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- NewsReuters Videos
Tesla, bitcoin are signs of a 'bubble' -investor
"It's completely out of whack," Kramer told Reuters. "It's like valuations have lost their mind. And there's all this speculation. It's almost like Tesla is the equivalent to bitcoin."
- EntertainmentReuters Videos
Facebook will fuel further unrest -whistleblower
BROADCAST: (ACCESS ALL, NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS USE ONLY, CANNOT BE USED FOR LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT OR SATIRICAL PURPOSES, PARTY POLITICAL BROADCAST USAGE MUST BE CLEARED WITH PBUDIGITAL: (ACCESS ALL, NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS USE ONLY, CANNOT BE USED FOR LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT OR SATIRICAL PURPOSES, PARTY POLITICAL BROADCAST USAGE MUST BE CLEARED WITH PBUA former Facebook employee-turned-whistleblower on Monday (October 25) told British lawmakers the social media site was fueling violent unrest around the world."A core part of why I came forward, was I looked at the consequences, and choices Facebook was making, and I looked at things like the global south, and I believe situations like Ethiopia are just part of the opening chapters of a novel that is going to be horrific to read."Frances Haugen was a product manager for Facebook, and recently went public with her accusations that the company knowingly permitted harmful content on the platform, putting profits before safety."I think there is a view inside the company that safety is a cost center, not a growth center."The world's biggest social network rejected the charges.Haugen – who testified earlier this month in the U.S. Congress - turned over a trove of internal Facebook documents to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which were made available to Reuters and other news organizations.They showed Facebook knew it hadn't hired enough staff with the language skills and knowledge of local events needed to flag harmful content in a number of developing countries.CEO Mark Zuckerberg said earlier this month that it was deeply illogical to argue that Facebook deliberately pushed content that made people angry, saying advertisers don’t want to be associated with harmful content.But on Monday, Haugen pushed back."An ad that gets more engagement, is a cheaper ad. We have seen, over and over again in Facebook's research, it is easier to provoke people to anger, than to empathy or compassion. And so we are literally subsidizing hate on these platforms."Some U.S. lawmakers have said it’s time for big tech to face public health regulations akin to those imposed on tobacco companies.Britain is bringing forward laws that could fine social media companies if they fail to remove or limit the spread of illegal content.Haugen isn’t finished with Facebook. She’s scheduled to speak at a major tech conference, the Web Summit, next week.
- ScienceReuters Videos
Bottle cap skateboards promote recycling in Brazil
Location: Rocinha favela, Rio De Janeiro, BrazilThis skateboard is made of around 500 bottle caps(SOUNDBITE) (English) CREATOR OF NA LAJE DESIGNS, ARIAN RAYEGANI, SAYING: "It's made 100% from recycling plastic that is collected, recycled and fabricated here in Rocinha."Na Laje Designs is a project created by Arian Rayeganiwho is a Canadian mechanical engineerThe project gives food donations in exchange for bottle caps"We are not a skateboard factory, it's bigger than this. We want to create a hub and a center of innovation for recycling here in Rocinha.”The caps are crushed, melted, then placed into a moldand "cooked" in an industrial pizza ovenEach skateboard takes an average of two hours to completeRayegani says the project helps to raise awareness about recycling“Rocinha produces 230 tons of garbage per day and there is no recycling and waste management locally here that actually deals with this implementation and that is what we want to do. Today we work on plastic but tomorrow we want to be able to recycle paper, metal, glass and beyond that. We want to bring the next generation, bring the kids here, to learn about it, to prevent the issue.”
