To end the week, these are the stories making headlines.
Presidential whiplash stokes immigration crisis to justify troop surge
They might deny it, but evidence suggests that a hurriedly announced deployment of National Guard troops to the southern border was sparked by a presidential tweet storm, itself apparently provoked by a Fox News story.
Trump orders National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border
Key details like the numbers of troops, how long they will be deployed, how much it will cost and where they will go are still being finalized. In the memo he signed Wednesday evening, Trump declared the defense secretary “shall request use of National Guard personnel” to secure the border and that the homeland security secretary will work with him to train and direct the troops in that mission.
Ex-Brazil president Lula da Silva loses fight to delay jail sentence
Lula da Silva, who governed Brazil from 2003 to 2011, had been considered a frontrunner in elections due in October. But the court’s decision not to grant his request to remain free while appealing the conviction has cast doubt on his bid to regain power.
Facebook says Cambridge Analytica may have had data on 87 million people
Facebook had previously said the number of people whose information may have been shared with Cambridge Analytica was only around 50 million. It announced the revised number in a blog post on Wednesday. Facebook has said the data was initially collected by a professor for academic purposes in line with its rules.
Scientists call for boycott of South Korean university over killer robot fears
In announcing the boycott, the AI scientists said they were disappointed the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) was looking “to accelerate the arms race to develop such weapons,” a claim the university has denied.
Sierra Leone declares former junta head president
Bio, leader of the Sierra Leone People’s Party and former junta head of the West African nation in 1996, took 51.81 percent of the vote, beating Samura Kamara of the outgoing All People’s Congress, who won 48.19 in the poll on Wednesday.
Royal wedding 2018: What we know so far
Rumors about the dress, the performers and the all-important guest list continue to swirl. Here’s what we know so far and what’s still under wraps. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will marry on Saturday, May 19, in St. George’s Chapel in the grounds of Windsor Castle, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of central London.
Facebook will release more data about election interference, but only after the election
Amid growing pressure to remove bad actors from Facebook, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Wednesday that the company would likely release more information about problematic content posted to the service during elections. But to ensure the accuracy of the data, Zuckerberg said, the reports will likely come after the elections are over.
BMW’s new subscription service starts at $2,000 a month
BMW is joining the growing list of automakers that are experimenting with different ownership models by launching a new monthly subscription service that gives customers access to a fleet of BMWs for a set fee. The new app-based service, dubbed Access, will launch first in Nashville before BMW decides to bring it to other markets, according to Bloomberg .
YouTube will increase security at all offices worldwide following shooting
In the aftermath of the shooting at YouTube’s headquarters in San Bruno, California yesterday, the company has announced plans to increase security at all of its offices worldwide. This is intended to “make them more secure not only in the near term, but long-term,” YouTube says.
Facebook is reducing its Android call history and SMS data collection
It was revealed last month that Facebook has been collecting call records and SMS data from Android devices for years. Facebook has been using what it calls an “opt-in feature” to improve its friend recommendation algorithm by requesting access to contacts, SMS data, and call history on Android phones.
Tinder is testing looping video profile pictures
Micro videos have been trendy since Vine (RIP), and later Boomerang, made the format fun and easy to shoot. Now, Tinder is currently testing a two-second looping video feature for profiles that’s similar to Boomerang and Facebook’s own profile videos.
Google will no longer accept Chrome extensions that mine cryptocurrency
Starting today, Google’s Chrome Web Store will no longer accept extensions that mine cryptocurrency. The company says there had been a rise in “malicious extensions” over the past few months which appear to be useful, but are actually embedding hidden cryptocurrency mining scripts that run in the background without consent, consuming valuable computing resources.
Google bought more renewable energy than it needed last year
Since 2017, Google pledged to power its data centres and offices with 100 percent renewable energy. Now the tech company said it’s surpassed that, announcing in a blog post that it purchased more power from solar and wind than was used by its operations globally last year.
Someone named a bunch of streets in Idaho after ‘Game of Thrones’ characters
This is what happens when you let geeks be in charge. A Game of Thrones fan who also happens to be a veteran of residential engineering and development projects has been given the reins to name the streets in a new housing development outside Boise, Idaho, BoiseDev reported Monday.
The Rock finally explains his beef with Vin Diesel on ‘Fate of the Furious’
We finally have some answers regarding what was arguably the biggest feud of 2016, outside of the election. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson gets remarkably candid about his beef with Fate of the Furious co-star Vin Diesel in an extensive interview with Rolling Stone .
NYC lifts ban on electric bikes, but hoverboards still illegal
New York City is home to one of the biggest bike-sharing networks in the country, but until this week electric bicycles – regular bicycles with an electric motor to give rides a boost – were banned in the bustling city. The confusing ban has kept out bike-sharing companies and frustrated delivery workers.
Watch Boeing refuel a huge military tanker mid-flight
Boeing successfully refueled a KC-46 Pegasus tanker from a fellow tanker – mid-air. Boeing transferred 146,000 pounds of fuel from one plane to another after taking off from Boeing Field, near Seattle. Here’s a video of the mid-air fuel transfer. The fuel was off-loaded at a rate of 1,200 gallons per minute.
Gendry confirms he’ll be at ‘Game of Thrones’ climax and that’s huge
All that rowing seems to have paid off for Gendry – and we don’t just mean because of his beefy upper body muscles. The actor behind the blacksmith-turned-magic-king-blooded-bastard Joe Dempsie confirmed in an interview with Digital Spy that he’ll have a bigger role to play in the final season of Game of Thrones.
Almost every Facebook user’s data has been scraped, Zuckerberg says
Our Facebook privacy nightmare somehow keeps getting worse. The vast majority of Facebook users have likely had their public profile data scraped by third-parties, CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed Wednesday. The seemingly massive privacy loophole was the result of a feature that allowed people to search for friends using their phone number.
Bollywood star Khan guilty of poaching
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan is convicted over the killing of two endangered blackbuck antelope back in 1998.
Spanish royals in awkward moment
Footage has emerged appearing to show tension between Spain’s Queen Letizia and her mother-in-law Queen Sofia. The video, shot during Easter Mass on the island of Mallorca, shows Queen Letizia first blocking a photograph of Queen Sofia and her daughters and then removing Queen Sofia’s hand from her daughter Infanta Sofía’s shoulder.
Doctor ‘used his sperm’ to impregnate woman
A US woman is suing her parents’ former fertility doctor after claiming her DNA test results showed he secretly used his own sperm to help conceive her. Kelli Rowlette sent a DNA sample to genealogy website Ancestry.com, and was surprised to receive results that did not match her to her father.
N Korea missile ‘could reach UK in months’
North Korea will almost certainly be able to reach UK shores with an intercontinental ballistic missile within six to 18 months, MPs have said. However, the Commons’ Defence Select Committee report said there was as yet no evidence that North Korea could arm these missiles with nuclear warheads.
