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☆ Colossal, 50-foot prehistoric snake discovered in India
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —A giant prehistoric snake longer than a school bus slithered around what is now India 47 million years ago, according to new research. A panoramic view of Panandhro Lignite Mine, in western India's Gujarat state, shows the fossiliferous level (red arrow) where the giant snake Vasuki indicus was found. However, the snake would have rivaled the largest known snake species — the extinct Titanoboa — in size. Snake size and the role of climateSnakes are cold-blooded and need heat from the environment to survive. Datta and Bajpai said the snake lived in a coastal marsh and swamp.

Persons: dwarfing, indicus, Shiva, Debajit Datta, Sunil Bajpai, ”, Datta, Verma Debajit, Bajpai, Titanoboa, Vasuki Organizations: CNN, Indian Institute of Technology Locations: India, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India’s Gujarat, India's Gujarat, Colombia

☆ Religious Spectacle to Mark Opening of Ram Temple by India's Modi
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

It is also being seen as the virtual launch of the deeply religious strongman Modi’s re-election campaign for general elections due by May. India's majority Hindus say the site is the birthplace of Lord Ram, and was holy to them long before Muslim Mughals razed a temple at the spot and built the Babri Masjid or mosque there in 1528. Some of India’s top business leaders, movie actors and sportspersons have also been invited for the consecration, organisers said. The inauguration has also sparked a political controversy with major opposition parties, including the main opposition Congress, declining invitations to attend saying it had been converted into a political, Modi event. “The construction of the temple is going on as per the direction of the Supreme Court, so we welcome it.

Persons: Saurabh Sharma, Rajesh AYODHYA, Lord Ram, Narendra Modi, Modi’s, Modi, ” Modi, “, ”, Prithvi Datta Chandra Shobhi, Zufar Ahmad Faruqi, Shivam Patel, YP Rajesh, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Supreme Court, Krea University, Islamic, Foundation, YP Locations: India, Ayodhya

☆ Tech firms, Wall Street lead job cuts in Corporate America
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

TECHNOLOGY, MEDIA AND TELECOM SECTORMeta Platforms (META.O):The Facebook-parent said it would cut 10,000 jobs, just four months after it let go 11,000 employees. read moreMicrosoft Corp (MSFT.O):The U.S. tech giant said it would cut 10,000 jobs by the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2023. The company laid off under 1,000 employees across several divisions in October, Axios reported, citing a source. Workday (WDAY.O):The software company will cut roughly 500 jobs, or 3% of its workforce, citing a challenging macroeconomic environment. Morgan Stanley (MS.N):The Wall Street powerhouse was planning to cut about 3,000 jobs in the second quarter ended June 30, Reuters reported in May.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Goldman Sachs, Axios, Pat Gelsinger, Elon Musk, Morgan Stanley, Lazard, Coinbase, cryptocurrencies, Phillips, Johnson, Joseph Wolk, Deborah Sophia, Akash Sriram, Granth Vanaik, Eva Mathews, Yuvraj Malik, Sourasis Bose, Priyamvada, Tiyashi Datta, Manya Saini, Jaspreet Singh, Maju Samuel, Sriraj Kalluvila, Pooja Desai Organizations: REUTERS, TELECOM, Meta, Facebook, IBM Corp, Spotify Technology SA, Spotify, Microsoft Corp, Intel Corp, Reuters, New York Times, Elon, Cisco Systems, HP, Rivian, Match, Dell Technologies, Technologies, U.S . Central Intelligence Agency, Goldman Sachs, Wall, Citigroup, Bloomberg News, BlackRock, Bed, Dow, Johnson, 3M, Thomson Locations: New, Wall, U.S, York, New Jersey, Bengaluru

☆ HSBC apologises as thousands of UK customers locked out of digital banking
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Lawrence White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A man speaks on a mobile phone in front of the head office of HSBC bank in Mumbai November 20, 2008. REUTERS/Arko Datta/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Thousands of HSBC (HSBA.L) customers in Britain on Friday reported they were unable to access some mobile and online banking services, the latest in a long-running series of such problems for British banks. "We’re working hard to restore HSBC UK’s Mobile and Online Banking service, including the authorising of online card purchases via the app," a spokesperson for the bank said. "We understand this is really frustrating for some of our customers, and we are really sorry for the inconvenience." "This HSBC outage will cause a real headache for a lot of its customers.

