Facebook bars accounts

Facebook said on Wednesday that it took down accounts of Roger Stone, a longtime ally of US President Donald Trump, after an investigation uncovered links to a network involved in deceptive activity dating back to the 2016 US election.

Facebook separately targeted fake accounts tied to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and networks in Canada, Ecuador and Ukraine which disguised their true origins.

The Stone network was uncovered with the help of information unearthed by the Robert Mueller investigation, according to Facebook head of security policy Nathaniel Gleicher.

1 killed by crane collapse

One person was killed and four others injured Wednesday after a crane collapsed onto houses in East London, the London Ambulance Service said in a statement.

The 20-meter-high crane fell on two houses and a development of a block of flats in Bow.

Four people were initially found injured at the scene, said the ambulance service, two suffering from head injuries who were taken to hospital.

Subsequently another casualty was discovered.

“Sadly, despite the efforts of emergency services, a fifth person has been found and died at the scene. Our thoughts are with their family at this difficult time,” said the ambulance service in a tweet.

It is not known yet what caused the crane to collapse.

Mining giant defies fine

Mining giant Norilsk Nickel on Wednesday said it was contesting a fine imposed by the Russian authorities over a massive oil spill in the Arctic that sparked a state of emergency.

Norilsk Nickel “disputes the amount of environmental damage caused by the diesel leak” calculated by the Russian environmental watchdog, Rosprirodnadzor, the company said in a statement.

The watchdog this week requested a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel pay “voluntary compensation” totaling 147.8 billion rubles ($2.05 billion), or one third of the group’s net profit in 2019.