Carl Jones, a PR and Advertising senior lecturer at the University of Westminster has hosted an online lecture on ‘Fake news & how to Spot it’ earlier this week via the software Microsoft teams to almost 1,400 students within the UK.
The talk was arranged by the charity Speakers for Schools, which was established to put young people in touch with eminent figures and societal leaders including CEOs and professors, as well as their organisations.
As stated on their website, Speakers for Schools have managed to reach more than 890,000 students nationwide through their talks and work experience programme since the charity was founded in 2010.
During his talk, Jones discussed the theme of Fake News and later explored its appearances in social media sites, advertising, as well as journalism.
— CCS Media Studies #StayAtHome (@media_ccs) May 4, 2020
The talk was ended by providing a tool kit that young students are able to apply in order to find out whether a piece of information would be misinformation or not.
WNOL asked Carl Jones why he thought it mattered to make students – people aware of the circulation of fake news, his answer was:
Below is a Tweet of Carl Jones delivering the lecture a few days ago posted by Speakers for Schools charity.
The Coronavirus outbreak has had a massive impact on businesses. While many businesses have suffered tremendously due to the outbreak, with more than half a million companies reported to be in ‘significant distress’ within the UK alone, certain international corporations happen to be benefitting from the circumstances which the virus has brought. Here are five corporations which have particularly benefited from the lockdown:
It was reported that Europe, the Middle East and Africa were recorded to have the largest of new members with nearly 7 million new subscribers. The US and Canada were also known to jump with 2.3 million new members streaming the service, compared to only 550,000 within the last few months of 2019.
Data Source: Statista Netflix growth in the result of Covid-19 outbreak
Another corporation which is known to be doing pretty well despite the pandemic is Amazon.
Due to people having to remain inside more often, this has led to a boost in sales from the business.
According to The Guardian, the online retailer has been defined as a “clear winner” from the coronavirus predicament, with its share price rising by more than a third within a month, its clients are reported to be spending nearly $11,000 (£8,841) a second on its products and services and holder Jeff Bezos strengthening his position as the world’s wealthiest person owning $138 billion (£110 billion).
One thing that everybody is surely doing during lockdown is eating more, which leads to our next benefitted corporation being Uber Eats.
During the pandemic, people find themselves ordering takeout more often, and Uber Eats appears to be one of the winners from benefitting from the circumstances.
According to The Telegraph, data has shown that Uber’s food delivery business has exceeded its original car-booking service within the US for the first time ever.
An article by Forbes reports that Uber Eats has seen a 30% surge in clients who are registering to the service, as well as has received an arrival of new drivers.
Data Source: The Telegraph graph – Uber Eats overtakes Uber Rides in the US
Next on our list is Apple, which despite the lockdown causing its stores to close down, it still saw growth during the first three months of 2020.
According to the BBC, sales by the corporation boosted up to $58.3 billion (£46.2 billion), up from $58 billion within the same time in 2019, and overthrowing expectations of $54.5 billion.
The boss of Apple, Tim Cook, said that the business saw a “record for streaming” as well as “phenomenal” growth in its online store.
Despite the lockdown affecting the supply of iPhone due to Chinese factories shutting, as well as a drop in demand for devices within China – a leading market for Apple – during the months of February and March, the firm’s boss told investors during a call: “I don’t think I can remember a quarter where I’ve been prouder of Apple.”
Apple’s wearables, home and accessories department, which produces the Apple Watch and AirPods, rose 22.5% to $6.3 billion (£5 billion), while subscription services such as Apple Music and Apple TV jumped 16.6% to $13.3 billion (£10.6 billion) equivalent.
As most people find themselves social distancing and working from home, this has led to video call services such as Zoom to increase in the number of users signing up.
According to The Guardian, there has been an increase in the demand for video-conferencing and downloads of video conferencing apps, as the lockdown has led a number of things including UK cabinet meeting to be moved online.
Zoom, which enables users to communicate to up to 99 other people at the same time has become one of the most popular apps being used during the lockdown, often being at the top of the download charts in Apple’s app store.
