConnection object at 0x0000027A9874A870>: Failed to resolve \'www.cbc.ca\' ([Errno 11001] getaddrinfo failed)\")) on URL https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','Error: Article `download()` failed with HTTPSConnectionPool(host=\'www.cbc.ca\', port=443): Max retries exceeded with url: /news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813 (Caused by NameResolutionError(\"<urllib3.connection.HTTPSConnection object at 0x0000027A98D10BF0>: Failed to resolve \'www.cbc.ca\' ([Errno 11001] getaddrinfo failed)\")) on URL https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.'),('what are risks','national security risks'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('what are risks','national security risks'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('what are risks','national security risks'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('what are risks','national security risks'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66901724','\"But we have to choose whether to treat people all the same or not, whether they are Ukrainians fleeing war, or Africans fleeing war and persecution. Do we treat them all the same or do we treat them according to the colour of their skin?\"'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/12/tech/china-eddie-wu-alibaba-ai-focus-hnk-intl/index.html','Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Meanwhile in China newsletter, which explores what you need to know about the country’s rise and how it impacts the world.\n\nHong Kong CNN —\n\nAlibaba Group will embrace artificial intelligence (AI) and promote younger people to senior management, its new CEO says, as the e-commerce and cloud giant tackles its most ambitious restructuring in its history.\n\n“Times are changing, and so must Alibaba!” Eddie Wu, who stepped into the chief executive role on Sunday, said in a memo to staff seen by CNN.\n\nWu replaced Daniel Zhang to become Alibaba (BABA)’s fourth CEO in its 24-year history. He also took over as head of the cloud division after Zhang’s surprise exit from the unit.\n\nIn Tuesday’s memo, Wu laid out his long-term goals for the company, which are seeking new growth points amid a challenging economic environment and growing competition from rivals.\n\n“Looking forward, Alibaba’s two main strategic focuses will be ‘User First’ and ‘AI-driven,’ he said. “We will recalibrate our operations around these two core strategies and reshape our business priorities.”\n\n“Over the next decade, the most significant change agent will be the disruptions brought about by AI across all sectors,” he added. “If we don’t keep up with the changes of the AI era, we will be displaced.”\n\nThe revelation of the company’s strategy comes as it tackles its biggest ever restructuring.\n\nAccording to a plan announced in March, Alibaba will split into six separate units, including cloud, e-commerce, logistics, media and entertainment. Each unit will be overseen by its own CEO and board of directors, and most of them will have the option of pursuing separate listings or fundraising.\n\nThe business environment has also become tougher for one of China’s most valuable internet companies.\n\nChina’s economy is slowing, with consumers holding back on spending. E-commerce companies like Alibaba are under pressure to offer more discounted goods to entice customers.\n\nThe company is facing rising competition from major online rivals including Pinduoduo (PDD) and Bytedance-owned Douyin, a short video app with a strong live shopping business.\n\nWu said Alibaba achieved rapid growth over the past 24 years by “riding the trend of internet technology.”\n\nBut it must “transform” itself to “find the key to the future” as traditional internet models become increasingly homogeneous and new technologies like AI emerge as the new engine of global business growth.\n\nFurthermore, Alibaba will make its leadership team younger. It is aiming to promote those born after 1985 to form “the core of its business management team” within the next four years, he added.\n\nAlibaba will reinforce its strategic investments in three areas: technology-driven internet platforms, AI-driven tech businesses and global commerce networks, he said.\n\nFurthermore, it will also seek “open and collaborative relationships,” including with companies that it traditionally has considered as competitors.\n\nTop tech firms around the globe have been shifting their focus to AI, including Google (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT), especially after ChatGPT took the world by storm late last year.'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('what are risks','national security risks'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('what are risks','national security risks'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66914591','Hollywood strike: Which shows will return as writers\' strike ends? Published 25 September 2023\n\nImage source, Getty Images Image caption, Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon\'s programmes are both expected to be among the first to return.\n\nScreenwriters and studios in the US have reached a tentative deal to end a 146-day strike that has paralysed the entertainment industry and left many fans without their favourite shows.\n\nThe potential end of the strike - the longest to affect Hollywood in decades - means writers will soon be able to return to work, setting the stage for some TV shows to be back on air as soon as next month.\n\nThe tentative agreement has no impact on a separate, parallel strike by actors that began in July.\n\nHere\'s what we know about what comes next.\n\nWhich shows will come back?\n\nThe shows likely to get their writers back include The Last of Us, Billions, Stranger Things, The Handmaid\'s Tale, Hacks, Severance, Yellowjackets and Abbott Elementary.\n\nHowever, the ongoing actors\' strike means not all will be able to immediately resume shooting.