Tausi Insider

The Mastodon site is shown on a smart phone in Oakland, Calif., on Nov. 11, 2022. Sites like Mastodon and even Tumblr are emerging as new (or renewed) alternatives to Twitter. Barbara Ortutay/The Associated Press Twitter has been a bit of a mess since billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk took the helm, cutting the company’s work force in half, upending the platform’s verification system, sparring with users over jokes and acknowledging that “ dumb things ” might happen as he reshapes one of the world’s most high-profile information ecosystems. On Thursday, amid an exodus of senior executives responsible for data privacy, cybersecurity and complying with regulations, he warned the company’s remaining employees that Twitter might not survive if it can’t find a way to bring in at least half its revenue from subscriptions. While it’s not clear if the drama is causing many users to leave – in fact, having a front-row seat to the chaos may prove entertaining to some – lesser-known sites Mastodo...

The sun sets behind the COP27 logo outside the conference venue on Saturday, Nov. 12 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Peter Dejong/The Associated Press It’s halfway time at the UN climate talks in Egypt, with negotiators still working on draft agreements before ministers arrive next week to push for a substantial deal to fight climate change. The two-week meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh started with strong appeals from world leaders for greater efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and help poor nations cope with global warming. Scientists say the amount of greenhouse gases being pumped into the atmosphere needs to be halved by 2030 to meet the goals of the Paris climate accord. The 2015 pact set a target of ideally limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century, but left it up to countries to decide how they want to do so. Here is a look at the main issues on the table at the COP27 talks: What about the U.S. and China? The top U.S. negoti...

A sign at Twitter headquarters is shown in San Francisco, Nov. 18, 2022. Jeff Chiu/The Associated Press Elon Musk reinstated Donald Trump’s account on Twitter on Saturday, reversing a ban that has kept the former president off the social media site since a pro-Trump mob attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress was poised to certify Joe Biden’s election victory. Musk made the announcement in the evening after holding a poll that asked Twitter users to click “yes” or “no” on whether Trump’s account should be restored. The “yes” vote won, with 51.2 per cent. “The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” Musk tweeted, using a Latin phrase meaning “the voice of the people, the voice of God.” Shortly afterward Trump’s account, which earlier had appeared as suspended, reappeared on the platform along with his former tweets, more than 59,000 of them. His former followers were gone, but the account quickly picked up hundreds of thousands of them. It is...

The British government on Nov. 20, denied a report it is seeking a 'Swiss-style' relationship with the European Union that would remove many of the economic barriers erected by Brexit. Alberto Pezzali/The Associated Press The British government on Sunday denied a report that it is seeking a “Swiss-style” relationship with the European Union that would remove many of the economic barriers erected by Brexit – even as it tries to improve ties with the bloc after years of acrimony. Health Secretary Steve Barclay told Sky News “I don’t recognize” the Sunday Times report, insisting the U.K. was still determined to “use the Brexit freedoms we have” by diverging from the EU’s rules in key areas. Switzerland has a close economic relationship with the 27-nation EU in return for accepting the bloc’s rules and paying into its coffers. The U.K. government said “Brexit means we will never again have to accept a relationship with Europe that would see a return to freedom of movement, unnece...

Robert Iger arrives at the world premiere of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker," in Los Angeles, on Dec. 16, 2019. Jordan Strauss/The Associated Press The Walt Disney Company announced late Sunday that former CEO Bob Iger would return to head the company for two years in a move that surprised the entertainment industry. Disney said Bob Chapek, who succeeded Iger in 2020, had stepped down from the position. “The Board has concluded that as Disney embarks on an increasingly complex period of industry transformation, Bob Iger is uniquely situated to lead the Company through this pivotal period,” board Chair Susan Arnold said in a statement from Disney. Arnold thanked Chapek for his service, including his time during “the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic.” Iger steered Disney through its absorption of Lucasfilm, Pixar, Marvel and Fox’s entertainment businesses and the launch of Disney Plus. Earlier this month, Disney posted lower than expected results for its fiscal fou...

FTX Arena, where the Miami Heat basketball team plays, on Nov. 12. Marta Lavandier/The Associated Press The company tasked with locking down the assets of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX said they’ve managed to recover and secure US$740 million in assets so far, a fraction of the potential billions of dollars likely missing from the company’s coffers. The numbers were disclosed on Wednesday in court filings by cryptocurrency custodial company BitGo, which FTX hired in the hours after the company filed for bankruptcy on November 11. The biggest worry for many of FTX’s customers is they’ll never see their money again. FTX failed because its founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and his lieutenants used customer assets to make bets in Bankman-Fried’s trading firm, Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried was reportedly looking for upwards of US$8 billion from new investors to repair the company’s balance sheet. The US$740 million figure is from Nov. 16, and since then additional assets...

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (R) and French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne shake hands after delivering a joint press conference at the Chancellery in Berlin on Nov. 25, 2022. JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images Germany and France pledged Friday to provide each other mutual support in preventing a possible energy crisis after supplies from Russia dried up amid the war in Ukraine. As part of a joint agreement signed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, Germany will provide France with electricity while getting much-needed natural gas in return. “Friends help each other in need,” Scholz said after the signing ceremony in Berlin. Borne echoed that sentiment, saying the friendship between the two European heavyweight was crucial. “It has already proved it can withstand tests and master many challenges,” she said. Before Russia launched its war in Ukraine nine months ago, Germany was heavily reliant on Russian gas supplies. Since then, Germany has scr...

