Here are today’s Top 6 News & Events from Around the World. Take a look!
#6
Biggest Software Deal Ever: IBM Buys Red Hat for $34 Billion
Never before has it happened that a software company is acquired for a price that was reserved for industries such as automotive, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors. IBM has paid out a record $34 billion in cash and debt to buy enterprise open source software provider Red Hat. It has beaten the acquisition price of $26.2 billion that Microsoft paid to acquire Linkedin. Still, it’s not the biggest tech acquisition. That distinction goes to Dell’s acquisition of EMC, a data storage company, which was bought for $67 billion. With the Red Hat’s acquisition, IBM wants to expand its hybrid cloud business.
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#5
Facebook’s Political Ad System Fails Again
During 2016 U.S elections, Facebook ads were used to provoke voters in America by foreign groups. To protect its users, Facebook introduced some safeguards that would stop these instances in future. However, Vice News has been able to find loopholes in Facebook’s ad system and it was able to register ads on Facebook falsely in names of Mike Pence and even ISIS. It shows that Facebook has either failed in providing transparency in its ads system or it simply doesn’t care.
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#4
China Spawns Two Billionaires a Week
Back in 2017, China has produced two billionaires a week, according to a study by PWC auditors and Swiss bank UBS. The study reveals that China is the best place for any entrepreneur to establish a business. Still, it’s also important to note that at least half of these billionaires went off the list within a year. So, it might seem easy but China is a fierce market to survive and thrive.
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#3
EU’s Copywrite Law Will Ban Open Access to Free News
EU has introduced a ‘Link Tax’ that will greatly affect the way the online news and opensource websites work right now. Article 11 of the EU’s Copywrite Law will require paid licenses to link news content even if it’s just a few words. In fact, Article 32 goes further and bans any user from waiving off link license requirement. This new law will create hurdles for freelancers and open source news media who were reliant on creative commons. Hopefully, this draft won’t make it to the actual law.
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#2
America on the Path to Energy Dominance, Approves Arctic Oil Drill Plan
The Trump administration has given its nod for Arctic oil drilling explorations. Hilcorp Energy, a private company will soon start drilling the Arctic for oil in the Beaufort Sea. The location is six miles off the coast of Alaska. This latest order fulfils Trump’s pledge to open more offshore drillings. One of the Interior Secretary said that this new initiative will put Americans on the path to energy dominance.
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#1
Like It or Not, Twitter Plans Removing ‘Like’ Button
Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter has admitted that he isn’t a fan of ‘Like’ button and might soon get rid of it. The idea is to amplify the quality of debates that take place on Twitter. Heart shaped ‘Like’ button was introduced in 2015, which removed star-shaped ‘favourites’ button. ‘Like’ button has been a mainstay for social media since Facebook introduced it. It will be interesting to see what will replace ‘Like’ button on Twitter.
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News Source Credits:
News #6 – Source
News #5 – Source
News #4 – Source
News #3 – Source
News #2 – Source
News #1 – Source