Persons: Arko Datta, Sam Richardson, Lawrence White, Hugh Lawson, Louise Heavens Organizations: HSBC, REUTERS, HSBC UK’s Mobile, Banking, Consumer, Bank of England, Thomson Locations: Mumbai, Britain

☆ Microsoft-Activision: Ubisoft deal helps win Britain's nod
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 13 (Reuters) - Britain's antitrust regulator on Friday cleared Microsoft's (MSFT.O) acquisition of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) after the restructured deal substantially addressed its earlier concerns. In August, Activision agreed to sell its non-European streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment (UBIP.PA) to get the biggest deal yet in video-gaming past Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). "We have now crossed the final regulatory hurdle to close this acquisition, which we believe will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide," Microsoft President Brad Smith said. The company had in July extended the deadline to close the deal by Oct. 18. Here is a snapshot of key events in the Microsoft-Activision saga:Reporting by Tiyashi Datta, Jaspreet Singh and Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva, Shinjini Ganguli and Varun H KOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Brad Smith, Tiyashi Datta, Jaspreet Singh, Yadarisa, Anil D'Silva, Shinjini Organizations: Activision, Ubisoft Entertainment, Markets Authority, Microsoft, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Pakistan's warm-up match in India to be played behind closed doors
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A policeman walks past a logo of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) during a governing council meeting of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at BCCI headquarters in Mumbai April 26, 2010. REUTERS/Arko Datta/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNEW DELHI, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Pakistan's first warm-up match ahead of the World Cup will be played behind closed doors in Hyderabad for security reasons, India's cricket board (BCCI) said. "The match in Hyderabad coincides with festivals on the day and large gatherings are expected around the city. Pakistan will play another warm-up match against Australia on Oct. 3 and launch their bid for a second 50-overs World Cup title against the Netherlands three days later. The 1992 champions, who received their visas on Monday after some delay, will leave for India via Dubai on Wednesday.

Persons: Arko Datta, Babar Azam, Amlan Chakraborty, Peter Rutherford Organizations: Control, Cricket, BCCI, Indian Premier League, REUTERS, Australia, Thomson Locations: India, Mumbai, DELHI, Hyderabad, Zealand, Pakistan, Netherlands, Dubai, New Delhi

☆ Microsoft-Activision: Ubisoft deal opens doors to Britain's nod
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Sept 22 (Reuters) - Microsoft's (MSFT.O) restructured acquisition of Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) "opens the door" to the deal being cleared, Britain's antitrust regulator said on Friday. Last month, "Call of Duty" maker Activision agreed to sell its non-European streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment (UBIP.PA) to get the biggest deal yet in video-gaming past Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Here is a snapshot of key events in the Microsoft-Activision saga:Reporting by Tiyashi Datta, Jaspreet Singh and Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva, Shinjini Ganguli and Varun H KOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Tiyashi Datta, Jaspreet Singh, Yadarisa, Anil D'Silva, Shinjini Organizations: Activision Blizzard, Activision, Ubisoft Entertainment, Markets Authority, Microsoft, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

WASHINGTON (AP) — Online gig work is growing globally, particularly in the developing world, creating an important source of employment for women and young people in poorer countries where jobs are scarce, according to a World Bank report released Thursday. The report estimates the number of global online gig workers at as many as 435 million people and says demand for gig work increased 41% between 2016 and the first quarter of 2023. That boost is generating concern, though, among worker rights advocates about the lack of strong job protections in the gig economy, where people work job to job with little security and few employment rights. While location-based gig services such as Uber, Lyft and TaskRabbit require labor like moving and delivery, online gig assignments can be largely done at home. Roughly half of the surveyed gig workers did not have a retirement plan and as much as 73% of Venezuelan gig workers and 75% of Nigerians did not have any savings for retirement.

Persons: ”, Namita Datta, Sharon Block, Lindsey Cameron, Uber, ” Block Organizations: WASHINGTON, —, Bank, World Bank, Harvard Law School’s Center for Labor, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, ”, Pew Locations: U.S, United States, Egypt, Argentina, Nigeria, Russia, China

They are a key source of financing for some fintech lenders, which have fewer funding options than banks. As the end of pandemic stimulus and rising inflation led delinquency rates to normalize, investors shunned the fintech ABS market late last year. Fintechs like Upstart (UPST.O), Affirm (AFRM.O) and OneMain Financial (OMF.N) say they are boosting credit quality, in another example of how lenders have been pulling back amid uncertainty over the economic outlook. Still, analysts say it is a sign the fintech ABS market is recovering. For fintech loans to borrowers with weighted average credit scores between 660 and 710, annualized net losses rose by 1.88% month-over-month to 16.61%.

