Day: December 3, 2020

Google unlawfully surveilled and then terminated employees who were involved in organizing fellow workers, a US government labor board has alleged, after a year-long investigation.

In a complaint filed against Google and its parent company Alphabet, the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) accused the Silicon Valley giant of “interfering with, restraining and coercing employees” who attempted to improve their workplace conditions. 

According to the NLRB, Google illegally spied on employees who tried to unionize, ultimately firing several of them. The company also prevented staff from sharing work-related grievances on Google’s internal communication tool. If true, the allegations would amount to a serious breach of federal labor law. 

https://www.rt.com/usa/508529-google-spied-employees-nlrb-complaint/

CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield told an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the United States could start losing around 3,000 people – roughly the number that died in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 – each day over the next two months.

“The mortality concerns are real and I do think unfortunately before we see February, we could be close to 450,000 Americans that have died from this virus,” Redfield said. The U.S. death toll since the start of the pandemic stands at around 273,000.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa/u-s-pandemic-death-toll-mounts-as-danger-season-approaches-idUSKBN28D1V6

The move expands Facebook’s current rules against falsehoods and conspiracy theories about the pandemic. The social media company says it takes down coronavirus misinformation that poses a risk of “imminent” harm, while labeling and reducing distribution of other false claims that fail to reach that threshold.

Facebook said in a blog post that the global policy change came in response to news that COVID-19 vaccines will soon be rolling out around the world.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-facebook/facebook-bans-false-claims-about-covid-19-vaccines-idUSKBN28D202?il=0

Twitter has expanded its policy barring hateful speech to include “language that dehumanizes people on the basis of race, ethnicity and national origin”.

In a statement, it added that it “will also continue to surface potentially violative content through proactive detection and automation”.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/3/twitter-expands-hate-speech-rules-to-include-race-ethnicity

A meteor left a fiery trail that was filmed from Toronto’s 1,815-foot CN Tower. According to NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office head Bill Cooke, the space rock reached a speed of 56,000 mph before disintegrating in the sky with a massive blast. However, there are few videos of the event, so it is difficult to determine the meteor’s trajectory.

https://sputniknews.com/viral/202012031081345693-fiery-meteor-explodes-over-lake-ontario-with-spectacular-flash-as-blast-heard-in-new-york/

According to the Express, the incident occurred at around 11.22 am GMT in the Bristol suburb, with at least five fire crews arriving at the scene. Authorities have still not revealed any additional details about the explosion.

Initial reports suggest that a large explosion hit a warehouse, killing at least one person and injuring two.

👀 https://t.co/jhYBVnxTqH

— Nick – My Karma ran over my Dogma (@NickKerchink) December 3, 2020

Thailand reports at least five dead after a flash flood brought by seasonal monsoon swept through, causing waist-high floods in several provinces in the South.

Local media footage showed floodwaters gushing into a hospital entrance on Wednesday night in Nakhon Si Thammarat. The province’s governor said there were five deaths, while over 500,000 people were affected.

The floodwater was reported to have receded by Thursday.