Author: LoveWorld UK

Explosive evidence which could lead to Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation is to be published by the Alex Salmond inquiry. The former SNP leader’s bombshell submission to the inquiry will accuse the First Minister of misleading parliament which, if true, could force her to quit. The Holyrood committee is examining the Government’s botched probe into the handling of harassment complaints against Mr Salmond. But he said he would not give evidence under oath unless his submission was published – and included in the inquiry’s final report. There had been concerns it may contain information which would lead to the identification of one of his accusers. But…

Supreme Court justices have ruled against Uber and said that drivers should be classed as workers in a landmark decision for the gig economy. Seven justices ruled on the latest round of a long-running fight between Uber operating companies and drivers on Friday, after a hearing in July. The taxi giant, who said drivers were contractors not workers, appealed to the Supreme Court after losing three earlier rounds of the fight but lost. Lawyers said the ruling will have implications for the gig economy. Mark Cairns, an Uber driver in London for five years, said in a statement: ‘It’s been…

Bipartisan members of Congress plan to introduce a bill in coming weeks to make it easier for smaller news organizations to negotiate with Big Tech platforms, said Rep. Ken Buck, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel. Buck, who was named the ranking member this month, told Reuters on Thursday the panel would bring out a series of antitrust bills and the first one in the coming weeks would allow smaller news organizations to negotiate collectively with Facebook and Alphabet’s Google. Social media companies use news to attract customers and have been accused by news publishers of…

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Feb. 18 said he is confident that no one will ever again be able to deny the threat that the Islamic Republic in Iran presents Israel, the Gulf nations, and the United States, following the “historic” achievements for the region made under the Trump administration. Pompeo made the remarks while accepting a “Champion of International Human Rights” award at the ninth Annual Champions of Jewish Values International Awards Gala, held by the the World Values Network on Thursday in honor of Black history month. It is the first award of its kind. He was referring to former President…

Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp said on Thursday it will go ahead with its controversial privacy policy update but will allow users to read it at “their own pace” and will also display a banner providing additional information. In January, the messaging platform informed users it was preparing a new privacy policy, under which it could share limited user data with Facebook and its group firms. It sparked a global outcry and sent users to rival apps Telegram and Signal, among others, prompting WhatsApp to delay the new policy launch to May and to clarify the update was focused on allowing users…

The government has been accused of dragging its heels on promised reforms to zero-hours contracts and the gig economy as legislation to protect workers faces serious delays. New legislation intended to bolster protections for Britain’s most vulnerable workers will not be ready until the end of the year at the earliest, raising fresh questions about the government’s promise to protect workers’ rights after Brexit. Whitehall’s newly departed employment tsar, Matthew Taylor, said there was a “deafening silence” from ministers on the landmark employment reforms, in areas such as zero-hour contracts and the gig economy, which were announced by Boris Johnson more than a…

Facebook is facing down calls for a boycott after it took the extraordinary step of banning users in Australia from accessing news in a row over paying for content. ‘Delete Facebook’, ‘Boycott Zuckerberg’ and ‘Facebook We Need To Talk’ began trending on rival site Twitter today as fury at the move spread around the globe. David Cicilline, a Democrat politician from the US, even went so far as to say ‘Facebook is not compatible with democracy’ as people were also urged to give up Instagram and WhatsApp because Facebook owns them. Facebook said it had chosen to block news content…

Australians woke to empty Facebook news feeds on Thursday, after the social media giant blocked all media content in a surprise escalation of a dispute with the government, which could be a test for the future of online publishing worldwide. The move was swiftly criticised by news producers, politicians and human rights advocates, particularly as it became clear that official health pages, emergency safety warnings and welfare networks had all been scrubbed from the site along with news. “Facebook’s actions to unfriend Australia today, cutting off essential information services on health and emergency services, were as arrogant as they were…

PORTLAND, Ore.—Nearly 150,000 customers remained without power Wednesday in and around Portland, Oregon, nearly a week after a massive snow and ice storm swept into the Pacific Northwest, taking out hundreds of miles of power lines as ice-laden trees toppled. The damage wrought by the storm to the power system was the worst in 40 years, and more than 2,000 power lines—about 208 miles in total—were still down, said Maria Pope, CEO of Portland General Electric. At the peak of the storm, more than 350,000 customers were without power, and 5,000 power lines and three substations were down. “These are the most dangerous…

The talk should this time not be of comebacks, or returns, but ascendance. That’s how good Kylian Mbappe’s performance was. It was a night that will surely be looked back on as one where he proclaimed himself as the new best player in the world. He destroyed Barcelona, and completely overshadowed Lionel Messi, with a hat-trick that fired a 4-1 win for Paris Saint-Germain that also felt like a definitive passing of the torch. The history of this fixture means that there will be a certain caution about the end result after two legs, and the return in Parc des Princes, but this was all about the future. It wasn’t all…