China’s example suggests that life will not snap back to normal, strategists say

In response to calls for stronger action on hosts that aren’t casual users, Airbnb said it would start sharing some data with governments and getting hosts to agree to a policy of listing only their permanent homes. Here’s what Brian Chesky said in a post today: Today, we’re taking the next step to turn these principles into […]

Ministers failed to grasp the threat as Boris Johnson tried to swerve a tough response

Stilt, a Y Combinator alum that provides financial services for immigrants without Social Security numbers or credit reports, announced today that it has closed a $7.5 million seed round. It also launched FDIC-insured pre-approved global bank accounts today. The startup has raised equity from investors including Liron Petrushka; Hillsven Capital; Streamlined Ventures; Gokul Rajaram; Bragiel […]

We knew it was going to be bad — but not necessarily “lowest level since 2013” bad. As Apple was busy reporting its earnings, Canalys just dropped some of its own figures — and they’re not pretty. After two quarters of much-needed growing, the global smartphone market just took a big hit. And you no […]

Quarter after quarter, familiar stories have appeared. The smartphone market, once seemingly bulletproof, has suffered. The list of factors is long, and I’ve written about them ad nauseam here, but the CliffsNotes version is: costs are too high, innovation is too incremental and most people already own a device that will be plenty good for […]

BenevolentAI, a startup which has raised $292 million to apply AI to create drugs faster, today says it has uncovered an already approved drug as a potential treatment for COVID-19, after it applied its AI platform and team to the problem. The revelation, which has now appeared in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has entered clinical […]

At the end of March, a coalition of grassroots UK tech initiatives came together to coordinate the key groups of tech industry people supporting the UK’s response to the coronavirus. The Code4Covid.org initiative came out of a milieu of other projects such as Covidmutualaid.org and Covid Tech Support, but it was the CoronavirusTechHandbook (CTH), an initiative […]

During this pandemic, many organizations are offering free or drastically cheaper courses to help people skill-up for when we eventually get out of lock-down. There are numerous outlets if you want to learn to code from, for instance, Freecodecamp or the Free Fridays scheme from General Assembly. And for gamers, Gamedev.tv has taken 80% off […]

A number of UK entrepreneurs have banded together to survey Angels about their investment strategy. The initiative comes in the wake of the UK government’s “Future Fund” for startups, which has been criticized as being inadequate for the needs of Angel and Seed-stage startups. The group hopes the survey will give the UK early-stage investment […]

Ministers’ challenge to manufacturers sets basic specifications that are not suitable to task, say experts 

Germany has U-turned on building a centralized COVID-19 contacts tracing app — and will instead adopt a decentralized architecture, Reuters reported Sunday, citing a joint statement by chancellery minister Helge Braun and health minister Jens Spahn. In Europe in recent weeks, a battle has raged between different groups backing centralized vs decentralized infrastructure for apps […]

Apple and Google have released the first version of their exposure notification API, which they previously called the contact tracing API. This is a developer-focused release, and is a seed of the API in development, with the primary intent of collecting feedback from developers who will be using the API to create new contact tracing […]

During this pandemic, many organizations are offering free or drastically cheaper courses to help people skill-up for when we eventually get out of lock-down. There are numerous outlets if you want to learn to code from, for instance, Freecodecamp or the Free Fridays scheme from General Assembly. And for gamers, Gamedev.tv has taken 80% off […]

Apple and Google are providing additional resources for developers working with the first version of their Exposure Notification API, the development tools the companies have created and are working on in order to provide a cross-platform way for public health agencies to notify individuals of a potential exposure to a person with a confirmed case […]

The UK has this week started testing a coronavirus contacts-tracing app which NHSX, a digital arm of the country’s National Health Service, has been planning and developing since early March. The test is taking place in the Isle of Wight, a 380km2 island off the south coast of England, with a population of around 140,000. […]

Home fitness and games as gathering places are a few of the startup verticals propelled by unprecedented shifts in behavior due to shelter-in-place orders. We surveyed the top investors in consumer and social apps to learn about 2020’s startup trends, the M&A climate, the threat of incumbents copying new entrants, underserved demographics and which features […]

Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger have teamed up to launch their first product together since leaving the Facebook mothership. Rt.live is an up-to-date tracker of how fast COVID-19 is spreading in each state. “Rt” measures the average number of people who become infected by an infectious person. The higher above the number 1, […]

The Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) has set up a dedicated webpage and will be organizing webinars to examine the trade impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on least developed countries (LDCs).

