The Global Economic News

Brazil's Supreme Court has said it is lifting a ban on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. In his decision, Justice Alexandre de Moraes said that he authorised the "immediate return" of X's activities in the country after it paid hefty fines and blocked accounts accused of spreading misinformation. According to a statement, the site has paid fines totalling 28 million reais ($5.1m; £3.8m) and agreed to appoint a local representative, as required by Brazilian law. Moraes had blocked access to the platform, owned by Elon Musk, after it had refused to ban several profiles deemed by the government to be spreading misinformation about the 2022 Brazilian Presidential election.

More than a dozen states in the US have sued TikTok, accusing the social media platform of helping to drive a mental health crisis among teenagers. A bipartisan group of 14 attorneys general from across the country allege that the company uses addictive features to hook children to the app and that it has intentionally misled the public about the safety of prolonged use. TikTok called the lawsuit "disappointing" and said it believed many of the claims were "inaccurate and misleading". The platform is already battling a law passed by Congress in April that would ban it from the US, unless Chinese parent company Bytedance agreed to a sale. "TikTok knows that compulsive use of and other harmful effects of its platform are wreaking havoc on the mental health of millions of American children and teenagers," said the lawsuit filed in New York on Tuesday. "Despite such documented knowledge, TikTok continually misrepresents its platform as 'safe' [and...

EBay will clamp down on the sale of e-bikes and e-bike batteries in the UK from 31 October, the BBC has learned. The firm says that only "eligible business sellers" will be allowed to list them after this date. It did not explain what the necessary criteria would be. E-bikes, which have electrically-assisted pedals and are battery-powered, have soared in popularity, but incidents involving battery fires have also risen. The London Fire Brigade recently said it recorded 155 e-bike fires in 2023, up by 78% from the previous year. The brigade warned e-bike users to check their batteries after battery packs were officially classed as "dangerous" products by the UK's regulatory body. In June, a coroner also called for government action  after the death of a man whose home caught fire when an e-bike battery pack he was charging overheated and ignited. "Consumer safety is a top priority for eBay," an eBay spokesperson said on Tuesday. Earlier this year, it sa...

Boeing says it has withdrawn its pay rise offer to striking workers after negotiations with union representatives reached a stalemate. The aviation giant accused the union of not giving its proposals serious consideration. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union (IAM) said Boeing was "hell-bent on standing on the non-negotiated offer" which it says was rejected by its members. Last month, Boeing announced what it called its "best and final" offer to workers, which proposed a 30% rise over four years - lower than the 40% being demanded by the union. "The union made non-negotiable demands far in excess of what can be accepted if we are to remain competitive as a business," Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Stephanie Pope said in a letter sent to employees. "Given that position, further negotiations do not make sense at this point and our offer has been withdrawn." But union representatives said Boeing was not wil...

The US government is considering seeking the break-up of the world's biggest search engine, Google, which it accuses of causing "pernicious harms" to Americans. The Department of Justice (DoJ) has been considering so-called remedies since a landmark court ruling in  August which found Google illegally crushed its competition in online search.  If the DoJ pushes ahead with the proposed remedies - and they are accepted by the judge in the case - it would represent arguably the biggest regulatory intervention in the history of big tech. Google has pushed back hard against the proposals, describing them as "radical" and "sweeping" and claiming they "risk hurting consumers, businesses, and developers." Google has become the go-to search engine for nearly every internet user in the world, accounting for about 90% of all online searches. The DoJ has accused the company of using its other products, such as the Chrome browser and Android operating sys...

Counterfeiting has grown from an annual turnover of $5.5 billion in 1982 to more than $500 billion in 2005, representing 7% of global trade, and now accounts for over 10% of the global perfumery and cosmetics market. What is a counterfeit product ? A counterfeit product either mimics certain characteristics of the original product, such as packaging, shape, or name, or replicates the entire base product, in which case it is called an "Illegal Identical Copy." What are the most imitated products in the cosmetics industry? Whether it's skincare, perfumes, or makeup, any product that achieves significant success with consumers is quickly imitated. Day creams, lipsticks, mascaras, foundations, eyeshadows, blushes, deodorants, perfumes, brushes—no product is safe from being copied. Wake-up don’t fake up?: An alert about counterfeit products was issued in England in May 2014 following an investigation by the PIPCU (Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit), during which a contai...

