A European ammunition manufacturer working to meet demand from the war in Ukraine has complained its growth is being hampered by “the storage of cat videos” at a nearby TikTok data centre.
Nammo, which is part-owned by the Norwegian government, said an expansion project at its biggest factory has been affected by the building of the Chinese video-sharing app’s new data centre, which is using up spare electricity capacity in the area.
“We are concerned because we see our future growth is challenged by the storage of cat videos,” the company’s chief executive, Morten Brandtzæg, told the Financial Times.
He said demand for munitions is about 15 times higher than normal and the industry needs to invest €2 billion ($2.15 billion) to meet Ukraine’s needs.
Estimates suggest Ukraine uses up to 6,000 artillery shells daily to repel invading Russian forces.
On Monday, officials from Poland and the EU discussed artillery munitions manufacturing as part of a new €2 billion programme to supply Ukraine in its war and to replenish Europe’s dwindling stocks.
The EU has announced a programme to reimburse countries offering artillery ammunition to Ukraine from a €1 billion fund. It aims to spend an equal amount on increasing production in 11 countries with such manufacturing capacity.
TikTok’s new storage centre aims to address criticism over concerns about the use of its data.
Its data centre in the Hamar region of Norway is one of two centres it is opening in Europe, with the other in Ireland.
The local energy provider in Norway, Elvia, confirmed to the Financial Times that the electricity network had no spare capacity, having allocated it to the data centre on a “first-come, first-served” basis.
It said extra capacity would take time to become available.
TikTok said it would begin storing its European user data on the continent this year, reducing its transfer outside of the region. Employee access to user data internally would also be limited, it said.
The UK government, UK Parliament, European Commission and the European Parliament have all banned TikTok from members' phones, citing the need for cyber security.
Devices owned by the US government were also recently banned from having the app installed. There are also bills floating in Congress — including one endorsed by the White House — that would ban the app used by 150 million Americans.
“The House will be moving forward with legislation to protect Americans from the technological tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party,” US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy said on Twitter.
In a hearing last week in the US, TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew was asked if the app had spied on Americans at Beijing's request. He answered: “No.”
Republican Representative Neal Dunn then referred to the company's disclosure in December that some China-based employees at ByteDance improperly accessed the TikTok user data of two journalists and were no longer employed by the company.
He repeated his question about whether ByteDance was spying.
“I don't think that spying is the right way to describe it,” Mr Chew said.
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
UAE%20ILT20
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
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