AFP
13876 articles published since 08 Mar 2022
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Kazakhstan moves to reel in crypto mining
Kazakhstan, one of the world's leading locations for cryptocurrency mining, has moved to reel in the power-hungry industry that has often burdened the ageing energy grid of the Central Asian country. According to data from the University of Cambridge, Kazakhstan was the world's third-largest miner of cryptocurrency as of January 2022, behind the United States and China.
UK turns to army as crippling strikes loom
Britain on Thursday said it was preparing to enlist the army to cover ambulances and border security before a wave of strikes this month as workers demand higher wages. The Ministry of Defence is also in talks with the National Health Service, Downing Street said, after ambulance drivers voted to join nurses in going on strike this month.
China's Xi meets Saudi crown prince on high-stakes visit
Chinese President Xi Jinping met Saudi Arabia's powerful crown prince on Thursday on an Arab outreach visit that will yield billions of dollars in deals and has earned a rebuke from Washington. His visit follows US President Joe Biden's trip in July, when he greeted Prince Mohammed with a fist-bump at the start of a vain attempt to convince the Saudis to raise oil production. rcb/th/fz
Asian markets mixed as recession fears dampen China optimism
Asian markets were mixed Thursday as sentiment was pulled in opposite directions by worries about a US recession and China's shift away from strict Covid restrictions. The fear of a US recession is playing off against China's shift away from its zero-Covid strategy of lockdowns and mass testing that has been blamed for clattering the world's number two economy.
Ramesh 'Sunny' Balwani gets prison time for Theranos fraud
A judge on Thursday sentenced a top aide and ex-boyfriend of fallen Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes to prison for duping people into trusting the failed blood testing startup. Fallen US biotech star Holmes, whose fraud trial was separate from that of Balwani, has asked an appeals court to overturn her conviction and a resulting sentence of more than 11 years in prison.
TikTok hit by US lawsuits over child safety, security fears
TikTok was hit Wednesday with a pair of lawsuits from the US state of Indiana, which accused it of making false claims about the Chinese-owned app's safety for children. The spectacular success of TikTok has seen rival sites such as Meta-owned Instagram or Snapchat struggle to keep up, with once soaring ad revenues taking a hit.
Amazon sued in US for 'stealing' delivery driver tips
The District of Columbia on Wednesday said it is suing Amazon for allegedly stealing tips from its Flex service delivery drivers to reduce labor costs and boost profits.
Apple beefs up iCloud data defense against snooping
Apple on Wednesday said it is beefing up defense of data that users store in the cloud, a move that could thwart authorities as well as hackers. Civil rights and privacy advocates, along with cybersecurity professionals, however, advocate encrypting data to protect against wrongful snooping by authorities as well as hackers.
Elon Musk briefly loses top spot on Forbes billionaire list
Tesla-owner Elon Musk briefly lost the top spot on Forbes' billionaire list on Wednesday to Bernard Arnault, whose family owns the world's leading luxury group, LVMH. With US tech stocks sliding as interest rates and recession fears rise, Musk's fortune briefly fell below that of the Arnault family. Arnault had also topped the Forbes list for several hours in 2021.
AFP
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