‘I studied at uni, now sell eggs’: India’s job crisis under Modi

New Delhi, India – A grim-faced young man rustles up a quick egg snack on a pushcart at a quiet residential corner in a suburb of the Indian capital, New Delhi, as he meticulously enquires about his patrons’ tastes.

Sagar Kumar, a 21-year-old undergraduate in commerce at an open university in Noida, a city in Uttar Pradesh – the country’s most populous state in the Hindi-speaking heartland – is angry.

He has been working as a roadside food vendor for a year to pay for the school fees of his younger siblings and the kidney dialysis of an ailing father. He is impatient for a government job.

“I study at night, the rest of the time I tend to this food cart and earn 500 rupees [$6] a day. What use is a commerce graduate degree to sell eggs by the roadside?” Sagar said.

In New Delhi’s Tughlakabad slums, around the remnants of a medieval era fort, 24-year-old Seema is a part-time cook, but hopes to get a job as an office secretary.

“My typing speed is very good and I can add numbers. My family came to Delhi from Badayun [in Uttar Pradesh] where I wanted to get a clerical job at a government office. But I have had no luck yet. There are also safety concerns to consider when looking for a job as a woman here,” she says.

What use is a commerce graduate degree to sell eggs by the roadside?

Sagar Kumar, Food vendor

Survey barred from publishing

India’s fast-paced economic growth has failed to generate employment opportunities for over 12 million Indians who enter job market every year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who swept to power in 2014 on the promise to create 10 million job annually, has been accused of creating the worst unemployment crisis in decades.

A leaked report about India’s unemployment last week revealed that jobless rate rose to its highest level in at least 45 years.

For the first time, half of India’s working-age population (15 years and above), is not contributing to any economic activity, data analysis by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) shows.

Officials at Niti Aayog, the premier government policy think-tank, said the report was not final and that sufficient jobs were being created.

Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley dismissed the survey findings, saying it was “disinformation”.

“If the economy is growing at 12 percent nominal growth for the last five years, it would be an economic absurdity to say that such a large economic growth, the highest in the world, doesn’t lead to the creation of jobs,” Jaitley told Indian news agency ANI.

“If no job creation takes place then there is social unrest. This has been a peace period where no major social agitation has been witnessed in the last five years,” the minister claimed.

‘We need jobs’

But warnings about a brewing jobs crisis are not new. In December, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said labour participation rate, a measure of adults who are willing to work, has fallen to 42 percent.

In March 2018, data from the CMIE, a portal that tracks economic activity, said 31 million Indians were looking for jobs.

A report released last month by the All India Manufacturers’ Organisation said 3.5 million jobs had been lost since 2016, when Modi banned about 85 percent of currency notes.

Government jobs in India are the most sought after. India’s railway network recently received 19 million applications for 63,000 jobs as cleaners and track maintainers.

Sagar, son of a migrant family from Madhepura in Bihar state, says he applied for several government jobs, including at the railways which does not mandate a college degree.

Old enough to vote for the first time, he says “whoever forms the next government must help us”.

Sagar says neither jobs are available nor is it easy to get bank loans to start a small business [Zeenat Saberin/Al Jazeera]

“We need jobs. If you can’t do that, then help us earn. I tried to get a loan for entrepreneurs, but that is a nightmare as well. So there is nowhere to turn. Neither jobs are available nor is it easy to get bank loans to fund a small business,” he added.

Sagar is among the 133 million young adults who will cast their ballots when the world’s biggest democracy holds a general election due in less than 100 days.

The election comes as India struggles through a period of what economists call “jobless growth”.

“The jobs crisis is really bad. The medium and small scale industries and agriculture are major employers in our country. These sectors have suffered due to policy induced shocks like a badly-implemented national services tax GST and a note ban in 2016 that broke the backs of small businesses and the informal sector,” economist Prasenjit Bose told Al Jazeera.

The fact is that the economic growth data is being grossly overestimated.

Prasenjit Bose, economist

“Even the organised sector has not grown under this government. Although public sector investments have happened but that has not translated into jobs,” he said.

“The fact is that the economic growth data is being grossly overestimated. There can be no other explanation for this discrepancy between an over 7 percent GDP growth and a 45-year-high unemployment rate.”

Unemployment fuels inequality

Job growth has slowed just as the biggest youth bulge the world has ever seen nears its peak in a country where more than half of its 1.2 billion people are under 25.

In cases like Sagar and Seema, a precarious labour market, socioeconomic factors and a lack of public services has made matters worse.

Since the lack of access to income is the main driver of poverty, experts warn this will also fuel an increase in inequality.

With faster but uneven economic growth in recent decades, boundaries between villages and small towns have blurred. Meanwhile, migration, mobile phones and television have ensured people are more keenly aware of how the lives of others are improving faster than their own.

In states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan, upper caste land-owning farming communities have held large protests in recent years, demanding quotas in government jobs.

Population is rising beyond the economy’s capacity to create jobs and there is insufficient job creation in the private sector, say experts.

Investment in the Indian economy is stagnating at lower levels than 2011-12 and the unorganised sector is declining, said Professor Arun Kumar, author of “Demonetisation and the Black Economy”.

“The government needs to address the agricultural crisis. The unorganised sector needs a boost, you need to give them credit and support. The unorganised sector, when revived, will create demand for its own self,” Kumar told Al Jazeera.