\n\nThe first TV shows audiences will probably see back on air are those not involving actors, like daytime and late-night talk shows.\n\nJimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers are among the primetime chat show hosts whose shows can now return. Audiences can expect to see some of them back on air as early as October.\n\nDaytime programmes such as The Drew Barrymore Show, The Jennifer Hudson show and The Talk are also likely to resume very soon.\n\n\"Their productions would all be in shape,\" a source told Hollywood publication Variety. \"They brought back their crew for those shows. They\'d have everybody local and ready, and could probably get going pretty quickly when they decide they can.\"\n\nTV dramas and comedies will take longer to come back, both because of the actors\' strike and the complicated logistics necessary to restart large-scale productions.\n\nImage source, Getty Images Image caption, Ellen Stutzman has been leading negotiations on behalf of the Writers Guild\n\nWho are the key players in the writers\' strike?\n\nFor the last 14 years, Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) president Carol Lombardini has led negotiations in contract talks with all of Hollywood\'s unions and guilds, including the latest round.\n\nIn that role, Ms Lombardini represents the interests of studios, production companies and streaming services.\n\nIn the opposite corner has been Ellen Stutzman, the chief negotiator for the Writers Guild.\n\nShe is a relative newcomer to the role, having taken up the position in February. Just two weeks later, contract talks began, which ultimately led to the strike that was called in May.\n\nDisney CEO Bob Iger, NBCUniversal chair Donna Langley, Warner Bros Discovery chief executive David Zaslav, and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos also all played key roles in getting talks restarted with writers over the weekend.\n\nWhat will change for writers under the new deal?\n\nThe final language of the deal is still unclear, but it has been reported that the Writers Guild was able to obtain concessions on many of their primary demands, including an increase in royalties from streaming content.\n\nAdditionally, the studios made concessions on minimum staffing levels for shows.\n\nAccording to US media reports, one of the last major hurdles in the negotiations was on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the industry.\n\nWhile the deal\'s exact details will not be known until the agreement is finalised and made public, the Writers Guild was reportedly able to secure a guarantee that AI will not impact on writers\' credits and compensation for their work.\n\nIn an email to its members published online, the Guild hailed the tentative agreement as \"exceptional\" with \"meaningful gains and protection for writers\".\n\n\"And though we are eager to share the details of what has been achieved with you, we cannot do that until the last \'i\' is dotted,\" the memo added. \"To do so would complicate our ability to finish the job.\"\n\nThe AMPTP\'s reaction to the proposed deal was considerably more muted, and said only that \"the WGA and AMPTP have reached a tentative agreement\".\n\nImage source, Getty Images Image caption, There are currently no talks planned between striking actors and the studios\n\nWill the actors\' strike end too?\n\nThe end of the writers\' strike has no immediate impact on the ongoing strike of 160,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, better known as SAG-AFTRA.\n\nThe organisation\'s members walked out in July over their own similar dispute over pay issues and the use of AI in the industry.\n\nFor now, no talks are scheduled between SAG-AFTRA and the studios, which have balked at some of the actors\' demands such as setting aside 2% of streaming revenue to be shared by a show\'s cast.\n\nIn a statement released after news of the tentative deal with the Writers Guild, SAG-AFTRA applauded their counterparts for \"incredible strength, resiliency and solidarity\", but made it clear that the organisation\'s strike will continue.'),('what are 3 risks','critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense'),('what are 3 risks','critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense'),('what are 3 risks','critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what are risks','national security risks'),('what are risks','national security risks'),('what are risks','national security risks'),('what are risks','national security risks'),('what are risks','national security risks'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','Error: Article `download()` failed with HTTPSConnectionPool(host=\'www.cnn.com\', port=443): Max retries exceeded with url: /2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html (Caused by NameResolutionError(\"<urllib3.connection.HTTPSConnection object at 0x00000209F20EEC00>: Failed to resolve \'www.cnn.com\' ([Errno 11001] getaddrinfo failed)\")) on URL https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('what are risks','Max retries exceeded'),('what are risks','Max retries exceeded'),('what are risks','Max retries exceeded'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('who are authors','NameResolutionError'),('who are authors','NameResolutionError'),('who are authors','NameResolutionError'),('who are authors','NameResolutionError'),('who are authors','NameResolutionError'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('what are risks','national security risks'),('what are risks','national security risks'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('what are risks','n a t i o n a l   s e c u r i t y   r i s k s'),('what are risks','national security risks'),('what are risks','national security risks'),('what are risks','national security risks'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html,https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/morocco-earthquake-rescue-crews-1.6963772','Error: Article `download()` failed