Posts made by mlnews

mlnews

Huawei 5G kit must be removed from UK by 2027

The UK's mobile providers are being banned from buying new Huawei 5G equipment after 31 December, and they must also remove all the Chinese firm's 5G kit from their networks by 2027.
Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden told the House of Commons of the decision. It follows sanctions imposed by Washington, which claims the firm poses a national security threat - something Huawei denies. Mr Dowden said the move would delay the country's 5G rollout by a year. The technology promises faster internet speeds and the capacity to support more wireless devices, which should be a boon to everything from mobile gaming to higher-quality video streams, and even in time driverless cars that talk to each other. 5G connections are already available in dozens of UK cities and towns, but coverage can be sparse. Mr Dowden added that the cumulative cost of the moves when coupled with earlier restrictions announced against Huawei would be up to £2bn.

mlnews

Ghislaine Maxwell denied bail in Epstein sex trafficking case

Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite and ex-girlfriend of the late US convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been denied bail in a high-profile sex case.
At a hearing via video link, a New York judge said she would remain in custody while awaiting trial on charges of trafficking minors for Epstein. Ms Maxwell, who pleaded not guilty, will go on trial in July 2021. Her lawyers had said she was at risk of contracting coronavirus in prison. Epstein died in prison on 10 August 2019 as he awaited his trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was determined to be suicide.

mlnews

TikTok: Amazon says email asking staff to remove app 'sent in error'

Amazon has said an email sent to employees asking them to remove the video-sharing app TikTok from any mobile device that can access their company email was sent in error.
An internal memo sent to staff earlier on Friday had said employees should delete the app over "security risks". The app, owned by a Chinese company, has come under scrutiny because of fears it could share data with China. TikTok said it did not understand Amazon's concerns. "This morning's email to some of our employees was sent in error. There is no change to our policies right now with regard to TikTok", a company spokesperson told the BBC. But earlier on Friday, a memo sent to staff seen by multiple news outlets stated that the app must be removed from mobile devices.

mlnews

Roger Stone: Trump commutes ex-adviser's sentence

US President Donald Trump has commuted the prison sentence of his former adviser Roger Stone
The announcement came just after the Washington DC Court of Appeals denied Stone's request to delay the start date of his custodial term of 40 months. He was convicted of lying to Congress, obstruction and witness tampering. Stone was the sixth Trump aide found guilty on charges linked to a justice department probe that alleged Russia tried to boost the Trump 2016 campaign. It's hard to say the president's decision to grant clemency to his long-time friend and political counsellor is surprising, but it's still jarring. Even though the president has called the special counsel investigation that prosecuted Stone a sham and a partisan witch hunt, Stone was duly convicted of serious crimes.

mlnews

'UK faces mobile blackouts if Huawei 5G ban imposed by 2023'

BT and Vodafone have said their UK customers would face mobile phone signal blackouts if they are given three years or less to strip Huawei's equipment out of their 5G networks.
Executives from the network providers told MPs that they wanted at least five years, and ideally seven, if such an order is made. The government is expected to announce new curbs on the use of the Chinese firm's kit within the next two weeks. Huawei has urged it to take more time. "There isn't a burning bridge," said Huawei's UK vice president Jeremy Thompson, adding that it was too soon to determine what impact new US sanctions would have. The company also denied claims it would ever act against its clients' interests, even if told to do so by the Chinese government.

mlnews

Xinjiang: US sanctions Chinese officials over 'abuse' of Muslims

The US has announced sanctions against Chinese politicians who it says are responsible for human rights violations against Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
China is accused of mass detentions, religious persecution and forced sterilisation of Uighurs and others. The sanctions target US-based financial interests belonging to regional Communist Party boss Chen Quanguo and three other officials. China denies any mistreatment of Muslims in far-western Xinjiang. Authorities there are thought to have detained about a million people in re-education camps in recent years. They say "vocational training" is needed to counter radicalism and separatism. Mr Chen, who sits on the Chinese Communist Party's powerful Politburo, is the highest-ranking Chinese official ever to be hit by US sanctions, the Trump administration says. He is seen as the architect of Beijing's policies against minorities.

