Author: ALJAZEERA

Tech billionaire’s comments prompt rebuke from Australian officials.Tech billionaire Elon Musk has branded the Australian government “fascists” over proposals to fine social media companies that fail to stop the spread of misinformation online. Under proposals by Australia’s centre-left Labor Party government, platforms could be fined up to 5 percent of global annual revenue if they allow the spread of content that is “reasonably verifiable as false, misleading or deceptive and reasonably likely to cause or contribute to serious harm”. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland announced the legislation on Thursday after a previous draft of the law was scrapped following backlash from…

Some 33,000 union members walk off the job at factories in Seattle and Portland after rejecting pay offer.Boeing workers on the West Coast of the United States have voted overwhelmingly to strike in the latest blow to the beleaguered aircraft giant. Some 33,000 machinists at the company’s factories in Seattle and Portland, Oregon on Thursday voted to walk off the job from midnight after rejecting management’s latest offer for better pay and conditions. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) said that 94.6 percent of its members voted to reject the contract and 96 percent backed a strike.…

Boeing’s management will likely need to access new sources of liquidity in the event of a prolonged strike.Fitch Ratings and Moody’s have joined S&P Global Ratings in warning that a prolonged strike at Boeing’s factories on the United States West Coast may lead to a ratings downgrade, a headache for the plane maker, which is saddled with massive debt. “If the current strike lasts a week or two, it is unlikely to pressure the rating. However, an extended strike could have a meaningful operational and financial impact, increasing the risk of a downgrade,” Fitch said on Friday. Moody’s warned of…

Republican candidate says workers who put in more than 40 hours should not pay taxes on overtime.Former United States President Donald Trump has pledged to scrap all taxes on overtime work if re-elected to the White House. Addressing supporters in Tucson, Arizona, on Thursday, Trump said the plan to eliminate taxes on work beyond 40 hours a week would give people greater incentive to work and make it easier for businesses to hire. “The people who work overtime are among the hardest-working citizens in our country. And for too long, no one in Washington has been looking out for them.…

Investors are scrambling to shift their positioning following the closely-watched debate between US Republican Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, as betting markets swung in Harris’s favour after the event. Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the company that owns Truth Social, fell 13 percent on Wednesday afternoon, while other so-called Trump trades such as Bitcoin and crypto stocks retreated. Solar stocks, seen as benefitting from a Harris win, rallied and healthcare shares fell. In a combative debate late Tuesday, Trump and Harris clashed over everything from the economy to immigration, as each sought a campaign-altering moment in what has been a closely-fought race.…

European Commission directed Apple to pay billions in back taxes, an order upheld by the EU’s top court.European Union antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager has scored two major wins as Europe’s top court has backed her crackdown against Apple’s Irish tax deal and Google’s anticompetitive practices in two landmark cases. Vestager, who ends her term in November, has made a name for herself going after Big Tech’s tax arrangements with some EU countries and attempts to stifle smaller rivals. The court victories, which were announced on Tuesday, could embolden her successor to take a similar tack. The antitrust chief cheered the…

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he wants children ‘off their phones and on the footy field’.Australia is planning to ban children from using social media amid concerns that platforms like Instagram and TikTok are negatively affecting young people’s physical and mental health. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday that the government will launch an age verification trial in the coming months ahead of the introduction of legislation to enforce a ban. Albanese said his centre-left Labor Party government is considering a minimum age of between 14 and 16. Albanese said parents are “worried sick” about their children’s…

Medan, Indonesia – Indonesian workers who paid thousands of dollars to travel to the United Kingdom to pick fruit say they face the prospect of returning home heavily in debt after being sacked for not meeting unrealistic targets. Migrant worker Abdul said he departed for the UK in May with nine other Indonesians under the country’s seasonal worker scheme, which grants foreign workers six-month visas to work on British farms. Hired by UK recruiter Agri-HR, Abdul was sent to Haygrove, a farm in Hereford, about 215km (135 miles) southwest of London. “A friend of mine who had already been to the…

US Commerce Department says curbs follow consultation with international partners.The United States has rolled out fresh export controls on quantum computers and semiconductor-manufacturing equipment amid concerns about the use of advanced technologies by rivals such as China. The US Department of Commerce said on Thursday that the export restrictions followed consultation with international partners and would strengthen relations with “like-minded countries”. “Today’s action ensures our national export controls keep step with rapidly evolving technologies and are more effective when we work in concert with international partners,” Under Secretary for the Bureau of Industry and Security Alan Estevez said in a…

In August, X, the social media company once known as Twitter, publicly released Grok 2, the latest iteration of its AI chatbot. With limited guardrails, Grok has been responsible for pushing misinformation about elections and allowing users to make life-like artificial intelligence-generated images – otherwise known as deepfakes – of elected officials in ethically questionable positions. The social media giant has started to rectify some of its problems. After election officials in Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington wrote to X head Elon Musk alleging that the chatbot produced false information about state ballot deadlines, X now points users…