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Microsoft to offer Apple devices to employees in China, cites absence of Android services

July 8 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab intends to offer Apple's (AAPL.O), opens new tab iOS-based devices to its employees in China to access authentication apps, a company spokesperson said on Monday, citing absence of Google's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Android services in the country.

Microsoft has been under increased scrutiny after a series of security breaches, the latest being that of Russian hackers who spied and accessed emails of the company's employees and customers earlier this year.

The development was first reported by Bloomberg News, which, citing an internal memo, said the Windows OS-maker instructed its employees in China to use Apple devices at workplace from September.

As a part of Microsoft's global Secure Future Initiative, the move to switch to iOS-devices stems from the lack of availability of Google Play Store in China that limits its employees' access to security apps such as Microsoft Authenticator and Identity Pass, the report added.

"Due to the lack of availability of Google Mobile Services in this region, we look to offer employees a means of accessing these required apps, such as an iOS device," a company spokesperson told Reuters in an email.

Microsoft is among those U.S. companies that have a strong presence in China. It entered the Chinese market in 1992 and also operates a large research and development center in the country.

The company will provide iPhone 15 models to employees, currently using Android handsets across China, including Hong Kong, the Bloomberg report said.

Israeli strike kills a senior Hezbollah commander in south Lebanon
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM July 3 (Reuters) - An Israeli strike killed one of Hezbollah's top commanders in south Lebanon on Wednesday, prompting retaliatory rocket fire by the Iran-backed group into Israel as their dangerously poised conflict rumbled on. The Israeli military said it had struck and eliminated Hezbollah's Mohammed Nasser, calling him commander of a unit responsible for firing from southwestern Lebanon at Israel. Nasser, killed by an airstrike near the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon, was the one of the most senior Hezbollah commanders to die yet in the conflict, two security sources in Lebanon said. Sparked by the Gaza war, the hostilities have raised concerns about a wider and ruinous conflict between the heavily armed adversaries, prompting U.S. diplomatic efforts aimed at deescalation. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israeli forces were hitting Hezbollah "very hard every day" and will be ready to take any action necessary against the group, though the preference is to reach a negotiated arrangement. Hezbollah began firing at Israeli targets at the border after its Palestinian ally Hamas launched the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, declaring support for the Palestinians and saying it would cease fire when Israel stops its Gaza offensive. Hezbollah announced at least two attacks in response to what it called "the assassination", saying it launched 100 Katyusha rockets at an Israeli military base and its Iranian-made Falaq missiles at another base in the town of Kiryat Shmona near the Israeli-Lebanese border. Israel's Channel 12 broadcaster reported that dozens of rockets were fired into northern Israel from Lebanon. There were no reports of casualties. The Israeli Defence Ministry said that air raid sirens sounded in several parts of northern Israel. Israel's military did not give a number of rockets launched but said most of them fell in open areas, some were intercepted, while a number of launches fell in the area of Kiryat Shmona.
EV maker Lucid to recall over 5,200 Air luxury sedans for software error, US regulator says
July 9 (Reuters) - Lucid Group (LCID.O), opens new tab will recall about 5,251 of its 2022-2023 Air luxury sedans due to a software error that could cause a loss of power, according to a notice from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published on Tuesday. The regulator added the EV maker will also recall about 7,506 of its 2022-2024 Air luxury sedans due to an issue with a coolant heater that could fail to defrost the windshield. Lucid had released an over-the-air software update in June as a fix for the software error and a separate update to identify a high voltage coolant heater failure and provide a warning to the drivers of the affected vehicles. The company had reported second-quarter deliveries above market expectations on Monday, as price cuts helped boost demand for its luxury electric sedans.
Turkey has cancelled a 40 percent tariff on Chinese cars, and BYD has invested $1 billion to build a factory
Byd has grown rapidly in China over the past few years, becoming the country's best-selling car brand and the world's biggest selling electric car brand. Byd opened its first electric car factory in Southeast Asia on Thursday in Thailand. Byd also took over a former Ford Motor Co. plant in Brazil and has been looking for a site for a Mexican plant. Europe's first automotive plant is under construction in Hungary. Byd's second-quarter sales jumped to a record 982,747 vehicles, up more than 40 per cent from a year earlier. Although the company's sales in Europe have been sluggish so far, it is making a big marketing push in the region to replace Volkswagen as the main automotive sponsor of the European Championship. According to a recent Fortune report, officials said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to announce the agreement for BYD to build the plant at a signing ceremony on Monday in Manisa province, where the plant will be built. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Byd representatives declined to comment. Turkish Industry and Technology Minister Mohamed Fatih Kassir said in May that he was in advanced discussions with BYD and Chery on investment in Turkey. The new plant will improve BYD's access to the European Union, as Turkey has a customs union agreement with the EU. The European Union this week announced temporary punitive tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China, with BYD imposing an additional 17.4 percent tariff on top of the existing 10 percent tariff. Other Chinese carmakers have been hit with higher tariffs. Investing in Turkey would strengthen the presence of Chinese carmakers in Europe at a time of escalating trade tensions.
