Airbnb guests will no longer have to strip beds, wash dishes or remove rubbish when checking out, under new rules to be introduced next month.

The short-term rental platform announced the changes on its website, which applies to reservations booked on or after November 20. The changes come amid complaints from some travellers about being charged cleaning fees — which can cost hundreds of dollars — while also being expected to complete a list of chores, before leaving a property. While cleaning fees would not be abolished completely, hosts could not require guests to perform tasks that took “significant time and effort or would normally be done by a cleaner”.

The changes apply to Airbnb reservations covered by the platform’s global policy, including bookings in Australia.

Hosts will still be able to set house rules, including check-in and check-out times, limits on the number of guests, smoking restrictions, pet rules and quiet hours. Airbnb said guests were still expected to leave properties in a reasonable condition and may be held responsible for damage or excessive cleaning caused by their stay.

The changes have sparked anger among hosts, with some warning the crackdown could drive up costs and push smaller operators off the platform. A host from South Carolina in the US said the changes failed to recognise that many hosts were opening their own homes to guests. Some accused Airbnb management of being “so out of touch with the people cleaning vacation rentals”, while others said they had “never been so upset by a policy change”.

A judge has ordered Meta to pay New Mexico $US25 billion ($35.6 billion) after a jury found the company liable for deceiving users about privacy on Facebook, marking the biggest fine ever against the tech giant.

The case was brought after political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica harvested Facebook data to generate targeted political ads during the 2016 election season.

Facebook’s deception was intentional and executives consistently misled users about how the platform worked, state District Court Judge Francis J Mathew wrote in his ruling on Wednesday local time. Jurors in September found Meta liable for more than 43 million violations of New Mexico consumer protection laws for making misleading public statements about how it handled users’ personal data. Meta also reported on Wednesday better-than-expected quarterly revenue of $US64.6 billion ($92 billion), ahead of Wall Street estimates of $US63.37 billion ($90.32 billion).

In one of the tech giant’s few wins, jurors found that the state did not prove Facebook made false claims about removing harmful content, including misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. During a video deposition, Zuckerberg also denied the state’s claims that Facebook profited off harmful content. Attorneys for the company said it had changed its policies since the lawsuit was filed in 2021 and that it caught and removed an estimated 99 per cent of the content that violates its standards.

Growing safety concerns have emerged surrounding Japan’s traditional festivals following a series of fatal accidents involving heavy festival floats.

Akihiro Nabae, the 62-year-old deputy mayor of Saijo in western Japan, tragically died on Saturday after becoming trapped beneath a giant float during an autumn festival. This incident occurred just days after two men were killed in similar accidents at a Danjiri festival in Osaka prefecture, where heavy wooden floats toppled while being pulled at high speeds around sharp corners. These consecutive tragedies have sparked urgent calls to review safety measures for centuries-old cultural events that heavily feature massive, fast-moving structures.

Details from police and media reports reveal that the massive wooden structures, which can weigh up to four tonnes, pose extreme hazards during tight maneuverings known as yarimawashi—a highlight where hundreds of men pull floats rapidly around narrow street corners. In Nabae’s case, eleven 3-tonne floats were lined up side-by-side during the Edo-period historical festival when he became trapped underneath. Saijo Mayor Mitsuyoshi Ochi expressed shock and grief over the loss of his colleague just as they were establishing a new city administration.

These incidents, alongside a February tragedy in Okayama where two participants died in a crowd crush at the annual “Naked Man Festival,” have intensified pressure on authorities to implement stricter crowd management and safety protocols to protect both official organizers and traditional festival participants.