Persons: Sanjay Datta, Datta, Max Levchin, Doug Schulman, OneMain, Finsight, Robert Wildhack, Kroll, Hannah Lang, Matt Tracy, Josie Kao Organizations: Wall Street, OneMain, AAA, Autonomous Research, Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Thomson Locations: Washington

[1/2] Meta's Threads app and Twitter logos are seen in this illustration taken July 4, 2023. Meta, which launched Threads on Wednesday and has logged more than 30 million sign ups, looks to take on Elon Musk's Twitter by leveraging Instagram's billions of users. Spiro, in his letter, accused Meta of hiring former Twitter employees who "had and continue to have access to Twitter's trade secrets and other highly confidential information," News website Semafor first reported. "Twitter intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights, and demands that Meta take immediate steps to stop using any Twitter trade secrets or other highly confidential information," Spiro wrote in the letter. "No one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee — that's just not a thing," Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in a Threads post.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Mark Zuckerberg, Alex Spiro, Meta, Spiro, Semafor, — that's, Andy Stone, Musk, Mark Lemley, Jeanne Fromer, Akash Sriram, Tiyashi Datta, Jody Godoy, Katie Paul, Shailesh Kuber, Josie Kao Organizations: REUTERS, Twitter, Meta, Facebook, Elon, Reuters, Stanford, New York University, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru, New York

☆ Twitter threatens to sue Meta over Threads, Semafor reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Meta, which launched Threads on Wednesday and has logged more than 30 million sign ups, looks to take on Elon Musk's Twitter by taking advantage of Instagram's billions of users. "Twitter intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights, and demands that Meta take immediate steps to stop using any Twitter trade secrets or other highly confidential information," Spiro wrote in the letter. "No one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee — that's just not a thing," Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in a Threads post. A former senior Twitter employee told Reuters they were not aware of any former staffers working on Threads, nor any senior personnel who landed at Meta at all. loadingSince Musk's takeover of the social media platform, Twitter has seen competition from Mastodon and Bluesky among others.

Persons: Semafor, Mark Zuckerberg, Alex Spiro, Meta, Spiro, — that's, Andy Stone, Musk, Akash Sriram, Tiyashi Datta, Katie Paul, Shailesh Organizations: Twitter, Meta, Facebook, Elon, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru, New York

☆ Canada's Quebecor to pull its ads from Facebook, Instagram
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 5 (Reuters) - Telecom and media firm Quebecor (QBRb.TO) said on Wednesday it will pull its ads from Facebook and Instagram, following Meta Platforms' (META.O) decision to stop access to news on both the social media platforms in Canada over a law requiring payments to local news publishers. Google and Meta previously said they would block access to news articles in Canada if the legislation is passed. Quebecor, which also owns media outlets and newspapers, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how much it spends on advertisements on Facebook and Instagram. Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Meta, Tiyashi Datta, Shounak Dasgupta Organizations: Telecom, Facebook, Google, Meta, Thomson Locations: Canada, Bengaluru

☆ EV startup Nikola reports jump in second-quarter deliveries, shares rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The company said retail sales of its trucks doubled to 66 in the quarter, while wholesale figure rose to 45 from 31. They fell before the bell after the company announced on Monday it would start liquidating assets of Romeo Power less than a year after buying the battery maker. Nikola agreed to buy Romeo Power in August for about $144 million, as it looked to jump-start efforts to make battery packs. EV makers Tesla (TSLA.O) and Rivian (RIVN.O) also beat market estimates for second-quarter deliveries. Nikola, which went public in 2020, produced 33 trucks during the second quarter, compared with 63 trucks in the preceding quarter.

Persons: Nikola, NKLA.O, Romeo, Trevor Milton, Tiyashi Datta, Maju Samuel Organizations: Romeo, Tesla, Thomson Locations: Coolidge , Arizona, North America, Bengaluru

June 30 (Reuters) - Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) stock market value ended a trading session above $3 trillion for the first time on Friday, lifted by signs of improving inflation and bets that the iPhone maker will successfully expand into new markets. Shares of the world's most valuable company jumped 2.3% to $193.97, giving it a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, Refinitiv data showed. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsThe Cupertino, California company's market capitalization briefly peaked above $3 trillion in intraday trading on Jan. 3, 2022 before closing the session just below that mark. Apple's $3 trillion milestone follows the June 5 launch of a pricey augmented-reality headset, its riskiest bet since the introduction of the iPhone more than a decade ago. Four other U.S. companies have valuations of more than $1 trillion - Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), Nvidia and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), which follows Apple with a market value of $2.5 trillion.

