Jan 31, 2023
Pamela Anderson memoir lifts lid on fame and heartbreak
In the 30-odd years since she first ran along the California beaches in Baywatch - the lifeguard drama that remains one of the most-watched series ever - fans and critics have become acquainted with different parts of Pamela Anderson's life story: Playboy covers, a leaked sex tape and many marriages. A stolen VHS, featuring intimate footage of Anderson with her first husband Tommy Lee, was distributed for more than $75m in sales in the first year alone, and a fictionalised account of the...
Jan 26, 2023
US investigating Southwest Airlines over holiday travel chaos
The US government is launching an investigation into Southwest Airlines after mass flight cancellations left travellers stranded last month. The Department of Transportation is in the initial phase of a "Comprehensive investigation into Southwest Airlines' holiday debacle that stranded millions," a spokesperson said. The airline cancelled more than 16,000 flights during a busy week of holiday travel last month, leaving many people stranded. The flight disruptions came after a huge winter...
Jan 25, 2023
Donald Trump to be allowed back on to Facebook and Instagram
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Jan 18, 2023
Netflix offers pay of up to $385,000 for flight attendant
Netflix is hiring a flight attendant for one of its private jets - with the successful applicant being paid as much as $385,000 a year. Last year Netflix cut hundreds of jobs after a fall in subscriber numbers. The advert added that the team "Helps Netflix reach the world more efficiently and effectively so the company can continue to create joy around the world." Last year Netflix said it had added 2.4 million households to its subscriber base in the three months to the end of September,...
Jan 18, 2023
Microsoft to cut 10,000 jobs as spending slows
Microsoft will cut 10,000 jobs in the latest round of staff redundancies to hit the tech industry. Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said that while customer spending had grown during Covid, more were now choosing to "Exercise caution". He said the firm would continue to hire in key areas. Hundreds of tech firms, including some of the sector's biggest names like Amazon and Instagram-owner Meta, have revealed layoffs in recent weeks. Like other tech companies, Microsoft's business boomed...
Jan 16, 2023
Taliban start buying blue ticks on Twitter
The Taliban have started using Twitter's paid-for verification feature, meaning some now have blue ticks on their accounts. Users can buy them through the new Twitter Blue service. The Twitter Blue service was introduced in December. Subscribers to Twitter Blue benefit from "priority ranking in search, mentions, and replies" to help fight spam and bots, according to the platform. Before the introduction of Twitter Blue, none of the observed accounts for Taliban officials carried the blue tick...
Jan 14, 2023
Romanian police seize luxury cars from Andrew Tate's property
Several luxury cars have been seized from British-American influencer Andrew Tate's property in Bucharest. Mr Tate was detained alongside his brother Tristan last month as part of an investigation into allegations of human trafficking and rape, which they deny. On Tuesday, Mr Tate lost a bid to end his detention in Romania after a court rejected his appeal and said he should remain in custody. Mr Tate was seen carrying what appeared to be a copy of the Quran as he walked into Bucharest Appeal...
Jan 11, 2023
Elon Musk's drop in fortunes breaks world record
Elon Musk appears to have broken the world record for the largest loss of personal fortune in history. His $44bn takeover of the social media company has sparked concerns among investors that Mr Musk is no longer giving Tesla enough attention. Mr Musk's losses since November 2021 could surpass the previous record of $58.6bn, suffered by Japanese tech investor Masayoshi Son in 2000. "Long-term fundamentals [at Tesla] are extremely strong. Short-term market madness is unpredictable," Mr Musk...
Jan 10, 2023
Iran protests: Facebook wrong to remove 'death to Khamenei' posts, board finds
An oversight board for Facebook's parent company says the platform was wrong to remove a post with a common protest slogan against Iran's leader. The Oversight Board acts independently to make decisions about what content should be permitted or banned on Meta's platforms, which also include Instagram and WhatsApp. Millions of Iranians were relying on Meta's social networks for news before authorities began restricting access in September in response to nationwide protests against the clerical...
Jan 5, 2023
Amazon to axe 18,000 jobs as it cuts costs
Amazon aims to shed more than 18,000 roles as it cuts costs, the technology giant's boss says. The cuts amount to around 6% of the firm's roughly 300,000-strong corporate workforce. In November Amazon said it was starting a round of layoffs but did not give a figure of how many jobs it would cut. He also said the "Majority of role eliminations" would be in the Amazon Stores operations and its People, Experience, and Technology team. Amazon had already introduced a hiring freeze and halted...
