He was once a titan of the car industry who held hero status in Japan. He then became one of the country’s most well-known criminal suspects. Now he’s an international fugitive. Carlos Ghosn, the multi-millionaire former boss of Nissan, spent months preparing to stand trial on financial misconduct charges. At least, that was what the Japanese authorities were led to believe. He posted 1bn yen (£6.8m; $8.9m) in bail in April. He was monitored by a 24-hour camera installed outside his house. His use of technology was heavily restricted and he was banned from traveling abroad. Then, in a move…
Author: mediahitman
Astronomers are warning that their view of the Universe could be under threat. From next week, a campaign to launch thousands of new satellites will begin in earnest, offering high-speed internet access from space. But the first fleets of these spacecraft, which have already been sent into orbit by US company SpaceX, are affecting images of the night sky. They are appearing as bright white streaks, so dazzling that they are competing with the stars. Scientists are worried that future “mega-constellations” of satellites could obscure images from optical telescopes and interfere with radio astronomy observations. Dr Dave Clements, an astrophysicist…
Sonos is facing a backlash for encouraging customers to get rid of their old speakers when there may be nothing wrong with them. The US speaker giant offers customers a 30% discount on new products if they follow steps to recycle their old ones. Following these puts the device in Recycle Mode, which means it will then be permanently deactivated. Sonos said it wanted to encourage responsible disposal of electrical equipment. But many took to Twitter saying it would be far better to allow people to resell them. “Sonos’s ‘recycle mode’ intentionally bricks good devices so they can’t be reused,”…
The Pacific nation of Palau has become the first country to ban sun cream that is harmful to corals and sea life. From Wednesday, sun cream that includes common ingredients, including oxybenzone, is not allowed to be worn or sold in the country. Palau’s President Tommy Remengesau said: “We have to live and respect the environment because the environment is the nest of life.” The island nation markets itself as a “pristine paradise” for divers. A lagoon in Palau’s Rock Islands is a Unesco World Heritage site. The country has a population of around 20,000 dotted across hundreds of islands.…
Facebook has removed adverts about HIV prevention medicines, following intense lobbying from lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer advocacy groups. They argued in an open letter sent to Facebook in December, that the ads went beyond misinformation to “put people’s lives in imminent danger”. Medical studies suggest drugs such as Truvada are safe. But the ads, from law firms attempting to convince gay and bisexual men to join lawsuits, suggested otherwise. They focused on harmful side effects, such as kidney issues. Facebook agreed that this was misleading: “After a review, our independent fact-checking partners have determined some of these ads…
Democrats in Virginia may override local zoning to bring high-density housing, including public housing, to every neighborhood statewide — whether residents want it or not. The measure could quickly transform the suburban lifestyle enjoyed by millions, permitting duplexes to be built on suburban lots in neighborhoods previously consisting of quiet streets and open green spaces. Proponents of “upzoning” say the changes are necessary because suburbs are bastions of segregation and elitism, as well as bad for the environment. The move, which aims to provide “affordable housing,” might be fiercely opposed by local officials throughout the state, who have deliberately created…
At least 30 US prison cadets have been fired after a photo emerged showing them giving what appears to be a Nazi salute. The image shows the cadets at the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation making the gesture below a sign that reads “Hail Byrd!”, referring to a class instructor. The state governor announced on Monday that the cadets would be fired. The picture was taken on their graduation day on 27 November. “As I said from the beginning, I condemn the photo of Basic Training Class 18 in the strongest possible terms,” Governor Jim Justice said in…
Joe Biden may have just fallen for a fatal argument from Hillary Clinton’s 2016 run. The former vice president held a rally in New Hampshire on Monday, where he pushed the idea of retraining coal miners as programmers by saying “Anybody who can go down 3,000 feet in a mine can sure as hell learn to program as well.” And as The Washington Post’s Dave Weigel noted in a tweet, “This sort of ‘just transition’ stuff was murder on Clinton in 2016.” In contrast to President Trump, Democratic presidential candidates have pushed the idea of phasing out coal production and…
In an important New Year development, Tesla Motors, in partnership with physicists from Canada’s Dalhousie University, filed a patent on December 26 for a new Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) battery technology. The patented design claims to significantly outperform the existing Li-Ion batteries widely used in electric vehicles and other energy storage applications today. The new and improved tech is likely connected to an April 2019 announcement by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who promised a “1 million-mile battery pack” for Tesla’s vehicles in 2020 and beyond. The 1 million-mile battery is integral to Musk’s plans for fleets of ‘robotaxis’ and long-haul trucks,…