- PoliticsReuters Videos
U.S. 'will continue to engage' with Turkey
"The Biden administration seeks cooperation with Turkey on common priorities and, as with any NATO ally, we will continue to engage in dialogue to address any disagreements," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters. "We believe the best way forward is through cooperation on issues of mutual interests."President Tayyip Erdogan, who said over the weekend he had ordered the envoys to be declared "persona non grata" for seeking the release of a jailed philanthropist, told a news conference they had stepped back and would be more careful."Our goal is never to create crises, it is to protect the rights, laws, honor and sovereignty of our country," Erdogan said in a televised address after chairing a Cabinet meeting."With a new statement made by the same embassies today, a step back was taken from this slander against our country and our nation. I believe these ambassadors ... will be more careful in their statements regarding Turkey's sovereign rights."The ambassadors, including the United States envoy, had called on authorities last week to free Osman Kavala, a philanthropist detained for four years on charges of financing protests and involvement in an attempted coup. He denies the charges.
NewsHuffPostBorder Patrol Agents Got Off Easy After Violent Posts About Migrants: House Report
One agent who posted a video in a Facebook group of a migrant falling off a cliff to their death was not fired, as recommended, but given a 30-day suspension.
EntertainmentHuffPostOn ‘Succession,’ Family Is Always A Means To An End
Every Roy family relationship is transactional, as this week’s episode of the HBO drama brutally reminded us.
NewsHuffPostFilming Marvel's First Sex Scene Required 'A Lot Of Discussion' Says Director Chloé Zhao
The Oscar-winning filmmaker explains why she believed the "really beautiful" scene was necessary to include in the blockbuster.
NewsReutersBiden signs order imposing new international travel vaccine rules, lifting restrictions
U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday signed an order imposing new vaccine requirements for most foreign national air travelers and lifting severe travel restrictions on China, India and much of Europe effective Nov. 8, the White House said. The extraordinary U.S. travel restrictions were first imposed in early 2020 to address the spread of COVID-19. "It is in the interests of the United States to move away from the country-by-country restrictions previously applied during the COVID-19 pandemic and to adopt an air travel policy that relies primarily on vaccination to advance the safe resumption of international air travel to the United States," Biden's proclamation says.
LifestyleHuffPostThe Best Roasting Pans To Buy For Thanksgiving Turkey And Beyond
Testers say these roasters with racks work really, really well.
NewsAFP NewsPrince Charles to visit Jordan, Egypt
Britain's Prince Charles and wife Camilla are to visit Jordan and Egypt next month on their first major foreign tour since the coronavirus pandemic began last year, aides said on Monday.
- PoliticsReuters Videos
Biden hopes for spending deal this week
Biden visited New Jersey to sell his "Build Back Better" agenda after talks on Sunday with moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, whose vote is critical to the package, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a fellow Democrat."That’s my hope," Biden told reporters as he departed Wilmington in his home state of Delaware en route to neighboring New Jersey.Democrats are seeking to coalesce around two key pieces of legislation - an up-to-$2 trillion social spending and climate change package and a $1 trillion infrastructure bill - to make good on Biden's campaign promises.
- NewsReuters Videos
Tesla joins $1 trillion club on record Hertz order
Tesla is riding high and crossed a $1 trillion stock market valuation for the first time in the company's history on Monday as the electric car maker received its biggest order ever.The struggling rental car agency Hertz announced it will buy 100,000 electric rental cars from Elon Musk.Interim Hertz CEO Mark Fields told Reuters in an interview that the order of mostly Model 3 vehicles should be delivered by the end of next year, and the Tesla cars should start being available for rental in November 2022 – with access to Tesla’s supercharging stations throughout Europe and the U.S.The price for the cheapest Tesla Model 3 starts at about $44,000, which would make this order worth about $4.4 billion if the entire order was filled with the Model 3.Fields declined to say how much Hertz was paying for the order. Hertz also plans to install thousands of chargers throughout its network. Fields said electric vehicles are now mainstream and Hertz would work with other automakers producing EVs as well.Hertz filed for bankruptcy protection last year as the health crisis grounded travel to a halt and talks with creditors failed.The mega-Hertz deal wasn't the only good news for the world's most valuable auto company.The Model 3 became the first electric vehicle to top monthly sales of new cars in Europe. Shares of Tesla - which was not available for comment - hit an all-time high in mid-day Monday trading.
