DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ UK local election: Former PM Boris Johnson turned away from polling station after forgetting ID
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Christian Edwards | Alex Hardie | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Boris Johnson was turned away from a polling station while trying to vote in the United Kingdom’s local elections after forgetting to bring photo ID – a requirement he introduced while prime minister. Polling station staff were forced to turn the former prime minister away as he tried to cast his ballot in South Oxfordshire on Thursday, PA media reported. New rules requiring photo ID to vote were introduced by Johnson’s Conservative government in the Elections Act 2022. Veterans minister Johnny Mercer apologized to Diver. “The legislation on acceptable forms of ID came out before the veterans ID cards started coming out in January this year.

Persons: Boris Johnson, Johnson, Adam Diver, Johnny Mercer, ” Mercer, Rishi Sunak Organizations: CNN, United, Johnson’s Conservative, Labour Party Locations: South Oxfordshire

☆ BHP Anglo American bid: The clean energy race could trigger the biggest mining deal in decades
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Mining giant BHP has made a near-$40 billion bid to take over its UK rival Anglo American in what would be the largest mining deal on record. BHP said in a statement Thursday that it valued Anglo American shares at £25.08 ($31.40) apiece, or £31.1 billion ($38.9 billion) in total. The potential deal would have a higher value than the $38.3 billion acquisition of Switzerland’s Xstrata by commodities company Glencore in 2012, according to Dealogic data. It would also be the biggest merger or acquisition in the mining industry by value since Dealogic began collecting the data in 2004. Shares in Anglo American soared as much as 13.8% on the news.

Persons: BHP, Dealogic, “, Mike Henry, ” Susannah Streeter, Hargreaves Lansdown, Rob North Organizations: London CNN — Mining, BHP, London Metals, Oz Minerals, United Kingdom’s, London Stock Exchange, City of, Hargreaves Locations: Australia, City, City of London

Instead, the Israel Defense Forces will partner with the US military to anchor the causeway to the shore in Gaza “on day one,” the military official said. Dire humanitarian situationThe pier’s construction comes as the humanitarian situation in Gaza has become dire, a senior administration official said Thursday. The official confirmed that USAID will be working with the UN to distribute the aid once it reaches Gaza. Two command and control cells have been set up to facilitate the delivery of the aid via the pier, the military official said. The US role in the effort has been complex, with the military carrying out a high-stakes construction mission in a warzone and diplomats helping to organize a dangerous and highly politicized aid distribution operation.

Persons: ”, Patrick Ryder, Joe Biden, Biden, “ Organizations: CNN, Pentagon, USNS, Israel Defense Forces, US Army, IDF, US Navy, USAID, UN, United Locations: United States, Gaza, ”, Cyprus, Cypriot, Israel, Hatzor, Ashdod, American, Cardigan

☆ Making deepfake porn without consent could soon be a crime in England
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

It is already illegal in England and Wales to share explicit deepfakes without the subject’s consent, with perpetrators facing jail time. Last year, changes to the Online Safety Act already criminalized the sharing of deepfake sexual images in England and Wales. The new offense applies only to adults as, under existing English and Welsh rules, creating deepfake sexual images of minors is already a crime. The creation of deepfakes has included super-imposing women’s faces, without their consent, onto sexually explicit images. A directive criminalizing the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes has also been proposed in the European Union.

Persons: Laura Farris, “, Bill, deepfakes, Taylor Swift, Farris, —, Helle Thorning, Schmidt Organizations: London CNN, United Kingdom’s, ITV, Criminal, European Union, Facebook Locations: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, United States, India

☆ Iranian navy seizes Israel-linked container ship amid escalating tensions in Middle East
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Adam Pourahmadi | Catherine Nicholls | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has confirmed the seizure, saying there are 25 crew on board. Portugal’s government said that it was in touch with the Iranian authorities. The Strait of Hormuz, at the northern end of the Gulf of Oman, is the biggest oil chokepoint in the world. The United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, wrote on social media platform X that he had spoken with Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz. The two discussed their “shared concerns about Iranian threats to attack Israel,” Cameron wrote, adding that “further escalation in the region is in no-one’s interest and risks further loss of civilian life.”