The US Congress has demanded an investigation into a concrete dome full of nuclear waste, threatened by rising sea levels in the Marshall Islands. Dubbed “the tomb”, it holds tonnes of radioactive debris from dozens of US atomic bomb tests carried out during the Cold War. Congress wants the Department of Energy to report back on the state of the ageing Runit Dome within six months. The demand is part of a huge defence bill approved by President Trump. More than 40 nuclear weapons tests took place on or near the Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific between 1946 and 1958,…
(Natural News) Students attending St. Theresa Catholic School in Houston, Texas, were given an extended Christmas break thanks to an unexpected whooping cough outbreak that reportedly shut the school down early. And wouldn’t you know it, but St. Theresa has a 100 percent vaccination rate – meaning this whooping cough outbreak occurred among fully vaccinated students. An official statement released by Father Phil Lloyd, the school’s pastor, and Melissa Ilski, the school’s principal, explains that “[a]ll St. Theresa students are 100% vaccinated,” and that “[d]octors are unsure why vaccinated children may still get the disease.” “With this infection rapidly spreading…
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a series of measures to tackle a “crisis” of anti-Semitic attacks, following a mass stabbing. Mr de Blasio said security would be stepped up in Jewish areas and schools would teach students to tackle hate. At least five people were injured in the knife attack at a rabbi’s house in New York state on Saturday. President Donald Trump called for unity to fight “the evil scourge” of anti-Semitism following the attack. Witnesses said the attacker burst into the house in Monsey, north of New York City, which was hosting a Hanukkah celebration,…
African Americans take back work that illegal immigrants have taken from them. Throughout raids on seven food processing plants in Mississippi, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents swept up 680 illegal immigrants in August. The companies were forced to employ Americans to do the job without the cheap labor. (The Failing New York Times explains) By the end of the 1960s, black workers predominated on the lines.It was an important win for African-Americans looking for an alternative to housework in wealthy white homes, or for those who had seen fieldwork dry up in an increasingly mechanized agricultural sector.“The chicken plant,”…
Through the looking glass: the ideas of “free internet” and “sovereign internet” are not mutually exclusive to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Recently, several positive tests were performed by the country that simulated how it would react to a foreign cyber attack. In February, news broke out that Russia intended to withdraw from the Internet to see what would happen in the event of foreign aggression. To this end, the Russian government had to pass a law requiring Internet service providers to allow all outbound traffic to be monitored and, if possible, to create an isolated RuNet intranet. The nation carried…
In 2020, new laws will have an effect on schools across California. Starting next school year, suspending students from first through fifth grade will be illegal for public schools in the state to deliberately defy teachers or administrators. Then it will be temporarily extended to children in grades six through eight from 2021 to 2025. Supporters say suspensions are used disproportionately against color students for willful defiance. Another new law— a mandatory change to the start times of kindergarten. Over the next three years, the legislation is expected to be phased in. High schools will start as early as 8:30…
Greta Thunberg’s father has said he thought it was “a bad idea” for his daughter to take to the “front line” of the battle against climate change. Millions of people have been inspired to join the 16-year-old in raising awareness of environmental issues. But Svante Thunberg told the BBC he was “not supportive” of his daughter skipping school for the climate strike. Mr Thunberg said Greta was much happier since becoming an activist – but that he worries about the “hate” she faces. As part of the same broadcast, guest-edited by Greta for Radio 4’s Today programme, Sir David Attenborough…
A Thai Navy Seal that was part of a youth soccer team’s dramatic three-day rescue in 2018 from a flooded cave in Thailand was killed by a blood infection he contracted during the risky mission, officials said. The Royal Thai Navy said on Facebook Friday that the care was being given to Petty Officer 1st Class Bayroot Pakbara, but his health worsened after the infection spread to his blood. Authorities did not reveal what Pakbara suffered from serious infection, or how he contracted it. Pakbara, who was referred to by the Navy as a “hero,” will be promoted to lieutenant…
New York State will soon enable accused criminals to inspect their own criminal scenes and provide them with a complete list of named witnesses testifying against them as part of a series of new jailbreak laws. As reported by Breitbart News, the bail reforms in New York, set to come into effect in January 2020, will ensure that suspects charged with crimes deemed “non-violent” are not imprisoned before their trial dates and do not have to post bail. Alternatively, these offenders are released to the public immediately and expected to appear on their court dates. Every year in the state,…