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Good morning! Here’s the tech news you need to know midweek.

1. Mark Zuckerberg is giving away 99% of his Facebook shares — worth $45 billion (£30 billion) today. The CEO announced his decision in a letter to his newborn daughter, Max.

2. Microsoft has laid off 30 people working on Hololens in Israel. Another 30 working on the augmented reality headset are being relocated.

3. Britain just got a new digital bank and it’s raising tens of millions of pounds. Tandem is the UK’s second-ever online-only bank.

4. WhatsApp has started blocking links to one of its biggest competitors, Telegram. It affects the Android version of the Facebook-owned messaging app.

5. Tidal has appointed its third CEO in eight months. Former SoundCloud executive Jeff Toig will become the new chief exec in January 2016, The Verge reports.

6. Twitter cofounder Ev Williams has sold $47 million (£31 million) worth of stock. The 1.8 million shares were sold through the Evan and Sara Williams Foundation, which has donated to environmental and literacy causes before.

7. Yahoo’s board will consider selling its core internet business. The struggling tech company is coming under increasing pressure from investors, and the board will meet this week.

8. Adobe is taking a big step towards ending Flash. As Fortune reports, it is renaming its web animation software.

9. A big Mac initiative by Apple is showing signs of failure. App companies are leaving the Mac App Store in favour of direct downloads.

10. Samsung is launching a virtual reality web browser. It’s for Gear VR, the South Korean company’s virtual reality headset.

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BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO member states have formally invited the tiny Adriatic nation of Montenegro to join the alliance in the face of Russian opposition.

Alliance Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced the invitation on Wednesday, the second day of a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

The announcement sets in motion an accession process that will continue over months before Montenegro formally becomes the 29th member of the alliance — its first expansion since fellow Balkan countries Albania and Croatia were admitted in 2009.

Russia has repeated its opposition to the accession of Montenegro, a favored getaway spot and investment site for some Russians.

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CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian researcher and freelance journalist detained upon arrival in Egypt is being investigated for spreading false news, in what his lawyers say is the latest in a crackdown press freedoms in the country.

After more than eight hours of questioning in Cairo on Tuesday, prosecutors ordered Ismail Alexandrani jailed for 15 days pending investigations, his lawyers from the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights said in a statement.

Alexandrani is being accused of joining an illegal organization, campaigning for that organization and spreading false news with the intent of disturbing the public peace and spreading horror among people, his lawyers said in the statement that did not identify the organization in question.

A police official, speaking anonymously because he is not authorized to brief reporters, said the Egyptian embassy in Berlin had notified airport authorities when Ismail Alexandrani arrived in the country on Sunday.

Alexandrani’s lawyers and his wife Khadeega Ga’far also said they were told his arrest was due to a complaint filed by the embassy in Berlin. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abouzeid denied Egypt’s diplomatic missions abroad have anything to do with the case.

Journalist Abdelrahman Ayyash said on his Facebook page that Alexandrani, an expert on militants operating in Egypt’s northern Sinai Peninsula, recently gave a presentation in Berlin on the topic.

The Egyptian government has been battling a long-running insurgency in the region, which escalated after the military ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013 amid massive protests against his rule.

A crackdown launched after Morsi’s overthrow initially focused on his Islamist supporters but was soon broadened to other dissidents, including secular activists who led the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

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Brussels (AFP) – NATO foreign ministers on Wednesday invited Montenegro to join the US-led military alliance, a move Russia has repeatedly warned against as a threat to stability in the western Balkans.

“NATO foreign ministers have just taken the historic decision to start accession talks for Montenegro to become the 29th member,” alliance head Jens Stoltenberg said.

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NEW YORK (AP) — At an all-star event honoring the nonprofits ONE and (RED), co-founder Bono wanted to make one thing clear: “This is not a charity concert.”

Instead, the U2 frontman wanted to celebrate the achievements in the fight against AIDS with the help of Miley Cyrus, Vice President Joe Biden, Sting and Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, which was Worlds AIDS Day.

“This is a celebration. This is an instigation. This is a provocation. This is not a charity concert,” Bono told the audience at Carnegie Hall in New York.

Bono thanked his supporters, spoke about AIDS statistics and rocked onstage with the Edge, performing U2 hits like “Every Breaking Wave,” ”Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” and “Angels of Harlem.”

