Category Archives: Technology

Amazon bags £425m in work from UK government as it is criticised over tax

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Report claims public money from countries around the world is funding growth of tech company

Amazon has reaped a total of £425m in UK government contracts in the past two years, it has emerged in a report, prompting fresh criticism that the tech giant is failing to pay a fair share of tax in the country.

The report, by the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR) with assistance from investigative thinktank Taxwatch, finds Amazon’s highly profitable cloud computing business is increasingly being indirectly supported by taxpayers through hundreds of billions of dollars in government contracts around the world.

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Airbnb to close in China amid repeated Covid lockdowns

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With pandemic restrictions showing no sign of ending, home rental service says it will cease taking bookings for accommodation inside China from 30 July

Airbnb is closing down its business inside China indefinitely, as the country’s zero-Covid policy, lockdowns and travel restrictions continue.

On Tuesday Airbnb told its China-based users it would cease taking all bookings for accommodation and experiences in China from 30 July. The ability to book for dates beyond 29 July was suspended on Tuesday morning, according to screenshots of the Airbnb notice shared across Chinese social media. An attempt by the Guardian to make bookings from outside China after that date produced an error message.

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Activision Blizzard’s Raven Software workers vote to form industry’s first union

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The vote marks a victory for labor advocates in an industry mired with allegations of abuse and poor working conditions

Workers in a division of video game company Activision Blizzard have voted to unionize, creating the first labor union at a major US gaming firm.

A small group of Wisconsin-based quality assurance testers at Activision Blizzard’s Raven Software, which develops the popular Call of Duty game franchise, voted 19-3 in favor of unionizing on Monday.

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Seven centuries of Irish archives painstakingly recreated after being destroyed in civil war

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Digital wizardry and academic sleuthing have helped recreate a cultural treasure severely damaged in the conflict in 1922

In June 1922, the opening battle of Ireland’s civil war destroyed one of Europe’s great archives in a historic calamity that reduced seven centuries of documents and manuscripts to ash and dust.

Once the envy of scholars around the world, the Public Record Office at the Four Courts in Dublin, was a repository of documents dating from medieval times, and packed into a six-storey building by the River Liffey. It was obliterated when troops of the fledgling Irish state bombarded former comrades who were hunkered down at the site as part of a rebellion by hardline republicans against peace with Britain.

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Canada to ban Huawei and ZTE from 5G network, risking China tensions

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Move brings Ottawa into line with intelligence allies that have excluded Chinese tech firms from cutting-edge phone networks

Canada says it will ban Huawei and ZTE from the country’s 5G network, a move that puts it in line with intelligence-sharing allies, but risks further chilling relations with China.

The federal government made the announcement on Thursday afternoon after signalling for months it intended to block China’s flagship telecommunications companies from accessing 5G networks in Canada.

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Australian eSafety office tells websites to remove Buffalo attack video but does not block access

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Commissioner issues notices to eight sites, four of which have removed material associated with the attack

The Australian office of the eSafety Commissioner has issued eight notices to websites hosting the Buffalo terrorist attack video or manifesto, but has not blocked any from being accessed in Australia.

On Saturday, an 18-year-old white man allegedly opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle at the Tops Friendly Market in a predominantly Black neighbourhood of Buffalo, New York. According to US authorities, as he struck 13 people with gunfire, killing 10, he used a camera to livestream the rampage, and posted a 180-page manifesto online.

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Elon Musk: Twitter deal cannot progress without proof on bot numbers

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Tesla CEO and world’s richest person expressed concerns about presence of fake accounts on platform

Elon Musk has cast further doubt over his $44bn (£35bn) takeover of Twitter after stating the deal “cannot move forward” until the social media company proves that less than 5% of its users are fake or spam accounts.

The Tesla chief executive used his Twitter account to say the agreed deal would not progress until the firm showed proof that only a small proportion of its users were fake.

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Don’t accidentally hire a North Korean hacker, FBI warns

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Employing remote IT workers who are secretly working for Kim Jong-un’s regime poses risks and may breach sanctions, say US agencies

US officials have warned businesses against inadvertently hiring IT staff from North Korea, saying that rogue freelancers were taking advantage of remote work opportunities to hide their true identities and earn money for Pyongyang.

An advisory issued by the state and treasury departments and the FBI said the effort was intended to circumvent US and UN sanctions, and bring in money for North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. The officials said companies who hired and paid such workers may be exposing themselves to legal consequences for sanctions violations.

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‘Wagatha Christie’ trial: Rebekah Vardy accused of throwing friend ‘under bus’

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Lawyer for Coleen Rooney suggests Vardy is trying to shift blame for leaking of information to Sun newspaper

Rebekah Vardy has been accused of throwing her former agent and friend “under a bus” in a last-ditch attempt to save her reputation in the “Wagatha Christie” libel trial.

The footballer’s wife was accused – during the third day of a libel trial at the high court on Thursday – of deliberately destroying evidence, habitually leaking stories to the Sun newspaper, and trying to shift the blame on to her adviser Caroline Watt.

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Twitter announces hiring freeze as two top executives leave

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News comes as Elon Musk, world’s richest man, is working to close a $44bn deal to acquire social media company

Twitter announced the departure of two top leaders in a major shakeup that comes as billionaire Elon Musk is working to close a $44bn deal to acquire the company.