India is characterised more by underemployment than unemployment.

Arun Kumar, economist

In the midst of the squabbling over jobs data, economist Kumar says it is necessary to point out the distinction between unemployment and underemployment.

“In India, we don’t have social security. So if somebody loses work, they can’t say we won’t work. Everybody does some work here, so you see graduates pushing a cart etc. India is characterised more by underemployment than unemployment. The problem is our unorganised sector employs 93 percent of those seeking work. It is this 93 percent that is losing jobs because this sector is in crisis,” Kumar said.

Major election issue

This is why India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looks nervous as it seeks re-election.

In a television interview last year, Prime Minister Modi had said that selling ‘pakodas’ (deep-fried finger food) is also a form of employment since the ‘pakoda’ seller would earn rupees 200 ($2.7) a day.

The remark created a huge controversy, with the opposition accusing Modi of being insentitive to people’s demands for jobs. Ahead of polls, it has ratcheted up pressure on Modi over his unkept promises on jobs.

The main opposition Congress party has promised to introduce a minimum income guarantee for the poor if it wins the elections, due by May.

India’s fractured political landscape, with its dozens of regional parties and caste alliances, poses a serious challenge to Modi’s reelection bid.

Inspite of people like Sagar and Seema’s economic aspirations, regional and caste politics will play a big part in how people vote. And it will be an uphill task for the next government, irrespective of its ideological affiliation, to create all the jobs needed.

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Fed up with flight delays in Asia? Blame the airports

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – You’ve endured the long queues at check in and immigration; patiently sat on the floor of a packed departure hall after being informed of a delay to your flight; before being eventually told to walk across a baking tarmac to your plane.

For many passengers daily, this is the reality of flying around parts of Southeast Asia, where growth in the number of airports and related infrastructure has failed to keep up with a surge in demand. And a mushrooming of regional budget airlines vying for limited take-off and landing slots at these airports is making competition among carriers fiercer than ever and raising safety concerns. But new technologies promise to alleviate at least some of the pain in the short term.

Nowhere in Southeast Asia are these problems more acute than in Vietnam, the region’s fastest-growing civilian aviation hub.

The number of passengers travelling through its airports has grown on average by 16 percent a year since 2010, hitting 94 million last year, up from 25 million in 2012, according to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), a research firm.

But Vietnam has completed just two new airports since 1975. A replacement for Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat facility – Vietnam’s largest airport – has been discussed for years, but construction has yet to begin.

Meanwhile, the rest of Southeast Asia isn’t far behind in terms of growth in demand for flights. CAPA says the number of passengers across the region is growing by around 10 percent a year. Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines are all experiencing double-digit expansion rates.

But unlike Vietnam, some of its neighbours are growing their airport capacity. Singapore will open additional facilities at Changi International Airport this year, with another terminal planned beyond that, while a $5.3bn project is underway to expand capacity at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport from 45 million passengers annually to 125 million by 2024.

Airports in parts of Southeast Asia are getting busier as more airlines open up [File: Wong Maye-E/AP Photo]

Despite Vietnam’s infrastructure constraints, airlines are investing heavily to cater to growing demand from its increasingly affluent middle class. Last month, Bamboo Airways, a subsidiary of resort developer FLC Group, became Vietnam’s fifth airline by completing its first commercial flight. It aims to operate 50 planes by the end of the year.

VietJet Air, a major Vietnamese budget carrier, has provisionally ordered 150 more planes to add to its already large fleet. And AirAsia, Southeast Asia’s largest low-cost carrier, has also announced plans to launch a Vietnamese airline.

Until now, the surge in demand has been great for VietJet Air. Its pre-tax profits rose by 22 percent last year compared to 2017.

But it’s in something of a minority. CAPA says that of Southeast Asia’s 20 publicly traded airlines or affiliates, only six made profits in the third quarter of 2018.

And intense competition could result in slimmer profit margins even for VietJet Air in the coming years.

“There are still growth opportunities in Vietnam, but to think that existing airlines can continue to grow at the rate we’ve seen the last few years, plus with at least one other airline possibly entering the market, something will have to give,” Brendan Sobie, CAPA’s Southeast Asia analyst, says.

“A lot of the population now is flying, and fares are already very low, so it’s not realistic to think that they could go lower,” Sobie adds.

Technology to the rescue

Ageing airports may be uncomfortable for passengers, but they also mean more congestion for Asian airlines. The growing number of carriers have to compete for a limited number of slots per day to take off and land. Airports are required to keep planes sufficiently far apart in the sky to prevent collisions.

But companies such as Honeywell International, which makes the electronics used in flight-management systems among other products, says modern technology can safely squeeze more planes into a given part of the sky, allowing airports to increase capacity while they build more physical infrastructure.

Technology that allows more planes to fly into and out of airports such as the one in Singapore could help relieve congestion [Edgar Su/Reuters]

Brian Davis, Honeywell’s vice president for Asia Pacific airlines, says many carriers are not using such systems to full effect.

“So the airplanes are capable, and what we need to do is make sure the airspace routes … are taking advantage of the equipment that’s on board,” Davis adds.

Wanted: More pilots

Another bottleneck that’s emerging in Southeast Asian aviation is a lack of pilots and the capacity to train them. This is a particularly acute need in Vietnam, which has just one flight-training centre.

