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NEW YORK (AP) — A brand that was notoriously connected to music piracy before reemerging as a subscription music service has been sold to Infinite Reality for $207 million. The tech startup announced Tuesday it had bought Napster in hopes of transforming the streaming service into a social music platform where artists can connect with fans and better monetize off their work. “The internet has evolved from desktop to mobile, from mobile to social, and now we are entering the immersive era. Yet, music streaming has remained largely the same. It’s time to reimagine what’s possible,” said Napster CEO Jon Vlassopulos in a blog post. Among its plans to update Napster, Infinite Reality said it will create virtual 3D spaces that will allow fans to attend concerts, and give musicians or labels the ability to sell digital and physical merchandise. Artists will also receive a wider range of metrics and analytics to better understand the behavior of platform users. “We can think of no better use case for our technology than putting it in the hands of music artists who are constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible,” said Infinite Reality Chief Business Officer Amish Shah. Napster was launched in 1999 by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker and quickly became the first significant peer-to-peer file-sharing application. It shuttered in early 2000s after the record industry and popular rock band Metallica sued over copyright violations. Rhapsody later bought the brand in 2011 and relaunched it as a music streaming service. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Several thousand protesters blocked a major thoroughfare in the center of Hungary’s capital on Tuesday in opposition to a recent law that effectively bans LGBTQ+ Pride events and restricts Hungarians’ right to assembly. The demonstration was the second within a week since Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party used its two-thirds parliamentary majority last Tuesday to fast-track the law, seen by critics as the government’s latest crackdown on the rights of the country’s LGBTQ+ community. Chanting “democracy” and “assembly is a fundamental right,” many of the several thousand demonstrators quickly poured onto Budapest’s Kossuth Lajos street, one of the city’s busiest, igniting colorful smoke bombs and blocking traffic. One of the demonstrators, 26-year-old Paula Antalfy, said she believed the government’s recent steps to ban certain public events were “yet another step in the direction of dismantling democracy.” “I feel like love should be free, and who you love is not a decision in any way,” she said. “That we would not be able to gather like this, as we do now, and stand in our own streets, in our own city, is something I just can’t agree with.” Hungary’s new law, which is reminiscent of similar restrictions against sexual minorities in Russia, amends rules on assembly to make it an offense to hold or attend events that violate Hungary’s contentious child protection legislation, which prohibits the depiction or promotion of homosexuality to minors under 18. Authorities may now use facial recognition tools to identify individuals that attend prohibited events — such as the popular Budapest Pride which draws tens of thousands each year — and can issue fines for violators of up to 200,000 Hungarian forints ($546). Hungary’s right-wing populist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has in recent years taken aim at the country’s LGBTQ+ community, prohibiting same-sex adoption and — in a 2021 child protection law — banning any LGBTQ+ content including in television, films, advertisements and literature that is available to minors. Orbán’s party plans to adopt a constitutional amendment in April that will codify the ban on public LGBTQ+ events. His government argues that its policies are designed to protect children from “sexual propaganda,” but critics view them as part of a broader effort to scapegoat sexual minorities and mobilize his conservative base. Last week, a spokesperson for the United Nations’ human rights commission said that the recent law “results in arbitrary and discriminatory restrictions on the rights of LGBTIQ+ individuals to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and privacy.” The statement drew attention to a part of the law which authorizes the government to use surveillance measures including facial recognition technology to identify and fine individuals that participate in prohibited events, saying such tools “should never be deployed in a discriminatory manner through targeted surveillance of peaceful assemblies of LGBTIQ+ persons or other marginalized groups.” Budapest Pride organizers, as well as Budapest’s mayor, have vowed to go ahead with the city’s Pride events, which are set to celebrate their 30th anniversary this summer. In response to the recent law, Pride organizers wrote: “This is not child protection, this is fascism.” Benedek Lakos, a 27-year-old member of Budapest’s LGBTQ+ community who attended the Tuesday demonstration, said he has not previously been active in expressing his opinion about measures taken by Hungary’s government. But the latest law, he said, had been “the last straw.” “I feel now for a number of reasons that we have reached a level where, if there are no visible consequences for this (law) from the people, we can just start digging our own graves,” he said. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Long-threatened tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump have plunged the country into a global trade war — all while on-again, off-again new levies continue to escalate uncertainty. Trump is no stranger to tariffs. He launched a trade war during his first term, taking particular aim at China by putting taxes on most of its goods. Beijing responded with its own retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products ranging from fruit to automotive imports. Trump also used the threat of more tariffs to force Canada and Mexico to renegotiate a North American trade pact, called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, in 2020. When President Joe Biden took office, he preserved most of the tariffs Trump previously enacted against China, in addition to imposing some new restrictions — but his administration claimed to take a more targeted approach. Fast-forward to today and economists stress there could be greater consequences on businesses and economies worldwide under