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A leaked trove of confidential files has revealed the inside story of how the tech giant Uber flouted laws, duped police, exploited violence against drivers and secretly lobbied governments during its aggressive global expansion.
The unprecedented leak to the Guardian of more than 124,000 documents – known as the Uber files – lays bare the ethically questionable practices that fuelled the company’s transformation into one of Silicon Valley’s most famous exports.
The leak spans a five-year period when Uber was run by its co-founder Travis Kalanick, who tried to force the cab-hailing service into cities around the world, even if that meant breaching laws and taxi regulations.
The data shows how, during the fierce global backlash, Uber tried to shore up support by discreetly courting prime ministers, presidents, billionaires, oligarchs and media barons.
How did ex-Obama aides help sell firm to world? Uber sought access to leaders, officials and diplomats through David Plouffe and Jim Messina, who both previously worked for Barack Obama, the leak shows.
What has Uber said about the revelations? In a statement, Uber said: “We have not and will not make excuses for past behaviour that is clearly not in line with our present values. Instead, we ask the public to judge us by what we’ve done over the last five years and what we will do in the years to come.”
House January 6 committee to focus on Trump’s tweet at extremist group hearing
The House January 6 select committee is expected to make the case at its seventh hearing on Tuesday that Donald Trump gave the signal to the extremist groups that stormed the Capitol to target and obstruct the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s electoral college win.
The panel will zero in on a pivotal tweet sent by the former president in the early hours of the morning on 19 December 2020, according to sources close to the inquiry who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the forthcoming hearing.
“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,” Trump said in the tweet. “Be there, will be wild!”
The select committee will say at the hearing – led by Jamie Raskin and Stephanie Murphy – that Trump’s tweet was the catalyst that triggered the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups, as well as Stop the Steal activists, to target the certification.
Why was the tweet so pivotal? The select committee will say Trump sent the tweet knowing that for those groups, it amounted to a confirmation that they should put into motion their plans for January 6. It was from that point that the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers seriously started preparations, and Stop the Steal started applying for permits.
Elon Musk may have to complete $44bn Twitter takeover, legal experts say
Elon Musk could be forced by a US court to complete his $44bn takeover of Twitter, according to legal experts, despite pulling the plug on the transaction.
The Tesla chief executive told Twitter on Friday that he was terminating the deal, citing concerns over the number of spam accounts on the social media platform.
Twitter’s chair, Bret Taylor, responded with a tweet stating that the company intended to “pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement”.
Last night, Bloomberg reported that Twitter had assembled a legal team to sue Musk.
One legal expert said he expected Twitter to file a lawsuit in Delaware, the US state that has jurisdiction over the deal, as soon as today.
How could he be forced to complete the takeover? Under the terms of the agreement the company can ask a judge for “specific performance”, which would compel Musk to buy the company for the $54.20 a share he agreed to in April. Alternatively, the company can also seek a $1bn break fee from Musk for walking away from the deal in contravention of the agreement.
In other news …
Germany is bracing itself for a potentially permanent halt to the flow of Russian gas when maintenance work begins on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that brings the fuel to Europe’s largest economy. Never before in the pipeline’s decade-long history has Germany seriously been asking whether the flow will begin again.
Kamala Harris renewed pleas to voters ahead of the midterm congressional races to elect pro-choice candidates, as the Biden administration continues to face criticism from progressives over a perceived lackluster response to the supreme court decision striking down abortion rights in the US.
Sri Lanka’s president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has informed the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, that he will resign, Wickremesinghe’s office said, the most formal confirmation yet that he intends to step down, probably this week.
Four people have been killed and eight wounded in a bar in eastern South Africa after two men fired indiscriminately at customers, police said, on the same night as a bar shooting in Soweto left 15 dead. Police were trying to verify if the attacks were linked, they said, noting their similarity.
Stat of the day: Weedkiller ingredient tied to cancer found in 80% of US urine samples
More than 80% of urine samples drawn from children and adults in a US health study contained a weedkilling chemical linked to cancer, a finding that scientists have called “disturbing” and “concerning”. The report by a unit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that out of 2,310 urine samples, taken from a group of Americans intended to be representative of the US population, 1,885 were laced with detectable traces of glyphosate.
Don’t miss this: Could positive thinking be making us feel less secure?
Believe in yourself. Be empowered. Show up. Love your body. Stand tall. How many times have you seen statements like these on social media? Or used to advertise products? All point towards confidence: a particular c-word that the modern woman cannot get away from, writes Eleanor Morgan. Being self-confident is the command of our time. At some point in the past decade, women’s media seemed to shift from celebrity mockery and dieting advice to talking about “empowerment”. But behind all the positive thinking, are more cynical forces at work?
… or this: Tourists survive avalanche in Tian Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan
Nine Britons and one American are reported to have survived after a huge avalanche swept over them in the Tian Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan. Footage uploaded on Instagram by Harry Shimmin, one of the people on the trekking tour, showed snow starting to break down a mountain in the distance, before sweeping towards them and forcing the group to take cover as the snow went over the top of them.
Climate check: US cruise ships using Canada as a ‘toilet bowl’ for polluted waste
From the comfort of cruise ships, a typical trip to Alaska offers magnificent views of glaciers and untamed national parks, and visits to quaint seaside towns. For years, these draws have made cruises to Alaska the most-booked US holiday. But the journey to those pristine areas, which involves sailing along Canada’s west coast for two or three days, is leaving behind a trail of toxic waste, including within marine protected areas (MPAs), according to research. More than 31bn litres (8.5bn US gallons) a year of pollution is estimated to be discharged off the west coast of Canada.
Last Thing: Cameron Diaz reveals she may have been an unwitting Moroccan drug mule
Before she was a blockbusting Hollywood actor and before she was a “clean” wine entrepreneur, Cameron Diaz may have been an unwitting drug mule, she has revealed. In the early 1990s, while she was living in Paris pursuing a modelling career, Diaz recalled a modelling assignment that involved her being given a locked suitcase “that had my ‘costumes’ in it … quote, unquote”. It was only when she was at the airport in Morocco and was asked to open it that she started thinking: “What the fuck is in that suitcase?”
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