Biden, who appeared with his wife Jill Biden, said Bono impressed him by convincing leaders to assist the advocacy organizations ONE and (RED), including the late Sen. Jesse Helms.

“I was there when Bono walked in, met Jesse Helms for the first time and convinced Jesse Helms in one fell swoop to forgive $6 billion in third-world debt. …That’s when I became a disciple of the church of Bono,” Biden said.

Biden also paid tribute to former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, one of the night’s honorees. Sting spoke highly of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s former finance minister, while former President Bill Clinton — who earned rock star applause when he entered the stage — highlighted work done by entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim. Clinton noted that Ibrahim’s daughter, Hadeel, is on the board of directors of the Clinton Foundation.

Colbert, who was onstage to honor Bill and Melinda Gates, said Bono told him that an inspiring conversation with Bill Gates led the singer-activist to create ONE, which launched in 2004. He launched (RED) in 2006.

“He said the Gates didn’t only just write a check. …Bill Gates helped ‘professionalize’ the organization,” Colbert said. “Bill Gates brought his brain power, his insights, his business acumen, his understanding of the role commerce would play in wiping out poverty.”

Colbert urged governments to continue to work together to assist the organization soon “because Donald Trump,” he said, pausing as the audience laughed, “if he’s elected, all bets are off. Just tear up your history books and live in a cage because it’s every man for himself.”

The night featured more comical moments. “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah, who is from South Africa, joked about why Bono asked him to host the event.

“I’m the perfect guy for the AIDS event because I’m from Africa?” Noah said, recalling his conversation with Bono.

“No, because you’re down the road and you’re free.”

The most emotional moment when “Walking Dead” actress and playwright Danai Gurira performed part of a play she wrote while studying at New York University.

“It was a piece I created out of a rage really. I wanted to see women of African descent, women from the continents spoken of as more than statistics,” she said.

The striking eight-minute, one-woman performance had her in tears at its end, and the audience in awe.

“After what I just saw I’m very scared,” Cyrus said as she followed Gurira. “You’ll have to stand up just to make me feel good at the end.”

But the pop star earned her applause. She sang songs from her latest album, “Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz,” which she released for free this year. The highlight was “Pablow the Blowfish,” a soft piano tune that was both passionate and hilarious. She, like Gurira, was in tears at the end of the performance.

Cyrus was dressed in a bright, glittery pink jacket and pants and strung a new guitar she received for her birthday.

“I just turned 23, and as a baby I know I will live in an AIDS-free world one day,” she said.

The performers were backed by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and Kimbanguist Symphony Orchestra. Big-voiced British singer Jessie J performed an original tune and Prince’s “Purple Rain,” and Irish singer Hozier sang his well-known hit, “Take Me to Church,” and “When Love Comes to Town” with Bono and the Edge.

Jessie J, Cyrus, Edge and Bono finished the night singing U2’s “One,” though Cyrus stood awkwardly onstage since she said the lyrics weren’t appearing on the prompter.

“You got to help me,” she said looking to Bono. “Nothing is there.”

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CHICAGO (AP) — The release of squad-car video showing a white Chicago police officer shooting a black teenager 16 times set off a dramatic chain of events, from days of demonstrations to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s firing of the city’s police superintendent.

But it’s unclear what will happen next.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says it is still actively investigating the case. That raises the possibility the federal officials are looking into authorities’ handling of the incident beyond the initial shooting. Activists contend city and police department officials dragged their feet on the investigation and video release and perhaps even sought to cover up what happened.

Here’s a look at some unanswered questions about the case and what might be ahead:

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INITIAL ACCOUNTS

The video footage of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald’s fatal shooting the night of Oct. 20, 2014, contradicts initial accounts police officials gave.

Pat Camden, at the time a police union spokesman, described McDonald lunging at officers before shooting began, while a police statement just after the shooting said McDonald had refused to drop a knife and “continued to approach the officers.” Initial media reports based on police information suggested McDonald was killed by a single shot to the chest.

But the video shows McDonald walking down the middle of a four-lane street. He then appears to veer away from police as Officer Jason Van Dyke, who is now charged with murder, opens fire. The video seems to show McDonald with something in his hand. Prosecutors say a 3-inch blade recovered from the scene had been folded into the handle.