Persons: CNN —, IRNA, “, Eyal Ofer, Joe Biden, Daniel Hagari, Israel, David Cameron, Benny Gantz, ” Cameron, ” Organizations: CNN, CNN — Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, Navy, Zodiac, Mediterranean Shipping Company, United, Israel Defense Forces, United Kingdom’s Locations: Israeli, Hormuz, Iran, Syria, Portuguese, Gulf of Oman, Tehran, Iranian, United States, Damascus, Gaza, The Iran, Yemen, Red, Israel

☆ Zelensky signs law expanding draft age as Ukraine struggles to beef up its military
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Xiaofei Xu | Yulia Kesaieva | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The Ukrainian Parliament passed the measure in May 2023 but Zelensky had not signed it into law until Tuesday. Firstly, men are drafted into military service. The law signed by Zelensky on Tuesday lowers the age they can be drafted to 25, but leaves the mobilization age at 27, However, the Ukrainian Parliament is also considering a bill that would reduce the mobilization age to 25. Disagreement regarding the draft age is believed to be one of the reasons why Zelensky fired Zaluzhnyi in February of 2024. But Zelensky previously said he would agree to a law to mobilize younger Ukrainian men, if it was “really” needed.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, ”, –, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Zaluzhnyi, ” Zelensky Organizations: CNN, Zelensky, United Locations: Ukrainian, Ukraine, Russia

☆ Russian assault piles pressure on fragile Ukrainian defensive line in the east
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The UK statement, which was shared on X, said: “Russian forces have maintained a gradual advance West of Avdiivka. Their apparent fall in just over a month after a prolonged and brutal Russian assault is indicative not only of Russian momentum, but also the fragility of Ukraine’s defensive lines. Ukraine’s military declined to comment on who is currently in control of Tonenke in response to a question from CNN. Troops CNN spoke to in frontline areas expressed concerns about the lack of Ukrainian defensive positions, personnel and munitions. The ISW said the Ukrainian forces appeared to have repelled the Russian mechanized assault, an apparent reference to the Umanske attack.

Persons: Kostiantyn, Donald Trump, Zelensky, ”, Yuriy Butusov, Butusov, Vlada, ISW, Chasiv Yar, Victoria Butenko, Svitlana Vlasova, Yulia Kesaieva Organizations: CNN, Kyiv, GOP, Washington, European Union, Ukraine’s, Staff, Russian, Troops CNN Locations: Russian, Avdiivka, Russia, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Washington, Kyiv, Umanske, Tonenke, Berdychi, US, Bakhmut

☆ Kate, Princess of Wales conspiracies peddled by Russian disinformation group, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The motive of such campaigns, Innes said, is to “destabilize” Russia’s Western antagonists and “undermine trust” in their institutions. The pattern of behavior was one his team recognized from a group of Russian actors his team had studied before. It is a commercial firm contracted to run disinformation campaigns, Innes said. Aaron Chown/Press Association/APMeta said it disrupted the group, but its disinformation campaigns have since grown more sophisticated. The timing of the Kate conspiracies was also propitious for the Kremlin – coming just as Putin secured a fifth term in power in a stage-managed election devoid of credible opposition.

Persons: Catherine, Princess of Wales, Kate, “, ” Martin Innes, ” Innes, Emmanuel Macron, Innes, Princess, Wales, ”, Instagram –, Doppelganger, Aaron Chown, King Charles III, Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, ” Anna George, Timothy Snyder, Vladimir Putin’s, Henry Nicholls, Prince William, ’ ”, Putin Organizations: CNN, Cardiff University, –, Soviet, Meta, Facebook, Press Association, AP Meta, US Treasury, British Embassy, Reuters Institute for, Journalism, Oxford University, Oxford Internet Institute, Yale, Russian Foreign, ” Police, London Clinic, Getty, CNN’s Royal, Kremlin Locations: Wales, Ukraine, ”, Russia, Soviet Union, London, Moscow, Cardiff, Russian, United States, Europe, British, Kensington, Britain, AFP, Windsor

☆ This US state is not covered by the NATO treaty. Some experts say that needs to change
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Because in a quirk of geography and history, Hawaii is not technically covered by the NATO pact. Mengshin Lin/AP“People tend to assume Hawaii is part of the US and therefore it’s covered by NATO,” he says. The exception is spelled out in the Washington Treaty, the document that established NATO in 1949, a decade before Hawaii became a state. It also says any island territories must be in the North Atlantic, north of the Tropic of Cancer. Hawaii, Guam, Taiwan and North KoreaSome experts say times have changed in the decades since the Washington Treaty was signed – and argue today’s political situation in the Indo-Pacific might require a rethink.

