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☆ Put that out! Italy ministers fume over proposed smoking ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Electronic cigarette firms in Italy say a new levy that doubles the price of e-liquid refills unfairly helps tobacco giants and will hurt their industry. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/File PhotoROME, March 6 (Reuters) - The Italian health minister's proposals to extend a smoking ban include the outdoor areas of bars and parks, according to details reported by local media, drawing the ire of right-wing cabinet colleagues who labelled him a "communist." Minister Orazio Schillaci, a technocrat with no party affiliation, said in January he would crackdown on smoking, including of e-cigarettes, which are being widely used by teenagers. The government passed a ban on smoking indoors in 2003, which came into force two years later. Health association Fondazione Umberto Veronesi estimates at least 43,000 people die in Italy every year for smoke-related reasons.

Paris/London CNN —The European Parliament on Tuesday banned TikTok from staff devices over cybersecurity concerns, meaning the Chinese video-sharing app is now barred in all three of the EU’s main institutions. The parliament also “strongly recommended” that its members and staff remove TikTok from their personal devices. “We appreciate that some governments have wisely chosen not to implement such bans due to a lack of evidence that there is any such need.”Last week, the European Commission announced it was banning TikTok from official devices, citing cybersecurity concerns. On Monday, the White House directed federal agencies to remove TikTok from all government-issued devices within 30 days, with few exceptions. Brooke Oberwetter, a TikTok spokesperson, called the ban “little more than political theater.”“The ban of TikTok on federal devices passed in December without any deliberation, and unfortunately that approach has served as a blueprint for other world governments,” Oberwetter said in a statement.

☆ Reuters reporters' online accounts faked to approach China activists
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( James Pomfret | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/3] The Chinese flag is seen across the Victoria Harbour during sunset, in Hong Kong, China October 12, 2022. The impersonator or impersonators were seeking information about a group linked to protests the same month against China's strict COVID-19 controls, according to screenshots and several accounts provided to Reuters. An Australia-based Chinese activist and dissident artist known as Badiucao first disclosed the impersonations on Saturday on Twitter. "Hello everyone," an imposter wrote in a Telegram chatroom, according to screenshots seen by Reuters that were provided by Badiucao. Telegram did not respond to Reuters requests for comment on the impersonations of the journalists' accounts on that platform.

☆ Iran rial plunges to new lows amid unrest, international isolation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. dollar was fetching as much as 601,500 rials on Iran's unofficial market on Sunday, compared with 575,000 on the previous day and 540,000 on Friday, according to foreign exchange site Bonbast.com. The rial has lost nearly half of its value since the start of nationwide protests, the boldest challenge to theocratic rule since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. With protests in the Sunni-populated areas of Iran persisting, demonstrations in other parts of the country have waned in the past few weeks amid the state's harsh crackdown on protests. Iran denies supplying drones to Russia for use in the Ukraine war. To calm the market and ease demand for dollars, the central bank on Saturday lifted a ban on private exchange shops selling hard currencies.

☆ African Union criticises Tunisia over 'racialised hate speech' against migrants
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TUNIS, Feb 25 - The African Union (AU) has criticised Tunisia and urged it to avoid "racialised hate speech" after President Kais Saied ordered the expulsion of undocumented migrants and said immigration was a plot aimed at changing his country's demographic make-up . Tunisia's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it was surprised by the AU statement issued late on Friday, and rejected what it called "baseless accusations" that it said misunderstood the government's position. Saied this week ordered security forces to stop all illegal migration and expel all undocumented migrants, prompting a campaign of arrests that caused widespread fear among sub-Saharan Africans as well as Black Tunisians. In response to criticism from rights groups that his remarks were racist, Saied said he was not racist and that migrants living in Tunisia legally had nothing to fear. Rights groups are holding a demonstration on Saturday to protest against Saied's comments and the clampdown on migrants.

