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China, Russia undermine international Myanmar response – EU’s top diplomat
The European Union’s top diplomat said on Sunday Russia and China were hampering a united international response to Myanmar’s military coup and that the EU could offer more economic incentives if democracy returns to the country.
Twitch to ban users for harassment
Twitch will now ban users who harass members of its community — even when that harassment takes place off Twitch. The streaming platform announced a major expansion of its off-service misconduct policy today that allows it to take action against users who mistreat people regardless of where it happens, whether it’s offline or on another social platform.
Google launches Lyra codec in beta to reduce voice call bandwidth usage
Google today open-sourced Lyra in beta, an audio codec that uses machine learning to produce high-quality voice calls. The code and demo, which are available on GitHub, compress raw audio down to 3 kilobits per second for “quality that compares favorably to other codecs,” Google says.
Amazon to offer its health services to other companies
The platform includes virtual meetings with doctors through the app and in-person care at a patient’s home. It can dispatch nurses to someone’s door to draw blood or perform a physical examination. Amazon launched the program for its Seattle-area employees in 2019.
Facebook to label coronavirus vaccine posts
The social media company, which lawmakers and researchers have criticised for allowing vaccine misinformation to spread on its platforms, said in a blog post that measures were now in place to check that.
Google: No tracking tools to replace third-party cookies in Chrome
Alphabet’s Google will not build or use alternate tools to track web browsing traffic once it begins phasing out existing technology from its Chrome browser next year, it said in a blog post on Wednesday, in a move that will reshape how online advertising works.
Android 12 developer preview now available with many updates
Google is releasing a developer preview for the next version of Android, Android 12, for Pixel devices today. As is the norm for Google, the very first previews of Android are full of a lot of developer-facing changes. Android 12 has updates to how the OS handles images, video, and future security updates.
Facebook blocks news content in Australia
Facebook has blocked Australian users from sharing or viewing news content on the platform, causing much alarm over public access to key information.
Amazon sues to block investigation of New York warehouse labor fight
Amazon has filed a lawsuit against the New York state attorney general’s office as a preemptive effort to prevent legal action over the company’s handling of COVID-19 conditions at a Staten Island warehouse last spring. Amazon is seeking an injunction preventing the attorney general’s office from trying to exercise “regulatory authority over workplace safety responses to COVID-19 and claims of retaliation against workers who protest working conditions.”
Twitter resists Indian government’s orders to block protest accounts
Twitter has refused an order from the Indian government to block certain Twitter accounts, including ones from politicians, activists, and journalists that were critical of the government’s response to a protest carried out in the country’s capital in January.
Instagram announces tougher consequences for hate speech in direct messages
Instagram is toughening its stance on hate speech in direct messages. The company announced today that it’ll start disabling the accounts of people who repeatedly send hateful messages. First-time offenders won’t be able to send messages for an undefined period of time, but if they send hateful messages again, their account will be disabled.
Facebook to test cutting back on political posts in the News Feed
Facebook plans to test how people respond to seeing fewer posts about politics in the News Feed. Starting this week, Facebook will “temporarily reduce” political posts for a “small percentage” of people in Canada, Brazil, and Indonesia, with a test in the US following some weeks later. The tests will continue for the next few months.
Brokerage Public.com to halt controversial order flow practice
Brokerage Public.com said on Monday it would no longer route orders to market makers to execute trades and instead send them directly to exchanges, in an attempt to remove a potential conflict of interest with its customers.
Hong Kong official says Joint Declaration gave Britain no rights to city post handover
Hong Kong Secretary of Justice Teresa Cheng reiterated on Saturday that Britain had no rights over the city under the joint declaration that laid the blueprint for how the city would be ruled after its 1997 reunification with China.
