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Twitter pilot to let users flag 'false' content

Twitter is asking its users for help in combating fake news.
It has announced a pilot that allows people to submit notes on tweets that may be false or misleading. The initiative, named 'Birdwatch', is being trialled among a small group in the US initially. The firm acknowledged the new system would have to be "resistant to manipulation attempts". Companies like Twitter are looking at how they can better moderate their platforms. Twitter said on Monday: "We know this might be messy and have problems at times, but we believe this is a model worth trying." Twitter, along with other large social media companies, has struggled to deal with disinformation on its platform. The pilot will allow users to flag tweets they believe to be "misleading or false", provide evidence to the contrary and discuss them with other - on a separate 'Birdwatch' site. Additional notes and flags would then be placed on to content.

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Covid: Dutch curfew riots rage for third night

Riot police in the Netherlands have again clashed with protesters defying a curfew, following a weekend of unrest.
More than 150 people were arrested, local media say. In Rotterdam, the police fired warning shots and tear gas, after an emergency order issued by the mayor failed to move demonstrators. Unrest started over the weekend as protesters kicked back against newly imposed coronavirus restrictions. Prime Minister Mark Rutte has condemned what he called "criminal violence".

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Could Google really leave Australia?

Google has threatened to pull out of the Australian market if a new law governing its relationship with news publishers goes ahead.
The government is introducing a law to address a long-bubbling row over whether tech giants should pay for news that appears in search or is shared on their platforms. The proposed law would mandate that Google has commercial agreements with every news organisation - or enter forced arbitration, something Google says is "unworkable". "If this version of the code were to become law, it would give us no real choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia," the regional director, Mel Silva, said. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Google: "We don't respond to threats".

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Coronavirus: UK variant 'may be more deadly'

Early evidence suggests the variant of coronavirus that emerged in the UK may be more deadly, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
However, there remains huge uncertainty around the numbers - and vaccines are still expected to work. The data comes from mathematicians comparing death rates in people infected with either the new or the old versions of the virus. The new more infectious variant has already spread widely across the UK. Mr Johnson told a Downing Street briefing: "In addition to spreading more quickly, it also now appears that there is some evidence that the new variant - the variant that was first identified in London and the south east - may be associated with a higher degree of mortality. "It's largely the impact of this new variant that means the NHS is under such intense pressure."

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Covid-19: Amazon offers to help with US vaccine delivery

Amazon has offered to help distribute Covid-19 vaccines in the US, in a letter to new president Joe Biden.
The letter, penned by the firm's chief executive Dave Clark, said that the e-commerce giant stood "ready to assist you in this effort". Amazon has come in for criticism about its handling of the pandemic, with some staff claiming conditions in its warehouses were not safe. But it is also asking for vaccines for its workers to be prioritised. The firm has signed an agreement with an unnamed healthcare provider to administer vaccines on site at its warehouses around the US. It has requested that its 800,000 workers around the world be among the first to receive the doses, because they are unable to work from home. President Biden has vowed to deliver 100 million Covid-19 vaccinations to US citizens in the first 100 days of his administration. In the letter, Mr Clark wrote: "We are prepared to move quickly once vaccines are available."

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Biden to sign 10 executive orders to tackle Covid-19

President Joe Biden is set to sign 10 executive orders to boost the fight against Covid which has ravaged the US.
Vaccination will be accelerated and testing increased. Emergency legislation will be used to increase production of essentials like masks. In a break with former President Donald Trump, the policy stresses a national strategy rather than relying on states to decide what is best. The moves comes a day after Mr Biden was sworn in as the 46th president. The Trump administration was widely accused of failing to get to grips with the pandemic. In terms of total deaths from coronavirus, the US is the worst-hit country with more than 406,000 lives lost according to Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 24.5 million have been infected.

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E-scooters must follow rules of road 'same as bus'

An Isle of Wight woman is thought to be the first person to be banned from UK roads for drink-driving an e-scooter.
The magistrate told Kyah Jordan the vehicle was "the same as a moped, the same as a bus" in terms of rules the road and penalties for breaking them. The 20-year-old had hired the e-scooter after drinking with friends. The Met Police says fines and penalty points will be handed to e-scooter riders jumping a red light, using a mobile phone or riding on the pavement. It remains illegal to use a privately owned e-scooter on public roads, cycle lanes or pavements. And owners risk a £300 fine, six penalty points on their driving licence and an additional fine for not having insurance. But rentals, for which, government guidance says, the operating company will provide insurance, can be ridden - with a full or provisional driving licence - at up to 15.5mph on roads in regions where they are being trialled.