The WTO Secretariat has published a new information note looking at how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected e-commerce, including the implications for cross-border trade. It notes the increased use of e-commerce as consumers adapt to lockdowns and social distancing measures and draws attention to several challenges, such as the need to bridge the digital divide within and across countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has underlined the need for greater multilateral cooperation, including the need to improve the global trading system, Deputy Director-General Alan Wolff said on 7 May. Speaking at a webinar hosted by the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning, DDG Wolff said trade will play an important role in Africa’s economic recovery from the crisis, particularly through increased intra-African trade.

Jack Dorsey announced in a series of tweets today that he is shifting $1 billion in his Square equity to create a fund dedicated to COVID-19 relief. The Twitter and Square CEO is calling the fund Start Small and posting a tally of disbursements and recipients in a public spreadsheet. Dorsey said in his announcement […]

We’ve spent so long asking tech to turn its attention to real-world problems. Let’s not complain when they do so now. 

In recent years, fintech’s revolution has felt like a rising tide. Behemoths like Stripe and Square edged out banks while newbies like Brex nonchalantly raised nine-figure rounds. Today, however, the state of the financial technology industry feels more wobbly — some healthy startups in the genre are faring better than ever, while others are feeling […]

When Roger Lee, the co-founder of Human Interest, heard that San Francisco imposed shelter-in-place orders, he started blogging about layoff news and posting crowdsourced lists of employees who were laid off. His goal was to increase awareness about layoffs and give recruiters a place to search for candidates. However, one week and 40 startup layoffs […]

Taika Waititi already reinvigorated the Thor franchise. Now he’s looking to do the same for Star Wars. Waititi is probably best-known for directing “Thor: Ragnarok” — easily the best of the Thor movies and one of the most delightful films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. More recently, he wrote and directed the Nazi comedy “Jojo […]

The world has changed dramatically since May 2019 when we last surveyed venture capitalists about the trends they were seeing in media, entertainment and gaming. Since then, COVID-19 and the resulting physical distancing measures have created plenty of demand for companies helping to inform and entertain us as we’re stuck at home. At the same […]

Tom Cruise is talking to SpaceX about taking the ultimate step to top his crazy movie stunts, Apple and Google’s exposure notification API will not provide access to detailed location data and we survey seven VCs about the new media landscape. Here’s your Daily Crunch for May 5, 2020. 1. Tom Cruise reportedly talking to […]

Australia jumped five places to 15th in OECD rankings for employment of mature age workers.

Facebook is expanding its Community Help hub to better serve local communities amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The hub has already seen significant usage by those requesting food, supplies and information about local resources, as well as use by volunteers and groups willing to lend a hand. Now, Facebook is adding more features to the hub […]

1. New antiviral drug combo shows promise against Covid-19: Study  Times of India
2. Cocktail of three antiviral drugs helps coronavirus patients recover faster, says study  ThePrint
3. Coronavirus treatment: Triple antiviral drug combo shows promise against COVID-19  Times Now
4. Coronavirus | Phase-2 trial with three drugs offers hope  The Hindu
5. Coronavirus: 3-drug regimen proved effective for COVID-19  Deccan Herald
6. View Full coverage on Google News

1. Blood thinners may boost survival rates of Covid-19 infected patients: Report  Top Live News
2. Coronavirus blood-clot mystery intensifies  Nature.com
3. Blood thinners could improve survival chances for sickest coronavirus patients, study says  USA TODAY
4. Evidence Builds Linking Anticoagulation to COVID-19 Survival  Medscape
5. Doctors may have found a way to reduce the risk of death in severe coronavirus cases  BGR
6. View Full coverage on Google News

It’s like 2nd innings of Test match: Kumble on fight against COVID-19  Hindustan TimesView Full coverage on Google News

1. Two Indians brought back from Gulf test Covid positive in Kerala  Times of India
2. 2 Indians Flown Back From Gulf To Kerala Test Coronavirus Positive  The Newsopedia
3. 100 days after its 1st case, Kerala has only one new Covid-19 patient  Livemint
4. 2 people flown back from Gulf to Kerala test positive for COVID-19  The News Minute
5. Only 16 Active COVID-19 Cases In Hospitals, Kerala Says "Curve Flattened"  NDTV
6. View Full coverage on Google News