F-2 fighter of Japan Air Self-Defense Force at Tsuiki base, Fukuoka, Japan, in March 2010. The Associated Press Japan announced Friday that it will jointly develop its next-generation fighter jet with the U.K. and Italy as Tokyo looks to expand defense cooperation beyond its traditional ally, the United States. The Mitsubishi F-X fighter jet will replace the aging fleet of F-2 that Japan previously developed with the United States. Japan’s F-X and Britain’s Tempest, a successor to the Eurofighter Typhoon, will be combined into the next-generation combat aircraft for deployment in 2035. The deal will give Japan greater support in countering China’s growing assertiveness and allow Britain a bigger presence in the Indo-Pacific region. Friday’s fighter jet announcement came four days after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced spending targets aimed at building up Japan’s military capability, including a huge boost in defense spending over the next five years. To meet the five-year spen...

The Treasury Department said Friday it is imposing sanctions on a broad array of people and companies around the world for corruption and human rights abuses – from illegal fishing operations in Chinese waters to kickbacks in Guatemala – in recognition of International Anti-Corruption Day. Those sanctioned include the 15-member Russian elections commission, which oversaw a sham referendum in Russia-occupied Ukraine in September, a group of companies and people linked to illegal fishing operations and human rights abuses in Chinese waters and a church founder in the Philippines charged with sex trafficking. Other people and firms from Iran, the Western Balkans, Liberia and El Salvador were also among those identified by the U.S. federal government for financial penalties and blocks on property located or managed in the U.S. The wide-sweeping sanctions announcement comes on the day that the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and aligns with...

A pro-democracy media tycoon was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison over two fraud charges linked to lease violations in Hong Kong on Saturday, the latest of a series of cases against prominent activists that critics say are aimed at snuffing out dissidents in the city. Jimmy Lai, who was arrested during a crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement following widespread protests in 2019 and under the National Security Law imposed by Beijing, was also fined 2 million Hong Kong dollars ($257,000). His media company, Next Digital, published the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. The publication was forced to close following the arrests of its top executives, editors and journalists last year. In October, Lai was found guilty of fraud for subletting part of the office space to a secretarial firm, which was also controlled by him, between 2016 and 2020. The second fraud count was for letting the same firm use the media outlet’s office space in an alleged br...

The power lines in Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec. 8, 2022. Andrew Kravchenko/The Associated Press Over the grinding wail of a chainsaw pruning trees, Oleh Braharnyk recalls how his crew sprang into action in Kyiv a week earlier to repair power lines downed by Russian missiles and keep electricity flowing to his beleaguered fellow Ukrainians. Braharnyk, an electric company foreman, knows the stakes: Like many others in Ukraine, his family has dealt with daily power outages caused by Russian strikes. “We, too, sit in the dark,” he says, acknowledging that his home gets power for only about half of each day. In recent months, Russia has rained missiles on Ukraine to try to take out power grid equipment and facilities that keep lights on, space heaters warm and computers running. It’s part of Moscow’s strategy to cripple the country’s infrastructure and freeze Ukraine into submission this winter. Braharnyk’s crew is one of many from energy company DTEK that moves swiftly in Kyiv – occasionally unde...

Twitter on Thursday suspended the accounts of journalists who cover the social media platform and its new owner Elon Musk, including reporters working for The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and other publications. The company hasn’t explained why it took down the accounts and made their profiles and past tweets disappear. The sudden suspension of news reporters followed Musk’s decision Wednesday to permanently ban an account that automatically tracked the flights of his private jet using publicly available data. Twitter also on Wednesday changed its rules to prohibit the sharing of another person’s current location without their consent. Several of the reporters suspended Thursday night had been writing about that new policy and Musk’s rationale for imposing it, which involved his allegations about a stalking incident that affected his family on Tuesday night in Los Angeles. “Same doxxing rules apply to `journalists’ as to everyone else,” Musk tweeted Thursday. He later added: ...

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, center, listens at an event during the opening of the LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, Dec. 17, 2022. Michael Sohn/The Associated Press Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday inaugurated Germany’s first liquefied natural gas terminal, declaring that the speed with which it was put into service is a signal that Europe’s biggest economy will remain strong. The top three officials in the government – Scholz, Economy Minister Robert Habeck and Finance Minister Christian Lindner – attended the inauguration in the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven in a sign of the importance that Germany attaches to several new LNG terminals that it is scrambling to build following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The terminals are part of a drive to prevent an energy crunch that also includes temporarily reactivating old oil- and coal-fired power stations and extending the life of Germany’s last three nuclear power plants, which were supposed to be switched off at the end of t...

From left, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, Romanian Premier Nicolae Ciuca and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili applaud after a signing ceremony at the Cotroceni presidential palace in Bucharest, Romania, Dec. 17, 2022. Vadim Ghirda/The Associated Press The leaders of Hungary, Romania, Georgia and Azerbaijan finalized an agreement Saturday on an undersea electricity connector that could become a new power source for the European Union amid a crunch on energy supplies caused by the war in Ukraine. The agreement involves a cable running beneath the Black Sea that would link Azerbaijan to Hungary via Georgia and Romania. The deal comes as Hungary, which has lobbied heavily against EU sanctions on Russia for its war in Ukraine, is seeking additional sources for fossil fuels to reduce its heavy dependence on Russian oil and gas. Azerbaijan plans to ex...