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Africa's malware problem Sep 04, 2020

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Many Africans are buying Chinese-made smartphones that steal their information. Investigations have shown that the cheap devices are pre-installed with a kind of malware that drains the data allowance and in some cases signs the user up to subscription services without their knowledge. Nathan Collier, from security firm Malwarebytes explains how it works. But David Li of Shenzhen Open Innovation Lab says he's not convinced Chinese manufacturers are to blame for the problem. Meanwhile, with data literacy a big problem in Africa, Kenneth Adu-Amanfoh, Executive Director of ACDRO in Ghana says better consumer education is needed.

(Picture: A woman on her phone in Nigeria. Picture credit: Getty Images)

Can Western universities survive without China? Sep 03, 2020

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Some universities fear they have become too financially dependent on fee-paying Chinese students - and thanks to Covid-19, many of them are staying away this year.

Salvatore Babones, an associate professor at the University of Sydney, says Australia is particularly vulnerable to this, while Vivienne Stern of Universities UK says it’s just one of a number of serious concerns for UK and US universities. We also hear from Chinese students already in the UK about whether they think it’s worth continuing.

(Picture: An empty classroom at an Italian University; Credit: Getty Images)

Would you buy a T-shirt made with slave labour? Sep 03, 2020

Show notes

China is accused of detaining millions of people from the Uighur ethnic minority and forcing them to work in factories. Pressure is mounting on foreign businesses to ensure material they source from China does not benefit from that forced labour. Alison Killing, an architect and investigator has found that 268 detention facilities have been built in the Xinjiang province in North-West China in just the last few years. Supply chain expert Kate Larsen says companies are often more at risk of exposure to forced labour than they might realise. But Craig Allen of the US China Business Council says US protections already exist to keep companies away from Uighur labour. And Max Zenglein of the Mercator Institute for China Studies says there are substantial incentives for companies to look the other way.

Produced by Frey Lindsay

(Picture: An alleged Uighur detention facility. Picture credit: Getty Images.)

Restaurants adapting to survive Sep 01, 2020

Show notes

Catering and hospitality are among the sectors worst hit by the global coronavirus pandemic, with many governments banning in-house dining. Manuela Saragosa speaks to New York Chef Anna Klinger, who owns and manages Al Di La, a Trattoria in Brooklyn. Ka Yi Ong who runs Mini Star, a Singapore eatery that specialises in stinky tofu tells us about its new and very successful delivery service. Michelin-starred chef Kevin Meehan of Kali restaurant in Hollywood explains how a creative make-over for his parking lot is helping business tick over and Elizabeth Hotson visits Coupette, a high end cocktail bar in London where manager Andrei Marcu is delighted to be mixing champagne piña coladas for drink-in customers. Plus, we hear from Richard Vines, chief food critic at Bloomberg News in London. Producer: Elizabeth Hotson. (Picture description: A food vendor wearing a face mask at a hawker centre in Singapore by Roslan Rahman).

Boredom: The secret to creativity? Aug 31, 2020

Show notes

Why being bored might be good for us. Ed Butler speaks to Kate Greene, a science writer who experienced months of isolation as part of a project to test how astronauts might cope with the boredom of a long trip to Mars. John Eastwood from the Boredom Lab at York University in Toronto and Erin Westgate from the University of Florida discuss the impact boredom can have on our ability to work. Dr Sandi Mann, author of The Upside of Downtime argues that boredom can be the secret to creative thought.

(Photo: A woman bored at work, Credit: Getty Images)

Business Weekly: 29/08/2020 Aug 29, 2020

Show notes

Two ancient and archeologically priceless rock shelters in Western Australia were destroyed earlier this year by the mining company Rio Tinto. On this episode of Business Weekly we ask whether the punitive measures imposed on senior executives this week are tough enough. Could biotechnology transform the way we eat and the way we treat animals? We investigate the future of food and find out how a cat food made from mouse meat could be made without harming any mice. As workers in the UK are seemingly unwilling to return to city centre offices during the Coronavirus pandemic, we wonder what these spaces will look like in the years to come. And we look at the romance scammers who are conning lonely hearts on social media. Business Weekly is presented by Lucy Burton and produced by Matthew Davies.

Biotech: The future of farming Aug 28, 2020

Show notes

Does farming as we know it have a future? We hear from those who argue biotechnology is about to disrupt agriculture for good.

Shifting diets and food sources will put one million US farming jobs at risk, according to futurist Tony Seba of the think-tank Rethink X.

But cattle farmers are not about to give up their livelihoods so easily. We hear from British farmer Andrew Loftus and Danielle Beck of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association in the US.

Manuela Saragosa also speaks to Henning Steinfeld at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Producers: Laurence Knight and Szu Ping Chan.

(Photo: a cow in a field. Credit: Getty Images)

Romance scamming: A global industry Aug 26, 2020

Show notes

Many of us will have noticed 'friend' or 'follow' requests on our social media from strangers with profiles which don’t quite ring true. They mainly use cloned pictures, often taken from accounts of those in the US military. Zoe Kleinman investigates the global industry of romance scamming, which can have tragic consequences. Zoe hears from Lisa Forte, a cyber security expert from Red Goat Security, Professor Alan Woodward from Surrey University, and she goes into the tragic story of Renee Holland, as investigated by Jack Nicas of the New York Times. With thanks to the New York Times for their material.

Producer: Sarah Treanor.

(Photo: Mobile phone display. Credit: Getty Images)

Education in Africa Aug 25, 2020

Show notes

Is the continent looking at a lost generation of students as Covid-19 forces the majority of education ministries to scrap the entire 2020 Academic year?Tamasin Forde speaks to Folawe Omikunle the CEO of Teach for Nigeria, a charity that places leaders into under-served primary schools as teachers. She says Covid has shone a light on their already crumbling education sector. Professor Lilian Salami is the Vice Chancellor of Nigeria’s University of Benin in Benin City. They closed in February like many across the country and she tells Tamasin they weren’t able to offer any remote learning for their students because of a lack of infrastructure in their area. And Philip Pleiwon is the founder of Imano, an online platform that aggregates open source free content from around the world as well as individual university syllabuses. He says higher learning institutions are now finally clamouring to get online. (Picture description - students chairs and desks are arranged in order to maintain social distancing at Agidingbi Senior Grammar School, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria. Photo by Adekunle Ajayi via Getty Images).

A nudge in the right direction Aug 24, 2020

Show notes

Can a simple nudge change behaviour for the common good - even in potentially life and death situations? Elizabeth Hotson talks to Helena Rubenstein, Head of Behavioural Science of Innovia Technology, about a successful experiment to stop drink driving and Martine Visser, economics professor at the university of Cape Town, explains how nudging the inhabitants of South Africa’s most populous city to use less water, averted Day Zero. Plus Erez Yoeli, a research associate in altruism at MIT tells us how selfish people can be persuaded to act in everyone’s best interests. And Ravi Gurumurthy CEO of charity, Nesta, explains how the Behavioural Insights Team applies behavioural science to public policy. Produced by Sarah Treanor. (Picture of bing soo by Elizabeth Hotson).

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