Asian stocks follow Wall Street lower on lack of US aid plan
Stocks are mostly lower in Asia after pandemic concerns snapped a four-day winning streak on Wall Street. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)TOKYO – Asian stocks followed Wall Street lower on Thursday as investors watched Washington for signs of whether political leaders can agree on an economic aid plan in the two weeks before the Nov. 3 presidential election. On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.2% on Wednesday as U.S. political leaders wrangled over economic aid following the expiration of extra unemployment benefits that propped up consumer spending. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 declined to 3,435.56. Industrial and health care stocks declined.
Snapchat launches political ads library as 2020 election ramps up
Carl Court/Getty Images(CNN) - Snapchat launched a political ads library as the mobile app becomes a campaign tool for 2020 candidates. The new library, available as a downloadable spreadsheet on Snap's website, makes all political and issue-based ads on Snapchat publicly available -- for the first time. Snap follows Facebook and Twitter in making political ads available in a public database. In 2017, following Facebook's disclosure of election interference on its platform, Snap conducted an audit of its ad sales during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Issue ads include abortion, immigration, the environment, education, discrimination and guns, according to Snap's political ad policies.
Snapchat unveils redesigned Spectacles sunglasses
(CNN) - Snap isn't giving up on its smart sunglasses.On Tuesday, the Snapchat parent company announced Spectacles 3, the latest version of its video-recording sunglasses now with new 3D effects and an eye-popping price tag. In a video teased on social media, Snapchat teased the new special effects users can add to their "Snaps" with Spectacles. Snap said Spectacles 3 is a limited-edition product, and it will produce less of the new sunglasses than it has in the past. Google is now focusing on offering augmented reality glasses for businesses and Apple is rumored to be developing AR glasses. "The high price and clunky user interface will make most Snapchat users simply look the other way," she said.