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  • ISIS ‘still evading detection on Facebook’, report says

    ISIS logo on a phone

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    Getty Images

    Facebook accounts linked to the Islamic State group (ISIS) are still finding ways to evade detection on the social media platform, a new report claims.

    One network’s tactics included mixing its material with content from real news outlets, such as recorded TV news output and the BBC News theme music.

    It also hijacked Facebook accounts, and posted tutorial videos to teach other Jihadists how to do it.

    Facebook said it had “no tolerance for terrorist propaganda”.

    The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), which carried out the study, tracked 288 Facebook accounts linked to a particular ISIS network over three months.

    The group behind them was able to exploit gaps in both the automated and manual moderation systems on Facebook, to generate tens of thousands of views of their material.

    Facebook said most of them had now been removed.

    Networks of ISIS supporters were also found to be plotting, preparing and launching ‘raids’ on other Facebook pages, including those belonging to the US military and political leaders.

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    Facebook

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    The comments section of Donald Trump’s Facebook page was also targeted

    The ISD researchers say they watched in real-time as instructions were posted for followers to flood comment sections of the sites with terrorist material.

    One attack targeted US President Trump’s Facebook page with fake African-American accounts. Another put images of the 11 September 2001 attack on the US Department of Defense and Air Force Academy pages, along with messages.

    ‘Digital territory’

    On 7 April, a series of Twitter accounts began to send out links to a Facebook Watch party.

    The accounts all used the phrase ‘Fuouaris Upload’, a reference to medieval Islamic warriors.

    The ISD researchers say this was part of a co-ordinated attempt to ‘amass digital territory’ on Facebook.

    The network shared video content which received tens of thousands of views, and which extended out to other platforms with links to Telegram, WhatsApp, ISIS stand-alone websites and SoundCloud.

    • Dozens of TikTok accounts banned over IS videos
    • Apps face fine if terror lingers for hour

    The researchers believe that at the centre of the network was one user who managed around a third (90 out of 288) of the Facebook profiles.

    At times, this user would boast of holding 100 ‘war spoils’ accounts, saying: “They delete one account, and I replace it with 10 others.”

    This was accomplished by generating real North American phone numbers and looking for associated Facebook accounts.

    If it found a match it would request a re-set code to be sent to the phone number, so it could lock out the original account holder and use the Facebook profile to spread content.

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    The researchers say another key to the survival of ISIS content on the platform was the way in which ISIS supporters have learned to modify their content to evade controls.

    This included:

    • Breaking up text and using strange punctuation to evade any tools which would search for key words
    • Blurring ISIS branding, or adding Facebook’s own video effects
    • Adding the branding of mainstream news outlets over the top of ISIS content

    Facebook has tried to develop ways of avoiding taking down mainstream news content which contains excerpts of ISIS material, and this was an attempt to take advantage of that.

    In one case, an ISIS video was uploaded, but with 30 seconds of the France 24 news channel as an introduction before 49 minutes of the ISIS Iraq video.

    In another case, a remix of a BBC News jingle with a pop song that became popular during the Coronavirus outbreak was used to mask ISIS content.

    The researchers found that 70% of the “Fuouaris Upload” accounts were taken down during the nearly three-month period.

    But the network adapted and survived relatively easily by shifting from one account to another.

    As accounts were taken down, members of the network publicly mocked Facebook for not understanding the way they could operate on the platform.

    The followers and friends of the main Facebook accounts included supporters from a number of different language groups, including Albanian, Turkish, Somali, Ethiopian and Indonesian communities.

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    ISD

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    This video was found on an Indonesian language account

    The researchers say these accounts did not seem to be as heavily moderated as the Arabic and English ISIS accounts.

    On one Indonesian language account the researchers found a video, set in a kitchen, featuring a man in a balaclava explaining how to create explosives using household items.

    The video had been viewed 89 times and shared through 41 other Indonesian and Arabic language accounts, and flagged to Facebook.

    ‘Inner workings’

    “Our report is about the evasive behaviours of ISIS-supporting accounts on Facebook,” the report’s author Moustafa Ayad said.

    “It is a deep dive into the inner workings of a singular terrorist-support network, connected to many others across the platform.

    “The tactics we outline in our report are shifting as we speak. Without a clear understanding of these networks, and their behaviours, responses reliant on takedowns do little to quell ISIS-support expansion across our primary platforms.”

