BATTERYFORPC BLOG
Scottish mental health charity SAMH targeted in cyber attack
A Scottish mental health charity says it has been the victim of a "sophisticated and criminal" cyber attack. Police are investigating the incident which has affected emails and phone lines at SAMH, the Scottish Association for Mental Health. Charity chief executive Billy Watson said staff were devastated by the attack. He said they were trying to keep support services running. " ... Read more
2022-03-22 20:02:43
Multiple Apple services suffer outages
A number of Apple services experienced outages on Monday, Apple's support page has confirmed. The areas affected included the App Store, iMessage, Maps, Apple Arcade, the iTunes store, podcasts and Apple TV+. Apple's system status page now shows that all of its services are back up and running. Some of Apple's network was down for three hours. A number of iCloud services had been affected, inc ... Read more
2022-03-21 19:54:16
OneWeb to fly on competitor SpaceX's rockets
The London-based satellite company OneWeb will resume launches of its spacecraft using rockets operated by its American competitor, SpaceX Both firms are building constellations in the sky to deliver broadband internet connections. But while SpaceX can send up its Starlink system using its own rockets, OneWeb was left looking for rides when the Ukraine war forced it to abandon the use of Russian ... Read more
2022-03-21 19:53:59
Biden: Russia 'exploring' US cyber-attacks
President Joe Biden said on Monday that intelligence indicated a growing Russian cyber threat to the US. He said Russia was "exploring" cyber attack, but the US would use "every tool" to prevent and respond to such a move. Mr Biden suggested Moscow could act in retaliation for sanctions imposed on it after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russia's foreign ministry has said bila ... Read more
2022-03-21 19:53:24
Covid: Spring booster jab launches for over-75s and high risk in England
People aged 75 and over, residents in care homes and those with weakened immune systems can now book an extra booster jab against Covid in England. It comes as official figures show infection rates are rising in all age groups - including the over-70s. The roll out follows recommendations from the UK's vaccine advisors who say additional jabs will help boost protection for the most vulnerable. ... Read more
2022-03-20 21:45:17
Morad Tahbaz: British-US national detained in Iran now in hotel
A British-US national temporarily freed from prison in Iran before being sent back to jail days later is now at a hotel, the Foreign Office has said. Morad Tahbaz, 66, who also has Iranian citizenship, was released on furlough the same day two other British dual nationals were freed. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori returned to the UK, but Mr Tahbaz remained in Iran. The Foreign O ... Read more
2022-03-20 21:45:00
Murder arrest over Sabita Thanwani Clerkenwell death
A man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a 19-year-old woman who died in student accommodation in central London. Student Sabita Thanwani was found with neck injuries in the halls of residence in Sebastian Street, Clerkenwell. Police and medics went to Arbour House at about 05:10 GMT on Saturday but she died at the scene. Maher Maaroufe, understood to have been in a relationship with M ... Read more
2022-03-20 19:48:15
What does Putin want and will Russia end its war?
When Vladimir Putin shattered the peace in Europe by unleashing war on a democracy of 44 million people, his justification was that modern, Western-leaning Ukraine was a constant threat and Russia could not feel "safe, develop and exist". But after weeks of bombardment, thousands of deaths and an exodus of millions of refugees, the question remains: what is his war aim and is there a wa ... Read more
2022-03-20 19:47:44
How Kremlin accounts manipulate Twitter
Olena Kurilo became the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Bloodied and bandaged, the 53-year-old teacher said she couldn't believe what had happened to her and her town of Chuhuiv. Her picture was on the front pages of newspapers across the world. Over the next few days, Russia's government social media accounts began to post a video claiming that Olena hadn't been injured at all. "Gre ... Read more
2022-03-18 21:53:04
Heineken launches virtual beer in self-mocking metaverse 'joke'
A brewer has created a virtual beer to highlight the extremes businesses will go to to grab a slice of the next big thing - the metaverse. Heineken set up a virtual launch to promote the "product" - an experience described by one attendee as surreal. The metaverse does not yet exist but many believe people will one day spend their time in inter-connected virtual worlds, accessed via a ... Read more
2022-03-18 21:52:24