The local arm of Lithuania-based BAA Training will open another such facility in Ho Chi Minh City in May.

“Vietnam is a country with some of the fastest growth in the aviation market right now,” says Vytautas Jankauskas, BAA Vietnam’s CEO. “Bamboo has a huge job to do, and without the support of independent training centres like us, it would be very hard to meet those goals,” he adds.

BAA plans to install four flight simulators which would train 360 pilots a year, Jankauskas said.

The BAA facility will also provide advanced safety training, something that’s become a major concern recently.

In December, three VietJet flights experienced problems, including a technical issue, a hard landing resulting in damage to the front landing gear and a crew landing their plane on the wrong runway. No one was hurt in any of the incidents.

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Lakers Trade Rumors: Reggie Bullock Dealt to LA for Svi Mykhailiuk, Draft Pick

Detroit Pistons guard Reggie Bullock (25) stands on the court during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Monday, Jan. 21, 2019, in Washington. The Wizards won 101-87. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Nick Wass/Associated Press

Swingman Reggie Bullock will be traded for the third time in his career.

The Detroit Pistons will trade Bullock to the Los Angeles Lakers, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Tuesday.

Detroit will receive Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and a draft pick in return for the veteran guard.

This comes after Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday the Lakers were one of multiple teams to reach out to the Pistons regarding Bullock’s availability. While she noted the Pistons weren’t “very interested in moving him for what they’ve been offered” at the time, this return package changed their mind.

Bullock is playing on an expiring contract, so the Pistons were able to get something for him in return before he potentially hits the open market this coming offseason.

The North Carolina product was a first-round pick in 2013 and has played for the Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns and Pistons. The Clippers traded him to the Suns in January 2015, and Phoenix moved him to Detroit in July of that year.

He is a versatile player who can defend ball-handling guards or forwards on the wing and held opponents to 2.6 percent worse shooting from three-point range than their normal averages when he defended them during the 2017-18 campaign, per NBA.com.

Offensively, he was nothing more than a rotational player despite his draft status in his first four seasons and didn’t average more than 4.5 points a night during that span. However, he took a jump in 2017-18 for the Pistons and averaged 11.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 44.5 percent from deep, which were all career-highs at the time.

Bullock has built on that this season with 12.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, all career highs.

Los Angeles now has someone who can stretch the floor and take advantage of openings created by the defensive attention LeBron James attracts with his outside shooting. He can also slash to the basket when defenders press up on that shot and figures to slide right into the wing rotation as his new team hopes to make a playoff run.

The Lakers will need all the depth they can get if they are going to advance in the daunting Western Conference, and Bullock provides more shooting around James.

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Stacey Abrams’ State of the Union 2019 response: Live fact-check & transcript

MS. ABRAMS

Good evening my fellow Americans and happy lunar new year. I’m Stacey Abrams and I’m honored to join the conversation about the state of our union.

Growing up, my family went back and forth between lower middle class and working class. Yet, even when they came home weary and bone-tired, my parents found a way to show us all who we could be. My librarian mother taught us to love learning. My father, a shipyard worker, put in overtime and extra shifts, and they made sure we volunteered to help others. Later, they both became united Methodist ministers, an expression of the faith that guides us. These were our family values — faith, service, education, and responsibility.

Now, we only had one car so sometimes my dad had hitchhike and walk long stretches during the 30-mile trip home from the shipyards. One rainy night my mom got worried. We piled in the car and went looking for him and we found my dad making his way along the road soaked and shivering in his shirt sleeves. When he got in the car my mom asked if he left his coat at work. He explained he had given it to a homeless man he met on the highway. We we asked why he had given away his only jacket, my dad turned to us and said, I knew when I left that man he’d still be alone but I could give him my coat because I knew you were coming for me.

Our power and strength as Americans lives in our hard work and our beliefs and more. My family understood firsthand that while success is not guaranteed, we live in a nation where opportunity is possible. But we do not succeed alone. In these United States, when times are tough, we can persevere because our friends and neighbors will come for us. Our first responders will come for us. It is this mantra, this uncommon grace of community that has driven me to become an attorney, a small-business owner, a writer, and most recently, the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia.

My reason for running was simple — I love our country and its promise of opportunity for all. And I stand here tonight because I hold fast to my father’s credo, together we are coming for America, for a better America.

Just a few weeks ago, I joined volunteers to distribute meals to furloughed federal workers. They waited in line for a box of food, and the sliver of hope since they hadn’t received paychecks in weeks. Making livelihoods of our federal workers a pawn for political games is a disgrace. The shutdown was a stunt, engineered by the president of the United States, one that defied every tenet of fairness and abandoned not just our people but our values.

After Trump’s long speech calling for unity, Abrams is looking to remind the public that it was Trump’s own hard-line stance on immigration that led to a 35-day government shutdown. And that funding lapse could repeat itself later this month, if Congress and Trump fail to come to a deal on border security.

For seven years, I led the Democratic Party in the Georgia House of Representatives. I didn’t always agree with the Republican speaker or governor, but I understood that our constituents didn’t care about our political parties. They cared about their lives. So when we had to negotiate criminal justice reform or transportation or foster care improvements, the — foster care improvements, the leaders of our state didn’t shut down. We came together and we kept our word.

It should be no different in our nation’s capital. We may come from different sides of the political aisle, but our joint commitment to the ideals of this nation cannot be negotiable. Our most urgent work is to realize Americans’ dreams of today and tomorrow, to carve a path to independence and prosperity that can last a lifetime.

