French authorities issue preliminary charges against Telegram messaging app CEO
PARIS — French authorities handed preliminary charges to Telegram CEO Pavel Durov on Wednesday for allowing alleged criminal activity on his messaging app and barred him from leaving France pending further investigation. Both free-speech advocates and authoritarian governments have spoken out in Durov's defense since his weekend arrest. The case has also called attention to the challenges of policing illegal activity online, and to the Russian-born Durov's own unusual biography and multiple passports. Durov was detained on Saturday at Le Bourget airport outside Paris as part of a sweeping investigation opened earlier this year and released earlier Wednesday after four days of questioning. Investigative judges filed preliminary charges Wednesday night and ordered him to pay 5 million euros bail and to report to a police station twice a week, according to…
Second elephant calf in 2 weeks is born at California zoo
FRESNO, Calif. — The second elephant calf in two weeks has been born at a California zoo. African elephant Amahle gave birth early Monday morning, according to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo. The event came 10 days after Amahle's mother, Nolwazi, gave birth to another male calf. The new additions are the first elephants born at the zoo, about 240 kilometers southeast of San Francisco, which has embarked on a program to breed elephants in the hope that they can be seen by zoogoers in years to come. "To have two healthy calves is a historic milestone," Jon Forrest Dohlin, the zoo's chief executive, said in a statement Tuesday. "We cannot wait for the public to see the new additions to our herd and share in our excitement." The elephants and their…
Pakistan’s internet to remain slow into October, regulator says
ISLAMABAD — Slow internet speeds that have frustrated Pakistanis for several weeks may persist more than a month while repairs to a faulty submarine internet cable continue, the country’s telecom regulator announced Wednesday. Internet speed and connectivity have been spotty across much of Pakistan since at least July, with users increasingly struggling to access popular messaging and social media apps. On Wednesday, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, or PTA, announced that repairs to the faulty cable will likely be completed by early October. The cable in question, SMW-4, is one of two that authorities say needed repairs. "The fault in SMW-4 submarine cable is likely to be repaired by early October 2024. Whereas submarine cable AAE-1 has been repaired which may improve internet experience,” the brief statement said. Pakistan relies on seven undersea…
Russian hacker attacks target former US ambassadors, reveal prior penetration
Washington — Russian opposition politician Ilya Ponomarev says he saw no reason to be suspicious when he received what appeared to be an email from former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, a trusted contact with whom he communicates periodically. "This letter was visually no different from his other letters. I believed that it was his letter because it was visually no different from his other letters,” Ponomarev told VOA Russian in a Zoom interview. But this email from several months ago turned out to be one of numerous “phishing attacks” targeting U.S. diplomats and others that have been identified as the work of two cyber-espionage outfits linked to the Russian government. And the fact that it accurately mimicked McFaul’s previous messages indicated the attackers had already seen those earlier messages.…
France says Telegram CEO has been freed, will appear in court
PARIS — French prosecutors on Wednesday freed Telegram CEO Pavel Durov from police custody after four days of questioning over allegations that the platform is being used for illegal activities. Durov was detained on Saturday at Le Bourget airport outside Paris as part of a judicial inquiry opened last month involving 12 alleged criminal violations. "An investigating judge has ended Pavel Durov's police custody and will have him brought to court for a first appearance and a possible indictment," a statement from the Paris prosecutor's office said. Other allegations against Durov, who is a French citizen, include that his platform is being used for child sexual abuse material, drug trafficking, fraud and abetting organized crime transactions, and that Telegram refused to share information or documents with investigators when required by law.…
Mpox outbreak in Africa poses risks for refugees, displaced communities
GENEVA — U.N. agencies warn that refugees and displaced communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other African countries infected with mpox are at particular risk of illness and death because of conditions under which they are forced to live. The World Health Organization says at least 42 suspected cases of mpox have been identified among the refugee population in DR Congo’s South Kivu Province, one of the regions hardest hit by the disease. Confirmed and suspected cases of the new clade 1b strain also have been recorded among refugee populations in the Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. “Suspected cases are being reported in conflict-impacted provinces that host the majority of the DRC’s 7.3 million internally displaced people,” Dr. Allen Maina, UNHCR public health chief, said Tuesday. “In these…
Iran’s Khamenei urges government to impose cyberspace controls
Tehran, Iran — Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday urged the new government to impose controls over the Islamic republic's cyberspace, which has already been under heavy restrictions in recent years. "What matters is for the rule of law to be applied in the virtual space," said Khamenei during his first meeting with the new cabinet of president Masoud Pezeshkian. "If you don't have a law (to regulate the internet), set a law, and based on that law, take the control," he added. Khamenei's remarks come despite vows from Pezeshkian during his campaign to ease the long-standing internet restrictions in Iran. Iran has over the years tightly controlled internet use, restricting popular social media apps such as Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter. Harsher curbs were enforced following…
WHO launches plan to stanch mpox transmission, says virus can be stopped
GENEVA — The U.N. health agency on Monday launched a six-month plan to help stanch outbreaks of mpox transmission, including ramping up staffing in affected countries and boosting surveillance, prevention and response strategies. The World Health Organization said it expected the plan, running from September through February next year, would require $135 million in funding. The plan would also aim to improve fair access to vaccines, notably in African countries hardest hit by the outbreak. "The mpox outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring countries can be controlled, and can be stopped," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a statement. The agency is "significantly scaling up staff" in affected countries, it said. In mid-August, WHO classified the current mpox outbreak as a global health emergency. Also Monday,…
France’s Macron: Arrest of head of Telegram messaging app wasn’t political
Paris — French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that the arrest in France of the CEO of the popular messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, wasn't a political move but part of an independent investigation. French media reported that Durov was detained at a Paris airport on Saturday on an arrest warrant alleging his platform has been used for money laundering, drug trafficking and other offenses. Durov is a citizen of Russia, France, the United Arab Emirates, and the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis. In France's first public comment on the arrest, Macron posted on the social media platform X that his country "is deeply committed" to freedom of expression but "freedoms are upheld within a legal framework, both on social media and in real life, to protect citizens…
Disposable vape products creating worldwide pollution
The rapid rise in disposable electronic cigarette, or vape, usage is creating a tidal wave of pollution, and it’s raising serious environmental concerns. Aron Ranen reports from New York City about one woman who is trying to make a difference. ...