    ISD says Facebook’s automated and manual detection systems need to be updated, with proactive investigations into repeat offending accounts and their connections to other accounts on the platform.

    It says the platform needs to re-examine account security protocols, and how these security measures are being actively subverted by users.

    In response to the research, a Facebook spokesperson told ISD: “We had already removed more than 250 accounts referenced in ISD’s report and are reviewing the remaining 30 accounts against our policies.

    “We have no tolerance for terrorist propaganda on our platform, and remove content and accounts that violate our policy as soon as we identify them.”

  • Coronavirus: Manicures and tattoos now possible in England as lockdown eases

    Beautician Alex Smith, 26, does the nails of Jules Aspen, 40, at the Madame Beauty salon in Chirton, North Tyneside, as they reopen to customers on following the easing of lockdown restrictions in England

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    PA Media

    Beauty salons, spas, tattoo parlours and nail bars are welcoming back their first clients for almost four months, as lockdown restrictions ease further in England.

    But some treatments, such as eyebrow threading, are still banned, leaving many salons unable to reopen.

    In Scotland, indoor shopping centres are allowed to reopen.

    In Wales, pubs, bars and restaurants can start serving customers outdoors, while hairdressers can also reopen.

    Businesses will be required to follow guidelines to reduce the spread of coronavirus – and treatments which involve work directly in front of the face will not be available.

    Government guidance says services including face waxing, eyebrow threading, eyelash treatments, make-up applications and facials should not be provided because of the greater risk of Covid-19 transmission.

    • Government to decide on face masks in shops
    • How can I have my nails done safely?

    Naresh Bhana, who runs Flamin’ Eight tattoo studio in north London, said the business was only taking advance bookings, so “you can’t walk off the street unannounced”.

    “We can accommodate two or three being tattooed but we stagger their start times,” he said. “Work areas are four metres apart. Everyone’s wearing masks. Clients will wear visors as well.”

    He has created a commemorative tattoo for his wife to mark the reopening.

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    Sonia Bhana

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    The tattoo design to mark the end of lockdown for tattoo parlours was created for Naresh’s wife, Sonia

    Beard trims have been allowed since barbers opened last weekend – but should be limited to simple tidy-ups or thinning which can be carried out from the side or by circling the client to avoid the highest risk zone in front of the face, the British Beauty Council has said.

    The co-founder of the home beauty service, Blow Ltd, Fiona McIntosh, said the ban on beauty treatments involving the face was “hugely frustrating”.

    “We still don’t know when we’re going to be able to do those services, which is having a huge impact on the freelancers who work for us,” she said.

    “We have 250 women, freelance beauticians on our platform across London, Manchester and Birmingham who can’t work and they have been given no date on when they can work.”

    She added: “I found it very difficult to understand how a lash treatment when you actually could have a mask on to have that done is different to a beard treatment.”

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    Blow Ltd uses 1,000 self-employed beauticians and about a quarter of them can still not work, says Fiona McIntosh

    Angela Burnett, the co-founder of Moreton Place Beauty and Wellbeing in London, added: “It’s half of our business, not being able do facials and facial treatment. For example we can’t do any eyebrow waxing, any tinting, any lip waxing. So we’re just doing manicures, pedicures and massages.”

    Vanita Parti, founder and chief executive of the Blink Brow Bar walk-in beauty bar chain, which has 11 shops in London and specialises in eyebrow treatments, said her salons would not be able to reopen under the guidelines.

    “I’m furious,” she told the BBC last week. “This will kill so many businesses. I wish they’d consulted us.”

    Massage studios, tanning salons, physical therapy businesses and piercing services are also now allowed to reopen in England.

    Business Secretary Alok Sharma said: “Enabling these often small, independent businesses to reopen is yet another step in our plan to kickstart the economy to support jobs and incomes across the country.”

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    Martin Rickett/PA Media

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    Some nail bars have installed plastic screens to reduce the spread of coronavirus

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    At a salon in Birkenhead, a nail technician wears a PPE face shield and mask

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    PA Media

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    People – including a woman in Chirton, North Shields – are also returning to sunbeds for the first time in three months

    In Scotland, hospitals are reopening to visitors and children and young people are now allowed to play contact sports outdoors.

    From Wednesday, Scottish hairdressers and barbers will be able to reopen and indoor pubs, cafes and restaurants can return to business.