Children deserve an excellent education from cradle to career. We owe them safe schools and the highest standards, regardless of ZIP code. Yet, this White House responds timidly while first-graders practice active-shooter drills and the price of higher education grows ever steeper. From now on, our leaders must be willing to tackle gun safety measures and face the crippling effect of educational loans, to support educators and invest what is necessary to unleash the power of America’s greatest minds.

gun violence

Trump has suggested on multiple occasions that teachers should receive pay bonuses if they complete firearm training and become licensed to carry. He has also floated the idea of installing armed guards inside public schools.

gun violence

This was an issue that Democrats wanted to highlight tonight. There were at least 17 gun violence survivors at Trump’s speech tonight, according to Giffords — the advocacy group founded by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a fellow survivor. Their goal in attending: To remind politicians (and voters watching at home) about the 35,000-plus deaths by gun every year.

Trump’s speech didn’t address college affordability or student loan debt, which now totals roughly $1.5 trillion.

Abrams raises those issues, but she doesn’t offer much in terms of policy proposals. Notably, she didn’t talk about tuition-free or debt-free college, which are ideas that have been embraced by many of the Democrats running for president.

Democrats’ calls to support educators comes amid a slew of labor strikes across the country over the past year in which teachers are demanding greater pay and improved classroom conditions.

One of Nancy Pelosi’s guests tonight? The head of the nation’s largest teachers union.

In Georgia and around the country, people are striving for a middle class where a salary truly equals economic security. But instead, families’ hopes are being crushed by Republican leadership that ignores real life or just doesn’t understand it. Under the current administration, far too many hard-working Americans are fall behind, living paycheck to paycheck, most without labor unions to protect them from even worse harm.

The Republican tax bill rigged the system against working people. Rather than bringing back jobs, plants are closing, layoffs are looming, and wages struggle to keep pace with the actual cost of living. We owe more to the millions of everyday folks who keep our economy running, like truck drivers forced to buy their own rigs, farmers caught in a trade war, small-business owners in search of capital, and domestic workers serving without labor protections. Women and men who could thrive if only they had the support and freedom to do so.

Wage growth has been sluggish since the Great Recession but gained steam in recent months, with average hourly private-sector earnings up by 3.2 percent in January.

trade

Abrams’ only mention of Trump’s trade policies focuses on farmers, who have taken a hit from retaliatory tariffs.

The president’s tariffs on U.S. trading partners, like China, Mexico and Canada, has meant retaliation on billions of dollars worth of American farm goods – so much so that USDA has offered farmers access to billions in trade-relief payments.

We know bipartisanship could craft a 21st century immigration plan, but this administration chooses to cage children and tear families apart. Compassionate treatment at the border is not the same as open borders. President Reagan understood this. President Obama understood this. Americans understand this. And Democrats stand ready to effectively secure our ports and borders, but we must all embrace that from agriculture to health care — all embrace that from agriculture to health care, America is stronger with immigrants, not walls.

immigration

The Senate engaged in a freewheeling immigration debate roughly a year ago, but the White House did not support any of the bipartisan bills put forward. None of the proposals passed a procedural vote.

immigration

Thousands of migrant families were separated at the border under the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, which ran from April through June. An internal watchdog for the Health and Human Services Department said in a January report that the number of children split apart from parents remains unknown because federal agencies did not track the separations.

Rather than suing to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, as Republicans’ attorneys generals have, our leaders must protect the progress we made and commit to expanding health care and lowering cost for everyone. My father has battled prostate cancer for years. To help cover the cost, I found myself sinking deeper into debt because while you can defer some payments, you can’t defer cancer treatment. In this great nation, Americans are skipping blood pressure pills, forced to choose between buying medicine or paying rent. Maternal mortality rates show that mothers, especially black mothers, risk death to give birth. And in 14 states, including my home state, where a majority want it, our leaders refuse to expand Medicaid which could save rural hospitals, save economies and save lives.

health care

Fact check: True. Republican-led states are trying to get the ACA struck down. And a Texas judge agreed with the GOP’s argument that the law is unconstitutional, although an appeal is moving forward.

Interestingly, the Democrat leading the Obamacare legal defense — California Attorney General Xavier Becerra — is giving Democrats’ Spanish-language response to Trump tonight.

health care

Abrams is hitting on a real, burning issue for Democrats and lots of voters — that 14 states , generally led by Republicans, have opposed efforts to expand Medicaid. That’s had real effects for millions of patients who remain uninsured and hospitals that say they’re losing out on necessary payments.

One notable trend: Even in states where voters said they want Medicaid expansion GOP , lawmakers are finding ways to block it.

We can do so much more, take action on climate change, defend individual liberties with fair-minded judges. But none of these ambitions are possible without the bedrock guarantee of our right to vote.

climate change

Trump did not address climate change in his State of the Union address. Many of his policies, such as reversing car and truck fuel-efficiency standards set under President Barack Obama, would increase greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say are warming the planet.

