As Africa passes more than a million confirmed Covid-19 cases, innovators on the continent have responded to the challenges of the pandemic with a wide range of creative inventions. Here are 10 we’ve picked out. 1. ‘Doctor Car’ robot Students from the Dakar Polytechnic School in Senegal have built a multifunctional robot […]
Covid-19
In 2009, six-year-old Mostafa accompanied his mother on a visit to her sister in Cairo. But what was meant to be a one-day trip away from his hometown in northern Egypt turned into over seven years of agony, despair and very little hope. On the way to his aunt’s house […]
The US Postal Service (USPS) has warned that millions of mail-in votes may not arrive in time to be counted on the presidential election day, 3 November. In letters to states across the country last month, the agency said “certain deadlines… are incongruous with the Postal Service’s delivery standards”. Critics […]
The announcement that Russia is forging ahead with its locally developed vaccine for Covid-19 has not only led to international concerns over its safety, but also generated a great deal of both misinformation and humour on social media platforms. We’ve been looking at some of the more widely shared posts. […]
Thousands of holidaymakers have seen their plans thrown into chaos after UK quarantine measures were imposed on France from Saturday. The 14-day isolation requirement begins at 04:00 BST and also applies to people arriving from the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, Turks and Caicos, and Aruba. It comes after France’s prime minister […]
Earlier this week Domino’s Pizza had to issue an apology over a promotion it ran in Australia and New Zealand, offering free pizza to “nice Karens”. The company didn’t pick out the name Karen at random. “Karen” has, in recent years, become a widespread meme referencing a specific type of middle-class white […]
Several staff will be replaced on Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime chat show after an investigation uncovered “deficiencies” in “the show’s day-to-day management”. The inquiry was prompted by a widely-circulated story on Buzzfeed news, in which employees made allegations of racism and intimidation on the show. The accusers claimed the workplace was toxic and […]
FROM OUR OBSESSION Global Economic Disruptions Globalization, automation, and inequality. The US federal government is betting on vaccines to end the Covid-19 pandemic. On July 22, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) announced that it would buy up the first 100 million doses of a potential vaccine from Pfizer, a […]
Member exclusive by Chika Dunga & Walter Frick For the past several decades, Silicon Valley has undisputedly been the epicenter of technology innovation. An area of about 50 square miles is responsible for generating some of the world’s most prominent companies, including Google and Apple. But the rest of the world is catching […]
FROM OUR OBSESSION Climate Consciousness Every decision counts. The “social cost of carbon” is a concept virtually unknown outside of academia and federal agencies. But this shadow metric—which estimates the dollar cost of putting one more ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere—touches virtually everything the government does. It informs […]