Teen Social Media Ban Moves Closer in Australia After Tech Trial

Australia's world-first social media ban for under-16s moved closer to implementation after a key trial found that checking a user's age is technologically possible and can be integrated into existing services.
The conclusions are a blow to Facebook-owner Meta Platforms Inc., TikTok and Snap Inc., which opposed the controversial legislation. Some platform operators had questioned whether a user's age could be reliably established using current technology.

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Yahoo

33 minutes ago

• Yahoo

Big four bank announces fresh blow to savers

NAB has become the latest bank to move on interest rates, cutting the rate of one of its more popular savings accounts. NAB has announced its Reward Savers account has fallen by 0.05 per cent for a new maximum rate of 4.35 per cent, in the second cut in less than a month. It follows a 25 basis points rate reduction on May 23 in line with the Reserve Bank of Australia's official interest rate reductions. Account holders with NAB's Reward Savers will now get a 30 basis point reduction on their money held in the account. Canstar data insights director Sally Tindall described it as a small blow for savers who are already watching their returns slip away. 'It shows that banks don't need a cash rate change to move the goalposts for customers. It's a small move but a disappointing one nevertheless,' she said. According to Canstar, NAB is not the only bank moving on rates, with Australians now having just six banks offering at least one ongoing savings rate above 5 per cent including some young adult accounts and excluding those for children. 'While the average savings rate on our database is an uninspiring 3.07 per cent, there are six banks still offering an ongoing savings rate of 5 per cent or more,' Ms Tindall said. While each of the savings accounts comes with terms and conditions, including deposits and transactions, BOQ Future Super, BCU Bank Boss, P & N Bank Savvy Savers, MOVE Bank Growth Saver and ING Savings Maximiser all still offer rates above 5 per cent. Westpac Life Spend and Save also offers younger Aussies a 5 per cent savings rate, but comes with the major caveat of being for those aged 18 to 29. Ms Tindall warned if the Reserve Bank cuts the cash rate again in July, which the bond market says has an 83 per cent chance of happening, the days of a 5 per cent savings rate could be behind us. 'If the RBA wields its knife again in July or August, savings rates starting with a 5 won't last beyond winter,' she said. 'Term deposit rates are, unsurprisingly, falling faster than at-call savings rates, as banks continue to bake in further cash rate cuts into the fixed rate term. 'If you're someone who likes the certainty and security a term deposit can bring, time is of the essence as these rates are likely to keep on falling in the weeks ahead.'

CNBC

an hour ago

• CNBC

CNBC Daily Open: Intensifying Israel-Iran conflict puts investors on shaky ground

