Tag: z.bbc

China says the UK is sheltering fugitives after Hong Kong put bounties on the heads of eight pro-democracy activists who fled the territory. The statement from its London embassy came after the UK said it would not tolerate attempts by China to silence individuals in the UK or overseas. The eight left the former British territory after Beijing imposed a…

Do Kwon, the cryptocurrency boss behind the $40bn (£31.3bn) collapse of the terraUSD and Luna tokens, has been sentenced to four months of jail in Montenegro. Mr Kwon was found guilty of forging official documents. He was arrested in March as he tried to board a flight to Dubai at Podgorica Airport, in the country’s capital. Mr Kwon also faces…

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance is being investigated by French authorities, according to media reports in France. The investigation is focused on its anti-money laundering procedures. It follows the announcement of the company’s departure from the Netherlands after it failed to obtain a licence from the Dutch central bank. In a statement Binance confirmed French authorities visited its offices…

Omar Asad, 80, was detained at a temporary checkpoint in the occupied West Bank overnight in January 2022. The soldiers left him unresponsive on the ground of a construction site and said they assumed he had fallen asleep. Palestinian leaders say this case shows the near impunity of Israeli soldiers. They have called for those involved to be prosecuted in…

CorruptionLedger commentary in red.   Twitter has pulled out of the European Union’s voluntary code to fight disinformation, the EU has said. Thierry Breton, who is the EU’s internal market commissioner, announced the news on Twitter – but warned the firm new laws would force compliance. “Obligations remain. You can run but you can’t hide,” he said. Twitter will be…

The new owner of Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) US operations, First Citizens, is cutting around 500 roles held by former SVB workers, the BBC understands. Two months ago, First Citizens bought the business after SVB’s collapse. The failure of SVB, along with two other US banks, triggered fears of a more widespread banking crisis, which forced authorities to step in….

German police have carried out raids in seven states in a probe into climate campaigners suspected of forming or backing a criminal group because of their controversial activities. Seven people aged 22 to 38 are suspected. No arrests have been made. For months Last Generation (Letzte Generation) has disrupted traffic in German cities and performed stunts like hurling mashed potato…

Under the multi-year agreement, the two US companies will develop components for 5G devices that will be designed and manufactured in America. Apple says the deal is part of a plan it announced in 2021 to invest $430bn (£346bn) in the US economy. The move comes as a trade row centred on the technology industry intensifies between Washington and Beijing….

A temporary ceasefire in Sudan has been agreed as fighting between two warring factions entered its sixth week. Previous truce attempts between Sudan’s regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have tended to collapse within minutes of beginning. But the new deal will be enforced by a “ceasefire monitoring mechanism,” according to a US-Saudi statement. As part of the seven-day…

The International Criminal Court says it is “undeterred” by Russia putting its chief prosecutor on a wanted list. It comes two months after the ICC’s Karim Khan issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a statement on Saturday, the court said the move was an attempt to undermine its “lawful mandate to ensure accountability for the gravest…

A businessman is due to appear in court in Latvia on Saturday in a murder plot trial that could shed light on the murky past of its banking system. Mihails Ulmans and his associate, co-defendant Aleksandrs Babenko, are alleged to have paid the killer of insolvency lawyer Martins Bunkus. Mr Bunkus is said to have uncovered evidence of money-laundering at…

President López Obrador made the sale of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner one of his campaign promises, calling it a symbol of previous governments’ excesses. But the specially-outfitted plane proved hard to shift and an attempt to raffle it off failed. It was finally sold to the Tajik government for $92m (£73.7m).

The jet took off from California, where it had been in storage, and arrived in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, early on Monday. The plane was originally purchased in 2012 by the president at the time, Felipe Calderón, for $218m (£175m). It was then used by Mr Calderón’s successor, Enrique Peña Nieto. Mr López Obrador vowed to never set foot in it. He has been using commercial flights since he took office.

Mr Karimi was among the first celebrities who vehemently criticised the deadly crackdown on the protests which erupted in September. The footballer, known as the Maradona of Asia, lived in the UAE at the time.

The protests were sparked by the death in custody of a Kurdish Iranian woman. Mahsa Amini, 22, died after allegedly being beaten by morality police who arrested her for what they said was her failure to wear her headscarf properly.

The protests spread nationwide, but have been violently suppressed. Human rights groups say security forces have killed at least 530 protesters – including around 70 children – since the protests began.

One of the documents seen by BBC Persian says Mr Karimi “was invited [to Iran] by our agent nine times and has received serious warnings”.

A man widely seen as the godfather of artificial intelligence (AI) has quit his job, warning about the growing dangers from developments in the field.

Geoffrey Hinton, aged 75, announced his resignation from Google in a statement to the New York Times, saying he now regretted his work.

And in a BBC interview on Monday, he said: “I can now just speak freely about what I think the dangers might be.

A new law that seeks to give Canadian artists a leg up online has left many influencers and tech giants alike seeing red.

They took out subway ads, they posted TikToks, but in the end, the score was Silicon Valley-0, Ottawa-1.

After many twists and turns, and over two-and-a-half years of review, the Canadian government has passed a new law that makes tech giants like YouTube and TikTok support Canadian cultural content.

The law, dubbed Bill C-11, gives the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) broad authority to regulate these platforms, much like they already do with radio and television.

The government says it is necessary to stop streaming giants from getting a free ride, and to promote local artists.

Although it’s still unclear what those final regulations will look like, the law has raised the ire of everyone from TikTokers to esteemed author Margaret Atwood.

Adidas is being sued by investors who claim the firm knew about Kanye West’s problematic behaviour years before it ended their partnership.

Investors allege Adidas failed to limit financial losses and take precautionary measures to minimise their exposure.

The sportswear giant ended its collaboration with the designer and rapper, who is known as Ye, last year following antisemitic comments.

In response, Adidas said: “We outright reject these unfounded claims.”

It added it “will take all necessary measures to vigorously defend ourselves against them”.

West is not party to the lawsuit. The rapper designed a line of hugely successful trainers under the Yeezy brand for Adidas.