This is Beirut, 28/10 09:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Elon Musk's company xAI launched Grokipedia on Monday to compete with online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which he has accused of ideological bias. The site dubbed version 0.1 had more than 885,000 articles by Monday evening, compared to Wikipedia's more than seven million in English. The launch came with the promise of a newer version, 1.0, which ...
This is Beirut, 20/10 15:10 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Lebanon communication 5G Internet
When Minister of Telecommunications Charles Hage announced a three-year plan to introduce 5G across Lebanon, questions immediately arose about the country’s ability to modernize its infrastructure. The plan, revealed on October 15, aims to position Lebanon at the forefront of innovation. It promises ultra-fast internet speeds, minimal delays ...
This is Beirut, 20/10 12:21 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
USA Amazon Web Services Outage Internet
A widespread outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) has caused significant disruptions across many of the world’s most popular apps, websites, and online services from social media platforms like Snapchat to government websites such as the UK’s HMRC. The issue, which began around midnight Pacific time (10 a.m. Beirut Time) on Monday, ...
Christiane Tager, 09/10 21:05 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
In a country where a simple power outage can plunge entire neighborhoods offline, this marks a major turning point for a telecommunications sector long lagging behind and an ambitious gamble: connecting a fragmented country, from southern villages to northern towns and through downtown Beirut, not with cables but with stars. On Wednesday, October ...
This is Beirut, 30/09 09:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Afghanistan faced a second day without internet and mobile phone service on Tuesday, after Taliban authorities cut the fiber optic network. Taliban authorities began shutting down high speed internet connections to some provinces earlier in the month to prevent "vice". On Monday night, mobile phone signal and internet service gradually ...
This is Beirut, 26/09 19:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Music Patrick Watson Streaming Internet Canada Culture
Top-streaming Canadian singer Patrick Watson says he called his new album Uh Oh, which released Friday, to capture the sense of fatalistic doom felt by many people when they wake up and read the news. The bilingual 45-year-old multi-instrumentalist, whose ballad Je te laisserai des mots is the most-streamed francophone title ever on Spotify, said ...
Christiane Tager, 02/09 15:35 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Lebanon economy communication Internet Mobile phone Alfa Touch
For years, Lebanon has struggled with failing essential services and soaring costs. This also applies to the mobile phone sector. With “adjusted” plans and unreliable networks, subscribers oscillate between resignation and frustration, all while waiting for a clear signal, both figuratively and literally. Here’s an example of a revision and ...
This is Beirut, 15/08 10:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Internet Technology Children AI USA Culture
YouTube has started testing an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to identify the age of its users in the United States, in an effort to better protect minors from content and online habits considered inappropriate for them. "This technology will allow us to infer a user’s age and use that signal independently of the date of birth listed on the ...
This is Beirut, 08/07 09:35 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Egypt Cairo Fire Telecom Internet
A major fire erupted at a key telecommunications hub in the Egyptian capital on Monday, the Cairo governorate said in a statement, causing significant phone and internet disruption. The health ministry said in a statement that 14 people had been injured in the fire. The blaze began on the seventh floor of the historic 10-storey telephone ...
This is Beirut, 18/06 20:20 - Reading : less than a minute
Iran announced Wednesday heavier internet curbs, accusing Israel of misusing the network for military purposes amid ongoing fighting between the longtime foes. "Temporary restrictions have been imposed on users' access to the internet," the communication ministry said in a statement carried by Fars news agency, adding that the decision was due to ...
This is Beirut, 12/06 12:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Gaza Internet Israel Fiber optic
The Palestinian Authority said internet and fixed-line communication services were down in Gaza on Thursday following an attack on the territory's last fiber optic cable it blamed on Israel. "All internet and fixed-line communication services in the Gaza Strip have been cut following the targeting of the last remaining main fiber optic line in ...
Christiane Tager, 31/05 10:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Could Lebanon finally be on the cusp of fast, stable, uninterrupted internet? For once, fingers are crossed—not to reboot the router, but in genuine anticipation. After years of trudging through a digital experience as slow and congested as traffic on the Dora highway, Lebanon may be looking skyward for solutions. Starlink, which provides ...