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credit… Diego Azubel/European Press Photo Agency
Apple agreed Wednesday to pay $113 million for a survey in more than 30 states into its earlier practice of secretly slowing down old iPhones to save battery power.
The practice of strangling Apple phones was a black eye when it was discovered in 2017, which seems to confirm the suspicions of some customers who suspected that their phones were getting slower as Apple brought new phones to market. Apple said at the time that its software slowed down phones with old batteries to prevent them from suddenly going out. In response to this lawsuit, Apple offered certain customers free battery replacement.
When dealing with governments, Apple needs to be more transparent about how it manages the battery life of its devices. Apple had previously agreed to pay affected customers up to $500 million to arrange a separate class action.
Apple’s spokesperson refused to comment, but referred to the wording of the agreement, which states that the agreement does not mean Apple acknowledges any wrongdoing.
Wonder Woman 1984, starring Gal Gado, is expected to stimulate HBO’s Max.Credit…Clay Enos/Warner Bros. streaming service. Images, via Associated Press.
Wonder Woman 1984, the last potential blockbuster still on the 2020 film schedule, will be screened in theaters and on WarnerMedia’s new streaming service, HBO Max, on November 25. December, as announced by the company on Wednesday.
The news was expected as many cities across the country closed theatres to stop the rise of Covid-19 cases. On an international level, the film will be shown on the 16th. December at the cinema.
Warner Bros. made the announcement four months after the studio had attempted to lure moviegoers to the cinema with the summer edition of Tenet by director Christopher Nolan. The film grossed about $353 million worldwide, and only $56 million came from the American public. A $200 million science fiction movie is expected to lose money for the studio.
In view of this uncertainty about cash register revenues, it is expected that the start of streaming will give an impulse to HBO Max, which has not aroused much enthusiasm among consumers since the start in May. WarnerMedia said that Wonder Woman will be available in streaming for a month in 1984 at no additional cost to subscribers, who were 38 million last month.
Offering a film about superheroes during the holidays, when many expect most of the country to be closed, can only be a blessing that society is looking for. (This week, WarnerMedia announced that HBO Max will be available on Amazon’s Fire Stick. It is still not available with Roku streaming technology).
It’s a great film that really comes to life on the big screen, and together with our partners in the exhibition community, we’re going to bring this opportunity to consumers in the US, where the theatres are open, said Ann Sarnoff, CEO of WarnerMedia Studios. We understand that many consumers cannot return to the movies because of the pandemic, so we want to give them the chance to watch Wonder Woman 1984 on our HBO Max platform.
The first Wonder Woman since 2017 has earned $800 million worldwide. Of this amount, 400 million dollars came from viewers in the United States and Canada. The sequel takes place in 1984 and consists of director Patty Jenkins and actors Gal Gado and Chris Pine. Kristen Vig will portray the evil Cheetah.
On Wednesday, Ms. Jenkins on Twitter… We sincerely hope that our film will bring you all a little joy and relaxation during this festive period.
Facebook has asked its employees to continue working from home until July 2021, but this policy has not been extended to the thousands of contractors around the world who have been hired as content moderators…Credit…Richard Drew/Associated Press.
In August, Facebook announced the extension of its corona protection policy and asked its employees to continue working from home until July 2021.
However, this warranty does not extend to the thousands of Facebook providers used worldwide as content moderators for filtering hate speech, misinformation, sexual harassment, child abuse and other harmful content. Many moderators working for outsourcing companies such as Accenture and CPL have been recalled to the office.
On Wednesday, more than 200 moderators and other Facebook employees sent an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook COO Cheryl Sandberg and senior executives at Accenture and CPL, criticizing their attitude toward content moderators. According to the law firm Foxglove, which represents the moderators, employees from Ireland, Germany, Poland and the United States tested positive for the coronavirus.
Moderators classified as entrepreneurs said their health is being sacrificed to help Facebook respond to growing pressure from politicians and regulators around the world who want the company to do more to clean up its platform. According to the moderators, Facebook cannot fulfil this task without their contribution.
Without our work, Facebook is unsuitable, the letter says. Their algorithms can’t see the satire. You can’t separate journalism from disinformation. They cannot react quickly enough in cases of self-harm or child abuse. We can.
The letter was distributed via Facebook’s internal network called Workplace. About 30 percent of the signatories gave their name or contact information, while the rest wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, said Cory Kryder, a lawyer at Foxglove.
In the letter, employees asked Facebook, Accenture and CPL to make optimal use of the opportunities to work from home, especially for people at high risk of a serious Covida 19 disease or living with a high-risk person. They also called for the payment of risk compensation and the improvement of health care and psychiatric services. As contractors, they do not enjoy the same benefits as ordinary employees.