Jan 3, 2023
Microsoft recognises first labour union in US
Workers at Microsoft's ZeniMax Studios have voted to form the tech giant's first labour union in the US. Microsoft agreed to recognise the group after a "Supermajority" of workers at the video game production company signalled support for the plan, said the Communications Workers of America union. ZeniMax Studios, the company behind popular first-person shooting game DOOM, is the first studio at Microsoft US to secure union representation and will boast the largest group of union-represented...
Dec 30, 2022
Twitter in data-protection probe after '400 million' user details up for sale
A watchdog is to investigate Twitter after a hacker claimed to have private details linked to more than 400 million accounts. The Guardian reported that data of US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was included in the sample of data published by the hacker. The data did not appear to have been copied from an earlier breach in which details were published from 5.4 million Twitter accounts, Mr Gal said. In a statement sent to the BBC about the latest incident, the DPC noted its continuing...
Dec 29, 2022
Southwest Airlines says sorry again as flight chaos continues
Southwest Airlines has issued a second apology as more of its flights were cancelled across the country. The company has cancelled more than 10,000 flights in total since last Friday, when a winter storm hit the US. Southwest has struggled to return to a normal flight schedule after the fierce weather swept the country, even as other airlines caught up following the travel disruptions. Southwest - which is the largest carrier in the US - cancelled 2,360 flights on Thursday, comprising nearly...
Dec 28, 2022
Apple and Tesla: Tech shares tumble amid supply issues
Apple and Tesla stocks have tumbled over growing concerns about delays in their production lines in China. Apple shares hit their lowest point since June 2021. Tesla's stock has dropped 73% from a record high in November 2021. Companies have struggled to keep production going in China due to Covid restrictions and weeks of lockdowns. "Musk is viewed as 'asleep at the wheel' from a leadership perspective for Tesla at the time investors need a CEO to navigate this Category 5 storm," wrote...
Dec 22, 2022
Amazon could be blamed for fake Louboutin shoe ads - EU
Amazon could be held responsible for advertising 'fake' red-soled shoes which potentially breach designer Christian Louboutin's EU trademark. Similar red-soled high heels are advertised on Amazon by third party vendors without Louboutin's consent. There has been a long-running dispute between Amazon and shoemaker Louboutin, whose high heels typically sell for at least £600. Louboutin brought two cases against the company, in courts in Belgium and Luxembourg, in 2019 - alleging Amazon...
Dec 21, 2022
Elon Musk to quit as Twitter CEO when replacement found
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Dec 20, 2022
Elon Musk: Only blue tick users to vote in Twitter polls on policy
Elon Musk has said Twitter will only allow users with a blue tick to vote on changes to company policy after his followers voted for him to quit. Mr Musk launched a Twitter poll asking his followers if he should step down as chief executive - 57.5% voted "Yes". He has said that Twitter will alter its rules so that only people who pay for a subscription can vote on company policy. In response to a tweet saying Twitter Blue subscribers "Should be the only ones that can vote in policy related...
Dec 20, 2022
Elon Musk at Twitter: Who could replace him as chief executive?
Elon Musk is considering his next steps after a Twitter poll asking if he should step down as chief executive. He had been serving as chief executive of both Twitter and payment firm Square and had been under pressure from investors, who felt Twitter was not getting the focus it needed while he was also running Square. Before officially taking charge of the company, Musk changed his Twitter profile to read "Chief Twit" and turned up to Twitter HQ in San Francisco carrying a sink, saying: "Let...
Dec 19, 2022
Will Elon Musk's ultimatum cost him Twitter?
Elon Musk's poll, asking whether he should stand down as the boss of Twitter, appeared hours after he was photographed at the World Cup final in Qatar. The second point about the photo? It proves Musk was geographically in the vicinity of Saudi Arabia - home to Twitter's biggest investors. How we view the results - 57% of the 17.5m votes cast were in favour of Musk standing down as Twitter CEO - depends on what we think he wanted to achieve by it. The poll has either spectacularly backfired -...
Dec 18, 2022
Elon Musk: Twitter users vote in favour of boss resigning
Twitter says it will shut down accounts solely designed to promote other big social media platforms, or which link off to or contain usernames from them. Twitter had already blocked users from sharing some links to Mastodon, the platform many Twitter users moved to after Mr Musk's takeover. In a series of tweets on Sunday Twitter said: "We recognize that many of our users are active on other social media platforms. However, we will no longer allow free promotion of certain social media...
Dec 17, 2022
Why is Elon Musk spending his time on Twitter, not on the mission to Mars?
