Tag: paying

new technology

Facebook will start paying UK news sites for news stories

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As with the US News section, the UK tab will offer a mix of personalized and curated top stories. Facebook will normally show top headlines and stories, but will add news digests with original and “authoritative” reporting during major news cycles. The tab will build on the success of the US site, Facebook said, “where we’ve found more than 95 percent of the traffic Facebook News delivers to publishers is new audiences that have not interacted with those news outlets in the past.”

Facebook didn’t say how much it would pay publishers, but some expect millions of pounds each year from multi-year details, The Guardian reported. That means Facebook could be paying tens of millions in the UK alone, much-needed revenue for struggling news outlets. It may also feature smaller local sites that

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emerging technology

France orders big tech firms to start paying digital tax

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France is moving ahead with its plan to implement a controversial digital tax on big tech companies, sending out notices to various companies today informing them they’ll be required to pay up if they want to continue doing business there.

The tax is being championed by the French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, who argues that big tech companies aren’t being taxed properly by European nations.

The problem is that big tech firms, which include Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Facebook Inc., Google LLC and Microsoft Corp., take advantage of a loophole in European Union law. The loophole means they can generate lots of revenue in various European countries and report that to tax authorities in just one country, such as Ireland, which has a lower corporate tax policy. That means they end up paying far fewer in taxes than they would if they were to report in the country where

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technology

Apple paying $113M to settle multi-state investigation into iPhone throttling

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Apple will pay $113 million to settle a multi-state investigation of an iOS mechanism that throttled iPhone performance to prevent random shutdowns and preserve battery lifespan.

That mechanism, which came to light in 2017, drew scrutiny from consumers and regulators who saw it as evidence of a so-called “planned obsolescence” scheme. The investigation involves nearly three dozen states and was led by Arizona, Arkansas, and Indiana.

On Wednesday, the states secured a financial penalty and legal commitment by Apple to be more transparent about similar mechanisms in the future. Investigators from 34 states and Washington, D.C. joined the settlement, The Washington Post reported.

The lawsuit originates from an issue with the iPhone 6 in 2017. Aging iPhone batteries were causing devices to shut down intermittently during peak operations, especially when at a low percentage. Apple countered this by quietly releasing an update that would throttle peak processing power during

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technology articles

Treasury Volatility Bet Is Paying Off as Blue Wave Hopes Fade

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(Bloomberg) — A large option wager that Treasuries will see less volatility than many had expected over the U.S. elections is paying off.

The bet was simple. A short position was built up in a so-called strangle on 10-year Treasuries — a pair of upside and downside options — which generated more than $31 million in premium.

It pays off if 10-year bond yields remain between 0.65% and 1% to the options’ expiry on Dec. 24. A break out in either direction though could have left the volatility seller with potentially unlimited losses.

Fresh Treasuries Options Wagers Bet Against Election Fireworks



Large strangle bet pays out if the 0.65% to 1% yield range holds

© Bloomberg
Large strangle bet pays out if the 0.65% to 1% yield range holds

The valuation of these options have collapsed as early polling results suggest that a Democratic sweep of both the presidency and the Senate, the so-called Blue Wave, is unlikely to happen. That’s left yields

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science in the news

From father to son, lessons in life are paying medical science dividends

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But as time wore on and retirement took him into his mid-80s, something elemental in Glen Croswell shifted — and then began to slip away.

Tom Croswell, the CEO of Tufts Health Plan, and his father, Glen, at Fenway Park. Glen Croswell died in May 2014.
Tom Croswell, the CEO of Tufts Health Plan, and his father, Glen, at Fenway Park. Glen Croswell died in May 2014.

He seemed confused. A father of four, he drove to a family member’s house in Waterville, Maine, a trip he had made dozens of times, and got hopelessly lost.

“It wasn’t clear that he had full-scale dementia,” Tom Croswell said. “And he didn’t at that point, but it was clear that there was something not quite right there. And then there were times when I’d be with him and he would just seem a little confused.”

The confusion worsened.

Glen Croswell couldn’t sleep. He wandered around his house in Gorham, Maine. The man who once was a whiz capable of intricate repairs to antique

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