Business

Reuters reports: A coalition of international companies, including Google and Microsoft, on Wednesday denounced anti-LGBTQ legislation passed by Uganda’s parliament last week, warning it would damage the East Africa country’s economy. The Open for Business coalition said the legislation, which criminalises identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, would curb investment flows and deter tourists. The bill imposes the …

Mashable reports: Researcher Travis Brown, who has been tracking Twitter Blue subscriptions since January, recently revealed around half of all users subscribed to Twitter Blue have less than 1,000 followers. That’s approximately 220,132 paying subscribers. Furthermore, 78,059 paying Twitter Blue subscribers have less than 100 users following their account. That’s 17.6 percent of all Twitter Blue subscribers. There are 2,270 …

Reuters reports: U.S. prosecutors on Tuesday unveiled a new indictment against Sam Bankman-Fried, accusing the founder of now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange of conspiring to pay a $40 million bribe to Chinese government officials. The new bribery conspiracy charge adds the pressure on the 31-year-old former billionaire, who now faces a 13-count indictment over the November collapse of FTX. Prosecutors had …

NPR reports: This palm reader will not be able to tell your fortune, but it will figure out if you are part of Panera’s loyalty program. Over the next few months, the bakery-café chain will roll out scanners that can access customers’ credit card and loyalty account using their palm. The biometric-gathering technology, developed by Amazon and called Amazon One, …

The Insider reports: Twitter is secretly boosting the accounts of 35 VIP users over others, per a new report from Platformer. Managing Editor Zoë Schiffer cited internal documents from Twitter which listed 35 VIP users, who all have their posts monitored and promoted for greater visibility. Schiffer published 14 out of the 35 names on the list, which included NBA …

Reuters reports: Some parts of Twitter Inc’s source code have been leaked and the social media platform owned by billionaire Elon Musk is seeking information on the person responsible, a legal filing showed. According to the filing, “various excerpts” of Twitter’s source code, which is used to run the company online, were posted on Github, a Microsoft-owned platform for sharing …

NPR reports: North Carolina-based First Citizens will buy Silicon Valley Bank, the tech industry-focused financial institution that collapsed earlier this month, rattling the banking industry and sending shockwaves around the world. The sale involves the sale of all deposits and loans of SVB to First-Citizens Bank and Trust Co., the FDIC said in a statement late Sunday. Customers of SVB …

The Wrap reports: Elon Musk told employees on March 25 that the company is now valued at $20 billion valuation, according to a senior reporter at The Verge. That’s less than half of the $44 billion he paid for the social networking platform in October 2022. With the Musk-mandated return of several formerly banned users, a rise in antisemitic and …

Ars Technica reports: Four and a half months after the chaotic rollout of paid checkmarks, Elon Musk’s Twitter is following through on a plan to remove verification from individual accounts that don’t pay $8 per month for a Twitter Blue subscription. “Starting April 1, we’ll be winding down our legacy Verification program and accounts that were verified under the previous …

Gothamist reports: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is proposing steep fines for stores selling weed without a license. The move comes as pressure builds to crack down on unlicensed cannabis shops – something other city and state officials have struggled to do effectively. The governor introduced legislation in Albany Wednesday that would clarify and expand the authority of the state …

Vice News reports: The amount of antisemitic tweets poisoning Twitter timelines has more than doubled since Elon Musk took the platform’s reins, according to a new study. The research, published on Monday by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, found that antisemitism spiked when the embattled billionaire took control of the site and has stayed at an elevated level ever since. …

Bloomberg News reports: Ten days before Signature Bank collapsed, the House Republican overseeing an inquiry into the bank’s failure was inside its boardroom on New York’s Fifth Avenue. Patrick McHenry was there to raise thousands of dollars from bank executives. The mood inside the Signature boardroom at the March 2 fundraiser was calm, according to a person who was at …

CNN Business reports: Switzerland’s biggest bank, UBS, has agreed to buy its ailing rival Credit Suisse in an emergency rescue deal aimed at stemming financial market panic unleashed by the failure of two American banks earlier this month. It said the rescue would “secure financial stability and protect the Swiss economy.” UBS is paying 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.25 billion) …

The Hill reports: Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, officially launched its paid “verified” subscription service for its social media platforms in the United States on Friday, similar to Twitter’s own service. Elon Musk created a paid subscription service for Twitter users in October. He tweaked the service a few times, but the current iteration of Twitter Blue …

The New York Daily News reports: Major money is on the way for Ryan Reynolds. The actor’s Mint Mobile company is being acquired by T-Mobile as part of a larger deal worth up to $1.35 billion, executives announced Wednesday. “Mint Mobile is the best deal in wireless and today’s news only enhances our ability to deliver for our customers,” Reynolds …

The Associate Press reports: Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill Tuesday restricting electric car manufacturers from selling vehicles in person unless they open franchised dealerships. Defying calls from some fellow Republicans in the Legislature to veto the measure, Reeves enacted into law House Bill 401, introduced by Republican Rep. Trey Lamar of Senatobia. The law will force electric car …

The Washington Post reports: Ohio is suing Norfolk Southern after one of the railroad’s trains that was carrying toxic chemicals derailed, leading to an environmental disaster. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) announced the lawsuit in a news conference Tuesday afternoon. A Norfolk Southern train was carrying hazardous chemicals such as vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate when it derailed in …

The Washington Post reports: The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the actions of its senior executives, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an investigation still in its early stages. Financial regulators closed the bank, popular among tech firms and start-ups, …

Yahoo Finance reports: Inflation showed continued signs of cooling off in February but remained stubbornly high and well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target in the year’s second month, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Tuesday morning. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) revealed headline inflation rose 0.4% over last month and 6% over the …

CNN Business reports: The Justice Department on Monday filed a lawsuit against Rite Aid for allegedly violating the Controlled Substances Act, alleging that the company “knowingly filled unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances.” In a statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Department of Justice is “using every tool at our disposal” to hold Rite Aid accountable for contributing to the …