Let’s be clear. Voter suppression is real. From making it harder to register and stay on the rolls to moving and closing polling places, to rejecting lawful ballots, we can no longer ignore these threats to democracy. While I acknowledge the results of the 2018 election here in Georgia, I did not and we cannot accept efforts to undermine our right to vote. That’s why I started a nonpartisan organization called Fair Fight, to advocate for voting rights. This is the next battle for our democracy, one where all eligible citizens can have a say the vision they want for our country. We must reject the cynicism that says every vote cast to be counted is a power grab. Americans understand that these are the values our brave men and women in uniform and our veterans risk their lives to defend. The foundation of our moral leadership around the globe is free and fair elections, where voters pick their leaders, not where politicians pick their voters.

House Democrats will focus on expanding voting rights in one of their first major bills of 2019: HR 1 would create national automatic voter registration and make Election Day a federal holiday. The Senate is unlikely to take up the bill, though.

In this time of division and crisis, we must come together and stand for and with one another. America has stumbled time and again on its quest towards justice and equality, but with each generation, we have revisited our fundamental truths and where we falter, we make amends.

We fought Jim Crow with the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Yet, we continue to confront racism from our past and in our present, which is why we must hold everyone from the highest offices to our own families accountable for racist words and deeds and call racism what it is — wrong.

America achieves a measure of reproductive justice in Roe v. Wade, but we must never forget, it is immoral to allow politicians to harm women and families to advance a political agenda. We affirmed mainly equality, and yet the LGBTQ community remains under attack.

health care

The Trump administration is rolling back a slew of protections for LGBTQ Americans, such as a regulation that would ban discrimination for patients based on their sex or gender.

So even as I am very disappointed by the president’s approach to our problems, I still don’t want him to fail. But we need him to tell the truth and to respect his duties and respect the extraordinary diversity want him that defines our progress has always been found in the refuge, in the basic instinct of the American experiment — to do right by our people. And with a renewed commitment to social and economic justice, we will create a stronger America together. Because America wins by fighting for our shared values against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That is who we are, and when we do so, never wavering, the state of our union will always be strong.

This is a fascinating dig — at Republicans more than Trump. It was, after all, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who once said his top goal was making sure Barack Obama was a one-term president

Thank you and may God bless the United States of America.

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There are 230 new emoji on the way in 2019

By Karissa Bell2019-02-06 02:31:54 UTC

Get ready to step up your emoji game.

Unicode just made its new emoji list for 2019 official, and the update adds 230 new symbols, including a yawning face, white heart, and pinching hand symbol.

Though the list of new emoji has now been finalized, it will still be several months before the update hits your phone. Unicode will release the update in March, but it will take some time after that for apps and operating systems to roll out support for the new characters. Updates will start hitting in April and continue through the end of the year, according to Emojipedia.

Emoji lovers can look forward to several new animal emoji, including sloth, otter, flamingo, orangutan, and skunk. There are also new food-themed emoji, including a waffle, butter, an onion, garlic, and a juice box.

Also making the cut: yawning face and “pinching hand.”

Unicode is also streamlining some of its symbols, so now the heart, circle, and square emoji will all be available in a full rainbow of colors. Emojipedia notes the “white heart” symbol has been a popular request (the black heart was also a particularly popular addition back in 2016).

This year’s crop is one of the most diverse emoji updates, with symbols representing a number of different cultures. Among them include the sari, a Hindu Temple, falafel, maté, and the Diya Lamp emoji. There are also 70 new combinations for the “couple holding hands” emoji, to ensure that all couples can be represented in every skin tone.

The update also adds more than a dozen emoji that represent members of the Deaf and Blind communities and people with disabilities. The characters, which were proposed last year by Apple, include people in manual and mechanized wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs, and service dogs. Unicode also added four additional symbols that weren’t in Apple’s original proposal: standalone characters for probing cane, mechanized and manual wheelchairs, as well as a gender-inclusive “deaf person” emoji.

You can read more about every single new emoji over on Emojipedia.

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Why protecting your children online matters more than ever before (In parternership with Bitdefender)

Take a walk through most modern households and you’ll quickly find a number of devices connected to the internet. Prove us wrong, we’ll wait.

With more and more online gadgets assisting us through the minutiae of our everyday lives (playing music, giving us directions, and even cleaning our houses), we’re constantly logged on. Yet, as we continue to connect, the importance and impact of online safety is becoming an increasingly hot topic — nowadays, Mashable writes about cybersecurity almost daily.

From passwords to privacy, the desire to protect our personal information and data is increasing around the globe — and for good reason. Take Australia, for instance. According to the latest figures from Australia’s Department of Home Affairs, cybercrime is currently estimated to be costing Australians more than $724 million (A$1 billion) each year.

But what about the safety and security of those who participate in the online experience in an entirely different way to us? Yep, our kids. While children aren’t exactly using apps to pay bills or transfer money like their parents, they’re still spending increasing amounts of time on the internet, which comes with its own set of concerns.

“Often children are befriended by strangers online and then asked for credit card information.”

Bogdan Botezatu, Bitdefender’s director of threat research and reporting, believes all kids need extra care and attention when online as they can be easily influenced and are more at risk of falling victim to scams and predators.

“Often children are befriended by strangers online and then asked for credit card information or they’re asked to install applications disguised as a game,” he explained. “Once this person has infected the device, they can use it to steal information or conceal criminal activity — it’s that easy.”

But that’s not all. Children are at an increased risk of bullying — the majority of teenagers and young people have been experienced some kind of bullying or harassment online — and predatory behaviour online, and can be exposed to inappropriate content such as pornography, hate speech, and gambling.

