All posts tagged: countries

Google rolls out Gemini in Chrome in 7 new countries

Google rolls out Gemini in Chrome in 7 new countries

Published by skeptic

Google announced Monday that it’s making its Gemini in Chrome feature available in seven new markets, including Australia, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam. The company is rolling this feature out to both desktop and iOS in all of these countries except Japan. The company has been integrating AI and Gemini into Chrome in more ways since last year through a floating window. Earlier this year, the company introduced a sidebar-based assistant that would help users answer questions across tabs and utilize the Personal Intelligence feature of Gemini, which lets users connect to services like Gmail and Google Photos, for personalized answers. Users can also schedule meetings with Calendar, check location details with Maps, and draft and send emails with Gmail through this feature in Chrome. Users can also transform images on the web using Nano Banana 2 in the sidebar. Gemini in Chrome was available to U.S.-based users through the January launch, and the company expanded the availability to India, Canada, and New Zealand in March. With this launch, Gemini in …

Declining societal religious norms are linked to rising youth anxiety across 70 countries

Declining societal religious norms are linked to rising youth anxiety across 70 countries

Published by José Betancourt

A recent study published in the journal Developmental Science suggests that shifts in cultural expectations for young people may play a role in rising child and adolescent anxiety rates. Specifically, the research indicates that growing up in societies with declining religious norms tends to be associated with an increase in youth anxiety. These findings provide evidence that community wide beliefs shape youth mental health, hinting at a need to find new ways to offer young people a sense of belonging in the modern world. Over the past three decades, many societies have changed how they raise children. Cultural expectations have shifted away from community focused values, like obedience, and toward individualistic traits, like personal responsibility. Scientists wanted to understand how these shifting societal values affect the mental well-being of children and teens. “Around the globe, we see rising numbers in young people being affected by mental health struggles. To be able to stop this concerning trend, it is needed to understand why mental disorders such as anxiety disorders are rising. There has been much research …

Swiss Privacy Goes Global: Proton VPN Grows Coverage to 145 Countries

Swiss Privacy Goes Global: Proton VPN Grows Coverage to 145 Countries

Published by skeptic

Privacy in the digital age is more important than ever, and using a strong VPN can help keep your internet behavior safe from prying eyes. We write a lot about VPNs, and one provider has been making moves over the past two weeks to expand its global coverage.  Proton VPN is the privacy tool in question, and the Swiss-based company’s network, which has the best free VPN option on the market, now spans roughly 20,000 servers across 145 countries — with new server locations in Lebanon, Nicaragua, Gabon, Papua New Guinea, Kyrgyzstan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo — making it the top provider on our best VPN list for worldwide coverage.  VPNs, or virtual private networks, operate by masking your actual IP address with one from a remote server, allowing you to disguise your location and keep your internet activity secure. There are a multitude of ways a VPN can enhance your experience, whether you’re looking to access streaming titles from another country or get around oppressive government firewalls that can block important …

Treasury, IRS Propose Rules For 1 Percent Remittance Tax On Some Money Sent To Foreign Countries

Treasury, IRS Propose Rules For 1 Percent Remittance Tax On Some Money Sent To Foreign Countries

Published by Jenni Sidey

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The Internal Revenue Service and the Department of the Treasury proposed regulations on Friday regarding the new excise tax, established under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, on certain remittances made abroad. The Internal Revenue Service in Washington on March 10, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times “Beginning Jan. 1, 2026, a 1 percent remittance transfer tax applies to remittances sent from the United States to recipients in foreign countries when the sender provides cash, a money order, a cashier’s check, or other similar physical instrument to the remittance transfer provider,” the IRS said in an April 10 statement. “The sender is liable for the tax, and remittance transfer providers are required to collect the remittance transfer tax from certain senders, make semimonthly deposits, and file quarterly returns with the IRS. If the remittance transfer provider does not collect the tax from the sender, the tax becomes a liability of the remittance transfer provider.” The proposed regulations clarify how the remittance transfer tax would be applied. According …

ESPN on Disney Plus Is Expanding to More Countries

ESPN on Disney Plus Is Expanding to More Countries

Published by skeptic

More people will be able to watch ESPN programming through Disney Plus with Tuesday’s launch of ESPN on Disney Plus in Europe and select Asia-Pacific markets.  With expansion into more than 50 countries and territories in those regions, people in 100 markets worldwide can now stream ESPN content through Disney Plus, according to a Disney Plus news release. The offering brings live sporting events and studio shows together with general entertainment and family programming in a single app. In markets including Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong, a curated selection of English‑language ESPN sports programming is now available on Disney Plus, according to the release. Disney Plus also said, “the initial [ESPN on Disney Plus] offering will vary by market but will grow to thousands of live events over the next year.”  Programming includes US coverage of the NBA and NHL starting with the 2026-27 season, college sports and more live events. Disney Plus subscribers can watch ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary collection and select studio shows. Pre-existing sports content on Disney Plus in Europe …

