Social Media Platform X Back Up after Global Outage

A woman holds a smartphone displaying the logo of US social network X (former Twitter), in Nantes, western France, on November 29, 2023. (Photo by LOIC VENANCE / AFP)
A woman holds a smartphone displaying the logo of US social network X (former Twitter), in Nantes, western France, on November 29, 2023. (Photo by LOIC VENANCE / AFP)
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Social Media Platform X Back Up after Global Outage

A woman holds a smartphone displaying the logo of US social network X (former Twitter), in Nantes, western France, on November 29, 2023. (Photo by LOIC VENANCE / AFP)
A woman holds a smartphone displaying the logo of US social network X (former Twitter), in Nantes, western France, on November 29, 2023. (Photo by LOIC VENANCE / AFP)

Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, was restored globally early Thursday, with over 77,000 US users facing issues at the peak of the outage, Reuters said on Thursday.
Users in Canada, Britain, France and other countries reported issues with accessing both X and X Pro, earlier known as TweetDeck.
Over 7,000 users in Canada and Britain experienced issues with the platform, according to Downdetector data.
Downdetector tracks outages by collating status reports from several sources including users.
The cause of the outage, which began a little after 12 am ET(0500 GMT), is not yet known, and emails to X's communications and support teams bounced back.
Users on X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, experienced an inability to view posts, receiving a "Welcome to X!" message. X Pro users encountered a message that said "Waiting for posts."
The social media platform faced upheaval and uncertainty following Musk's $44 billion acquisition, leading to layoffs, including numerous engineers responsible for fixing and preventing service outages, sources have previously told Reuters.
Users took to rival Meta's app, Threads, to discuss the outage, citing difficulties in accessing posts, replies and profiles on X.



Volkswagen to Make Added Investments in US, CFO Says in Davos

A Volkswagen logo is pictured during the Volkswagen Group's annual general meeting in Berlin, Germany, May 3, 2018. (Reuters)
A Volkswagen logo is pictured during the Volkswagen Group's annual general meeting in Berlin, Germany, May 3, 2018. (Reuters)
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Volkswagen to Make Added Investments in US, CFO Says in Davos

A Volkswagen logo is pictured during the Volkswagen Group's annual general meeting in Berlin, Germany, May 3, 2018. (Reuters)
A Volkswagen logo is pictured during the Volkswagen Group's annual general meeting in Berlin, Germany, May 3, 2018. (Reuters)

Volkswagen will need to make additional investments in the United States to hit its target of doubling market share there, its CFO Arno Antlitz said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos on Thursday.

"We need additional initiatives ... to double market share, you have to be even more local," Antlitz said when asked whether Volkswagen plans to expand its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

"We are strong in Europe, but we need to do more 'value-added' in the US," added Antlitz, listing research and development as a potential area for investment.

"But we have to decide on the project first," he told the Reuters Global Markets Forum, declining to give further details.

Volkswagen has previously said it aimed to hit 10% market share in the US, a goal investors and analysts are sceptical the carmaker can achieve in a crowded market. It currently has around 4% market share, according to Reuters calculations.

The CFO declined to comment on how the carmaker would react if US President Donald Trump follows through on threats to impose tariffs on imports from Europe, Mexico and Canada, saying it was "too early".

Volkswagen's global production chain puts the carmaker directly in the line of fire for Trump's tariffs. Its Audi and Porsche brands have no US manufacturing base, its VW passenger car brand's US sales consist mainly of imports from its Mexican plant, and its battery cell plant under construction in Canada was set to deliver batteries to the United States.

The German carmaker plans to bring in range extenders, small combustion engines which charge an EV battery to extend its range, into more of its models, Antlitz said, in an attempt to appeal to customers who are hesitant to make the switch to EVs.