UK
Epic Games complains about Apple to UK competition watchdog
Epic Games submitted a complaint Tuesday about Apple's alleged “monopolistic practices" to the U.K. competition watchdog, which is investigating the iPhone maker over concerns it has a dominant position in app distribution.
The move by the maker of the popular video game Fortnite is the latest salvo in its bitter battle over Apple's App Store. Epic Games has also filed legal challenges in the United States and Australia, and an antitrust complaint in the European Union against Apple.
The game-maker's complaint accuses Apple of anti-competitive behavior and setting strict rules on app distribution and payments in alleged violation of U.K. rules.
Apple said it wasn't surprised by Epic’s U.K. complaint “as we have seen them use the same playbook around the world.”
The Competition and Markets Authority confirmed it received the complaint and said it would be considered as part of its investigation opened last month into whether Apple's practices result in higher prices or less choice for consumers.
The dispute stems from Apple taking a 30% cut from some purchases made through apps, which music streaming service Spotify and other apps have also taken issue with. Epic tried to bypass the App Store with a direct payment system, but Apple responded by dropping the Fortnite app from the platform.
“By kneecapping the competition and exerting its monopoly power over app distribution and payments, Apple strips U.K. consumers of the right to choose how and where they get their apps, while locking developers into a single marketplace that lets Apple charge any commission rate they choose,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said in a statement.
“These harmful practices lead to artificially inflated costs for consumers, and stifle innovation among developers, many of whom are unable to compete in a digital ecosystem that is rigged against them,” Sweeney alleged.
Epic said it's not seeking monetary damages but wants regulators to come up with fixes to prevent market distortion and manipulation.
Apple said Epic Games became hugely successful thanks to the App Store and now "wants to operate under a different set of rules than the ones that apply to all other developers. The result would be weakened privacy and data security protections for our customers, and we think that’s wrong.”
UK variant hunters lead global race to stay ahead of COVID
On March 4, 2020, when there were just 84 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.K., professor Sharon Peacock recognized that the country needed to expand its capacity to analyze the genetic makeup of the virus.
The Cambridge University microbiologist understood that genomic sequencing would be crucial in tracking the disease, controlling outbreaks and developing vaccines. So she began working with colleagues around the country to put together a plan. Within a month, the government had provided 20 million pounds ($28 million) to fund their work.
The initiative helped make Britain a world leader in rapidly analyzing the genetic material from large numbers of COVID-19 infections, generating more than 40% of the genomic sequences identified to date. These days, their top priority is finding new variants that are more dangerous or resistant to vaccines, information that is critical to helping researchers modify the vaccines or develop new ones to combat the ever-changing virus.
Also read: Understanding viral mutation: The UK variant in layman’s terms
“They've show the world how you do this,” said Dr. Eric Topol, chair of innovative medicine at Scripps Research in San Diego, California.
Genomic sequencing is essentially the process of mapping the unique genetic makeup of individual organisms — in this case the virus that causes COVID-19. While the technique is used by researchers to study everything from cancer to outbreaks of food poisoning and the flu virus, this is the first time authorities are using it to provide real-time surveillance of a global pandemic.
Peacock, 62, heads Britain’s sequencing effort as executive director and chair of the COVID-19 UK Genomics Consortium, known as COG-UK, the group she helped create a year ago.
During the first week of this month, COG-UK sequenced 13,171 viruses, up from 260 during its first 12 days of operation in March last year, according to weekly reports on the group's website.
Behind that growth is a system that links the science of genomic sequencing with the resources of Britain's national health care system.
Positive COVID-19 tests from hospitals and community testing programs around the country are sent to a network of 17 laboratories where scientists spend their days extracting the genetic material from each swab and analyzing it to identify that virus’ unique genetic code. The sequences are then cross-referenced with public health data to better understand how, where and why COVID-19 is spreading.
When mutations in the virus correspond with an otherwise unexplained increase in cases, that’s a clue that a new variant of concern is circulating in the area.
The importance of genomic sequencing became obvious late last year as the number of new infections began to spike in southeastern England. When cases continued to rise despite tough local restrictions, public health officials went to work to find out why.
Combing through data from genome sequencing, scientists identified a new variant that included a number of mutations that made it easier for the virus to hop from one person to another.
Armed with this information, Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed a national lockdown, scrapping a strategy of local restrictions that had failed to contain the new variant.
The scientific sleuthing is crucial, but it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack because researchers must sift through the genetic sequences from thousands of harmless variants to find the rare dangerous ones, Peacock said.
