Storms near the African coastline are playing havoc with the key...
Category:
International News
Latest
Insurers hike rates as extreme storms like Beryl proliferate
Global insurance giant Swiss RE expects the broader sector’s return...
Rush to prevent oil spill from grounded ship off South African coast
The Panama-flagged "Ultra Galaxy" ran aground close to Doring Bay,...
A City Tailor-Made for Self-Driving Cars? Toyota Is Building One
E-palettes will run through the city using autonomous vehicle lanes, providing shared transportation, delivering packages and acting as mobile storefronts.
Beyond futuristic mobility options, the city will also feature smart homes that take out trash and restock refrigerators automatically, according to Toyota. The entire ecosystem will also be powered by hydrogen. It’s a big and ambitious bet for the automaker — although no investment figures have been disclosed, costs are likely to run upwards of a billion dollars. To help fund the project,
Toyota said last month it would sell as much as 500 billion yen ($4.6 billion) in “Woven Planet Bonds,” the biggest such issue at the time to be used in part for the new city.
Blocking Google class action would deny justice, UK court told
The case has been called “ground-breaking” and “hugely significant” by lawyers, who say it will trigger copycat claims if businesses are not fair or transparent when harvesting and using troves of personal data for commercial gain.
Claims against Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and hotels operator Marriott are among those awaiting the Supreme Court judgment.
EU calls for rethink of GMO rules for gene-edited crops
Gene-editing technology targets specific genes within an organism to promote certain characteristics or curb others, while genetic modification involves transferring a gene from one kind of organism to another.
China orders fintech firms to stick to the rules as clampdown widens
The companies will have to set up financial holding companies if they meet requirements to do so, as Alibaba’s fintech affiliate Ant Group was recently forced to do, a move that tightens capital requirements.
They should also draft “business rectification” plans to comply with regulations, cut “improper” links between their payment tools and other financial products, break “monopolies” in holding data, and prevent risks in internet mutual aid businesses.
U.S. Labor Secretary supports classifying gig workers as employees
“We are looking at it but in a lot of cases gig workers should be classified as employees… in some cases they are treated respectfully and in some cases they are not and I think it has to be consistent across the board,” Walsh told Reuters in an interview, expressing his view on the topic for the first time.
“These companies are making profits and revenue and I’m not (going to) begrudge anyone for that because that’s what we are about in America. But we also want to make sure that success trickles down to the worker,” he said.
No ransomware silver bullet, crooks out of reach
Stricken in the United States alone last year were more than 100 federal, state and municipal agencies, upwards of 500 health care centers, 1,680 educational institutions and untold thousands of businesses, according to the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft. Dollar losses are in the tens of billions. Accurate numbers are elusive. Many victims shun reporting, fearing the reputational blight.
Unemployment is falling in rich countries, but not every job is coming back
The pandemic has pushed out older employees and is deepening inequality as lower income workers feel the brunt of the crisis. Economists warn that there’s still a way to go before global employment is back to where it was before the pandemic.
Brazil pharma flags ‘retaliation’ risk over bill to drop vaccine patents
In a joint statement, five of Brazil’s leading pharmaceutical associations sided with his administration.
“The approval of a bill that allows for the weakening of intellectual property could lead to international retaliation and reduce the supply of pharmaceutical inputs.We cannot support measures that could generate more instability and scenarios that may have irreversible consequences, in the short, medium and long term for Brazil,”it said.
Germany pledges to adjust climate law after court verdict
Germany’s Constitutional Court said Thursday that the government must set clear goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions after 2030. The verdict was a victory for campaigners, who had argued that the measures put forward so far are insufficient to meet the Paris climate accord’s goal of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), ideally no more than 1.5 C (2.7 F) by 2100.
Liberty Mutual puts Australian coal project on hold
“As part of our investment processes, we’ve been evaluating alternatives for our Baralaba investment for some time and will not be submitting an environmental impact assessment for the South Mine at this stage,” a Liberty Mutual spokeswoman said. “We remain committed to collaborating with all stakeholders,” she added in emailed comments.