with 404 Client Error: Not Found for url: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html,https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/morocco-earthquake-rescue-crews-1.6963772 on URL https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html,https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/morocco-earthquake-rescue-crews-1.6963772'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('h','h'),('t','t'),('t','t'),('p','p'),('s','s'),(':',':'),('/','/'),('/','/'),('w','w'),('w','w'),('w','w'),('.','.'),('c','c'),('n','n'),('n','n'),('.','.'),('c','c'),('o','o'),('m','m'),('/','/'),('2','2'),('0','0'),('2','2'),('3','3'),('/','/'),('1','1'),('0','0'),('/','/'),('0','0'),('5','5'),('/','/'),('b','b'),('u','u'),('s','s'),('i','i'),('n','n'),('e','e'),('s','s'),('s','s'),('/','/'),('a','a'),('l','l'),('i','i'),('b','b'),('a','a'),('b','b'),('a','a'),('-','-'),('b','b'),('e','e'),('l','l'),('g','g'),('i','i'),('u','u'),('m','m'),('-','-'),('s','s'),('p','p'),('y','y'),('i','i'),('n','n'),('g','g'),('-','-'),('a','a'),('c','c'),('c','c'),('u','u'),('s','s'),('a','a'),('t','t'),('i','i'),('o','o'),('n','n'),('s','s'),('/','/'),('i','i'),('n','n'),('d','d'),('e','e'),('x','x'),('.','.'),('h','h'),('t','t'),('m','m'),('l','l'),('h','h'),('t','t'),('t','t'),('p','p'),('s','s'),(':',':'),('/','/'),('/','/'),('w','w'),('w','w'),('w','w'),('.','.'),('c','c'),('b','b'),('c','c'),('.','.'),('c','c'),('a','a'),('/','/'),('n','n'),('e','e'),('w','w'),('s','s'),('/','/'),('w','w'),('o','o'),('r','r'),('l','l'),('d','d'),('/','/'),('r','r'),('o','o'),('m','m'),('a','a'),('n','n'),('i','i'),('a','a'),('-','-'),('d','d'),('r','r'),('o','o'),('n','n'),('e','e'),('s','s'),('-','-'),('u','u'),('k','k'),('r','r'),('a','a'),('i','i'),('n','n'),('e','e'),('-','-'),('r','r'),('u','u'),('s','s'),('s','s'),('i','i'),('a','a'),('-','-'),('w','w'),('a','a'),('r','r'),('-','-'),('1','1'),('.','.'),('6','6'),('9','9'),('6','6'),('6','6'),('8','8'),('1','1'),('3','3'),(',',','),('h','h'),('t','t'),('t','t'),('p','p'),('s','s'),(':',':'),('/','/'),('/','/'),('w','w'),('w','w'),('w','w'),('.','.'),('b','b'),('b','b'),('c','c'),('.','.'),('c','c'),('o','o'),('.','.'),('u','u'),('k','k'),('/','/'),('n','n'),('e','e'),('w','w'),('s','s'),('/','/'),('w','w'),('o','o'),('r','r'),('l','l'),('d','d'),('-','-'),('e','e'),('u','u'),('r','r'),('o','o'),('p','p'),('e','e'),('-','-'),('6','6'),('6','6'),('9','9'),('6','6'),('4','4'),('7','7'),('2','2'),('3','3'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66964723','On Wednesday night alone, two young men were shot dead in Stockholm, and a woman - who police say had no links to gang crime - was killed in blast at home some 80km (50 miles) north of the capital.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66964723','On Wednesday night alone, two young men were shot dead in Stockholm, and a woman - who police say had no links to gang crime - was killed in blast at home some 80km (50 miles) north of the capital.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('what are risks','alibaba-belgium-spying'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('what are risks','alibaba-belgium-spying'),('what are risks','alibaba-belgium-spying'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66981036','She pointed out, however, that its products are made up of many different elements, such as glass jars and paper labels, which are all seeing different price trends: \"[So] even if you see a dip in one area of the product... it\'s not as simple as saying that the end product is necessarily cheaper.\"'),('what is title of article','Article `download()`'),('what are risks','alibaba-belgium-spying'),('what are top 3 risks','alibaba-belgium-spying'),('what is the main topic discussed in article','alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations'),('what is the main topic discussed in article','alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.');
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INSERT INTO `supplychain143` VALUES ('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.','2024-03-07 13:39:04'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.','2024-03-07 13:39:04'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.','2024-03-07 13:39:35'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.','2024-03-07 13:40:11'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66901724','\"But we have to choose whether to treat people all the same or not, whether they are Ukrainians fleeing war, or Africans fleeing war and persecution. Do we treat them all the same or do we treat them according to the colour of their skin?\"','2024-03-07 13:40:11'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.','2024-03-07 13:47:34'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.','2024-03-07 13:47:34'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.','2024-03-07 13:48:53'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.','2024-03-07 13:50:41'),('what are risks','there is a surge in irregular migration','2024-03-07 13:50:50'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.','2024-03-07 13:51:10'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66964723','On Wednesday night alone, two young men were shot dead in Stockholm, and a woman - who police say had no links to gang crime - was killed in blast at home some 80km (50 miles) north of the capital.','2024-03-07 13:51:10'),('what are risks','incidents and accidents','2024-03-07 13:51:35'),('what are 3 risks','incidents and accidents','2024-03-07 13:53:40'),('what is title of article','any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country','2024-03-07 13:53:57'),('what is title of article','any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country','2024-03-07 13:54:47'),('what is title of article','any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country','2024-03-07 13:55:14'),('what is title of article','any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country','2024-03-07 