Google may bring Google Wallet for Indian users
Google Wallet can help you store your IDs, driving license, loyalty cards, concert tickets and more. You can also store your payment cards and use tap to pay to pay anywhere Google Pay is accepted. Google wallet is available in various countries but Google never launched it in India. Google let indian users stick with the Gpay which facilitates UPI payments. Tap to pay is not part of it. Also we can not store things such as IDs and Passes in indian version of Gpay. This might change and Google may launch Google Wallet in India. With the recent version of Google Wallet and Google Play Services, Google has added some flags and code which indicate that Google is working on something for Indian users regarding wallet. The first change I noticed recently when going through the Google Play Services apk was addition of two new flags Both flags are part of com.google.android.gms.pay package in the Google Play Services. This package contains all the flags for features of Gpay/Wallet. Google does server side flipping of flags to enable/disable features for users. So both these flags doesn't really provide any info about what features enabling these flags is going to bring. But the point here is that Google Wallet is not launched in India so why Google added these flags inside Play Services ? The answer could be that Google may be working on bringing Google Wallet to India. It can enable tap to pay, store payments and various other features for Indian users which we don't have in the current Gpay for India. I found similar flags in the analysis Google Wallet APK - These flags are also disabled by default. But this is again a clear indication of Google working towards something for Indian users. In both cases, enabling the flags doesn't bring anything noticeable UI or feature because there is nothing much added besides flags. Google has dogfood/testing versions internally, so the code will show up slowly in upcoming versions. The last piece of code I found is also from Google Play Services. In case you don't know, Google was working on Digilocker integration in the Google Files app which was supposed to bring your digital document inside the app such as driving license, COVID certificates, aadhar card. But Google has ditched the effort of bringing these features and they removed the "Important" tab (where digilocker was supposed to be integrated) from the Google Files app completely. So things are going to change and here is how. This is the code which I found in the Google Play Services - So the word "PASS" along with PAN, DRIVERS LICENCE, VACC CERTIFICATE & AADHAR CARD, is clear indication of the possibility of Google adding support for these directly through Google Wallet using Digilocker, just like Samsung Pass does it. This code is not old as I have checked older beta versions of Play Services where this code is not present. Here is a string which was added in a previous beta version a few weeks ago but I completely ignored it because it didn't make any sense without flags and the other code - This addition was surprising because there was nothing regarding digilocker before in the Play Services. In the words "pay_valuable", the "pay" to Wallet/Gpay and "valuable" refers to the things like Passes, loyalty cards and transit cards. Since we are talking about digilocker, these "valuable" are driving license, vaccination certificate, PAN card and Aadhar card which can be store in Google Wallet after digilocker integration. That's all about it. We will know more about it in upcoming app updates or maybe Google can itself annouce something about this.
"Pictures on the wall were falling," New Yorkers rattled by earthquake
An earthquake jolted New York City on Friday morning, followed by more than 10 aftershocks which shook New Jersey, sending tremors as far as Philadelphia to Boston and jolting buildings in Manhattan and throughout its five boroughs. The preliminary quake, measuring 4.8 magnitude, centered around Lebanon, New Jersey, approximately 60 kilometers from New York City, with a depth of about 5 kilometers. Following the earthquake, New York City mayor Eric Adams stated at a press conference that no injuries had been reported, but they would continue to monitor and inspect critical infrastructure. The densely populated New York City was caught off guard by the unusual event. Broadcaster CBS reported that New York had not experienced an earthquake of this magnitude since 1884. Residents in Brooklyn expressed their shock when experiencing tremors which shook the city. "At first, I thought it was just construction next door, but then I noticed the pictures on the wall had fallen," Jennifer Wu, a resident in New York, told the Global Times on Saturday. Video footage circulating online showed the Statue of Liberty and the New York City skyline trembling as the earthquake struck. An angle from directly above Lady Liberty caught Ellis Island shaking during the incident. "It is fine," New York's famous Empire State Building posted on social platform X after the earthquake. The United Nations headquarters located in New York was hosting a Security Council meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, and diplomats present in the meeting felt the tremors, local media reported. According to the Weather Channel, residents in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Connecticut, Boston and other areas of the Northeast seaboard also reported shaking. Tremors lasting for several seconds were felt over 200 miles away near the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border. The New York mayor told the press that New Yorkers should go about their normal day, while the governor Kathy Hochul emphasized the seriousness of the situation. She initiated assessments for damage across the state and had discussions with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. The quake caused flight delays throughout the New York area, with temporary control measures put in place across New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, and Baltimore-Washington's Thurgood Marshall International Airport, checking for damage to runways. Operations resumed around Friday noon, ABC reported.