SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) – Is it a pipe dream or possibility? Elon Musk wants to diversify Twitter’s revenue stream beyond advertising, a feat none of the biggest social networks have yet pulled off. Something of a gold standard, social media ads can be fine-tuned and tailored to individual users on a mass scale, and have been particularly lucrative for Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, as well as Google. “Facebook pretty much set the standard for […]
Other News
Indonesian girl, 7, found dead after day-long quake rescue effort
CIANJUR, Indonesia (AFP) – A seven-year-old Indonesian girl who was the subject of a day-long rescue effort after an earthquake killed 272 people in West Java has been found dead, rescuers told AFP on Friday. Emergency workers found the body of Ashika Nur Fauziah, also known as Cika, under rubble in the worst-hit district of Cianjur town, epicenter of the quake that triggered landslides, collapsed roofs, walls and buried victims in mounds of earth Monday. “The […]
President Bongbong Marcos congratulates new Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim
(Eagle News) — President Bongbong Marcos on Friday, Nov. 25, congratulated Malaysia’s opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who was sworn in as his country’s new Prime Minister. In a short statement, the President said he hoped Anwar’s election would bring stability, not just in Malaysia, but also in the entire region. “My personal and official congratulations!” he said. According to reports, Anwar’s election ends days of post-election crisis. Malaysia had faced a hung parliament for the […]
Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ revolution turns 40
PARIS, France (AFP) – Mixing rock, pop and RnB like never before, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, 40 years old next week, became the most successful album of all time and defined a coming era with its audiovisual ambition. “Thriller” has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide since its release on November 30, 1982. It consecrated Jackson as the “King of Pop” and remains a musical lodestone. Even renewed allegations of paedophilia in the 2019 documentary “Leaving […]
Twin crises: experts say nature and climate can’t be siloed
PARIS, France (AFP) – Experts and activists were hoping UN climate talks would end last week with a prominent mention of biodiversity in the final text. They walked away disappointed. Some say delegates at the COP27 summit missed a key opportunity to acknowledge the connection between the twin climate and nature crises, which many believe have been treated separately for too long. Failing to address both could mean not only further decimating Earth’s life support systems, but […]
Python bites, drags Australian boy into pool
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – A five-year-old boy has survived being bitten, constricted and knocked into a swimming pool by a python the length of a small car, with his father telling media, “Aw look, it’s where we live. It is Australia.” Five-year-old Beau was playing by the edge of a pool in Byron Bay when a three-meter-long (10-foot) python struck from nearby vegetation, his father Ben Blake told Nine radio on Friday. “I believe the python […]
ITCZ affecting Mindanao, Palawan: PAGASA
(Eagle News) — The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is affecting Mindanao and Palawan. According to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, SOCCSKSARGEN, Zamboanga Peninsula, BARMM, and Palawan will have cloudy skies with rain showers and thunderstorms as a result. Flash floods or landslides due to moderate to at times heavy rains are possible. Meanwhile, Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers […]
Nurses join other striking UK staff in two December walkouts
by Joe JACKSON Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Nurses across most of Britain will next month hold the first strikes in their union’s 106-year history, joining a host of other UK workers taking industrial action over pay. Staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland — but not Scotland — will walk out on December 15 and 20, after the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union said the government had turned down an offer […]
Nestle pours $1.8 billion into business in Saudi Arabia
ZURICH, Switzerland (AFP) – Swiss food giant Nestle said Thursday it will pour seven billion riyals ($1.8 billion) into Saudi Arabia over 10 years in a bid to strengthen its presence in the kingdom. The announcement is likely to be a major boost to Riyadh as the kingdom pushes to attract greater foreign investment. Nestle will build a new factory, due to open in 2025 that will produce infant nutrition products and ready-to-drink coffee for the […]
UK clamps down on Chinese surveillance cameras
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — UK government departments were ordered Thursday to stop installing Chinese-made surveillance cameras at “sensitive sites”, drawing a strong rebuke from one of the companies targeted. The move comes with the government moving more forcefully against China and its companies on security grounds. Last week it ordered a Chinese-owned firm to divest most of Newport Wafer Fab, Britain’s biggest semiconductor maker. According to the campaign group Big Brother Watch, most public […]
Musk announces ‘amnesty’ for banned Twitter accounts after poll
by Julie JAMMOT Agence France-Presse SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Elon Musk said Thursday many previously suspended Twitter accounts would be allowed back on the platform after a landslide of users responding to an informal poll by the new owner voted in favor of the move. The announcement comes as Musk faces pushback that his criteria for content moderation is subject to his personal whim, with reinstatements decided for certain accounts and not others. […]
Adidas probing allegations about Kanye West’s behavior
Frankfurt, Germany (AFP) – Adidas said Thursday it was investigating claims against Kanye West after a report detailed alleged inappropriate behavior, just weeks after the German sportswear giant ended its partnership with the rapper. US magazine Rolling Stone reported claims that the rapper played pornography to Adidas staff in meetings, and discussed porn and showed an intimate photo of ex-wife Kim Kardashian in job interviews. It said former members of the team involved in “Yeezy” — […]
