Month: May 2023
Dedollarisation
The dominance of the dollar and the hegemonic position of the United States have for long been intertwined. And the recent global transformations are affecting American’s ability to sustain this: the gradual movement of the centre of gravity from the West to the East, the unravelling complexities of US domestic politics, the growing muscle of
United Kingdom to ban Russian diamonds
Since Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the UK has targeted more than 1,500 individuals and entities and frozen more than £18bn assets under the sanctions regime. Russian diamond imports to the UK will be banned in the latest sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine. Imports of Russian-origin copper, aluminium and nickel will be blocked, under legislation
WhatsApp as a payment means
makes it a potential source of income for Meta, and payments are precisely one of the ways Zuckerberg’s company has chosen to achieve this. WhatsApp has found the missing piece in Stripe. and that while the trials in Brazil and India were largely based on local payment systems, With Stripe they have a very easy
New Smartphone Trojan for subscription
From time to time, malicious applications are uploaded to the Google Play Store. Among these are subscription Trojans, which are some of the trickiest. They will often go unnoticed until the victim sees that they have been charged for services they never intended to buy. This type of malware often finds its way into the
Social media Rolls Out Paid Verification
Meta followed Elon Musk’s Twitter changes that introduced the Twitter Blue premium subscription. The tech entrepreneur urged customers to subscribe to the service, granting them features like editing, posting long videos, and protection from fake accounts. In May 2023, Musk took a swipe at Facebook’s sister platform WhatsApp over privacy infringement. The Meta-owned app user
Iran’s UN Ambassador to chair 2023 Social Forum
An Iranian diplomat has been appointed to chair the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Social Forum in November 2023. UNHRC President Vaclav Balek announced the appointment of the Iranian foreign policy expert in a letter dated May 10, 2023. Ali Bahreini, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations,
Extension of Ukraine grain deal
Extending the Black Sea Grain Initiative is a win for countries in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia that rely on Ukrainian wheat, barley, vegetable oil and other affordable food products, especially as drought takes a toll. The deal helped lower prices of food commodities like wheat over the last year, but that
Listening to AI songs
In February, DJ David Guetta used the technology to add Eminem’s “voice” for one of his tracks while a faked duet between Drake and The Weeknd went viral in April. Whether AI-written music can be copyrighted is still under debate. Under English copyright law, for example, works generated by AI, can theoretically be protected. Sting
Face recognition technology to be used during Beyoncé’s concert
A live facial recognition camera works by comparing faces with a “watch list” – using Artificial Intelligence. The watchlist could be made up of people who are wanted for crimes, for example. European law-makers recently backed an effective ban on live face recognition cameras in public spaces. Thousands of fans attending the Beyoncé concert in
Montana state bans Tiktok
Montana is set to become the first US state to ban Chinese-owned media giant TikTok from personal devices. TikTok has come under scrutiny from authorities around the world over concerns that data could be passed to the Chinese government. Last month, lawmakers in Montana passed a bill banning TikTok on personal devices by a vote