Facebook defended its practice by stating that most of its 15,000 content reviewers continued to work from home during the pandemic and that it provided health care and resources for the well-being of employees.
While we believe in an open internal dialogue, these discussions should be honest, Toby Partlett, a Facebook spokesperson, said in a statement. Facebook exceeds medical guidelines to ensure site security for all office work.
The letter focuses on the compression of Facebook. Because employees criticise the company for the abuse it experiences, the company is forced to sort more aggressively for harmful substances.
Employees asked the company to stop outsourcing work to companies such as Accenture and CPL and to bring jobs home where employees would receive higher wages and benefits.
If the moderators are so important to Facebook’s business that it will ask them to risk their lives to work in the offices of Covid’s dynamic company, Keeder said Facebook should hire them and give the employees of Facebook full rights.
- Wall Street shares fell Wednesday as ongoing pandemic concerns over the pandemic overcame new optimism about a coronavirus vaccine.
- The announcement of successful vaccination trials helped boost the S&P 500 index by about 9% this month. On Wednesday, Pfizer said the full results of his latest trials showed that his vaccine was 95 percent effective with no serious side effects. The company and its partner BioNTech intend to submit an emergency application to the FDA in the coming days.
- However, the abundance of vaccines has recently been limited by the increase in coronavirus cases in the United States. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 fell more than 1% and lost its early acquisitions after New York City announced that its public school system would be closed on Thursday due to an increase in the number of cases. In other parts of the world, particularly Sweden and Australia, further closures were also announced a few months before the vaccines became generally available.
- On Tuesday, the president of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Jerome H. Powell, warned that while progress toward the vaccine is good news in the medium term, it is too early to explain it with certainty. Even at best, large-scale immunisation is planned in a few months, Powell said, noting that people may lose confidence and economic activity in the near future if the virus spreads and they try to prevent infection.
- On Wednesday, Aerospace giant Boeing received permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to resume its flights with a maximum of 737. The aircraft remained on the ground for 20 months after two fatal disasters, which were written off as a result of faulty software and operational and government failures. Profits on Boeing shares also fell at the beginning of the day and at the end of trading the company’s share fell by more than 3%.
- Carnival, a cruise operator, fell by 2.6% after he reported cancelling other cruises, including those leaving the United States before January.
An empty store in Chicago this week. A government report released Wednesday warned that many U.S. households and businesses will not be able to recover without government help….. Taylor Glasscock for the New York Times…
The Ministry of Finance’s Financial Research Directorate warned Wednesday that there are significant risks to the country’s financial stability related to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and predicted that many households and businesses will not be able to recover without additional government support.
In its annual report to Congress, the D.F.R. described in detail the seriousness of the threat to the financial system earlier this year when the virus suddenly forced businesses to shut down across the United States and forced officials to issue home ownership orders for most of the country. He acknowledged the government’s efforts to support the economy, but said major uncertainties remain due to the unpredictable evolution of the virus.
Because of the novelty of the virus, the uncertainty about its evolution and the reactions to health policy, many companies do not know when or even if they will resume their normal activities and what new protective measures to take, the report says. This uncertainty can have a significant impact on economic activity.
The O.F.R. report, which was drafted as part of the Treasury Department’s Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, stems from the failure of legislators and the White House to find ways to provide additional economic aid to millions of struggling Americans. The report indicates that the significant monetary and fiscal stimulus measures taken at the beginning of the year have indeed served as a bridge to economic recovery, but macroeconomic risks remain exceptionally high.
Credit risk remains one of the main problems, as lenders in the commercial real estate, energy and high-tech sectors suffer heavy losses due to defaults and insolvencies. In the meantime, a return to higher prices for riskier assets could lead to a new round of market tensions, despite the Fed’s efforts to stabilise markets at the beginning of the year.
Democrats and Republicans were divided over the size of another stimulus package for a few months. In May, Democrats passed a $3 trillion bill in the House of Representatives, while Republicans in the Senate, concerned about increasing debt, asked for a more targeted $500 billion bill that they could not pass.
O.F.R. noted that public debt is a long-term risk, but stressed that there are more pressing problems for the economy.
According to the report, many households and businesses may not be able to recoup the additional public support they have lost.
An ambulance at Portsmouth, England, in May. The British government spent nearly $24 billion of the US dollar to cover the cost of the pandemic until July, most of it on personal protective equipment Photo of the pool by Leon Neil
Earlier this year, when the British government spent billions of pounds in a hurry to repair masks, gowns and other personal protective equipment for its front line workers, it often failed to document why it chose one supplier over another, the National Audit Office said on Wednesday. This hasty process has led to costly errors and a lack of documentation to address potential conflicts of interest.
