Author: Grace Johnson

Elon Musk has settled a $128 million lawsuit brought by four of Twitter’s former senior executives, now part of his rebranded company X. The case revolved around severance payments the executives said Musk withheld after taking control of the platform in 2022. Fired executives claim Musk broke contracts The group, which included former CEO Parag Agrawal, said Musk dismissed them without cause and refused to pay the severance guaranteed in their contracts. In a court filing, their lawyers wrote, “The parties have reached a settlement, and the settlement requires certain conditions to be met in the near term.” The terms…

Gold has smashed through the $4,000 (£2,985) mark for the first time in history. Investors are pouring money into the precious metal as fears over global politics and economic stability escalate. The surge marks gold’s strongest rally since the 1970s. Prices have jumped by nearly a third since April, when US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs disrupted world trade and unsettled markets. Shutdown turmoil deepens investor anxiety The US government shutdown, now in its second week, has intensified unease across financial markets. Analysts say delays in vital economic data releases have left investors uncertain about the state of the economy.…

“Half of my life is on this app and now they expect us to pay for it.” That line has become the rallying cry of furious Snapchat users. The platform’s plan to charge for saving old photos and videos has sparked widespread anger and accusations of greed. Charging to remember In September, Snap — the company behind Snapchat — announced that users with more than five gigabytes of saved Memories will soon need to pay. For many, those photos and videos represent milestones, friendships, and moments they never wanted to lose. Now, users say the company is putting a price…

For decades, the United States has dominated the global technology market. Now China is determined to shift that balance. The world’s second-largest economy is investing billions in artificial intelligence and robotics. Its main goal is to develop advanced chips that can compete with the best in the world. Last month, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang warned that China was only “nanoseconds behind” the U.S. in chip development. Beijing is pushing to close the gap and reduce its dependence on imported technology. DeepSeek Sparks China’s AI Revolution In 2024, the Chinese startup DeepSeek stunned the global tech scene by launching a competitor…

A global plan for food and the future By 2050, everyone on Earth could have enough nutritious and culturally familiar food while protecting the environment. That is the vision of the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission on Healthy Diets From Sustainable Food Systems. The report says a “planetary health diet,” combined with better farming methods and less food waste, could feed 9.6 billion people sustainably. Over 35 countries contributed to the findings, which show that global food-related emissions could drop by more than half if nations cooperate. Currently, food production, processing, and transport generate about 30% of greenhouse gases. Most of the…

Electric car sales in the UK hit their highest level on record in September, according to new data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The surge in electric and hybrid registrations marks a key moment in the nation’s shift toward cleaner transport. Electric and hybrid cars lead the charge Sales of fully electric cars climbed by nearly a third to 72,779 units last month. Plug-in hybrid sales rose even faster, pushing combined electric and hybrid registrations to more than half of all new cars sold. The SMMT said discounts, more model choices, and the launch of the…

A human rights group accuses TikTok of recommending pornography and sexualised clips to minors. Researchers created fake child accounts, switched on safety settings, and still saw explicit search prompts. These led to videos showing masturbation simulations and pornographic sex scenes. TikTok insists it acted quickly after being alerted and says it remains focused on safe online use. Fake child profiles uncover harmful content In July and August, Global Witness researchers built four TikTok accounts. They posed as 13-year-olds by entering false birth dates. The platform did not request further identification. Investigators enabled TikTok’s “restricted mode”. The company promotes this feature…

Elon Musk has become the first person in history to hold a fortune above $500bn. The record reflects the rising value of Tesla and his other companies this year. His wealth briefly reached $500.1bn on Wednesday afternoon in New York. It then dipped slightly to just over $499bn, according to Forbes’ billionaires index. Valuations of Musk’s other firms, including artificial intelligence startup xAI and rocket company SpaceX, have also surged in recent months. Musk secures top spot among billionaires The achievement further cements Musk as the world’s richest man. He stands far ahead of other global tech leaders. Oracle co-founder…

The sunscreen safety scandal in Australia is spreading fast. Authorities have already withdrawn 18 products from store shelves over safety risks. Well-known sunscreen brands implicated In June, a consumer advocacy group revealed that several popular sunscreens failed to meet their advertised protection. Ultra Violette’s Lean Screen Skinscreen claimed SPF 50+ but tested at just SPF 4. The company recalled it voluntarily in August. The medicines regulator has since warned about 20 more sunscreens from different brands. Each of them used the same base formula, which showed major weaknesses in testing. Alarming SPF results from investigation Preliminary tests found the base…

Donald Trump has again threatened to impose a 100% tariff on all films produced outside the United States. He claimed that other nations had “stolen” America’s movie industry. California in the spotlight On Monday, Trump said California had been hit hardest by the current situation. He argued the new levy would “solve this long time, never ending problem”. In May, he had already announced talks with Hollywood executives. At that time, he warned the US film business was dying “a very fast death”. Tariffs already hitting other products His latest remarks followed the launch of new tariffs in other sectors.…