Author: ALJAZEERA

Tech founder says French authorities are putting innovation at risk in first public comments since his detention.Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has criticised French authorities for pursuing “misguided” criminal charges against him instead of approaching his company with their concerns in his first public comments since his arrest. In a post on Telegram on Thursday, Durov said it was “surprising” to learn that he could be held personally responsible for illegal activities carried out by other people on his social media-cum-messaging platform. “If a country is unhappy with an internet service, the established practice is to start a legal action against…

Xi pledges $51bn in new financing for African countries at Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to create “at least” one million jobs in Africa as he seeks to position Beijing as the development partner of choice for the Global South. Speaking at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation on Thursday, Xi said Beijing would provide African countries $51bn in new financing, including loans and “various types of assistance”, and support 30 infrastructure projects to boost connectivity across the continent. “We have together built roads, railways, schools, hospitals, industrial parks and special economic zones. These projects have changed…

Ministry of Commerce’s investigation comes after Ottawa announced 100 percent tariff on Chinese EVs.China has announced anti-dumping investigations into Canadian canola and chemical products after Ottawa imposed tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs), steel and aluminium. China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday that “unfair competition by the Canadian side” had inflicted losses on domestic canola producers. The ministry said it would also launch a probe into Canadian chemical products based on “applications by domestic industries”. “China … will take all necessary measures to defend the legitimate rights and interests of its enterprises,” the ministry said in a statement. The…

Taiwan People’s Party leader Ko Wen-je freed after court finds insufficient evidence to justify his detention.A court in Taiwan has ordered the release of a former mayor and presidential candidate who was arrested over his alleged role in a corruption scandal, citing insufficient evidence for his detention. Taipei District Court on Monday ruled that Ko Wen-je, a former mayor of Taipei and the leader of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), should go free after finding that prosecutors had failed to make the case for his detention. The court said prosecutors had not met the standard of there being a “high…

At issue is whether de Moraes can order the social network to block certain accounts, a request that Musk denounces as censorship.Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes has moved to block the financial accounts of billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink as an ongoing feud leaves his social media platform X on the brink of being taken down in the country. Starlink confirmed on Thursday it received an order from the judge that prevents the company from conducting financial transactions in Brazil and said in a post on X that it would address the order legally. De Moraes’s decision on Thursday…

The judge has ordered the full and immediate suspension of X in the country until all related court orders on X are complied with.A Brazilian Supreme Court justice ordered on Friday the “immediate suspension” of social media platform X in the country after a court-imposed deadline expired for the company to identify a legal representative in Brazil. The move is the latest chapter in an ongoing feud between Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes and Elon Musk, which also included the freezing of the satellite internet provider Starlink’s financial accounts in Brazil. In the decision, de Moraes ordered the full and…

French leader denies inviting tech founder to France or having prior knowledge of his visit.French President Emmanuel Macron has defended a decision to grant fast-track citizenship to indicted Telegram CEO Pavel Durov. Speaking at a news conference during a visit to Serbia, Macron said that granting nationality to high-profile figures who learn French and contribute to the nation is “good for our country”. “It’s part of a strategy to allow women and men, whether artists, athletes or entrepreneurs, when they make the effort to learn the French language and that they develop wealth, innovation … to be given French nationality,”…

Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes says platform faces ban unless Musk names legal representative within 24 hours.Brazil’s top court has threatened to ban X unless its billionaire owner Elon Musk names a legal representative in the Latin American country within 24 hours. Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes said in an order made public on Wednesday that failure to appoint a legal representative could result in the “suspension of the social network’s activities”. The order is the latest development in a months-long feud between Musk and de Moraes, who has led a crackdown on alleged misinformation and disinformation in…

In the war for control of the internet, the potential significance of Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov’s arrest is difficult to overstate. At the heart of French authorities’ case against the Russian-born billionaire is an enormously consequential question: are online platforms legally responsible for the speech of their users? Prosecutors say Durov was detained as part of an investigation involving 12 criminal allegations, most of them related to “complicity” in serious crimes ranging from drug trafficking to the distribution of child sex abuse material. While governments around the world have for years sought to exert greater control over online…

Education minister says enrolments to be limited to 270,000 in 2025 in bid to create ‘a better and a fairer system’.Australia has announced a cap on the number of international students amid growing public discontent over rising housing costs. Education Minister Jason Clare said on Tuesday that enrolments at publicly funded universities and vocational institutions would be limited to 270,000 in 2025 as part of efforts to create “a better and a fairer system”. “What this means is next year there will be about the same number of international students starting a course here as there were before the pandemic,”…