- PoliticsAFPTV
Protests after Sudan general dissolves government after 'coup'
Sudanese residents from the capital Khartoum call for the return of a civilian government and reject the statement given by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan where he declared a state of emergency and dissolved the authorities leading the country's democratic transition.
- SportReuters Videos
Disabled skaters aim for Paralympic inclusion
These disabled skaters aim for Paralympic inclusionafter the success of skateboarding in the Tokyo OlympicsLOCATION: Sao Paulo, BrazilSOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) 24-YEAR-OLD BRAZILIAN SKATER, VINICIUS SARDI, SAYING:"Skateboarding is a really fantastic sport because everyone can practice in their own way, everyone has their own style. It doesn't matter if the guy has one leg or no legs, he's skating, and that's skateboarding! Skateboarding is about having a good time."Skateboarding is hugely popular in BrazilThe country has produced some of the sport’s greatest exponents(SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PRESIDENT OF THE BRAZILIAN SKATEBOARDING CONFEDERATION, EDUARDO MUSA, SAYING:''Paraskate won't be in Paris (in 2024), we're running to see if we can make it to Los Angeles (in 2028), but my hope is that Paraskate will be included in Australia in 2032."
- NewsReuters Videos
Mughal-era glasses could fetch $3.5m at auction
These bejeweled Mughal-era spectacles are up for sale and could fetch up to $3.5 million each in auctionLocation: Sotheby’s Auction House, London(SOUNDBITE) (English) SPECIALIST, ARTS OF ISLAMIC WORLD AT SOTHEBY'S, ALEXANDRA ROY, SAYING:"We are offering these two pairs of extraordinary spectacles in our sale of the Arts of the Islamic World and India which is taking place on the 27th of October."The glasses were commissioned by an unknown prince in the 17th centuryThey are believed to boost spiritual enlightenmentThis pair is called 'Gate of Paradise'and features emerald lenses set in diamond-mounted framesThis one is called ‘Halo of Light’with diamond lenses set in diamond-mounted frames“There are so many stories behind these spectacles. I think I will start with the fact that the emeralds came all the way from Colombia in the 17th century through Portuguese merchant ships to the Mughal empires, the Mughals absolutely loved gemstones. The diamonds came from the Golconda mines and at the Mughal court, these were cleaved from stones which will have originally weighed two to three hundred carats, and so you must imagine the amount of mastery involved. And they were also originally another side, is that originally they would have been in the shape of purslanes so their current settings are 19th century settings, so they were re-fashioned in their current 19th century spectacle like fashion."
- EntertainmentReuters Videos
Whistleblower: Facebook CEO still in his first job
BROADCAST: (ACCESS ALL, NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS USE ONLY, CANNOT BE USED FOR LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT OR SATIRICAL PURPOSES, PARTY POLITICAL BROADCAST USAGE MUST BE CLEARED WITH PBUDIGITAL: (ACCESS ALL, NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS USE ONLY, CANNOT BE USED FOR LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT OR SATIRICAL PURPOSES, PARTY POLITICAL BROADCAST USAGE MUST BE CLEARED WITH PBUTestifying before the British Parliament, Haughen described a lack of experience among the upper-echelon of management at Facebook, saying, "Mark [Zuckerberg] came in when he was 19, and he's still the CEO. There's a lot of people who are VPs [vice presidents] and directors, who, this is the only job they've ever had."Haughen suggested that this lack of experience partially explained the company's view on harmful content.She said Facebook managers' response to hate speech on the platform was to say, "'we didn't invent hate, we didn't invent ethnic violence,' and that's not the question. The question is, what is Facebook doing to amplify or expand hate? What is it doing to expand ethnic violence?"Asked by one lawmaker if she thought Facebook was making hate worse, Haughen answered, "unquestionably, it's making hate worse."Haugen, a former product manager on Facebook's civic misinformation team, appeared before a parliamentary select committee in Britain that is examining plans to regulate social media companies.
EntertainmentHuffPostCody Rigsby Explains Why 'Dancing With The Stars' Didn't Partner Him With A Man
The beloved Peloton instructor, who is gay, said he now wishes he'd recognized the opportunity to join JoJo Siwa in making history.
