News of the Cyber World

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American Couple Sues Google Maps over ‘Deadly’ Directions

The Daily Express U.S. reports that Jason and Katharine Zoladz filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court on Tuesday, alleging that Google Maps led them into the Nyanga neighborhood of Cape Town while they were driving to the airport to return their rental car. The couple claims the app directed them onto the “Hell Run,” a stretch of congested highway where armed gangs routinely target tourists in rental cars.

According to the lawsuit, locals and officials have warned Google about the attacks in Nyanga and attempted to get the company to stop routing people through the area. But it was too late for the Zoladzes, who were set upon by gunmen after Google Maps led them into the neighborhood last October.

The assailants surrounded the couple’s car, smashed the driver’s side window, and pulled Jason and Katharine from the vehicle. The men then fired several gunshots, brutally beat Jason, and made off with the couple’s cash, credit cards, and cell phones.

Jason was left unconscious with severe facial injuries that required reconstructive surgery and left him with four metal plates in his jaw. He continues to suffer from pain, numbness, and mobility issues.

The Zoladzes say the attack could have been prevented if Google had heeded warnings about the deadly risks of sending tourists through Nyanga. Officials and residents had been petitioning the company to reroute directions for years prior to the incident, according to the lawsuit.

Cape Town authorities finally succeeded in getting Google to stop directing people through Nyanga last November – three weeks after the attack on the Zoladzes.

Mark Zuckerberg to Receive $700 Million Annually as Meta Shares Jump 15%

Bloomberg reports Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg will receive an annual payout of approximately $700 million from the company’s new quarterly dividend, according to recent filings. This comes as Meta’s stock jumped 15 percent following strong fourth-quarter earnings results and the announcement of a 50 cent per share dividend starting in March.

The dividend, Meta’s first ever, will result in Zuckerberg receiving around $175 million every quarter based on his roughly 350 million share stake, reports Bloomberg.

This adds up to about $700 million per year that the tech mogul will gain from the payouts.

Meta exceeded revenue expectations in Q4 2023, bringing in $40.1 billion compared to forecasts of $39.18 billion. Earnings per share were $5.33 versus an expected $4.96, notes CNBC. The company also announced a $50 billion share repurchase program alongside the dividend.

Meta’s online advertising business continues to rebound after a difficult 2022, with Q4 revenue increasing 25 percent year-over-year. Expenses also fell eight percent annually to $23.73 billion as Meta’s cost-cutting measures improve profitability.

Elon Musk’s Tesla Recalls 2.2 Million EVs over Insufficient Warning Lights

AP News reports that the latest recall launched by Elon Musk’s Tesla covers a wide range of models sold over the past decade, including the S, X, 3, Y, and Cybertruck. According to the NHTSA documents, the brake, park, and anti-lock brake warning lights in most Tesla EVs violate standards because the font size on the instrument panel is too small. This makes the critical safety information harder to read for drivers.

Tesla will update the software on affected vehicles to increase the font size of the warning lights. The software update has already started rolling out over-the-air to vehicles. In addition to the online update, Tesla will mail letters notifying owners of the recall starting on March 30.

While Tesla only identified three related warranty claims, the recall affects almost every Tesla sold in the U.S. in recent years. NHTSA said the 2.2 million vehicles recalled represents “nearly all” Tesla cars sold domestically.

Brazil’s Socialist President Lula: ‘We Need to Dismantle the Criminal Fake News Machine’ Online

Brazil’s radical leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) Minister and “anti-fake news crusader” Alexandre de Moraes made calls on Thursday for the regulation of social media in the country.

Lula and de Moraes made the remarks in speeches at the opening of Brazil’s 2024 judicial year.

Lula, in his speech, stressed the importance of “democratic regulation” of social media and the need to criminalize those who “incite violence” on digital platforms. Lula also said that companies that host the offending content should be held responsible for crimes committed on their platforms.

“We need to criminalize those who incite violence on social networks. But it is also necessary to hold companies responsible for the crimes that are committed on their platforms – such as pedophilia, encouraging massacres in schools, and encouraging the self-mutilation of adolescents and children,” Lula said.

“We need to dismantle the criminal fake news machine, which during the pandemic spread unfounded suspicions about vaccines, causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Brazilians,” he continued.

Since the start of his third presidential term on January 1, 2023, Lula and members of his government have repeatedly made national and international calls for regulating social media in the name of fighting alleged “misinformation.”