Robinhood says it temporarily curbed buying of some securities as deposit requirement increased ten-fold
“....the required amount we had to deposit with the clearing house was so large - with individual volatile securities accounting for hundreds of millions of dollars in deposit requirements - that we had to take steps to limit buying in those volatile securities to ensure we could comfortably meet our requirements,” it said in a blog post late on Friday.
Google to stop using Apple tool to track iPhone users, avoiding new pop-up warning
Google’s iPhone apps such as Maps and YouTube will stop using a tool from Apple Inc that allows them to personalize ads, avoiding a new Apple warning that informs users their browsing is being tracked.
Twitter launches fact-checking program to fight misinformation
Twitter has launched its Birdwatch program, meant to address misinformation on the platform by allowing users to fact-check tweets, the company announced Monday. Users in the pilot program, which will only include about 1,000 users in the US to start, will eventually be able to add notes to tweets to provide context.
Alphabet shutting Loon, which used balloon alternative to cell towers
Alphabet Inc is shutting down Loon after concluding the business, which offers balloons as an alternative to cell towers, is not commercially viable, Google’s parent company said on Thursday.
WhatsApp delays data sharing change after backlash
The smartphone app, a huge hit across the world, cancelled its February 8 deadline for accepting an update to its terms concerning sharing data with Facebook, saying it would use the pause to clear up misinformation around privacy and security.
WhatsApp to delay new privacy policy amid mass confusion about Facebook data sharing
WhatsApp on Friday announced a three-month delay of a new privacy policy originally slated to go into effect on February 8th following widespread confusion over whether the new policy would mandate data sharing with Facebook.
Donald Trump ban sets ‘dangerous’ precedent – Twitter chief
Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, on Wednesday backed the messaging platform’s ban of US President Donald Trump, but said it sets a “dangerous” precedent and represents a failure to promote healthy conversation on social networks.
Microsoft says Russians accessed account ‘used to view source code’ in Solorigate hack
Microsoft security researchers said today that Russian hackers managed to access more of its network than the company originally believed. However, the company emphasized that even in this case it still did not detect any damage to its systems.
Recent Stories
NNPC boss: Fuel queues will disappear soon
The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, has frowned at the re-emergence of petrol queues across the country, assuring that the situation will normalize in hours.
Minister: No constituency projects in economic sustainability plan
The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clem Ikanade Agba, has dismissed a claim by a member of the Federal House of Representatives, representing Etsako Federal Constituency, Johnson Oghuma, that he appropriated some of his constituency projects.
South Arabia donates food items to Borno, Yobe, Zamfara IDPs
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has donated assorted food items worth 1.1 million dollars for distribution to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Borno, Yobe and Zamfara States.
NSCDC arrests 45-year-old man for raping 10-year-old girl in Kwara
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Kwara Command, has disclosed that it had received a suspected rape case against one Muhammadu Mailemu.
CBN boosts non-oil export with N500 billion facility
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has set up a N500 billion non-oil export stimulation facility with the Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM) to enable exporters process agriculture commodities into other markets in Africa and globally.
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Sport across Britain pays its respects to Prince Philip
British sport stopped to pay tribute to Prince Philip ahead of his funeral on Saturday with two minutes’ silence held before Newcastle’s Premier League match against West Ham and several Championship fixtures on Saturday.
Real Madrid boss refuses to hit back at critics as team chase double
Zinedine Zidane has Real Madrid chasing down a Liga and Champions League double, but is wary of biting back at his critics as his side "haven't won anything yet".
Official: FCTA has achieved 60% implementation of Abuja master plan
The Federal Capital Terriory Administration (FCTA) says it has recorded 60 per cent success in the implementation of the Abuja Master Plan in spite of some challenges.
Tokyo Olympics: D’Tigress will make Nigerians proud – Promise Amukamara
With less than 100 days to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, D’Tigress point guard, Promise Amukamara, is very confident that the team will put up a decent performance which Nigerians will be proud of.
Popular TV presenter passes on in Abuja
Popular Nigerian television presenter, Rachel Bakam, has passes on