☆ Italy approves clampdown on migrant rescue ships
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Angelo Amante | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The new set of rules is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's efforts to crack down on the rescue vessels, which her government says encourage people to make the perilous trip across the Mediterranean from northern Africa. Charities deny this, saying migrants set to sea regardless of whether rescue boats are in the vicinity. Under the new law, ships have to request access to a port and sail to it "without delay" after a rescue, rather than remain at sea looking for other migrant boats in distress, and disclose detailed information about their rescue activities. The Roman Catholic Church in Italy last month said the new measures violated international law and should be scrapped. Government data shows 12,667 people have reached Italy so far this year, more than double the same period of 2022.

☆ ChatGPT Fever Sweeps China as Tech Firms Seek Growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Karen Hao | Shen Lu | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The viral popularity of ChatGPT has stirred a frenzy within China where tech companies, battered by a two-year regulatory clampdown and the Covid-19 pandemic, have been seeking new sources of growth. Search engine owner Baidu Inc., e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and social-media conglomerate Tencent Holdings Ltd. are among those that have announced investments to develop their own equivalents to the artificial-intelligence chatbot, which isn’t available in China. Stocks of other Chinese companies have surged in recent weeks as they have jumped on the bandwagon, triggering state media to issue a warning about the speculative rally.

☆ A clampdown on in-office work days is causing a rise in 'hush trips'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailA clampdown on in-office work days is causing a rise in 'hush trips'More companies are enforcing in-office work policies, which is causing some employees to take working vacations — or "workcations" — without telling anyone.

☆ BUSD: US regulator orders Paxos to halt new issues of Binance-branded stablecoin
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN —New York’s top financial regulator has ordered a crypto company to stop minting a major stablecoin, widening a clampdown on the embattled digital assets sector. Paxos also said it would “end its relationship” with Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange. It did not say why the regulator had ordered it to stop issuing BUSD. Last week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission said overseeing crypto assets was a key priority for 2023. According to crypto advocates, the growing global clampdown could undermine the ecosystem for digital assets.

☆ Regulator Orders Crypto Firm Paxos to Stop Issuing Binance Stablecoin
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Patricia Kowsmann | Caitlin Ostroff | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

BUSD, also known as Binance USD, is a stablecoin backed by U.S. dollars on a one-to-one basis. New York regulators directed a crypto company to stop issuing one of the largest dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies, as a government clampdown on the sector widens. The New York Department of Financial Services ordered Paxos Trust Co., which issues and lists Binance’s dollar-pegged cryptocurrency, to stop creating more of its BUSD token, Binance said in a statement. Paxos will continue to manage redemptions of the product, the crypto exchange added.

☆ Crypto Firm Paxos to Stop Issuing Dollar-Pegged Binance Token
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Patricia Kowsmann | Caitlin Ostroff | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

New York regulators directed a crypto company to stop issuing one of the largest dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies, as a government clampdown on the sector widens. The New York Department of Financial Services ordered Paxos Trust Co., which issues and lists Binance’s dollar-pegged cryptocurrency, to stop creating more of its BUSD token. Paxos will continue to manage redemptions of the product, according to a Binance statement.

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationLONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - New York's chief financial regulator has ordered Paxos, the company behind the stablecoin of major crypto exchange Binance, to stop issuing the token, Paxos said in a statement on Monday. The Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin, one of the world's biggest, is issued and redeemed by New York-based Paxos Trust Company, both of which are regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services. Paxos said it would stop issuing new BUSD as of Feb. 21 "as directed by and working in close coordination with the New York Department of Financial Services". Binance USD is the seventh-largest cryptocurrency, with more than $16 billion in circulation, according to market tracker CoinGecko. Zhao said Binance would "continue to support BUSD for the foreseeable future" and that he saw users "migrating to other stablecoins over time."

