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China's travel industry counts cost of coronavirus

As public health concerns rise over a new virus, the impact is being felt by China's travel and tourism sector.
More than 400m Chinese were expected to travel over the Lunar New Year which starts today, normally one of the busiest periods for airlines, hotels and tourist attractions. Instead, flights and hotels are being cancelled as people face travel restrictions or choose to stay home. The virus has already taken 25 lives, with more than 800 cases globally. Many airlines have agreed to refund fares or let passengers rebook free of charge if affected, while major hotel chains are now following suit as more travel restrictions are announced. After the Civil Aviation Administration of China announced that airlines should give refunds for cancelled flights, the country's three major airlines, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and China Air all saw their share prices take a dive. China Eastern Airlines has seen its value fall about 13% this week.

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Facebook's Sir Nick Clegg criticised over WhatsApp security

Security researchers have criticised Facebook's head of communications, Sir Nick Clegg, for his response to the hacking of Amazon chief Jeff Bezos.
Mr Bezos' phone was hacked in May 2018 after he received a WhatsApp message loaded with malware. But in an interview with the BBC, Sir Nick said WhatsApp's encrypted messages could "not be hacked into". And he failed to acknowledge security flaws in the app that had let hackers compromise their target's smartphones."Nobody tell Nick Clegg about how exploits work," joked cyber-security researcher Kevin Beaumont. Mr Bezos' phone was compromised after he received a WhatsApp message containing a malicious file from the personal number of Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to the Guardian newspaper which broke the story.

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Killer plague game tops charts amid coronavirus

An app that tasks users with spreading a deadly virus around the world has skyrocketed in popularity in China amid the coronavirus outbreak.
On Wednesday, eight years after its release, the game became the bestselling app in China.
Some players have suggested people were downloading the game as a way to cope with fears surrounding the virus. The coronavirus has so far killed at least 17 people in the country and infected more than 500 others. Developed by UK-based Ndemic Creations, the strategy game, Plague Inc, puts the user in control of a disease they must develop into a global pandemic before the scientific community can develop a cure. The overall aim is to "bring about the end of human history".

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Apple says losing Lightning port will create waste

Apple says being forced to abandon the Lightning connector used on its iPhones would create an "unprecedented amount of electronic waste".
While the latest Android phones have a USB-C port, Apple's iPhones still use the proprietary Lightning port. Some members of the European Parliament want all phone-makers to adopt a universal port, to reduce waste. But Apple says the move would create more waste by making Lightning-compatible accessories obsolete. European politicians have been campaigning for a single charging port for the past decade. The European Commission estimates that obsolete cables generate more than 51,000 tonnes of waste per year.

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Can wearing masks stop the spread of viruses?

One of the abiding images of any virus outbreak is people in surgical masks.
Using them to prevent infection is popular in many countries around the world, most notably China during the current coronavirus outbreak where they are also worn to protect against high pollution levels. Virologists are sceptical about their effectiveness against airborne viruses. But there is some evidence to suggest the masks can help prevent hand-to-mouth transmissions. Surgical masks were first introduced into hospitals in the late 18th Century but they did not make the transition into public use until the Spanish flu outbreak in 1919 that went on to kill over 50 million people.

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GM's Cruise unveils its first driverless vehicle

Cruise, the self-driving car start-up, majority owned by General Motors, has unveiled its first vehicle designed to be driverless.
The electric-powered Cruise Origin was developed by Honda, which also has a stake in the company. The launch of the vehicle, which has no steering wheel or pedals, had been delayed from last year. Cruise said it was designed for shared ownership: "It's not a product you buy, it's an experience you share." Chief executive Dan Ammann wants drivers to move away from individual ownership to a sharing model, to help reduce emissions, accidents and congestion. Speaking at the launch in San Francisco, he said the Cruise Origin was not a concept vehicle: "It is self-driven. It is all electric. It is shared."

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Trump impeachment: Senate adopts rules after long debate on trial's first day

The US Senate has adopted ground rules for President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, after nearly 13 hours of rancorous debate on day one.
Democratic prosecutors clashed with Mr Trump's lawyers over the process, while Republicans rejected Democratic demands for more witnesses to be called. The trial will resume on Wednesday with arguments by the prosecution, to be followed by the defence and questions. Mr Trump is the third US president to face an impeachment trial. He is charged with abuse of power and obstructing the congressional impeachment inquiry. He has denied wrongdoing and accused Democrats of trying to unseat him for political reasons. "I'd love to go and sit in the front row and stare at their corrupt faces," he told reporters at a hastily arranged press conference in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday. But he said his lawyers might have a problem with that.

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Disney+ to launch a week earlier than planned in the UK

The new streaming service Disney+ is to launch on 24 March in the UK, a week earlier than originally planned.
Pricing has also been revealed - it will cost £5.99 per month or £59.99 a year, making it more expensive than the earlier DisneyLife platform.Disney+ launched in the US and Canada in November, where it became the most downloaded app.The new launch date may be an attempt to tackle piracy of shows like The Mandalorian, suggested one expert. The other European countries that will receive Disney+ at the same time as the UK are Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and Switzerland. The Netherlands already has access as it was used as a testing ground for the platform.

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France apology after history textbook links CIA to 9/11

A French publisher has apologised after a history textbook that appeared in bookshops in recent weeks suggested the 11 September 2001 attacks were probably "orchestrated by the CIA".
The debunked conspiracy theory was apparently highlighted on social media initially by a group of schoolteachers.The book History of the 20th Century in Flash Cards is aimed at undergraduate students.On its website, the publisher said the phrase should never have appeared. "This phrase which echoes conspiracy theories devoid of any factual basis should never have been used in this work. It doesn't reflect the editorial position either of Ellipses publications or the author," it said (in French).

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Dad builds Nintendo video game controller for disabled girl

A man has hand-built a custom controller for his disabled daughter so she is able to play video games.
Rory Steel said the Nintendo Switch controller was built for nine-year-old Ava with a Microsoft device and components from eBay for about £110. A video on Twitter of Ava, who is from Jersey, using the device has had more than 800,000 views. Mr Steel said she had given the device a "big thumbs-up" and the attention had been "a little bit surreal". He said Ava, who has hereditary spastic paraplegia which affects her motor controls and speech, made the suggestion after seeing videos online. Teacher Mr Steel, head of the Digital Jersey Academy, built the device with two joysticks and arcade game-style flashing buttons hooked up to a Microsoft Xbox adaptive controller.