World Uncensored

The Trump administration has announced new guidelines that will block any new student planning to enroll in the online-only study from entering the United States. The United States has the highest number of foreign immigrants. As the country went into lockdown beginning in March 2020 to control the spread of the coronavirus, tens of millions of workers lost their jobs within weeks, particularly in sectors that require face-to-face interaction, such as restaurants, hotels, shops, and even health clinics. President Trump also extended a near total ban that he had first announced  in April, on entry into the United States by immigrants seeking “green cards” for permanent residency. In addition – by this new policy – US will not allow the entry of new international students for the upcoming fall semester if their courses are entirely online, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said. It also said school officials should not issue a Form I-20, "Certificate of Eligibili...

The novel corona-virus disease (COVID-19) is having an unprecedented impact around the world, both in health and socioeconomic terms. Although, a full-blown global food crisis, multiple famines, or prolonged food system problems as a result of COVID-19 could create larger humanitarian damage over the next two to five years compared to direct damage from the virus itself. While COVID-19 does not discriminate, the 55 countries and territories that are home to 135 million acutely food-insecure people in need of urgent humanitarian food and nutrition assistance are the most vulnerable to the consequences of this pandemic as they have very limited or no capacity to cope with either the health or socioeconomic aspects of the shock.   Major causes by COVID-19 : On the food supply side, harvests have been good and the 2020 outlook for staple crops is promising. However, movement restrictions necessary to contain the spread of the virus will disrupt the transport and processing of food ...

Thousands of smokers don't think twice about leaving a trail of cigarette litter behind them. A good number of people still think cigarette butts are biodegradable because the filters are cotton, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.   Cigarette filters are actually made of cellulose acetate, a synthetic compound derived from the acetylation of the plant substance cellulose and they capture over 4,000 chemicals that are introduced into the environment just by being tossed. Cigarettes are often littered within 10 feet of a permanent ashtray. Now that most buildings do not allow smoking inside, the problem of discarded butts on sidewalks, entryways and in courtyards is increasing. Cigarette butts discarded in parking lots, along sidewalks and in street gutters miles from the coast inevitably make their way through storm drains, creeks and rivers to the beach and the ocean. A single butt in just one liter of water can poison and kill a fish. The 'Filter' cigarettes...

It is well known that Japan is considered as one of the most advanced countries in the world, and China has a fascinating history and a well-developed economy. Relations between Japan and China have substantially improved in the wake of the China–United States trade war . But the worsening pandemic have turned the tables. On March 5, the Japanese government announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s much-anticipated visit to Japan would be postponed; which was hardly surprising. Abe made the following statement at the 36th Council on Investments for the Future at the Prime Minister’s Office. “There are some concerns over the impacts of the decline in product supply from China to Japan on our supply chains. In light of that, as for those products with high added value and for which we are highly dependent on a single country, we intend to relocate the production bases to Japan. Regarding products that do not fall into this category, we aim to avoid relying on a single country and di...

As we start a new decade, it’s increasingly clear that digital, mobile, and social media have become an indispensable part of everyday life for people all over the world. This latest Global Digital Reports reveals that more than 4.5 billion people across the globe now use the internet, while social media users have passed the 3.8 billion mark.     The south-east Asia’s largest economy ── which has accelerated it's adoption of digital services ── the growth that was projected to take years has only taken months. Indonesia 2020 analyses the potential for financial technology players to meet the needs of the world’s fourth-largest unbanked population. In the current context, accelerating a shift to digital payment methods is just one example of the potential impact of Covid-19, as detailed within OBG’s latest publication.  E-commerce accelerating briskly : Indonesia is currently an E-commerce hotbed in Southeast Asia. This industry is seeing lots of investme...

The impact of COVID-19 across the global economy is profound. Already, hundreds of millions of people all over the world are facing unemployment. Emerging evidence on the impact of COVID-19 suggests that women’s economic and productive lives will be affected disproportionately and differently from men. It is expected that, women are likely to be more vulnerable to losing their jobs compared to men during pandemic. Matthias Doepke, professor of economics at Northwestern University, comparing the past recessions worldwide says: "This time is different; the highest employment losses are things like restaurants and hospitality, hotels, and those are sectors with high female employment." A research note from Citibank estimates that there are 220 million women employed in sectors that are potentially vulnerable to job cuts: of the 44 million workers in vulnerable sectors globally, 31 million women face potential job cuts, compared to 13 million men. Researchers frigh...

