Bill Kingdom obituary
My husband, Bill Kingdom, who has died aged 69, was a global leader in water supply and sanitation.He worked for 20 years with the World Bank, based in Washington DC from 1999 to 2019, where he led urban and rural water supply and sanitation projects.He developed innovative financial and governance frameworks in south and east Asia, southern Africa, and the Middle East.His work provided access to clean and affordable water for some of the poorest people in the world.Bill’s early career was with Mott MacDonald, the engineering consultants based in Cambridge, from 1978 to 1986.
During that time he worked for several years on water projects in Indonesia, where he developed a love for the country and enduring friendships.He became fluent in the local language and enjoyed visiting bric-a-brac markets.Later, based in Oman, Bill was instrumental in bringing drinking water to Muscat.Born in Hong Kong to Anne (nee Pace), an occupational therapist, and Bill Kingdom, who was in the British army, young Bill and his sisters grew up in Reading.The family returned to the UK in 1957; Bill Sr later retired from the army and worked in insurance.
Bill Jr excelled academically at Reading school and subsequently gained a first in engineering at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, in 1977.He credited many life events to serendipity, and we met by chance at a lunch party in London in 1989.Married six months later, within three years we were busily looking after our son and twin daughters.Family life was a joy.We travelled widely throughout the US and Canada, usually camping, and he introduced us to places he loved in India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.
After returning to the UK in 1986 to study for an MSc in economics at York University, he joined the UK’s Water Research Centre (WRC) as a senior consultant, leading to further international travel and a two-year spell in the Philadelphia office from 1995 to 1997.Acclaimed throughout the water sector for his creative and practical approach, Bill often quoted a lesson learned at Cambridge: any problem, no matter how complex, could be explained with a simple diagram, using a maximum of three coloured pens.He was modest, optimistic, approachable and kind, sharing his wisdom with junior staff who sought him out as their mentor.Moving to Oxford in 2020 after retiring, Bill continued his work as a consultant for the World Bank.He taught on the university’s MSc in water management and was active in the Oxford Rivers Campaign (ORIC), working to improve the UK’s water systems.
Bill relished entertaining friends and talking politics.An avid Guardian reader and crossword puzzler, he would chuckle happily when we spotted one of his frequent contributions to the Letters page.He was diagnosed with a brain tumour in February.Stoic and optimistic, he faced the difficult months of his illness with great courage, humility and resilience.Bill is survived by me, our children, Richard, Beth and Anna, two grandchildren, and his sisters.
New York Times sues AI startup for ‘illegal’ copying of millions of articles
The New York Times sued an embattled artificial intelligence startup on Friday, accusing the firm of illegally copying millions of articles. The newspaper alleged Perplexity AI had distributed and displayed journalists’ work without permission en masse.The Times said that Perplexity AI was also violating its trademarks under the Lanham Act, claiming the startup’s generative AI products create fabricated content, or “hallucinations”, and falsely attribute them to the newspaper by displaying them alongside its registered trademarks.The newspaper said that Perplexity’s business model relies on scraping and copying content, including paywalled material, to power its generative AI products. Other publishers have made similar allegations
I spent hours listening to Sabrina Carpenter this year. So why do I have a Spotify ‘listening age’ of 86?
Many users of the app were shocked, this week, by this addition to the Spotify Wrapped roundup – especially twentysomethings who were judged to be 100“Age is just a number. So don’t take this personally.” Those words were the first inkling I had that I was about to receive some very bad news.I woke up on Wednesday with a mild hangover after celebrating my 44th birthday. Unfortunately for me, this was the day Spotify released “Spotify Wrapped”, its analysis of (in my case) the 4,863 minutes I had spent listening to music on its platform over the past year
Elon Musk’s X fined €120m by EU in first clash under new digital laws
Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has been fined €120m (£105m) after it was found in breach of new EU digital laws, in a ruling likely to put the European Commission on a collision course with the US billionaire and potentially Donald Trump.The breaches, under consideration for two years, included what the EU said was a “deceptive” blue tick verification badge given to users and the lack of transparency of the platform’s advertising.The commission rules require tech companies to provide a public list of advertisers to ensure the company’s structures guard against illegal scams, fake advertisements and coordinated campaigns in the context of political elections.In a third breach, the EU also concluded that X had failed to provide the required access to public data available to researchers, who typically keep tabs on contentious issues such as political content.The ruling by the European Commission brings to a close part of an investigation that started two years ago
Home Office admits facial recognition tech issue with black and Asian subjects
Ministers are facing calls for stronger safeguards on the use of facial recognition technology after the Home Office admitted it is more likely to incorrectly identify black and Asian people than their white counterparts on some settings.Following the latest testing conducted by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) of the technology’s application within the police national database, the Home Office said it was “more likely to incorrectly include some demographic groups in its search results”.Police and crime commissioners said publication of the NPL’s finding “sheds light on a concerning inbuilt bias” and urged caution over plans for a national expansion.The findings were released on Thursday, hours after Sarah Jones, the policing minister, had described the technology as the “biggest breakthrough since DNA matching”.Facial recognition technology scans people’s faces and then cross-references the images against watchlists of known or wanted criminals
Tesla launches cheaper version of Model 3 in Europe amid Musk sales backlash
Tesla has launched the lower-priced version of its Model 3 car in Europe in a push to revive sales after a backlash against Elon Musk’s work with Donald Trump and weakening demand for electric vehicles.Musk, the electric car maker’s chief executive, has argued that the cheaper option, launched in the US in October, will reinvigorate demand by appealing to a wider range of buyers.The new Model 3 Standard is listed at €37,970 (£33,166) in Germany, 330,056 Norwegian kroner (£24,473) and 449,990 Swedish kronor (£35,859). The move follows the launch of a lower-priced Model Y SUV, Tesla’s bestselling model, in Europe and the US.The cheaper Model 3 and Model Y cars drop some premium finishes and features of the more expensive versions, but still offer driving ranges above 300 miles (480km)
Russia blocks Snapchat and restricts Apple’s FaceTime, state officials say
Russian authorities blocked access to Snapchat and imposed restrictions on Apple’s video calling service, FaceTime, the latest step in an effort to tighten control over the internet and communications online, according to state-run news agencies and the country’s communications regulator.The state internet regulator Roskomnadzor alleged in a statement that both apps were being “used to organize and conduct terrorist activities on the territory of the country, to recruit perpetrators [and] commit fraud and other crimes against our citizens”. Apple did not respond to an emailed request for comment, nor did Snap Inc.The Russian regulator said it took action against Snapchat on 10 October, even though it only reported the move on Thursday. The moves follow restrictions against Google’s YouTube, Meta’s WhatsApp and Instagram, and the Telegram messaging service, itself founded by a Russian-born man, that came in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022
New US seed ban risks driving cannabis genetics underground, growers warn
Gen Z office survival guide: how to overcome telephobia and get up early
London councils have a ‘sustained reliance’ on private firms as report shows £500m spend
What is polygenic embryo screening in IVF and does it work?
UK IVF couples use legal loophole to rank embryos based on potential IQ, height and health
AI deepfakes of real doctors spreading health misinformation on social media