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Russia on Wednesday became the latest country to restrict some WhatsApp calls, accusing the Meta-owned platform of failing to share information in fraud and terrorism cases. Here is a list of nations restricting WhatsApp: FULLY BLOCKED China started blocking WhatsApp in 2017, using its so-called Great Firewall to filter and block traffic with overseas servers. Chinese users rely on an alternative called WeChat. WhatsApp is generally inaccessible in North Korea which has blocked Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other platforms since 2016. North Korea has one of the world’s most strictly controlled internet systems. PARTIAL BLOCK Russia started restricting WhatsApp from Wednesday. It had clashed with foreign tech platforms for several years over content and data storage. United Arab Emirates (UAE) has banned most applications using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services free internet-to-internet voice and video calls starting in 2017. However text messaging is allowed. In 2020, authorities allowed people to make calls over WhatsApp and other internet apps on the grounds of the Expo Dubai world fair. Qatar has not explicitly banned WhatsApp but has put restrictions on VoIP calls. Like UAE, WhatsApp messaging still works. Egypt does not have a blanket ban on calls over WhatsApp but has tried to throttle such communications. Jordan also has restrictions on making VoIP calls. INTERMITTENT BANS Iran last year lifted a ban on WhatsApp as a first step to scaling back internet restrictions following years of curbing access. Turkey currently has no ban on WhatsApp, but it has in the past blocked the platform over domestic issues. Uganda banned WhatsApp and other social media platforms in 2021 as a retaliation for Facebook blocking some pro-government accounts. It currently does not have a ban. Cuba temporarily restricted access to social media and messaging platforms including Facebook and WhatsApp in 2021. WhatsApp has been banned from all U.S. House of Representatives devices in June, according to a memo sent to all House staff. Supantha Mukherjee, Reuters
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E-Commerce
Of all the things you dont want to find in a jar of instant coffee, glass is pretty high on the list. But that scenario became more than hypothetical after a customer alerted Dollar General employees to a potential issue in their eight-ounce instant coffee. Now, Dollar General has issued a recall of three lots of the powdered drink due to the possibility of glass fragments. The recall impacts retailer’s private label brand Clover Valley. Dollar General is actively investigating the source of the glass contamination and apologizes for any inconvenience caused by this product issue, the chain said in a statement. The recall was also announced by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Heres everything you need to know about identifying the affected items. Which products are affected? The recalled coffee is the Clover Valley brands eight-ounce instant coffee. It has a package UPC of 876941004069 and includes the following three lots: L-5163: Best by December 13, 2026 L-5164: Best by December 13, 2026 L-5165: Best by December 14, 2026 You can find this information on the neck of the jar. An image of the product can be found on the FDA’s website. Where and when was the product sold? The coffee was exclusively sold in Dollar General retail stores between July 9 and 21, 2025, and across almost every state. Heres a complete list of the states where Dollar General has recalled its eight-ounce Clover Valley Instant Coffee: Alabama Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Iowa Idaho Illinois Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Massachusetts Maryland Maine Michigan Minnesota Missouri Mississippi Montana North Carolina North Dakota Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico Nevada New York Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Vermont Washington Wisconsin West Virginia Wyoming If your imagination isnt detailed enough, Dollar General provides a graphic breakdown in its announcement of what can happen if you ingest glass. (Well leave reading that to your discretion.) The company says it hasnt received any reports of injuries or illnesses. What should I do if I have this product? Don’t drink it. Dollar General is offering a refund for anyone who bought the instant coffee. You can reach out for one through email at customercare@dollargeneral.com. The company can also process a refund over the phone every day from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. at 1-888-309-9030. Has the recall impacted Dollar General’s stock? Investors appear to have shrugged off news of the recall to the extent that they know about it. Shares of Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) are up 2.47% this week as of Wednesdays closing bell. In June, the company raised its financial guidance for its fiscal year 2025.
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E-Commerce
Markets are largely unchanged early Thursday ahead of a key meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin this week.Futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq all ticked down less than 0.1% before the opening bell.Shares of Deere & Co. slid 7.5% after the heavy equipment manufacturer cut its forecast despite beating Wall Street’s third-quarter sales and profit targets. Deere’s sales and profit fell significantly from a year ago and the company cited “near-term uncertainty” in its earnings release. Deere said that it has been focusing on inventory management with inventories remaining high.Tapestry, the parent of Kate Spade and Coach, saw its shares tumble more than 6% on a weak outlook. The company said it expects a tiny increase in sales for the upcoming year, while forecasting a 60-cents-per-share hit on profit due to tariffs. Tapestry says that about 70% of its products are made in Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines.Later Thursday, the government will release its report on inflation at the wholesale level, before products reach consumers. Economists expect it to show inflation ticked up to 2.4% in July from 2.3% in June.The U.S. also releases its weekly report on applications for jobless benefits, which serves as a proxy for U.S. layoffs.On Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson outside Anchorage, Putin and Trump as well as a meeting of the delegations, will convene a meeting.In Europe at midday, Britain’s FTSE 100 was unchanged after the government reported that the UK economy grew at a faster than expected 1.2% annual pace in the last quarter. In quarterly terms, the economy grew 0.3%, slowing from a 0.7% expansion in January-March.Germany’s DAX rose 0.6% and the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.5%.Europe is bracing for Trump’s encounter with Putin, though the U.S. president has said he will prioritize trying to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine when he meets with Putin on Friday in Anchorage.The Trump-Putin meeting could have major implications for energy markets, potentially leading to an easing of sanctions against Moscow, or an escalation if no progress is made on ending the war in Ukraine.Early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude rose 23 cents to $62.88 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 25 cents to $65.88 per barrel.During Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell nearly 1.5% to 42,649.26 as investors sold to lock in recent gains that have taken the benchmark to all-time records.The Japanese yen rose against the dollar after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with Bloomberg that Japan was “behind the curve” in monetary tightening. He was referring to the slow pace of increases in Japan’s near-zero interest rates.Low interest rates tend to make the yen weaker against the dollar, giving Japanese exporters a cost advantage in overseas sales.The dollar fell to 146.53 Japanese yen Thursday, down from 147.39 yen. The euro slid to $1.1691 from $1.1705.In Chinese markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.4% to 25,519.32, while the Shanghai composite index slid 0.5% to 3,666.44.South Korea’s Kospi rose less than 0.1% to 3,225.66.In Australia, the S&P ASX 200 index added 0.5% to 8,873.80.Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.5% and India’s Sensex edged 0.2% higher.Bitcoin briefly rose more than 3% to a new record of over $123,000, according to CoinDesk. It later fell back below $121,000. Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
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