    In Wales, hospitality businesses can open for outdoor service. Only half of venues are predicted to do so, with major chains, including Wetherspoons and Brains, waiting until customers are allowed indoors from 3 August.

    The National Trust is also reopening some of its historic houses, with visitors allowed at seven properties in England and Northern Ireland in a test run of new rules intended to keep the public and staff as safe as possible.

    “We’re really grateful to our members and supporters for sticking with us during lockdown,” said Tarnya Cooper from the National Trust, who spoke to BBC’s Breakfast from Petworth House. “This is the first time in 16 weeks we’ve been able to contemplate reopening our houses.”

    She said about one million visitors had already pre-booked trips to National Trust’s parks and gardens since they opened in early June.

    Face masks under review

    Meanwhile, the government’s approach to face coverings in England continues to be discussed, following calls for clarity over the weekend.

    Boris Johnson has said people in England “should be wearing” masks or other coverings inside shops to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

    He said the government would decide in the next few days if “tools of enforcement” were needed.

    Earlier, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland has said he would “perhaps” support making the wearing of masks in public compulsory but his colleague Michael Gove said on Sunday he thought the matter should be left to people’s “common sense”.

    Mr Buckland told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Wearing them in an enclosed space where you’ve got lots of people, for example a busy shop, seems to be sensible.

    “It is all about increasing confidence. I think the more of us who do the courteous and responsible thing, the more people you’ll see venture out into shops.”

    He added: “If it becomes necessary to nudge people further by taking further action then of course we will consider that. I think the matter is under careful and daily review.”

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    Getty Images

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    Face masks are mandatory in shops in Scotland but not in England, although some shoppers do wear them

    A further 650 coronavirus cases were reported across the UK on Sunday, according to the Department of Health. That is an increase on the 516 cases reported on the same day a week earlier – but hugely down on the peak in April when there were about 5,000 new cases a day.

    The total number of people who have died with Covid-19 in the UK is now 44,819, a rise of 21 on the previous day – although figures tend to be lower at weekends because of reporting delays.

    Are you having your nails done or getting a tattoo today? Or are you a nail technician or tattoo artist who has reopened? Share your experiences by emailing

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  • Huawei: BT says ‘impossible’ to remove all firm’s kit in under 10 years

    Huawei logo

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    BT’s chief has said it would be “impossible” to remove Huawei from the whole of the UK’s telecoms infrastructure before 2030.

    The government is expected to say that no new 5G equipment from the Chinese firm can be installed after 2021, and that all its existing 5G kit must be removed later – possibly by 2025.

    But it is unclear if similar deadlines will also be given for Huawei’s other mobile and broadband gear.

    A statement will be made on Tuesday.

    “If you were to try and not have Huawei at all [in 5G] ideally we’d want seven years and we could probably do it in five,” BT’s chief executive Philip Jansen told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

    “If you wanted to have no Huawei in the whole of the telecoms infrastructure across the whole of the UK, I think that’s impossible to do in under 10 years.”

    BT’s EE network uses Huawei’s equipment to provide its 2G, 4G and 5G networks.

    In addition, its Openreach division uses Huawei to provide the “access technology” in its exchanges to provide fibre to the premises (FTTP) broadband – effectively converting electrical signals into light-based ones.

    Huawei also provides about 70,000 of Openreach’s roadside cabinets, which are used to provide fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) broadband connections. However, BT does not expect to be ordered to replace these, as they will be superseded in time by FTTP technology.

    Mr Jansen also repeated a warning first given by his firm last week, saying that “outages would be possible” if BT is forced to pull out Huawei’s 5G kit too quickly.

    He added that it would still need to install software provided by Huawei for some time to come.

    “Over the next five years, we’d expect 15 to 20 big software upgrades,” he explained.

    “If you don’t have those software upgrades, you’re running gaps in critical software that could have security implications.”

    Chip supplies

    Boris Johnson will chair a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) on Tuesday, at which a final decision over Huawei will be taken.

    The Digital Minister Oliver Dowden is expected to announce the details to Parliament shortly afterwards.

    The review has been prompted by new US sanctions which disrupt Huawei’s ability to make its own chips, and are likely to force it to rely on those made by others.

    UK security officials are concerned that this will challenge their ability to properly vet Huawei’s products before use.

    “We want to race ahead and have the best form of internet connectivity,” Justice Secretary Robert Buckland told the BBC.