Piracy incidents have doubled across Asia causing "deep concern", according to a new report. Piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asian waters in the first half of 2020 shot up to its highest level in five years and nearly double the number recorded in the same period a year earlier. A total 51 incidents were reported in the region in the January to June period, 50 of which were actual and one was an attempt, according to data from ReCAAP ISC, a piracy information group with 20 member nations, mostly in Asia. That compared with 28 incidents reported in the same period a year earlier and is the highest tally since 114 recorded in the first six months of 2015, the data showed. Credits: safety4safe.com During January-May 2020, a total of 15 incidents (all actual incidents) were reported on board ships while they were underway in the Singapore Strait. Of the 15 incidents, 12 incidents occurred in the eastbound lane of the TSS, one incident in the westbound lane of the TSS, o...

Some of the world's richest and most influential politicians, celebrities, tech moguls and companies were the subject of a massive Twitter hack on Wednesday. Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, Kim Kardashian West and Bill Gates were among the accounts pushing out tweets asking millions of followers to send money to a Bitcoin address. The hacking of verified accounts of noted people has raised questions on security particularly in view of upcoming US Presidential polls. This hack affecting top politicians and celebrities has helped a Bitcoin wallet receive over $100,000 via at least 300 transactions. Apple and Uber handles were among the first to be impacted, followed by those of Musk and Gates. In a couple of hours, it had taken over the handles of Obama, Biden, Mike Bloomberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Around the time handles of boxer Floyd Mayweather and celebrity Kim Kardashian had been affected, Twitter locked most large verified accounts across the US and...

Google outlined a $10 billion investment in India in an effort to make the internet more "affordable and useful" to the more than one billion people living there.  Before Pichai made the announcements, he also had a video-conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss Google’s ideas for India’s digital future. Google’s announcement last day also comes at a time when India appears to be shutting its door to Chinese firms. New Delhi last month banned 59 apps and services developed by Chinese companies. Among those that have been banned include ByteDance’s TikTok, Alibaba Group’s UC Browser and Tencent’s WeChat. Some industry players believe that this ban would help American tech giants further expand and promulgate across India as they face less competition. "As we make these investments we look forward to working alongside Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi and the Indian government, as well as Indian businesses of all sizes to realize a shared vision for a Digita...

The Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledged this week that the novel corona-virus can spread through tiny droplets floating in the air, saying they will issue new guidelines about transmission in settings with close contact and poor ventilation.  As the Corona virus causing havoc around the world; question that has often been asked is if it is airborne or not. This question has recently been thrown back into the limelight by a group of 239 scientists from 32 countries , who addressed a letter to the World Health Organization(WHO) arguing against WHO’s guidelines of coronavirus not being airborne, and asking it to revise its position the growing evidence that coronavirus IS, in fact, airborne in crowded indoor spaces. The WHO has previously said the virus causing Covid-19 respiratory disease spreads primarily through small droplets expelled from the nose and mouth of an infected person that quickly sink to the ground. The WHO has long maintained that COVID-19 is sp...

Asia's richest tycoon Mukesh Ambani surpassed Warren Buffet; becomes the 8th richest person on the planet. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the " Oracle of Omaha " with wealth worth $69.7 Billion held eighth position. After giving away $2.9 billion to charity, he now slides down to the 9th rank with a net worth of $67.8 Billion. Whereas, Ambani’s oil-to-telecom giant, Reliance Industries, raised more than $22 Billion in just 58 days and amassing a $68.4 Billion fortune, amid a strict nationwide lock-down in India. Ambani's fortunes grew this year on account of a 40 per cent jump in shares of RIL , reported Bloomberg. The sale of a 49% stake in its fuel retail network to BP last summer, have helped the company become net debt-free, it said. It is worth mentioning that the rally in stock is more than double of what India's benchmark S&P BSE Sensex gained during the period. RIL has added ₹1.75 trillion (around $23B) to its market capitalization...

There’s no doubt AI is one of the critical technologies of this era. The development of AI has the potential to fundamentally transform civilian and military life in the coming decades. Consequently, AI will be a driver and structural force reshaping the global order. A group of countries have founded Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) named body which is intended to give rise to "responsible and human-centric" development and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). GPAI is initiated by France and Canada in May 2020 including Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Slovenia, the United States, and the European Union. India, as a founding member has also joined GPAI in June 2020.    This is a first initiative of its type for evolving better understanding of the challenges and opportunities around AI using the experience and diversity of participating countries. According to the joint statement , GPAI will bring ...