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US historians on what Donald Trump's legacy will be

At noon on Wednesday, President Donald Trump's term will end. It's been a whirlwind four years, so what might the legacy be of such a history-making president?
Matthew Continetti is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, focusing on the development of the Republican Party and the American conservative movement. Donald Trump will be remembered as the first president to be impeached twice. He fed the myth that the election was stolen, summoned his supporters to Washington to protest the certification of the Electoral College vote, told them that only through strength could they take back their country, and stood by as they stormed the US Capitol and interfered in the operation of constitutional government. When historians write about his presidency, they will do so through the lens of the riot.

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Github apologises for firing Jewish employee who warned about 'Nazis'

Software giant Github has apologised for firing a Jewish employee who warned co-workers to be careful about Nazis.
The employee was fired two days after using the word to describe participants in the US Capitol riots. But Github now says that decision was a mistake, and its head of HR has resigned over the scandal. The company says it has offered the fired employee his job back, and clarified that "employees are free to express concerns about Nazis". Microsoft-owned Github is one of the most popular software development tools in the world, with more than 50 million users. News of the internal row was first reported by Business Insider. People associated with a range of extreme and far-right groups and supporters of fringe online conspiracy theories stormed Congress. As it happened, the Jewish employee posted to an internal Github Slack channel: "Stay safe homies, Nazis are about."

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Covid vaccine: WHO warns of 'catastrophic moral failure'

The world faces a "catastrophic moral failure" because of unequal Covid vaccine policies, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was not fair for younger, healthy people in richer nations to get injections before vulnerable people in poorer states. He said over 39 million vaccine doses had been given in 49 richer states - but one poor nation had only 25 doses. Meanwhile, both the WHO and China were criticised for their Covid response. An independent panel commissioned by the WHO said the UN public health body should have declared an international emergency earlier, and also rapped China for not taking public health measures sooner.

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WhatsApp extends 'confusing' update deadline

WhatsApp has extended the deadline by which its two billion users must either accept its updated terms and conditions or stop using the service.
The original cut-off date was 8 February, but users now have until 15 May to take action. The firm was criticised for sending the notification, which seemed to suggest changes to the data it would share with its parent company Facebook. It said there had been "confusion" about its message. Since the announcement and notifications went out across its platform, millions of people around the world have downloaded alternative encrypted messaging apps such as Signal and Telegram. In a blogpost, WhatsApp said personal messages had always been encrypted and would remain private. It added that its practice of sharing some user data with Facebook was not new, and was not going to be expanded. "The update includes new options people will have to message a business on WhatsApp, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data," it said.

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India to begin first round of massive Covid vaccination programme

India will on Saturday begin one of the world's largest vaccination programmes, aimed at protecting more than 1.3 billion people from Covid-19.
Millions of doses of two approved vaccines - Covishield and Covaxin - have been shipped across the country. They will go first to health workers and frontline workers, then to other at-risk groups. India has recorded the second-highest number of Covid-19 infections in the world after the United States. An estimated 10 million health workers will be vaccinated in the first round, followed by policemen, soldiers, municipal and other front-line workers. Next in line will be people aged over 50 and anyone under 50 with serious underlying health conditions. India's electoral rolls, which contain details of some 900 million voters, will be used to identify eligible recipients. The government plans to vaccinate 300 million people by early August. This will happen in state-run health care centres, schools, colleges, community halls, municipal offices and wedding halls.

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Google tries to allay Fitbit-deal privacy fears

Google has completed its acquisition of Fitbit and tried to reassure users it will protect their privacy.
The search giant bought the health-tracking company for $2.1bn (£1.5bn) in November 2019 but faced questions from regulators. Following a four-month European Commission investigation, it agreed not to use health and location data from Fitbit devices for advertising. The deal was then approved by authorities in December. In a blog, Google said the acquisition "has always been about devices, not data". "We've been clear since the beginning that we will protect Fitbit users' privacy," it added, promising the commitments given to the commission, which it must keep for 10 years, would be implemented globally.