    “But, at the same time, national security comes first and I know the NSC and the whole of government will be placing a huge priority on our national security.”

    The threat of a backbench rebellion and other considerations – including China’s introduction of a new security law in Hong Kong and its role in the coronavirus pandemic – will also encourage the prime minister to take a tough line.

    Huawei continues to press its case with the government. It denies claims that it poses a national security risk, and has suggested it could guarantee its UK clients supply of equipment made with its own chips for years to come.

    It has also emerged that President Trump’s national security adviser Robert O’Brien is flying to Paris to attend France’s Bastille Day events. He is scheduled to meet the UK’s most senior national security advisor, Sir Mark Sedwill, while in town.

    Washington is hoping that if the UK takes a tougher line against Huawei, that other countries – including France, Germany and Canada – will follow.

    The last-minute lobbying has been intense as government prepares to make a its new decision on Huawei.

    Some of that has been very public – China’s ambassador to the UK making statements as well as UK telecoms providers appearing before parliament and in the media, warning of the consequences of too tough an approach.

    Conservative backbenchers have been vocal the other way, describing the minimum action they believe is needed to avoid a rebellion when legislation comes to parliament in the autumn.

    The detail of any final decision will be important but it is hard to see any outcome which does not leave some unhappy.

    And that means that as just as the lobbying did not stop after the original January decision, it may continue after whatever happens next.

  • Shopping centres reopen as lockdown restrictions are eased

    Union Square, Aberdeen

    Scotland will see “the most significant easing of lockdown” this week with shopping centres, pubs and restaurants reopening, the first minister has said.

    From Monday, non-essential shops inside shopping malls will be able to return to business.

    Children and young people will also be allowed to play organised outdoor contact sports.

    Further restrictions on the indoor hospitality sector will be lifted from Wednesday.

    Family and friends will be able to visit hospital patients from Monday.

    Patients can have a designated visitor, although they will have to follow strict public health guidance and arrange a time to visit in advance.

    • Face coverings now compulsory in Scotland’s shops
    • Which lockdown rules will change next – and when?

    Dentists will be able to offer some routine treatments, such as examinations, hand scaling and extractions.

    But they will not be able to carry out aerosol procedures – those which produce a fine mist, like the use of a high-speed drill.

    That will rule out most fillings, crown preparations and treatments involving a water spray.

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    Jeff Holmes

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    Perspex screens have been fitted to protect staff at the intu Braehead shopping centre in Glasgow

    Nicola Sturgeon said continued success in suppressing coronavirus allowed the relaxation of lockdown restrictions.

    But she has warned they could be revoked at any time if there is a spike in Covid-19 cases.

    The first minister said: “The fundamental, primary responsibility to keep the virus low in Scotland is on the shoulders of all of us to do the right things.

    “That means face coverings, avoiding crowded places, cleaning our hands and keeping two-metres distancing, following the advice to self-isolate and get tested if we have symptoms.”

    Restricting access to people in hospital had been necessary “to keep patients and staff as safe as possible”, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said.

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    People waiting outside a clothes shop in the Union Square centre in Aberdeen

    She also said the measures had “helped us protect the capacity and resilience of NHS Scotland”.

    Ms Freeman added: “I want to thank everyone who has followed this guidance as I know how hard it has been for patients, families and carers not to have seen their loved ones in hospital.

    “There is a need to balance the risk of physical and psychological harm that the absence of visitors can cause, with the gradual reduction of Covid-19.

    “The safety of patients, staff and visitors will continue to be our priority.”

    Seating plans

    From Wednesday, hairdressers and barbers will be able to reopen – with enhanced hygiene measures.

    Indoor pubs, cafes and restaurants can also return to business.

    They can seek an exemption from the two-metre distancing rule, but will have to warn customers that they are entering a 1m zone, produce revised seating plans, and improve ventilation.

    Guidance on physical distancing will have to be followed, and customers will have to provide their contact details.

    All holiday accommodation can also reopen from 15 July, as can museums, galleries, cinemas, monuments and libraries.

  • Beyond Zoom: The future of virtual meetings

    Chris Fox explores how virtual reality could become the office of the future.

  • Coronavirus: Welsh pubs and cafes reopen – but only outdoors

    The Pelican

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    Mick Lobb/ Geograph

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    The Pelican, in Ogmore-by-Sea, will welcome drinkers back on Monday

    Pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes in Wales are allowed to start serving customers outdoors on Monday – but only half are predicted to open.

