Zuckerberg defends Facebook's ad-driven model as a way to connect people

Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said it will take “a few years” to solve the issues plaguing the social media company.

“I wish I could solve all these issues in three months or six months, but I just think the reality is that solving some of these questions is just going to take a longer period of time,” he said in a podcast interview with media publication Vox.

The company started investing more in security at least a year ago, Zuckerberg said,“so if this is going to be a three-year process, then I think we’re about a year in already. Hopefully by the end of this year, we’ll have really started to turn the corner on some of these issues.”

Zuckerberg is trying to steer Facebook through one of its worst public crises, after revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm that worked on President Donald Trump’s election campaign, obtained the private data of some 50 million Facebook users. Facebook’s shares have dropped about 14 percent since the news emerged and Zuckerberg has been called to testify before Congress in coming weeks. Politicians in the UK and the European Union have also requested Zuckerberg to come explain how Facebook protects the privacy of its 2 billion monthly users, and Missouri’s attorney general announced Monday that he is launching a wide-ranging probe into Facebook.

New York subway train derails; 36 injured, traffic disrupted

Dozens of people were injured when two New York subway train cars careened off the tracks, leaving hundreds of people stuck for more than an hour, a fire department spokesman said.

The incident -- which occurred mid-morning on the A train line between two stations in Harlem in northern Manhattan -- left 36 people with minor injuries, the spokesman told AFP.

Evacuating everyone from the underground station took more than an hour and a half, he said.

The cause of the derailment, which continued to disrupt traffic throughout the day, was not immediately clear.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which manages the city's aging public transit system, said the situation was under investigation.

Joseph Lhota, the newly appointed MTA chairman, told a local television station that the derailment would have been preceded by the activation of the emergency brake, but could not say why it had been triggered.

One rider described a sudden jolt "like a bucking horse," saying that "people were flying all over the cars."

"People were panicking, jumping out of their seats, just crying and praying out loud," said another passenger.

"It was just very traumatising."

Riders told of smoke and fire on the tracks, which Lhota explained could have resulted from litter igniting after the crash.

READ MORE

McDonald's, the residue of American empire

Walking down the cobblestoned streets of Antigua, Guatemala, I looked at the sandy red roofs of the Spanish colonial-style houses. I watched stray dogs grovel on the streets as motorcycles drove by and the vendors sold freshly cut mango and passion fruit. I was a passing American foreigner trying to make sense of what I saw before me. The looming Volcán de Agua in the distance was a reminder that I was in a different world than the small-town suburbs of New Jersey where I grew up. But as I neared the community supermarket on Poniente Street, something familiar caught my eye: a clear set of golden arches on a dark brown sign hanging on a speckled red wall. It was a McDonald’s.

“Look at how many plants and trees and flowers they’re growing inside,” my Spanish teacher-turned-guide said as we watched customers order and pick up their food. “There’s even a large fountain for children to throw coins in and for families to sit around.” She was right. Gleaming in the sunlight, the McDonald’s fountain was the centrepiece of what looked like a miniature park. A life-size statue of Ronald McDonald sat on a bench next to the fountain looking over an outdoor plaza. “This may be the most lavish place in Antigua,” she concluded. There was a hint of disbelief in her voice, as though something wasn’t quite right. And yet her tone didn’t betray any cynicism or exasperation.

American reviewers on Trip Advisor seemed to agree with my teacher’s assessment, but not her tone. “The Most Beautiful McDonald’s in the World,” read one commentator’s proud title. Others called it a “hidden gem” and “a little bit of paradise for Antigua” with a “beautiful atmosphere and regular hamburgers.” A New York City visitor wrote that “if this place was named anything else, it would be in every guide book.”

McDonald’s wasn’t the only American fast food establishment on Poniente Street. Opposite the Golden Arches was a Little Caesar’s Pizza, and further up the road, a Burger King with all the same features. All three teemed with costumers – American and Guatemalan alike – sometimes trailing out of the front door. Indeed, Guatemala appeared as though it really had become “America’s backyard,” to borrow the lexicon of the US policymakers who plotted the 1954 coup in the country.
READ MORE

Forget NY, Mumbai is among top four most expensive cities in the world

Latest News - For all the talk of how expensive it is to buy a house in London or New York, the most expensive major cities in the world are all in Asia.

In Hong Kong, Mumbai, Beijing and Shanghai, it now takes more than 30 years for a household with the local median income to buy a 90 square meter (970 square foot) apartment. That's according to Oxford Economics examination of price-to-income ratios across the world.

And the return from rents in Mumbai, Shanghai, Beijing, and also Delhi are "remarkably low," which could be an indicator that the valuations in those cities are "stretched." 

In all four cities, gross rental yield was lower than (Read More)