Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has ordered a 10-day block on access to X in the country, accusing owner Elon Musk of using the social network to promote hatred following the country’s disputed presidential election.
“Elon Musk is the owner of X and has violated all the rules of the social network itself,” said Mr Maduro in a speech following a march by pro-government groups, claiming Mr Musk “has incited hatred”.
The president signed a resolution that blocked the platform until “they can present their documents”.
Since the July 28 election, Mr Maduro has expressed the need to “regulate” social networks in Venezuela.
He also accused X of being used by his opponents to create political unrest.
Mr Maduro was re-elected in July, though the opposition and many in the international community have criticised the lack of transparency and accused the government of rigging the results.
Widespread protests followed the results, with several demonstrators killed. Venezuelan security forces have launched a crackdown on what authorities say are violent criminals, with Mr Maduro touting more than 2,000 arrests.
An election audit is under way, led by the country's Supreme Tribunal of Justice.
“X out for 10 days! Elon Musk out!” Mr Maduro said in his speech.
Mr Musk and the Venezuelan leader have traded barbs since the election, with the X owner retweeting accounts accusing the president of electoral fraud and engaging in drug trafficking.
“Shame on the dictator Maduro,” Mr Musk said on Monday in a post.
Responding to a video posted on X showing Mr Maduro telling him to “get out”, Mr Musk said: “We will singe his moustache from space!”
Mr Maduro, in return, challenged Mr Musk to a fist-fight.
“You want to fight?” Mr Maduro said during a speech on the day after the election. “Let's do it, Elon Musk. I'm ready. I'm not afraid of you.”
The temporary ban on X represents another swipe at Big Tech, after Mr Maduro this week urged supporters to abandon Meta-owned WhatsApp in favour of Telegram or WeChat. He said the messaging app was being used to threaten the families of soldiers and police officers.
Tips to avoid getting scammed
1) Beware of cheques presented late on Thursday
2) Visit an RTA centre to change registration only after receiving payment
3) Be aware of people asking to test drive the car alone
4) Try not to close the sale at night
5) Don't be rushed into a sale
6) Call 901 if you see any suspicious behaviour
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
Overall standings
1. Christopher Froome (GBR/Sky) 68hr 18min 36sec,
2. Fabio Aru (ITA/AST) at 0:18.
3. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) 0:23.
4. Rigoberto Uran (COL/CAN) 0:29.
5. Mikel Landa (ESP/SKY) 1:17.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tottenham v Ajax, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
Film: In Syria
Dir: Philippe Van Leeuw
Starring: Hiam Abbass, Diamand Bo Abboud, Mohsen Abbas and Juliette Navis
Verdict: Four stars
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
List of officials:
Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