Persons: “, ”, David Santoro, Mengshin Lin, ” Santoro, –, China’s, Xi Jinping, —, Joe Biden, John Hemmings, ” Hemmings, Hemmings, Forum’s Santoro, Amy Picard, Luis Simon, Simon, ” Simon Organizations: CNN, NATO, Hawaii, Pacific Command, Atlantic Treaty Organization, Aloha, Pacific Forum, Sailors, USS Arizona Memorial, USS, 82nd, Treaty Organization, Washington Treaty, Tropic, Cancer, US State Department, United, Argentine, South Atlantic, Communist Party, Taiwan Relations, White, Center, New, New American Security, Foreign, USS Arizona . US Navy, Interim, Andersen Air Force Base, Korean, . Air Force, 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, Force, . Air Force ‘ Coalition, Research Centre, Security, Brussels School, Governance, NATO Command, Union Locations: Sweden, United States, Hawaii, Pearl, Honolulu, USS Arizona, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu , Hawaii, California , Colorado, Alaska, North America, Washington, Europe, Argentina, Falkland, British, South, Guam, Taiwan, North Korea, New American, China, Beijing, Oahu, USS West Virginia, USS Tennessee, France, Nazi Germany, Japan, Italy, Korean, Soviet Union, Belgium, Ukraine

☆ Tesco and Sainsbury’s working to fix technical issues that suspended food deliveries to customers
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Eva Rothenberg | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN —Some of the United Kingdom’s largest supermarket chains are grappling with technical issues that have left customers without grocery deliveries and unable to make contactless payments. Sainsbury’s, which owns 600 grocery stores and 800 convenience locations across the country, said on Saturday that “an error with an overnight software update” has prevented the company from fulfilling “the vast majority” of grocery deliveries to customers. Sainsbury’s did not specify how many customers were affected. The malfunction only affected a small portion of orders, and impacted customers have not been charged. In-store shopping and placing online orders are not affected, Tesco said.

Persons: Sainsbury’s, Sainbury’s, McDonald’s Organizations: New, New York CNN, United Kingdom’s, CNN, Tesco Locations: New York, United States, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, United Kingdom

☆ Air defense for $13 a shot? How lasers could revolutionize the way militaries counter enemy missiles and drones
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

And it is claimed it also take out its targets for a tiny fraction of what current air defense missiles cost. In contrast, the Standard Missile-2 used by the United States Navy for air defense costs more than $2 million per shot. The DragonFire laser weapon is tested in January on a British firing range. UK Defense Ministry“It has the potential to be a long-term low-cost alternative to certain tasks missiles currently carry out,” a January statement from the UK Defense Ministry said. Meanwhile expensive air defense systems from Western allies have been crucial to Ukraine’s ability to defend itself from attacks by Russian missiles and drones.

Persons: “, ”, Houthi, Leon Neal, ” James Black, DragonFire, Black, Grant Shapp, Iain Boyd, Boyd, Fred Pyle, ” Shimon Fhima Organizations: CNN, United Kingdom’s Defense Ministry, Defense Ministry, UK Defense Ministry, The Defense Ministry, United States Navy, ExCel, Getty, RAND, ”, Center for National Security, University of Colorado, Navy, Warfare, Breaking Defense, US Navy, Office, DOD Locations: Britain, Scotland, Ukraine, Gulf of Aden, Russian, London, England, RAND Europe, Ponce, Persian, USS Portland

☆ Royal Mail is on the brink. Cutting letter deliveries to 3 days a week could save it
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Royal Mail could ditch its near-daily deliveries of letters as the centuries-old British institution attempts to modernize its service and plug a growing hole in its finances. Ofcom, the UK regulator overseeing the postal service, published proposals to rescue the beleaguered company Wednesday. It said Royal Mail could save as much as £650 million ($828 million) a year if it cut letter deliveries to three days a week from the current six. The number of letters sent via the Royal Mail network had halved since 2011, and financial losses have ballooned. Among its other proposals, Ofcom suggested that Royal Mail could save up to £200 million ($255 million) a year by cutting its letter deliveries down to five days a week, or by extending the time it takes to get mail to customers.