The conflict between Israel and Iran is intensifying, with both countries not backing down from strikes and their leaders continuing to issue heated rhetoric. The prospect of the United States potentially joining the fray — which Russia warned would cause "a terrible spiral of escalation" — is putting the world on a knife's edge. That unease is reflected in the markets. While U.S. exchanges were closed Thursday for a holiday, futures retreated in the evening local time. Across the Atlantic, travel and leisure stocks suffered the most as the Middle East conflict cast a shadow over international aviation. At the Paris Air Show, however, aircraft manufacturers are still booking billions in orders. Airbus had secured more than $20 billion in deals as of Thursday, according to Reuters calculations. That said, those encouraging numbers may not reflect immediate optimism about the global economy or geopolitics — aircrafts take years to deliver, and both Airbus and Boeing have a backlog of more than 8,000 and 5,000 aircrafts respectively. Until investors get a clearer sense of whether the U.S. will launch strikes on Iran, markets aren't likely to find solid ground.U.S. futures slip after trading reopensU.S. futures slipped Thursday evening stateside. Regular trading in the U.S. was closed for the Juneteenth holiday. While, oil prices for both U.S. crude oil rose, international benchmark Brent fell nearly 3%. Asia-Pacific markets rose Friday. China's CSI 300 added 0.26% at 1:30 p.m. Singapore time, as the country's central bank kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged. Meta tried to buy OpenAI co-founder's startupEarlier this year, Meta tried to acquire Safe Superintelligence, the artificial intelligence startup launched by OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, according to sources familiar with the matter. Sutskever turned down Meta and its attempt to hire him, the sources said. But Daniel Gross, the startup's CEO, and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman will join Meta as part of Mark Zuckerberg's deal with NFDG, a venture capital firm both men run. Inflation in Japan highest in two yearsRice prices in Japan more than doubled in May, spiking 101.7% year over year and marking their largest increase in over half a century. The surge in rice prices comes as Japan's annual core inflation rate, which excludes fresh food costs, climbed to 3.7% in May, the highest since January 2023 and more than the 3.6% expected by economists polled by Reuters. Labubu-maker's shares slumpHong Kong-listed shares of Pop Mart, the toymaker behind the smash hit Labubu, continued to tumble Friday. Pop Mart first gained popularity with its "blind box" concept, a business model criticized by People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper, on Friday. Morgan Stanley said in a note late Wednesday it was replacing Pop Mart with insurance company PICC P&C in the firm's China and Hong Kong focus list. Airbus stole the show in ParisAirbus dominated the order books at the Paris Air Show. The European aircraft manufacturer had racked up nearly $21 billion of orders as of Thursday morning, per a Reuters calculation. That included 132 firm orders on Monday, from customers including Saudi leasing firm AviLease, Japan's ANA and Poland's LOT, versus 41 for Boeing and 15 for Brazil's Embraer, according to a tally by aviation advisory IBA. [PRO] Berkshire stocks drop without BuffettWarren Buffett once predicted that Berkshire Hathaway stock would rise when he eventually steps down. So far, the opposite has happened. Since May 3, when the "Oracle of Omaha" announced his plans to hand over the reins, Berkshire stock has lost more than 10%, underperforming the S&P 500 by about 15 percentage points. Some think it could fall even more. Is India's hot IPO market cooling, or is it a blip? Twelve months ago, India's initial public offering market was booming, with tech startups from food and grocery delivery player Swiggy to electric two-wheeler manufacturer Ola Electric at the cusp of their debut. This year, however, there has been a pronounced change. There have been just 99 listings so far, down from 147 in the same period a year ago, according to FactSet data. Several companies have put their listing plans on hold given weak investor sentiment and the bleak macroeconomic outlook, despite having received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

The Verge

an hour ago

• The Verge

Meta announces Oakley smart glasses

Meta is announcing its next pair of smart glasses with Oakley. The limited-edition Oakley Meta HSTN (pronounced HOW-stuhn) model costs $499 and is available for pre-order starting July 11th. Other Oakley models with Meta's tech will be available starting at $399 later this summer. Like the existing Meta Ray-Ban glasses, the Oakley model features two front-facing cameras, along with open-ear speakers and microphones that are built into the frame. After they are paired with a phone, the glasses can be used to listen to music or podcasts, conduct phone calls, or chat with Meta AI. By utilizing the onboard cameras and microphones, Meta AI can also answer questions about what someone is seeing and even translate languages. Given the Oakley design, Meta is positioning these new glasses as being geared towards athletes. They have an IPX4 water resistance rating and offer double the battery life of the Meta Ray-Bans, providing 8 hours of use, along with a charging case that can power them for up to 48 hours. The built-in cameras now shoot in 3K video, up from 1080p for the Meta Ray-Bans. The new lineup comes in five Oakley frame and lens combos, all of which are compatible with prescriptions for an extra cost. The frame colors are warm grey, black, brown smoke, and clear, with several lens options available, including transitions. The limited-edition $499 model, available for order starting July 11th, features gold accents and gold Oakley PRIZM lenses. The glasses will be on sale in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. Meta recently signed a multi-year deal with EssilorLuxottica, the parent company behind Ray-Ban, Oakley, and other eyewear brands. The Meta Ray-Bans have sold over two million pairs to date, and EssilorLuxottica recently disclosed that it plans to sell 10 million smart glasses with Meta annually by 2026. 'This is our first step into the performance category,' Alex Himel, Meta's head of wearables, tells me. 'There's more to come.'