Tech

NEW YORK (AP) – The mobile payment wars are heating up. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, said it’s launching its own mobile payment system that will allow shoppers to pay with any major credit or debit card or its own store gift card through its existing smartphone app …

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Samsung’s hopes of ending years of acrimony over whether its computer chip factories caused cancer have hit a hitch: some sickened workers and their families say they’ll never accept its highly conditional offer of financial assistance. As recently as the middle of last year, it …

CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) – The newest entrant to Morocco’s media scene has already reported on a disgraced former foreign minister and a scandal about blackmailing the king. The investigative website Le Desk is the latest example of the accelerating migration of Moroccan journalism away from heavily restricted print and broadcast …

SYDNEY (AP) – Australian police on Wednesday raided the home and business premises of a man that technology news sites have claimed is the founder of virtual currency bitcoin. A statement from the Australian Federal Police said the searches were related to a tax investigation and not recent media reports …

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) – As a student graduating from computer college two years ago, Mohammed Qudih was dreading the “painful” unemployment in the Gaza Strip – a war-battered coastal territory where nearly half the population is without work. Today, the 25-year-old engineer boasts about his company, its 20 …

NEW YORK (AP) – Keurig, the maker of single-cup coffee machine maker, said Monday that it has agreed to be sold to private equity firm JAB Holding Co. for almost $14 billion. Its shares rose more than 74 percent in premarket trading Monday. Keurig has been dealing with slowing sales …

WASHINGTON (AP) – A long-running legal battle over government rules that require Internet providers to treat all Web traffic equally is back for another round before a federal appeals court. Cable and telecom industry groups will urge a three-judge panel on Friday to throw out regulations that forbid online content …

TOKYO (AP) – Toyota Motor Corp. is harboring big ambitions to become a significant player in the growing market for robots that help the elderly and other people get around in everyday life. The company believes it can use its manufacturing expertise to become as crucial in a field it …

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Yahoo’s board is considering an activist shareholder’s demand to sell the Internet services the company is best known for, a maneuver that might help the company dodge a tax bill of more than $10 billion looming over its holdings in China’s Alibaba Group. The boardroom intrigue …

MARYSVILLE, Wash. (AP) – Moving her finger over the laptop trackpad, 6-year-old Lauren Meek drags and drops a block of code to build a set of instructions. She clicks the “run” button and watches as the character moves through a maze. She then pumps her fist in excitement. “Yes! This …