In a country where 40 million people owe upward of $1.2 trillion on their student loans, it’s not hard to imagine why a tale about armed federal agents’ showing up at the door of a Texas man to arrest him over unpaid student loans set the Internet abuzz. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/17/us/viral-student-loan-nightmare-is-not-what-it-seems-authorities-say.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0 Authorities said they had been trying […]

In 1992 John Grisham published his first best-selling novel, The Pelican Brief, which centred around the assassination of Supreme Court justices for political gain. Now questions have been raised over the handling of US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s recent death. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35588937 A judge had ruled that Mr Scalia died from natural causes, but some […]

Security researchers have hacked a phone to show how it is possible to eavesdrop on conversations and make premium calls on someone else’s line. http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35579273 The problem affects voice-over-internet-protocol (Voip) phones, commonly installed by businesses, when default passwords are used. Snom, the manufacturer whose phones were used in the research, has said the attack affects […]

Google’s self-driving car system could soon be given the same legal definition as a human driver, paving the way for vehicles without steering wheels or pedals. http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35539028 The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) – which sets rules and regulations on America’s roads – shared its thoughts in a letter to Google made public […]

A white Chicago police officer who fatally shot a black teenager last December is suing his family for $10m (£6.9m), claiming emotional distress.  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35519757 Robert Rialmo shot 19-year-old student Quintonio LeGrier six times, killing the boy’s neighbour in the process. Mr Rialmo says Mr LeGrier swung at him with a baseball bat from close range, […]

Brazil’s government is considering tightening the guidelines it currently gives doctors, hospitals, and health care providers for when to report infants born with abnormally small heads, a move intended to reduce the number of false alarms that it has received in wake of the Zika epidemic gripping Brazil. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/04/world/americas/birth-defects-in-brazil-may-be-over-reported-amid-zika-fears.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0 In the last few months, the […]

Barclays and Credit Suisse have been fined a total of $154m (£108m) by US regulators for their US “dark pool” trading operations. http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35456219 “Dark pool” operations allow investors to trade large blocks of shares but keep the prices private. Barclays has admitted misleading investors and violating securities law in the way it operated the pool. […]

An American citizen who helped plot the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai told an Indian court on Monday that he had met throughout the process with two handlers from Pakistan’s military intelligence agency, an Indian prosecutor said. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/09/world/asia/david-headley-mumbai-attacks.html?ref=world India has long sought to depose the man, David C. Headley, in hopes of establishing a direct […]