Month: April 2026

A Japanese regional government is offering residents ¥20,000 ($125) subsidies for using dating apps, to try to address the country’s population decline upstream of actual baby-making. Kochi prefecture’s initiative aims to reduce the barriers to finding suitable partners. Whether or not the plan works, it may be aiming at the ...

Argentinian President Javier Milei’s popularity plunged to a new low, as rising unemployment and a burgeoning corruption scandal threatened his ambitious economic program and prospects for reelection next year. Since taking office in 2023, Milei has overseen a remarkable transformation of South America’s second-largest economy: Annual inflation has plummeted, while ...

A string of violent incidents, including shootings and trucks set on fire, has been linked to Toronto’s towing industry When Cameron moved his family to a suburb north of Toronto last year, neighbours told him it one of the safest streets in the area. The roads were lined with cream-brick ...

Being hairless on top has never been in style, but r/bald members encourage one another in the face of insecurity I was sitting in a cafe a few weeks ago when I overheard a rare bit of sunny talk about advances in medicine and technology when a woman said: “Nobody ...

The second lady has launched a serviceable children’s podcast. That seems strategic given JD Vance’s potential presidential run I know that child labour is generally frowned upon but, in this economy, sometimes you’ve got to put your kid to work. Last week I gave my four-year-old an important assignment: she ...

Trump’s proposed 2027 budget would almost double the budget for plutonium pits, the chemical filled metal sphere inside a nuclear warhead that kicks off the explosion in a nuclear weapon. The same budget would slash almost $400 million from nuclear environmental cleanup. The budget request follows a leaked National Nuclear ...

Startup CEOs who are “tokenmaxxing” are bragging that they are spending more money on AI compute than it would cost to hire human workers. Astronomical AI bills are now, in a certain corner of the tech world, a supposed marker of growth and success.  “Our AI bill just hit $113k ...

This week Sam unpacks how social media algorithms manipulate our emotions around everything from engagement rings to wedding dresses to babies, and what it feels like getting lost in the #Weddingtok sauce. Then, Emanuel breaks down a satirical but functional AI tool that rips off open source software. There’s a ...

The mood in the Strait of Hormuz remains combustible despite Trump’s ceasefire extension. ...

Ukraine says it has reopened the Druzhba pipeline, after months of stalemate over stalled oil supplies to neighbouring Hungary. ...