Persons: Hogan, Riley, Tiyashi Datta, Noel Randewich, Anil D'Silva, Richard Chang Organizations: Apple, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Nvidia Corp, Tesla Inc, Commerce Department, Amazon.com Inc, Nvidia, Microsoft Corp, Tesla, Inc, Thomson Locations: Cupertino , California, Apple's, Bengaluru, Oakland, Calif

☆ Apple's market value breaches $3 trillion mark again
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Tiyashi Datta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Shares of Apple, which is also the world's most valuable- listed company, were up 1.6% at $192.6, after touching a record high of $193.15 during the day. They have jumped nearly 46% this year and, at the current price, the company's market value stands at around $3.02 trillion. Apple's market value briefly peaked at above $3 trillion in intra-day trading on Jan. 3, 2022, before closing the session just below that mark. Apple's 12-month forward price-to-earnings multiple (P/E), a common benchmark for valuing stocks, is 29.49, well above the sector median of 13.14, according to Refinitiv data. Currently, four other U.S. companies have a valuation of more than $1 trillion - Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), which is a close second with a market value of $2.49 trillion.

Persons: Atif Malik, Microsoft's, Tiyashi Datta, Anil D'Silva Organizations: Apple, Citigroup, Federal, Amazon.com Inc, Nvidia Corp, Microsoft Corp, Tesla, Nvidia, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Polestar to adopt Tesla's supercharger network in the US, Canada
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 29 (Reuters) - Swedish electric vehicle (EV) maker Polestar said on Thursday it has signed an agreement with Tesla (TSLA.O) to adopt the EV maker's Supercharger network in the United States and Canada. Starting 2025, new Polestar vehicles sold in North America will be equipped with Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) charging port by default, the company said. The deal comes days after Swedish carmaker Volvo Cars (VOLCARb.ST) said all its electric vehicles (EVs) will have access to Tesla's Supercharger network in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Tesla's Superchargers account for about 60% of the total number of fast chargers available in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja DesaiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Polestar, Tesla's, Biden, Tiyashi Datta, Pooja Desai Organizations: Tesla, Volvo, General Motors, Rivian Automotive Inc, CCS, U.S . Department of Energy, Thomson Locations: Swedish, United States, Canada, North America, U.S, Mexico, California, Bengaluru

☆ Lordstown Motors gets Nasdaq delisting notice
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 29 (Reuters) - Lordstown Motors (RIDE.O) said on Thursday it had received a delisting notice from the Nasdaq, days after the U.S. electric truck maker filed for bankruptcy protection. The company received the notice from Nasdaq on June 28, notifying its failure to meet listing rules and saying that trading in its class A common stock would be suspended on July 7, 2023, according to a filing. The EV maker filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday and put itself up for sale after failing to resolve a dispute over a promised investment from Taiwan's Foxconn (2354.TW). Lordstown accused Foxconn of fraudulent conduct and a series of broken promises in failing to abide by an agreement to invest up to $170 million in the company. Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Lordstown, Taiwan's Foxconn, Tiyashi Datta, Anil D'Silva Organizations: Lordstown Motors, Nasdaq, U.S, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Warner Bros Discovery to add CNN on streaming service - Bloomberg
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

June 28 (Reuters) - Warner Bros Discovery Inc (WBD.O) is planning to add live programming from CNN to the Max streaming service later this year, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The company did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comments. Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Tiyashi Datta, Maju Samuel Organizations: Warner Bros Discovery Inc, CNN, Max, Bloomberg, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Warner Bros, NetEase launch 'Harry Potter: Magic Awakened' video game
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

June 27 (Reuters) - A Warner Bros Discovery Inc (WBD.O) unit and China's NetEase Inc on Tuesday announced the worldwide launch of role-playing video game "Harry Potter: Magic Awakened". The free-to-play title will let players experience life as a student at Hogwarts, the fictional school of wizardry in the popular "Harry Potter" series of books by J.K.Rowling. Players can learn magic spells and summon "Harry Potter" characters such as Hermione Granger and Rubeus Hagrid as allies to aid in their battles. The game can be downloaded for free on iOS and Android platforms from Tuesday, the companies said. Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb ChakrabartyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Harry Potter, J.K.Rowling, Hermione Granger, Rubeus Hagrid, Tiyashi Datta, Saumyadeb Organizations: Warner Bros Discovery Inc, Inc, Tuesday, Thomson Locations: Hogwarts, Bengaluru