    Major pub chains including Wetherspoons and Brains will wait until customers are allowed indoors from 3 August.

    With turnover expected to be at 25% of pre-lockdown levels, independent businesses say only half will open.

    After self-catering accommodation opened on Saturday, hairdressers will also welcome customers back on Monday.

    On Friday, First Minister Mark Drakeford said hospitality businesses could reopen indoors from 3 August, providing coronavirus cases continue to fall.

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    Media captionConfused about what you can do when? This should help

    He announced the date in a long list of changes to coronavirus restrictions, including that exemptions will be made to the 2m social distancing rule for some businesses.

    Mark Griffiths owns four pubs in Bridgend and Vale of Glamorgan and is gearing up to start serving from two of these, while the other two will remain shut.

    The Pelican, at Ogmore-by-Sea, has been serving takeaway food for a month, and Mr Griffiths said “it went really well, but we had to slow down”.

    “We were selling too many and the bank behind it was like Henman Hill,” he said.

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    Getty Images

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    Pubs with an outdoor space they own will be able to open to customers

    He is hoping to open the pub from 12:00 BST until 20:00, and maybe later on the weekend, as well as The Haywain in Brackla, Bridgend, where an 80-seater marquee has been erected in the car park in case it rains, with social distancing measures put in place.

    Hundreds of people have booked tables on social media for The Haywain, including a group of eight for Monday, Friday and Saturday.

    But Mr Griffiths has decided not to open his other two pubs – The Five Bells in Bridgend and The Seahorse in Porthcawl – because they have no outside area.

    “I will concentrate on the two,” he said.

    “The weather is looking quite good, so if I can get 100 people outside both pubs every day next week, that will be good.

    “We have lost the summer money now, there’s no point trying to chase it. It’s a case of making what you can.”

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    Jaggery/ Geograph

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    Staff at The Lion in Treorchy have been preparing to reopen

    Reopening pubs in England on a Saturday was “irresponsible”, according to Adrian Emmett, of The Lion in Treorchy.

    “I think the Scottish and Welsh governments have the right idea opening on a Monday. It will make my job a lot easier.”

    Mr Emmett said “the pressure is going to be on” staff to make sure customers adhere to rules.

    At the St Brides Inn, Little Haven, Pembrokeshire, 80% of trade is from tourists.

    Landlord Malcolm Whitewright has arranged tables two metres apart and hopes social distancing measures will be reduced to one metre.

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    Christopher Davies/Geograph

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    Tourists usually flock to Little Haven during the summer months

    “We have a modest garden with about ten tables available,” he said.

    “We probably won’t make a profit but at least we will be up and running again and get some of our staff back to work.”

    Out of 18 employees, about eight will start work again, with the rest remaining on furlough.

    Miguel Santiago is looking forward to pulling pints again after spending £30,000 preparing to reopen.

    The landlord owns The Beaufort, in Raglan, Monmouthshire.

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    Miguel Santiago is looking forward to pulling pints again after spending £30,000 preparing to reopen

    He told BBC Radio Wales he had made changes to the pub’s outdoor seating and had bought bought two tiki huts – a kind of outdoor bar.

    “I think I’ve spent close to £30,000, which on top of everything you’ve lost is a lot,” he said.

    “But when you get left alone in a big building and are a bit bored, you start spending money you haven’t got!”

    He said staff were “really looking forward” to returning to work.

    “We will attract a lot of people from the city, because they will come out to more rural areas because we have more outside space here,” Mr Santiago said.

    “I’m looking forward to meeting some new people.”

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    Gower Brewery

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    The Gower Brewery has focused mainly on online orders since lockdown, delivering between Llanelli and Cardiff and sending beer around the UK

    The Swansea-based Gower Brewery has been delivering hundreds of draught beer kegs in readiness – but the company’s Bob Dudley-Jones said many pubs in the city will not open.

    “A lot have no beer gardens, or you have to go through the pub to get to them,” he said.

    “More on the coast and seaside resorts will, but because people are sat outside, a lot will depend on the weather.”

    The Welsh Independent Restaurant Collective warned that limited potential to make a profit would see as few as half of independent premises open on Monday.

    None of the 104 pubs owned and managed by Cardiff-based brewer SA Brains will reopen, although some of the 40 which are tenanted may.

