A sprawling disinformation network originating in Russia sought to use hundreds of fake social media accounts and dozens of sham news websites to spread Kremlin talking points about the invasion of Ukraine, Meta revealed Tuesday.
The company, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said it identified and disabled the operation before it was able to gain a large audience. Nonetheless, Facebook said it was the largest and most complex Russian propaganda effort that it has found since the invasion began.

The United Arab Emirates will launch its first lunar rover in November, the mission manager said Monday.
Hamad Al Marzooqi told The National, a state-linked newspaper, that the "Rashid" rover, named for Dubai's ruling family, would be launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida sometime between Nov. 9 and Nov. 15. The exact date will be announced next month, he said.

South Korea's privacy watchdog has fined Google and Meta a combined 100 billion won ($72 million) for tracking consumers' online behavior without their consent and using their data for targeted advertisements.
South Korea's Personal Information and Protection Commission said it fined Google 69.2 billion won ($50 million) and Meta 30.8 billion won ($22 million) after a meeting where officials agreed that the companies' business practices might cause "serious" privacy infringements.

Permanently misspelled tweets might soon be a thing of the past.
Twitter said Thursday it's working on allowing users to edit their tweets, which it said is one of the most requested features to date.

Local law enforcement agencies from suburban Southern California to rural North Carolina have been using an obscure cellphone tracking tool, at times without search warrants, that gives them the power to follow people's movements months back in time, according to public records and internal emails obtained by The Associated Press.

Internet shutdowns rippled through cash-strapped Lebanon on Tuesday after employees of the country's state-owned telecom company went on strike, demanding higher wages.
It was the latest reflection of one of the world's worst economic disasters, which has pulled three quarters of Lebanon's 6 million people into poverty. The Lebanese pound in three years has lost over 90 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar.

NASA will try again Saturday to launch its new moon rocket on a test flight, after engine trouble halted the first countdown this week.
Managers said Tuesday they are changing fueling procedures to deal with the issue. A bad sensor also could be to blame for Monday's scrapped launch, they noted.

Elon Musk's SpaceX and T-Mobile are teaming up in an attempt to connect mobile devices through a network of satellites, providing coverage to even the most isolated places.
Under the plan, T-Mobile's wireless network would be routed through SpaceX Starlink satellites that are in low Earth orbit.

Intel Corp. will break ground Sept. 9 on its planned $20 billion Ohio semiconductor facilities with President Joe Biden in attendance, the company and the the White House said Thursday.
When the company's two factories, known as fabs, open in 2025, the facility will employ 3,000 people with an average salary of around $135,000. Building the fabs is expected to require 7,000 construction workers.

U.S. lawmakers are anxious to hear from Twitter's former security chief, who has alarmed Washington with allegations that the influential social network misled regulators about its cyber defenses and efforts to control fake accounts.
Leaders of several congressional panels are poring over the disclosures by respected cybersecurity expert Peiter Zatko, and calls on Capitol Hill for investigations are mounting. Zatko is due to testify next month at a Senate hearing.
