Asia Today: S. Korea allows workers to squeeze…
South Korea’s Disease Control and Prevention Agency has allowed health workers to squeeze extra doses from vials of coronavirus vaccines developed by AstraZeneca and Pfizer
Ohio To Hold State Holiday Honoring Trump?
Two state Republican law makers in Ohio want to make former President Trump's birthday, June 14, a state holiday.
Twitter Launches Paid Subscription Option ‘Super…
Twitter Launches Paid Subscription Option ‘Super Follow’. Twitter laid out its future plans for the platform at an Analyst Day event on Feb. 25. Among the announcements was a new feature called “Super Follow.” . It is the equivalent of a paid subscription option, similar to Patreon. The subscriptions will be $4.99 a month with the ability to “cancel anytime.” . “Super Follow” will allow users to provide exclusive content to their followers. . Highlights of the feature include a supporter badge and subscriber-exclusive newsletters. Twitter is aiming to “at least double” its total annual revenue to $7.5 billion or more by 2023. . The company also hope to have 315 million monetizable daily active users by 2023. Twitter reported a total of 192 million monetizable daily active users in the fourth quarter of 2020.
SoftBank says deal reached with WeWork founder…
SoftBank Group Corp. has reached a settlement in a U.S. legal dispute with directors of office space-sharing venture WeWork Inc. and its founder Adam Neumann
How to Buy Sustainable Pot
Like many agricultural products, marijuana can be harmful to the environment unless grown consciously. What can you do to ensure that you are purchasing sustainable cannabis?
WhatsApp to Begin Switching off Messages For…
WhatsApp to Begin Switching off Messages, For Users Who Reject New Terms. Users have until May 15 to accept the new terms of the popular messaging app. . Otherwise, their accounts will be listed as "inactive.". According to TechCrunch, the app will continue to allow both notifications and calls for a "few weeks.". "Inactive" accounts can be deleted after 120 days. Users have concerns that the new terms, issued in January, will expand the amount of data the app shares with Facebook, its parent company. WhatsApp states that the new terms have nothing to do with Facebook. They allow for making payments to businesses. WhatsApp currently shares IP addresses with Facebook, as well as information about purchases made through the platform.
Judge approves $650M Facebook privacy lawsuit…
A federal judge in San Francisco has approved a $650 million settlement of a privacy lawsuit against Facebook for allegedly using photo face-tagging without the permission of its users
What's Next For Donald Trump?
With his presidency coming to an end, what does the future hold for Donald Trump? Dr. Laura Belmonte, Professor of History at Virginia Tech, Matt Klink, GOP Strategist and Dr. Lincoln Mitchell of Columbia University weigh in.
Spotify to Launch in 85 More Countries
Spotify to Launch in 85 More Countries. Spotify announced the expansion on Feb. 22 during a livestreaming event featuring Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Justin Bieber. The company plans to nearly double its global reach, enabling another billion people to access Spotify. It will also add 36 languages to the platform. Currently, Spotify has 345 million monthly active users with 155 million Premium subscribers across 95 countries. The expansion will make the streaming service available in 170 countries. Spotify continues to compete with Apple, Amazon and Google, which have all launched music streaming services over the years. Spotify also hosts podcasts, audio books and meditations
Airline CEOs, Biden officials consider green-fuel…
Airline officials are talking to the Biden administration about support for incentives to use cleaner fuels for airplanes
Chaos At The Capitol
As congress convened to certify the victory of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris a mob descended on the capitol in an attempt to block the confirmation. We unpick the events of the closing act of the Trump presidency.
Facebook to Restore News Pages in Australia
Facebook to Restore News Pages in Australia. Australia is trying to pass legislation that will require digital platforms to pay local media outlets and publishers for news. In protest, Facebook blocked Australia's access to news on its site last week. The Australian government has now come to an agreement with the social media giant. After further discussions, we are satisfied that the Australian government has agreed to a number of changes and guarantees.., Facebook, via statement. ... that address our core concerns about allowing commercial deals that recognize the value our platform provides to publishers relative to the value we receive from them, Facebook, via statement. As a result of these changes, we can now work to further our investment in public interest journalism and restore news on Facebook for Australians in the coming days, Facebook, via statement. Campbell Brown, Facebook's vice president for global news partnership, said the company will continue to be able to decide if news appears on the platform. We’ll continue to invest in news globally and resist efforts by media conglomerates to advance regulatory frameworks that do not take account of the true value exchange between publishers and platforms like Facebook, Campbell Brown, Facebook's vice president for global news partnership, via statement
Nevada governor proposes giving tech firms power…
The governor of Nevada unveiled a proposal to allow technology companies to form “Innovation Zones” with powers similar to local government
Georgia Runoffs: Race To The Finish
Bringing a controversial election to a close and with control of the Senate hanging in the balance, all eyes were on the Peach State for the Georgia runoffs. We examine why this vote is so vital and hear from voters across the state on who they voted for.
Spotify Announces New High-End Subscription…
Spotify Announces New High-End Subscription, Spotify HiFi. On Feb. 22, Spotify announced an upcoming "add-on" for Premium subscribers. Customers in select global markets will soon be able to listen to music in “CD-quality, lossless audio format.”. HiFi will work on Spotify Connect-enabled speakers as well as other devices. The company is also working with other speaker manufacturers to make the new subscription available to more consumers via Spotify Connect. Pricing and a launch date have yet to be revealed, . but the company said to expect the service later this year
White House climate czar to AP: Texas storm 'a…
President Joe Biden’s climate adviser said the deadly winter storm that caused widespread power outages in Texas and other states is a “wake-up call” for the United States to build energy systems and other infrastructure that are more reliable and resilient in the face of extreme-weather events linked to climate change
Vaccine Side-Effects? You Can't Sue
Pharmaceutical companies are now able to avoid liability when it comes to vaccines.
Official: Pakistan security forces kill 2 militants in south
An official says Pakistani counterterrorism police and secret service officials have raided a militant hideout, killing two militants accused of involvement in attacks on security forces
YouTube Shorts Set for US Beta Launch in March
YouTube Shorts Set for US Beta Launch in March. The announcement was made by chief product officer Neal Mohan in a blog post. Every year, increasing numbers of people come to YouTube to launch their own channel, Neal Mohan, YouTube's chief product officer, via blog post. But we know there’s still a huge amount of people who find the bar for creation too high, Neal Mohan, YouTube's chief product officer, via blog post. That’s why we’re working on Shorts, our new short-form video tool that lets creators and artists shoot snappy videos with nothing but their mobile phones, Neal Mohan, YouTube's chief product officer, via blog post. The TikTok competitor is currently in the beta stage in India. Since December, the number of Indian channels using Shorts has tripled. Globally, the YouTube Shorts player currently gets over 3.5 billion daily views. Mohan also announced upgrades to YouTube TV and YouTube Kids, including 4K resolution, offline viewing, a "chapters" feature and more
EXPLAINER: Why rising rates are unsettling Wall…
Rising expectations for the economy and inflation have caused U.S. Treasury yields to spurt higher, with the jump unsettling stock markets
The Future of Movies & TV in 2021
After a difficult year, movie-watching may never be the same ever again.