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Apple is taking a former business partner to court for allegedly stealing and reselling more than 100,000 devices which it had been hired to dismantle and recycle.
GEEP Canada received more than 500,000 devices between January 2015 and December 2017, which the iPhone-maker had contracted it to dismantle and recycle.

However, an investigation by Apple discovered that 18% of these devices were still accessing the internet, suggesting they had in fact been sold on and not scrapped.
GEEP does not deny that the iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches were stolen, but has claimed rogue employees were to blame.
Apple alleges that these individuals were actually the company’s senior management.

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As first reported by The Logic, the lawsuit followed the iPhone-maker auditing the Canadian recycling company’s warehouse and discovering its devices were being stored in an area not covered by security cameras.

It then checked the serial numbers of these devices and investigated its own IT systems to see whether they were still connecting to the company’s servers. Many of them were.

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“At least 11,766 pounds of Apple devices left GEEP’s premises without being destroyed – a fact that GEEP itself confirmed,” Apple’s lawsuit states.
Apple is now seeking to recover all of the profits made from the resale of the stolen devices, and an additional $22.7 million. Its contact with GEEP has been ended.
“Products sent for recycling are no longer adequate to sell to consumers and if they are rebuilt with counterfeit parts they could cause serious safety issues, including electrical or battery defects,” a spokesperson told The Verge.

Dozens of animal species that are in regular contact with humans could be vulnerable to infection with the strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, according to new research.
Domestic cats and dogs could be affected, as could mink, lions, and tigers – all of which have had reported cases – and ferrets and macaques, which have been infected in laboratory studies.

The animals could end up spreading the disease, or become reservoirs for the virus, re-introducing it to the human population in the future, say the scientists at University College London (UCL).

Image: Tigers have been infected with COVID-19
Researchers investigated whether mutations in the ACE2 enzyme in 215 other animals would prevent the coronavirus using it to enter into the cells, as it does in humans.
However, they found that for some animals, including sheep and great apes – from chimpanzees through to gorillas – the proteins would be able to bind together just as strongly as they do in humans.

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With some of the animals, such as sheep, there have not been any infection tests to affirmatively prove that the animal can be infected.

UCL’s Professor Christine Orengo said: “We wanted to look beyond just the animals that had been studied experimentally, to see which animals might be at risk of infection, and would warrant further investigation and possible monitoring.”

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“The animals we identified may be at risk of outbreaks that could threaten endangered species or harm the livelihoods of farmers,” she warned.
“The animals might also act as reservoirs of the virus, with the potential to re-infect humans later on, as has been documented on mink farms.”

This is the story of how coronavirus spread around the world

To investigate the animals, the researchers performed detailed structural analyses to see how infection risks differed across animal species.
They found that most birds, fish and reptiles didn’t appear to be at risk of infection, but the majority of mammals they studied could potentially be infected with COVID-19.
Prof Orengo said: “The details of host infection and severity of response are more complex than just the interactions of the spike protein with ACE2, so our research is continuing to explore interactions involving other host virus proteins.”
UCL’s Dr Su Datt Lam, the study’s first author, said: “Unlike laboratory-based experiments, the computational analyses we devised can be run automatically and rapidly.
“Therefore, these methods could be applied easily to future virus outbreaks that, unfortunately, are becoming more common due to human encroachment into natural habitats.”

Race for the coronavirus vaccine

Professor Joanne Santini, also at UCL, said: “To protect animals, as well as to protect ourselves from the risk of one day catching COVID-19 from an infected animal, we need large-scale surveillance of animals, particularly pets and farm animals, to catch cases or clusters early on while they’re still manageable.”
“It may also be important to employ hygiene measures when dealing with animals, similar to the behaviours we’ve all been learning this year to reduce transmission, and for infected people to isolate from animals as well as from other people,” she added.

Almost half of the nearly 16,000 people with coronavirus missed by the Test and Trace system still have not had their contacts traced, the health secretary has admitted.
An “IT failure” within Public Health England – a problem with an Excel spreadsheet reaching its maximum size – has been blamed by ministers for a delay in the reporting of 15,841 COVID-19 cases in England.
Downing Street revealed extra contact tracers had now been drafted in to help track down the contacts of people whose positive tests went unreported between 25 September to 2 October.
Live coverage of the latest coronavirus news and updates

Matt Hancock said the situation was “ongoing” but that the government’s assessment of the pandemic had “not substantially changed”.
The health secretary also told the Commons that just over half – 51% – of the missing cases have been contacted for a second time over the weekend to have their contacts traced, meaning 49% – equal to some 7,762 people – have not.
The government later clarified that Mr Hancock’s “ongoing” comment did not mean some positive cases are still not being counted but that work is continuing to contact those missed.
Meanwhile, a Whitehall investigation has been launched to discover why the missed cases were not identified sooner.
But the prime minister was said to still have full confidence in Baroness Harding, the head of the NHS Test and Trace programme.
He was quizzed about the glitch on Monday, with Labour having accused the government of overseeing a “shambolic” system.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak will speak to Kay Burley live just after 7am tomorrow morning