“While children are becoming more and more interconnected with friends, teachers and online research resources, this interaction isn’t just limited to friendly faces,” Botezatu explained. “Parents need to understand that talking to a stranger online is as dangerous as talking to one in real life.”

So, how do parents keep up with the ever-changing world of technology mixed with the increased use of screen time — especially when the majority of this might be happening while kids are at school, on public transport or at friends’ houses?

There are a number of ways, according to Botezatu. While parents can speak to the IT team at their child’s school to further understand how their kids are being supervised when online (and where their data is being stored), parents can also ask if the school uses parental control technology to block access to inappropriate resources.

At home, Botezatu recommends finding a parental control solution that is driven by artificial intelligence and goes beyond simply limiting access to the internet or screens.

“The Bitdefender BOX, for example, allows parents to be notified when their kids are involved in cyber-bullying or when they are being groomed,” he explained. “The same technology now also allows parents to be notified when the child is in trouble, when they receive photos containing nudity or when they leave a specific geofence.”

But it’s not just up to technology to protect children from other technology. Parents also need to actively take responsibility for screen time and limit the digital footprint they’re creating for their children on their own social media accounts.

Parents can actively limit the digital footprint they’re creating for their children on their own social media accounts.

“Parents posting information about their children at a very young age has become the new normal, but it creates a trail of digital breadcrumbs that can have an impact on the child later in life,” said Botezatu. “Images posted online might be used in ways parents have not considered before such as photos of children being used in advertising campaigns without parents’ consent, or images harvested by predators and compiled in packs to be sold on underground forums.”

Some images are even being used by service providers to train machine learning models on specific faces. “As this is a biometric feature these pictures can be used to track or identify specific users in mass surveillance programs,” Botezatu said. As far-fetched as this may sound, it’s already happening in countries such as China.

“We believe parental controls are just a way to extend the parents’ ability to take care of their children online rather than a tool to snoop on kids.”

What can parents do to avoid these situations? First, remember how smart your kids are. Most children are more tech-savvy than their parents and know how to tap into the power of the internet from a young age. The younger they start, however, the less prepared they can be to identify online dangers and steer clear of them — so it’s up to parents to use common sense paired with parental control programs to help them on their journey.

“We believe parental controls are just a way to extend the parents’ ability to take care of their children online rather than a tool to snoop on kids,” said Botezatu. “This is crucial in establishing acceptance and preserving trust between parents and children.”

What’s more, parents need to try and be more aware of what their children might be struggling with online and create an environment at home that encourages an open dialogue about these very issues.

“When we built the anti-cyber-bullying technology in our parental control module, we realised that three in ten children are exposed to attacks but never bring it up with their parents out of shame or fear that they’ve done something to warrant this behaviour,” said Botezatu.

“It is important to understand that the parental control technology is not a substitute for parenting — it just helps parents understand the struggles and do their best to help their children get through these phases.”

This article is sponsored by the all-new Bitdefender Family Pack 2019.

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Kyle Kuzma on Avoiding Trade Rumors: ‘Maybe I Should Bird Box’

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 5: Kyle Kuzma #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots a free throw during the game against the Indiana Pacers on February 5, 2019 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)

Ron Hoskins/Getty Images

The Los Angeles Lakers are having a difficult time avoiding the latest trade rumors, although second-year forward Kyle Kuzma discussed one strategy that could work.

“Maybe I should Bird Box,” he joked in a reference to Sandra Bullock and other characters wearing blindfolds in a recent movie, per Bill Oram of The Athletic.

That strategy could be wise after Tuesday’s embarrassing 136-94 loss to the Indiana Pacers during which the Lakers looked distracted and uninterested.

Kuzma, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and others have been discussed as part of a potential trade for New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. However, the constant discussion seems to have taken a toll on the players as they try to focus on their own team.

The Lakers’ young core will have to make it through Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline before they can finally relax.

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Second Trump-Kim summit to be held in Vietnam on February 27-28

The two leaders held their first summit on June 12, 2018 in Singapore [File: Evan Vucci/AP Photo]

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will hold a much-anticipated second summit on February 27-28 in Vietnam.

Trump made the announcement during his annual State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday.

It was not immediately clear in which Vietnamese city the meeting would take place. Possible locations are the capital, Hanoi, and the seaside city of Danang.

“As part of a bold new diplomacy, we continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Trump told Congress.

“Much work remains to be done but my relationship with Kim Jong Un is a good one.”

Landmark summit

Kim and Trump met for the first time in June last year in Singapore.

That summit produced a vaguely worded pledge on denuclearisation but progress has since stalled amid disagreements over the interpretation of their agreement.

On Wednesday, Stephen Biegun, Washington’s envoy for North Korea, was scheduled to hold talks in Pyongyang to map out what he called “a set of concrete deliverables” for the second meeting.

Communist-ruled Vietnam, which has good relations with both the United States and North Korea, had been widely touted as the most likely venue for the meeting.

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies

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Internet Goes In After Lakers Loss

Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

42-point loss.

That’s the biggest loss of Bron’s career… https://t.co/CivYBpVUwU
Ahmed/NBA is scared of Bron and Rich Paul @big_business_

yeah it’s over https://t.co/5zOfArs48h
LOL

Complex Sports @ComplexSports

Luke Walton eating his postgame meal, knowing he could get fired at any moment now https://t.co/6AVEdukL2P
Yikes.