I have been watching Elon Musk for a number of years - and more closely than ever in recent months, since he decided, seemingly on a whim, to buy the social network Twitter. What I have learned is - as, perhaps, with many of us - there are many different faces of Elon Musk. Yet Tallulah Riley, his ex-wife, whom he married twice, described him in BBC documentary series The Elon Musk Show as "Sweet" and "Shy". Veteran Silicon Valley journalist and author Mike Malone, who has known Mr Musk for...
Dec 17, 2022
Twitter reinstates banned journalists' accounts
Billionaire businessman Elon Musk says several journalists he suspended from his social media company, Twitter, will have their accounts reinstated. "The people have spoken. Accounts who doxxed my location will have their suspension lifted now," he tweeted. Some of the journalists suspended on Twitter had reported on the incident involving the jet tracking account. EU commissioner Vera Jourova had threatened Twitter with sanctions under Europe's new Digital Services Act which she said...
Dec 17, 2022
The Amazon reef that may be threatened by oil drilling
Scientists say a unique reef habitat near the mouth of the Amazon river is under threat from plans to drill for oil. The Amazon reef is unusual because it lies in deep water, and is sometimes hidden by the muddy waters flowing into the sea from the world's largest river. The scientists worry that plans by the Brazilian oil company Petrobras to drill for oil close to the reef could cause an oil leak that would devastate the ecosystem. An oil spill that hit the coast of northern Brazil in 2019...
Dec 16, 2022
Twitter condemned by UN and EU over reporters’ ban
Twitter accounts belonging to several prominent journalists covering the company's owner, Elon Musk, have had their accounts abruptly suspended. A Twitter spokeswoman told tech website The Verge that the ban was related to the live sharing of location data. The list of banned journalists also includes The Intercept's Micha Lee, Mashable's Matt Binder, and independent journalists Aaron Rupar, and Tony Webster. Twitter's head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, told The Verge that bans are related...
Dec 14, 2022
Twitter Files spark debate about ‘blacklisting’
Under an initiative by Twitter's new chief Elon Musk, fragments of internal Twitter discussions about content moderation - dubbed "The Twitter Files" - have been shared on the platform by a few selected journalists. Twitter confirmed just a few days ago that it would not "Amplify tweets containing slurs or hate speech". One name on the Twitter files list that has drawn attention is Dr Jay Bhattacharya - a health policy professor at Stanford University - who vocally opposed coronavirus...
Dec 14, 2022
Elon Musk taking legal action over Twitter account that tracks his private jet
A Twitter account that tracked Elon Musk's private jet has been suspended for violating unspecified Twitter rules. Mr Sweeney confirmed on his personal Twitter account on Wednesday that the profile had been suspended. It comes a month after Mr Musk - who bought Twitter for $44 billion this year - pledged to keep the account running even though it was a "Direct personal safety risk". Mr Sweeney, a college student in the state of Florida, shared a screenshot with CNN of a message from Twitter...
Dec 9, 2022
Fired Twitter cleaning staff 'treated like garbage'
The BBC spoke to four cleaners who say they were fired from Twitter on Monday - their interviews were conducted in Spanish. The cleaners were working at Twitter last week until they were told their jobs were under threat. Julio Alvarado has been a cleaner for 10 years at Twitter. The cleaners say they don't know what to do - as there are few available cleaning vacancies in San Francisco at the moment. A small group of cleaners have protested outside San Francisco's Twitter headquarters since...
Dec 8, 2022
Harry and Meghan Netflix series launches amid controversy
After a blaze of publicity and controversy, Netflix's Harry & Meghan series is beginning with three episodes on Thursday. Trailers refer to a "War against Meghan", with Prince Harry speaking of the "Leaking and... planting of stories" as part of a "Dirty game". The trailers suggest the TV documentary will reveal the love story of how the "Clandestine" relationship between Prince Harry and Meghan developed. "We know the full truth," Prince Harry says, introducing a series with a 15 rating and...
Dec 8, 2022
Prince Harry and Meghan: Where do they get their money?
The first episodes of a new documentary series about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, are being released by Netflix on Thursday. Harry remained a Prince, and the couple kept their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles, but are no longer addressed as His/Her Royal Highness. Harry and Meghan did an interview with US presenter Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, but said they were not paid for it. As working Royals, they received 95% of their annual income from Harry's father...
Dec 8, 2022
Elon Musk turns Twitter into 'hotel' for staff
An ex-worker said new Twitter boss Elon Musk has been staying at the headquarters since he bought the firm. He last month emailed all Twitter staff saying they "Will need to be extremely hardcore" to succeed. They went on to say that Mr Musk regularly sleeps at the Twitter HQ in San Francisco. Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the BBC. Last month Mr Musk - who completed his Twitter takeover in October - emailed all staff at the company saying they would need to...