DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ China imposes further sanctions on Taiwan's U.S. representative
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

China has imposed further sanctions on Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan's de facto ambassador to the United States, prohibiting her and family members from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, state media reported on Friday. The sanctions, announced by China's Taiwan Affairs Office, also prohibit investors and firms related to Hsiao from cooperating with mainland organizations and individuals. They come after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a stopover in the United States this week. Others on the August sanctions list also include Taiwan foreign minister Joseph Wu and Secretary-General of Taiwan's National Security Council Wellington Koo, and DPP politicians. Chinese sanctions will have little practical impact as senior Taiwanese officials do not visit China while Chinese courts do not have jurisdiction in Taiwan.

"Wow, the PRC (People's Republic of China) just sanctioned me again, for the second time," Hsiao tweeted in response to the announcement. Taiwan's Foreign Ministry reacted angrily, saying China had no right to "butt in" when it came to Tsai's overseas trips and that Beijing was "deceiving itself" if it thought the sanctions would have any effect. China has also banned the leaders from entering the country, and frozen any properties they have in China, it said. Chinese sanctions will have little practical impact as senior Taiwanese officials do not visit China while Chinese courts do not have jurisdiction in Taiwan. Others on the August sanctions list include Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu; Wellington Koo, Secretary-General of Taiwan's National Security Council; and DPP politicians.

☆ U.S. arrests retired Salvadoran officer implicated in atrocities
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Nelson Renteria | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAN SALVADOR, April 6 (Reuters) - U.S. agents arrested a retired Salvadoran military officer this week on charges of participating in a brutal massacre of civilians during El Salvador's grinding civil war in the 1980s, according to a statement on Thursday. Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained Roberto Garay on Tuesday in the state of New Jersey, the agency said. Retired Salvadoran general Juan Rafael Bustillo acknowledged in 2020 that Atlacatl was responsible for the notorious 1981 El Mozote massacre, in which more than 1,0000 villagers, mostly women and children, were slaughtered. The battalion carried out extrajudicial executions at El Mozote, as well as in three other massacres in which "hundreds of noncombatant civilians" were killed, ICE said. One of several bloody Central American conflicts linked to the Cold War, El Salvador's 1980-1992 civil war pitted the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) rebels against the army of the U.S.-backed right-wing government.

☆ Honduras demanded $2.5 bln in Taiwan aid before China announcement-source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, March 22 (Reuters) - Honduras demanded $2.5 billion in aid from Taiwan the day before Honduran President Xiomara Castro tweeted her government would seek to open relations with China, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Wednesday. Castro tweeted on March 14 she had instructed the country's foreign minister to bring about the opening of official relations with China, though her government has yet to formally end ties with Taiwan. Reina said Honduras had asked Taiwan to double its annual aid to $100 million but never received an answer. Taking lawmaker questions in parliament earlier on Wednesday, Taiwan Deputy Foreign Minister Tien Chung-kwang said the government will not "lightly give up" on trying to keep Honduras and was "still working hard". Normally when countries break off diplomatic ties with Taiwan the announcement is swift, with Taiwan maybe only getting an hour or so's notice, diplomatic sources told Reuters.

☆ Taiwan financial regulator says will oversee crypto currencies
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

TAIPEI, March 20 (Reuters) - Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission will be the main overseer of crypto currencies on the island, the head of the regulator said on Monday. Huang Tien-mu told lawmakers in parliament that the Financial Supervisory Commission will initially be responsible for the supervision of payments and transactions, but will not cover NFTs, or "non-fungible tokens". Huang said he will discuss the details with other government departments as well as "self-discipline norms" with relevant industries. Details will be announced after consultations with the cabinet, he added. Reporting by Emily Chan; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Himani SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ JPMorgan downgrades Marqeta, cites muted 2023 growth outlook for the payments company
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Hakyung Kim | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

It also slashed its price target to $6 from $9. The new price target implies only a 3.4% upside from Tuesday's close price. The company's loss per share was smaller than anticipated, but its revenue growth outlook was slightly below expectations. JPMorgan said that the company's growth has normalized from its pandemic highs, and its growth outlook implies deceleration. Marqeta shares were down 20% on Wednesday before the bell.

So I was super excited that my teammate Paayal Zaveri wrote about how this model could actually change soon. The market crash could finally break Big Tech's addiction to subscriptions. Paying for things with a subscription has become the norm, in our personal and work lives, Paayal Zaveri writes. That's why industry experts told me usage-based pricing, or paying for only what you use, has gained ground. Today's team: Diamond Naga Siu in San Diego, Paayal Zaveri in San Francisco, Lisa Ryan in New York, and Hallam Bullock in London.

☆ The market crash could finally break Big Tech's addiction to subscriptions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

With another recession looming, experts say usage-based models will become standard. Now, a decade and a half later, the subscription model is the hallmark of the cloud-computing era. As the name suggests, the usage-based model sees customers only billed for what they use — no more, and no less. Usage-based pricing has drawbacks, but can ultimately pay offThe one drawback of usage-based models for the companies that offer them is a lack of predictability. That, in turn, leaves usage-based companies more susceptible to a downturn, since it's a relatively easy for customers to cut spending.

