Government scheme to replace EU agricultural payments fuelled by ‘blind optimism’ and still lacking crucial details, say MPsThe government’s plans for a post-Brexit scheme to support British farming are based on little more than “blind optimism” and ri…
Nigerian ethical credit-recovery fintech Bfree secures $1.7M, expands to Asia, Europe, South America and across Africa
Bfree, a Nigerian credit management fintech has embarked on global expansion after raising $1.7 million in a pre-Series A round, to tap the opportunities in emerging markets, where digital lending apps have recently sprung up in droves. Funds that participated in the latest round included 4Di Capital, Octerra Capital, VestedWorld, Voltron Capital, Logos Ventures, and […]
Kazakhstan protests: president appeals to Moscow-led security bloc
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declares state of emergency and says he plans to act ‘as toughly as possible’Kazakhstan’s president has appealed to a Moscow-led security bloc to help regain control amid protests sparked by fuel price rises, after demonstrators t…
UK Border Force could strike over Channel refugee ‘pushback’ plan
Staff may take industrial action over Priti Patel’s ‘reprehensible’ plan to turn back refugees, says PCS unionBorder Force officials could strike over Priti Patel’s “morally reprehensible” plans to turn back dinghies in the Channel, a union has said.Th…
Covid live: Italy, Netherlands and Turkey report record daily cases as Omicron surges across Europe
Italy reports a record 189,109 new cases; Dutch authorities announce more than 24,000 new cases; Turkey reports record 66,467 casesMacron rebuke to unvaccinated citizens incurs anger in parliamentChina’s locked down cities pay price of zero-Covid strat…
Covid ‘vaccination doubt line’ receiving up to 1,000 calls a day in the Netherlands
Helpline staffed by volunteers advising those still hesitant about getting jabbed against coronavirusCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA “vaccination doubt line” set up by doctors in the Netherlands is receiving up to 1,000 ca…
Audiences to be put in hypnotic trance at Swedish film festival
Three screenings at this year’s Göteborg festival will ‘transform the audience’s state of mind’ with a live hypnotist on stageThe Göteborg film festival is no stranger to stunts. It has previously featured screenings for a single audience member at a N…
AIMMO bags $12M Series A to advance data labeling technology
Most artificial intelligence models are trained through supervised learning, meaning that humans must label raw data. Data labeling is a critical part of automating artificial intelligence and machine learning model, but at the same time, it can be time-consuming and tedious work. A Korean startup called AIMMO, which uses software and humans to label and […]
Retrieved after decades: the painting supposedly ‘bought’ by the Nazis
A new book recounts one woman’s struggle to find looted art – and then convince a major museum to give it backFresh proof that the Nazis set up fake auctions and phoney paperwork to disguise their looting of art and valuable possessions has been uncove…
Outsider from the right backed by Hungary’s left to beat Orbán
Six opposition parties have united behind Péter Márki-Zay for crucial spring voteWhen Hungarian opposition leader Péter Márki-Zay was in Brussels at the end of last year, he visited the street where an MEP from prime minister Viktor Orbán’s ruling part…