By the end of July, more than 8,600 contracts worth £18 billion ($23.9 billion) had been awarded for pandemic-related costs, with 80 percent of the contracts awarded for personal protective equipment. The report comes against a backdrop of growing frustration at the rising costs of private companies in fighting the pandemic and concerns about conflicts of interest for the leaders of the government team that has to respond to a pandemic.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended the government’s action on Wednesday and told lawmakers that there were no adequate personal protective equipment in the world at the start of the pandemic. Faced with a very difficult situation, he said, the government provided 32 billion masks, dresses and other items. He answered a question about reports that $28 million of taxpayers’ money had been spent by a Spanish businessman who had acted as an intermediary for contracts to obtain E.P.P. for the British National Health Service.
The audit report highlights the lack of transparency and adequate documentation of key decisions, including the reasons for the selection of certain suppliers and the way in which the government has sought to identify and avoid conflicts of interest in the procurement process.
More than half of the £17.3 billion received under the new contracts was awarded without a call for tender. And suppliers nominated by civil servants and ministers have been given high priority.
While we recognize that these were exceptional circumstances, it is still important that decisions are well documented and made transparent if the government is to maintain public confidence, said Gareth Davis, head of the audit firm.
The report also gave examples of quick purchases that led to errors, including the purchase of 50 million masks for £155 million that did not meet government specifications.
The National Audit Office has noted that the government needs to address potential conflicts of interest at an earlier stage when a large amount of real estate has to be bought back quickly.
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in September. On Tuesday, she expressed her deep concern about the transition process. A loan… Anna Moneymaker of The New York Times…
The consequences of President Trump’s refusal to call off the elections are a source of concern to the government and business leaders. In their speech at the DealBook online summit on Tuesday and Wednesday, they said that administrative delays threaten a smooth transition, which is especially important in the context of the pandemic and the economic crisis. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren said she was very concerned about the transition process.
It’s not a game, Miss Warren added. People all over the world, who could hurt us, are watching. They’re monitoring the delay in the transition.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, expressed similar concerns: We need a peaceful transition. We had a choice. We have a new president. We must support this, whether you like the election results or not, you must support democracy because it is based on a system of faith and trust. ”
Refusal to make concessions is not just an abstract threat, experts say. There are practical considerations, such as the fact that the General Service Administration still refuses to acknowledge the victory of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., which means that the new administration will not have access to the office space, expertise, financial resources and information it needs to deal with the pandemic and the January pandemic.
The country’s leading infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, noted at the summit that he has treated six jurisdictions in five transition periods in 35 years. I can say that transitions are extremely important for the good continuity of our work, he said. They want continuity.
Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s Executive Director, also noted Tuesday that work on coronavirus vaccine approval and release during the transition period is not ideal, he added: It is always better to have a clear responsibility and leadership. Pfizer said Wednesday that it plans to obtain emergency approval for its vaccine in the coming days, as preliminary data showed that the vaccine’s efficacy is 95%.
Work is more than what you take home as payment, Lacey Oyler says. But when the hours were short enough to take care of the children, she quit. A loan… Sarah Statas for the New York Times…
First and foremost, the sectors of the economy most affected by job losses are dominated by women – restaurants, retailers and carers.
A second wave followed, leading to the loss of jobs in local and national government, another area where women were in the majority.
The third blow was a hard one for many: the closure of the crèches and the switch to distance learning. It imposes far more than fathers exaggerated household chores on working mothers.
This is a rare and devastating blow that not only pushes women away from their previous jobs, but also discourages them from looking for new ones, according to Patricia Cohen of the New York Times. For an individual, this can limit his or her life prospects and income. Across the country, it can slow growth by robbing the economy of a skilled, experienced and dedicated workforce.
- According to the latest employment report from the Ministry of Labour, 4.5 million women were employed in October, compared to 4.1 million men a year ago.
- According to the Census Bureau, a third of unemployed women aged 25 to 44 said this was due to the need to care for their children. Only 12% of the unemployed referred to these requests.
- Women on low incomes, minority women and single mothers have suffered most from the recession caused by the pandemic. The unemployment rate is 9.2 percent for black women and 9 percent for Spanish-speaking women, compared with 6.5 percent for women in general.
- The changes imposed on women by the pandemic create a mixture of fear and hope. Many women fear that these changes will severely limit women’s choices and force them into a full-time unpaid role as housewives.
Hieronymus X. The chairman of the Federal Reserve Powell highlighted the effect in a webcast on Tuesday. He added that many women leave the labour market because their children stay at home: You see women who are at home and not on call, and their careers can be compromised.
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