13:56:54'),('what is title of article','any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country','2024-03-07 14:00:32'),('what is title of article','any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country','2024-03-07 14:01:54'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.','2024-03-07 14:26:05'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium','2024-03-07 14:26:22'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.','2024-03-07 14:26:41'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66964723','On Wednesday night alone, two young men were shot dead in Stockholm, and a woman - who police say had no links to gang crime - was killed in blast at home some 80km (50 miles) north of the capital.','2024-03-07 14:26:41'),('what is title of article','any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country','2024-03-07 14:27:34'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.','2024-03-08 05:05:04'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/romania-drones-ukraine-russia-war-1.6966813','In the early hours of Wednesday morning, villagers from eight communities near the banks of the Danube River — which forms a border between Romania and Ukraine — received alerts to their mobile phones warning them to keep calm but take shelter, as there was a possibility of objects coming from the sky.\n\nNot long after, residents near the small Romanian village of Plauru heard explosions.\n\n\"We are scared,\" said Elisabeta Samsanov, one of the few dozen people living in the remote community just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which has become a frequent target of Russian drones in recent weeks.\n\n\"One night when they dropped one after another, we came out of the house ... and it felt like an earthquake.\"\n\nOn Wednesday, Romanian defence officials said they discovered drone fragments that are similar to the drones used by the Russian military.\n\nElisabeta Samsanov is one of the few dozen people living in the small Romanian village of Plauru, just 300 metres from the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The port has become a frequent target of Russian drones. (CBC)\n\nIf confirmed that it was a Russian drone, this would presumably be the third time that Russian drone debris has crashed down in Romania in recent days.\n\nRomanian officials have appealed for calm, saying that the country isn\'t under attack, but at the same time they\'ve deployed the military to set up concrete air raid shelters that they are encouraging residents to use.\n\nAttacks on Ukraine\'s ports escalate\n\nSince mid-July, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\'s Danube ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a United Nations-backed grain deal and said it would consider any vessels in the area military targets.\n\nIn an effort to continue exporting grain, shipping has increased from the ports of Izmail and Reni, which vessels reach by travelling along the Black Sea just off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania before reaching the Danube Delta.\n\nOfficials from the Romanian port of Constanta say grain traffic has increased 30 per cent over last year. But that increase in ship traffic has coincided with an increase in drone attacks.\n\nOn social media, Romanian residents have posted a number of videos of the nighttime attacks on Ukraine, where the buzzing of drones can be heard alongside the air defence systems.\n\nWATCH | Possible Russian drone fragments found in Romania: Possible Russian drone debris found in Romania Duration 2:02 NATO member Romania has found possible debris from downed Russian drones after Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grain shipments along the Danube River, which flows into Romania.\n\nUkraine\'s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that since July 18, more than 100 Ukrainian port facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks.\n\nIt was Ukrainian officials who had initially disclosed that part of a Russian drone crashed onto Romanian territory on Sept. 4.\n\nThe Romanian government quickly dismissed the claims, but two days later it acknowledged that debris from a drone had been found. Local media published pictures of the presumed blast site in the forest, where charred trees stood beside a crater in the dirt.\n\nRussia attack ?? Izmail Ukrainian Danube port. Once again close with Romanian ??Border. Ruthless attack on Food. <a href=\"https://t.co/aDOLyGqCFn\">pic.twitter.com/aDOLyGqCFn</a> —@Agricolumn_EU\n\nNATO investigating drone strikes\n\nNATO officials pledged solidarity with Romania but said they didn\'t have any evidence that suggested it was a targeted attack on the country.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the drone strikes demonstrate the risks of \"incidents and accidents\" and that an investigation was underway.\n\nEver since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings about the risk of the conflict spilling into the rest of Europe if a member of NATO was attacked and the rest of the alliance had to respond and come to its defence.\n\nGet the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.\n\nAlina Nychyk, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn\'t openly confront Russia because of the incidents in Romania, but if Russia strikes deeper into NATO countries and they are forced to shoot drone drones and missiles, it would be more serious.\n\n\"NATO may have to decide what kinds of attacks it will actually consider responding to,\" she said in an email to CBC News.\n\n\"The West needs to think about how to not allow Russia to test them.