While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Aug 27
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Pavel Durov never lived in France and it was unclear what special link he had to the country.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
Telegram CEO arrested over probe into child porn, drug trafficking on app
Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of messaging app Telegram, was arrested in France as part of an investigation into crimes related to child pornography, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions on the platform, French prosecutors said on Aug 26.
French President Emmanuel Macron, making the first official confirmation of Durov’s arrest since he was detained at Le Bourget airport outside Paris on Aug 24 evening, said there was no political motive in the arrest, despite many false comments online. He added that France remains deeply committed to lawful free speech.
“The arrest of the Telegram president on French territory took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation,” Macron wrote on X. “This is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to decide.”
Relief in Iceland as no more tourists trapped under ice
via REUTERS
Police in Iceland called off a search for missing persons under a glacier on Aug 26 and said earlier reports that two tourists had been trapped there were wrong.
One person was killed and one injured on Aug 25 when a natural ice cave collapsed as a group of tourists explored it, but fears that two others were trapped were based on a misunderstanding, authorities said.
Police were told the group consisted of 25 people, but later concluded only 23 had taken part.
Ikea testing online second-hand furniture marketplace
Swedish flatpack furniture retailer Ikea said Aug 26 it had launched an online marketplace for its second-hand furniture, enabling customers to sell directly to each other.
“We are testing a digital second-hand marketplace in Oslo and Madrid to help customers connect, buy, and sell preowned Ikea items between each other,” Tolga Oncu, head of retail at Ikea Retail told AFP, confirming a report in the Financial Times.
Called Ikea Preowned, the marketplace opened for a trial period this summer and will continue until December, the company said.
Apple to hold fall event on Sept 9, new iPhones expected
REUTERS
Apple said on Aug 26 it will hold its fall event on Sept 9 in Cupertino, California, during which it is expected to launch its new iPhone series.
Analysts see a strong upgrade cycle for the new iPhone series with AI features expected to be the key selling point for the new devices.
During its annual developer conference in June, Apple unveiled a long-awaited AI strategy, integrating its new “Apple Intelligence” technology across its suite of apps, including Siri, and bringing OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT to its devices.
Zheng passes Anisimova test to reach US Open second round
REUTERS
Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen overcame early serving woes to move into the second round of the US Open with a hard-fought 4-6 6-4 6-2 victory over American wildcard Amanda Anisimova on Aug 26.
Seventh seed Zheng, a quarter-finalist in New York last year, won 73% of her first-serve points and converted six of her 11 break-point chances during a two hour 20-minute match at Louis Armstrong Stadium where she was broken four times.
Anisimova raced out to a 5-1 double break lead in the first set but then had to dig deep as Zheng broke back at love, turned aside three set points on her next serve and then broke again to get the match back on serve.
