Showing posts with label Tech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tech. Show all posts
Alibaba under investigation by competition authorities

Alibaba under investigation by competition authorities

Alibaba under investigation by competition authorities







Beijing worries about the power of technology groups and their forays into the online lending sector


Alibaba is in Beijing'scrosshairs. Chinese competition authorities announced on Thursday that it was opening an investigation against the e-commerce giant on "suspicion of monopolistic practices." The State Administration for Market Regulation also announced that it had contacted Ant Group, the world's leading online payment company, for "supervision" issues, less than two months after Beijing cancelled at the last minute the IPO of thisAlibabasubsidiary.



Stock falls in Hong Kong


The announcements caused Alibaba shares to fall sharply on the Hong KongStock Exchange, with the stock falling more than 3 percent at the opening on Thursday. It must be said that this investigation is a thunderbolt in the Chinese business world, where Alibaba and its charismatic boss Jack Ma are symbols of the technological success of the Middle Kingdom.


The suspension in extremis of Ant Group's IPO at the beginning of November had already caused amazement. It came days after a speech in Shanghai by Jack Ma, in which the multi-billionaire criticised the actions of financial regulators. They are concerned about the power of technology groups and in particular their forays into the online lending sector, where they are breaking the prudential rules imposed on state-owned banks.



Strengthening anti-monopoly supervision


Chinese media have relayed these concerns by warning of the risks of financial turbulence. The investigation against Alibaba "is an important step for our country to strengthen anti-monopoly supervision in the Internet sector and promote a healthy long-term development of the digital economy," the People's Daily,an organ of the ruling Communist Party, wrote on Thursday. In a sign of the government's impatience with Alibaba, the group was fined 500,000 yuan (62,000 euros) last week for failing to report an acquisition.



Source:- Flash News and News Agencies

New name of space forces makes Twitter react

New name of space forces makes Twitter react

New name of space forces makes Twitter react





In addition to the name "Guardians", the new logo of the American space forces has reminded many Internet users of films...


U.S. Vice President Mike Penceunveiled the new name and visual identity of the U.S. space forces on Friday, December 18. From now on, members of this unit will be called "Guardians." A name and logo that did not fail to make a reaction on Twitter, reports Le Point.


"Guardians: a name chosen by space professionals for space professionals," announced the Twitter account of the United States Space Force, a unit created a year ago to protect and defend American interests inspace. But the name reminded users of the Marvel films Guardians of the Galaxy,prompting taunts on Twitter.



A logo reminiscent of Star Trek


James Gunn, the director of the first two films in this series, also posted a GIF attesting to his astonishment at this situation. The guardians of the Galaxy's official Twitter account also posted a message "Who we are?", accompanied by a rocket.



Beyond the name, Internet users have also seen similarities in the logo of this unit with the Star Trek badge that appears in the saga on Starfleet uniforms. No one knows at this time whether these references were voluntary or if they are mere coincidences.



Source:- Flash News and News Agencies

Artificial chicken served in a restaurant for the first time in world

Artificial chicken served in a restaurant for the first time in world

Artificial chicken served in a restaurant for the first time in world








The very high cost of artificial meat production is seen as a hindrance to its development


Lab-made chicken was served for the first time at a restaurant in Singapore on Saturday. This is a historic milestone for its manufacturers who hope to reduce the carbon footprint of meat consumption on the planet.


The start-up Eat Just announced in early December that its laboratory meat grown from animal cells had been allowed for sale as an ingredient in nuggets by the authorities of Singapore, which is the first country in the world to allow such a practice. On Wednesday, the start-up announced its first commercial sale in 1880, a restaurant in an upscale district of Singapore.



A "revolutionary step"


On Saturday evening, the facility served this laboratory meat to 14 to 18 year olds invited for this launch because of their "commitment to build a better planet". Serving this artificial meat is a "revolutionary step in the fight against climate change and the supply of the world's population without damaging the planet," says the founder of the restaurant 1880, Marc Nicholson.


For Eat Just founder Josh Tetrick, this first "brings us closer to a world where the majority of the meat we eat will not require destroying a single forest, moving a single animal habitat or using a single drop of antibiotics." Global meat consumption is expected to increase by 70% by 2050, and artificial meat could soon meet some of the demand, according to the start-up.



A very high cost


Intensive farming for meat consumption is a source of methane, a gas that promotes the greenhouse effect. In some countries, such as Brazil, this sector contributes to the destruction of forests, natural barriers to global warming. The demand for alternatives to meat is Increasing.


Source:- Flash News and News Agencies

The increase in the Earth's average temperature is greater than thought

The increase in the Earth's average temperature is greater than thought

The increase in the Earth's average temperature is greater than thought





A key measure of global warming has been revised upwards. It suggests that we are already closer than we thought to the 1.5oC increase in average temperature compared to the pre-industrial era.


"The global average temperature is thought to have increased by about 1.07 degrees Celsius since the Industrial Revolution, not 0.91 degrees Celsius as previously estimated," reveals the New Scientist, which reports on the Met Office's fifth updated data, known as the Hadley Center Climatic Research Unit Temperature (HadCRUT5).


"Climate change has not suddenly worsened, it's just that we have improved our estimate of warming," said Tim Osborn of the University of East Anglia in the UK, who participated in the new assessment.


However, "this discovery means that governments may have less time to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius or 2 degrees Celsius in accordance with the Paris Agreement,and that current estimates of future global warming could also increase," the weekly notes.


This update means that the temperature increase is 18% higher than the last assessment. This is the largest in years of revisions to the HadCRUT, but it brings it closer to the other two main datasets used to track global temperatures, managed by the US agencies Nasa and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa).


Scientists and policy makers therefore have diverse and consistent information at their disposal. "We just have to act" to put in place the measures that will limit this warming.



Source:- Flash News and News Agencies

Twitter to close live video platform in March

Twitter to close live video platform in March

Twitter to close live video platform in March






According to the group, the application is no longer financially sustainable


If you still want to make some videos using the Periscope app, you'll have to do it fast. Twitter announced on Tuesday that it plans to close its live video platform by March. In a blog post, the social network justifies its choice by the fact that the application, which is facing a continuous decline in the number of users, is no longer financially sustainable.


"Over the past two years, we have seen a decline in usage and we know that costs will only increase over time," Twitter explains in the post. "The truth is that the Periscope app has been in an unsustainable maintenance mode for some time," adds the group, which bought the platform in 2015.



Features built into Twitter


The app will no longer be available for download from March 2021. Nevertheless, most of Periscope's core features will be retained, and integrated into Twitter. "We probably would have made this decision sooner" if 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic had not "redefined priorities," the bluebird said.



Source:- Flash News and News Agencies

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