mlnews

Coronavirus: Brazil's President Bolsonaro tests positive

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for coronavirus.
He took the test, his fourth, on Monday after developing symptoms, including a high temperature. Mr Bolsonaro has repeatedly played down the risks posed by the virus, calling it "a little flu" and saying that he would not be seriously affected by it. He has also urged regional governors to ease lockdowns, which he says hurt the economy, and on Monday he watered down regulations on wearing face masks. Mr Bolsonaro made the announcement in a TV interview on Tuesday. He said the fever he had been experiencing had gone down and that he felt "very well". The president said that he had started experiencing symptoms on Sunday. He said he had had a high temperature, a cough and had felt unwell.

mlnews

TikTok: Chinese app may be banned in US, says Pompeo

Would you recommend downloading TikTok? Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked that question on Monday night on Fox News.
"Only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party," he replied. Asked if he would ban Chinese apps - including TikTok - he said: "I don't want to get out in front of the president, but it's something we're looking at". That is a very worrying statement for TikTok. The huge Chinese social media company has experienced phenomenal growth in the last three years. It's been downloaded more than two billion times. But around the world, and not just in the US, TikTok is facing a backlash. It's finding out the hard way that being international, a tech company, and Chinese isn't a great combination right now.

mlnews

Huawei: UK government weighs up ban of Chinese firm's telecoms kit

The government has received a report into Huawei that is likely to change its policy over the Chinese firm's role in the UK's telecoms networks.
Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said GCHQ's National Cyber Security Centre had delivered its findings. NCSC is believed to have said it can no longer assure the security of Huawei's products because of new US sanctions. "We're now examining it and understanding the implications of it," Mr Dowden told BBC Radio 4's Today. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has yet to deliver its conclusions to the prime minister, but Boris Johnson said on Monday afternoon that he did not want the country to be "vulnerable to a high-risk state vendor". Huawei has said it remains "open to discussions".

mlnews

Hong Kong: Chinese ambassador warns UK over 'interference'

China has warned the UK not to interfere with Hong Kong following the imposition of a new national security law, as one pro-democracy campaigner begged for international support.
Ambassador Liu Xiaoming said the UK's offer of a path to citizenship for up to three million Hong Kongers amounted to "gross interference". The offer came after Beijing brought in the controversial and sweeping new law. Opponents say it erodes the territory's freedoms as a semi-autonomous region. Activist Joshua Wong had earlier called for more support, asking his fellow Hong Kongers and the wider world not to "kowtow" to Beijing.

mlnews

Reckful: Twitch and gamers pay tribute after star's death

Tributes have been paid to video games streamer Byron Bernstein, known as Reckful, who died on Thursday.
Mr Bernstein was a well-known and loved e-sports player and had 960,000 followers on streaming site Twitch. His brother Gary Bernstein confirmed that Reckful had taken his own life, aged 31. Twitch said Reckful was a "streaming pioneer" and that it was "devastated" to hear of his death. Mr Bernstein had built his following in part by playing World Of Warcraft. When his death was reported on Thursday evening, fans held virtual memorials inside the game.

mlnews

Mount Rushmore: Trump hosts 4 July celebration event amid criticism

US President Donald Trump is presiding over an event to mark 4 July celebrations at Mount Rushmore, despite concerns over coronavirus.
In a speech at the South Dakota landmark, he said it would "stand forever as an eternal tribute to our forefathers and to our freedom". "This monument will never be desecrated, these heroes will never be defaced," he told a cheering crowd. Mount Rushmore features the carved faces of four US presidents. Activists have long taken issue with the monument, which was created on land sacred to the Sioux tribe. Two of the former presidents depicted - George Washington and Thomas Jefferson - were slave-owners.