In an email to employees on Thursday, chief executive Parag Agrawal said Twitter’s leaders for consumer product and revenue will leave the company. Agrawal said the company was temporarily pausing hiring, and would review all existing job offers to determine whether any “should be pulled back”.

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Special delivery: Royal Mail to expand drone drops with 50 new routes

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The new ‘postal drone routes’ will improve the reliability of mail services to remote communities, the company said

Royal Mail has announced plans to increase its use of drones for deliveries with the creation of 50 new “postal drone routes” over the next three years.

Under a partnership with logistics drone company Windracers, and subject to Civil Aviation Authority approval, the move will provide faster and more convenient services for remote communities, Royal Mail said.

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Ex-Facebook moderator in Kenya sues over working conditions

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Petition alleges local workers subjected to irregular pay and inadequate mental health support

A former Facebook moderator has filed a lawsuit against its owner, Meta Platforms, alleging poor working conditions for contracted content moderators violate the Kenyan constitution.

The petition, also filed against Meta’s local outsourcing company Sama, alleges that workers moderating Facebook posts in Kenya have been subjected to unreasonable working conditions including irregular pay, inadequate mental health support, union-busting, and violations of their privacy and dignity.

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China’s pro-Russia propaganda exposed by online activists

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Mistranslations falsely blame Ukrainians for atrocities perpetrated by Russian forces against civilians

A number of Chinese government-linked media outlets and pro-Russia social media accounts are spreading pro-Kremlin sentiment on the Chinese internet by mistranslating or manipulating international news about the war in Ukraine.

In response, online, anonymous volunteers – such as those under the Twitter account Great Translation Movement – have exposed China’s pro-Russia propaganda by highlighting mistranslations that falsely blame Ukrainian troops for bombings and atrocities perpetrated by Russian forces against civilians.

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UK cybersecurity unit tackles record number of online scams in 2021

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More than 2.7m attempted frauds interrupted, including fake celebrity endorsements and extortion emails

Britain’s cybersecurity unit has reported a record crackdown on internet scams after tackling more than 2.7m attempted frauds last year, a near-fourfold increase on the figure for 2020.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), an arm of the GCHQ spy agency, said the interrupted scams included fake celebrity endorsements and bogus extortion emails. It stressed, however, that the increase in detection reflected aggressive targeting by the unit rather than an increase in scams.

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UK watchdog will have power to impose huge fines on big tech firms

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According to the government, Digital Markets Unit will protect small businesses and consumers

A new tech watchdog will be given the power to impose multibillion-pound fines on major firms such as Google and Facebook if they breach rules designed to protect consumers and businesses.

The Digital Markets Unit (DMU) will protect small businesses from predatory practices and will give consumers greater control over how their data is used, the government said.

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Catalans demand answers after Spanish spy chief confirms phone hacking

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Paz Estaban told committee spyware was used on 18 Catalan activists with judicial approval, sources say

The Catalan government is calling for answers “from the highest level” after the head of Spain’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI) reportedly confirmed that 18 members of the regional independence movement were spied on with judicial approval.

The apparent admission – to a congressional committee – came two weeks after cybersecurity experts said at least 63 people connected with the Catalan independence movement had been targeted or infected with Pegasus spyware, and three days after the Spanish government said the phones of the prime minister and the defence minister had been targeted with Pegasus.

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Elon Musk considers ‘slight’ Twitter fee for commercial users

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Government users may also be charged, says billionaire, who has agreed to buy platform for $44bn

Elon Musk has said Twitter may charge a “slight” fee for commercial and government users, in the latest hint of the changes the world’s richest person could introduce after he completes his takeover of the social media platform.

“Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial/government users,” Musk said in a tweet. In another tweet, he added: “Some revenue is better than none!”

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Over 200 Spanish mobile numbers ‘possible targets of Pegasus spyware’

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Data leak reveals scale of potential surveillance by NSO Group client believed to be Morocco

More than 200 Spanish mobile numbers were selected as possible targets for surveillance by an NSO Group client believed to be Morocco, according to the data leak at the heart of the Pegasus project.

Details of the scale of the apparent targeting came as Spain’s highest criminal court opened an investigation into how the mobile phones of the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, and the defence minister, Margarita Robles, came to be infected with Pegasus spyware last year.

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‘Supersonic ballet’: helicopter briefly catches falling rocket

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Rocket Lab test successfully hooks booster in midair before having to drop it into South Pacific

A space company has briefly managed to catch a falling rocket using a helicopter and a hook in a test described by its chief executive as “something of a supersonic ballet”.

The test was part of Rocket Lab’s attempts to find relatively low-cost ways of recovering rockets for multiple missions to space.

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Spanish prime minister’s phone ‘targeted with Pegasus spyware’

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Minister for presidency says ‘illicit’ targeting will be investigated by Spain’s highest criminal court

The Spanish government has said the mobile phones of the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, and the defence minister, Margarita Robles, were both infected last year with the Pegasus spyware that its manufacturers claim is available only to state agencies.

In a hastily convened press conference on Monday morning, Félix Bolaños, the minister for the presidency, said Sánchez’s phone was targeted in May and June 2021, while Robles’s was targeted in June 2021. Data was extracted from both phones.

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