In Papua New Guinea, shooters kidnapped local academics and an Australian professor. According to media accounts, armed men kidnapped the group on a research trip in the highlands. Officials claim they want a ransom. James Marape, the prime minister of PNG, says that officials are talking to the kidnappers and expect to get the people back “alive and safe.” Reports say several local guides were freed from a bigger group. Australian media reported four or five detainees. Australian archaeologists and PNG professors and students are among them. Mr. Marape told reporters PNG officials had heard from the Australian guy who…
Author: Staff Contributor
The U.S. Virgin Islands is suing JPMorgan for allegedly helping Epstein with his alleged sex trafficking across Florida and the U.S. territory by “channeling cash” to support his operations and hide his conduct. The U.S. territory’s complaint was submitted last month, but it wasn’t until Wednesday that the nature of the claims became known. In the lawsuit, Chase is accused of taking part in a sex trafficking enterprise. The bank declined to comment on the situation on Thursday. Epstein was arrested and charged with federal offenses in 2019 after it was claimed that he had sexually assaulted numerous youngsters over…
P&G or Procter & Gamble (PG.N) bumped up its annual sales forecast on Wednesday, as the consumer goods giant benefits from higher prices and resurgent cleaning products demand amid a spike in COVID-19 infections. The company’s shares rose nearly 2% in premarket trading as strong quarterly sales helped cushion the blow from a bigger-than-previously forecast increase in annual freight and commodity costs. Sales of fabric & home care products, including Tide and Mr. Clean, rose 7% in the second quarter, as the rapid spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant led consumers to buy more cleaning products. A more intense flu…
Metaverse gaming company Animoca Brands raised nearly $360 million in a funding round led by Liberty City Ventures, the company said on Tuesday, valuing the firm at more than $5 billion. Animoca Brands – an Australian company with headquarters in Hong Kong – invests in and builds blockchain-based online virtual worlds, in which assets such as land can often be bought in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It has invested in more than 150 NFT and metaverse-related companies. In many so-called metaverse environments, users can buy land, walk around as avatars, play games and meet friends. The term became…
Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk has been named Time 2021 Person of the Year. The richest man in the world, Elon Musk, does not own a house and has recently sold off his fortune. He tosses satellites into orbit and harnesses the sun; he drives a car he created that uses no gas and barely needs a driver. With a flick of his finger, the stock market soars or swoons. An army of devotees hangs on his every utterance. He dreams of Mars as he bestrides Earth, square-jawed and indomitable. Lately, Elon Musk also likes to live-tweet his poops.…
After more than a year, meta has released its social virtual reality space, Horizon Worlds, in private test mode. It is the first major such release since Facebook renamed itself Meta and announced its plans to “build the metaverse” of connected digital worlds. The app lets users build their mini-games and activities on top of Meta’s base game – similar to Roblox or other creator-focused apps. There is no way for creators to make money directly from their worlds. Instead, Meta has put $10m (£7.6m) into a “creator fund” to reward community creators who win competitions. That is different from…
Crypto startup Palm NFT Studio said on Thursday it had raised $27 million in an early-stage funding round led by Microsoft Corp’s venture fund M12 with participation from venture firm Griffin Gaming Partners. Palm NFT, co-founded by Joseph Lubin, offers services for artists to establish NFT marketplaces. Lubin was also one of the co-founders of ethereum, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency after bitcoin. An NFT is a digital asset that exists on a blockchain, which serves as a public ledger, allowing anyone to verify the asset’s authenticity and ownership. NFTs have a unique digital signature and cannot be reproduced. Other…
Indian software services exporter HCL Technologies (HCLT.NS) said on Monday it will create 12,000 new jobs in the United States through the next five years as part of a plan to shore up business and enhance client support in a key growth market. Nearly 2,000 of the new jobs will go to college graduates over the next three years, HCL said, adding that the company will focus its U.S. recruitment drive on seven states including North Carolina, Texas and Connecticut. Hiring will be done across roles including in IT consulting, cloud, data analytics and digital engineering. “It’s essentially becoming a…
Bitcoin dropped by almost 5% on Monday as the start of the week offered little respite to the world’s largest cryptocurrency after a bruising weekend when, at one point, it lost over a fifth of its value. The rout sent bitcoin’s price and the amount invested in bitcoin futures back to where they were in early October, before a massive price surge that sent the token to an all-time high of $69,000 on Nov. 10. Since that record peak, bitcoin has plunged 32%. It was last down 1.1% at $48,900. Traders said the weekend fall was connected to a broad…
For years, social media platforms like Instagram and parent company Meta (formerly Facebook) have been criticized for harboring harmful content and fostering anxiety and depression, particularly among younger audiences. Use of these sites has also been linked to negative body image and eating disorders, due to the abundance of filtered and photoshopped images that reinforce unrealistic ideals. TikTok, the ByteDance-owned social video site that’s exploded in popularity, has also been criticized for surfacing pro-eating-disorder videos to teens. The topic will likely receive increased scrutiny next week when Instagram head Adam Mosseri testifies before Congress on Wednesday about how the app…
The sector body said that a surge in coronavirus cases in Germany has led to a disappointing start to the Christmas season for retailers in Europe’s biggest economy. A survey by the HDE retail association showed that only 20% of 350 companies asked were satisfied with Christmas sales so far. November and December are normally the strongest months of the year for retailers. “The retail sector managed to defy increasingly difficult conditions, including higher inflation, rising infection numbers and supply bottlenecks until November,” said HDE Managing Director Stefan Genth. “However, the consequences of the dramatic worsening of the coronavirus crisis…
More than 30 people have been arrested after climate change activists blocked UK Amazon warehouses on Black Friday, the retailer’s busiest day of the year. Extinction Rebellion targeted 13 UK sites, including the retail giant’s largest distribution center in Dunfermline, Fife. It said it was to draw attention to the alleged exploitation of Amazon workers and wasteful business practices. Amazon said it took its “responsibilities very seriously.”The campaign group said blocked multiple entrances using bamboo structures, lock-on, and banners and had planned to stay for at least 48 hours. However, a number of the blockades were cleared by mid-afternoon. The…