mlnews

Coronavirus: Texas governor mandates wearing of face masks

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has issued an executive order that all Texans don face coverings in public in counties with 20 or more Covid-19 cases.
Texas has seen a surge of hospital admissions in recent days, hitting a record high of more than 8,000 virus cases in a single day on Wednesday. "Wearing a face covering will help us to keep Texas open for business," Mr Abbott said, announcing the order. After an initial warning, those who refuse will face a fine up to $250. Texas was at the forefront of states loosening lockdown measures that were meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Mr Abbott allowed his initial stay home order to lapse on 30 April, with almost all businesses operating to at least 50% capacity by early June.

mlnews

Zuckerberg: Advertisers will be back to Facebook 'soon enough'

As the ads boycott grows, Mark Zuckerberg shows no sign of backing down.
"My guess is that all these advertisers will be back on the platform soon enough" the Facebook chief executive has said. Campaigners accuse the tech firm of being too slow and reluctant to remove some hateful content. But Zuckerberg added: "We're not going to change our policies or approach on anything because of a threat to a small percent of our revenue." The comments were made to Facebook staff at a private meeting last Friday, and were subsequently leaked to the Information news site. The social network has confirmed they are accurate and also announced a fresh development: its chief executive is to meet the organisers of the boycott - Stop Hate for Profit.

mlnews

Hundreds arrested as crime chat network cracked

A top-secret communications system used by criminals to trade drugs and guns has been "successfully penetrated", says the National Crime Agency.
The NCA worked with forces across Europe on the UK's "biggest and most significant" law enforcement operation. Major crime figures were among over 800 Europe-wide arrests after messages on EncroChat were intercepted and decoded. More than two tonnes of drugs, several dozen guns and £54m in suspect cash have been seized, says the NCA. While the NCA was part of the investigation, it was initiated and led by French and Dutch police, and also involved Europol - the EU agency for law enforcement cooperation. Wil van Gemert, deputy executive director of Europol, told a press conference in the Hague that the hacking of the network had allowed the "disruption of criminal activities including violent attacks, corruption, attempted murders and large-scale drug transports".

mlnews

Loot boxes: Lords call for 'immediate' gambling regulation

The House of Lords Gambling Committee says video game loot boxes should be regulated under gambling laws.
The Lords say loot boxes should be classified as "games of chance" - which would bring them under the Gambling Act 2005. "If a product looks like gambling and feels like gambling, it should be regulated as gambling," their report says. And they warn that such a change should not wait. "The Government must act immediately to bring loot boxes within the remit of gambling legislation and regulation," said a statement accompanying the report. Loot boxes have long been controversial in video games. They offer players a chance at a randomised reward when opened. To further complicate matters, boxes can often be bought for real money, and the rewards can sometimes be traded.

mlnews

A potentially deadly weather pattern is setting up across the central US

Extreme temperatures coupled with high humidity flowing from the Gulf of Mexico have set the stage for life-threatening heat in parts of the central and southern US.
Texas and Oklahoma are no strangers to excessive heat in the heart of summer and, a little over 10 days into the season, the region is bracing for stifling heat through the upcoming holiday weekend.
Temperatures are set to feel hotter in Dallas,Texas, than in Death Valley, California. Earlier in the week, parts of Texas registered the ultimate mark of oppressive warmth. Some cities including San Antonio, Lufkin and Victoria set records for hot low temperatures, with some failing to dip below 80 degrees even in the overnight hours.

mlnews

Huawei: Ministers signal switch in policy over 5G policy

The government has signalled it is set to take a tougher line against Chinese telecoms equipment-maker Huawei.
A review is under way into how forthcoming US sanctions would affect the UK's continued use of its products. "Given that these sanctions... are extensive, it is likely to have an impact on the viability of Huawei as a provider for the 5G network," said Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden. He added he wanted Samsung and NEC to become 5G network kit providers. They would help make the UK's mobile networks become less dependent on the other two suppliers: Ericsson and Nokia. Mr Dowden said the current situation represented a "market failure". Defence Secretary Ben Wallace added that the sanctions - which are set to come into effect in September - had specifically been designed to force the UK into a rethink.

mlnews

Coronavirus: US officials warn 'this is just the beginning'

Health officials across the US have expressed growing concern about the nation's ability and willingness to slow or end the coronavirus pandemic.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expert said on Monday the US has "way too much virus" to control. It comes as top US disease expert Anthony Fauci, who is due to testify to Congress, says an "alarmingly large" number of Americans are "anti-science". Many US states have paused reopenings as their infection caseloads balloon. On Tuesday, cases rose by more than 40,000 in one day for the fourth time in the past five days. The surge - which is occurring particularly strongly in southern and western states - has forced at least 16 states to pause or reverse their reopening plans, according to CNN. For some the new measures come over a month after they first began to reopen their economies.

mlnews

Could a boycott kill Facebook?

