Africa

SaveApp and HotelOnline partner to support holiday-goers in Kenya

SaveApp and HotelOnline have partnered to create solutions that enable users to save up for future holiday destinations. Users can now access HotelOnline’s services on SaveApp’s Ukonga platform.

Releaf raises $4.2m in funding

Agric technology startup Releaf has raised up to $4.2 million in funding to invest in food industrialisation across Africa. The seed funding will allow it build hardware and software solutions for Nigeria’s smallholder oil palm farmers.

54gene raises $25m in Series B funding

Healthtech pioneer 54gene has raised $25 million in a Series B funding round led by Cathay Africinvest Innovation Fund. 54gene will use the funds to expand its sequencing and target identification capacity.

Europe

Unmanned submarine to carry Irish freight

An unmanned hydrogen-powered submarine could soon be carrying freight across shallow Irish waters where larger vessels can not pass. A startup that came up with the idea recently received £380,000 in a UK government competition and will begin prototyping immediately,

TikTok under EU privacy-breach investigations

TikTok has come under the investigations of the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) over data-related breaches. The watchdog is investigating whether TikTok legally transferred data to other countries outside of the EU.

Facebook under fire for hiding research on teenagers

Facebook has come under fire from UK MPs for hiding a secret research that showed teenagers blamed Instagram for heightened anxiety levels, among other issues. MPs are demanding answers to why the firm chose to hide results of the survey.

Th Americas

Apple to block ‘zero-click’ spyware

Apple has fixed a patch that would block a popular ‘zero-click’ spyware. A flaw has allowed hackers access to iPhones through iMessage even when users didn’t click on a malicious link.

Microsoft introduces password-less logins

Microsoft users can now delete their passwords and use authenticator apps instead. The new option is now available to all of Microsoft’s business as well as all personal Microsoft and Windows users.

Ex-US intelligence officers hacked for UAE

Three ex-US intelligence officers have admitted to hacking on behalf of UAE government, thereby breaking US laws. The three have agreed to pay $1.6 million to settle the case with US prosecutors.

Asia

Pro-China infiltration of Wikipedia leads to editor bans

Wikipedia says it detected infiltration from pro-China supporters that had caused the ban of editors linked to organisations on mainland China. The infiltrators were trying to promote China’s aims rather than the organisation’s own, Wikipedia has said.

Alibaba shares fall as China plans to break up Alipay

The shares of Chinese retail giant Alibaba continued to slide after news emerged of China’s intention to break up the payment platform. Ant Group could also be forced to give up user data to a state-run company.

Israel-Palestinian posts need oversight review

Facebook’s Oversight board has recommended investigations into claims of bias in the review of Israel-Palestinian posts. This was after Facebook failed to answer questions about censorship of Palestinian posts.