Google employees face arrest
Several Google employees in the U.S. were placed on leave and/or arrested after they carried out sit-in protests at company offices in New York and California to demonstrate against Project Nimbus - a $1.2 billion deal with Amazon that supports the Israeli government’s technology infrastructure.
During the sit-ins, protesting workers live-streamed footage of themselves being arrested in both cities, with the No Tech for Apartheid organisation calling them the “Nimbus Nine”. The sit-ins lasted close to 10 hours, with workers holding up signs calling for Project Nimbus to be dropped. Meanwhile, Google cited “bullying” and “harassment” as the reason for firing the workers.
Pakistan to revoke suspension of X
The Sindh High Court in Pakistan came down heavily on the suspension of social media platform X in the country and directed the Ministry of Interior to revoke its decision on the suspension within one week. The Elon Musk owned platform has been suspended since February owing to the government’s decision to curb access to the social media platform citing national security risks.
The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) told the court last month that it blocked the social media platform after receiving directions from the Ministry of Interior and intelligence agencies. Meanwhile, in a separate case, the the Interior Ministry informed the Islamabad high court that content uploaded on the internet is a “threat” to the country’s national security.
Apple looks at manufacturing in Indonesia
Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company will “look at” manufacturing in Indonesia as he met with the Indonesian President Joko Widodo. “We talked about the President’s desire to see manufacturing in the country, and it’s something that we will look at”, Cook told reporters after the meeting.
While the Indonesian government has been working for years to bring manufacturing into the country to power economic growth, Apple is looking to diversify ist supply chain away from China, where most of its smartphones and tablets are assembled. Windodo’s government is looking to leverage the country’s reserves of nickel and other raw materials to bring in manufacturing by banning the export of raw commodities including nickel and bauxite.
