Africa

Uber, Taxify face more regulations in Ghana

Ghana’s Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, DVLA, will affix identification stickers on all cars operating under ride-hailing companies from 2019.  The move is to formerly bring all such vehicles under the same regulations that govern commercial vehicles like taxis. As such, Uber and Taxify vehicles will have to renew their roadworthy certificate twice a year. Their insurance packages will also have to reflect their status as commercial vehicles from the first quarter of 2019 when implementation begins.

MTN’s Nigeria woes threaten South Africa

African telecom giant, MTN’s battle with Nigerian authorities to return up to $10 billion could put the South African banking sector at risk, officials say. $8.2 billion of that figure is adjudged to be funds illegally repatriated out of Nigeria while the remainder represents unpaid taxes. Should the Johannesburg-based telco pay up that money, the Reserve Bank of South Africa fears it would affect the company’s ability to fulfil debt obligations in South Africa. This would cause systemic risks that could affect the entire financial sector of the country.

Europe

911 Robots to the rescue?

Delft University of Technology has developed a prototype flying robot that could help locate and rescue victims of disasters. In a typical “learning from nature” approach, the project’s creators studied the flying behaviours of insects to build the flying robots. The creators aim to scale the robots down in size and cost to make them swarm and fly safely. There are future plans to use them in artificial pollination on large farms too.

EU mulling over digital tax

A move by the EU to impose a digital tax has received massive pushback from three EU countries. Denmark, Sweden, and Ireland have refused to support the tax that will see a 3% levy on EU consumption of tech products. If passed, EU consumers will see a hike in the prices of services and goods from tech giants like Amazon and Facebook. Italy, Spain, and the UK are already at different stages of implementing their own tech levy if there’s no unanimous support from Brussels soon.

The Americas

Amazon finally lands 2HQ2?

Amazon’s search for a second HQ in the US has led to not one, but two locations in New York and North Virginia. After promising to invest up to $5 billion in its new home, dozens of applications came in from states across the United States and even Canada. Hoping to achieve the level of tech boom that Amazon brought to Seattle where it’s currently located, each state offered a myriad of tax breaks and incentives. But rather than choose one winner, the ecommerce giant thinks two locales will provide twice as many tech talents, sources say. It might also half the problems Amazon is blamed for in Seattle, including traffic problems and skyrocketing rent prices.

Samsung is folding up

After weeks of testing, Samsung has finally unveiled its first flexible foldable smartphone. The device is a 7.3 inch tablet that can be folded into a portable smartphone small enough to fit into a user’s pocket. Named Infinity Flex Display, Samsung hopes to begin mass production of the gadget within months. The device was revealed in a dim-lit room to apparently protect its specifications from lurking copycats. That hasn’t stopped a California-based startup, Royole, from being the first to unveil a flexible smartphone.

Asia

Gates reinvents the toilet to save lives

Bill Gates has unveiled toilet and sludge-processing designs that could save half a million lives and over $200 billion in sanitation-related costs. Speaking at the Reinvented Toilet Expo in Beijing, China, the Microsoft founder said some of the innovations will convert water and body waste into fertilizer and hydrogen energy fuels. The WHO asserts that $5.5 is earned in global economic benefits for every dollar spent in sanitation. Up to 2.3 billion of the world’s population don’t have access to basic sanitation.

China unveils AI news anchors

China’s state-owned news agency, Xinhua News Agency, has unveiled two AI-powered news anchors on its station. Created in collaboration with Chinese search engine, Sogou, the AI anchors read news items using synthesized human voices and animated facial movements to mimic real human expressions. The AI anchors will be able to read news 24/7 and at a faster rate than their human counterparts. The creators hope AI anchors will make news production cheaper and more efficient.