Thailand's prime minister said in July that eligible businesses and individuals can register from August for digital cash handouts, a controversial program that will cost billions of dollars and is meant to boost the lagging economy.The government announced in April the widely criticized ambitious plan, named the “Digital Wallet,” meant to give 10,…

Deceptions such as phony emails from people impersonating online retailers like Amazon are nothing new. But phishing attempts increase amid the heavy spending seen during significant sales events, whether it's Black Friday or Amazon Prime Day, according to the Better Business Bureau.“This is a huge moment on the retail calendar,” Josh Planos, vice …

U.S. House leaders are calling on CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz to testify to Congress about the cybersecurity company's role in sparking the widespread tech outage that grounded flights, knocked banks and hospital systems offline and affected services around the world.CrowdStrike said that a “significant number” of the millions of computers that cr…

Restaurant critics appear to have the best job in journalism, enjoying meals a few nights a week on someone else’s dime.But New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells had painted a more complicated picture. In a recent column, Wells announced he’s leaving the beat because the constant eating has led to obesity and other health problems.“Intellectu…

Netflix’s subscriber and earnings growth accelerated in its latest quarter as the video streaming service benefits from a crackdown on freeloading viewers, an expansion into advertising, and an acclaimed programming lineup.The results announced in July painted a portrait of a company still gathering momentum after a jarring decrease in subscribers …

Supercars that run on air and water—that’s the dream for synthetic fuel manufacturer Zero. The UK-based company says it is planning on powering a Formula One team with a more environmentally friendly fuel.The company behind it announced a partnership with Formula One team Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber earlier this year. The move aligns with the motor s…

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have used Artificial Intelligence to develop a tool capable of predicting whether people with early signs of dementia could develop Alzheimer's.It's estimated someone in the world develops Alzheimer's every 3 seconds, with the number of people with the disease set to triple over the next 50 years.The AI al…

Stop & Shop said it will close 32 underperforming grocery stores in the Northeast U.S. by the end of the year.The chain, which is owned by the Dutch supermarket company Ahold Delhaize, said it will close 10 stores in New Jersey, eight stores in Massachusetts, seven stores in New York, five stores in Connecticut and two stores in Rhode Island.The co…

In the race to stay ahead in artificial intelligence, the biggest technology companies are swallowing up the talent and products of innovative AI startups without formally acquiring them.Now three members of the U.S. Senate are calling for an investigation.San Francisco-based Adept announced a deal that will send its CEO and key employees to Amazon…

A company has installed computerized vending machines to sell ammunition in grocery stores in Alabama, Oklahoma, and Texas, allowing patrons to pick up bullets along with a gallon of milk.American Rounds said their machines use an identification scanner and facial recognition software to verify the purchaser’s age and are as “quick and easy” to use…

The Hong Kong government is seeking to regulate online car-hailing platforms through licensing and impose tougher penalties on illegal ride services, a move likely to have a significant impact on tech companies such as Uber.Transport officials sent a document to the legislature, asking lawmakers to further study the proposal. The officials also sai…

An ancient tree from India is now thriving in groves where citrus trees once flourished in Florida, and could help provide the nation with renewable energy.As large parts of the Sunshine State’s once-famous citrus industry have all but dried up over the past couple of decades due to two fatal diseases, greening, and citrus canker, some farmers are …

Tourism on the island of Saipan in the Western Pacific is gradually picking up after taking a massive hit during the COVID-19 pandemic.Once a popular option for Japanese tourists, Korean holidaymakers now account for the majority of visitors to this laid-back resort destination. Turquoise seas, white sandy beaches and palm trees—it looks like a pic…

Past a certain age, many people say they find it gets harder to keep fit. But there’s one physical exercise class that’s easy to start and take part in.Since the COVID-19 pandemic, aqua aerobics has been growing in popularity in Australia, even in some rural areas. Every day, thousands of Australians are taking part in aqua aerobics.“I just love it…

Air travel got more miserable last year, if the number of consumer complaints filed with the U.S. government is any measure.The Transportation Department said that it received nearly 97,000 complaints in 2023, up from about 86,000 the year before. The department said there were so many complaints that it took until July to sort through the filings …

Most medical students at Johns Hopkins University will no longer pay tuition thanks to a $1 billion gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies.Starting in the fall, the donation will cover full tuition for medical students from families earning less than $300,000. Living expenses and fees will be covered for students from families who earn up to $175,000.B…

Three years ago, Google set an ambitious plan to address climate change by going “net zero,” meaning it would release no more climate-changing gasses into the air than it removes, by 2030.But a report from the company on July 2 shows it is nowhere near meeting those goals. Rather than declining, its emissions grew 13% in 2023 over the year before. …