☆ What investors need to know about ‘staking,’ the passive income opportunity at the center of crypto’s latest regulation scare
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Not six months ago, ether led a recovery in cryptocurrency prices ahead of a big tech upgrade that would make something called "staking" available to crypto investors. A clampdown on staking, and staking services, could have damaging consequences not just for those exchanges, but also Ethereum and other proof-of-stake blockchain networks. For example, if you decide you want to stake your ether holdings, you would do so on the Ethereum network. Investors can give their crypto to the staking service and the service does the staking on the investors' behalf. Proof-of-stake vs. proof-of-workStaking works only for proof-of-stake networks like Ethereum, Solana, Polkadot and Cardano.

☆ SEC targets ‘crypto-staking’ in $30 million Kraken settlement
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

That practice, known as “staking,” reflected an unregistered offer and sale of securities, the SEC alleged in a complaint announced Thursday. According to the SEC, Kraken failed to adequately disclose the risks of participating in the program, which had advertised annual yields of as much as 21%. But according to cryptocurrency advocates, the SEC clampdown on staking could have wider effects that undermine the US cryptocurrency ecosystem. The SEC complaint zeroes in on a practice that the industry says is vital to supporting the healthy function of some virtual currencies. In its complaint, however, the SEC alleged Kraken failed to notify users about the lack of protections it offered to those who engaged in staking through Kraken’s program.

☆ 'Genuinely considering canceling my subscription': Netflix's password-sharing clampdown sparks angry response from some users
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Netflix has said it plans to clamp down on password sharing, and some users aren't happy. "I'm genuinely considering canceling my subscription," journalist Erin Biba said in a tweet, which amassed almost 50,000 likes. The tweet was in response to similar rules about account sharing that were posted on Netflix's website on February 1. Shannon Freshour, a politician in Ohio, wrote in a tweet directed at the streaming giant: "You're by far the most expensive streaming service w/o the value matching it. A survey from US firm Jefferies found that 62% of password borrowers said they would stop using the streaming service rather than purchase an account.

☆ Netflix is widening its password sharing crackdown, with users in Canada, Spain, and New Zealand now facing extra charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Netflix users in Canada, New Zealand, Spain, and Portugal are facing a crackdown on password sharing. The company previously announced that it wanted to roll out "paid sharing" by the end of March. Users in Canada, New Zealand, Spain, and Portugal are the latest to face its clampdown on password sharing, after a previous trial in a number of Latin American nations, Netflix said Wednesday. Paid sharing means that Netflix users will have to set up a primary location, so only people in that household can use the account without paying extra. During Netflix's paid sharing trial in Latin America, it told users that they could request a code to gain a week's access to their accounts while traveling.

☆ Netflix's Latin American password-sharing clampdown trial hints at how the upcoming rollout might work, including primary locations and special-access codes for traveling
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Netflix said last month that it expects to roll out paid sharing more broadly by the end of March. Paid sharing is being tested in Latin America, where it costs up to $3 to add an extra member. Users in the trial areas need to set up a "primary location" through their TV, verified through email or text message. If anyone is trying to access a Netflix account from outside its primary location, then their device will be blocked. Under paid sharing, users can let people from outside their household use their account for an additional fee.

In a statement that did not name Kolomoiskiy, the SBU published the same photographs, but with the person's face blurred out. If someone is not ready for change, then the state itself will come and help them change," Arakhamia wrote on the Telegram messaging app. The head of the State Bureau of Investigation said the law enforcement action was "only the beginning". The oligarchs took control of swathes of industry during the post-Soviet privatisations of the 1990s and wield influence to this day. Reporting by Olena Harmash; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Timothy Heritage and Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China says it is ‘deeply concerned’ about reports of the latest US clampdown on Huawei
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN —China has hit back after reports that Washington is moving to further restrict sales of American technology to Huawei. “China is deeply concerned,” Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the country’s foreign ministry, said at a press conference Tuesday. The following year, the US government expanded on those curbs by seeking to cut Huawei off from chip suppliers using US-made technology. US officials have argued that Huawei poses a risk to US national security. Western security experts, however, have said that China’s national security and intelligence laws require Chinese companies to comply with demands for information.

