Stock Markets
Twitter’s head of trust and safety says she has resigned
Twitter’s head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, told Reuters on Thursday that she has resigned from the social media company, which has faced criticism for lax protections against harmful content since billionaire Elon Musk acquired it in October.
Irwin, who joined Twitter in June 2022, took over as head of the trust and safety team in November when previous head Yoel Roth resigned. She oversaw content moderation.
An email to Twitter returned an automated reply with a poop emoji. Irwin declined further comment and Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Irwin’s departure comes as the platform has struggled to retain advertisers, with brands wary of appearing next to unsuitable content.
Musk announced earlier this month that he hired Linda Yaccarino, former NBCUniversal advertising chief, to become Twitter’s new CEO.
Fortune earlier reported that Irwin’s internal Slack account appeared to have been deactivated.
Since Musk’s acquisition, Twitter has cut costs dramatically and laid off thousands of employees, including many who had worked on efforts to prevent harmful and illegal content, protect election integrity, and surface accurate information on the site.
Musk has promoted a feature called Community Notes, which lets users add context to tweets, as a way to combat misleading information on Twitter.
The company is also facing increasing scrutiny from regulators over its moderation efforts. Twitter withdrew from a voluntary agreement with the European Union to tackle disinformation, while saying it was committed to complying with upcoming internet rules in the EU.
EU industry chief Thierry Breton warned Twitter last week that it would not be able to avoid legal obligations in the EU after quitting the voluntary agreement.
Stock Markets
Constellation nears acquisition of Calpine in major power deal, Bloomberg News
Constellation Energy (NASDAQ:) Corp. is on the verge of acquiring Calpine Corp., a move that could mark one of the most significant transactions in the power generation industry, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
Baltimore-based Constellation is negotiating with Calpine’s private equity owners to finalize the terms of a deal that could place the value of Calpine at approximately $30 billion, including the assumption of debt, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The potential acquisition, which could be announced within the next few weeks, is still subject to ongoing deliberations, report added.
Constellation’s interest in Calpine underscores the strategic moves within the power sector as companies seek to consolidate and expand their market presence.
While the exact terms of the deal are still being discussed, the acquisition’s completion would likely have considerable implications for both Constellation and the wider power generation sector.
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.
Stock Markets
EU could lift some Syria sanctions quickly, France says
By John Irish and Alexander Ratz
PARIS/BERLIN (Reuters) -European Union sanctions in Syria that obstruct the delivery of humanitarian aid and hinder the country’s recovery could be lifted swiftly, France’s foreign minister said Wednesday.
The United States on Monday issued a sanctions exemption for transactions with governing institutions in Syria for six months after the end of Bashar al-Assad’s rule to try to ease the flow of humanitarian assistance.
Speaking to France Inter radio, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the EU could take a similar decision soon without giving precise timing, while adding that lifting more political sanctions would depend on how Syria’s new leadership handled the transition.
“There are other (sanctions), which today hinder access to humanitarian aid, which hinder the recovery of the country. These could be lifted quickly,” said Barrot, who met Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday with Germany’s foreign minister.
“Finally, there are other sanctions, which we are discussing with our European partners, which could be lifted, but obviously depending on the pace at which our expectations for Syria regarding women and security are taken into account.”
Three European diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity said the EU would seek to agree to lift some sanctions by the time the bloc’s 27 foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Jan. 27.
Two of the diplomats said one aim was to facilitate financial transactions to allow funds to return to the country, ease air transport and lessen sanctions targeting the energy sector to improve power supplies. A third said Germany had put forward a position paper on the potential sanctions to be lifted.
“Due to the new situation, existing sanctions are under scrutiny. Germany has already pitched ideas on this issue,” German foreign ministry spokesperson Christian Wagner said on Wednesday.
“The focus lies on economic questions and return of funds of the Syrian diaspora,” he said.
Syria suffers from severe power shortages, with state-supplied electricity available two or three hours per day in most areas. The caretaker government says it aims to provide electricity for up to eight hours per day within two months.
The U.S. waivers allow some energy transactions and personal remittances to Syria until July 7, but do not remove any sanctions.
Stock Markets
Yellen says CFIUS made “thorough analysis” of blocked US Steel-Nippon Steel merger
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Wednesday that Nippon Steel’s blocked acquisition of U.S. Steel received a “thorough analysis” by an interagency national security review body that was sent to President Joe Biden.
Yellen, in a live interview on CNBC, said she could not discuss specifics of the review of the merger blocked by Biden last week that is now the subject of a lawsuit that alleges that the review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) was not conducted in good faith and was prejudiced by Biden.
“I think, as you know, there is ongoing litigation over this case, and as head of CFIUS, I regret there is very little substantive that I can say to you about this,” Yellen said. “Other than that, CFIUS did analyze the specifics, as it always does of this situation, and prepared a thorough analysis to go to the president.”
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