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One easy thing Facebook should do in Myanmar
In March, human-rights investigators from the United Nations found that Facebook had played a role in spreading hate speech in Myanmar, fueling ethnic violence that has spurred more than 650,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee Myanmar’s Rakhine state into neighboring Bangladesh. The report, which came Read More...
Having a pro-environment agenda won these mayors re-election
Climate change commitment is quickly becoming a more prominent factor that citizens consider when voting for officials. In the recent US elections held at the municipal level, six mayors facing re-election battles within America’s 100 largest cities showed their commitment to the environment by Read More...
This device turns sunlight into potable water—even in the desert
To solve the growing problem of water scarcity, a company has invented a device that uses solar energy to produce water out of thin air. The device converts sunlight into energy and it to heat up a super-absorbent material within the device. The heat helps that material create condensation, which Read More...
San Francisco just passed a radical new measure to help the homeless
The city of San Francisco has one of the highest concentrations of billionaires in the world. It also has one of the highest rates of homelessness. To fix this issue, a new measure has been passed that will raise the city’s gross receipts tax by an average .5 percent on annual gross receipts over Read More...
Blockchain startup proposes communes for San Francisco’s homeless
It’s so Bay Area. Hours before an election in which San Francisco voters voted to approve a new tax (Proposition C) to fund homeless services, I got a PR pitch from a cryptocurrency-based real estate company suggesting that the city beta test an agricultural commune to help solve its homelessness Read More...
The nationalist sentiment didn’t exist in the Middle Ages
Nowadays borders are a prevalent subject on the political agenda that’s kept alive by people who feel the need to belong within a certain defined area, secluded from external factors. But this wasn’t always the case. In the Middle Ages, borders didn’t exist and people like merchants, pilgrims Read More...
Israel-Arab ties warm up after long deep freeze
Israel's leaders often refer to their country being in a "tough neighbourhood" but recently there have been some extraordinary signs of friendliness with parts of the Arab world. Late last month, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife met the Sultan of Oman on a surprise, Read More...
This is Europe’s ‘most innovative city’
The winning city was announced by Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, in a ceremony at the 2018 edition of Web Summit in Lisbon, the world’s largest tech event: "Athens stands out as an example that a city facing many challenges can achieve great things,” he told Read More...
More than a meal: the swanky Rio restaurant for homeless people
In a chic, minimalist restaurant with an Italian name and an innovative menu, near the centre of Rio de Janeiro, Valdicir dos Santos tucks into his dinner. It consists of banana skin and vegetables served with tangerine sauce, beans, rice and farinha – the flour, ground from dried bread instead Read More...
Wyoming court rules against law that targeted scientific data-gathering
A Wyoming court has ruled the controversial Data Trespass Law as unconstitutional because it violates free speech, a right protected by the First Amendment. Critics of the law have argued that the law would silence whistle-blowers who expose public land management issues, particularly malpractice Read More...