Airbnb to close in China amid repeated Covid lockdowns

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

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

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

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Dutch police create deepfake video of murdered boy, 13, in hope of new leads

Video shows simulation of Sedar Soares, who was shot dead in 2003, asking public to help solve caseDutch police have received dozens of leads after using deepfake technology to virtually bring to life a teenager almost two decades after his murder.Sedar Soares was shot dead in 2003 while throwing snowballs with friends in the parking lot of a Rotterdam...

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Zuckerberg sued by DC attorney general over Cambridge Analytica data scandal

Karl Racine accuses Facebook co-founder of direct knowledge of policies that allowed firm to gather data of millions of AmericansWashington DC’s attorney general has sued Mark Zuckerberg, seeking to hold the Facebook co-founder personally responsible for his alleged role in allowing the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica to harvest the personal...

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UK watchdog fines facial recognition firm £7.5m over image collection

Clearview AI hit with penalty for collecting images of people from social media and web to add to global databaseThe UK’s data watchdog has fined a facial recognition company £7.5m for collecting images of people from social media platforms and the web to add to a global database.The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) also ordered US-based Clearview...

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Tether pays out $10bn in withdrawals since start of crypto crash

Pace of withdrawals in May means ‘stablecoin’ company effectively dealing with slow-motion bank runTether, the multibillion dollar “stablecoin” that functions as the largest bank in the cryptocurrency economy, has paid out $10bn (£8bn) in withdrawals since the crypto crash started in early May.The pace of withdrawals means the company is effectively...

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Ukrainian man loses life savings in ‘stablecoin’ crypto slump

Yuri Popovich invested in the supposedly safe cryptocurrency to protect against risks of the invasionA Ukrainian man who converted almost all his family’s money into the crypto “stablecoin” terra in April in an effort to protect against the risks of invasion or currency collapse has lost almost $10,000 (£8,000) after its sudden demise.“It was impossible...

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‘Phones are like a scab we know we shouldn’t pick’: the truth about social media and anxiety

Although connecting with friends online has positive benefits for mental health, overdoing screen time can lead to a catastrophic emotional crashMost people think that phones are a bad thing for anxiety. Parents, in particular, believe phones are terrible for the mental health of children, teenagers and young adults. So, what is the truth? While I was...

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YouTube removes more than 9,000 channels relating to Ukraine war

Exclusive: Platform takes ‘unprecedented action’ to address content guideline violations since invasionRussia-Ukraine war: latest updatesYouTube has taken down more than 70,000 videos and 9,000 channels related to the war in Ukraine for violating content guidelines, including removal of videos that referred to the invasion as a “liberation mission”.The...

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Can Abba really recreate the feel of a live concert using holograms 41 years after their last set?

This week the supergroup begin seven months of gigs in a purpose-built London arena… with the band members elsewhereJust over 41 years ago, Abba played their last concert together. It wasn’t a live show for salivating fans, but a short set for Swedish TV. A highlight was their recent hit Super Trouper, a song about the sad, endless grind of being on...

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