Author: Press Room

The Philippines will stop operations of 175 offshore gambling firms and deport about 40,000 Chinese workers, a justice ministry official said on Monday, part of a crackdown on the notoriously opaque online gaming industry. The sector emerged in the Philippines in 2016 and grew exponentially, as operators capitalized on the country’s liberal gaming laws to target customers in China, where gambling is banned. At their peak, Philippine offshore gambling operators, or POGOs, employed more than 300,000 Chinese workers, but the pandemic and higher taxes have forced many to operate elsewhere. “The crackdown was triggered by reports of murder, kidnapping and…

In the bonfire of the cloud software-as-a-service companies, DocuSign is suffering more than most. Sales growth at the electronic signature software company has collapsed. Over the past 12 months the share price is down 80 per cent. Even Zoom, the stock best known for Covid-19 gains and losses, has not fallen that far.Allan Thygesen, former executive at Google parent Alphabet, arrives to save the day as new chief executive. His appointment alone should steady the company following the former CEO’s abrupt departure in June. Perhaps Thygesen’s prior experience can help DocuSign to explore new revenue streams too. DocuSign’s core e-signature…

The Bank of England and UK Treasury on Monday battled to calm market turmoil after the pound hit a record low against the US dollar, but sterling suffered a fresh round of heavy selling as investors fretted over the sustainability of public finances.On a day when the pound hit an early-morning low of $1.035, the BoE issued a statement saying it would “not hesitate to change interest rates” to keep inflation under control.But its announcement that it did not intend to conduct a “full assessment” of the UK government’s controversial new debt-fuelled economic policy until its next scheduled meeting in…

Drug cartels are using brightly colored “rainbow fentanyl” pills to target children as young as middle schoolers, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration warned Monday, signaling a new threat in the opioid crisis. In an interview Monday, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said the drug is being sold in pills and powders that come in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes intended to look like candy. Sometimes traffickers even nickname the products “Sweet Tarts” and “Skittles” after real candy. “This is another tactic that they’re using to get more fentanyl to more people,” Milgram said. “The more drugs they can sell, the…

The drought Europe is experiencing could become the norm by the middle of the century unless effective, cross-border mitigation actions are quickly implemented, MEPs were told on Wednesday.Repeated and severe droughts would have significant impacts on a growing number of economic activities including agriculture, transport, energy and healthcare, the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public health and Food Safety (ENVI) heard from experts.  Andrea Toreti from the European Drought Observatory told ENVI members that according to the agency’s assessment, the extreme events Europe suffered through during the last summer “might become the norm” by 2050 “if effective mitigation actions are not put in…

Russian airline and airport employees have started to receive conscription notices, according to the country’s Kommersant newspaper.The news comes after President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial military mobilisation of 300,000 army reservists last week.Employees of at least five airlines, including Russian top carrier Aeroflot, and staff at more than 10 airports received notices within a day of Putin ordering the mobilisation, reports the paper.How many airline staff could be conscripted in Russia?According to sources in three companies, between 50-to-80 per cent of employees could potentially be called up. A source close to Aeroflot said that over half of the staff…

Former “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Kornbread “The Snack” Jeté has announced that she’s been diagnosed with cancer.”I’ll cut straight to the point! Recently I was diagnosed with Adenocarcinoma. A type of Cancer in the Smaller intestine. I’m 100% fine and everything is in the early stages so I’ll be back to my normal self in no time. Absolutely curable!” Kornbread wrote on Instagram on Sept. 25. In her message, the reality star urged fans to get regular checkups in order to detect any health issues as quickly as possible.“I say this to let everyone know that no matter how young…

Alexander Ursenbacher beat world No. 1 Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-1 in a huge upset victory in the first round of the British Open on Monday night.World No. 63 Ursenbacher started fantastically as he worked the red and pink, with the black tied up for much of the opening frame.A nice break of 69 helped the Swiss to go 1-0 ahead in front of his mother, who had come to watch her son play for the first time in his career.SnookerSelby & Kenna face Robertson & Mink in final as O’Sullivan & Evans fall shortYESTERDAY AT 18:50A scrappy start to the second…

Truck carrying food to internally displaced people was hit in Ethiopian drone strike, the United Nations food agency says.Debris from a drone strike in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region has damaged a truck carrying humanitarian aid and belonging to the World Food Programme (WFP) and injured the truck’s driver, the United Nations agency said on Monday. The WFP said the drone strike on Sunday hit near an area called Zana Woreda in northwestern Tigray, as two trucks were delivering relief supplies to families displaced by the nearly two-year long conflict. “Flying debris from the strike injured a driver contracted by WFP…

New research suggests that people’s bedtimes and the amount of time they spend in bed (TIB) may influence their chances of developing dementia.Even in those who did not develop dementia, long TIB was associated with greater cognitive decline in people ages 60–74 years and men.The researchers suggest monitoring cognitive function of older adults with long TIB or early bedtimes as a potential risk factor for dementia.China has the world’s largest population of people with dementia, a neurodegenerative disorder. At least 6% of older adults, or one in 20 people age 60 or over, live with dementia.However, most studies of sleep…