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A wave of anger and calls for a boycott of the chain of stores LC Waikiki grew in Turkey and the Arab world in the past few weeks after the brand pulled T-shirts with Arabic writings from Turkish stores.

The chain has come under double fire for selling children’s T-shirts with Arabic writings in Turkey.

“It’s time to play” the English translation of the Arabic writing “حان وقت اللعب” is The phrase written on children’s T-shirts that caused chaos on social media in Turkey, rejecting the presence of the Arabic text. The company responded to criticism by announcing that it was withdrawing Arabic-language T-shirts from its stores in Turkey.

Many Arab and Turkish people expressed their anger on social media, using solid and firm words against the chain of stores and asking people to take serious action against LC Waikiki, wondering why the stores have withdrawn these T-shirts. At the same time, its shelves are filled with clothes written on it in other international languages that have not been removed.

Baraa Nizar Rayan tweeted: “The Turkish LC Waikiki company apologizes to the racists and withdraws from the Turkish market a shirt bearing three words in Arabic (wrongly placed) in the Turkish market. Dozens of its shirts bear English phrases, which were not withdrawn and did not apologize because of them. The company has branches in 16 Arab countries; you should boycott it And not approach it if you care about your dignity!”

Samer Tarawneh wrote: “The Turkish clothing brand LC Waikiki apologizes to its customers in Turkey after racist criticism of it for selling a product that has writtings in Arabic. We Arabs will boycott LC Waikiki, and we will not buy your products in any country until you respect our Arabic language!”

Mehmet Tasoglu tweeted: “All languages of peoples around the world must be respected, and nobody should act in a racist manner towards a particular language. I will stop buying any of LC Waikiki’s Turkish products and call on everyone to boycott them because they support racist discourse in Turkey.”

Al-Habib Al-Hashemi tweeted, “I will not buy anything from LC Waikiki stores anymore, because they considered writing in Arabic on clothes a mistake that requires an apology, concerned about the racist customers’ feelings who doesn’t have morals.”

It is known that LC Waikiki stores sell clothes in addition to household supplies, and most of the goods are printed with words in several languages, including English, Chinese, and others.

Amazon filed a lawsuit against over 10,000 Facebook group administrators who allegedly brokered fake reviews, including one called “Amazon Product Review,” which had more than 43,000 members.

The groups are set up to recruit individuals willing to post incentivized and misleading reviews on Amazon’s online stores in the US, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Japan and offer refunds or other payments to buyers willing to leave fake reviews on products like camera tripods and car stereos.

According to screenshots of Facebook messages included in the complaint, another group, called “Amazon Varified Buyer & Seller,” had more than 2,500 members complaint said administrators allegedly sought out fake reviews and offered them to Amazon sellers, charging $10 per review.

Amazon said that Facebook parent company Meta has taken down half of the more than 10,000 groups reported by Amazon and continues to investigate others.

The case represents Amazon’s latest effort to root out fake reviews on its sprawling third-party marketplace. The marketplace accounts for more than half of e-commerce sales and has helped the company generate record revenue.

Fake reviews have become more severe as Amazon’s online marketplace has grown to amass millions of third-party merchants. Bad actors often seek to boost their product ratings or search ranking by soliciting fake reviews.

.And because it’s unknown who is running the Facebook groups, Amazon said it filed the lawsuit to learn their identities, shut down the groups, and compel them to return their “ill-gotten gains from brokering fake reviews,” according to the complaint.

Amazon said it has internal teams that scope out fake review purveyors. The teams work with Facebook to close the groups. “Nonetheless, new Facebook groups offering fake reviews continue to appear,” the complaint states.

Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon’s vice president of selling partner services, said, “Our teams stop millions of suspicious reviews before customers ever see them, and this lawsuit goes a step further to uncover perpetrators operating on social media,”

Added, “Proactive legal action targeting bad actors is one of many ways we protect customers by holding bad actors accountable.”

Amazon has previously said it uses a combination of machine-learning tools and human moderators to try to curb fake reviews. It’s also asked other social media companies to step in and assist, as fake review communities have flourished in Facebook groups and messaging apps like Telegram, WhatsApp, and WeChat.

It’s known that Amazon introduced reviews in 1995 to help customers make more informed shopping decisions.

Tribal, a global fintech company, introduced its expense management platform giving small, medium, and micro enterprises in the MENA region more control over their spending.

