METAVERSE MISSTEPS AND MASSIVE LAYOFFS MARK META'S 2022

MARKET. APPLE MUST PAY $98 MILLION IN TAXES TO JAPAN 💴

Apple's Japanese unit will be charged 13 billion yen ($98 million) in additional taxes on wholesale sales of iPhones and other Apple devices to foreign tourists that were incorrectly exempted from excise tax, the Nikkei newspaper reported. According to the report, mass purchases of iPhones by foreign buyers were discovered in some stores in the country. Autonomous note: This is a practice that we've seen widely throughout the world. In New York and other major US cities you'll see Latin American, European, and Asian guests buying iPhones en mass for friends, relatives or perhaps shady import export businesses. Traveling to purchase certain goods is an age old method for beating tariffs and high taxation policies. For some people it is cheaper to buy a plane ticket and travel to buy a new iPhone than it is to purchase one in their home country, especially if its more than 1.

TECH. NEW TWITTER FUNCTION MAY BE NIXED 🐣

Last week, Twitter enabled a new feature that allows users to see how many times a tweet has been seen. Well, it would seem that this function was not well received by some users, triggering complaints to Elon Musk and calls for deactivation of the new feature. The tycoon responded that they will not only add the configuration requested by the Twitter community, but also improve the aesthetics.Autonomous note: Revealing the amount of views per tweet also essentially gives user a free look into advertising tools that are traditionally part of an agreement to utilize the platform for ad spends.

TRENDS. WHICH COUNTRIES IMPORT THE MOST CHAMPAGNE? 🍾

Champagne is the established celebration drinks par excellence. In 2021, 320.2 million bottles of this drink were shipped around the world. The US led the list of importing countries, with 34.1 million bottles, followed by the United Kingdom (29.9 million) and Japan (13.8 million). To celebrate the New Year this week, there will be no shortage of sparkling wine purchases.

CRYPTO. FRENCH INVESTORS SUE BINANCE, THE SAGA CONTINUES...

Binance France and its parent company Binance Holdings Limited have been sued by 15 investors in France for allegedly deceptive business practices and fraudulent concealment, local media reported in the country. The plaintiffs claim that Binance violated French laws by advertising and distributing crypto services before receiving the registration from the country's authorities. This adds to the broad speculation that Binance is not as financially sound as it claims following the withdrawal of auditors and rumormongering on social media platforms favored by Binance's leader CZ such as Twitter.

ECONOMY. CHINA TO REOPEN BORDERS TO TRAVELERS 🛫

China will stop requiring mandatory forty for travelers entering the country, as part of the lifting of the restrictions of the "covid zero" policy. As of January 8, travelers will not have to comply with the confinement that currently lasts five days, followed by three days of observation at home. China is the only great power that continues to require a quarantine for those who travel to its territory.