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    Getty Images

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    The Duke of Cambridge opened the brewery’s new site in Cardiff Bay after it moved from the city centre

    In a statement, it said it looked forward to welcoming customers when it has “the green light” to open fully – with 3 August announced as the date on Friday.

    Brains is not the only chain to take this approach, with Wetherspoons and Mitchells & Butlers, each of which own about 50 pubs in Wales, not opening.

    But Stonegate will open a number of its premises, including Henry’s, The Woodville and Owain Glyndwr in Cardiff, Railway Hotel in Penarth and The Carlton, Llandudno.

    The Ei group will serve pints from 64 premises, including The Old Cross Keys in Swansea, Bulls Head in Bala and The Mitre in Pwllheli.

  • Watch Dogs Legion hands-on: millions of playable characters

    NPCs were a big part of the first two Watch Dogs games; their colorful histories and biographical snippets would pop up when you scanned anyone in the game world, mostly for comedic effect. But in Watch Dogs Legion, Ubisoft is taking that potential and expanding it into a core part of the game — or at least, it’s trying to.

    The idea is simple: all those NPCs, with all their strengths and weaknesses, are now actual playable characters that can be recruited as part of your hacktivist army. Need to sneak into a building site? Recruit a construction worker who can sneak in undetected. And with procedurally generated characters, Ubisoft says that the number of potential recruits ranges in the millions.

    Unfortunately, for all the hype, after playing three hours of Legion, it doesn’t do enough to differentiate its myriad characters from each other. One of my recruits, an elderly spy, handles exactly the same as a spry young hitman for hire or a football hooligan. The main differences are the two or three perks that each character comes with and their default gadget.

    There are clear archetypes: construction workers all feature a nail gun, a wrench, and a cargo drone, while spies come with a silenced pistol and a James Bond-style car, which can be summoned to their location and has missiles and an invisibility function.

    Ubisoft also definitely pushes players toward recruiting particular NPCs. Most of the random characters walking around feature minor perks (shopping discount loyalty cards were particularly common), no benefits at all, or even purely detrimental characteristics (like being out of shape or a heavy drinker, which offer tangible in-game downsides). Other characters — which Legion will outright point players toward by occasionally highlighting them in the game world — are clearly “main” characters with distinct perks and useful abilities like unique weaponry, improved hacking skills, or advantages in combat and stealth.

    With the limited demo time I had, I couldn’t see how far Ubisoft goes in making characters distinct — particularly when it comes to things like voice actors, given that whichever recruit you’re playing as will also appear in fully voiced cutscenes. However, even in my relatively short time with the game, I had already started to see elements repeat. Multiple potential recruits had palette swapped missions to get them to join my team, and even the limits of Ubisoft’s character generator were apparent, with several of my potential characters looking oddly similar to each other.

    Even with those differences, the character system is pretty restricted in what you can actually do with it. You can’t swap between your recruits on the fly. While Watch Dogs: Legion’s pitch brings to mind the ability to switch freely between a sneakier hacker to get into a building before calling in your combat specialist to fight off your enemies and then swap over to your getaway driver with perks for dodging traffic, the reality is much more tame. You can select and switch between characters whenever you’d like, but doing so reloads the game (and resets your mission to the last checkpoint). “Die” in a mission, and your character will either be detained or hospitalized, switching you to another character and setting a real-world timer of about 20 to 30 minutes before you can use them again. (Legion does offer an optional permadeath mode that in theory ups the stakes, but I didn’t get a chance to try it out.)

    The whole thing feels far less ambitious and fleshed out compared to the original vision of the game Ubisoft showed off at E3 2019. The initial rendition had different character classes (enforcers, hackers, and infiltrators) who excelled at different tasks and a progression system with character levels that would unlock new abilities over time — deeper elements that have since been cut from the final version.

    Watch Dogs Legion character select screen from the E3 2019 demo (left) and the 2020 version of the game (right)

    That false distinction bleeds over into other aspects of gameplay, too. The game makes a point of giving players access to a wide range of lethal and non-lethal weaponry, but in actual combat, the game neither penalized nor even had enemies strongly react to whether I chose to mow down their comrades or stun them with a taser. Which weapons a character has is a key distinguishing feature, but they all feel pretty similar to use in practice.

