Australia's green energy push, Pacific ties face setback from COP31 impasse
Australia’s ambition to host the COP31 climate summit is under serious threat as a fierce competition with Türkiye heats up....
YouTube has introduced a new subscription tier, Premium Lite, which offers an ad-free viewing experience on most videos for $8 per month in the United States, according to company sources.
The new plan, currently rolling out in the U.S., is designed for users who prefer uninterrupted streaming without the added features of the full YouTube Premium package.
Under Premium Lite, viewers will be able to enjoy content such as podcasts, gaming, fashion, beauty, and news without ads. However, music content is treated differently; ads will continue to appear on music and music videos, as well as on YouTube Shorts, because YouTube Music is included only with the full Premium service. Additionally, features like downloads and background play will not be available to Premium Lite subscribers, and users may still encounter ads while browsing and searching on the platform.
"We’ve heard from our users that many want an ad-free, uninterrupted streaming experience without needing the full music service," said YouTube’s chief product officer, Johanna Voolich, in a video announcement. "Premium Lite gives those viewers more choice, while also unlocking a new revenue stream for our creators."
The rollout of Premium Lite marks an expansion of YouTube’s efforts to offer more flexible subscription options. The service is part of a pilot program that began testing lower-cost subscriptions in several markets last October 2024. In those trials, YouTube provided most content without ads, except for certain categories like music content and Shorts, where non-interruptive ads were shown.
Subscribers in YouTube’s pilot markets in Australia, Germany, and Thailand will also gain access to Premium Lite in the coming weeks, with plans to expand the tier to additional countries later this year. The platform has indicated that it will continue to explore new ways to enhance the subscription experience for its users.
Two earthquakes centered in Cyprus on Wednesday were felt across northern and central regions of Israel, raising concerns among residents in both countries. The first tremor occurred at 11:31 a.m., with the epicenter near Paphos, Cyprus, at a depth of 21 kilometers.
Mali's Prime Minister, General Abdoulaye Maiga, sharply criticised France and Algeria on Tuesday (11 November) for allegedly supporting terrorist groups operating in the Sahel region. His comments came during the opening of the Bamako Military Exhibition (BAMEX).
Streets and homes in Taiwan's Yilan County were left inundated with mud and rubble on Wednesday (12 November) after floodwaters swept through residential areas, forcing residents to wade through puddles of water and clear debris from damaged homes.
Russia has expressed its readiness to resume peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, according to a statement by a Russian foreign ministry official, Alexei Polishchuk, quoted by the state news agency TASS on Wednesday.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has urged the U.S. to avoid actions that could intensify the war in Ukraine, citing President Donald Trump’s past support for dialogue.
Audi has unveiled the car that marks its first major step into Formula One. It presented the 2026 challenger at a launch event in Munich attended by drivers, team leaders and senior company executives.
Billionaire Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin has launched NASA’s twin ESCAPADE satellites to Mars on Sunday, marking the second flight of its New Glenn rocket, a mission seen as a crucial test of the company’s reusability ambitions and a fresh challenge to Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
China has announced exemptions to its export controls on Nexperia chips intended for civilian use, the commerce ministry said on Sunday, a move aimed at easing supply shortages affecting carmakers and automotive suppliers.
Nobel Prize-winning scientist James Watson, who co-discovered the DNA double-helix structure, has died at 97, his former research lab confirmed.
As competition over artificial intelligence intensifies, U.S. tech leaders are warning that China’s rapid state-backed progress could soon outpace the West, raising concerns that America is losing its technological edge.
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