China robot conference spotlights the changing face of humanoids
Beijing — As China seeks to race ahead in humanoid robot development, its supply chains showcased cheaper and innovative parts at the world robot conference in Beijing, but some executives warn the industry has yet to improve product reliability. Wisson Technology (Shenzhen), known for its flexible robotic manipulators, doesn’t depend on motors and reducers - transmission devices commonly used in robotics - but instead uses 3D-printed plastics and relies on pneumatic artificial muscles to power its robots. This less expensive form of production allows it to price its flexible arms at about one-tenth that of traditional robotic arms, said Cao Wei, an investor in Wisson through venture capital firm Lanchi Ventures, in which he is a partner. Pliable technology will usher in robotic arms at a cost of around $1,404, Wisson…
Congo-Brazzaville reports 21 mpox cases
Brazzaville, Congo — Twenty-one cases of mpox have been recorded in Congo-Brazzaville, the country's health minister told state television Sunday. Gilbert Mokoki said that the central African country had "registered 158 suspect cases" since the beginning of the year, "21 of which we have confirmed." The latest two were reported Thursday, he said. Cases of the infectious disease — formerly known as monkeypox — have been surging in eastern and central Africa, but the virus has also been detected in Asia and Europe, with the World Health Organization declaring an international emergency. The virus has been reported in five of Congo-Brazzaville's 15 regions, with the forested areas of Sangha and Likouala in the north particularly affected. A new variant of mpox has swept across neighboring DR Congo, killing more than 570 people so…
CEO of Telegram messaging app arrested in France, say French media
paris — Pavel Durov, billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at the Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, TF1 TV and BFM TV said, citing unnamed sources. Telegram, particularly influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the former Soviet Union, is ranked as one of the major social media platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and WeChat. It aims to hit 1 billion users in the next year. Based in Dubai, Telegram was founded by Russian-born Durov. He left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he sold. Durov was traveling aboard his private jet, TF1 said on its website, adding he had been targeted by an…
Cholera poses new risks for millions of Sudan’s displaced
GENEVA — U.N. agencies are scaling up cholera prevention and treatment programs to get on top of a new, deadly cholera outbreak in Sudan that threatens to further destabilize communities suffering from hunger and the ill effects of more than 16 months of conflict. The recent cholera outbreak has resurged after several weeks of heavy rainfall and resulting flooding,” Kristine Hambrouck, UNHCR representative in Sudan, told journalists Friday in Geneva. Speaking on a video-link from Port Sudan, she warned, “Risks are compounded by the continuing conflict and dire humanitarian conditions, including overcrowding in camps and gathering sites for refugees and Sudanese displaced by the war, as well as limited medical supplies and health workers.” She expressed particular concern about the spread of the deadly disease in areas hosting refugees, mainly in…
NASA decides to keep 2 stranded astronauts in space until February
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — NASA decided Saturday it’s too risky to bring two astronauts back to Earth in Boeing’s troubled new capsule, and they'll have to wait until next year for a ride home with SpaceX. What should have been a weeklong test flight for the pair will now last more than eight months. The seasoned pilots have been stuck at the International Space Station since the beginning of June. A cascade of vexing thruster failures and helium leaks in the new capsule marred their trip to the space station, and they ended up in a holding pattern as engineers conducted tests and debated what to do about the trip back. After almost three months, the decision finally came down from NASA’s highest ranks on Saturday. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams…
Chinese entities turn to Amazon cloud, rivals to access US chips, AI
BEIJING/SINGAPORE/NEW YORK — State-linked Chinese entities are using cloud services provided by Amazon or its rivals to access advanced U.S. chips and artificial intelligence capabilities that they cannot acquire otherwise, recent public tender documents showed. The U.S. government has restricted the export of high-end AI chips to China over the past two years, citing the need to limit the Chinese military's capabilities. Providing access to such chips or advanced AI models through the cloud, however, is not a violation of U.S. regulations since only exports or transfers of a commodity, software or technology are regulated. A Reuters review of more than 50 tender documents posted over the past year on publicly available Chinese databases showed that at least 11 Chinese entities have sought access to restricted U.S. technologies or cloud services.…
Cholera spreads as Sudan grapples with rains and displacement
Port Sudan — For the second consecutive year Sudan is in the grip of a cholera outbreak that has left at least 28 people dead in the last month as rains fall in areas crammed with those fleeing the country's 16-month-old war, officials said. Since July 22, when the current wave began, 658 cases of cholera have been recorded across five states, World Health Organization (WHO) country director Shible Sahbani told Reuters in Port Sudan. With much of the country's health infrastructure collapsed or destroyed and staffing thinned by displacement, 4.3% of cases have resulted in deaths, a high rate compared to other outbreaks, Sahbani said. Some 200,000 are at high risk of falling ill, he said. The war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has created…