Trump’s more sweeping tariffs this time around — and that higher prices will likely leave consumers footing the bill. There’s also been a sense of whiplash from Trump’s back-and-forth tariff threats and responding retaliation, including some recently-postponed taxes on goods from America’s largest trading partners. Here’s a timeline of how we got here: Trump is sworn into office. In his inaugural address, he again promises to “tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.” And he reiterates plans to create an agency called the External Revenue Service, which has yet to be established. On his first day in office, Trump also says he expects to put 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting on Feb. 1, while declining to immediately flesh out plans for taxing Chinese imports. Trump threatens 25% tariffs on all Colombia imports and other retaliatory measures after President Gustavo Petro’s rejects two U.S. military aircraft carrying migrants to the country, accusing Trump of not treating immigrants with dignity during deportation. In response, Petro also announces a retaliatory 25% increase in Colombian tariffs on U.S. goods. But Colombia later reversed its decision and accepted the flights carrying migrants. The two countries soon signaled a halt in the trade dispute. Trump signs an executive order to impose tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China — 10% on all imports from China and 25% on imports from Mexico and Canada starting Feb. 4. Trump invoked this power by declaring a national emergency — ostensibly over undocumented immigration and drug trafficking. The levies on Canada and Mexico threaten to blow up Trump’s own USMCA trade deal, which allowed many products to cross North American borders duty free. The action prompts swift outrage from all three countries, with promises of retaliatory measures. Trump agrees to a 30-day pause on his tariff threats against Mexico and Canada, with both trading partners taking steps to appease Trump’s concerns about border security and drug trafficking. Trump’s new 10% tariffs on all Chinese imports to the U.S. still go into effect. China retaliates the same day by announcing a flurry of countermeasures, including sweeping new duties on a variety of American goods and an anti-monopoly investigation into Google. China’s 15% tariffs on coal and liquefied natural gas products, and a 10% levy on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars imported from the U.S., take effect Feb. 10. Trump announces plans to hike steel and aluminum tariffs. He removes the exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on steel, meaning that all steel imports will be taxed at a minimum of 25%, and also raises his 2018 aluminum tariffs to 25% from 10% set to go into effect March 12. Trump announces a plan for “reciprocal” tariffs — promising to increase U.S. tariffs to match the tax rates that other countries charge on imports “for purposes of fairness.” Economists warn that the reciprocal tariffs, set to overturn decades of trade policy, could create chaos for global businesses. Beyond China, Canada and Mexico, he indicates that additional countries, such as India, won’t be spared from higher tariffs. And in the following weeks, Trump suggests that European countries could face a 25% levy as part of these efforts. Trump signed an executive order instructing the Commerce Department to consider whether a tariff on imported copper is needed to protect national security. He cites the material’s use in U.S. defense, infrastructure and emerging technologies. Trump signs an additional executive order instructing the Commerce Department to consider whether tariffs on lumber and timber are also needed to protect national security, arguing that the construction industry and military depend on a strong supply of wooden products in the U.S. Trump’s 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico go into effect, though he limits the levy to 10% on Canadian energy. He also doubles the tariff on all Chinese imports to 20%. All three countries promise retaliatory measures. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces tariffs on more than $100 billion of American goods over the course of 21 days. And Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says her country would respond with its own retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods without specifying the targeted products immediately, signaling hopes to de-escalate. China, meanwhile, imposes tariffs of up to 15% on a wide array of key U.S. farm exports. It also expands the number of U.S. companies subject to export controls and other restrictions by about two dozen. Trump grants a one-month exemption on his new tariffs impacting goods from Mexico and Canada for U.S. automakers. The pause arrives after the president spoke with leaders of the “Big 3” automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. In a wider extension, Trump postpones 25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month. But he still plans to impose “reciprocal” tariffs starting on April 2. Trump credited Sheinbaum with making progress on border security and drug smuggling as a reason for again pausing tariffs — and the Mexican president said in a post on X that she and Trump “had an excellent and respectful call in which we agreed that our work and collaboration have yielded unprecedented results.” Trump’s actions also thawed relations with Canada somewhat, although outrage and uncertainty over the trade war remains. Still, after its initial retaliatory tariffs of $30 billion Canadian (US$21 billion) on U.S. goods, the government said it had suspended its second wave of retaliatory tariffs worth $125 billion Canadian (US$87 billion). China retaliates against Trump’s tariffs by imposing additional 15% taxes on key American farm products, including chicken, pork, soybeans and beef. The escalating trade tensions push stocks lower on Monday as investors worry about the pain Trump’s trade wars risk inflicting on the American economy. The Chinese tariffs were a response to Trump’s decision to double the levy on Chinese imports to 20% on March 4. China’s Commerce Ministry had earlier said that goods already in transit would be exempt from the retaliatory tariffs until April 12. Trump increases tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25%, removing exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on the metals in addition to increasing the tariffs on aluminum from 10%. The European Union takes retaliatory