Add Pakistan To Growing List Of Countries Preparing To Stockpile Shahed-Style Attack Drones

Add Pakistan To Growing List Of Countries Preparing To Stockpile Shahed-Style Attack Drones

Published by Jenni Sidey

The Pakistan-based drone company Sysverve Aerospace can now be added to the rapidly expanding list of defense firms worldwide racing to develop, manufacture, stockpile, and potentially deploy low-cost, one-way attack drones on the modern battlefield. The proliferation of these drones across two major battlefields in Eurasia is set to permanently reshape warfare. Pakistani-American artificial intelligence investor Amir Husain posted on X about an exhibit featuring Sysverve’s latest “Shahed-like loitering munition.” When asked on X by one user where the exhibit was being featured, Husain stated it was at the World Defense Show, held in February in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Sysverve’s website describes the company as a leader of unmanned air target systems in Pakistan and states it also develops surveillance and combat UAVs. Its contact page lists the company in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Last week, we revealed that India has adopted the Iranian-style drone playbook, with startup HoverIt showcasing its DIVYASTRA MK2, an advanced long-range strike drone. In the six-week U.S.-Iran conflict, Shahed drones launched by Iran proved extraordinarily effective, knocking out data centers in surrounding …

Emily in Greece? Emily in Paris to film in two European countries for season 6

Emily in Greece? Emily in Paris to film in two European countries for season 6

Published by Daniella Wilson

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Emily in Paris is venturing further afield as the cast and crew head to Greece and Monaco to film its sixth season this May. The Netflix series, which stars Lily Collins as American marketing executive Emily Cooper who goes to work in Paris, has become more of a pan-European endeavour in recent seasons, with Emily living between Paris and Rome — and falling in love with various men from those cities. While plot details for the forthcoming season remain under wraps, the season five finale showed Emily’s on-again, off-again romantic interest, Gabriel (Lucas Bravo), sending her a postcard inviting her on a Greek getaway. He revealed at the end of the series that he had left his Paris restaurant and taken a new chef …

Analysis-Iran War Leaves Crisis-Scarred Countries Counting the Cost

Analysis-Iran War Leaves Crisis-Scarred Countries Counting the Cost

Published by Sam Flores

By Marc Jones, Uditha Jayasinghe and Ariba Shahid LONDON/COLOMBO/ISLAMABAD, April 10 (Reuters) – Sanoj Weeratunge thought this would finally ⁠be the ⁠year his tour firm put Sri Lanka’s spate of ⁠crises behind it. Then the Iran war erupted 2,700 miles away, the government hiked fuel prices by 35% and business slumped almost ​a third. “We have had a very difficult road over the past six years to recover and were very hopeful that this would finally be the year where we reach pre-COVID levels,” Weeratunge said from his ‌office in Colombo. “But now this economic shock will affect us.” Sri ‌Lanka, like Egypt and Pakistan, belongs to a group of crisis-scarred, lower-income countries that analysts fear have been thrust back towards trouble as the energy imports on which they rely become more expensive ⁠due to the war. Despite ⁠this week’s fragile ceasefire in the Gulf, Colombo has reintroduced fuel subsidies and negotiated a temporary easing of the ​terms of its International Monetary Fund bailout to give itself some breathing space. There are likely to be …

Ugandan Woman’s Description Of Her Country Puts Third-World Country Into Perspective

Ugandan Woman’s Description Of Her Country Puts Third-World Country Into Perspective

Published by Jenni Sidey

America prides itself on supposedly being the wealthiest, most advanced country with the highest standard of living in the world, the top example of a so-called “first-world country.” But it’s becoming harder and harder to justify that title, as a woman from Uganda pointed out. Aketch Joy Winnie recently shared that a lot of the places we think of as “undeveloped countries” are far more advanced in a lot of ways than the United States has ever been, and it might be time for us to rethink how we’re defining which countries are and are not advanced. The woman’s description of Uganda calls into question what it means to be a ‘third-world country.’ “Why do you call us a ‘third-world’ country?” TikToker Aketch Joy Winnie opened her video about her home country, Uganda, which is regarded as one of the “least developed countries” by the United Nations. “Least developed countries” is one of several newer terms, including “developing countries,” created to replace the phrase “Third-World countries” because aside from its outdated origins in the Cold War, the often …