Mastercard Announces Plans to Offer Cryptocurrency Services

Mastercard will soon allow its banks to provide cryptocurrency services. The financial institution has partnered with cryptocurrency exchange firm Bakkt to expand crypto options across the thousands of merchants and banks under its vast payment network. Mastercard made the announcement this week at the Money20/20 fintech conference. The company’s partnership with Bakkt will enable Crypto-as-a-Service,…

Telstra Acquires Digicel Pacific Under $2.14 Billion Deal

Telstra has announced this week it will partner with the Australian Government to acquire and manage mobile network company Digicel Pacific. Digicel Pacific is currently the leading telecommunications operator in the South Pacific. Over the past 15 years Digicel Pacific has earned a place as the foremost telecommunications provider for South Pacific nations Papua New…

Sudanese Military Seizes Power, Detains Prime Minister

Growing tensions within the joint civilian-military government of Sudan erupted on Monday when the nation’s military seized control. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and his wife were detained and numerous other government officials have been arrested. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan made a public announcement on Monday, stating the power-sharing government had been dissolved and Sudan had…

Online Privacy Bill Could Change Social Media in Australia

Yesterday the Morrison Government released the exposure draft of a potentially game-changing new online privacy bill. The Online Privacy Bill would target social media platforms’ use of their users’ private information. According to the explanatory paper, the Bill was drafted in response to the 2018 Facebook/Cambridge Analytica data mining scandal. The scandal revealed that Facebook…

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Australia Lobbied Against Environmental Interests, Says Greenpeace Leak

Documents leaked to Greenpeace’s Unearthed investigations report suggest Australia may have attempted to water down findings of the upcoming report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It is typical of governments to provide feedback on IPCC reports prior to their publication. However, the recent leak to Unearthed indicates an Australian government official objected…