A voter leaves a polling station after voting in the EU referendum n June 23, 2016. But British parliamentarians now say the website which registered voters may have been hacked. Michael Debets / Pacific Press
A voter leaves a polling station after voting in the EU referendum n June 23, 2016. But British parliamentarians now say the website which registered voters may have been hacked. Michael Debets / Pacific Press
A voter leaves a polling station after voting in the EU referendum n June 23, 2016. But British parliamentarians now say the website which registered voters may have been hacked. Michael Debets / Pacific Press
A voter leaves a polling station after voting in the EU referendum n June 23, 2016. But British parliamentarians now say the website which registered voters may have been hacked. Michael Debets / Paci

UK parliament says Brexit voter site may have been hacked


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LONDON // A website which allowed Britons to register to vote in last year’s European Union referendum might have been targeted by foreign hackers causing it to crash before the deadline, a parliamentary committee said on Wednesday.

More than a million potential voters applied to register online in the run up to the deadline on June 7, two weeks before last year’s vote and the government extended the cut-off point after the website crashed. Officials initially blamed the crash on a late surge in demand, mainly from young voters, but the committee said the website could have been subjected to a “distributed denial of service” attack, in which a site is overwhelmed with traffic.

A report by parliament’s Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) said, “PACAC is deeply concerned about these allegations about foreign interference,” although it added that there was no reason to believe any interference had affected the outcome.

The report did not say who might have been behind the cyber attack but named Russia and China as countries with a sophisticated approach to cyber-interference. Russia has been accused of trying to influence the 2016 US election and the committee said the government needed to ensure future elections and referendums were monitored with plans in place to respond to and contain any cyber attacks.

“The US and UK understanding of ‘cyber’ is predominantly technical and computer-network based. For example, Russia and China use a cognitive approach based on understanding of mass psychology and of how to exploit individuals,” the report said. “The implications of this different understanding of cyber-attack, as purely technical or as reaching beyond the digital to influence public opinion, for the interference in elections and referendums are clear.”

The committee, made up of members of the House of Commons, the lower chamber of the British parliament, was also critical of the government’s failure to prepare for a vote for Brexit and former prime minister David Cameron’s motives for calling the referendum in the first place, saying using plebiscites as a “bluff call” to close down “unwelcome debate” was questionable.

Mr Cameron, who campaigned to stay in the EU while many in his party backed Brexit, quit after losing the vote.

“There was no proper planning for a Leave vote so the EU referendum opened up much new controversy and left the prime minister’s credibility destroyed,” the report said. and recommended that in future, the sitting government should “continue in office and take responsibility for the referendum result in either eventuality.”

* Reuters

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

The%20specs
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Tips to stay safe during hot weather
  • Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
  • Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
  • Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
  • Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
  • Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
  • Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
  • Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.