Tribal is a payment and financing platform that uses the latest emerging technologies to provide small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in emerging markets with better access to financial services.

Tribal offers access to modern payment methods like multi-currency physical and ​virtual business credit cards, local and international wires, short-term financing, and a powerful ​spend management platform​ to track and control their expenses—all in one interface.

According to a study by the International Monetary Fund, SMMEs, including startups, account for over 90% of all businesses in the MENA region. Many of these organizations are looking to adopt new technologies and digitize to effectively adapt to the realities of the post-pandemic world and current macroeconomic challenges.

Digitization and automating financial operations can help SMMEs avoid financial risks, manage resources efficiently, and make real-time decisions.

By harnessing digital tools, finance teams can control and monitor the use of resources in real-time, informing decision-making and allowing them to adapt to changing business conditions in real-time.

According to Tribal, organizations using its digital platform prepared more internal and real-time financial reports in May 2022. The development of these reports is one of the top three activities carried out by Tribal clients, along with bank transfers and credit card management.

Amira Fadel, Regional Manager for Tribal MENA, said: “An instrumental factor in the growth of SMMEs is the control and monitoring expenses. By automating these processes and analyzing data, digital platforms specialized in these areas can greatly improve companies because they provide finance teams with a clear picture of expenditures, allowing them to focus on providing value and creating growth.”

70% of SMMEs have accelerated the use of digital technologies since the pandemic – According to a December 2021 study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Effectively monitoring and controlling expenses is integral to a digital transformation strategy as it allows companies to reduce risks and avoid the complications that often come with traditional expense control, such as manual errors, false invoices, and improper use of funds.

However, it can be challenging for many startups to access sophisticated digital solutions through traditional banking because they do not meet the required requirements or do not find solutions tailored to their needs. Fintech companies have emerged as an alternative to meet the unique digital and financial needs of startups and SMMEs.

Fadel added: “Tribal’s expense control platform makes it possible to maximize efficient use of resources by assigning credit limits for each employee or team in a company. Also, through its value offer, the company offers the possibility for companies to have an unlimited number of corporate credit cards.”

By bringing these digital solutions for expense control to startups and SMMEs, Tribal is supporting economic growth in the region by helping companies innovate, integrate, and accelerate into the future. Tribal’s vision is to streamline all financial management processes onto one unified platform to create the most efficient and comprehensive solution for its clients.

Tribal has raised funding from SoftBank Latin America Fund, QED Investors, BECO Capital, Stellar Development Foundation, Coinbase Ventures, and additional crypto and strategic investors. The company is also among an elite group chosen as part of the Visa FinTech Fast Track program. 

From the first few months of 2022 until now, a wave of layoffs has been sweeping the United States of America. The first question comes to our mind is, “Who’s making cuts?”.

In this article, we’ve summed up the US firms that announced cuts. But first, let’s dig deeper into the reasons why.

Trust Smart Solutions (TSS) teams up with Payscript to enable Crypto payment acceptance on the point of Sales Terminals in the Middle East region.

Trust Smart Solutions is a regional payment technology provider, enabling acquirers, processors, and banks with payment acceptance infrastructure. It’s also a regional channel partner with PAX Technology for supplying PAX POS terminals and other solutions.

Payscript is an all-inclusive Crypto solutions-as-a-service platform; it allows users to make crypto payments through different channels, including sending and receiving payments, accepting payments on E-commerce stores and online websites, and physical point-of-sale transactions in retail stores and cafes.

This collaboration will expedite intersectional user adoption among those seeking crypto payment solutions and open opportunities for various new offerings.

Tamim Halawani, Deputy General Manager of Trust Smart Solutions, said, “Crypto is at the forefront of payment innovation globally, addressing high-impact use cases across the merchant-consumer ecosystem. We firmly believe that our partnership with Payscript will democratize access to the crypto universe and drive seamless adoption across various payment channels.”

Nadeem Shaikh, CEO of Payscript, said, “Cryptography is going to be the future of money, whether it’s Bitcoin or Stable Coin or Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) still needs to be seen, but it’s inevitable. Crypto provides a better, transparent, secure framework for managing money. Our partnership with Trust Smart Solutions will enable merchants across the Middle East and North Africa to accept crypto payments on the point-of-sale terminals directly in addition to cards! Isn’t that amazing? I am super excited about the partnership and the opportunities lying ahead”.