    Putting aside the unique character system, the rest of the gameplay continues to build on the Grand Theft Auto-style foundation of the series. Much of your time in Legion is spent driving around London, hijacking cars as you see fit, and trying to avoid too much police attention. (As in previous games in the genre, there’s an escalating police meter for when you’re violating the law.) Given that Legion is a new Watch Dogs game, there’s of course the extra hacking layer on top, which works similarly to the systems in the first two titles, allowing you to remotely move cars out of your way, trigger traffic barriers, and crash drones.

    Like any good sandbox game, Watch Dogs: Legion is packed with tools and toys to play around with — there’s plenty of fun to be had in just driving around London, scanning NPCs to find interesting recruits or fun bits of information, and hacking everything in sight. It also means that the game tends to encourage players to use those tools in more measured, stealthy approaches during missions. Running in guns blazing will likely get you killed, in addition to just being far less fun.

    On the story side of things, Legion also continues the lighter tone of the previous game — players work with hacker collective DedSec, which has been blamed for a massive bombing of London that was actually perpetrated by a different underground hacking group, called Zero Day. In the aftermath, London is taken over by a privatized military police group called Albion, against which players will battle to retake control of the city for the people. (Albion very unsubtly has its logo plastered all over the city, including landmarks like Tower Bridge. It also has a main base at the Tower of London itself, because it’s that kind of game.) In typical Ubisoft fashion, none of this is meant to be political, of course.

    Again, there’s a lot more of Watch Dogs: Legion than my initial demo got to explore. But based on what I’ve seen so far, the innovative NPC system is more flash than substance on top of what otherwise feels like a pretty standard sequel for the open-world franchise.

    Watch Dogs: Legion will be out later this year for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Google Stadia. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions of the game are also expected to be released this holiday season.

  • ‘If we’re heroes then why are we being exploited’

    Key workers Kevin and Melissa Antwhistle

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    Key workers Kevin and Melissa Antwhistle are stuck in “a financial nightmare” because of their mortgage

    MPs are calling on the government to step in and help more than 170,000 “mortgage prisoners” who are trapped on high interest rates.

    Thousands of frontline workers, including nurses and hospital workers, are forced to pay double the interest they would on a competitive mortgage.

    Strict affordability rules prevent them from re-mortgaging to a cheaper deal.

    MPs now want the government to order regulators to investigate capping the profits firms make from the borrowers.

    They are asking for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to undertake a joint consultation and introduce a cap on standard variable rates.

    The Treasury said it sympathises with the situation of borrowers who cannot switch mortgages if, for example, their loan is too high against the value of their home or because they are now too old to re-mortgage.

    Last October, the FCA reformed the affordability rules to allow lenders to help mortgage prisoners with cheaper home loans.

    But so far not a single lender has done so.

    Some key workers, who are also mortgage prisoners, say the financial pressure caused by paying far more than other homeowners is worsening the considerable stress of being on the frontline during the coronavirus pandemic.

    ‘Financial nightmare’

    Melissa Antwhistle has been dressing in protective equipment every day for round-the-clock shifts on the frontline at Scunthorpe general hospital, including in the intensive care unit.

    But financially, she feels far from supported.

    Speaking between shifts, she said: “Many mortgage prisoners are key workers like my husband and me. Doing this job with all the stress of Covid and also looking after our children aged one and three, we could do without the extra stress and anxiety of this financial nightmare.

    Image copyright
    Melissa Antwhistle

    Image caption

    Melissa Antwhistle is a frontline NHS worker

    “While the nation clapped for key workers every Thursday evening in admiration, in fact we have been risking everything not just to fulfil our vocations but also because we were forced to work round the clock just to keep a roof over our heads.”

    Her husband Kevin – also a key worker who runs and maintains a power station on the south Humber bank – took out a £120,000 mortgage with Northern Rock in 2007 at 100% of the value of his house with an unsecured loan on top.

    Northern Rock’s “Together” mortgage was approved at the time by regulators under the oversight of the Treasury.

    But it’s a decision he has had 13 years to regret.

    After it was nationalised, the Treasury put his loan along with hundreds of thousands of others into a new entity called Northern Rock Asset Management (MRAM).

    The Treasury then allowed NRAM to make bigger profit margins on standard variable rate mortgages, preparing the way for the sale of a portfolio of mortgages to private investors who could make large profits from the repayments Kevin and Melissa were making.

    His loan was then sold in 2014 as part of a £13bn portfolio of loans to private investors whose mortgages were outside the regulation of the FCA.

