🔋 Lithium battery plant blows up in South Korea, China-linked espionage malware found targeting diplomatic circles, millions of male mosquitoes to save rare Hawaiian birds

A devastating fire erupted on Monday at a lithium battery manufacturing factory near South Korea’s capital, resulting in a tragic loss of life and leaving many others injured or missing.

The incident occurred in Hwaseong city, just south of Seoul, at a factory operated by the battery manufacturer Aricell.

Officials have reported at least nine people dead, four injured, and 15 others missing following the incident, while Yonhap News, the South Korean news agency, reported that around 20 bodies were discovered. For more on this development, check out today’s Must-Read.

🔥Today’s job of the day as featured on jobs.interestingengineering.com:

> Senior QA Engineer, Automation, Roku
> Senior DevOps Engineer

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MUST READ

🔋 Lithium battery plant with 35,000 units blows up in South Korea, 20 dead

The fire broke out in the early hours of Monday, at around 10:30 a.m., at the factory, which is run by battery manufacturer Aricell in Hwaseong.

Local fire official Kim Jin-young announced during a televised briefing that eight additional bodies were found within the factory, raising the death toll to nine.

“Most of the missing people were foreign nationals, including Chinese,” Kim stated, as reported by ABC News. The search efforts continue as officials work tirelessly to locate the remaining 15 individuals.

🦠 SugarGh0st: China-linked espionage malware found targeting diplomatic circles

Researchers at one of the largest commercial threat intelligence teams globally, Cisco Talos, have uncovered a sophisticated cyber-espionage operation targeting global diplomatic circles.

The group, dubbed “SneakyChef,” has been found to target ministries of foreign affairs and embassies in Africa and Europe. Their modus operandi involves deploying “SugarGh0st,” a customized version of Gh0st RAT—a malware that has been around for over 15 years.

This remote access trojan gives the attackers unprecedented access to victim systems, allowing them to snatch sensitive diplomatic communications and intelligence. Gh0st RAT has been a popular tool of choice for state-sponsored cyber attacks.

🦟 Millions of male mosquitoes to save rare Hawaiian birds, here’s how

Millions of mosquitoes are being released from helicopters in Hawaii in a last-ditch attempt to save rare birds slipping into extinction. The archipelago’s endemic, brightly colored honeycreeper birds are dying of malaria carried by mosquitoes first introduced by European and American ships in the 1800s.

Male mosquitoes possess a naturally occurring bacterium called Wolbachia. It acts like birth control, effectively stopping females from reproducing, a technique known as the incompatible insect technique. If a male mosquito with Wolbachia mates with an uncontaminated female mosquito, her eggs won’t hatch.

Currently, helicopters are releasing 250,000 mosquitoes a week onto the scene. Ten million have already been deployed in an aggressive effort to save honeycreepers from extinction.

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