Persons: “ Something’s, ” Melanie Dawes, Kevin Hollinrake, Martin Seidenberg Organizations: London CNN — Royal, Ofcom, Royal Mail, BBC, United, Services, CNN, Royal, International Distribution Services Locations: ”

☆ Medibank attack: Australia publicly names and sanctions Russian hacker Aleksandr Ermakov over data leak
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Jessie Yeung | Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Brisbane, Australia CNN —Australia has publicly named and imposed cyber sanctions on a Russian hacker for his alleged role in a 2022 ransomware attack, in the country’s first use of the penalty. At the time, the Australian Federal Police said investigators knew the identity of the attackers but declined to name them. On Tuesday, the Australian government revealed the name of the individual sanctioned — Russian national Aleksandr Ermakov, 33, an alleged member of the Russian ransomware gang REvil. When the Medibank attack took place later that year, experts said it could have been perpetrated by a REvil member — which Australian authorities confirmed on Tuesday. An initial ransom demand was made for $10 million (15 million Australian dollars).

Persons: Aleksandr Ermakov, “, ” Richard Marles, GCHQ —, Marles, “ REvil, ” Abigail Bradshaw, Medibank, — Organizations: Australia CNN —, Australian Federal Police, Medibank, Australian Signals Directorate, FBI, National Security Agency, NSA, United Kingdom’s, Microsoft, JBS Foods, Russia’s Federal Security Service, REvil, Australian Cyber Security, ” Locations: Brisbane, Australia, Australia CNN — Australia, Russian, United States

☆ Megalodons were skinnier than we previously thought, new study suggests
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Megalodons, the huge prehistoric sharks depicted in movies such as “The Meg,” had more slender bodies than was previously thought, according to a new study. Many mysteries remain about the biology of megalodons, but until now, great white sharks had been used to model their appearance. The dark grey silhouette depicts the previously reconstructed body form, based on the great white shark. Kenshu Shimada/DePaul UniversityThis new research is based on the reappraisal of an incomplete set of fossil vertebrae found in Belgium. The research suggests that “the modern great white shark may not necessarily serve as a good modern analog for assessing at least certain aspects” of megalodon biology, said Shimada.

Persons: CNN — Megalodons, Meg, ”, Kenshu Shimada, Phillip Sternes, megalodons, megalodon, Shimada, ” Shimada, “ Organizations: CNN, DePaul University in, University of California, DePaul University Locations: DePaul University in Chicago, Riverside, Belgium

London CNN —Catherine, Princess of Wales, will spend up to two weeks recovering in hospital after successfully undergoing abdominal surgery. “Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales was admitted to The London Clinic yesterday for planned abdominal surgery,” Kensington Palace said in a statement Wednesday. It is unclear what the surgery was for, but a royal source told CNN that the 42-year-old’s condition was non-cancerous. Once discharged, the Princess of Wales is expected to recover at home in Windsor, the royal source said. The Prince and Princess of Wales with their children, Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte and Prince George, at Buckingham Palace in London, June 2022.

Persons: London CNN — Catherine, Princess of Wales, “, Wales, Catherine –, Kate –, Princess, Prince, Prince Louis , Princess Charlotte, Prince George, Chris Jackson, William , Prince of Wales, Kate, King Charles Organizations: London CNN, London Clinic, CNN, Getty, CNN’s Royal, United Locations: Kensington, Wales, Windsor, Buckingham, London, Regent’s

☆ UK postal scandal: How a software glitch and a centuries-old British company ruined peoples lives
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The government — which owns the Post Office — has described the scandal as one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British history. The software regularly showed that money — often many thousands of pounds — had gone missing from Post Office accounts. The Post Office has so far paid more than £138 million ($176 million) in compensation, a company spokesperson told CNN. “The Horizon system was a piece of machinery and software that wasn’t working correctly,” she said. “If the Post Office can do this to you, then God knows what any other brand is capable of,” she said.