Boycotts can be extremely effective - as Facebook is finding out.
In the late 18th century, the abolitionist movement encouraged British people to stay away from goods produced by slaves. It worked. Around 300,000 stopped buying sugar - increasing the pressure to abolish slavery. The Stop Hate for Profit campaign is the latest movement to use boycott as a political tool. It claims that Facebook doesn't do enough to remove racist and hateful content from its platform. It's convinced a series of major companies - including Coca-Cola, Unilever and Starbucks - to pull advertising from Facebook and some other social media companies. Meanwhile, other online platforms, including Reddit and Twitch, have piled on more pressure by taking anti-hate steps of their own.

mlnews

Coronavirus: EU to allow in visitors from 14 'safe' countries

The EU has named 14 countries whose citizens are deemed "safe" to be let in from 1 July, despite the pandemic - but the US, Brazil and China are excluded.
Those named include Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco and South Korea. The EU is ready to add China if the Chinese government offers a reciprocal deal for EU travellers, diplomats say. EU border controls have been lifted for EU citizens travelling inside the bloc. Rules for UK travellers are covered separately in the Brexit negotiations. UK nationals are still to be treated in the same way as EU citizens until the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December. Therefore, during that time UK nationals and their family members are exempt from the temporary travel restriction. On the current "safe" list, still likely to be amended, are Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay.

mlnews

Northern Ireland to launch separate contact-tracing app

Northern Ireland is planning to release its own coronavirus contact-tracing app within weeks, the BBC has learned.
It follows the failure of the NHS app in England, which was trialled on the Isle of Wight. The NI app will be based on the Google/Apple model. It is designed to be compatible with an app due to be released soon in the Republic of Ireland. That app is also based on the toolkit provided by Apple and Google. The Apple and Google model is more privacy-focused, but provides less data to epidemiologists than the centralised version that England was trialling. "The Health Minister has commissioned work to develop a proximity app, based on the de-centralised Google/ Apple model, for use in Northern Ireland," said the Northern Ireland Department of Health in a statement. "This work includes examining the interoperability of apps and the sharing of information across the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic," it said.

mlnews

Coronavirus: US hits record high in daily cases

The United States recorded an all-time daily high of 40,000 coronavirus infections on Thursday, figures from Johns Hopkins University (JHU) show.
A recent surge in infections and hospitalisations has prompted the states of Texas, Florida and Arizona to pause reopening plans. Texas's governor ordered bars to close and announced other "targeted measures" on Friday to bring infections down. Florida announced it was suspending alcohol consumption at its bars. JHU's previous high of 36,400 was on 24 April when less testing took place. The US has 2.4 million confirmed infections and 122,370 deaths - more than any other country. While some of the increase in daily cases recorded is down to increased testing, the rate of positive tests in some areas is also increasing.

mlnews

Google to pay for 'high quality' news in three countries

Google says it will pay some news outlets for "high-quality" stories that it uses amid pressure from publishers.
Part of the initiative will require Google to pay for its users to access news stories otherwise locked behind a so-called paywall on certain websites. The first sites to join are in Australia, Brazil, and Germany, with a product launch set for later this year. It comes as authorities in some countries investigate how tech firms use news content without paying for it. Australia has put forward plans to force Google and Facebook to pay news publishers under competition rules. France has already issued Google with an order to do so. It is the latest development in a long-standing row with news publishers over whether tech giants should pay them to include "snippets" of news articles in search results or on social media.

