Google sacks 28 employees over Israel protest, Huawei announces Pura 70 series

Google has sacked 28 employees who protested the technology giant’s work for the Israeli military by staging sit-ins at the company’s US offices. The staff were sacked after demonstrations at Google offices in New York and Silicon Valley, in which nine were arrested after refusing to leave. Google is facing protests over its work providing cloud computing services and artificial intelligence software to the Israeli government through a programme known as Project Nimbus, which is reportedly worth up to $1.2bn (£1bn). Telegraph 

Dozens of people around the world have been arrested after police disrupted a UK-founded website scamming victims on an industrial scale. LabHost, a site set up in 2021, tricked as many as 70,000 UK victims, obtaining 480,000 card numbers and 64,000 PINs worldwide, the Metropolitan Police said. It was created by a criminal network and enabled more than 2,000 users to set up phishing websites designed to steal personal information such as email addresses, passwords and bank details. Sky News 

Huawei launched a fresh line-up of smartphones on Thursday in a bid to continue its resurgence in China and ramp up its challenge to Apple in the market. The Chinese technology giant took the wraps of the Pura 70 series, which replaces the “P series” of devices that the company first launched in 2012. It’s the latest sign of growing confidence from Huawei, after the company last year quietly launched its Mate 60 smartphone, which sported a high-end chip. 

Tesla on Wednesday asked its shareholders to once again approve CEO Elon Musk‘s record-breaking $56bn pay that was set in 2018. A Delaware judge rejected the pay package in January, calling it excessive and saying the company’s board failed to justify it. The compensation includes no salary or cash bonus, but sets rewards based on Tesla’s market value rising to as much as $650bn over the next 10 years…The company’s request for a new vote is an apparent attempt to bolster support for Musk’s pay package and serve as a public rejection of the court’s decision. Guardian 

TikTok has been given 24 hours to respond to the European Commission over a version of the app which pays users for viewing videos. TikTok Lite launched in France and Spain this week. European Commissioner Thierry Breton has compared it to the idea of “light” cigarettes, asking whether it was “as addictive and toxic.” TikTok said in a statement it would “respond to the request for information.” It says it does not currently have plans to launch the Lite app in other countries in Europe. BBC 

Sony announced the Xperia 1 V on May 11 last year, and it seems like the Japanese company is planning to stick to almost exactly the same timeline in 2024. According to a leaked poster from Weibo, Sony will be holding an Xperia launch event on May 17. 

The next Xperia flagship is expected to give up on the 4K screen and the 21:9 tall screen aspect ratio, going with a more industry-standard solution in both cases. Thus, the Xperia 1 VI will be shorter and wider than its predecessor. GSM Arena