"How I Met Your Father" season two hits Hulu on January 24. Check out the trailer for 'How I Met Your Father' season 2Hilary Duff ("Lizzie McGuire") stars in "How I Met Your Father" season two as present-day Sophie. How to watch 'How I Met Your Father' season 2You can watch "How I Met Your Father" season two exclusively on Hulu starting January 24, with new episodes set to follow every Tuesday. How many episodes will 'How I Met Your Father' season 2 have? "How I Met Your Father" season two will have 20 episodes in total.

☆ Everyday experiences of racism can impact your brain-gut microbiome, new study shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Aditi Shrikant | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

But it can also lead to diseases associated with inflammation, such as rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune inflammatory disease, according to a new study published in Biological Psychiatry. Gupta is also the co-director of the UCLA Microbiome Center and her research focuses on how the brain-gut microbiome system is influenced by adversity. Racial discrimination led to 'more inflammation in the body'The study included 154 adults who self-identified as Asian American, Black, Hispanic, or White. White participants didn't feel like their discrimination was race-based, but had more to do with their gender or age. White participants did not have inflammation.

☆ Getir's acquisition of Gorillas is the latest consolidation move for the rapid delivery space. Here's why analysts say ultrafast couldn't hack it in the US.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Alex Bitter | Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Fridge No More, Buyk, Jokr, and 1520 have shuttered or withdrawn from the US, while Getir, Gopuff, and Gorillas have cut staff. But analysts told Insider this may have led to blind spots when it came to the American consumer. And an insider told TechCrunch that month that Gorillas' monthly global burn rate was between $50 million and $75 million. YipitData suggests the average order for Getir, Gorillas, Gopuff, and Jokr was $21 to $32 in May. Are you a rapid delivery insider with insight to share?

☆ Samsung, LG plan multi-billion-dollar additional investment in Vietnam
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NO ARCHIVES/File PhotoHANOI, Dec 6 (Reuters) - South Korean electronics giants Samsung (005930.KS) and LG (066570.KS) plan to pour billions of dollars of additional investment into Vietnam, state media reports and the Vietnamese government said on Tuesday. The announcement comes after Samsung cut smartphone production in Vietnam twice this year in response to weaker global demand. Samsung Electronics, the largest single foreign investor in Vietnam, will invest $2 billion more in the Southeast Asian country, raising its total to $20 billion, Vietnamese state media said. The additional investment will further firm up Vietnam as Samsung's key production site, reported Vietnam News Agency, following a meeting on Tuesday in Seoul between Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the company's chief executive Han Jong-hee. The state media report and the government statement did not provide further details on the investment by the two companies.

HANOI, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Every Tuesday, 79-year-old Nguyen Thi Loc joins a group of grey-haired students to study English at a house in Hanoi, with the aim of socialising and keeping her brain sharp. The informal classes are free and are taught by Phung Thi Yen, who trained as an English teacher but currently works as an office worker. Loc has never studied a foreign language before, but with her newly acquired skills she chants in chorus with her classmates: "Never too old to learn English". English is Vietnam's most commonly taught foreign language after having become a mandatory subject at school in the 1990s. "Even though we are old, we still should try to study, because studying helps the brain," she said.

Voting in the midterm elections ends on Nov. 8, but there is still plenty of time to cast your ballot. Here's a guide to the most important things you should know as Election Day approaches. Early voting for the the 2022 midterm elections on November 8 has already begun. Start and end times for early voting vary by state, but can extend all the way up to Election Day. You can also drop off your ballot at some in-person polling locations during early voting and on Election Day.

☆ Every state allows members of the military to vote by mail. Here are the other ways to vote overseas.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Kayla Gallagher | Tien Le | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Every state is required to send ballots to members of the military and other US citizens living overseas who request them. Every state allows members of the military stationed overseas and US citizens living abroad to submit their ballots by mail. In the chart below, UOCAVA voters refers to those covered under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Voting Act. But the option increases chances for military and overseas ballots to be counted on time. Military members or citizens stationed overseas can also register to vote and request their absentee ballots from the nonpartisan Overseas Voter Foundation.

☆ Facing talent shortage, Taiwanese chip test firm ASE boosts automation
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Sarah Wu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Apple Inc supplier ASE, which began investing in automated factories in 2015, told Reuters it plans to build 10 smart factories this year, reaching a total of 37 smart factories in Taiwan by the end of the year. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"To counter the talent crunch and adapt to diverse customer requirements, ASE is accelerating its adoption of smart manufacturing technologies including automation," the company said in a statement. The talent shortage in the semiconductor industry remains a top concern, executives from companies throughout the chip supply chain from design to manufacturing have told Reuters. Chip companies in Taiwan have been rapidly expanding in recent years, spurred in part by a pandemic-induced surge in demand for chips, and face fierce competition from local and foreign companies recruiting from a shrinking pool of engineers. "We hope to lead by example and inspire more industry players to contribute to building a resilient global smart manufacturing and equipment cluster," ASE Chief Executive Tien Wu said in a statement.

Search resuls for: "Tien"

16 mentions found