Meta and TikTok to obey Australia under-16 social media ban

Tech giants Meta and TikTok said Tuesday they will obey Australia’s under-16 social media ban but warned the landmark laws could prove difficult to enforce. Australia will from December 10 force social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to remove users under the age of 16. There is keen interest in whether Australia’s […]

Asian markets swing as trades eye tech rally, US rate outlook

Asian markets fluctuated Tuesday as investors assessed the latest tech rally on Wall Street amid worries a bubble is forming in the sector, while mixed signals from Federal Reserve officials fed uncertainty over its next interest rate move. A flood of multi-billion-dollar investment into artificial intelligence has been a key driver of the surge in […]

Spain’s Telefonica shares drop on dividend cut, net loss

Shares in Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica fell sharply on Tuesday after it posted a net loss for the first nine months of the year and announced it would cut its dividend by half in 2026. The company booked a net loss of 1.08 billion euros ($1.2 billion) between January and September, compared with a profit […]

BP profit surges despite lower oil prices

British energy giant BP on Tuesday reported a sharp rise in net profit for the third quarter as higher oil output and cost-cutting helped offset a drop in crude prices. Profit after tax jumped to $1.16 billion for the July-September period, compared with $206 million in the third quarter of 2024, BP said in an […]

Starbucks cedes China control to Boyu Capital

Starbucks has announced it will sell a controlling stake in its Chinese retail operations as it seeks to revitalise performance in a fiercely competitive market it once dominated. Hong Kong-based investment firm Boyu Capital will hold up to 60 percent of a new joint venture operating 8,000 Starbucks stores across China, under a deal which […]