Although the company does not share daily download figures, app tracking company Apptosia stated that Zoom was downloaded 2.13 million times around the world on 23rdof March – the day lockdown was announced within the UK – up from 56,000 a day two months before.
China has published a new policy regarding COVID-19. They have banned all foreign visitors after imported cases rise. Many foreign people are still living in China, they have chosen to stay there instead of going back to their home country.
This is what we have heard from an American pilot, Kevin Moore, who is currently living in Chengdu, Wuhan:
(Image by Fusion Medical Animation and Vivian Qiu)
The UK Government will confirm later whether the target of 100-thousand coronavirus tests per day was met by the end of April. Testing is at the heart of tackling the worldwide pandemic. Globally more than a million people have now had COVID-19 and survived. James Wright is one of them. He says social distancing is vital.
The UK Government briefing on coronavirus takes place tonight at 5pm. The number of people who have died after testing positive for Covid-19 in UK hospitals and the wider community is now more than 26,000.
Coronavirus cases dropped in Italy, with 148 fewer cases than yesterday.
The decrease in intensive care admissions continues according to Civil Protection data.
Out of 100 people, only 3.2% have tested positive; this is the lowest figure since the beginning of the pandemic.
We record 49 current positive cases in the city of Taranto, Puglia. There have been 10 deaths since the start of the pandemic and 23 recovered.
After 4 days of zero infections, there is a new case. There is a need to continue to keep the guard up which is the same that allowed us to have a low number of infections.
Our holidays will certainly be unusual, we know it by now. We will tend to favour proximity tourism, both to rediscover our country and because long journeys could be complicated. The keyword will probably continue to be “social distancing”. But how are we going to go on vacation? How will our health be protected? Will we be able to go on holidays?
Here are some possible scenarios to date, taking into account that the situation is constantly evolving:
Can we go abroad?
As of now, international travel is not permitted. It is difficult to foresee any future summer travels. With what we know, bearing in mind that the situation evolves, this year summer holidays will have to be close to home, fewer trains and no flights planned. One would believe that it is crucial to contribute to the economy of our country.
Image source: Pexels
But how will access to the beaches be?
The virus has been proven to be diluted by water. The point, however, is how the beaches will be managed. In the bathing establishments, in fact, the entrances will be limited and the safety distance of at least two to three meters between the umbrellas must be respected, the access to the water will probably be timed. However, the presence of plexiglass seems to have been excluded.
The opening hours will be extended and allowed the delivery of takeaway food under the umbrellas, while in Sardinia it is even been thought to allow the arrival on the island only to tourists with a health passport, or a negative swab test certificate issued from any approved laboratory no later than seven days before the departure date. Apps are also being studied to monitor the entrances to the various facilities.
Image source: Pexels
Summer camps: the experts say “no”. Summer centres can be compared, in terms of the danger of contagion, to schools, so reopening them, for infectious disease specialists and virologists, could be risky.
In the midst of war, Yemen has reported its first two deaths and new cases bringing the total to six. International organizations fear that if the outbreak worsens, the healthcare system will not be able to cope as it has been run down by the ongoing conflict that has led to the worst humanitarian crisis.
Due to the lockdown, several homemade food ventures are emerging in Pakistan. People are finding alternative ways to earn since businesses have seen a significant decline in sales due to Covid-19.
There are several corporations which have switched to online working, though some companies, solely dependent on people visiting their outlet and using their services, such as restaurants are going through a financial crisis.
Warshma spoke to Hania Moin, an owner of a new home-based food venture, The Eatery, talking about how she started her new business and how she is managing it during the pandemic.
Patients of ethnic minority backgrounds are dying at more than triple the rate if white Britons in England and Wales, according to a study.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found that they tend to live in areas hit harder by Sars-Cov-2. Of the 135 healthcare workers who died of the virus, 84 were from ethnic minority backgrounds.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that London has 85.7 deaths per 100,000 population related to Covid-19.
Those living in deprived neighbourhoods have been impacted harder than elsewhere. Here are a few figures of some of the most hit boroughs of London:
Coronavirus is seen as an opportunity for India to win businesses away from China. Around 1000 companies are willing to move out of China. With further details, Sakshi Gupta reports from India.
WNOL 