Cleveland Brothers Posed as UAE Royalty to Run Crypto Scam, Other Frauds

Zubair Mehmet Abdur Razzaq Al Zubair, 41, and Muzzammil Muhammad Al Zubair, 30, were indicted in federal court in Cleveland, Ohio, on charges involving wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of government funds, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.

The brothers face one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 14 counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, four counts of money laundering, and one count of theft of government funds. Zubair also faces one count of harboring a fugitive.

Prosecutors said the men had engaged in multiple schemes, including investment fraud, a Small Business Administration (SBA) COVID-19 relief loan, cryptocurrency mining, a commercial real estate lease, and a residential real estate lease.

The Al Zubair brothers also lied about having extraordinary wealth and connections to politicians and foreign governments, with Zubair even falsely stating that he was married to a princess, and thus a member of a royal family in the UAE, federal prosecutors added.

Zubair even signed off with “His Excellency” when corresponding with people, the indictment noted.

Testing Suggests Highway Guardrails No Match for Heavy EVs

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Midwest Roadside Safety Facility ran a crash test examination using a nearly four-ton 2022 Rivian R1T.

When the pickup truck crashed through a metal guardrail and barely slowed down before hitting a concrete barrier, it reportedly came as little surprise to the researchers.

“We knew it was going to be an extremely demanding test of the roadside safety system,” Cody Stolle, a member of the facility, told the Associated Press. “The system was not made to handle vehicles greater than 5,000 pounds.”

The test crash was intended to see how guardrails, which line tens of thousands of miles of roads in the United States, would fare against EVs that weigh thousands of pounds more than an average gasoline-powered sedan.

The report concluded that the nation’s guardrails were simply not made to handle vehicles greater than 5,000 pounds.

The disparity is due to EVs typically weighing 20 percent to 50 percent more than conventionally-powered vehicles thanks to outsized batteries that can weigh almost as much as a small petrol or diesel-powered car.

And they have lower centers of gravity.

Israeli Firm Launches Probe into UNRWA After Recovering $90 Million in Hamas Cryptocurrency

Tel Aviv-based blockchain analysis company Lionsgate Network has helped the Israeli government recover $90 million in Hamas cryptocurrency since the October 7 attack.

The firm is now turning its attention to the digital wallets of the embattled United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), which is reeling from revelations that its staff is riddled with Hamas terrorists, and some of them actively participated in the October 7 atrocities.

Scrutiny of UNRWA intensified after the Hamas attack and exploded after Israel revealed employees of the U.N. agency were supportive of the terrorist atrocities, and even participated in them.
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Lionsgate Network plans to look at a UNRWA charity in the United States that partnered with a fundraising platform called Giving Block in late 2021, giving it the ability to accept cryptocurrency donations. Critics say such charities give wealthy donors a way to funnel “dark money” through UNRWA to terrorist organizations while remaining anonymous.

According to Lionsgate CEO Bezalel Raviv, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist groups have grown very fond of using hard-to-trace cryptocurrency to hide their funds in private, password-protected digital wallets. U.S. sanctions have locked down some of those accounts and Israeli authorities have seized others, but at least one massive Hamas digital wallet is currently active, with about $40 million in funds flowing through it.

FDA Links 561 Deaths to Recalled Philips Sleep Apnea Machines

CBS News reports that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reported that 561 deaths have been linked to recalled Philips respirators and ventilators used to treat sleep apnea and other breathing issues. This statistic comes as Philips agrees to pay $400 million to settle a lawsuit over the defective devices.

Philips initially recalled millions of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines and Bi-Level Positive Airway Pressure (BiPAP) devices in June 2021 after customers complained the foam inside was degrading and entering airways. The company later recalled repair kits meant to fix the problem as well.

According to the FDA, since April 2021 it has received over 116,000 reports of the recalled machines’ foam breaking down and releasing hazardous particles. This includes 561 reports of deaths potentially tied to use of the devices.

In a statement, Philips said it has “found no conclusive data linking these devices and the deaths reported.” However, the company will pay $400 million under a proposed legal settlement with the Justice Department and stop selling the machines in the U.S. until specific safety conditions are met.

The settlement also includes a $479 million payout to compensate affected U.S. customers. Individuals may file claims for financial losses related to purchasing or renting the recalled products. There is also a $100 return award for sending back a recalled device by August 2024.

Roughly 30 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea, which causes breathing to stop repeatedly during sleep. Patients rely on CPAP machines to deliver constant airflow to keep airways open.