Sharplift News

2021-06-17 17:00:02 Several Australian banks and US airlines suffered website crashes on Thursday, following an issue with the web services company Akamai. Customers reported problems with banks including ANZ, Westpac, St George, ME bank, Macquarie Bank, Allianz, and the Commonwealth Bank. Banking apps were likewise unavailable.

The airlines affected suffered short outages. American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines were among them. The disruption began at about 14:10 Sydney time (05:10 GMT). Australia Post, the postal service, was hit too - as well as Virgin Australia, the country's second-biggest carrier. Akamai admitted it was the source of the problem, telling news agency AFP: "We are aware of the issue and actively working to restore services as soon as possible."

Story. Aljazeera
17-June-2021

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2021-06-17 15:30:04 Following the end of President Hassan Rouhani’s two terms in office, Iran goes to the polls on June 18 to elect a new president. But in a country where the Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guards hold more political, social and economic power than the president, many Iranians are boycotting the vote and demanding fundamental changes to the system.

Dismayed by President Hassan Rouhani’s two terms in power, many Iranians this year have publicly stated that they intend to boycott the June 18 presidential election. On social media, the hashtag “There’s no way I will vote” was trending in the lead-up to the 2021 presidential election, with several Iranians voicing a long list of grievances.

Story. France 24
17-June-2021

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2021-06-17 13:30:02 Botswanan diamond firm Debswana has said it unearthed a 1,098-carat stone that it described as the third-largest of its kind in the world. The yet-to-be named stone, which measures 73mm long, 52mm wide and 27mm thick. The stone, found on June 1, was shown on Wednesday to President Mokgweetsi Masisi in the capital, Gaborone.

“It is believed to be the third-largest gem-quality find in the world,” said Debswana Managing Director Lynette Armstrong. The “rare and extraordinary stone … means so much in the context of diamonds and Botswana,” she said. “It brings hope to the nation that is struggling.”

Story. Aljazeera
17-June-2021

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2021-06-17 11:45:07 Morgan Stanley  chief James Gorman said at an investing conference earlier this week that it's time for the bank's New York workers to head back to the office now that more people are getting vaccinated for Covid-19 and life is slowly returning to normal.

"If you can go to a restaurant in New York City, you can come into the office. And we want you in the office," Gorman said. Gorman made the comments Monday at an annual conference about financial payments and commercial real estate

Story. CNN
17-June-2021

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2021-06-17 10:45:07 Confirmed, the death of Abubakar Shekau -- the leader of Nigerian jihadist extremist group Boko Haram. The confirmation comes by way of a video announcement sent Wednesday to AFP by the presumed new leader Bakura Modu, known as Sahaba. 

The announcement also puts to rest the scores of rumours that Shekau had been dead since May. Confirmed, the death of Abubakar Shekau -- the leader of Nigerian jihadist extremist group Boko Haram. The confirmation comes by way of a video announcement sent Wednesday to AFP by the presumed new leader Bakura Modu, known as Sahaba. The announcement also puts to rest the scores of rumours that Shekau had been dead since May.

Story. African News
17-June-2021

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2021-06-17 09:45:01 The Taj Mahal, India's top tourist attraction, opened for visitors Wednesday after being closed for two months. Several monuments were closed in the country on April 15 to break the spread of COVID-19.

Visitors will have to book their tickets online, as offline facilities remain shut. Only 650 people will be allowed at a time.

Story. DW
17-June-2021

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2021-06-17 06:51:47 China has launched three astronauts into orbit to begin occupation of the country's new space station. The three men - Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo - are to spend three months aboard the Tianhe module some 380km (236 miles) above the Earth. It will be China's longest crewed space mission to date and the first in nearly five years.

On Thursday, their Shenzhou-12 capsule successfully took off atop its Long March 2F rocket. Lift-off from the Jiuquan satellite launch centre in the Gobi desert was at 09:22 Beijing time (01:22 GMT)

The launch and subsequent mission are another demonstration of China's growing confidence and capability in the space domain. In the past six months, the country has returned rock and soil samples to Earth from the surface of the Moon, and landed a six-wheeled robot on Mars - both highly complex and challenging endeavours.

Story. BBC
17-June-2021

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2021-06-16 22:30:06 IBM unveiled one of Europe's most powerful quantum computers on Tuesday, during an event at its German headquarters. IBM said the Q System One was "Europe's most powerful quantum computer in the industrial context." The quantum computer is to be housed in Ehningen, which is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southwest of Stuttgart. It will be operated by Germany's Fraunhofer research institute. It is the company's first quantum computer in use outside of the US.

It is housed in a 9-foot (2.7 meter) tall glass cube to shield the qubits from noise and other physical disturbances, to which they can be sensitive.  Companies hope to harness the power of quantum computers to potentially develop new materials, medications or artificial intelligence (AI). The computer has been running since February. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who holds a PhD in quantum chemistry from her time as a scientist called the computer a "miracle of technology.”

Story. DW
16-June-2021

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2021-06-16 17:45:02 Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the World Wide Web, is auctioning off his invention's source code as an NFT. Although the groundbreaking code has long been in the public domain, the British computer scientist has now authorized the sale of a single edition of his original time-stamped files.

Comprising over 9.500 lines of code, the files contain the basis of the languages and protocols underpinning the internet as we know it: Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and Universal Document Identified (URI). They are being sold alongside an animated visualization of the code and a digital "poster" that is "signed" by Berners-Lee via a graphic signature. The winning bidder will also take home a letter, written by the computer scientist, in which he reflects on the code and its creation.

Story. DW
16-June-2021

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2021-06-16 15:15:04 A global cyberwar has begun. And it will probably never end. That is the brutal truth that governments, militaries, intelligence services, companies and individuals are facing up to — everywhere. And it is at the core of the conflict between the United States and Russia.

It's a war that pits states against states and criminals against corporations, often blurring the lines between who is who. And increasingly, civilians are getting caught up in it, either as direct targets or as the collateral damage of the digital age.

This reality is underlined by no fewer than 25 "cyber" mentions in the final communique of this week's NATO summit. The allies signed off on a new "Comprehensive Cyber Defense Policy," affirming that, if serious enough, a cyberattack could lead to the invocation of NATO's core Article 5: that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all.

Story. DW
16-June-2021

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