Data can save lives, data can cost lives – and this latest testing blunder will likely prove it

Mr Johnson did not give an answer when asked how many people weren’t traced, but who should have been, by NHS Test and Trace due to the delay in reporting the infections.
“I can’t give you those figures,” he said.
“What I can say is all those people are obviously being contacted and the key thing is that everybody – whether in this group or generally – should self-isolate.
“That’s the way to make it work.”
The prime minister said a successful use of the NHS Test and Trace scheme should create a “fire break” around an incidence of infection and “helps us fight the virus”.

Breakdown of missing cases

Missing cases
Original figure
Actual total
25 September
957
6,874
7,831
26 September
744
6,042
6,786
27 September
757
5,693
6,450
28 September
0
4,044
4,044
29 September
1,415
7,143
8,558
30 September
3,049
7,108
10,157
01 October
4,133
6,914
11,047
02 October
4,786
6,968
11,754

Referring to the technology error, Mr Johnson claimed that “some of the data got truncated” and “was lost”.
The master Excel spreadsheet reached its maximum capacity so could not keep adding further cases.
Officials said that “rapid mitigation” measures have been put in place to make sure it does not happen again.
Mr Johnson added: “What they have done now is not only contacted all the people who were identified as having the disease – that was done in the first place – but they are now working through all the contacts as well.”
After the prime minister spoke to reporters on a visit to a sustainable power firm in London, Downing Street clarified that those self-isolating at the request of the NHS Test and Trace scheme would receive a one-off payment of £500, rather than the £500 per week that Mr Johnson had said during the visit.
Following the addition of the new COVID-19 cases to England’s figures, the weekly rate of infections has soared in dozens of areas.

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Therese Coffey on 16,000 missed COVID cases

Earlier on Monday, Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey was asked whether others might have been infected with COVID-19 due to the NHS Test and Trace scheme not being aware of the nearly 16,000 cases
“There may well be,” she told Sky News.
“I’ve been made aware that probably the majority of that [contact-tracing] has happened in the latest element of the week, in the last couple of days.
“So it’s important that we act quickly, and PHE is acting quickly, to see whether or not people are required to self-isolate.
“Because I do recognise that not quite everybody going through the regime will be identified by the test and trace regime to undertake that further self-isolation.”

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Labour MP Bridget Phillipson, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, accused ministers of overseeing a “shambolic” system.
“Test, trace and isolate just isn’t working,” she told Sky News.
Fellow Labour frontbencher Lucy Powell, the Manchester Central MP and a shadow business minister, said it was “very concerning” that infection rates had been revised upwards in Greater Manchester following the discovery of the computer glitch.
“Local understanding of what lies behind this increase is critical before we see ever more stringent restrictions imposed on us,” she posted on Twitter.
“We’ve already been living under local restrictions longer (over 2 months) than most places.”

After speaking with Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Monday, London mayor Sadiq Khan claimed the test and trace system was “letting London and the country down”.
“Today I spoke to the health secretary, alongside mayors from across the country, and reminded him that a fully functioning test, trace and isolate system is the only way we will get a grip on this virus, prevent a further lockdown and be able to protect our economy,” he said.
Public Health England said on Sunday the people involved all received their test results and those who tested positive were advised to self-isolate.
Joint medical director Dr Susan Hopkins told Sky News: “There’s no delay in people receiving their test results.
“The delays are in reporting to the dashboard and to the public and there’s been a delay in contact tracing initiation.
“Public Health England apologise that this occurred and have put in place steps to prevent this happening again.”

Researchers are looking at whether the common cold could offer some protection against contracting coronavirus.
A recent study at Yale University found that rhinovirus – the most frequent cause of a cold – could jump-start the body’s antiviral defences, providing protection against the flu.

They discovered that the presence of rhinovirus triggered production of the antiviral agent interferon, which is part of the early immune system response to the invasion of pathogens.
Live coverage of the latest coronavirus news and updates

Image: The receptors of the common cold virus attach to the outer protein shell of the virus.
The researchers are now looking at whether introduction of the cold virus before infection by COVID-19 offers a similar type of protection.

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Dr Ellen Foxman, of the Yale School of Medicine, said: “The common cold virus triggers the normal antiviral defences of these cells that form the lining of the airway.

“So the cells that form the lining of the airway is where all these viruses need to go to grow.

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“That includes flu, common cold, COVID-19 – basically all the viruses that you get by breathing them in, they all grow in this tissue that forms the lining of your airway.”
She added: “This response, the interferon response, which is this general defence mechanism against all viruses, we know that response does work against COVID-19.
“If you do the experiment in a lab, you can apply this chemical – interferon – to cells, then you can block the virus that causes COVID-19 as well.

