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How an EU tax could slash climate emissions far beyond Europe

Last week, European Union leaders approved the most aggressive climate-change plan in history . The eye-catching part was the $600 billion dedicated to green measures, spread across a massive economic recovery package and the seven-year EU budget approved in concert. All of it will be directed toward achieving the previously announced European Green Deal goal of becoming “climate neutral” by midcentury . But the sweeping deal also set the timetable for implementing a policy that could prove far more powerful—and controversial—than the funding, by providing a way to push down emissions far beyond Europe’s borders. The text of the $2 trillion budget agreement calls for introducing a “carbon border adjustment mechanism” by 2023. In the simplest form it would impose a tax on imported goods produced in ways that emit more greenhouse-gas emissions than are allowed by EU manufacturers. It might apply to a variety of carbon-intensive industries like cement, glass, steel, fertilizer, and f...

Twitter says ‘phone spear phishing attack’ used to gain network access in crypto scam breach

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Twitter has revealed a little more detail about the security breach it suffered earlier this month when a number of high profile accounts were hacked to spread a cryptocurrency scam — writing in a blog post that a “phone spear phishing attack” was used to target a small number of its employees. Once the attackers had successfully gained network credentials via this social engineering technique they were in a position to gather enough information about its internal systems and processes to target other employees who had access to account support tools which enabled them to take control of verified accounts, per Twitter’s update on the incident. We’re sharing an update based on what we know today. We’ll provide a more detailed report on what occurred at a later date given the ongoing law enforcement investigation and after we’ve completed work to further safeguard our service. https://t.co/8mN4NYWZ3O — Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) July 31, 2020 “A successful attack req...

Chinese importers are ramping up chip imports through Hong Kong before US sanctions shut the route; chip imports to China through Hong King are up 11% YoY (South China Morning Post)

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South China Morning Post : Chinese importers are ramping up chip imports through Hong Kong before US sanctions shut the route; chip imports to China through Hong King are up 11% YoY   —  Re-exports of semiconductors through Hong Kong to the mainland jumped by 11 per cent in the first half of the year from the same period … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/39GuQai

Sources: Facebook has completed deals with the three largest music companies, Universal, Sony, and Warner, for the right to show music videos (Bloomberg)

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Bloomberg : Sources: Facebook has completed deals with the three largest music companies, Universal, Sony, and Warner, for the right to show music videos   —  - Social giant also could bankroll some video production  — Music videos have surged on YouTube during the pandemic from Techmeme https://ift.tt/39KnuCA

Emails from Jeff Bezos and other Amazon employees suggest the acquisition of Ring was for "market position - not technology" (Makena Kelly/The Verge)

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Makena Kelly / The Verge : Emails from Jeff Bezos and other Amazon employees suggest the acquisition of Ring was for “market position - not technology”   —  ‘And that market position and momentum is very valuable’  —  On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee held its last hearing as part … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3fdEgLF

In an update to the July 15 hack, Twitter says a few employees were targeted in a phone spear phishing attack, and it had since limited access to internal tools (Jay Peters/The Verge)

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Jay Peters / The Verge : In an update to the July 15 hack, Twitter says a few employees were targeted in a phone spear phishing attack, and it had since limited access to internal tools   —  ‘This attack relied on a significant and concerted attempt to mislead certain employees’  —  Twitter provided an update … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2D3Dm7u

Kylie and Kendall Jenner endorsed 'knock-off' Apple products on Instagram

They promoted AirPods clones, whose design may be in breach of Apple's intellectual property rights. from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8290670 https://ift.tt/2XelXzL