China battles coronavirus outbreak: All the latest updates
Death toll from new coronavirus rises to 41 in China, government says, as more countries confirm cases.
China has stepped up its response to a new coronavirus outbreak that has killed 41 people and infected at least 1,287 in the mainland, ordering nationwide measures to detect the virus at transport terminals.
Beijing has also expanded travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year.
Overtourism in Europe's historic cities sparks backlash
Angry protests from residents in popular areas force city hall officials to take action
Across Europe, historic cities are buckling. Mass tourism, encouraged by cash-hungry councils after the 2008 crash and fuelled by the explosion of cheap flights and online room rentals, has become a monster. The backlash, however, has begun.
In the past decade, the number of low-cost airline seats available each year in Europe has risen by more than 10% annually, more than doubling to more than 500m.
Meanwhile Airbnb, the biggest but far from only holiday lettings platform, has reported triple-digit growth in several European cities over the past five years, driving 10 of them to ask the EU for help. The cities have between 10,000 and 60,000 listings each.
Jeff Bezos, blackmail and the Saudi crown prince
Amazon boss and WaPo owner Jeff Bezos' phone was reportedly hacked by the Saudi crown prince's regime. The UN wants an investigation; the allegations touch the highest echelons of US power and echo internationally.
In April 2018, Hollywood producer Brian Grazer invited a number of high-profile guests to his villa in Santa Monica. The occasion: A visit from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), as part of his global charm offensive promoting Saudi Arabia. Weeks before, MbS visited with US President Donald Trump in the White House. Among the guests at the event was Jeff Bezos — Amazon boss, world's richest person, and Washington Post owner. What exactly Bezos and MbS discussed then is unknown. But one thing is certain: The two exchanged phone numbers, which were linked to their WhatsApp accounts.
Okinawa base debate ignores the bigger picture
BY PHILIP BRASOR
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Like many construction projects supported by the public sector, the new U.S. Marine Corps air base being built in the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, has seen its budget skyrocket since it was first proposed and its completion date postponed. When the project was first announced jointly by the U.S. military and Japan in 1996, the construction period was going to be five years for landfill work and three years for building the airfield. Henoko is meant to replace U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which is considered a danger to residents of Ginowan City and, according to a previous plan, Futenma would be “returned” to Okinawa by 2022 at the earliest. On Dec. 25, the Defense Ministry announced that the land would not be returned until the mid- to late 2030s.
House impeachment managers wrap up their case with Trump's obstruction
Updated 0527 GMT (1327 HKT) January 25, 2020
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff gave his full-throated argument for removing President Donald Trump from office in the House's final uninterrupted pitch to Republican senators on the fence, urging the Senate to "give America a fair trial" with additional witnesses and documents.
Schiff delivered a 67-minute final address to wrap up the House's three-day case against the President, in which the California Democrat and lead impeachment manager argued the case that Trump abused his office and obstructed Congress was proven — and he urged senators to find the courage to go against what might be popular opinion in their states.
The dark underbelly of Amazon Prime Video
Nearly two-thirds of the videos on Amazon’s streaming service are user-generated content. Lots of them are ... odd.By
Amazon Prime Video has won lots of attention in recent years for its highly produced, critically acclaimed originals, including Fleabag, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Transparent. What’s less known is how the streaming service relies heavily on often-bizarre user-uploaded content. As the Wall Street Journal points out in a new feature, some two-thirds of the titles on Amazon Prime Video are uploaded by users, and although you might expect Amazon to be selective in what ends up on its subscription-based service, that is not the case.
We did some more sleuthing and found even more weird and potentially offensive content. It’s almost as though Amazon welcomes the bad videos, which count toward the total number of titles available on Prime Video. According to Ampere Analytics, Amazon Prime Video boasts 65,504 distinct titles — almost 10 times the 7,177 on Netflix. Users who upload videos, WSJ reports, also get a small cut of revenue based on how many people watch their videos, so there’s an incentive to upload even more. A quick glance at what turned up in a handful of search results shows that quantity can outweigh quality.
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