Goldman Sachs reviews role in Chinese tech firm Megvii
By: BBC News October 9, 2019 Goldman Sachs will review its involvement in the planned stock market listing of Chinese artificial intelligence firm Megvii. The US has blacklisted the company, alleging it is “implicated” in the repression of Muslim minorities. Megvii, best known for its facial recognition algorithms, is reportedly seeking a valuation of up to […]
From Cholera to Coronavirus
By: TALKING POLITICS March 31, 2020 David talks to the historian Richard Evans about the history of cholera epidemics in the 19th century and what they can teach us for today. How did contemporaries understand the spread of the disease? What impact did it have on growing demands for democracy? And who tended to get […]
Facebook Pledges $100 Million To Aid News Outlets Hit Hard By Pandemic
By: National Public Radio March 30, 2020 Facebook says it’s dedicating $100 million to prop up news organizations pummeled by the financial effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Just two weeks ago, the company announced it would devote $1 million to aid local newsrooms in the U.S. and Canada covering the crisis. It turns out, Facebook was already thinking about […]
Countries are using apps and data networks to keep tabs on the pandemic
By: The Economist March 26, 2020 Having been quarantined at his parents’ house in the Hebei province in northern China for a month, Elvis Liu arrived back home in Hong Kong on February 23rd. Border officials told him to add their office’s number to his WhatsApp contacts and to fix the app’s location-sharing setting to “always […]
Police in California city consider new ways to use drones during coronavirus outbreak
By: Fox News March 24, 2020 A police department in California has been considering new ways of using its drones during the coronavirus outbreak, including a potential plan to communicate with “vulnerable” populations such as the homeless. The Chula Vista Police Department, located just south of San Diego near the California-Mexico border, recently purchased two $11,000 drones — doubling its fleet — that […]
How corporate leaders should act in a crisis
By: Economist March 21, 2020 When things are going well, it is pretty easy being a business leader. The economy is booming, orders are rolling in and there are no tricky decisions to make about staff or budgets. It is still possible to screw things up, but a rising tide tends to lift all yachts. It […]
Banks warned off buybacks, dividend hikes as capital buffer loosened for crisis
By: Financial Post March 15, 2020 Ottawa is loosening capital requirements for Canada’s biggest banks, but asking lenders not to buy back shares or hike dividends with the extra cash, as the federal government and regulators moved Friday to bolster the financial system. Finance Minister Bill Morneau, Superintendent of Financial Institutions Jeremy Rudin and Bank […]
Covid-19 could cause permanent shift towards home working
By: The Guardian March 31, 2020 Covid-19 could permanently shift working patterns as companies forced to embrace remote working by the pandemic find that their employees do not want to return to the office once the closures are lifted. The sudden increase in working from home is presenting problems as well as opportunities: on the […]
The new-look shopping mall that doesn’t sell stuff
By: The Guardian March 11, 2020 Four-year-old Joris Niekus hops excitedly in front of a wall-sized flatscreen as his dad loads up an interactive version of Roald Dahl’s BFG (known as GVR in Dutch). Seconds later, face beaming, his digitised silhouette is bopping across the screen together with Dahl’s gangly giant. It’s just one of […]