This is the story of how coronavirus spread around the world

“So it’s possible that we’ll see the same thing, but we’re just beginning to do the experiments.
“Sometimes you see unexpected things happening so you have to just do the experiment and see what the result is and that that’s just a work in progress at the moment.”
Dr Foxman said she thought interferon-based immunity lasted about a week, maybe up to two, adding that it did not prevent infection forever.
But she explained it may provide a “temporary buffer against getting another virus” while the body is all “revved up” to fight it.
However, the expert said while she was sure this could be applied to flu, COVID-19 is unpredictable.
“One unpredictable thing is the entry receptor that COVID-19 uses to get inside your body – there have been some reports that can be increased by interferon.
“So, we just have to test how important is that, compared to having these antiviral defences at the ready, ” Dr Foxman explained.
She said that catching the virus early was key as it is a very short-term defence and contact tracing was a good way to do this.
It could also make people more inclined to participate in contact tracing, if they knew there was an early intervention available, Dr Foxman continued.
However, she stressed that this was all speculation and that the studies still needed to be conducted.

We still don’t know why 15,841 confirmed cases of coronavirus were effectively lost in the English testing system.
The prime minister called it a “computer problem”. Elsewhere it’s been referred to as a “glitch”.

What we do know is that on 24 September something went wrong with the computer system connecting the Lighthouse Laboratories to Public Health England (PHE). Normally, new cases are passed by Test and Trace to PHE, which then add them to the daily totals. But, starting on 24 September, some results didn’t appear.

I’ve seen a copy of a note sent by PHE to directors of public health in the northwest, which contains a table showing how the lost cases built up. On the first day, 957 weren’t filed. On 2 October, the day the problem was discovered, 4,786 cases weren’t added to the system.
That’s almost 5,000 positive cases that weren’t included in the daily national total and – most importantly – weren’t passed to Test and Trace.

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A third of Britons face local lockdowns – what are the measures in your area?

The note contains some important comments on the practical impact of this news. First, it makes clear that this issue does not affect anyone’s results. Everyone who tested positive was informed and asked to self-isolate “in the normal way”.

The note also claims that the problem with the data did not change any local lockdowns, saying it had “no impact on the decisions” that were made at the all-important GOLD meeting which rules on local restrictions. It adds: “If anything, it shows that the virus is in an endemic phase and rising.”

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Coronavirus new rules explained, as worst-hit areas ban friends from meeting in pubs

Whether that is accurate remains to be seen. What is undeniable: the impact of this issue on Test and Trace. None of these positive cases have been contact traced, so Test and Trace is now dealing with a substantial backlog. One contact tracer says they greeted the news with “dread”.
An impact for Test and Trace is actually an impact for everyone. More than 15,000 people have gone untraced at a moment when the virus is spreading fast – and the vast majority of those will now be too late to catch in time. England’s most important defence against the virus was bypassed by an internal error.

:: Subscribe to Sophy Ridge on Sunday on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker
We now know that the coronavirus figures have been drastically underestimated for over a week. The effect of this issue may yet last longer.
I’m told a “serious incident” was declared in Test and Trace yesterday. With so much at stake, serious is definitely the word.

A cargo ship has been launched to the International Space Station with a special food delivery for astronauts.
The American global aerospace company Northrop Grumman launched its capsule from the Virginia Coast on Friday.

It contained a 360-degree camera designed for spacewalking, radish seeds for growing, and an assortment of meats and cheeses for feasting.
The shipment also included pressurised air tanks to help offset a leak at the space station; a new $23m titanium toilet designed for women, and a VR-camera which will provide cinematic shots of spacewalks and other outdoor scenes from space.
The unpiloted 3,600kg delivery is now expected to arrive at its destination on Monday.

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The launch provided beautiful skies for observers from the Carolinas to New England – where skies were clear.

Image: The shipment includes meats and cheeses ready in time for Thanksgiving. Pic: Northrop Grumman/NASA
“It was a spectacular launch,” said NASA’s deputy space station programne manager Kenny Todd.

More from International Space Station

“Creating the artificial dawn for a few minutes there, it’s just gorgeous.”
The Cygnus capsule features a range of delicacies requested by the astronauts – including Genoa salami, smoked Gouda and provolone, brie, cherry tomatoes, oranges, pecans and chocolate-covered cranberries – all in time for Thanksgiving on 26 November.
It also contains more fresh food than usual, as the number of people at the space station will increase from six to seven with SpaceX’s second astronaut launch at the end of the month.
The astronauts will have the opportunity to grow their own harvest this year with an addition of radishes.
Researchers are hoping that the 40 seeds sent over will shoot up within a month.
Slightly larger plants like peppers and tomatoes may follow in a few years.
NASA’s new toilet aims to better accommodate women at a time more female astronauts are expected to go to space.