Students riot after Congo cancels leaked baccalaureate exams

Thousands of Congo Republic high school students rioted on Friday in three of the country’s biggest cities following a decision by the government to cancel baccalaureate exams after the questions were leaked online. Education Minister Hellot Matson Mampouya said questions for the exams, which began on June 2 and mark the end of high school education, had been leaked and were being shared on social media.

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India launches ‘Lost and Found’ website to find missing children

By Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The Indian government has launched a “Lost and Found” website to help families trace the tens of thousands of children in the country who go missing every year – often abducted for forced labor or sexual exploitation – and are never found.

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Internet the key front in China’s battle with Western hostile forces: military paper

The Internet is the most important front in China’s ideological battle against “Western anti-China forces”, the country’s military newspaper said on Wednesday, adding that online controls were essential to the government’s survival. Calls to reject Western thought and values have grown stronger under President Xi Jinping, who has urged more “ideological guidance” at universities and the study of Marxism.

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Telstra says newly acquired Pacnet hacked, customer data exposed

Australian telecommunications firm Telstra Corp Ltd said on Wednesday computer systems at its recently acquired undersea cable company Pacnet Ltd had been hacked, potentially exposing sensitive customer information to theft. Telstra said the corporate information technology network of Pacnet, email and other business management systems of the company, had been accessed by an unauthorized third party several weeks before its $550 million takeover of the firm was completed on April 16. Telstra said it didn't know who was behind the hack

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China aims to boost Internet speeds, cut prices

China will accelerate development of its high-speed broadband networks to raise Internet speeds and cut prices, long bugbears in a country where many people still have no access to the web. Telecoms firms should make rapid moves to cut prices and increase urban broadband speeds by around 40 percent, according to a statement issued late on Wednesday by China's State Council, the country's cabinet. China's investment in broadband could benefit global network equipment makers such as Ericsson and Nokia Oyj's Alcatel-Lucent, as well as home-grown players like Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] and ZTE Corp.

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India learns to ‘fail fast’ as tech start-up culture takes root

By Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Clara Ferreira-Marques BENGALURU, India (Reuters) – After ping pong tables, motivational posters and casual dress codes, India's tech start-ups are following Silicon Valley's lead and embracing the “fail fast” culture credited with fuelling creativity and success in the United States.

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No meetings at tourist hotspots, China reminds officials

China’s top graft buster took the unusual step on Friday of plastering its website with pictures of 21 top Chinese tourist sites where officials are banned from holding meetings, a reminder of its crackdown on extravagance and corruption. As the country marked the Labour Day holiday, the party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection’s normally quite staid website posted pictures of the 21 no-go zones under the caption: “Though these sites are good, just don’t meet there!” The sites include the Badaling sector of the Great Wall outside of Beijing, the old summer residence of the Qing emperors at Chengde and the beach resort of Sanya, which China likes to style its answer to Hawaii or Bali.

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China to punish Internet firm Sina over series of complaints

China will punish web portal and social media firm Sina Corp after it was identified as operating the most complained about major website in the country, the Internet regulator said on Friday, the latest blow in an ongoing online crackdown. Representatives from Sina, which also operates China's most popular microblog Weibo Corp, discussed “the issues of breaking the law and the recent large quantity of Internet user complaints” with officials from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and its Beijing branch, the regulator said in a statement on its website. Since President Xi Jinping came to power in early 2013, he has overseen a broad campaign to bring China's Internet under the government's control

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Beijing official says Chinese have no need for blocked websites

By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) – If Beijing is successful in its bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics then foreigners who attend will get uncensored Internet access, but this isn't an issue for Chinese who “don't like” sites like Facebook and Twitter, an official said on Wednesday.

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