On daily basis we get up, drink a cup of espresso, and prepare for work. Following are a handful of tales from across the tech world condensed to suit right into a single cup of espresso. These are the issues you’ll want to know earlier than you step foot out of your door (or in entrance of a webcam) and into the true world this morning.
So sit again, seize a cup, and begin your morning off proper with a couple of “Fast Bytes” from Innovation & Tech In the present day.
Creator Exposes Unsafe Working Circumstances in Congo Cobalt Mines
Creator and activist Siddharth Kara sat down with Joe Rogan Thursday to debate his new ebook Cobalt Purple: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives.”
Kara traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) lately to research the working situations of cobalt miners. He discovered a extremely organized exploitative system that forces native Congo residents to mine treasured cobalt used to energy the world’s telephones and EV batteries.

Among the many staff discovered within the unsafe situations of the mines had been teenage women with infants strapped to their backs. Kara alleges huge tech corporations are conscious of the unlawful situations by which the miners are working and are actively campaigning to suppress the data. Seventy p.c or extra of the world’s cobalt is mined in DRC.
Southwest Airways to Cancel Extra Flights
Vacationers confronted mass flight cancelations and bitterly chilly climate over the Christmas weekend resulting from winter storm Elliot. Now, Southwest Airways is canceling extra flights by way of Thursday because of the bomb cyclone.
“We had a tricky day right this moment. In all probability we’ll have one other robust day tomorrow as we work our method out of this,” Chief Government Bob Jordan mentioned in an interview Monday night. “That is the most important scale occasion that I’ve ever seen.”
Southwest plans to function simply over one-third of its typical schedule within the coming days to present itself leeway for crews to get into the appropriate positions, he mentioned, including that the lowered schedule could possibly be prolonged.
Laid Off Tech Employees are Discovering New Jobs at Fast Tempo
There could possibly be a silver lining for the tech trade and the employees that maintain it up following mass layoffs by giants within the house.
In response to new information by ZipRecruiter, an employment market for job seekers and employers, about 79% of staff lately employed after a tech-company layoff or termination landed their new job inside three months of beginning their search.
The quantity is simply 4 p.c beneath the the 83% share of all laid-off staff who had been re-employed in the identical time-frame.
Tesla Extends Manufacturing Halt at Shanghai Manufacturing unit
Tesla is extending a manufacturing halt at its Shanghai plant following mass COVID-19 outbreaks within the area and slowing international demand for the automobiles.
Whereas Tesla spokespeople declare the pause is as a result of COVID infections in and across the plant, Elon Musk’s unpopular Twitter takeover and ensuing slowdown in demand for Teslas could possibly be an element.
Musk mentioned final week he wouldn’t promote any extra shares of Tesla for at the least 18 to 24 months following a plunge of about two-thirds within the firm’s inventory within the final 12 months.