The board of self-styled “free speech-driven” social media platform Parler has fired its chief executive John Matze, he said on Wednesday. Parler was favoured by many US conservatives who objected to content rules on Facebook and Twitter. It has far fewer users than either of its rivals, but grew rapidly […]
Business
Sales of Australian wine to the UK have surged almost 30% in the last year as producers try to overcome crippling taxes on exports to China. Wine producers have ramped up exports to Europe to a 10-year high, with the UK now the number one destination. China increased taxes by […]
eBay has reported a jump in sales over the festive season, as coronavirus lockdowns spurred more shoppers to buy presents online. The online marketplace saw revenues rise to $2.9bn (£2.1bn) for the three months ending 31 December 2020, beating analysts’ expectations. The number of annual active buyers grew by 7% […]
SYDNEY: Coronavirus-induced border restrictions separating Australia’s three most populous states were set to be eased, authorities said today, as the country recorded its 11th straight day of zero Covid-19 cases. Australian states imposed quarantine and hard border restrictions for travellers from New South Wales (NSW) state after an outbreak in […]
SHANGHAI: Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma made his first public appearance since October on Wednesday (Jan 20) when he spoke to a group of teachers by video, easing concern about his unusual absence from the limelight and sending shares in the e-commerce giant surging. Speculation over Ma’s whereabouts has swirled […]
SHANGHAI: Twitter has locked the account of China’s US embassy for a tweet that defended China’s policies in the Xinjiang region, which the US social media platform said violated the firm’s policy against “dehumanisation”. The Chinese Embassy account, @ChineseEmbinUS, posted a tweet this month that said that Uighur women were […]
NEW YORK: Amazon.com on Wednesday (Jan 20) offered to help with the United States’ efforts involving the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a letter addressed to President Joe Biden, seen by Reuters. The world’s largest online retailer has an agreement with a healthcare provider to administer vaccines at its facilities and […]
SAN FRANCISCO: As US President Joe Biden took office on Wednesday (Jan 20), Twitter handed him the reins of an official @POTUS account as part of the transfer of power. The one-to-many messaging service gave Biden’s team control of all the official White House accounts, and activated a new @SecondGentleman […]
SINGAPORE: DBS customers will not be able to use their physical tokens to access the bank’s online services from April. DBS said on Wednesday (Jan 20) that it will fully transition to digital tokens after three years of progressively replacing its physical tokens. The bank will stop issuing physical tokens […]
NEW DELHI: India’s technology ministry has asked WhatsApp to withdraw changes to its privacy policy the messenger announced this month, saying the new terms take away choice from Indian users. The demand creates a new headache for WhatsApp and its US parent Facebook, which have placed big bets on the […]