Month: August 2022
Caretaker governments
Interim governments are all the rage. They can be found in Afghanistan, Britain, Bulgaria, Israel and Italy. In democratic systems, administrations of this kind usually appear after an elected government has collapsed. Their task is to ensure that the seats around the cabinet table are kept warm until a new government is formed, normally after
War in Ukraine: Germany has woken up
Mr Putin’s warmongering may prove to be the catalyst that turns Germany into his own nightmare: a stronger, bolder, more determined leader of a more united Europe. Germany badly needed that prod. Complacent and just a little self-satisfied, it was late to realise how fast the world was changing around it. Now, however, a remarkable
war between America and China over Taiwan
War does not look imminent, but the uneasy peace that has held for more than six decades is fragile. That much is clear from the crisis triggered this month by a visit to Taiwan by the speaker of America’s House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. She was well within her rights, but her trip was provocative.
Google to tackle misinformation online
Google on Thursday unveiled a handful of new features aimed at combating these kinds of falsehoods on its search engine, one of the most widely used information tools on the planet. Far from its origins as a simple website that listed 10 links as search results, Google is now a sprawling and cluttered site that
Legalized sports gambling in Massachusetts
Sports bettors in Massachusetts will soon be able to ditch their local bookie for a legal sportsbook. Governor Charlie Baker signed the Massachusetts Sports Wagering Act into law on Wednesday, making the Bay State the 31st in the nation to legalize sports gambling. The Massachusetts Sports Wagering Act was not a sure bet this year.
Disney overtakes Netflix for paid subscribers
Netflix lost nearly one million accounts in the most recent quarter, putting its subscriber total at 220.67 million. Disney will launch a new ad-supported streaming service in the US in December, as it overtakes Netflix in the race for paid subscribers. The firm reported 221.1 million subscribers across its three streaming platforms at the start
Meta chatbot “explots” people
Meta has been criticised for not doing enough to prevent disinformation and hate speech being spread on its platforms. Last year a former employee, Frances Haugen, accused the company of putting profits ahead of online safety. The company owns some of the largest social media companies and messaging apps in the world, including Facebook, Facebook
Elon Musk Twitter lawsuit
The multi-billionaire is currently embroiled in a legal battle with the social media platform after saying last month he would pull out of a deal to buy it. In July, Mr Musk said he planned to walk away from his bid to buy Twitter, prompting the company to sue him. The world’s richest person has
OnlyFans as a second job
The campaign group is warning people who post sexually explicit content online that they could be opening themselves up to long hours, a risk of abuse and even stalking. With prices rising at their highest rate in 40 years, many people have taken up a second or third job to make ends meet.The need to
Loving robots
After decades of playing the villain in science fiction, robots are now part of life in many towns and people haven’t just embraced them, they rush to assist them. The robots are battery-powered, summoned and opened by an app, equipped with sensors to detect pedestrians and armed with a speaker. This allows a remote human