Persons: —, Jo Hamilton, Hamilton, ”, Mr Bates, ’, Alan Bates, Rishi Sunak, ‘, Jonathan Wells, Wendy Buffrey’s Horizon, “, I’d, Buffrey, “ I’ve, Neil Hudgell, Martin Griffith, they’ve, Leon Neal, James Hartley, Siema Kamran, Kamran Ashraf, Ashraf, Kamran, ” Siema Kamran Organizations: London CNN, UK Post, Fujitsu, CNN, Post, ITV, Horizon, of Justice, Office, Cheltenham, Metropolitan Police, Getty, Post Office Locations: Britain, England, Hamilton, British, London, Buffrey, Bracknell , England, Freeths, Cheltenham

☆ Rwanda: UK home secretary James Cleverly to sign new asylum treaty
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Reuters —British Home Secretary James Cleverly arrived in Rwanda on Tuesday to sign a new treaty to send asylum seekers to the African nation after the UK’s top court declared the deportation scheme unlawful. But the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court last month ruled that such a move would violate international human rights laws enshrined in domestic legislation. Since that ruling, Britain has been seeking to renegotiate its agreement with Rwanda to include a binding treaty that it would not expel asylum seekers sent there by Britain - one of the court’s major concerns. The court said the plan breached international undertakings - including the European Convention on Human Rights, the United Nations’ Refugee Convention and Convention against Torture. The Rwanda policy was originally announced by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson last year, but no asylum seekers have been sent to the country yet.

Persons: James, Vincent Biruta, ”, Rishi Sunak, Robert Jenrick, Sunak, Boris Johnson Organizations: Reuters, British, Pressure, Sky News, European, Human, United Nations ’ Refugee Convention, Torture, Conservative Party, of Human Rights, United Nations Locations: Rwanda, Britain, Rwanda’s, Kigali, Europe

☆ Maker of Wegovy, Ozempic showers money on U.S. obesity doctors
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +23 min

Novo spent at least $25.8 million over the past decade on U.S. medical professionals to promote its two obesity drugs, Wegovy and Saxenda, the analysis found. Jastreboff has also worked on clinical trials of obesity drugs for Eli Lilly, which markets a Wegovy competitor. Some doctors said Novo’s payments exemplify how the flood of industry money can dominate decision-making about care and coverage. Government pharmacy officer Solaru said her agency concluded that the new obesity drugs could be cost-effective by preventing other weight-related diseases and boosting workplace productivity. In January, the personnel office told its health plans they must cover at least one GLP-1 obesity drug for 8 million workers, retirees and family members.

Persons: Lee Kaplan, Kaplan, ”, gastroenterologist, He’s, Novo, Donna Ryan, Ryan, “, ” Kaplan, ” Novo, Robert Lustig, “ I’m, Lustig, They’re, Ania, ” Jastreboff, Jastreboff, Eli Lilly, Lilly’s Zepbound, Lilly, ” Lilly, Novo’s, Ayana, Sanders, Arthur Kellermann, ” Kellermann, mouthpieces, ’ ”, “ I'm, Jamy Ard, Ard, Dele, ” Solaru, ” Ryan, Scott Kahan, Kahan, Solaru, Christine Gallagher, Wegovy, Rebekah Carl, Carl, Jen Wexler, gaunt, Wexler Organizations: Novo Nordisk, Dartmouth, Nutrition Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Reuters, Cambridge, Obesity Society, U.S ., Management, Reuters . Pharmaceutical, ”, U.S, United, National Health Service, University of California, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Doctors, Wegovy’s, BMI, Yale University’s Center, Weight Management, Wall Street, American Medical Association, Rutgers University’s School of Public Health, Affordable, . Pharmaceutical, Companies, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Wake Forest University, Wake Forest Baptist Health Weight Management, Obesity, Pennington Biomedical Research, U.S . National Institutes of Health, Personnel Management, Coalition, STOP, George Washington University, Novo Locations: CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, Boston, U.S, Novo, Danish, United States, Louisiana, San Francisco, Wegovy, Pennington, Baton Rouge , Louisiana, Government, New Columbia , Pennsylvania, Florida

☆ She led the National School Walkout after the Parkland mass shooting. Then she left America
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Ramon Sanchez | Ray Sanchez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

These include at least 69 school shootings this year, as of October 28. CNNMurdock was a high school sophomore in Ridgefield, Connecticut, on Valentine’s Day in 2018 when a young man opened fire at Majory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 14 students and three teachers. She came up with a plan for students to walk out of school in protest on April 20, 2018, the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. Lane Murdock, then 16, discussed logistics with classmates a week before the April, 20, 2018, National School Walkout. There have been two mass shootings in the country since the laws were tightened.

