International Archives - Page 2 of 3 -

18 Oct

X to charge $1-a-year from new users for basic features in hopes to curb bots

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsBusiness, InternationalBusiness, International

X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, has begun testing $1-per-year subscription fees for new accounts on the web that want to post or interact with other users, saying this measure can reduce spam, automated bot accounts, and manipulation of its services. The test, called "Not a Bot," has been launched in New Zealand and the Philippines, X said in a blog post on Tuesday. New users who do not pay a fee cannot take certain actions, including writing, liking, replying or bookmarking posts on the site. "This will evaluate a potentially robust measure to help us combat bots…

14 Sep

Google lays off hundreds of employees in global recruiting team

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsBusiness, InternationalBusiness, International

Google parent Alphabet Inc. on Wednesday laid off hundreds of employees from its global hiring team. This comes as an attempt by the tech giant to slow down the hiring process. Notably, Alphabet Inc. was the first "tech giant" to lay off employees this quarter, while others, such as Meta Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Amazon Inc., aggressively laid off in early 2023. It cut staff by about 6 percent in January, amounting to 12,000 jobs. The move in January marked Google's first "major" layoff in the company's history. The NY Times reported that as of June 30, the company had…

13 Sep

Google pays 10 USD billion to maintain market share monopoly

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsInternationalBusiness, International

Lawyers have made opening arguments in a landmark antitrust case against search engine Google, which could test the limits of corporate power in the United States. On Tuesday, in a packed federal courthouse in Washington, DC., the U.S. Department of Justice argued that Google used its resources and influence to suppress competition and maintain its dominance as the most popular search engine. Google counters that internet users rely on search engines for its quality. "Google pays more than $10 billion a year for these privileged positions," said Kenneth Dintzer, the Justice Department's chief litigator. "Google's contracts ensure that rivals can't…

04 Sep

Woman steals iPhone 14 from store cutting anti-theft cable with her teeth

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsBusiness, InternationalBusiness, International

A woman has been arrested for allegedly chewing on an anti-theft cable for stealing an iPhone 14 Plus worth $960 (Rs 79,414) from an Apple store in southern China's Fujian province, the South China Morning Post reported. The woman, identified as Qiu, was caught by police half an hour after leaving the store with the device. In a CCTV camera video that has gone viral on Chinese social media platforms, Ms Qiu is seen standing in front of a smartphone display stand. Then he leans on the counter and puts his right hand on a phone. After a brief test…

23 Aug

Joe Biden said India is most important country in world: US Ambassador

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsBusiness, India, InternationalBusiness, India, International

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti on Tuesday highlighted the close cooperation between his country and India in various fields including technology, trade, environment and space. He said President Joe Biden told him that India was the most important country in the world to him. Delivering the keynote address at the Indiaspora G20 forum, Garcetti said that Indian Americans constitute six percent of the taxpayers in the United States. "He (President Biden) told me, when he asked me to come here to serve, he said, this is the most important country in the world to me, something that I think…

19 Aug

Elon Musk removing option to block people on X

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsBusiness, InternationalBusiness, International

Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly known as Twitter), has announced that the platform will remove the blocking feature for its users, saying it "doesn't make sense." However, users will still have the ability to block others from sending direct messages. Musk's move is just one of many changes since the site was acquired in a $44 billion deal last year. Currently, when a user blocks an account, it prevents that account's posts from appearing in the blocker's timeline, and vice versa. In addition, a blocked account loses the ability to send messages to the blocker and view their…

04 Aug

Japan issues rare warning over fake X account

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsBusiness, InternationalBusiness, International

Japan's Finance Ministry (MOF) on Thursday warned of a fake account for its top currency diplomat Masato Kanda on Social Media X, formerly known as Twitter, as markets fear currency interference within a month low of the yen. In a rare English-language post on X, the ministry said "Please do not follow impersonated accounts and/or comment on posts", saying such an X account did not allegedly belong to Kanda or his staff. "The MOF is currently requesting that X (formerly Twitter) suspend the impersonated account. Thank you for your cooperation", it said on its official account. The account, named "Masato…

01 Jul

Apple’s market value breaches $3 trillion mark

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsBusiness, InternationalBusiness, International

Apple Inc's market capitalization breached the $3 trillion mark again on Friday, as investors bet on the iPhone maker's ability to grow revenue even as it explores new markets such as virtual reality.Shares of Apple, the world's most valuable listed company, rose 0.9% to $191.4 in morning trading. Apple's market value briefly topped $3 trillion on January 3, 2022, before closing the session just below that mark.The latest gains in Apple shares came as the technology stock rebounded on bets that the Federal Reserve could slow its interest rate hikes as well as buzz around artificial intelligence.

29 Jun

Presumed human remains found in Titan sub wreckage

Priyanka Bhowmick0 Commentsaccident, International, SikkimInternational

Human remains have been recovered from the wreckage of the Titan submersible, which was returned to land Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The return of debris to the Port of St. John's, Canada, is an important part of the investigation into why the submarine exploded and the five people on board were killed. The Titan submarine, owned and operated by OceanGate Expeditions, suffered a catastrophic explosion earlier this month while sailing to see the wreckage of the Titanic. The twisted parts of the 22-foot submersible washed ashore at a Canadian Coast Guard pier on Wednesday. Officials said its landing…

24 Jun

Singapore’s Grab slashes 1,000 jobs in biggest round of job cuts since pandemic

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsBusiness, InternationalBusiness, International

Singapore's ride-hailing company Grab is cutting about 1,000 jobs, or about 11 percent of its workforce. This is the biggest round of job layoffs by the Southeast Asian tech giant since the pandemic, when it laid off about 360 employees in 2020. Grab CEO Anthony Tan said the layoffs were not a "shortcut to profits" but part of a fundamental shift in the company's operating model and cost structure. He described the decision to lay off around 1,000 employees as a 'painful but necessary step'. In a letter to Grab staff, Tan wrote, “I want to be clear that we…