Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that Mexico doesn’t plan to impose retaliatory tariffs on the United States, ahead of President Donald Trump’s announcement of plans to impose new tariffs.
Sheinbaum added that Mexico will on Thursday "announce a comprehensive program, not a tit-for-tat on tariffs."
Starting today, Netflix users will have a whole lot of languages to choose from when watching a TV series of film on the streaming service.
Netflix says that it is now allowing users watching on their TV sets to choose any available language for subtitles or dubbing for all of its shows, significantly expanding the language offering for users.
“With nearly a third of all viewing on Netflix coming from non-English shows and films, this update helps break down language barriers, making our global catalog even more accessible,” the company says. Netflix notes that it has received “thousands” of language availability requests every month, including from multilingual households, from users seeking to learn a new language, or from those that want to experience a show in its original language.
Netflix says that its catalog includes shows and films in more than 30 languages.
“So if you’re trying to learn a new language by viewing your favorite Mexican show with Korean dubbing and English subtitles, or watching the latest Netflix discovery with family members who speak several languages, the Netflix TV experience just got a whole lot more multilingual,” the company says.
Netflix has leveraged its global scale to great effect with its programming. While most U.S.-based entertainment companies take their primary output and try and sell it around the world (Netflix does too of course), the streaming giant has been able to take projects that originated in other countries and turn them into global hits, with shows like Squid Game, Adolescence, Lupin, Who Killed Sara? and All Quiet On the Western Front being good examples. All of these projects are filmed in their native languages, with Netflix investing in high-quality dubbing and subtitle work to allow them to travel.
Britain will not rush into action to counter any import tariffs announced later on Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump because it does not want to risk undermining a possible trade deal with Washington, finance minister Rachel Reeves said.
"The government has been really clear that we are going to approach this in a clear-headed way and always represent the national interest," Reeves told lawmakers in parliament.
Reeves said she met representatives of British exporters earlier on Wednesday and "they don't want government to rush into any response because the prize on offer is an economic agreement. We don't want to do anything that undermines that."
Britain is hoping that any tariffs imposed by Trump will be reversed quickly if the two sides can agree the outline of a new economic partnership which is likely to focus on areas such as technology and artificial intelligence.
Unlike the European Union, Canada and other major economies, Britain has not retaliated over U.S. tariffs that have already been announced.
Reeves said she had spoken to EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, who is in charge of the bloc's economy, and other countries about their responses to Trump's expected announcement of tariffs before deciding on any retaliatory moves.
Reeves also told parliament's Treasury Committee that specific tariffs on UK exports were less relevant to the British economy than the broader global demand picture.
Britain's exports to the U.S. are mostly in services - which, unlike goods do not typically incur tariffs - including from its huge financial services sector.
Reeves said she was taking action to make sure Britain's finance industry could continue to compete as the Trump administration cuts red tape.
"We need to make sure that we remain competitive on that world stage if we are going to secure jobs and investments into UK financial services," she said.
British regulators have postponed the implementation of the global Basel III rules on banks by a further year and dropped proposals for so-called name-and-shame rules for financial institutions since the Labour Party won last year's election.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has authorised Armenian investment fund Balchug Capital to buy shares in nine major companies owned by Goldman Sachs' Russian subsidiary, a decree published on Wednesday showed.
Balchug Capital and Goldman Sachs declined to comment.
Balchug Capital was given the green light to purchase Goldman Sachs' subsidiary in Russia in January, according to a separate decree, paving the way for the U.S. bank to withdraw from the Russian market and extract some capital stranded there.
Moscow has steadily tightened restrictions on foreign asset sales since the start of the war in Ukraine, demanding discounts of at least 60% and requiring transactions involving banks and energy companies to obtain Putin's approval.