Persons: CNN — Lane Murdock, Marjory Stoneman, ” Murdock, “, I’ve, “ We’ve, it’s, Lane Murdock, CNN Murdock, Stoneman, Murdock’s, Sandy Hook, Ray Sanchez, Murdock, ”, Dunblane, people’s Organizations: CNN, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Gun Safety, Firearms, Edinburgh, Ridgefield High School, Stoneman Douglas High School, Columbine, Oxford, Cambridge, National School, –, Republican, Democratic, Giffords Law, Robb Elementary School, Edinburgh Napier University, America Locations: Connecticut, America, Ridgefield , Connecticut, Parkland , Florida, Ridgefield, New England, Hawaii, England, Guam, Parkland, Washington, DC, Uvalde , Texas, Scotland, ”, Scottish, Scotland –, Dunblane, “, England’s Hungerford, Cumbria, Plymouth, United States

☆ UK officials close antitrust probes into Amazon’s and Meta’s retail platforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —The United Kingdom’s competition watchdog has wrapped up its antitrust investigations into Amazon’s and Meta’s retail platforms, saying it has secured commitments from the US tech giants that will ultimately benefit consumers. In theory, the more businesses are able to fairly compete for consumers’ cash, the more choice consumers ultimately have. Meta’s competitors will have the option to “opt out” of the tech firm using some of their data to improve Facebook Marketplace, the CMA said. That commitment, along with others, means Meta “cannot exploit advertising customers’ data to give itself an unfair advantage — and as such distort competition,” Pope said. A spokesperson for Meta told CNN it welcomed the CMA’s decision to close its investigation into Facebook Marketplace.

Persons: Ann Pope, ” Pope, Meta Organizations: London CNN, Markets Authority, CMA, Amazon, Facebook, CNN, Meta, Global, Big Tech, US Federal Trade Commission, European Union

☆ Lab models of human embryos raise hopes and concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

From the moment sperm fuses with an egg, human embryo development involves a string of complex and little understood processes. What happens during human embryo development, particularly in the crucial first month, remains largely unknown. However, 14 days is an important milestone because it is when permitted lab research on cultured human embryos routinely ends. He said, in the future, it might be possible to go as far as 40 days with human embryo models. Some in the field envision a “tipping point” wherein human embryo models might be afforded some protection like those surrounding human embryos, as scientific advances diminish the differences between the embryo models and their real-life counterparts.

Persons: CNN — It’s, ”, Jacob Hanna, demystify, they’ve, Hanna, “ It’s, ” Hanna, “, Peter Rugg, Gunn, it’s, …, Robin Lovell, Francis Crick, Naomi Moris, Francis Crick Institute’s, Moris, we’ve, ” Moris, It’s, Bobbie Farsides, ” Farsides Organizations: CNN, Weizmann Institute of Science, Weizmann Institute, Israel, Weizmann, Babraham Institute, International Society for Stem Cell Research, Stem Cell, Francis, Francis Crick Institute, Genetics, Development, ”, Sussex Medical School Locations: Israel, London, Brighton

☆ Israel-Hamas war risks further deglobalization and inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-15 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Washington, DC CNN —The global economy is facing tremendous uncertainty from the war between Hamas and Israel in the Middle East, on top of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. They say Israel’s declaration of war against Hamas could be yet another catalyst for deglobalization, though the extent of that is still up in the air. If deglobalization does get exacerbated, what would that mean for inflation and monetary policy, globally? With deglobalization, you get a global economic environment that’s less competitive, and when there’s less competition, that is ultimately inflationary, causing prices to rise. Over the Covid era, China shut down production, disrupting the global supply chain, so deglobalization would bring some production back within US borders.

