Download the app and get the day’s most important stories.
Download the app and get the day’s most important stories.
Amazon’s profit in the first three months of 2021 came in at $8.1bn – more than triple what it was in the same period last year. Since the pandemic began, the business has posted four consecutive record quarterly profits, attracted more than 200 million Prime loyalty subscribers, and recruited more than 500,000 employees to keep up with the demand.
A mammoth cargo ship that blocked the Suez Canal last month is being held in the waterway as authorities pursue a $916 million compensation claim against its owner, according to the vessel’s insurer. The UK Club, an insurer for the Ever Given, said in a statement Tuesday that the ship’s Japanese owners received a claim from the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), which runs the canal, on April 7.
Retail giants Nike and H&M are facing a backlash in China after they expressed concern about the alleged use of forced Uighur labor in the production of Xinjiang cotton. Many Chinese have called for boycotts, celebrities have cut ties, and e-commerce platforms have dropped H&M. It comes as several Western countries imposed sanctions on China this week.
Twitter boss Jack Dorsey has sold his first tweet from over a decade ago in the form of a unique digital asset for slightly more than $2.9m. The tweet was sold on Monday as a non-fungible token (NFT) – a kind of digital certificate that has exploded in popularity so far in 2021. The token is a digital seal of authenticity that confirms an item is one of a kind and real.
An American father and son have been handed over to Japanese authorities for allegedly helping former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn flee the country. The two were charged last year with helping Mr Ghosn flee Japan, hidden in a box and on a private jet. Mr Ghosn escaped to his childhood home, Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with Japan.
Twitter has posted record revenues for the last quarter of 2020, capping off what its chief executive said was “an extraordinary year” for the platform. The social messaging platform said revenue grew 28% to $1.29bn compared to the last quarter of 2019. In January, Twitter banned Donald Trump from the platform which analysts felt could have an impact this quarter.
The price of silver hit an a eight-year high on Monday, amid social media calls to buy the metal and emulate the trading frenzy that surrounded US games retailer GameStop last week. Shares in a handful of smaller Australian silver miners surged as small-time traders bought en masse. Coin-selling websites also reported unprecedented demand and flagged delays in delivering silver.
Amazon has extended an offer to President Joe Biden to assist with the national distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, a move that could expedite the federal effort to combat the pandemic. Dave Clark, the CEO of Amazon’s consumer business, and one of the company’s highest-ranking executives, sent a letter to the president shortly after the inauguration Wednesday.
Samsung heir Lee Jae Yong has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison by a high court in South Korea. The bribery case is a retrial of an earlier one involving the country’s former President Park Geun-hye, who was also jailed for bribery and corruption. Lee has been the de facto head of Samsung Electronics since 2014.
Republicans in the US Congress are facing a backlash from businesses over last week’s violence in Washington. At least a dozen major US companies have said they would cut off campaign contributions to those who voted to challenge Joe Biden’s victory. They join a growing list including hotel giant Marriott, Citibank and major technology firms like Google.