Iran's foreign minister accuses US of giving Israel 'green light' to attack consulate in Syria
Iranโs foreign minister has accused the United States of giving Israel the โgreen lightโ for a strike on its consulate building in Syria that killed seven Iranian military officials, including two generals.
Kyiv investigates allegations Russian forces shot surrendering Ukrainian soldiers
Ukrainian officials have launched an investigation into allegations that Russian forces killed surrendering Ukrainian soldiers, after grainy footage on social media appeared to show two uniformed men being shot at close range.
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen had been a huge Facebook fan. Now he's threatening to ban it
Cambodiaโs long-serving, tough-talking leader, Hun Sen, says he is considering banning Facebook in his country, largely because he is fed up with the abuse he receives on it from his political foes abroad.
Videos hint at Russian information war targeting Ukraine
Metadata from two videos posted by Russia-backed separatists announcing an immediate evacuation of women, children and the elderly from Ukraineโs tense border regions shows the files were created two days ago, The Associated Press has confirmed.
WhatsApp growth slumps as rivals Signal, Telegram rise
FILE - This Friday, March 10, 2017, file photo shows the WhatsApp communications app on a smartphone, in New York. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)OAKLAND, Calif. โ Encrypted messaging apps Signal and Telegram are seeing huge upticks in downloads from Apple and Googleโs app stores. Mobile app analytics firm Sensor Tower said Wednesday that Signal saw 17.8 million app downloads on Apple and Google during the week of Jan. 5 to Jan. 12. WhatsApp, meanwhile, saw downloads shrink to 10.6 million, down from 12.7 million the week before. In that same period Telegram has seen about 755.2 million installations and WhatsApp a whopping 5.6 billion โ almost eight times as many as Telegram.
Cybersecurity expert explains why encrypted messaging apps might not offer as much protection as you think
Both Signal and Telegram offer encryption services. The idea behind using an app with encryption capabilities is to keep prying eyes and ears from seeing and hearing your conversations. โIf you donโt properly vet the people youโre sending your message to, then youโre defeating the point of encryption,โ Hamer said. A Sensor Tower representative told Business Insider that โSignal saw approximately 7.5 million installs globally from across the App Store and Google Playโ from Wednesday to Sunday. CNBC reports that โTelegram saw 5.6 million downloads globallyโ during the same time frame, according to Apptopia.
Iran executes exiled journalist who encouraged 2017 protests
TEHRAN โ Iran on Saturday executed an exiled journalist over his online work that helped inspire nationwide economic protests in 2017, a little more than a year after authorities tricked him into traveling to Iraq where he was abducted. Kidnapping and executing Zam, who lived in Paris under what Iran described as French government protection, likely will further chill an already-scattered Iranian opposition across the West. The initial spark for the 2017 protests was a sudden jump in food prices. The 2017 protests reportedly saw some 5,000 people detained and 25 killed. Zam himself had fled Iran after the 2009 protests, heading first to Malaysia and then to France.
Thai authorities seek to censor coverage of student protests
Thai authorities worked Monday to stem a growing tide of protests calling for the prime minister to resign by threatening to censor news coverage, raiding a publishing house and attempting to block the Telegram messaging app used by demonstrators. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)BANGKOK โ Thai authorities worked Monday to stem a growing tide of protests calling for the prime minister to resign by threatening to censor news coverage, raiding a publishing house and attempting to block the Telegram messaging app used by demonstrators. Police also searched the office of a publishing house that handles books by Thai and foreign scholars with sometimes controversial perspectives. At least one local cable TV provider, however, has been censoring international news broadcasts during their segments on the Thai protests. Despite the spread of protests outside the capital, Prayuth, the prime minister, told reporters the state of emergency will remain only in Bangkok for now.
Facebook, others, block govt requests on Hong Kong user data
(AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)HONG KONG Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram will deny law enforcement requests for user data in Hong Kong as they assess the impact of a new national security law enacted last week. The legislation criminalizes some pro-democracy slogans like the widely used Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time, which the Hong Kong government has deemed has separatist connotations. That framework gives Hong Kong and its people freedoms not found in mainland China, such as unrestricted internet access. Spokesman Mike Ravdonikas said Monday that Telegram understands the importance of protecting the right to privacy of our Hong Kong users. Telegram has been used broadly to spread pro-democracy messages and information about the protests in Hong Kong. That retreat has extended to the streets of Hong Kong as well.
Iran journalist who fueled 2017 protests sentenced to death
In this June 2, 2020 photo, journalist Ruhollah Zam speaks during his trial at the Revolutionary Court, in Tehran, Iran. The judiciary spokesman, Gholamhossein Esmaili, announced Tuesday, June 30, 2020 that Zam, a journalist whose online work helped inspire the 2017 economic protests and who returned from exile to Tehran was sentenced to death. (Ali Shirband/Mizan News Agency via AP)TEHRAN Iran sentenced a once-exiled journalist to death over his online work that helped inspire nationwide economic protests that began at the end of 2017, authorities said Tuesday. The initial spark for the 2017 protests was a sudden jump in food prices. The 2017 protests reportedly saw some 5,000 people detained and 25 killed.