\"\n\nAfter two people were killed in Poland in November when a missile crashed down , NATO officials said it likely came from Ukraine\'s air defence system.','2024-03-08 05:06:12'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.','2024-03-08 05:08:49'),('what are risks','there is a surge in irregular migration','2024-03-08 05:09:18'),('https://financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/popeyes-overhaul-kitchens-chicken-sandwich-wars','Error: Article `download()` failed with 403 Client Error: Forbidden for url: https://financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/popeyes-overhaul-kitchens-chicken-sandwich-wars on URL https://financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/popeyes-overhaul-kitchens-chicken-sandwich-wars','2024-03-08 05:10:02'),('https://financialpost.com/news/economy/successive-governments-canada-economic-security-granted-businesses','Error: Article `download()` failed with 403 Client Error: Forbidden for url: https://financialpost.com/news/economy/successive-governments-canada-economic-security-granted-businesses on URL https://financialpost.com/news/economy/successive-governments-canada-economic-security-granted-businesses','2024-03-08 05:10:02'),('https://financialpost.com/news/economy/conservatives-selling-common-sense-economic-times-complex-trade-offs','Error: Article `download()` failed with 403 Client Error: Forbidden for url: https://financialpost.com/news/economy/conservatives-selling-common-sense-economic-times-complex-trade-offs on URL https://financialpost.com/news/economy/conservatives-selling-common-sense-economic-times-complex-trade-offs','2024-03-08 05:11:38'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66725224','Some might say that this measure comes so late - more than a year after many called for Wagner to be proscribed - that it is almost a case of shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted, that the Government should have acted sooner to curtail its activities when Wagner was at the height of its power.','2024-03-08 05:12:09'),('https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/city-officials-negotiated-moving-trucks-to-wellington-trial-of-convoy-leaders-hears-1.6974063','Hours before a senior Ottawa official signed an affidavit to support an injunction against the trucker protests in the city, he was discussing plans over pizza with convoy organizers about moving more trucks onto Wellington Street.\n\nKim Ayotte, the city\'s manager of emergency and protective services, continued his testimony Thursday in the criminal trial of Tamara Lich and Chris Barber.\n\nLich and Barber are charged with mischief, counselling others to commit mischief, intimidation and obstructing police for their role in the February 2022 protests against COVID-19 measures, as well as other grievances with the federal government.\n\nAyotte attended a meeting with Barber and other convoy leaders on Feb. 13 to discuss the logistics of moving trucks onto Wellington Street and off of residential roads. The city provided pizza for what Ayotte characterized as an \"informal\" meeting.\n\nThe agreement was co-ordinated between former mayor Jim Watson\'s office and convoy leaders. Watson announced the agreement Feb. 13 in a letter to Lich.\n\nChris Barber arrives for his trial at the Ottawa Courthouse on Sept. 11, 2023. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)\n\nProtesters were asked to limit the trucks to Wellington Street between Elgin Street and the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway, which has since been renamed Kichi Zībī Mīkan.\n\nGiven the fact there were roughly 400 trucks in the downtown core, Watson acknowledged it may take up to 72 hours to move them. He also asked organizers to stop requesting more people join the protest in order to ensure the trucks were relocated.\n\nNotes taken during that meeting show city officials considered allowing the trucks to park on the street directly in front of Parliament Hill indefinitely.\n\n\"Kim Ayotte produced maps and outlined the area on Wellington that the city is agreeable to stage trucks indefinitely,\" said minutes of that meeting, which were filed as evidence in court.\n\nAyotte told court the police didn\'t agree to that plan, but it was a \"live discussion.\"\n\nHe said it was understood all the trucks wouldn\'t fit onto Wellington and some would be forced to go elsewhere, in part because Barber indicated vehicles that didn\'t fit could be moved out of the city.\n\n\"That\'s when we were advised that they would be going out of town,\" he said in court. \"That was the combination of how this was going to work out.\"\n\nTamara Lich arrives for her trial at the Ottawa Courthouse on Sept. 11, 2023. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)\n\nThat meeting ended sometime around 6:30 or 7 p.m. with plans to begin moving trucks the next morning, Feb. 14.\n\nBut Ayotte signed an affidavit supporting an injunction against the truckers before 8 p.m. the night of the meeting.\n\nHis affidavit helped the city successfully convince an Ontario Superior Court of Justice to grant an injunction against the truckers, which restrained people from setting unlawful fires, discharging fireworks, causing noise, encumbering highways and idling vehicles.\n\nThe injunction didn\'t allow the city to direct the actions of Ottawa police, but it supplemented the city\'s ability to enforce its own bylaws against the truckers.\n\n\'Two separate issues\'\n\nAyotte said he didn\'t feel the deal with the protesters needed to be included in his affidavit.\n\n\"I saw them as two separate issues, two separate things that I was working on,\" he said.\n\nAsked later by the Crown to clarify, he said he saw the injunction as a tool to enforce the law and the deal with organizers a means to reduce the pain being felt by residents and businesses.\n\nSerge Arpin, chief of staff to former mayor Watson, testified Thursday afternoon.\n\nHe helped co-ordinate the deal between the protesters and Watson using intermediary Dean French, Premier Doug Ford\'s former chief of staff.\n\nArpin said the city was advised there were several factions of protesters involved in the convoy but Lich and Barber\'s was the more \"moderate\" group representing the \"majority\" of protesters.