Persons: Wells, Bell, Brendan McKenna, that’s, Trump, there’s, Hanna Ziady, we’ve, ”, Avi Hasson, Patrick Harker, John Williams, Tom Barkin, Michelle Bowman, Tesla, Christopher Waller, Lisa Cook, Jerome Powell, Austan Goolsbee, Michael Barr, Raphael Bostic, Loretta Mester Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, DC CNN, Trump, Hamas, Nation Central, Philadelphia Fed, US Commerce Department, Federal Reserve, National Association of Home Builders, China’s National Bureau of Statistics, Procter & Gamble, United Kingdom’s, National Statistics, American Airlines, US Labor Department, Federal, Fed Locations: Washington, Israel, Russia, Ukraine, China, Wells Fargo, Gaza, deglobalization, United States, Mexico, US, Tel Aviv, New York

☆ Stock market minnows are grabbing most of the world’s IPOs
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The US is still the biggest single IPO market. It is now the world’s fourth-biggest IPO market when measured by the value of deals, totaling $3.2 billion so far this year, according to data provider Dealogic. Further south, the year-to-date value of IPO deals on Turkey’s Borsa Istanbul has hit $2.3 billion, more than double the value of deals on the London Stock Exchange. Not a ‘pretty picture’The United Kingdom’s IPO market is in more profound trouble, and the loss of the Arm IPO to New York stung. Kerr attributes the decline in the UK’s IPO scene partly to Brexit but also to the growing strength of stock exchanges in emerging markets.

Persons: EY, ” George Chan, Chan, you’ve, they’re, ”, Hidroelectrica, Michael M, Kevin Gordon, Charles Schwab, ” Gordon, Germany’s, Samuel Kerr, Kerr Organizations: London CNN, Nasdaq, CNN, Center, United Arab, Bucharest Stock Exchange, Turkey’s Borsa, London Stock Exchange, Tech, IPOs, New York Stock Exchange, Getty, Federal Reserve, United, Wall, “ Companies Locations: Turkey, Romania, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Hong Kong, United States, United Arab Emirates, China, Jakarta, Frankfurt, Paris, Romanian, Turkey’s Borsa Istanbul, Europe, New York, London

☆ The Zoom backgrounds that make you look more - or less - trustworthy, according to experts
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Lianne Kolirin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

That’s according to new research, which looks at how people’s choice of Zoom background could be helping or hindering them. And we found that the living room and novelty backgrounds were the worst,” he said. Not everyone has a home office but yet there’s something that still seems a little unserious [about a home or novelty background]. “We found that generally smiling makes you look more trustworthy and competent, no matter what the background,” he said. “Female faces were also rated as more trustworthy and more competent, regardless of the background they were using,” the researchers wrote.

Persons: Paddy Ross, bookcases, ”, “, …, ” Ross, Ross Organizations: CNN, United Kingdom’s Durham University, Durham University

☆ UK government under pressure to take tougher line on China amid spying allegations
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Sunak’s predecessor Liz Truss called for the government to formally designate China as a threat to the UK. Florence Lo/APUnder the radarBut back to the question at hand: should the events of the past few days affect the UK’s official policy? Despite the arrests, observers believe it is unlikely there will be a sea-change in the UK government’s policy on China. The allegations that China is spying on the UK, in the very heart of Britain’s democracy, is of course a very real concern. But it will not be a surprise to the government, which has baked it into British foreign policy.

Persons: Tom Tugendhat, Tugendhat, Rishi Sunak, Premier Li Qiang, ”, Sunak’s, Liz Truss, Iain Duncan Smith, UK’s, Oliver Dowden, James, Han Zheng, Florence Lo, —, Peter Ricketts, “, doesn’t, ” Ricketts, Christopher Furlong Organizations: London CNN, Sunday Times, Conservative, CNN, Premier, Embassy, Metropolitan Police, Conservative Party, of, People, parliament’s Intelligence, Security, British National Security, Getty, Russia, Diplomats Locations: China, Beijing, New Delhi, London, gossiping, Europe, Hong Kong, South China, Taiwan, Westminster

Search resuls for: "United Kingdom’s"

25 mentions found