Twitter pauses paid blue-tick launch for US midterms November 8, 2022 Twitter confirmed that it would be delaying the rollout of its paid-for verification until after the US midterm elections, temporarily abating fears about fake account misinformation campaigns. As the new social media chief, Elon Musk has laid out plans to allow users to purchase blue-tick verification for their profiles – a privilege that is usually [...]
Richard Branson facing US lawsuit is sign of the times for the young space industry November 8, 2022 The lawsuit Richard Branson is facing in the US over claims he hid Virgin Galactic’s problems from shareholders is a sign of the times, as investors become rattled by a young market’s growing pains. The British billionaire has been accused of defrauding shareholders into overpaying for the space tourism company’s shares, a US judge said [...]
Mass layoffs at Meta: Is Facebook’s ‘absolute monarch’ Mark Zuckerberg finally listening? November 8, 2022 Facebook-owner Meta did not do well with investors during and after the latest earnings releases. Large institutional investors concluded that founder Mark Zuckerberg is not listening to investor concerns over capital expenditure plans for next year and ballooning operating expenses. But the Wall Street Journal is writing that Meta is now planning a large layoff [...]
All eyes on Biden vs Trump today: US midterms to usher in two years of gridlock November 8, 2022 The sharp decline in the US dollar markets saw on Friday continued yesterday as the greenback lost ground across the board, with the pound benefiting the most, pushing above the 1.1500 area, as markets looked ahead to this week’s Q3 GDP number, and next week’s autumn budget. The weakness in the US dollar came despite [...]
Rishi Sunak torpedoes Boris Johnson’s Britannia ship as £250m plans sink to the bottom of the Brexit pond November 7, 2022 As part of government efforts to cut spending, a £250m plan to build a successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia has been scrapped, the Ministry of Defence confirmed this afternoon. The national flagship plan was sunk by Rishi Sunak’s administration as Whitehall braced for cuts in the November 17 autumn statement by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. [...]
Twitter lay-offs begin as Elon Musk warns of ‘massive drop’ in revenues November 5, 2022 Elon Musk has begun laying off thousands of Twitter workers after warning the social media company is losing more than $4m a day due to a “massive drop” in advertising revenues. The tech billionaire began pushing forwards with plans to lay off around half of Twitter’s 7,500 staff, just more than a week after completing [...]
Elon Musk abandons Hyperloop project months after ramping up testing November 3, 2022 Elon Musk has reportedly abandoned his futuristic high-speed transportation project Hyperloop just six months after announcing plans to begin “full-scale” testing. Hyperloop has been ‘indefinitely shelved’, according to Bloomberg today. The eccentric billionaire’s $44bn takeover of social media giant Twitter finalised last week, making him the ‘Chief Twit’ of yet another technology heavyweight. The ambitious [...]
Boris Johnson to address crypto conference in Singapore next month November 1, 2022 Boris Johnson will address a crypto conference in Singapore next month while Parliament is still sitting. The former Prime Minister will address the International Symposium on Blockchain Advancement, as the keynote speaker. Johnson will be joined by vice-president from 2001-09 Dick Cheney, but it’s not clear how much Johnson will get paid. The MP for [...]
UK’s £50bn black hole: Brits face a long, cold winter full of spending cuts and fresh tax hikes November 1, 2022 After barely a week in office, Rishi Sunak, the new Prime Minister, and his equally new Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, are expected to move ahead with tax rises for millions of Brits. As early as next week, Sunak and Hunt will most likely extend a freeze on the thresholds at which people start to pay the [...]
Hunt and Sunak face £89bn fiscal hole without tax rises or spending cuts November 1, 2022 Without spending cuts or tax rises, prime minister Rishi Sunak and chancellor Jeremy Hunt will burn a £89bn hole in the public finances in a few years time, a new report out today reveals. A combination of former prime minister Liz Truss’s tax cuts in the shambolic 23 September mini-budget still lingering and a flatlining [...]