Successful digital marketing requires constant review of SEO, PPC, and UX strategies. In 2023, digital ad spending in the UK is expected to exceed £30 billion, with about 31% of this amount being wasted—equivalent to £9.3 billion annually. Research and Findings: An analysis conducted by Bespoke, based on five years of digital strategy workshops, shows significant waste in digital marketing spend. Key sources of waste include: - Inappropriate PPC Spend : PPC campaigns should align with industry-specific buying behaviors. For niche products, Google is often ideal; for disruptive consumer products, Facebook may be better; and for B2B, LinkedIn is generally preferred. Ineffective campaigns should be halted to reallocate funds to more effective investments, such as UX improvements. - Unmonitored Ads: Leaving PPC campaigns running without ongoing management can lead to significant losses. Campaigns need regular reviews and updates to stay relevant with product and service changes. - Prematur...

Microsoft says it has “listened to feedback” following a privacy row over a new tool which takes regular screenshots of users’ activity. It was labelled a potential “privacy nightmare” by critics when it was unveiled in May 2024 - prompting the tech giant to postpone its release. It now plans to relaunch the artificial intelligence (AI) powered tool in November on its new CoPilot+ computers. Some of its more controversial features have been stripped out - for example, it will be opt-in whereas the original version was turned on by default. The controversy over Recall had led the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK’s data watchdog, to “make enquiries” with the tech giant about the tool. It said it had now been informed that a "series of changes" had been made to the product. "We will be continuing to assess Recall as Microsoft moves toward launch", it said in a statement. Online photographic memory When it initially announced the tool at its developer...

Artificial (AI) assistants with “really good long-term memory” are about a year away, according to Microsoft's head of AI, Mustafa Suleyman. Products which can recall conversations, projects and problems will encourage users to invest more time and share more of their personal history with them, he said in an exclusive interview with the BBC. “I think we’re moving to a fundamentally new age where there will be ever present, persistent, very capable co-pilot companions in your everyday life,” he added. Critics have voiced strong concerns around this level of integration, including data security, privacy, the possibility of AI tools giving bad advice or wrong information, or displaying inbuilt bias towards the person they are supposed to be helping. But AI supporters argue that in order to be truly useful, these tools have to be deeply embedded into our lives: that they can only be really helpful if they know the history and context behind what they are being tasked to do. For exampl...

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is developing at high speed, transforming many aspects of modern life . There seem to be new announcements almost every day, with big players such as Meta, Google and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI competing to get an edge with customers. However, some experts fear it could be used for malicious purposes. What is AI and how does it work? AI allows computers to learn and solve problems almost like a person. AI systems are trained on huge amounts of information and learn to identify the patterns in it, in order carry out tasks such as having human-like conversation, or predicting a product an online shopper might buy. Watch: What is artificial intelligence? The technology is behind the voice-controlled virtual assistants Siri and Alexa, and helps Facebook and X - formerly known as Twitter- decide which social media posts to show users. AI lets Amazon analyse customers' buying habits to recommend future purchases - and the firm also uses the technology to...

The Algerian researcher Abderrahmane Abene sees the culmination of an idea he has nurtured since the 1980s: the creation of a solar suitcase . This invention, which was ultimately produced in Germany, is designed to provide electricity during natural disasters and in remote areas. It is a portable solution that took time to come to fruition, following decades of perseverance, and it could significantly transform access to energy, especially in critical situations. The Solar Suitcase: An Invention Born from the Need for Energy Independence To understand the motivations behind the ingenious creation of the solar suitcase, we must go back 44 years. On October 10, 1980, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck northern Algeria, particularly in Chlef, causing considerable devastation. At that time, Abene was just a young researcher, but he was profoundly affected by this catastrophic event. “I have been working on this solar suitcase since that earthquake in Chlef. It was a disaster; the city was ...