☆ Amazon cloud unit to invest nearly $8 billion in Ohio
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 26 (Reuters) - Amazon.com's (AMZN.O) cloud computing division would invest $7.8 billion through 2030 in Ohio to expand its data center operations, it said on Monday. Amazon said the new investment will create hundreds of jobs and support thousands at local businesses through construction, operations and maintenance on-site at Amazon Web Service facilities. The company had in January said it plans to invest another $35 billion by 2040 to expand data centers in Virginia. It also aims to invest 1.06 trillion rupees ($13 billion) in India by the end of this decade. Reporting by Yuvraj Malik and Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Yuvraj Malik, Tiyashi Datta, Vinay Dwivedi Organizations: Amazon Web Service, Thomson Locations: Ohio, Virginia, India, Bengaluru

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoJune 26 (Reuters) - Databricks said on Monday it had agreed to acquire artificial intelligence (AI) startup MosaicML in a mostly stock deal valued at $1.3 billion, marking Databricks' latest efforts to build an ecosystem for enterprises to use open-source AI models. San Francisco-based MosaicML provides software tools designed to make it cheaper to carry out AI work, which often involves training AI algorithms on huge troves of data using expensive computer chips. Databricks said the deal would combine its AI technology with MosaicML's language-model platform, allowing businesses a "simple, fast way to retain control, security, and ownership over their valuable data without high costs". Databricks, which sells software tools for building AI systems, has been an advocate for open-source models, which it argues could rival the models players like OpenAI and Google are offering. Both Databricks and MosaicML have released open-source foundation models, which is the category of core technology behind services like OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Databricks, MosaicML, Tiyashi Datta, Krystal Hu, Pooja Desai, Mark Potter Organizations: REUTERS, Google, Microsoft Corp, Lux Capital, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, Bengaluru, Toronto

☆ SVB's Asian customers who lost deposits remain on the hook for loans - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 19 (Reuters) - Silicon Valley Bank's customers in Asia whose deposits were recently seized by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) are under pressure to repay loans to First Citizens Bank, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. According to the report, when SVB failed in March, the FDIC stepped in to protect all of the California bank's U.S. deposits and arranged a sale of the lender's U.S. customer accounts, branches and loans to First Citizens Bancshares. SVB, FDIC and First Citizens Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment. California regulators shuttered Silicon Valley Bank in March and First Citizens BancShares (FCNCA.O) purchased the bank with the help of FDIC in a deal that drained $20 billion from an insurance fund financed by banks and run by the government. Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru Editing by Marguerita ChoyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: SVB, Tiyashi Datta, Marguerita Choy Organizations: U.S . Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, First Citizens Bank, Street, FDIC, California bank's, Bank, Thomson Locations: Asia, California bank's U.S, U.S, Cayman Islands, China, Singapore, California, Bengaluru

☆ Meta rolls back measures to tackle COVID misinformation
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 16 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) said on Friday a policy that was put in place to curb the spread of misinformation related to COVID-19 on Facebook and Instagram would no longer be in effect globally. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter came under immense pressure to tackle misinformation related to the pandemic, including false claims about vaccines, prompting them to take stringent measures. Earlier in 2021, Facebook said it took down 1.3 billion fake accounts between October and December and removed more than 12 million pieces of content on COVID-19 and vaccines that global health experts flagged as misinformation. "We are consulting with health experts to understand which claims and categories of misinformation could continue to pose this risk," Meta said in a blog post. Earlier in November, Twitter also rolled back its COVID-19 misinformation policy.

Persons: Meta, Tiyashi Datta, Anil D'Silva Organizations: Facebook, Twitter, Thomson Locations: COVID, Bengaluru

☆ Factbox: Layoffs pick up pace in Canada as Bell cuts 1,300 roles
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

June 15 (Reuters) - Canadian companies across industries have laid off thousands in recent months as a post-pandemic spending splurge fades and rising interest rates fan fears of a possible recession. The cuts mirror the tens of thousands of layoffs seen in the United States, where major companies such as Meta Platforms (META.O) have carried out multiple rounds of retrenchment. Here are some of the job cuts in Canada in recent months:Reporting by Tiyashi Datta and Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Tiyashi Datta, Jaspreet Singh, Maju Samuel Organizations: Thomson Locations: United States, Canada, Bengaluru

☆ Microsoft-Activision: Mega deal caught in crosshairs of antitrust regulators
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

June 14 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) $69 billion acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) faced another hurdle on Tuesday after a U.S. judge granted a request by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to temporarily block the deal. The acquisition has attracted scrutiny from several antitrust enforcers, including Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), over concerns it would hinder competition in the nascent cloud gaming market. If not for the court order, Microsoft could have closed the deal as early as Friday. Here is a snapshot of key events in the Microsoft-Activision saga:Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Tiyashi Datta, Anil D'Silva Organizations: Microsoft, Activision, Federal Trade Commission, Britain's, Markets Authority, Thomson Locations: U.S, Bengaluru

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