mlnews

Coronavirus: 'Very significant' resurgences in Europe alarm WHO

Europe has seen an increase in weekly cases of Covid-19 for the first time in months as restrictions are eased, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
In 11 countries, which include Armenia, Sweden, Moldova and North Macedonia, accelerated transmission has led to "very significant resurgence", said Regional Director Dr Hans Henri Kluge. His warnings about the risk of resurgence had become reality, he said. If left unchecked, he warned health systems would be "pushed to the brink". More than 2.6 million cases of Covid-19 and 195,000 deaths have been reported in the WHO's European region, which is expansive, covering 54 countries and seven territories across Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. Almost 20,000 new cases and more than 700 new deaths are being recorded daily. "For weeks, I have spoken about the risk of resurgence as countries adjust measures," Dr Kluge told a virtual news conference on Thursday.

mlnews

Twitch: Streamers call for a blackout to recognise victims of sexual and racial abuses

#Twitchblackout is trending today as streamers across the world ask people to avoid the site for a day.
They're calling for a blackout because they think the streaming site can do more to recognise victims of sexual and racial abuse. Dozens of women have recently claimed they have been sexually assaulted by people in the gaming industry. Twitch says it takes accusations of sexual harassment seriously. Streamers are arguing Twitch has not acted quickly enough when there have been sexual assault claims made against some of its content creators. Some also think the site has been too lenient when others have been accused of using racist or homophobic language. Encouraging people to stay off the platform for a day could deprive Twitch of viewers and income.

mlnews

Coronavirus: US cases at highest level for two months

New Covid-19 cases in the US have risen to their highest level in two months, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the outbreak.
On Tuesday the US reported 34,700 new cases - the third highest daily tally since the US outbreak began, according to AP news agency. States including Arizona, California, Mississippi, Nevada and Texas had record numbers of new cases, AP said. Health officials say the coming weeks will be crucial to stem the outbreaks. On Tuesday America's top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci told lawmakers there was "a disturbing surge of infection" and "increased community spread" in many southern and western states.

mlnews

Coronavirus: Ireland set to launch contact-trace app

Ireland's health authority plans to press ahead with the launch of a coronavirus contact-tracing app based on Apple and Google's technology.
The Health Service Executive told the BBC that it would submit a memo to government this week, and "subject to approval" would launch its Covid Tracker app shortly after. The move comes despite concerns raised about the tech's accuracy in its current state. The UK is worried about false alerts. And researchers advising the Irish effort have also questioned whether the software should be rolled out in its current state. Ireland would follow Germany in deploying such an app nationwide.

mlnews

Arctic Circle sees 'hottest-ever' temperatures

Temperatures in the Arctic Circle are likely to have hit an all-time record on Saturday, reaching a scorching 38C (100F) in Verkhoyansk, a Siberian town.
The record still needs to be verified, but it appears to have been 18C higher than the average maximum daily temperature in June. Hot summer weather is not uncommon in the Arctic Circle, but recent months have seen abnormally high temperatures. The Arctic is believed to be warming twice as fast as the global average. Verkhoyansk, home to about 1,300 people, sits just inside the Arctic Circle, in remote Siberia. It has an extreme climate with temperatures plunging in January to an average maximum of -42C and then surging in June to 20C. But a persistent heatwave this year in the Arctic Circle has worried meteorologists. In March, April and May, the Copernicus Climate Change service reported that the average temperature was around 10C above normal.

mlnews

Apple 'not told' about UK's latest app plans

Apple says it did not know the UK was working on a "hybrid" version of the NHS coronavirus contact-tracing app using tech it developed with Google.
The firm took the unusual step of saying it was also unaware of an issue regarding distance-measuring, which was flagged by Health Secretary Matt Hancock in Thursday's daily briefing. Apple said it was "difficult to understand" the claims. Downing Street said the government had "worked closely with Apple and Google". In tests carried out in the UK, there were occasions when software tools developed by Apple and Google could not differentiate between a phone in a user's pocket 1m (3.3ft) away and a phone in a user's hand 3m (9.8ft) away. During the briefing, Mr Hancock said: "Measuring distance is clearly mission critical to any contact-tracing app."