6BONUS @ripchampi

“Aye how’s the season going so far?”

Lakers: https://t.co/n8FvGwrZ1v
C’Mon Man

House of Highlights @HoHighlights

Lakers season summarized in a video. https://t.co/W7OqQkON19
Too Much

Jorge Sedano @SedanoESPN

Magic when Del Demps calls back tonight… (probably) https://t.co/TF0jSxi0Eq
OH.

Daman Rangoola @damanr

I said this before: I don’t stan for players, I stan for wins. There is no defense for LeBron’s effort today so don’t be in my mentions defending this nonsense. Nobody is playing well, I’m gonna blame the leader before I blame the next guy – he also gets the credit in good times.
So True

Anthony M @anthonym22

@HPbasketball https://t.co/QYEO7kaJXW
Pacers Had No Dipo Too

N-jay @_Njay3

lakers down by 46 to an oladipo-less Pacers? https://t.co/zJWD4tWx5u
Interesting

Ry @JustRyCole

Yes, LeBron is a level of diva that goes beyond PRIME SHAQ in a Lakers uniform.

But this is what you sign up for. Enjoy the laughs. Enjoy the ride. It’s either going to end beautifully or hilariously.
Dave Keeps It Real

Dave McMenamin @mcten

The Lakers lose 136-94 to Indiana in a game they never led. No bother recapping the stats here. They didn’t come with any focus or fight.
YIKES

Killjoy @KilljoyGSW

https://t.co/DhHPe68h1W
Let the Comparisons Begin

Jason Maples @JJMaples55_MST

I watched Kobe Bryant drag a G league roster to the playoffs 2 years in a row.

Yes he complained to management about his team said stuff to the media, etc.

BUT IT NEVER LEAKED ONTO THE FLOOR AND HE NEVER MADE ME QUESTION WHETHER HE WAS TRYING TO WIN ON A GIVEN NIGHT
Playing Ball in PELICANS BAY

coochie wrangler @wavyboiizay

bron to the lakers after they purposely lost to the pacers by 42: https://t.co/0dd7v55qwI
NSFW

Chris @TheKingOGx

Bro the score is 90 – 136 … TO THE PACERS . Lakers wtf !!! https://t.co/ZUvdKSkrID
Are They?

C. @LoudCee

Lakers fans turning on Bron https://t.co/l4f4Y8keHp
This Is Bad…

Kev @RvnsSeason

Lakers: https://t.co/bMnrpTICmF
Hire Some HELP

Complex Sports @ComplexSports

Lakers are down by 28 to the Pacers entering the fourth. https://t.co/o76yJDLcpW
BI Heard the Chants

Bill Oram @billoram

Brandon Ingram on the “LeBron’s gonna trade you” chants: “Yeah I heard it. I still made the free throw.”
Wake Up Kobe Stans

Van @vanman_1000

Kobe Fans rights now.. #Lakers #Lebron https://t.co/wDYnifHUE8
Complex Sports @ComplexSports

The Lakers lost by 42 POINTS https://t.co/Lxbs6nlu6F
It’s Wild in LA

Josh Eberley @JoshEberley

Lakers loss, Clippers win. . . https://t.co/qrwJ8HWzfA
Magic Lied

bryanklima. @theBKL

Me realizing Magic lied to us about building a playoff contender last offseason #lakers https://t.co/54bLEkItrS
Where Is AD

Josiah Johnson @KingJosiah54

LeBron: “Did y’all get the Anthony Davis trade done?”

Lakers: “See, what had happened was…”

LeBron: https://t.co/E7MirTWWmV
Time to Switch Jerseys

Born Ready 2 Pod @BornReady2Pod

“Lakers fans” at The Fieldhouse changing into their other jerseys after the game https://t.co/tcg6j5zCK0
Betters Are Hurt Too

B/R Betting @br_betting

Everyone who hammered the Lakers tonight https://t.co/4J6JRIK1Ml
Kuz on Avoiding Rumors: ‘Maybe I Should Bird Box’

via Bleacher Report
Slander Is Coming

brad @bradleythesav

oh we slandering the lakers tonight? https://t.co/Pf7OXWPRQV
Celtics Twitter Enjoying This

Chris @ChrisLucero30

The entire TL is Lakers slander https://t.co/WPkLtl2mcj

from Daily Trends Hunter http://bit.ly/2D9sUHI
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Internet Goes In After Lakers Loss

Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

42-point loss.

That’s the biggest loss of Bron’s career… https://t.co/CivYBpVUwU
Ahmed/NBA is scared of Bron and Rich Paul @big_business_

yeah it’s over https://t.co/5zOfArs48h
LOL

Complex Sports @ComplexSports

Luke Walton eating his postgame meal, knowing he could get fired at any moment now https://t.co/6AVEdukL2P
Yikes.

6BONUS @ripchampi

“Aye how’s the season going so far?”

Lakers: https://t.co/n8FvGwrZ1v
C’Mon Man

House of Highlights @HoHighlights

Lakers season summarized in a video. https://t.co/W7OqQkON19
Too Much

Jorge Sedano @SedanoESPN

Magic when Del Demps calls back tonight… (probably) https://t.co/TF0jSxi0Eq
OH.

