Governments

The Diablo Canyon reactor.Photo: Michael A. Mariant (AP)The crisis in Ukraine may be rushing in a new golden age for nuclear power. Recent announcements from Germany, California, and Japan—three places where early retirement of nuclear plants has been a heated policy debate—signal that the world’s energy crisis could be turning the tide on nuclear energy. The summer’s biggest surprise in the EU came in late July, when leaders of the German government began indicating that they were open to keeping the country’s remaining…

Horry County, South Carolina, officials were in for a shock earlier this year, when they discovered their cyber insurance premium would be spiking from $70,000 last year to about $210,000.And if they couldn’t satisfy the insurance company’s requirements and prove they had the robust controls needed to protect and defend themselves against cyberattacks, they learned, they wouldn’t be able to get their $5 million policy renewed at all.“The insurance companies have you over a barrel. There was not a lot of negotiation,” said…

The government’s financial aid website is crashing after President Joe Biden’s announcement of a federal student loan forgiveness program that cancels up to $20,000 of student loan debt for some people. According to several user reports on Twitter, Downdetector.com, and testing done by Verge staffers, people are having issues logging into StudentAid.gov or even getting the site to load at all. The plan announced on Wednesday doesn’t provide blanket loan cancellation — those with a personal income over $125,000 (or…

The government’s fare band, which is set an upper and lower price limit for domestic flights, will be withdrawn on Augusr 31. Now Airlines are free to drop or hike fares without any capping from govenment. It means that flight tickets would be cheaper during lean season and heavily priced during peak travel season. So, if you are planning to visit your hometown this Diwali, this is the right time to book your tickets. Fare for non-stop flight to most destination is cheapest in September than ever in last few months. For…

U.S. employers have added jobs at a historically robust pace since emerging from the pandemic recession, with a notable exception: state and local governments.The nation lost about 22 million jobs in March and April 2020, or 14% of the total, when the Covid-19 pandemic first hit the U.S. economy. Total payrolls started growing in May of that year, and by July of this year the overall labor market had more jobs than in February 2020, according to the Labor Department. Meanwhile, state and local public…

Microsoft has joined the government's open network for digital commerce (ONDC). The software giant plans to launch a shopping app for the Indian consumers, along with their social circle, harnessing the ONDC network to discover the best pricing among retailers and sellers. "By utilising the strength of our open network users, Microsoft, too, can implement their creative ideas like social commerce swiftly," said T Koshy, MD and CEO, ONDC."Initiatives like ONDC can be a game changer amid this boom. Their UPI-like network…

Sandeep Ravindranath, an Indian filmmaker, posted his latest work to YouTube in May. The video, a nine-minute fictional drama with no dialogue titled Anthem for Kashmir, depicts a young political activist on the lam from authorities. Indian viewers likely picked up on its numerous references to alleged extrajudicial murders in the heavily militarised province, which India and Pakistan have contested for decades. In late June, YouTube sent Ravindranath a note saying a government entity had complained about the film. The…

Twitter warned Thursday that governments around the globe are asking the company to remove content or snoop on private details of user accounts at an alarming rate.The social media company revealed in a new report that it fielded a record number of legal demands — nearly 60,000 during a six-month period last year —- from local, state or national governments that wanted Twitter to remove content from accounts or reveal confidential information such as direct messages or user locations.“We're seeing governments become more…

After meeting probable-cause and burden-of-proof requirements, law enforcement can get seizure warrants for any illicit funds that eventually land on compliant exchanges—and many funds eventually do. Law enforcement will then work with the crypto business to move the funds to a government-controlled wallet or freeze them. “Another method is that the adversary or a member of their conspiracy cooperates and provides private keys to the government as part of a plea negotiation or cooperation to benefit them in some way,”…

Government's plan to regulate "non-personal" data has jolted US tech giants Amazon, Facebook, and Google, and a group representing them is preparing to push back against the proposals, according to sources and a letter seen by Reuters. A government-appointed panel in July recommended setting up a regulator for information that is anonymised or devoid of personal details but critical for companies to build their businesses.The panel proposed a mechanism for firms to share data with other entities - even competitors -…