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Without action, sea levels could rise by over a metre by 2100
The latest report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that sea levels can be expected to rise by 30 to 60 centimetres by the end of the century even if greenhouse gas emissions are sharply curbed and global warming limited to well below 2 degrees Celsius (Science). If emissions continue to increase, that rise is more likely to be at 60 to 100 centimetres by 2100. Both scenarios represent a massive, life-changing risk to millions of people in low-lying areas.
Tibetans are the target of bleeding-edge smartphone malware
A cyberespionage group known as Poison Carp has been using website-based exploits to compromise Android and iOS smartphones belonging to Tibetan political and religious groups, a report by the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab has revealed (Ars Technica). The exploits, some of which were reported last month by Google's Project Zero, were used over the course of two years to spy on the location, communications and contacts of the hackers' targets.
Pretending to be journalists and human rights activists, members of Poison Carp used social engineering tactics to trick people from the Private Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Central Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan Parliament and human rights groups into opening links containing the malicious payload.
Uber's licensing troubles won't see it vanish from London's streets
On Tuesday, Transport for London (TfL) granted Uber’s request to extend its London operating licence, which was due to expire yesterday (WIRED). But instead of the five years requested by the ride-hailing firm, TfL granted just a two month extension. TfL says the extension is to “allow for scrutiny of additional information” that it has requested from Uber’s London subsidiary ahead of any potential further licensing application.
YouTube CEO gives politicians carte blanche on content guidelines
YouTube boss Susan Wojcicki has announced that videos uploaded by politicians will be allowed to remain on the site even if they violate YouTube's content guidelines (Politico).
Speaking at the Atlantic Festival, she said: "When you have a political officer that is making information that is really important for their constituents to see, or for other global leaders to see, that is content that we would leave up because we think it's important for other people to see." However, a YouTube representative later told Politico that only some exemptions were granted to political speech.
Facebook's Oculus Quest update will turn it into a wired PC VR headset
Facebook's £399 Oculus Quest stand-alone virtual reality headset has secretly had the ability to connect to PCs as a wired headset all along, and that feature's about to get unlocked in a November update (Ars Technica). It'll use USB-C to communicate with your PC and provide access to a much wider range of VR games than the Quest's limited native library. The Oculus division has also confirmed that it's developing augmented reality glasses, but there's no release date as yet.
The fight against food fraud
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This article was originally published by WIRED UK