\n\nHe said the city accepted that, and believed the protest wasn\'t aimed at residents of Ottawa.\n\nThat position was included in the letter Watson penned to Lich.\n\n\"I don\'t believe these harmful effects on our community and its residents were the intended consequences of your protest,\" the letter said.\n\nArpin\'s testimony is expected to continue Friday.\n\nDeal thought to be fake by many protesters\n\nBarber was able to help move 40 trucks onto Wellington as a result of the deal struck with the city, and Ayotte testified he considered the agreement was a success. Arpin told court Thursday that one truck moving would have been considered a success because it was a huge logisitcal challenge to move the trucks and any relief to residents was a positive.\n\nIn court Wednesday, Ayotte testified that when he went to check if trucks had been moved, he saw none had left the city as was agreed upon. Instead, he said he saw vehicles \"jockeying\" for a better position closer to Wellington.\n\n\"Everyone was still trying to get closer to Parliament. There wasn\'t a lot of movement out of the city,\" he said.\n\nAyotte said Barber was ready to continue moving trucks the following day but the efforts were stopped by police.\n\nVehicles line Wellington Street just west of Ottawa\'s Parliament Hill as truckers and supporters continue to protest COVID-19 rules Jan. 31, 2022. (Blair Gable/Reuters)\n\nAyotte testified police reported the various convoy groups were \"fractured\" and agreed that he realized the convoy leaders didn\'t have the ear of all the protesters present.\n\nPat King, another convoy organizer facing criminal charges, posted a video after the deal was announced telling truckers the letter was a fake and not to go anywhere.\n\nLich posted on Twitter that the \"media lies\" and that there was no deal.\n\nTwo hours after that, she posted again that the plan to move vehicles out of the downtown would go ahead.\n\nTruckers on the ground were also not all convinced a deal was in place, with several thinking it wasn\'t legitimate.\n\nThe Crown is trying to establish Lich and Barber had \"control and influence\" over the crowds and encouraged others to join the protests while also fundraising.\n\nProposed deal came up at commission\n\nAyotte testified Wednesday that the city had limited information on police operations at the time.\n\nAt the Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC) held in October and November to examine the federal government\'s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act that ultimately ended the protests, more information about the proposed deal came to light.\n\nSteve Kanellakos, who was the city manager during the protests, told the POEC there were concerns from other security forces with the deal to bring trucks onto Wellington.\n\nThe Parliamentary Protective Service (PPS), tasked with keeping government buildings in the area secure, disagreed with the city\'s arrangement with some convoy organizers.\n\nOttawa city manager Steve Kanellakos appears as a witness at the Public Order Emergency Commission in Ottawa, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)\n\n\"The [security service] expressed concern with respect to Wellington being turned into a parking lot of 200-plus trucks,\" reads a summary of an interview Kanellakos gave to the commission.\n\n\"The [police] then stopped moving vehicles close to Parliament Hill.\"\n\nEvidence presented to the commission showed Larry Brookson, acting director of the PPS, took issue with the deal in an email he sent to Kanellakos.\n\n\"Quite honestly Steve I am at a loss as to how this sort of agreement could have been worked out with a clear disregard to security,\" the email said.\n\n\"Especially considering that we just finished a bomb blast assessment which included the threat of explosive being transferred via large vehicles.\"\n\nThe federal government was also not consulted on plans to move more trucks near Parliament Hill.\n\nBy Feb. 14, after the deal failed, police started warning protesters that it was time to leave and when the weekend came a few days later, they used forced to clear anyone refusing to go. Ultimately more than 100 people were arrested as part of the sweeping police action.','2024-03-08 05:12:32'),('what are risks','explosive being transferred via large vehicles','2024-03-08 05:13:00'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/business/alibaba-belgium-spying-accusations/index.html','London CNN —\n\nIntelligence officers in Belgium are monitoring Alibaba’s logistics hub in Europe for possible espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.\n\nBelgium’s state security service VSSE told CNN Thursday it was watching the activities of Alibaba’s (BABA) logistics arm, Cainiao, at the country’s Liège cargo airport. The Financial Times first reported the news.\n\n“We strongly deny the allegations [which are] based on prior conjecture,” Cainiao told CNN in a statement. “Cainiao is in compliance with all laws and regulations where it operates.”\n\nAlibaba, which is preparing to spin off Cainiao via an initial public offering, did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe VSSE said every Chinese company was legally obliged to provide data to Chinese security services on request, and it believes they have the “intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes.”\n\n“[We] detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba,” the VSSE said in a statement.\n\nLiège airport announced in 2018 that it had struck a deal with Cainiao to become its European logistics hub. In a statement at the time, the airport said Cainiao would use a “collaborative data platform” at the site to manage its operations.\n\n“This electronic tool supplies real-time access to information for logistics partners, buyers and sellers,” it said.\n\nThe hub opened in 2021.