    Image copyright
    Getty Images

    Image caption

    Northern Rock collapsed in September 2007 before being nationalised

    It was the biggest privatisation in UK history, meeting the Treasury’s long-cherished goal of re-privatising the mortgage assets nationalised in the 2008 financial crisis.

    However, the investors purchasing the loans were typically ‘inactive’ lenders, meaning they were not willing or able to offer competitive new deals to existing borrowers.

    It meant that when their initial fixed-rate interest rate deals expired, Kevin and Melissa could not re-mortgage to a cheaper deal with their existing lender.

    Instead they moved on to the high standard variable rate where they paid interest rates of between 6% and 9%, compared to loans of less than 3% had they been able to re-mortgage.

    Melissa and Kevin have been paying £780 a month on their Northern Rock loan, compared to £420 or less if they could re-mortgage. But because they borrowed more than the value of the property, the regulators’ affordability rules now say they can’t re-mortgage.

    The rules, in other words, say they can’t afford to pay less.

    “Watching the widespread financial support during the current crisis has been a bitter pill to swallow. For many years we’ve been blamed for being ill-prepared and told that buying a mortgage is the risk you take,” Kevin says.

    “Yet whilst we’re asked to risk our lives and take risks with our families’ health, making huge sacrifices, we continue to be financially exploited without any choice. Our job is vocational but also necessary to pay the crippling interest rates.”

    ‘Immediate action’

    Rachel Neale of the UK Mortgage Prisoners campaign said appeals to the Treasury to help key workers and others trapped on high-interest loans haven’t helped a single mortgage prisoner.

    “Families are being crippled by these high interest rates and aren’t able to live properly because of it. We need action immediately before things get even worse and drive people into further arrears or cause repossessions.”

    In a letter to the Competition and Markets Authority, the all-party parliamentary group on mortgage prisoners says even during this period of record-low official rates, mortgage prisoners are typically paying 4.4%, two and half times the most competitive rates of 1.8% or less.

    Image caption

    Campaigner Rachel Neale says families are being “crippled” by high interest rates

    “Mortgage prisoners are being exploited, by both fully regulated lenders and unregulated vulture funds by being held on high standard variable rates, “says the letter, signed by LibDem, Conservative and Labour MPs.

    “We believe that the only way mortgage prisoners will see the vital improvements they need within an acceptable timescale will be for the CMA and the FCA to conduct a joint consultation and introduce a cap on standard variable rates.”

    A spokesman for the Treasury said: “We know that being unable to switch your mortgage can be stressful.

    “That’s why we’ve introduced rules that will make it easier for some customers to change provider, which we now expect to be in place by the end of the year.

    “The Financial Conduct Authority has also reiterated to lenders that customers on variable rate mortgages must be treated fairly, and that lenders should be actively reviewing their rates.”

  • Watch the first trailer for Far Cry 6, featuring Giancarlo Esposito

    Ubisoft debuted the first trailer for Far Cry 6 as part of its Ubisoft Forward digital conference today. The cinematic trailer didn’t have any gameplay, but showed a city in revolt under the regime of Antón Castillo, who is played by Giancarlo Esposito, perhaps best known as Gus Fring in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.

    In Far Cry 6, players control Dani Rojas, who is tasked with stopping Castillo’s regime. Much like its predecessors Far Cry 5 and Far Cry New Dawn, the playable character will be customizable and can be played as either a male or female. But Far Cry 6 will also see the return of a voiced protagonist, GameSpot reports.

    Ubisoft says players will have many weapons at their disposal and a companion system that allows you to recruit numerous allies to fight alongside you, like in Far Cry 5. (In Far Cry 6, one of those allies can be a “dangerously distracting wiener dog” named Chorizo, according to Ubisoft.)

    Far Cry 6 is set to launch on February 18th, 2021 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC, and Google’s Stadia cloud gaming service. It’s the latest entry in the series since 2019’s Far Cry: New Dawn, a post-apocalyptic sequel to 2018’s Far Cry 5.

    Update July 12th, 4:42PM ET: Added details from Ubisoft’s website and GameSpot.

  • How video is challenging the traditional CV

    Although the CV remains the bedrock of most job applications, candidates are increasingly being asked to present themselves in video format.

    Large corporations with lots of applicants use platforms like Shine or HireVue, for example.

    Now a start up called Slync has built a platform centred around personal videos “for the Snapchat generation”. But is video as fair as the old-fashioned written CV?

    A film by business digital reporter