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SAN FRANCISCO – Twitter has dropped state-affiliated and government-funded labels from media accounts, according to a review by AFP on Friday of many high-profile pages on the platform.

Many major media outlets from Western nations, Russia, China and other countries that previously had either of those tags no longer displayed them, according to AFP.

They included the accounts of National Public Radio in the United States, Chinas official Xinhua news agency, RT from Russia, and Canadas CBC.

Twitter, acquired by the mercurial billionaire Elon Musk last year, had long labelled accounts linked to state media or government officials, especially from China and Russia.

It said that policy focused on entities that are the official voice of the nation state abroad.

Recently, however, the labels were applied to news organisations that received public funding but were not controlled by any governments.

NPR stopped using Twitter thereafter, and CBC followed suit.

Radio New Zealand also threatened to leave Twitter this week over the government-funded label, while Swedens public Sveriges Radio said it would stop tweeting.

But all the tags were gone as of Friday.

The change appeared soon after Twitter began the mass removal of its blue ticks on Thursday, a symbol that previously signified a verified account.

Mr Musk, who has seen his US$44 billion (S$59 billion) investment in the platform shrivel, changed the system to allow anyone who pays US$8 a month to get the badge.

Mr Musks tumultuous ownership of Twitter has seen thousands of staff made redundant and advertisers fleeing the platform.

Users have complained that hate speech and misinformation have proliferated, and accounts with extreme views are gaining traction due to less content moderation. AFP More On This Topic Twitter begins removing check marks from accounts Twitter is broken. Thanks, Elon

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Technology

Palo Alto Networks reports earnings beat, says founder Nir Zuk retiring from company

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Palo Alto Networks reports earnings beat, says founder Nir Zuk retiring from company

Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks, looks on during the closing bell at the Nasdaq Market in New York City on March 25, 2025.

Jeenah Moon | Reuters

Palo Alto Networks reported better-than-expected quarterly results and issued upbeat guidance for the current period. The cybersecurity software vendor said Nir Zuk, who founded the company in 2005, is retiring from his role as chief technology officer.

The stock rose about 6% in extended trading.

Here’s how the company did compared to LSEG estimates:

  • Earnings: 95 cents adjusted vs. 88 cents expected
  • Revenue: $2.54 billion vs. $2.5 billion expected.

Revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter rose 16% from about $2.2 billion last year, the company said in a statement. Net income fell to about $254 million, or 36 cents per share, from about $358 million, or 51 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

The company also issued upbeat guidance for the fiscal first quarter. Earnings per share will be between 88 cents and 90 cents, Palo Alto said, topping an 85-cents estimate from StreetAccount.

For the full year, Palo Alto said revenue will range from $10.48 billion to $10.53 billion on adjusted earnings of $3.75 to $3.85 per share. Both estimates exceeded Wall Street’s projections.

Palo Alto said that for the fiscal first quarter, remaining purchase obligations, which tracks backlog, will range between $15.4 billion and $15.5 billion, surpassing a $15.07 billion estimate.

Last month, the company announced plans to buy Israeli identity security provider CyberArk for $25 billion. It’s the largest deal Palo Alto has made since its founding, and most ambitious in an acquiring spree that ramped up after CEO Nikesh Arora took the helm of the company in 2018.

Shares sold off sharply after the news broke and have yet to recover previous highs. The stock is down about 3% this year as of Monday’s close.

“We look for great products, a team that can execute in the product, and we let them run it,” Arora told CNBC following the announcement. “This is going to be a different challenge, but we’ve done well 24 times, so I’m pretty confident that our team can handle this.”

Lee Klarich, the company’s product chief, will replace Zuk as CTO and fill his position on the board.

WATCH: Power check on Palo Alto, Viking Holdings and Estee Lauder

Power Check: Palo Alto Networks, Viking Holdings, and Estee Lauder

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Politics

US Treasury calls for public comment on GENIUS stablecoin bill

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US Treasury calls for public comment on GENIUS stablecoin bill

US Treasury calls for public comment on GENIUS stablecoin bill

The comments, due by Oct. 17, will focus on “innovative methods to detect illicit activity involving digital assets,” as required by the GENIUS Act.

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Entertainment

‘Ketamine Queen’ to plead guilty to supplying dose of drug that killed Matthew Perry

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'Ketamine Queen' to plead guilty to supplying dose of drug that killed Matthew Perry

A woman who was charged with selling Friends star Matthew Parry the dose of the drug that killed him has agreed to plead guilty.

Jasveen Sangha, known as the “Ketamine Queen”, is the fifth and final defendant to strike a plea deal with prosecutors, avoiding a trial that was set to take place in September.

The 42-year-old agreed to plead guilty to five federal criminal charges, including providing the Ketamine that led to Perry’s death, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

She agreed to plead guilty to five federal criminal charges, including providing the Ketamine that led to Perry’s death, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

Prosecutors had cast Sangha, a dual US and UK national, as a prolific drug dealer known to her customers as the “Ketamine Queen”, often using the term in court documents and even including it in the official name of the case.

Actor Matthew Perry in 2015. File pic: Reuters
Image:
Actor Matthew Perry in 2015. File pic: Reuters


She agreed to plead guilty to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury.

Sangha will officially change her plea to guilty at an upcoming hearing, where sentencing will be scheduled, prosecutors said.

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Dr. Mark Chavez, a physician from San Diego, who is charged in connection with Matthew Perry's fatal overdose. Pic: AP
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Dr. Mark Chavez, a physician from San Diego, who is charged in connection with Matthew Perry’s fatal overdose. Pic: AP

She is facing up to 45 years in prison.

Sangha and a doctor named Salvador Plasencia, who signed his own plea deal in June, had been the primary targets of the investigation.

Three other defendants – Mark Chavez, who it was claimed bought the drug from Sangha, Kenneth Iwamasa, and Erik Flemin – agreed to plead guilty last year in exchange for their cooperation, which included statements implicating Sangha and Plasencia.

Friends became one of the most popular TV shows in the world in the 1990s and 2000s
Image:
Friends became one of the most popular TV shows in the world in the 1990s and 2000s

Prosecutors allege Chavez funnelled ketamine to Plasencia, securing some of the drug from a wholesale distributor through a fraudulent prescription.

In one instance, prosecutors allege that Plasencia “charged Perry $2,000 (£1,500) a vial that cost Dr Chavez approximately $12 (£9)”.

Perry died in his home in October 2023, aged 54, after getting ketamine from his regular doctor for treatment of depression, which is an increasingly common use for the surgical anaesthetic.

The actor was taking ketamine six to eight times a day before he died, according to court documents.

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