trade action promising new duties on U.S. industrial and farm products. The measures will cover goods from the United States worth some 26 billion euros ($28 billion), and not just steel and aluminum products, but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods. Motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans will be hit, as they were during Trump’s first term. The 27-member bloc later says it will delay this retaliatory action until mid-April. Trump threatens a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned 50% tariff on American whiskey. The European import tax, which was unveiled in response to steel and aluminum tariffs by the U.S. administration, is expected to go into effect April 1, just ahead of separate reciprocal tariffs that Trump plans to place on the EU. Trump says he will place a 25% tariff on all imports from any country that buys oil or gas from Venezuela, in addition to imposing new tariffs on the South American country itself, starting April 2. The tariffs would most likely add to the taxes facing China, which in 2023 bought 68% of the oil exported by Venezuela, per the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But a number of countries also receive oil from Venezuela — including the United States itself. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett mocked her state’s governor during a weekend appearance, referring to the wheelchair-bound Greg Abbott as “Gov. Hot Wheels” while speaking at a banquet in Los Angeles. “You all know we got Gov. Hot Wheels down there. Come on, now,” Crockett, a Dallas Democrat, said about Abbott, a Republican, while addressing the Human Rights Campaign event. “And the only thing hot about him is that he is a hot-ass mess, honey.” Abbott, who was elected in 2014, was paralyzed in 1984 after a tree fell on him while he was running. The accident severely damaged Abbott’s spinal cord, confining him, now 67, to a wheelchair for more than 40 years. Crockett, elected to the House in 2022, was roundly criticized by Republicans for the comments, an aside she made during her speech to the civil rights group event after she thanked Morgan Cox, a group board member and fellow Dallas resident, according to video of the event posted to Human Rights Campaign’s YouTube channel. “Crockett’s comments are disgraceful,” Texas Sen. John Cornyn posted on the social media platform X. “Shameful.” Neither Abbott’s nor Crockett’s office immediately replied to requests for comment. Crockett has faced criticism from Republicans for suggesting last week that tech billionaire Elon Musk, heading the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, “be taken down.” ————————————- Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

President Donald Trump’s crypto empire is expanding with the recent announcements of a new dollar-backed stablecoin and investment funds for digital assets. The moves are the latest in the norm-defying ways the president has leaned into crypto projects that could significantly boost his personal wealth while in office. World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency venture Trump helped launch last year, announced Tuesday that it plans to launch USD1, a stablecoin pegged at a 1-to-1 ratio to the U.S. dollar. Stablecoins are among the fastest growing segments of the cryptocurrency industry. They are typically backed by a government-issued currency, like the dollar, or to gold, making them better suited to commercial transactions than more volatile digital assets like bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. “We’re offering a digital dollar stablecoin that sovereign investors and major institutions can confidently integrate into their strategies for seamless, secure cross-border transactions,” Zach Witkoff, a World Liberty Financial co-founder, said in a statement Tuesday. World Liberty’s announcement comes amid a push by Congress, with strong support by the White House, to pass legislation that supporters say would make it easier for stablecoin companies to operate and grow in the U.S. Witkoff and his father, Trump’s special diplomatic envoy Steve Witkoff, helped launch World Liberty Financial with Trump and his sons last year. Under the terms outlined on the company’s website, a Trump-owned company has the “right to receive 75% of the net protocol revenues” from World Liberty Financial after expenses. On Monday, Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. announced it was partnering with the crypto-trading firm Crypto.com to launch exchange-traded funds for investors to purchase. The funds, which are set to be released later this year, will include a “unique ETF basket of cryptocurrencies” as well as “securities with a Made in America focus spanning diverse industries such as energy,” TMTG said in an announcement. TMTG is the parent company of Trump’s social media company, Truth Social. Trump has no decision-making role at the company, but he owns a majority stake and is its largest shareholder. TMTG’s stock price jumped following the announcement. The recent announcements add to a growing list of crypto-related projects that Trump has endorsed in ways that critics say are inappropriate for a public office holder. Just days before taking office, Trump launched his own meme coin that initially saw a massive price spike followed by a prolonged slide. Meme coins are highly speculative assets that often start as a joke and have no real value. Trump has also promoted online watch and sneaker stores that have branched out into selling crypto-related Trump products, including a “Crypto President” timepiece that sells for $100,000. Once a crypto skeptic, Trump has since embraced digital assets and pledged to make the U.S. the “world capital” for cryptocurrencies. He’s taken several early steps to help boost the crypto industry, which spent heavily to help Trump win last year’s election and has emerged as a potent political force. Before taking office, the Trump family business released a voluntary ethics agreement that prohibits the president from “day-to-day” decision making of his companies and limits financial information shared with him. But that agreement doesn’t bar him from promoting his crypto-related products, like he did on social media Sunday when touting his meme coin. “I LOVE $TRUMP — SO COOL!!! The Greatest of them all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,” Trump said on Truth Social, which briefly caused a spike in the meme coin’s price. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com