Science and Tech

A total of $2.2bn (£1.76bn) in cryptocurrencies has been stolen this year, with North Korean hackers accounting for more than half that figure, according to a new study. Research firm Chainalysis says hackers affiliated with the reclusive state stole $1.3bn of digital currencies – more than double last year’s haul. Some of the thefts appear to be linked to North …

Getty Images AI can potentially spot much more from a blood test than currently possible This is the third feature in a six-part series that is looking at how AI is changing medical research and treatments. Ovarian cancer is “rare, underfunded, and deadly”, says Audra Moran, head of the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (Ocra), a global charity based in New …

Getty Images Craig Wright attending the London High Court in February 2024 A computer scientist has been found to have committed contempt of court for falsely and persistently claiming to be the mysterious inventor of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. In March, the High Court ruled Craig Wright was not Satoshi, and ordered him to stop claiming he was. However, he continued …

Getty Images Luigi Mangione, who faces a first-degree murder charge, was the subject of a false headline attributed to BBC News last week A major journalism body has urged Apple to scrap its new generative AI feature after it created a misleading headline about a high-profile killing in the United States. The BBC made a complaint to the US tech …

El Salvador has struck a $1.4bn (£1.1bn) loan deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after agreeing to scale back its controversial bitcoin policies. The global lender said risks related to the adoption of the world’s largest cryptocurrency had eased now that businesses will be allowed to decide whether or not to accept bitcoin. In 2021, El Salvador became the …

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear last-ditch legal arguments from TikTok as to why it should not be banned or sold in the US. The US government is taking action against the app because of what it says are its links to the Chinese state – links which TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have denied. The Supreme …

Amazon workers in the US could go on strike ahead of Christmas, after members of the Teamsters union voted to support industrial action. The workers say online retail giant has refused to recognise their union and ignored a 15 December deadline to hold talks over their contract. Amazon’s facilities in Southern California, New York and Illinois could be affected, according …

BBC Omar el Qataa is a photojournalist operating out of northern Gaza Facebook has severely restricted the ability of Palestinian news outlets to reach an audience during the Israel-Gaza war, according to BBC research. In a comprehensive analysis of Facebook data, we found that newsrooms in the Palestinian territories – in Gaza and the West Bank – had suffered a …

The Democratic Republic of Congo has filed criminal complaints in France and Belgium against subsidiaries of the tech giant Apple, accusing it of using conflict minerals. Acting on behalf of the Congolese government, lawyers have argued that Apple is complicit in crimes committed by armed groups that control some of the mines in the east of DR Congo. Apple has …

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