“It’s vital so that we can understand what variants are circulating, both in the United Kingdom and around the world, and therefore the implications of that on vaccine development and the way that we may have to adapt vaccines,” she said.
The effort is a worldwide collaboration, with more than 120 countries submitting sequences to GISAID, a data-sharing hub originally created to track influenza viruses.
Iceland, Australia, New Zealand and Denmark actually sequence a higher percentage of their COVID-19 cases than Britain, and Denmark does the work faster. But COG-UK’S work, combined with Britain’s size and high number of cases, have made it the world leader in sequencing COVID-19. The U.K. has submitted 379,294 of the almost 898,000 sequences in the GISAID database.
That work is paying dividends even for advanced countries like Denmark, where scientists use tools developed in Britain to analyze their own data, said Mads Albertsen, a professor at Denmark’s Aalborg University who is part of the country’s genomic sequencing effort.
Also read: AstraZeneca: Vaccine may work against UK variant
“What the U.K. has just done by far best is the whole setup,” Albertsen said. “So they have many more researchers and a much more professional structure around how to use the data.”
The U.S. is also trying to learn from Britain as the Biden administration reverses the anti-science policies of his predecessor that slowed the country’s sequencing efforts, said Topol at Scripps Research. Representatives from COG-UK took part in a recent call with American researchers and the Rockefeller Foundation aimed at building capacity in the United States.
“To Peacock and the crew’s credit, they didn’t just stop at sequence,” Topol said. “They organized labs to do this other work, which is actually very intensive lab assessment. And then there’s the epidemiologic assessment, too. So everything has to fire on every cylinder, you know. It’s like a car with 12 cylinders. They all have to fire to move.”
The U.K.'s sequencing success was built on the foundation of groundbreaking genetic science in Britain, stretching back to the work of James Watson, Francis Crick and Rosalind Franklin, who were credited with discovering the chemical structure of DNA. Other British scientists developed early sequencing techniques and later new technology that slashed the time and cost of sequencing.
That success attracted investment, such as the Wellcome Trust’s 1992 decision to create the Sanger Centre to help map the human genome, further expanding the pool of expertise in Britain. And Britain’s National Health Service provided a wealth of data for researchers to study.
Yet colleagues say Peacock personally deserves much of the credit for COG-UK's success, though she prefers to highlight the work of others.
A ferociously good organizer, she glued the nation’s DNA detectives together through goodwill and chatrooms. Part of the trick was persuading eminent scientists to put aside their egos and academic rivalries to work together to help fight the pandemic, said Andrew Page, an expert in computer analysis of pathogen genomics who is working with COG-UK.
Peacock's work on the project has earned her notoriety and the moniker of variant-hunter-in-chief. But she prefers a simpler term.
“I consider myself, first and foremost a scientist that’s doing their best to try and help both the population in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to control the pandemic,’’ she said. “Perhaps there’s a better phrase for that, but scientist will do it.”
London police tactics at vigil for slain woman draw scrutiny
London’s police department is under scrutiny for the way officers handled some participants at an unofficial vigil Saturday night for a London woman whose death led to murder charges against a fellow officer and spurred a national conversation about violence against women in the U.K.
UK palace silence on Harry, Meghan allegations adds to furor
Racism. Bullying. Insensitivity.
UK competition watchdog investigates Apple’s App Store
U.K. authorities have launched an investigation into Apple’s App Store over concerns it has a dominant role that stifles competition and hurts consumers.
UK to launch greener vehicle petrol to reduce CO2 emissions in September
A greener vehicle petrol that could cut transport CO2 emissions by 750,000 tonnes a year is to be introduced across Britain in September 2021, the British government has announced.
Bangladesh, UK seek to work together on tackling climate change
Bangladesh and the United Kingdom can form a partnership to cut greenhouse gas emissions and tackle different challenges posed by climate change.
Dhaka, London can develop stronger, long-term trade ties: Dickson
British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson on Wednesday said Bangladesh and the United Kingdom can develop a stronger, long-term trade relationship overcoming various challenges in the days ahead.
UK pulls license of Chinese state-owned broadcaster CGTN
United Kingdom regulators have pulled the broadcasting license for China Global Television Network (CGTN).
UK judge refuses US extradition of WikiLeaks founder Assange
A British judge on Monday rejected the United States’ request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges, saying he was likely to kill himself if held under harsh U.S. prison conditions.