At a parliamentary hearing late last week, Meta once again suggested it could ban links to news on Facebook and Instagram in Australia. This would repeat the ban it enacted for more than a week in February 2021. That ban was in response to the introduction of the News Media Bargaining Code, an Australian law designed to force digital platforms to pass on some of their advertising earnings to news publishers. A similar law – based on this code – was passed in Canada last year. As a result, in Canada news has been blocked from Meta platforms since August…
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Thank you all for coming. Yesterday the work of change began… And as the dust settles on Thursday’s result, what is becoming clear for, I think, all to see is the mood of the nation, of the country… What is expected of us and the mandate that we have to deliver change… It’s a mandate not just to govern, although it is certainly that, but it’s a mandate that has put trust in us to change the country and to deliver… And it’s a mandate to do politics differently… And that change started yesterday as well… I have, as you’ll…
Geneva, 5 July – Refugees and migrants continue to face extreme forms of violence, human rights violations and exploitation not just at sea, but also on land routes across the African continent, towards its Mediterranean coastline. This is according to a new report released today by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC), titled “On this journey, no-one cares if you live or die” (Volume 2). With more people estimated to cross the Sahara Desert than the Mediterranean Sea – and deaths of refugees and migrants in the desert presumed…
New technologies have always informed and changed our religious experiences. Listening to early radio broadcasts in the 1880s was experienced by many as religious because radio voices seemed to come from some other dimension. Séances became wildly popular at the time because it was thought by some that radio had opened a door to the spirit world. Today, religion is experiencing new transformations. The information-rich, image-laden character of the internet can provide new ways to understand and explain religious activity. Although participation in formal religious activities is declining in some parts of the world, new technologies will continue to inform…
As the dust settles on Labour’s historic election win, Keir Starmer, the UK’s new prime minister, has appointed his team of senior ministers. These men and women (of whom there are a record number in this cabinet) are now responsible for governing and delivering on the party’s manifesto commitments. The ability to choose who sits in cabinet and what jobs they have is hugely empowering for any prime minister. Most ambitious politicians crave high office, which locks them into an essentially submissive relationship with the prime minister. Prime ministers are bound by the convention that ministers must sit in and…
Company, which already distributes Coors Light, is to become the distributor for beers including Madri The move by Heineken comes as activity around distribution rights and speculation over acquisitions heat up in the drinks market across Ireland and the UK.Recently, Engine Capital, an investor in Bulmers cider maker C&C Group, called for a sale of the business, while Carlsberg made a bid to buy MiWadi producer Britvic. San Miguel also switched its UK distributor from Carlsberg to ABInBev-owned Budweiser Brewing Group.Before the deal to take on the distribution of Molson Coors’ brands, Heineken Ireland already had the rights to one…
Thompson Hardwoods Inc. faces $267K in proposed penaltiesSAVANNAH, GA – The U.S. Department of Labor has determined a Hazlehurst sawmill could have prevented a 24-year-old employee from suffering fatal injuries while working with a woodchipper if the company had ensured that federal safety regulations were followed.The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated the Dec. 18, 2023, incident at Thompson Hardwoods Inc. and found that the young worker suffered serious injuries when the equipment activated while trying to clear a log jam. After co-workers attempted to render aid, emergency personnel transported the injured employee to a nearby hospital, but the worker’s injuries proved fatal. Following its…
The reports may mark a significant shift in the talks, which have stalled despite U.S. efforts to push brokers Egypt and Qatar to draw concessions from Hamas. U.S. President Joe Biden personally intervened in recent days, calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to try to push the U.S. plan for a multi-phase cease-fire deal that would see hostages released, fighting ended and reconstruction begun. Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan told AFP on Friday that the organization expected to hear from the Israelis “today or tomorrow. If the response is positive, we will discuss the proposals in detail.” But Netanyahu’s office cautioned…
Imagine keeping a laser beam trained on a dime that’s 200 miles away. Now imagine doing that continuously for 24 hours, while riding a merry-go-round. Seem difficult? Well, that’s basically what the Hubble Space Telescope does. After months of technical issues, NASA announced June 4 that Hubble would shift into one-gyroscope mode. This essentially means that the telescope will have to rely on just one of the several gyroscopes – devices that measure an object’s orientation in space – it normally uses to track and follow objects in space. Named after astronomer Edwin Hubble, the Hubble telescope launched in 1990…
The newly appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP has reaffirmed the UK Government’s commitment to a prosperous, stable and peaceful Northern Ireland during his first visit since taking up the role. Today (Saturday) the Secretary of State attended a Cabinet meeting in London, before travelling to Hillsborough Castle, where he met the First Minister Michelle O’Neill, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, and representatives from other Executive and Opposition parties. On Friday evening following his appointment, Mr Benn also spoke to the Tánaiste Micheál Martin by telephone. Mr Benn said: “I am deeply honoured to…