The assailants had been monitoring the property and may have observed that she often shares flowers with her neighbors, she said. Omarov then sent those details to Mehdiyev, who lived in Yonkers, New York, prosecutors said. Amirov and Omarov then arranged for Mehdiyev to get $30,000 in cash, which he used to buy an assault rifle and ammunition, prosecutors said. Omarov, 38, was arrested in the Czech Republic earlier this month, and the United States is seeking his extradition. Iran accuses Western powers of fomenting the unrest, which security forces have met with deadly violence.

☆ Iran condemns sanctions imposed by EU, Britain and threatens retaliation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Iran on Tuesday strongly condemned new sanctions imposed by the European Union and Britain and said it would retaliate, after the West stepped up pressure on Iran over its crackdown on protests. "The Islamic Republic will soon announce the list of new sanctions against the human rights violators of EU and England," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a statement. The European Union imposed sanctions on more than 30 Iranian officials and organisations, including units of the powerful Revolutionary Guards, blaming them for a "brutal" crackdown on unrest and other human rights abuses. The United States and Britain also issued new sanctions against Iran, reflecting a deterioration in the West's already dire relations with Tehran. The sanctions are the latest response to Iran's deadly clampdown on unrest after the death of young Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in morality police custody in September.

REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File PhotoWASHINGTON/BRUSSELS, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The West on Monday stepped up pressure on Iran over its crackdown on protests as the United States, European Union and United Kingdom imposed fresh sanctions on Tehran. 'BRUTAL REPRESSION'The European Union imposed sanctions on more than 30 Iranian officials and organizations, including units of the Revolutionary Guards, blaming them for a "brutal" crackdown on protesters and other human rights abuses. Those sanctions targeted units and senior officials of the IRGC across Iran, including in Sunni-populated areas where the state crackdown has been intense, a list published in the EU's Official Journal showed. Britain also imposed sanctions on more Iranian individuals and entities on Monday over the country's "brutal repression" of its people. Britain has now imposed 50 new sanctions against Iran since Amini's death, the foreign office said.

☆ After spending time in Japan and briefly appearing in Thailand, Jack Ma's now resurfaced in Hong Kong, where he's reportedly meeting with finance execs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

This time he's in Hong Kong, meeting financial executives. He has kept a low profile and evaded public view since he ran afoul of Chinese authorities in 2020. He has now resurfaced again, and was seen in Hong Kong, meeting with financial executives, per a Friday report by the Hong Kong Economic Times. The news of his resurfacing in Hong Kong comes just weeks after Ant Group said Ma would be giving up control of his company. The speech angered Chinese authorities, brought scrutiny to his company and eventually led to a wide regulatory crackdown on Chinese tech companies.

☆ China’s video game makers come in from the cold as crackdown eases
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] The Tencent Games logo is seen on its game on a mobile phone in this illustration picture taken August 3, 2021. "We believe the approvals indicate a more benign regulatory environment for the China gaming industry," JP Morgan analysts wrote in a note on Wednesday. "With rich game supply, we are more positive on overall online game market growth during Chinese New Year, a traditional strong season for the China online game market." Whether the gaming market can return to form also depends on the recovery of the Chinese economy, which has been thumped by a surge in COVID infections. However, data shows China’s total gamer population remains stable, slipping just 0.33% in 2022 from 2021 to 664 million.

☆ Tencent, NetEase shares rise as China gaming crackdown eases
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HONG KONG, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Shares of Tencent Holdings (0700.HK), the world's largest gaming company, and smaller rival NetEase Inc (9999.HK) rose on Wednesday after China's video games regulator granted the first gaming licences in 2023, further easing an industry crackdown. Tencent's shares rose as much as 1.7% in early trade before paring gains, while NetEase's stock jumped as much as 5.8% to its highest in more than four months. Unlike in most other countries, video games need approval from regulators before release in China. Last month, China's move to grant publishing licences to 44 foreign games for domestic release was the strongest signal that the clampdown was ending. Regulators resumed issuing gaming licences to homegrown games last April, and the approval of foreign games was seen as the last regulatory curb to be removed.

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