● [Tech] Banks told to reveal tech meltdown plans. ︴ ︴

▼ UK banks have been told to explain how they would cope with a technology failure or cyber-attack. The Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority have given financial firms three months to detail how they would respond if their systems failed. Some TSB customers were left unable to access online banking for more than a month following a botched systems upgrade in April. Banks could be ordered to take action if their plans are judged to be poor. The Bank of England and FCA have emphasised that senior management at banks will be held accountable for prolonged disruption to services. The two organisations have launched a consultation seeking the views of customers as well as banks, insurers and other financial institutions. (▪ ▪ ▪)

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● [Tech] Three YouTube vloggers die in waterfall plunge at Canada's Shannon Falls. ︴ ︴

▼ Three members of a YouTube travel blogging collective have died after falling over a waterfall in Canada. Ryker Gamble, Alexey Lyakh and Megan Scraper were part of High On Life, who post videos of their travel adventures. The group said: "They were three of the warmest, kindest and most driven and outgoing people you could ever meet." Police said the trio were swimming at the top of Shannon Falls in British Columbia on Tuesday when they "slipped and fell into a pool 30m (98ft) below". Other members of the group, who have 1.1 million followers on Instagram and more than 500,000 YouTube subscribers, named the three on their memorial fund pageand in a tribute video. They said: "There are truly no words that can be said to ease the pain and the devastation we are all going through right now." According to the Vancouver Sun, the accident happened when Scraper slipped and fell, with Gamble and Lyakh also getting swept away as they tried to save her. (▪ ▪ ▪)

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● [Tech] Dark web sting leads to arrest of alleged spyware thief. ︴ ︴

▼ A programmer who allegedly tried to sell stolen surveillance tools worth $50m (£38m) on the dark web has been caught and charged in Israel. The software was reportedly stolen from a security firm called NSO Group, known for creating surveillance software. The former NSO developer is believed to have stolen the code after learning he was going to be sacked. Israel's Justice Ministry said if the sale had gone ahead it could have harmed state security. Security cracked In a statement, the ministry said the accused was a senior programmer at NSO who had access to the firm's development systems including its stores of source code. The ministry said once the programmer had downloaded company code, he posed as a hacker and sought to sell the software on dark web markets. It is claimed that he asked for a payment of $50m to be made in crypto-cash to make it harder to trace. The unidentified individual who agreed to buy the software contacted NSO before the deal went ahead. A sting was set up and the suspected thief was arrested. (▪ ▪ ▪)

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● [Science] The 'Blood Rain' in Siberia Was Probably Caused by a Bunch of Industrial Garbage. ︴ ︴

▼ A post shared by Владимир Карпенко (@norilssk)onJul 3, 2018 at 3:24am PDT Siberia: It's Russia's largest and arguably weirdest geographic region. It is a place where bricks of gold drop from the skyand severed human hands sprout out of the snow like turnips. And sometimes, it also seems to rain blood there. That's what some locals thought on Tuesday (July 3) when a crimson-colored downpour spilled over a parking lot in the industrial town of Norilsk. As you can see for yourself in the handful of videos posted to social media, the plaguey rain stained cars red, spread blood-colored puddles over the asphalt and cultivated the general vibe of a town turned into "a horror movie," as one witness reportedly described on social media.
Some Siberian locals saw the freak red rain as a sign of the apocalypse, tabloid site Express.co.uk reported. Other British outlets took a more patriotic view of the rain, suggesting the weather was merely showing solidaritywith the scarlet-clad athletes of England's Three Lions soccer team following their triumphant win the same afternoon in the World Cup, taking place in Russia. But the real explanation — at least the one provided by the local Nornickelmetallurgical plant that took responsibility for the ominous downpour — is far more pedestrian.(▪ ▪ ▪)

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● [Science] Lord of the Rings toad on brink of extinction. ︴ ︴

▼ A toad named after the character Gollum in the fantasy novel Lord of the Rings has joined the latest list of animals deemed at risk of extinction. The amphibian lives not in the Misty Mountains, but on a Malaysian mountain. The toad got its name from Gollum, also known as Sméagol, in Tolkien's trilogy because scientists saw similarities between the two. "Smeagol from Lord of the Rings is a semi-aquatic creature," said Dr Chan Kin Onn of the University of Singapore. "[It has] large eyes, occurs up in the mountains and has long thin limbs. And funnily enough his digits are also extended. These are all characters that this little stream-toad also has." The toad, which goes by the scientific name,Ansonia smeago, is classed as Vulnerable on the latest International Union for Conservation of Nature - IUCNRed List. (▪ ▪ ▪)

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● [Science] How whale corpses feed ocean floors What happens when a whale dies? ︴ ︴

▼ Whales that end up on the beach make headlines. But those that sink to the bottom of the ocean make new homes for sea life. The brawn, blubber, and bone of these unlucky cetaceans—some 70,000 of which perish during harrowing seasonal migrations each year—nourish a vibrant, ­constantly evolving community of creatures. Opportunistic eaters can flourish on a decaying corpse for anywhere from a decade to a century. Marine ­biologistshave discovered dozens of new critters in these deep-sea ecosystems since they first encountered one in 1987. For animals at the bottom of the ocean, a whale fall is a meal ticket. But for the humans above, it’s a helpful reminder that, even in the modern era, most underwater mysteries remain unsolved. This timeline tracks what little we know about a gray whale’s decomposition, and the friends it makes along the way. (▪ ▪ ▪)

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● [International News] South Asian mental health: 'It's like a taboo... What will the neighbours say?' ︴ ︴

▼ Neelam and Dinesh are trying to tackle what they see as the stigma surrounding mental health in Britain's South Asian community. Their son Akash took his own life three years ago. Now they want to get other parents talking with their children. Produced by Ammar Ebrahim If you, or someone you know, have been affected by mental health issues, the following organisationsmay be able to help. (▪ ▪ ▪)

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