The Tribune

• FACEBOOK, Twitter, Microsoft and YouTube have agreed to new rules to tackle online hate speech. The Internet titans agreed yesterday to a new code of conduct by the European Union that takes aim at illegal hate speech and terrorist propaganda posted online. They have committed to reviewing within 24 hours of receipt the majority of notifications about a social media post that may contain hate speech. They have also agreed to remove the post if necessary.

Under the rules, the companies will also communicate with one another, with governments and with law enforcement agencies about keeping up with potential abuse.

• WITH the north American summer whale watching season approaching, conservation advocates and government agencies who want to protect whales say a mobile app designed to help mariners steer clear of the animals is helping keep them alive.

The Whale Alert app provides a real-time display of the ocean and the position of the mariner’s ship, along with information about where whales have been seen or heard recently. It also provides information on speed restrictions and restricted areas, and recommends routes shippers can take to avoid endangered species such as the blue whale and the North Atlantic right whale.

More than a quarter of the entire North Atlantic right whale population visited Cape Cod Bay this season. Collisions with high speed ships are one of the leading causes of death for some species of whales, and many mariners often try to navigate around them using outdated equipment.

• MICROSOFT and Facebook are building a new underwater Internet cable that will cross the Atlantic Ocean, carrying customers’ data between North America and southern Europe. The giant tech companies say they helped design the high-speed cable to carry data for their growing numbers of online consumers and commercial customers. The project will be operated by an affiliate of Spanish telecommunications firm Telefonica, which will sell unused capacity on the cable to other customers. It will connect data hubs in northern Virginia and Bilbao, Spain.

• THE Copa America, which kicks off on Friday, will employ the Hawk-Eye system, marking the first use of goalline technology by the soccer’s governing bodies for South America and for North and Central America and the Caribbean. The 16-nation tournament will be played at 10 US sites from June 3 to 26. The centenary tounament opens on Friday with the USA playing Colombia. Chile are the defending champions while Haiti are in a goup with Brazil.

• THE solar-powered airplane making its way around the world arrived in Pennsylvania last week after a 17 hour flight from Dayton, Ohio.

The Swiss-made Solar Impulse 2 landed at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown and will make at least one more stop in the United States - in New York - before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Europe or northern Africa.

The globe-circling voyage began in March, 2015, from Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.