Japan issued its first new banknotes in two decades on July 3, yen packed with 3D hologram technology to fight counterfeiting.Prime Minister Fumio Kishida praised the state-of-the-art anti-counterfeit traits of the new 10,000 yen, 5,000 yen, and 1,000 yen bills as historic.“I hope the people will like the new bills, and they will help energize the …

In April 2025, a herd of animals will travel from Central Africa to the northern tip of Norway—drawing attention to climate change.Forced out of their natural habitats due to global warming, they will be displaced and traversed through cities and urban environments to meet the people there. But they won't be real animals—they are puppets.Along the …

The lights are turning off in Hong Kong. The once spectacular neon hustle and bustle is now much reduced.Safety and regulations mean many shops and businesses have taken down the brilliant signboards that used to hang right over the heads of the crowds on the streets.Some local enthusiasts are trying to find ways to preserve this unique part of Hon…

Before Florida’s ban on “lab-grown” meat went into effect, one manufacturer had hosted a last hurrah with a cultivated meat-tasting party in Miami.California-based Upside Foods hosted dozens of guests at a rooftop reception in the city’s Wynwood neighborhood, known for its street art, breweries, nightclubs and trendy restaurants.“This is delicious …

About half of Nigeria’s more than 200 million people are hooked up to a national electricity grid that can't provide sufficient daily electricity to most of those connected.Many poor, rural communities are off the grid entirely, which means millions in the country are finding ways to live with little to no electricity.Pupils squint at their books a…

California lawmakers are considering legislation that would require artificial intelligence companies to test their systems and add safety measures so they can't be potentially manipulated to wipe out the state's electric grid or help build chemical weapons—scenarios that experts say could be possible in the future as technology evolves at warp spe…

From smart-enabled match balls and artificial intelligence to cryogenic recovery chambers, soccer is being transformed by the cutting-edge technology available to players, coaches, and officials.That much has been evident at Euro 2024, where advancements in areas, such as equipment and sports science, have been deployed on and off the field, design…

Sweden launched a groundbreaking new law on July 1 that allows grandparents to step in and get paid parental leave while taking care of their grandchildren for up to three months of a child’s first year.The development comes after the Swedish parliament, the 349-seat Riksdag, approved last December the government’s proposal on the transfer of paren…

A new housing proposal in Australia could threaten precious koala habitat according to hundreds of local residents who have banded together to oppose the plan. Spanning hundreds of hectares in the city of Ipswich, southwest of Brisbane, the Woogaroo Forest is where an estimated 200 koalas live.“You get all sorts of things, kookaburras wake you up, …

As the first heat wave of the season ripples across the U.S., summer camps are working to keep their children cool while still letting the kids enjoy being outside with nature. It's something they say they've been aware of for several years as climate change meant rising heat.Experts say children can be more vulnerable to extreme heat than adults, …

Janette Navarro’s 1996 Volkswagen Beetle roars as it barrels up a steep hill overlooking concrete houses stacked like boxes on the outskirts of Mexico City.She presses her foot on the pedal, passes a lime green Beetle like hers, then one marked with red and yellow, then another painted a bright sea blue.“No other car gets up here,” she said. “Just …

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced June 18 that he wants to restrict students’ usage of smartphones during the school day, citing the mental health risks of social media.The announcement, which was first reported by Politico, comes a day after U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platfor…

Car dealerships in North America continue to wrestle with major disruptions that started last month with cyberattacks on a software company used widely in the auto retail sales sector.CDK Global, a company that provides software for thousands of auto dealers in the U.S. and Canada, was hit by back-to-back cyberattacks. That led to an outage that ha…

The post-pandemic surge in global sales of luxury handbags, shoes, and apparel is set to stall this year, according to a new study by the Bain and Company consultancy. Amid a creativity crisis and price hikes, brands are shifting focus to the biggest spending customers.The consultancy cites political uncertainty during a presidential election year …

The word “onigiri” became part of the Oxford English Dictionary this year, proof that the humble sticky rice ball and mainstay of Japanese food has entered the global lexicon.The rice balls are stuffed with a variety of fillings and typically wrapped in seaweed. It’s an everyday dish that epitomizes “washoku”—the traditional Japanese cuisine that w…

Thieves have increasingly targeted EV charging stations, intent on stealing the cables, which contain highly conductive copper wiring. The price of copper is nearing a record high on global markets, which means that criminals stand to reap rising amounts of cash by selling the material.The clipped cables often disable entire stations, forcing EV ow…