The latest decree, published on a Russian government portal, stated that Balchug Capital could buy Goldman Sachs International's shares in energy companies Gazprom, Rosneft, Novatek, Lukoil, Tatneft and Surgutneftegas, as well as in steelmaker NLMK, electricity operator InterRAO and telecoms provider Rostelecom.
The value of all shares listed in the decree amounted to almost $80 million, according to Reuters calculations. The price of the proposed transaction was not disclosed.
In response to Western sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine that froze around $300 billion of Russia's sovereign assets in Western jurisdictions, Moscow started diverting foreign-owned funds in Russia to special "type-C" accounts, access to which is blocked unless Moscow grants a waiver.
Large Western banks with Russian subsidiaries have tried many times to get permission from the Russian authorities to sell all their clients' assets at a discount, Ararat Mkrtchian, CEO of Armenian broker Sirius Capital, told Reuters.
"These (banks) were prime brokers for American and European funds and they owned Russian assets, stocks and bonds," he said. "Now that Goldman Sachs (the subsidiary) has been sold, this additional permission to sell assets the bank had essentially allows the client business to exit."
Balchug Capital's CEO and founder David Amaryan oversees all investment activity.
Last year, the company acquired U.S. machinery maker Caterpillar's Russian assets.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/putin-lets-armenian-fund-buy-123915917.html
Since late summer or fall of 2024, Ray-Ban Meta Glasses have surged in popularity with US consumers, a trend we previously highlighted citing several Goldman reports. The data was primarily based on app downloads worldwide.
Building on this momentum, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta's Reality Labs division is preparing to capture further market share in the smart glasses segment by releasing a new iteration of its Meta Glasses later this year. The glasses will feature an integrated screen for displaying photos and applications, according to a Bloomberg News report.
These glasses are expected to be priced between $1,000 and $1,400, positioning them as an affordable offering in the smart glasses realm, considering Apple's Vision Pros cost more than $3,000.
Ray-Ban Meta Glasses have been a hit with consumers considering that many other smart glasses options are unaffordable: Apple Vision Pro. As we previously noted, Tim Cook's space goggles have bombed:
Vision Pro's Success Hinges On Cheaper Version As Consumers Balk At $3,500 Price Tag
Apple Reportedly Halts Work On Vision Pro 2, Focuses On Cheaper Version As Demand Falters
Apple "Might Wind Down" Vision Pro Production Next Month Due To "Weak Demand"
Number Of Apple Vision Pro Apps Hit By "Significant Slowdown" As Demand Plunges
For months, readers have been briefed on the shift to Meta Glasses...
Bloomberg provided further color about the Meta prototype version of the Hypernova glasses ahead of commercialization:
Once the device is on, the user will see a home screen comprised of circular icons laid out horizontally, similar to the app dock on Apple devices or Meta's Quest mixed-reality headset.
The glasses include dedicated apps for taking pictures, viewing photos and accessing maps. There is also support for notifications from phone apps, including Meta's Messenger and WhatsApp.
The glasses will otherwise work similarly to the current Wayfarer-style Ray-Ban Metas, focusing on capturing images and video, accessing AI via built-in microphones and pairing with a phone for calls and music playback. The new version will continue to rely heavily on the Meta View phone app.
Like Meta's other new devices, the glasses will run a highly customized version of the Android operating system from Alphabet Inc.'s Google. The company isn't currently planning to include an on-board app store.
Users will be able to control the glasses using capacitive touch controls on the sides of the glasses, meaning they can scroll through apps or photos by swiping against the temple bars and then tapping to open something specific.
Meta also plans to begin offering a so-called neural wristband for the first time, which will allow a wearer to control the glasses with gestures, such as rotating their hand to scroll through apps and photos and pinching their finger and thumb to select items. Meta is currently planning to bundle the accessory, codenamed Ceres, in the box with the glasses
"The Hypernova glasses are still months away from being introduced, and the company's current plans could change," Bloomberg noted.
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/meta-expand-ray-ban-smart-glasses-lineup-display-enabled-model