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Capitol riots: Who has the FBI arrested so far?

The suspects in the Capitol riot are a varied group: they include a West Virginia lawmaker, a Florida firefighter and a QAnon shaman from Arizona.
More than 170 case files have been opened and 70 people charged so far, said Michael Sherwin, US Attorney for the District of Columbia. Some of the misdemeanour charges filed so far are "just the beginning", he said, with officials looking at "significant felony cases" tied to sedition and conspiracy. After a week of FBI appeals for help identifying the man seen carrying a Confederate flag in the Capitol during the riots, a man was arrested on Thursday in Delaware, according to US media reports. The Confederate flag is widely seen as a racist symbol due to its links to slavery - it was originally used by the southern states that didn't want to abolish slavery but lost in the US Civil War (1861-65).

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Lisa Montgomery: US executes only woman on federal death row

Lisa Montgomery - the only female inmate on federal death row in the US - has been executed for murder.
She received a lethal injection at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, after a last-minute stay of execution was lifted by the US Supreme Court. The case attracted attention because her lawyers argued she was mentally ill and suffered serious abuse as a child. The 52-year-old strangled a pregnant woman before cutting out and kidnapping her baby in Missouri in 2004. Her victim, 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett, bled to death but her baby was safely recovered and returned to her family. Montgomery is the first female federal inmate to be put to death by the US government in 67 years.

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Man has two guesses to unlock bitcoin worth $240m

We've all been there - brain fog makes us forget our password and after eight frantic attempts, we have just two left.
That's the situation for programmer Stefan Thomas but the stakes are higher than most - the forgotten password will let him unlock a hard drive containing $240m (£175m) worth of Bitcoin. His plight, reported in the New York Times, has gone viral. Ex-Facebook security head Alex Stamos has offered to help - for a 10% cut. Bitcoin has surged in value in recent months. One bitcoin is currently worth $34,000. But the cryptocurrency is volatile. And experts are divided about whether it will continue to rise or crash.

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Parler social network sues Amazon for pulling support

Parler has hit back after Amazon pulled support for its so-called "free speech" social network.
Parler is suing the tech giant, accusing it of breaking anti-trust laws by removing it. Parler had been reliant on the tech giant's Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing service to provide its alternative to Twitter. The platform was popular among supporters of Donald Trump, although the president is not a user. Amazon took the action after finding dozens of posts on the service that it said encouraged violence.

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Capitol riots: FBI warnings amid fears of more pro-Trump violence

The FBI is warning of the possibility of armed protests being held across the US in the days before Joe Biden is sworn in as president.
There are reports of armed groups planning to gather at all 50 state capitols and in Washington DC in the run-up to his 20 January inauguration. The fears come as security plans are hardened for the event itself. On Monday, Mr Biden told reporters he was not afraid to take the oath of office outside of the US Capitol. Both he and Kamala Harris are still expected to be sworn in outside the building, only two weeks after it was the site of a deadly raid by radical supporters of President Donald Trump opposing the election result.

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Roku snaps up Quibi's collection of short shows

Entertainment platform Roku has acquired the rights to more than 75 programmes and short films created for the failed streaming service Quibi.
Quibi broadcast short programmes less than 10 minutes long, but collapsed just six months after its launch. Roku, which is known for its internet-connected set-top boxes and dongles, will show the programmes on its own streaming service free of charge. Quibi co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg said he was "thrilled" by the deal. Roku has not announced how much it paid for Quibi Holdings. But Rob Holmes, vice-president of programming for Roku, told the BBC: "The pivot from subscription to ad-supported is a different set of economics. We're really excited about the value we were able to achieve through the ad-supported model. "This is the kind of content that you don't normally get for free."

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Capitol riots: The hunt to identify and arrest Capitol rioters

After the siege on the US Capitol building, the FBI is appealing to the public for help in bringing the assailants to justice. Will this approach work?
Trump supporters converged on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to express their rage over Joe Biden's victory in the election, wreaking havoc in Congress. Rioters were pictured vandalising congressional offices, and an aide to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Washington's top Democrat, reported a laptop was stolen. Richard Barnett, a 60-year-old from Gravette, Arkansas, one of the individuals who entered the Capitol building, has been arrested, according to Justice Department officials. He was not hard to find.