News Headlines - 10 December 2020

▽China Focus: Chinese scientists achieve quantum computational advantage - Xinhua

A research team including renowned Chinese quantum physicist Pan Jianwei announced Friday a significant computing breakthrough, achieving quantum computational advantage.
The team established a quantum computer prototype, named "Jiuzhang," via which up to 76 photons were detected. The study was published in Science magazine online.
This achievement marks that China has reached the first milestone on the path to full-scale quantum computing -- a quantum computational advantage, also known as "quantum supremacy," which indicates an overwhelming quantum computational speedup.

▽Mt Everest: Nepal, China announce revised height at 8,849 metres | Al Jazeera

China and Nepal have jointly announced a new height for Mount Everest, putting an end to controversy surrounding the exact height of the highest point in the world.
The new official height is 8,848.86 metres (29,032 feet), China’s official Xinhua News Agency said on Tuesday, slightly more than Nepal’s previous measurement and about four metres higher than China’s.

▽Lebanon PM, former ministers charged over Beirut blast | Al Jazeera

Lebanon’s outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers have been charged with negligence that led to the deaths of hundreds and injuries to thousands in the massive August Beirut port explosion.
Fadi Sawan, the judge investigating the blast, on Thursday charged Diab, former public works ministers Ghazi Zaeiter and Youssef Fenianos and former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil, with criminal negligence, a senior judicial source told Al Jazeera.

▽Uber sells self-driving unit Uber ATG in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B | TechCrunch

Aurora Innovation, the autonomous vehicle startup backed by Sequoia Capital and Amazon, has reached an agreement with Uber to buy the ride-hailing firm’s self-driving unit in a complex deal that will value the combined company at $10 billion.
Aurora is not paying cash for Uber ATG, a company that was valued at $7.25 billion following a $1 billion investment last year from Toyota, DENSO and SoftBank’s Vision Fund. Instead, Uber is handing over its equity in ATG and investing $400 million into Aurora, which will give it a 26% stake in the combined company, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (As a refresher, Uber held an 86.2% stake (on a fully diluted basis) in Uber ATG, according to filings with the SEC.

▽Google, Facebook Win Key Concession in Australia Digital News Law - Bloomberg

Google and Facebook Inc. won a key concession in Australia as the government unveiled details of a world-first law to force the digital giants to pay to display news articles.
The legislation, introduced to Australia’s parliament on Wednesday, requires Google and Facebook to compensate publishers for the value their stories generate for the platforms.
But in a modification to an earlier draft, the legislation now also recognizes the monetary value the platforms provide to news businesses by directing readers to their websites.