\n\nCainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium, seen in November 2021 Eric Lalmand/AFP/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images\n\nIn July, the Belgian government introduced a requirement for all direct investments by companies from outside the European Union in “sensitive” industries to be screened by a federal body for potential national security risks. Those industries include critical infrastructure, raw materials, energy and defense.\n\nFollowing decades of relative openness, Western governments have become more cautious in recent years about the degree of access they afford to Chinese companies, citing security concerns.\n\nLast November, the German government blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech firm because of security fears. A month prior, those same concerns prompted Berlin to intervene in the purchase by Chinese shipping giant Cosco of a stake in the operator of a Hamburg port terminal, resulting in the stake being reduced.\n\nLast month, Alibaba announced a plan to spin off and list Cainiao on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.\n\nThe news of the upcoming IPO came six months after the e-commerce giant said it intended to split its business into six separate units, each overseen by its own chief executive and board of directors.\n\n— Juliana Liu contributed reporting.','2024-03-08 05:17:32'),('what is title of article','Cainiao\'s logistics site at Liège airport in Belgium','2024-03-08 05:17:53'),('https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67007683','The EU on Wednesday did agree to reform its internal asylum rules to make it easier for countries like Italy and Greece to get help from other members of the bloc when there is a surge in irregular migration. And diplomats say that some EU countries - including Spain - also want to discuss new methods of legal migration.','2024-03-08 05:18:19'),('https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/tech/ftc-sues-amazon-antitrust-monopoly-case?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo','CNN —\n\nThe US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.\n\nThe groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.\n\nThe 172-page complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.\n\nFor example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best seller benefits, referred to as “Prime” eligibility. It also claims the company anticompetitively forces sellers to list their products on Amazon at the lowest prices anywhere on the web, instead of allowing sellers to offer their products at competing marketplaces for a lower price.\n\nThat practice is already the subject of a separate lawsuit targeting Amazon filed by California’s attorney general last year.\n\nBecause of Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce, sellers have little option but to accept Amazon’s terms, the FTC alleges, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a worse consumer experience. Amazon also ranks its own products in marketplace search results higher than those sold by third parties, the FTC said.\n\nAmazon is “squarely focused on preventing anyone else from gaining that same critical mass of customers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters Tuesday. “This complaint reflects the cutting edge and best thinking on how competition occurs in digital markets and, similarly, the tactics that Amazon has used to suffocate rivals, deprive them of oxygen, and really leave a stunted landscape in its wake.”\n\nThe states involved in the case are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.\n\nNext steps in the case\n\nThe complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and seeks a court order blocking Amazon from engaging in the allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\nThe FTC isn’t ruling out a possible breakup of Amazon — nor the potential for individual executives to be named in a landmark antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, according to Khan.\n\nSpeaking Tuesday just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Khan declined to say that the FTC would specifically seek a breakup as a remedy to Amazon’s allegedly illegal monopoly.\n\n“At this stage, the complaint is really focused on the issue of liability,” Khan said at the event hosted by Bloomberg News in Washington.\n\nBut the agency’s complaint, filed in Seattle federal court, suggests that any court order to address the issue could include “structural relief,” a legal term referring to a potential breakup of Amazon.\n\nAsked about that request, Khan said the FTC is broadly interested in any relief that can effectively stop Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior.\n\n“Ultimately, you will want to make sure that any remedy is halting the illegal conduct, preventing a recurrence and ensuring that Amazon is not able to profit and benefit from its illegal behavior,” Khan said Tuesday afternoon. “When we get to the issue of remedy, those are going to be the principles we’ll be focused on.”\n\nKhan also left open the possibility that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if there is sufficient evidence of their responsibility for Amazon’s allegedly illegal conduct.\n\n“We want to make sure that we are bringing cases against the right defendants,” Khan said in response to a question from CNN about whether the FTC considered naming specific executives in Tuesday’s case. “If we think that there is a basis for doing so, we won’t hesitate to do that.”\n\nThe suit makes Amazon the third tech giant after Google and Meta to be hit with sweeping US government allegations that the company spent years violating federal antitrust laws, reflecting policymakers’ growing worldwide hostility toward Big Tech that intensified after 2016. The litigation could take years to play out. But just as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spectacular wealth have inspired critics to draw comparisons to America’s Gilded Age, so may the FTC lawsuit come to symbolize a modern repeat of the antitrust crackdown of the early 20th century.