Facebook funnelling readers towards Covid misinformation - study
Research findings undermine firm’s claims it is cracking down on inaccurate news
Published onWed 19 Aug 2020 11.00 BST
Websites spreading misinformation about health attracted nearly half a billion views on Facebook in April alone, as the coronavirus pandemic escalated worldwide, a report has found.
Facebook had promised to crack down on conspiracy theories and inaccurate news early in the pandemic. But as its executives promised accountability, its algorithm appears to have fuelled traffic to a network of sites sharing dangerous false news, campaign group Avaaz has found.
False medical information can be deadly; researchers led by Bangladesh’s International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, writing in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, have directly linked a single piece of coronavirus misinformation to 800 deaths.
Mali soldiers promise 'civilian political transition' leading to general election
New military rulers vow to restore confidence ‘between governed and governors’
Jason Burke Africa correspondent
Published onWed 19 Aug 2020 10.03 BST
Mali’s new military rulers have promised “a civilian political transition” that will lead to a general election after a “reasonable time”.
In a short televised statement on Wednesday morning, the soldiers who are now in charge of the country after a military coup on Tuesday said they were “not interested in power but in the health of the nation” but had intervened because of growing “chaos, insecurity and anarchy”.
In the name of the National Committee for the WellBeing of the People, Col Maj Ismaël Wagué promised polls to “give Mali strong institutions capable of better managing our everyday lives and restoring confidence between the governed and the governors”.
Greta Thunberg says world still ‘in denial’ over climate crisis and years are being lost
‘The gap between what we need to do and what’s being done is widening,’ says activist ahead of meeting with Angela Merkel
The world remains in a “state of denial” over the scale of the climate emergency, according to teenage activist Greta Thunberg – who warned political leaders are still failing to make necessary changes.
Speaking ahead of the second anniversary of the first school strike protest she organised in Sweden, the 17-year-old environmental campaigner said the last two years have largely been lost to “inaction”.
Ms Thunberg and a group of youth climate activists are meeting German chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday to deliver a petition demanding EU leaders halt all investments in fossil fuel exploration and extraction.
Exclusive: Lukashenko regime 'clearly' at an end in Belarus, says Schäuble
The EU should do everything to avert violence in Belarus — but also make clear it is not trying to expand its zone of influence, the head of Germany's parliament, Wolfgang Schäuble, told DW in an exclusive interview.
As Belarus faces mass protests following strongman Alexander Lukashenko's violent crackdown in the country, German Parliamentary Speaker Wolfgang Schäuble told DW on Tuesday that the European Union should ramp up pressure to ensure a non-violent solution.
"Because we can all sense that things can no longer continue as they are in Belarus now," Schäuble said.
Lukashenko has rejected protesters' calls to step down following the disputed presidential election that saw him claim victory.
Trump campaign sues New Jersey over mail-in voting plans
Updated 1145 GMT (1945 HKT) August 19, 2020
President Donald Trump's reelection campaign sued New Jersey Tuesday over the state's decision to use a hybrid voting model for November's election in which all residents will be mailed a ballot, leaving it up to them to decide if they would like to vote by mail or in person.
Donald J. Trump for President, the Republican National Committee and the New Jersey Republican State Committee brought the lawsuit asking the court to overturn Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy's executive order instituting the new rules that aim to give voters the option of avoiding voting in person during the coronavirus pandemic.
Kerry Washington Asked Kids About Donald Trump And The Replies Were Merciless
And the youngsters were mercilessly honest with their replies to the “Scandal” star, who guest-hosted the late-night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” this week.
“All I know is that he’s going nuts,” one child told Washington in the clip, which aired Tuesday.
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