Three former Facebook content moderators agreed to put themselves in legal jeopardy to expose the appalling working conditions they experienced while employed by a vendor for the tech giant, according to a new report by The Verge. From a report: Workers reported a dirty office environment where they often find pubic hair and bodily waste around their desks. Conditions at the Tampa site are so strenuous that workers regularly put their health in danger, several people told The Verge. One worker kept a trash can by her desk to throw up while she was sick since she had already used all her allotted bathroom breaks. Cognizant is not required to offer sick leave in Florida. One man had a heart attack at his desk and died shortly after, The Verge reported, and the site has not yet gotten a defibrillator. Following an earlier report that uncovered shocking working conditions at the vendor's Phoenix facility, The Verge spoke with 12 current and former Cognizant content moderators in Tampa, Florida. Three of those former workers agreed to break their nondisclosure agreements signed as a condition of employment. The Tampa site is Cognizant's lowest-performing site under the Facebook contract in North America with an accuracy score of 92 compared with Facebook's stated target of 98.

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Federal workers and the public in general might be mistaken about the security of .zip files, Sen. Ron Wyden said on Wednesday [PDF], and he's asking the National Institute of Standards and Technology to issue guidance on the best way to send sensitive files over the internet. Wyden wrote: Government agencies routinely share and receive sensitive data through insecure methods -- such as emailing .zip files -- because employees are not provided the tools and training to do so safely. As you know, it is a routine practice in the government, and indeed the private sector, to send by email-protected .zip files containing sensitive documents. Many people incorrectly believe that password-protected .zip files can protect sensitive data. Indeed, many password-protected .zip files can be easily broken with off-the-shelf hacking tools. This is because many of the software programs that create .zip files use a weak encryption algorithm by default. While secure methods to protect and share data exist and are freely available, many people do not know which software they should use. Given the ongoing threat of cyber attacks by foreign state actors and high-profile data breaches, this is a potentially catastrophic national security problem that needs to be fixed. The government must ensure that federal workers have the tools and training they need to safetly share sensitive data. To address this problem, I ask that NIST create and publish an easy-to-understand guide describing the best way for individuals and organizations to securely share sensitive data over the internet.

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The US president, who is seen trailing most possible Democratic challengers in opinion polls, launches re-election bid.

Kuwait and Iraq call for 'wisdom' as Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah's visits Iraq for the first time since 2012.

Perhaps 'Avengers: Endgame' might be able to beat Avatar's massive box office record after all. From a report: Marvel has apparently decided to just re-release the damn thing. An extended version of the damn thing, to be exact. Speaking to Comicbook.com at a press junket for 'Spider-Man: Far From Home', Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige confirmed that 'Endgame' will be getting a renewed push at the box office -- and it's gonna be really soon. To boot, to entice audiences back for another three-hour stint in a movie theater seat, the re-release will include an unknown amount of new footage not seen in the original theatrical cut: "We are doing that. I don't know if it's been announced. And I don't know how much... Yeah, we're doing it next weekend. Screenrant has a few more details from their own interview with Feige: "Not an extended cut, but there will be a version going into theaters with a bit of a marketing push with a few new things at the end of the movie. If you stay and watch the movie, after the credits, there'll be a deleted scene, a little tribute, and a few surprises. Which will be next weekend."

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Europe will launch another probe to an icy dirtball, following the highly successful Rosetta mission.

Guilty verdict for three suspects over their role in 2015 attack at northeastern university that killed 148 people.

Author of poetry collections The Woman Who Fell From the Sky and In Mad Love and War wins prestigious position.

It was the second time this month that Dogon villages have come under attack by suspected ethnic Fulani gunmen.

The melting of Himalayan glaciers has doubled over the last 40 years, scientists say.

The U.S. government is in the late stages of an investigation into YouTube for its handling of children's videos, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing four people familiar with the matter, a probe that threatens the company with a potential fine and already has prompted the tech giant to reevaluate some of its business practices. From the report: The Federal Trade Commission launched the investigation after numerous complaints from consumer groups and privacy advocates, according to the four people, who requested anonymity because such probes are supposed to be confidential. The complaints contended that YouTube, which is owned by Google, failed to protect kids who used the streaming-video service and improperly collected their data. As the investigation has progressed, YouTube executives in recent months have accelerated internal discussions about broad changes to how the platform handles children's videos, according to a person familiar with the company's plans. That includes potential changes to its algorithm for recommending and queuing up videos for users, including kids, part of an ongoing effort at YouTube over the past year and a half to overhaul its software and policies to prevent abuse.

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Sudan's overthrown president is wanted by the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity and genocide.

Powered by batteries, the nine-seater plane on display at the Paris Air Show would produce zero carbon emissions and be fuelled by sustainable sources.

Bachelet is expected to hold separate talks with President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Facebook unveiled its audacious Libra cryptocurrency and Calibra digital wallet on Tuesday through which it plans to transform financial services across the globe. The social juggernaut made clear of its ambitions when it said that it wishes to empower more than 1.7 billion people around the world who currently do not have a bank account. But potentially an equally large group of people would not be able to use Facebook's new digital payments service when it begins rollout next year. Responding to queries from TechCrunch, a Calibra spokesperson said that the digital wallet will not be rolling out to a number of markets that have taken a stand against cryptocurrency, or are sanctioned by the United States. "The Libra Blockchain will be global, but it will be up to custodial wallet providers to determine where they will and will not operate. Calibra won't be available in US-sanctioned countries or countries that ban cryptocurrencies," the spokesperson told TechCrunch. TechCrunch understands that India, Facebook's biggest market, is among the list of countries where Calibra does not intend to launch. Additionally, Calibra isn't going to be available in China, North Korea, and Iran, too, where Facebook does not currently have a presence. Further reading: Proposed Law in India Would Imprison Anyone Who Uses Cryptocurrency.

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