Daman Rangoola @damanr

I said this before: I don’t stan for players, I stan for wins. There is no defense for LeBron’s effort today so don’t be in my mentions defending this nonsense. Nobody is playing well, I’m gonna blame the leader before I blame the next guy – he also gets the credit in good times.
So True

Anthony M @anthonym22

@HPbasketball https://t.co/QYEO7kaJXW
Pacers Had No Dipo Too

N-jay @_Njay3

lakers down by 46 to an oladipo-less Pacers? https://t.co/zJWD4tWx5u
Interesting

Ry @JustRyCole

Yes, LeBron is a level of diva that goes beyond PRIME SHAQ in a Lakers uniform.

But this is what you sign up for. Enjoy the laughs. Enjoy the ride. It’s either going to end beautifully or hilariously.
Dave Keeps It Real

Dave McMenamin @mcten

The Lakers lose 136-94 to Indiana in a game they never led. No bother recapping the stats here. They didn’t come with any focus or fight.
YIKES

Killjoy @KilljoyGSW

https://t.co/DhHPe68h1W
Let the Comparisons Begin

Jason Maples @JJMaples55_MST

I watched Kobe Bryant drag a G league roster to the playoffs 2 years in a row.

Yes he complained to management about his team said stuff to the media, etc.

BUT IT NEVER LEAKED ONTO THE FLOOR AND HE NEVER MADE ME QUESTION WHETHER HE WAS TRYING TO WIN ON A GIVEN NIGHT
Playing Ball in PELICANS BAY

coochie wrangler @wavyboiizay

bron to the lakers after they purposely lost to the pacers by 42: https://t.co/0dd7v55qwI
NSFW

Chris @TheKingOGx

Bro the score is 90 – 136 … TO THE PACERS . Lakers wtf !!! https://t.co/ZUvdKSkrID
Are They?

C. @LoudCee

Lakers fans turning on Bron https://t.co/l4f4Y8keHp
This Is Bad…

Kev @RvnsSeason

Lakers: https://t.co/bMnrpTICmF
Hire Some HELP

Complex Sports @ComplexSports

Lakers are down by 28 to the Pacers entering the fourth. https://t.co/o76yJDLcpW
BI Heard the Chants

Bill Oram @billoram

Brandon Ingram on the “LeBron’s gonna trade you” chants: “Yeah I heard it. I still made the free throw.”
Wake Up Kobe Stans

Van @vanman_1000

Kobe Fans rights now.. #Lakers #Lebron https://t.co/wDYnifHUE8
Complex Sports @ComplexSports

The Lakers lost by 42 POINTS https://t.co/Lxbs6nlu6F
It’s Wild in LA

Josh Eberley @JoshEberley

Lakers loss, Clippers win. . . https://t.co/qrwJ8HWzfA
Magic Lied

bryanklima. @theBKL

Me realizing Magic lied to us about building a playoff contender last offseason #lakers https://t.co/54bLEkItrS
Where Is AD

Josiah Johnson @KingJosiah54

LeBron: “Did y’all get the Anthony Davis trade done?”

Lakers: “See, what had happened was…”

LeBron: https://t.co/E7MirTWWmV
Time to Switch Jerseys

Born Ready 2 Pod @BornReady2Pod

“Lakers fans” at The Fieldhouse changing into their other jerseys after the game https://t.co/tcg6j5zCK0
Betters Are Hurt Too

B/R Betting @br_betting

Everyone who hammered the Lakers tonight https://t.co/4J6JRIK1Ml
Kuz on Avoiding Rumors: ‘Maybe I Should Bird Box’

via Bleacher Report
Slander Is Coming

brad @bradleythesav

oh we slandering the lakers tonight? https://t.co/Pf7OXWPRQV
Celtics Twitter Enjoying This

Chris @ChrisLucero30

The entire TL is Lakers slander https://t.co/WPkLtl2mcj

from Daily Trends Hunter http://bit.ly/2D9sUHI
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Survey barred from publishing

‘We need jobs’

Unemployment fuels inequality

Major election issue

Technology to the rescue

Wanted: More pilots

MS. ABRAMS

gun violence

gun violence

trade

immigration

immigration

health care

health care

climate change

health care

Landmark summit

LOL

Yikes.

C’Mon Man

Too Much

OH.

So True

Pacers Had No Dipo Too

Interesting

Dave Keeps It Real

YIKES

Let the Comparisons Begin

Playing Ball in PELICANS BAY

NSFW

Are They?

This Is Bad…

Hire Some HELP

BI Heard the Chants

Wake Up Kobe Stans

It’s Wild in LA

Magic Lied

Where Is AD

Time to Switch Jerseys

Betters Are Hurt Too

Kuz on Avoiding Rumors: ‘Maybe I Should Bird Box’

Slander Is Coming

Celtics Twitter Enjoying This

LOL

Yikes.

C’Mon Man

Too Much

OH.

So True

Pacers Had No Dipo Too

Interesting

Dave Keeps It Real

YIKES

Let the Comparisons Begin

Playing Ball in PELICANS BAY

NSFW

Are They?

This Is Bad…

Hire Some HELP

BI Heard the Chants

Wake Up Kobe Stans

It’s Wild in LA

Magic Lied

Where Is AD

Time to Switch Jerseys

Betters Are Hurt Too

Kuz on Avoiding Rumors: ‘Maybe I Should Bird Box’

Slander Is Coming

Celtics Twitter Enjoying This