\n\nIn a release, Khan accused Amazon of using “punitive and coercive tactics” to preserve an illegal monopoly.\n\n“Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” Khan said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”\n\nAmazon rejects Khan’s logic\n\n“Today’s suit makes clear the FTC’s focus has radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition,”said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel. He said Amazon’s practices have helped spur competition, innovation and selection across the retail industry. He argued that Amazon has fostered lower prices, faster delivery and helped small businesses sell their goods.\n\n“If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses — the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do,” he said. “The lawsuit filed by the FTC today is wrong on the facts and the law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”\n\nIn a subsequent blog post, Zapolsky warned that the FTC suit could not only force Amazon to list products at a higher price point than on rival marketplaces, but also that it could raise Amazon’s costs of doing business — costs that may then be passed along to consumers in the form of higher Amazon Prime subscription prices or slower shipping times.\n\n“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition,” the blog post said. “Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach, filing a misguided lawsuit against Amazon that would, if successful, force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping, and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”\n\nFor years, Amazon’s critics including US lawmakers, European regulators, third-party sellers, consumer advocacy groups and more have accused the company of everything from mistreating its workers to forcing its third-party sellers to accept anticompetitive terms. Amazon has unfairly used sellers’ own commercial data against them, opponents have said, so it can figure out what products Amazon should sell itself. And the fact that Amazon competes with sellers on the very same marketplace it controls represents a conflict of interest that should be considered illegal, many of Amazon’s critics have said.\n\nBut Tuesday’s FTC suit is more narrowly focused, taking aim at Amazon’s behavior in two specific markets: an “online superstore” market, in which its conduct allegedly harmed shoppers; and an “online marketplace services” market serving independent sellers. Amazon’s deliberate self-preferencing of its own products in search results is an outgrowth of the underlying anticompetitive behavior at issue in the case, said John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s competition bureau.\n\nA defining moment for Lina Khan\n\nThe lawsuit represents a watershed moment in Khan’s career. She is widely credited with kickstarting antitrust scrutiny of Amazon in the United States with a seminal law paper in 2017. She later helped lead a congressional investigation into the tech industry’s alleged competition abuses, detailing in a 450-page report how Amazon — as well as Apple, Google and Meta — enjoy “monopoly power” and that there is “significant evidence” to show that the companies’ anticompetitive conduct has hindered innovation, reduced consumer choice and weakened democracy.\n\nThe investigation led to a raft of legislative proposals aimed at reining in the companies, but the most significant ones have stalled under a barrage of industry lobbying and decisions by congressional leaders not to bring the bills up for a final vote.\n\nLawmakers’ inaction has left it to antitrust enforcers to police the tech industry’s alleged harms to competition. In 2021, President Joe Biden stunned many in Washington when he tapped Khan not only to serve on the FTC but to lead the agency, sending a signal that he supported tough antitrust oversight.\n\nSince then Khan has taken an aggressive enforcement posture, particularly toward the tech industry. Under her watch, the FTC has sued to block numerous tech acquisitions, most notably Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It has moved to restrict how companies may collect and use consumers’ personal information, and warned them of the risks of generative artificial intelligence.\n\nMounting monopoly scrutiny\n\nThroughout, the FTC has scrutinized Amazon — suing the company in June for allegedly tricking millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and reaching multimillion-dollar settlements in May with the company over alleged privacy violations linked to Amazon’s smart home devices.\n\nBut the latest suit against Amazon may rank as the most significant of all, because it drives at the heart of Amazon’s e-commerce business and focuses on some of the most persistent criticisms of the company.\n\nIn one heavily redacted portion of the FTC lawsuit, agency attorneys cryptically described Project Nessie, an “algorithm” and “pricing system” that has allegedly “extracted” an undisclosed amount of value “from American households.” It is unclear what Project Nessie is or how it works, but the FTC alleges in the complaint that the company’s program “belies its public claim that it ‘seek[s] to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.’” Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about Project Nessie.\n\nIn a sign of how threatening Amazon perceived Khan’s ascent to be, the company in 2021 called for her recusal from all cases involving the tech giant.\n\nKhan has resisted those calls. And in remarks to reporters this week, Khan deflected questions about her past work on Amazon, praising the efforts of FTC staff in completing the agency’s investigation. On Tuesday, the FTC said it held a unanimous 3-0 vote authorizing the lawsuit; Khan was among those voting to proceed.','2024-03-08 05:18:19'),('what is title of article','172-page complaint','2024-03-08 05:18:57');
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