Author: Steven Sahiounie

Respiratory viruses are sending people to the hospital and looming over a season filled with indoor family gatherings. Health leaders are warning of a “perfect storm” of respiratory viruses occurring this holiday season, with the U.S. experiencing increased flu, RSV and COVID-19 activity. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Monday that the country has seen higher levels of both the flu and RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, than is typical for this time of year. Speaking with reporters, Walensky said 47 jurisdictions throughout the U.S. have reported “high” or “very high” levels of flu-like illness, compared with 36 jurisdictions reporting such levels the…

The number of accounts blocked in October was about 13% less than the 26.85 lakh accounts the messaging platform banned in September. Instant messaging platform WhatsApp on Wednesday said it banned 23.24 lakh accounts in India in October, including 8.11 lakh accounts which were barred proactively before being flagged by users. The number of accounts blocked in October was about 13 per cent less than the 26.85 lakh accounts the messaging platform banned in September. “Between 1 Oct, 2022 and 31 Oct, 2022, 2,324,000 WhatsApp accounts were banned. 811,000 of these accounts were proactively banned, before any reports from users.…

If you design technology with disabled people in mind, you design technology better for everyone. This was the sentiment from Google as it opened its first UK research and development centre dedicated to making tech to help people with disabilities. The Royal National Institute of Blind People, the Royal National Institute for Deaf People and disability charity Everyone Can have worked with Google on developing the centre in London. It is the company’s first accessibility-focused site outside the US. BBC technology reporter Paul Carter said the tech being developed by Google had the “potential to be significant” for disabled people.…

An ex-boyfriend of one of the women who filed the lawsuit planted an AirTag in the wheel well of her car and was able to find out where she had moved to avoid his harassment. Apple Inc. was sued by two women who say its AirTag devices make it easy for stalkers to track and terrorize victims.The inexpensive devices, about the size of a half-dollar coin, are intended to be slipped into or attached to personal possessions, like backpacks or keys, to help owners locate them. But privacy advocates have warned — and police reports have verified — that AirTags…

Meta has threatened to remove news content from Facebook in the US. It objects to a new law that would give news organisations greater power to negotiate fees for content shared on Facebook. A similar law, passed in Australia, led to news on Facebook being briefly suspended last year. Meta claims their platform, in fact, provides increased traffic to struggling news outlets. It says publishers put their content on Facebook because “it benefits their bottom line.” The legislation, known as the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) was introduced in Congress by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and has bipartisan support. It…

The government’s economic cluster on Monday downgraded its growth outlook for the coming year, citing external headwinds such as the slowdown in major advanced economies. In a press conference in Manila, DBCC chairperson and Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the inter-agency body now expects economic growth between 6.0% to 7.0% in 2023, lower than the earlier projected 6.5% to 8.0%. The DBCC maintained its forecast range of 6.5% to 7.5% for 2022, with the third-quarter growth recorded at 7.6%, faster than the upwardly adjusted 7.5% in the previous quarter. “This momentum is expected to slightly decelerate in 2023 and range from…

 On 6 and 7 December 2022, the annual World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF) will kick off in Kigali, Rwanda. As part of the Forum’s programme, the African Circular Economy Network (ACEN) is organising five African Studios. These studios are extensions of the main Forum and will live-stream some sessions with networking events and other engaging activities. One of the in-person Studios will take place in Cape Town. Held for the very first time in the global south, this annual event aims to showcase the world’s leading circular-economy solutions.The WCEF belief is that Africa could well be poised to lead the world towards this new,…

Rejoining single market would create even more uncertainty, says Labour leader, who instead wants a ‘better Brexit’ Rejoining the EU’s single market would not boost UK economic growth, Keir Starmer has argued, saying it would create “years of uncertainty” for UK businesses, which would be worse than the closer trade links that would come. In another sign of Labour’s extreme reluctance to be portrayed as seeking to dismantle or reverse Brexit, Starmer said that as prime minister he would instead seek to improve the post-departure deal agreed by Boris Johnson. Asked if he thought single market membership would benefit UK growth, the Labour leader…

Robert Kiyosaki has urged investors to dump their paper assets and to consider buying physical gold. The economy today is the “biggest bubble in world history,” renowned writer and economist Robert Kiyosaki has warned. The co-author of the best-selling personal finance book ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ has urged investors to dump their paper assets. This year has brought little cheer for most investors as financial markets were exposed to high volatility, with stocks and bonds tumbling and even broad benchmark Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) going deep in the red. While a host of financial assets have fallen in price amid the current market…

Companies like Facebook and Google have become “arms of the Democratic Party,” Kevin McCarthy said. The Republican Party must be ready to investigate some of the US’ largest tech firms, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has said, in response to recently released documents showing that Twitter suppressed information damaging to Joe Biden in 2020. McCarthy said on Saturday that the incoming Republican majority “will get answers for the American people” about Twitter’s efforts to “silence the truth about Hunter Biden’s laptop just days before the 2020 presidential election.” This will happen when the GOP takes back control of the House of Representatives in January, McCarthy stressed. …