CelebrityHuffPostKim Kardashian Reveals What She'll Do When Momager Kris Jenner Retires
Kardashian has some thoughts on a possible transition of power should Jenner retire one day.
- EntertainmentReuters Videos
Whistleblower: Facebook 'lied' to oversight board
BROADCAST: (ACCESS ALL, NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS USE ONLY, CANNOT BE USED FOR LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT OR SATIRICAL PURPOSES, PARTY POLITICAL BROADCAST USAGE MUST BE CLEARED WITH PBUDIGITAL: (ACCESS ALL, NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS USE ONLY, CANNOT BE USED FOR LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT OR SATIRICAL PURPOSES, PARTY POLITICAL BROADCAST USAGE MUST BE CLEARED WITH PBU"Facebook claimed this was just about a second check, making sure the rules were applied correctly. And because Facebook was unwilling to invest enough people to do that second check, they just let people through," Haughen said.Referring to reporting in the Wall Street Journal, Haughen said that Facebook did not disclose the existence of its "crosscheck" program to an independent oversight board reviewing how the site made decisions about what content to permit on the platform."We should be able to know that systems like this exist, because no one knew how bad the system was, because Facebook lied to their own oversight board about it," Haughen said.Haugen, a product manager on Facebook's civic misinformation team, appeared before a parliamentary select committee in Britain that is examining plans to regulate social media companies.
NewsAFP NewsGreek parliament suspended after party leader's death
The Greek parliament was suspended Monday following the death of Fofi Gennimata, the head of the socialist party and one of the most senior women politicians in the country.
NewsHuffPostBiden Administration Says Despite Delays, Rent Aid Program Helped Prevent Eviction Wave
The emergency rental assistance program has disbursed $10 billion of the $46 billion Congress provided.
CelebrityHuffPostCongress Takes First Steps To Honor Pop Superstar Prince
"Purple reigns in Minnesota today and every day because of him,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar in a statement.
EntertainmentHuffPostHow 'Pretty Smart' Allowed Michael Hsu Rosen To Embrace His Gay Asian Identity
The actor says playing social media influencer Jayden on Netflix's buzzy sitcom reflects his pledge to "make my own way" on stage and screen.
- NewsAFPTV
UK's Johnson voices concern COP26 'might go wrong'
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he is "very worried" that the 12-day COP26 climate summit he will host in Glasgow from later this week "might go wrong". But the UK leader told a special Downing Street press conference with children that he remained hopeful a deal can be done to reduce carbon emissions and limit future temperature rises.
- ScienceReuters Videos
UN warns greenhouse gas level hit new record
The UN weather agency said on Monday (October 25) that greenhouse gas concentrations hit a new record in 2020. It warns that the world was "way off track" for capping rising temperature. A World Meteorological Organization report showed that carbon dioxide levels in 2020 has risen more than the average rate over the last decade. Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said this could result in a 2.5 to 3 degree Celsius temperature rise. That's around 37 degrees Fahrenheit, rather than 1.5 to 2 degrees - a target that was made in the 2015 Paris Agreement."And last time that we saw such high concentrations of carbon dioxide, it was around 3 to 5 million years from now and there was an estimate that the temperatures were 2 to 4 degrees higher than today, and the sea level was 10 to 20 meters higher than today. So, this is demonstrating that already, this current level of carbon dioxide is too high."Carbon dioxide can remain in the atmosphere for centuries. So even though emission rate dipped during lockdowns in 2020, the report confirmed it "did not have any discernible impact on the atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases and their growth rates."The report also flagged concerns about the ability of the ocean and land to absorb roughly half of CO2 emissions. These so-called "carbon sinks" should act as a natural buffer for dramatic temperature increases. But the data collected by WMO over ten years showed that some of these carbon "sinks" have turned to carbon "source" for the first time, including the Amazon rainforest. Taalas urged leaders who are heading to the COP26 conference to make a quote "dramatic increase" in commitments in tackling global warming.
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