Home to about 1.7 million cows, California is the country's leading dairy producer and a large contributor of methane. Cow burps and manure emit the potent planet-warming gas.A growing number of dairy farms are using methane digesters to convert manure and other organic waste into biogas to produce electricity or power vehicles.The number is expect…

The U.S. Surgeon General has called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms and their effects on young people’s lives, similar to those now mandatory on cigarette boxes.In an opinion piece in The New York Times, Dr. Vivek Murthy said that social media is a contributing factor in the mental health crisis among young people.“I…

It's summertime and the kids are home from school when one day they walk into the kitchen and say, "I'm bored!"For parents, the first inclination might be to find something for the children to do. Go play outside. Clean your room. Work on an art project.But, experts say, don't underestimate the value of just letting kids figure out how to occupy th…

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) plans to end a major tax loophole for wealthy taxpayers that could raise more than $50 billion in revenue over the next decade, the U.S. Treasury Department says.The proposed rule and guidance announced includes plans to essentially stop "partnership basis shifting"—a process by which a business or person can move…

The Dutch ship Oosterschelde is on a two-year mission to work with future scientists who will study species discovered by Charles Darwin and develop projects to save them. The journey is retracing Darwin’s famous travels onboard the HMS Beagle, from 1831-1836.Two hundred young naturalists from around the world are expected to participate in the pro…

A group of OpenAI’s current and former workers is calling on the ChatGPT-maker and other artificial intelligence (AI) companies to protect employees who flag safety risks about AI technology.An open letter published in June asks tech companies to establish stronger whistleblower protections, so researchers have the “right to warn” about AI dangers …

Viral artist Mr. Doodle says the art world is split over his compulsive scribblings.The English creator has teamed up with a fashionable London restaurant to decorate parts of the establishment.And on June 7, he was at London’s trendy sketch restaurant decorating the entrance hall."It's a very meditative process when I'm working on the doodles beca…

Up until recently, Dubai city might not have been on top of scuba divers’ list of places to visit to discover the wonders of the underwater world.But that all changed when a number of divers got together and created the world's deepest swimming pool, furnished like a city and fitted with sunken cars, motorbikes and even arcade games.The world’s dee…

A soaring demand for food delivered fast has spawned small armies of couriers—and increasing alarm—in big cities where scooters, motorcycles and mopeds zip in and out of traffic and hop onto pedestrian-filled sidewalks as their drivers race to drop off salads and sandwiches.Officials in Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C., have started cracking …

Rural pharmacies, independent or chain, can be a touchstone for their communities. The staff knows everyone’s names and drugs, answers questions about residents’ mail-order prescriptions, or can spot the signs of serious illness.But rural pharmacies’ business models face unrelenting pressures to the point that sometimes they have to close. Several …

The total global volume of fish, shrimp, clams and other aquatic animals that are harvested by farming has topped the amount fished in the wild from the world's waters for the first time ever, the United Nations reported.The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, in its latest report on fisheries and aquaculture—or farming in water—says the glob…

After years of closing or mostly neglecting physical bank branches across the U.S., the nation’s largest banks are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on refurbishing old locations or building new ones, and in the process, changing the look, feel, and purpose of the local bank branch.Many of these branches are larger, airier, and meant to feel…

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems like ChatGPT could soon run out of what keeps making them smarter—the tens of trillions of words people have written and shared online.A new study released by research group Epoch AI projects that tech companies will exhaust the supply of publicly available training data for AI language models by roughly the tur…

The once-blighted, monolithic Michigan Central train station was for decades a symbol of Detroit’s decline. It now has new life following a massive six-year, multimillion-dollar renovation to create a hub for mobility projects in the rebirth of the Motor City.The windowless, hulking, scavenger-ravaged structure that ominously shadowed the city’s Co…

The world’s first “cobot hub” has opened in Denmark’s third-largest city, Odense.The new $45 million headquarters for Teradyne-owned Universal Robots and MiR (Mobile Industrial Robots) is hoping to capitalize on a growing demand for collaborative robots in industries, such as logistics, pharmaceutical, food, beverage, and more.The new 20,000-square…

Popular soda brand Poppi is facing a class-action lawsuit filed by a consumer who says its products don’t improve gut health as much as their marketing suggests.In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Kristin Cobbs said she purchased Poppi drinks on multiple occasions because of their labels, which say they are prebiotic sodas a…

World Cup and Champions League winners are learning about the soccer industry at FIFA alongside club founders and front-office leaders. All were teammates in the classroom at the soccer body’s headquarters in Zurich to study all fields of the industry for the FIFA Diploma in Club Management.Now in its third edition, the FIFA course aims to give for…