Careem has acquired the Dubai-based money transfer platform Denarii for an undisclosed amount, and some key members of the Denarii team will also be joining Careem, according to a press release.

Founded in 2019 by Jon Santillan and Walfrido Perez, Denarii’s proprietary money transfer technology uses a single API call to enable fintechs like Careem Pay to facilitate quick and affordable international money transfers. Denarii also helps businesses build secure profit centers by automating accounts payable and B2B payments.

Careem Pay will use Denarii’s money transfer technology to connect customers and Captains with remittance services provided by licensed providers. It also offers a digital wallet that stores real money for customers in the UAE and a peer-to-peer (P2P) transfer product that enables customers to send, request, and receive money using a phone number, personal QR code, or personal payment link.

Seamless access to international remittance services will round out Careem Pay’s payment offering for customers and Captains to address their everyday financial needs.

“We’re thrilled to acquire the assets of Denarii, a startup that is transforming the way people move money across the world. Denarii’s innovative API will accelerate our journey to offering simple and affordable international remittance services, adding to the wide variety of services already available through Careem Pay.” Mudassir Sheikha, CEO and co-founder of Careem commented.

Jon Edward Santillan, CEO and co-founder of Denarii, said: “Careem’s large network of customers, Captains and merchants, and a decade of payments processing experience will enable us to increase the impact of the money transfer technology we built through Denarii. Careem has done more than any regional startup to simplify and improve lives, and we’re excited to join the team to increase economic freedom for millions of people.”

Careem has a significant presence in countries connecting some of the most active remittance corridors in the world, such as the UAE, KSA, and Pakistan. Careem Pay simplifies payment experiences by making it easier for customers, Captains, and merchants to hold and transfer money, pay bills, and complete and accept payments on and beyond the super App.

Careem Super App in the UAE offers more than a dozen services, including ride-hailing, food and grocery delivery, micro-mobility, digital financial services, and partner services, including car rental, home cleaning, and PCR testing.

It is worth mentioning that Careem was established In March 2012 in Dubai and still operates in over 100 cities, covering 12 countries across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia.

As the layoff wave continues to hit US jobs, Tesla laid off 200 workers on its Autopilot team as the automotive company shuttered its site in California.

Most of the affected positions were hourly-paid workers, even though Tesla previously disclosed that it’s planning to reduce salaried positions and boost hourly ones, as Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk outlined last week.

According to Bloomberg, Tesla’s shares fell 3.8% at 9:41 a.m. Wednesday in New York. The stock tumbled 34% this year through Tuesday’s close, compared with a 20% decline in the SP 500 Index.

Teams at the San Mateo office were tasked with evaluating customer vehicle data related to the Autopilot driver-assistance features and performing so-called data labeling. A Bloomberg source noted that many of the staff were data annotation specialists, all of whom are hourly.

Before the cuts, the office had about 350 employees, some of whom were already transferred to a nearby facility recently. However, as Bloomberg reported, Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The company, now based in Austin, Texas, had grown to about 100,000 employees globally as it built new factories in Austin and Berlin.

Although Tesla’s overall headcount is going higher in a year, Musk surprisingly said that layoffs would be necessary for an increasingly unstable economic environment and that about 10% of salaried employees would lose their jobs over the next three months, he clarified in a subsequent interview with Bloomberg.

Google Hangouts is officially shutting down in November 2022. Google is prompting users who still use the Hangouts mobile app to migrate to Chat before it retires this year.

The company will start prompting Gmail hangouts users on the web to switch to Chat beginning in July.

Google pointed out that Hangouts will remain usable on its desktop site until November, and it will warn users “at least one month” in advance before it starts pointing the Hangouts site to Chat.

Earlier this month, Google discontinued GChat (or Google Talk), which Hangouts was initially supposed to be its successor, for good.

In 2018, the company first gave a clue in its plans to transition users from Hangouts to Chat while making it free for all users in 2020.

If you’re a Hangouts user, Google should automatically transfer your existing conversations to Chat. The company also allows you to use its Takeout service to download a copy of your Hangouts data before it’s officially discontinued comes November.

Google said it’s rolling out a few new features to tempt users to switch, including making direct calls, creating in-line threads in Spaces (the rebrand of Rooms), and sharing and viewing multiple images.