1. India will not face serious coronavirus COVID-19 situation like some developed countries: Health Minister H...  Zee News
2. Health ministry says learn to live with coronavirus as India's COVID-19 count crosses 56,000  Livemint
3. ‘We’re prepared for the worst’: Health minister on Covid-19 crisis  Top Live News
4. 80 per cent of Telangana will be rid of coronavirus soon: Eatala  The New Indian Express
5. Do not anticipate worst case situation like developed countries in India: Harsh Vardhan  Times of India
6. View Full coverage on Google News

1. Covid-19: New cases top 3k for 3rd day in a row, total nears 60k-mark  Times of India
2. Coronavirus LIVE Updates: 526 Fresh Cases, 4 Deaths Reported in Tamil Nadu in Last 24 Hours  News18
3. 526 new COVID-19 cases in TN as number of infected in state crosses 6500  The News Minute
4. Coronavirus India Updates Live: India's testing capacity for COVID-19 scaled up to 95,000 per day  Economic Times
5. Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates: Chennai accounts for 279 of 526 new cases reported in Tamil Nadu today; total infections reach 6,535, toll climbs to 44  Firstpost
6. View Full coverage on Google News

A new data set from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) details how startups are reacting to the post-unicorn era as COVID-19-related disruptions upset the global economy and remake the risk tolerance of private investors. What SVB’s new report shows is unsurprising: venture capital deal volumes are falling, startups are tapping existing debt capacities to add cash […]

Stilt, a Y Combinator alum that provides financial services for immigrants without Social Security numbers or credit reports, announced today that it has closed a $7.5 million seed round. It also launched FDIC-insured pre-approved global bank accounts today. The startup has raised equity from investors including Liron Petrushka; Hillsven Capital; Streamlined Ventures; Gokul Rajaram; Bragiel […]

Fortunately, there are a number of ways for brick-and-mortar stores to simplify this difficult process.

From original films to Prime movies, here's what you need to watch.

A German research institute that’s involved in developing a COVID-19 contacts tracing app with the backing of the national government has released some new details about the work, which suggests the app is being designed as more of a “one-stop shop” to manage coronavirus impacts at an individual level, rather than having a sole function […]

Germany has U-turned on building a centralized COVID-19 contacts tracing app — and will instead adopt a decentralized architecture, Reuters reported Sunday, citing a joint statement by chancellery minister Helge Braun and health minister Jens Spahn. In Europe in recent weeks, a battle has raged between different groups backing centralized vs decentralized infrastructure for apps […]

The UK has this week started testing a coronavirus contacts-tracing app which NHSX, a digital arm of the country’s National Health Service, has been planning and developing since early March. The test is taking place in the Isle of Wight, a 380km2 island off the south coast of England, with a population of around 140,000. […]

A UK parliamentary committee that focuses on human rights issues has called for primary legislation to be put in place to ensure that legal protections wrap around the national coronavirus contact tracing app. The app, called NHS COVID-19, is being fast tracked for public use — with a test ongoing this week in the Isle […]

Recent business shutdowns and changes to normal routines related to mitigation efforts for the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have caused daily, weekday electricity demand in New York state to decrease by 11%–14% in March and April compared with expected demand, after accounting for seasonal temperature changes. Electricity demand changes in New York state and in New York City, in particular, have been more pronounced than in other parts of the country, which may partly be caused by differences in electricity consumption across regions and the varying effects of COVID-19 mitigation efforts on these sectors.

Recent business shutdowns and changes to normal routines related to mitigation efforts for the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have caused daily weekday electricity demand in the central region of the United States to decrease by 9%�13% in March and April compared with expected demand, after accounting for seasonal temperature changes. This decrease is similar to declines seen in New York. In contrast, other areas of the country, such as Florida, have not experienced significant changes, which may partly be caused by regional differences in how much electricity each end-use sector consumes and the varying effects of COVID-19 mitigation efforts on the sectors.

Fortunately, there are a number of ways for brick-and-mortar stores to simplify this difficult process.

Fortunately, there are a number of ways for brick-and-mortar stores to simplify this difficult process.

Imelda Staunton has gushed about her time filming Downton Abbey: The Movie.

The princess, daughter of George V and Queen Mary,  will be played by Kate Phillips in the feature-length adaptation of Downton Abbey which will use her home in West Yorkshire in its set.