1 IMF warns US over high poverty (BBC) The US has
been warned about its high poverty rate in the International Monetary Fund's
annual assessment of the economy. The fund said about one in seven people were
living in poverty and that it needed to be tackled urgently. It recommended
raising the minimum wage and offering paid maternity leave to women to
encourage them to work.
The report also cut the country's growth forecast
for 2016 to 2.2% from a previous prediction of 2.4%. Slower global growth and
weaker consumer spending were blamed. US economic growth slowed to an annual
pace of 0.5% during the first three months of the year, down sharply from 1.4%
in the last three months of 2015.
But the stronger labour market meant that overall
"the US economy is in good shape", said the IMF's managing director
Christine Lagarde. May's unemployment figures showed the rate at an eight-year
low of 4.7%. The report called on the US to invest more in education, as well
as implement better social programmes such as childcare to help poorer
Americans get jobs.
2 Instagram hits half billion users (Jill Treanor in
The Guardian) The photo-sharing app Instagram now has 500 million users,
reaping the benefits from the growth of selfies and the propensity for
celebrities such as Kim Kardashian to share images with a wider audience.
Launched in 2010, it was bought by Facebook for $1bn
when it had 30 million users. Kevin Systrom, one of its founders, said: “500
million is a milestone very few companies get to. This scale is not a badge on
our uniform, but a signal of our ambition. If we can have a billion or a billion
and a half on Instagram, we get closer to capturing every experience in the
world.”
More than 80% of its half-billion users are outside
the US, the company said, and that 300 million used the app every day. Earlier
this year, Instagram caused controversy by introducing a system that changed
the order in which photographs were posted.
3 LG’s mosquito-repelling TV (Emily Price in San
Francisco Chronicle) LG’s newest television will repel mosquitoes for you. Available
in India where it was also designed, the TV uses sound to repel mosquitoes from
the room. The set broadcasts a noise only hearable by the bug, that is so
unpleasant they’d prefer to stay away rather than interrupt your binge-watching
session.
Beyond working as a digital form of bug spray, the
line of 1080p high definition televisions have built-in 20W sound as well as
built-in games. It also offers Bollywood and Cricket modes for an enhanced
experience watching those types of programming.
The sets start at 31-inches in size, with pricing
beginning at around $400. The same bug-repelling technology is also being used
in some other appliances made by LG, including air conditioners and washing
machines.
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