Top Article

 🖊️ Can a navigation app be held responsible if a user gets into an accident? That is the question being asked in India after three men died when their car veered off an unfinished bridge and fell on to a riverbed in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Police are still investigating the incident, which took place on Sunday, but they believe that Google Maps led the group to take that route. A part of the bridge had reportedly collapsed earlier this year because of floods and while locals knew this and avoided the bridge, the three men were not aware of this and were from outside the area. There were no barricades or sign boards indicating that the bridge was unfinished. Authorities have named four engineers from the state's road department and an unnamed official from Google Maps in a police complaint on charges of culpable homicide. A spokesperson from Google told BBC Hindi that it was co-operating with the investigation. The tragic accident has spotlighted India...

 🖊️ Markets widely expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates for the third time this year at its December meeting. The question is what the central bank will do next year. Recent sticky inflation prints and evidence the US economy is growing at a solid pace have raised doubts that the Fed will bring down rates as quickly as it previously indicated. In September, the Fed's Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) projected four interest rate cuts next year. Markets are currently projecting roughly two cuts in 2025, per Bloomberg data. The Fed is scheduled to release an updated forecast on Dec. 18. While they differ on the specifics, Wall Street economists generally agree that the central bank's current rapid pace of rate cuts won't continue. "As we head into 2025, we're likely to see a slower pace of cutting going forward, where the Fed likely moves to an every other meeting sort of pace," Wells Fargo senior economist Sarah House, whose team se...

 🖊️ President Claudia Sheinbaum says the agencies were unnecessary. Critics call their dissolution a power grab by the ruling party. MEXICO CITY — Mexican lawmakers voted to abolish the freedom-of-information institute and six other watchdog agencies, deepening fears that President Claudia Sheinbaum is using her landslide electoral victory to eliminate checks and balances essential in a democracy. The seven agencies were created in the wake of Mexico’s transition to democracy in 2000 and enshrined in the constitution. The country had previously been ruled for 71 years by the Institutional Revolutionary Party .

 🖊️  If you want the option to settle abroad but don't qualify for a work visa and have a few hundred thousand extra dollars to spare, you may be able to buy your way there: "Golden visas" give you a relatively quick (if expensive) path to residency in dozens of countries around the world. What is a golden visa? Also known as residency by investment , a golden visa allows wealthy people to live and work in a foreign country in exchange for purchasing property, starting a company, or infusing cash into certain assets or industries. In addition to residency and employment, visa holders are able to travel freely and receive local benefits like healthcare coverage and access to education. The minimum dollar amount required to obtain a golden visa varies widely, as do the types of investments that qualify and the requirements for time spent in the country once residency is granted. Visas may also have expiration dates and/or renewal requirements in order to mai...

 🖊️  Confucius and Aristotle are two of history’s most influential philosophers. While their philosophies are distinct, they also have certain analogies that make for obvious points of comparison. By looking at how these philosophies relate, we can find inspiration for how to live better, more ethical lives.    Philosophers relish the challenge of pitting ethical systems against each other to better understand the complexities of morality. Think of the classic showdown between deontology, which champions unwavering rules, and consequentialism, which prioritizes the outcome above all else. Such intellectual duels help us grasp the nuances and limitations of each. But what happens when we put two intricate and ancient ethical systems in conversation with one another? A paper published in Dao takes on this t...

🖊️   Political chasms , wars, oppression … it’s easy to feel hopeless and helpless watching these dark forces play out. Could any of us ever really make a meaningful difference in the face of so much devastation? Given the scale of the world’s problems, it might feel like the small acts of human connection and solidarity that you do have control over are like putting Band-Aids on bullet wounds. It can feel naive to imagine that small acts could make any global difference. As a psychologist, human connection researcher and audience member, I was inspired to hear musician Hozier offer a counterpoint at a performance this year. “The little acts of love and solidarity that we offer each other can have powerful impact … ” he told the crowd. “I believe the core of people on the whole is good – I genuinely do. I’ll die on that hill.” I’m happy to report that the science agrees with him. Research shows that individual acts of kindness and connection can have a real impac...

🖊️ When writer Kelly Corrigan's daughters became tweens, Corrigan stood ready to help them with the troubles and travails of that delicate time. If one of her girls would came home from school angry and upset, she'd come up with ideas for how to deal with bullying, rejection, or whatever the problem was. It didn't always go over well: "Their emotion would change, and they would go from something raw to something kind of tired and dismissive and then they would wander away," Corrigan, host of the PBS interview series Tell Me More , recounted on NPR's TED Radio Hour. One day her daughter Georgia called, crying. Corrigan happened to be in a car with a friend who was training to become a therapist, so she put the phone on speaker. Georgia said she hated sixth grade. All the girls in class were turning on her for no reason. Corrigan's friend whispered: "Say 'tell me more.' " Corrigan echoed it to her daughter: "Tell me more....