In a phone interview Tuesday evening, Dean Angelo Sr., the president of Fraternal Order of Police Chicago Lodge 7, agreed McDonald didn’t appear to lunge. But he also said McDonald did seem to slightly “square his shoulders” toward Van Dyke, which he says Van Dyke may have perceived as a threat.

He said Camden, who is still affiliated with the union but not as a spokesman, is currently declining interviews. He added that he hasn’t asked Camden about his initial comments because “one of the investigative agencies wants to talk to him,” so it wouldn’t be appropriate for the union to question him.

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LACK OF AUDIO

The dash-cam video of the shooting initially released by the city has no sound, nor do videos released later from other police cruisers at the scene. But they typically should have.

Chicago police cars are set up so audio records along with video, police have said.

Sound is often critical to understanding what’s happening and why an officer or suspect acted the way they did, said Ed Primeau, a Michigan-based audio and video forensics expert.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi suggested that the absence of audio was most likely a technological glitch. In an emailed statement, he wrote, “As with any technology, at times software issues or operator error may keep the cameras from operating as they normally should.”

But Primeau said it is hard to believe none of the police vehicles had workable audio.

“It’s a red flag,” he said. “I see it all the time — not just by police but by people trying to cover things up.” Most officers, Primeau said, would want to make sure the video equipment is working properly so “internal affairs or investigators know exactly what was going on.”

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MISSING VIDEO

Among witnesses who testified before a federal grand jury investigating the shooting was a district manager for a Burger King near the shooting scene.

Jay Darshane told reporters that several police officers entered his restaurant and viewed surveillance video. Police spent almost two hours going through the footage, Darshane said, and staff determined later that around 90 minutes of footage had been erased. He said the deleted portions included the timeframe when McDonald would have been shot.

The camera angle would not have caught the actual shooting, but it could have provided clues about how matters escalated or how officers treated the scene and witnesses afterward.

Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, who approved the murder charge against Van Dyke, said that forensic testing was done on the Burger King video as part of the investigation, and that no tampering was found. In a statement, a spokesman for the independent police review board also said it had “no credible evidence at this time that would cause us to believe CPD purged or erased any surveillance video.”

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ONGOING INVESTIGATION

The U.S. attorney’s office has not specified what issue it’s investigating.

If it found evidence of a cover-up, any indictment would most likely involve a charge of obstruction of justice, which carries a maximum 20-year prison term and $250,000 fine on each count.

Another possibility is that prosecutors are looking into whether to charge Van Dyke with violating McDonald’s civil rights. Because the shooting resulted in the teen’s death, Van Dyke could face a maximum life sentence if convicted of such a federal charge.

Van Dyke’s attorney, Dan Herbert, maintains that Van Dyke feared for his life, acted lawfully and that the video does not tell the whole story.

On Tuesday, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan requested that the U.S. Department of Justice investigate whether the Chicago Police Department’s practices violate federal and constitutional law. Madigan in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch asked that the investigation weigh, among other things, the department’s use of deadly force and whether a pattern or practice of discriminatory policing exists.

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Associated Press writer Hannah Cushman contributed to this report.

Follow Michael Tarm on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mtarm .

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Singapore (AFP) – A Singaporean man accused of leading the world’s largest football match-fixing syndicate is trying to find out why he has been rearrested almost a week after being freed by the country’s highest court, his lawyer said Wednesday. 

The release of businessman Dan Tan on November 25 following an order by the Court of Appeal was roundly criticised by football’s world governing body FIFA and other analysts as a blow to efforts to rid the global sport of corruption.

However, police issued a terse statement late Tuesday confirming Tan had been rearrested six days after he was freed “for investigations into suspected involvement in criminal activities”.

“Investigations are on-going,” the statement said without giving details.

Tan’s defence counsel Hamidul Haq told AFP on Wednesday: “I am still at the stage where I am trying to get information (on why he was rearrested). I don’t have any new material.”

The three-member court, Singapore’s highest judicial authority, that ordered his release, had ruled that Tan’s continued detention was “unlawful” because he did not pose a danger to public safety in the city-state.

The Court of Appeal said that while match-fixing was “reprehensible and should not be condoned”, Tan’s alleged acts “all took place beyond our shores” and no evidence was presented to show that potential witnesses were being intimidated.

He had earlier been arrested in September 2013 and held under a law that allowed for the detention of suspected criminals without trial.

FIFA said through its spokesman last week that it was “very disappointed” with Tan’s release “given the gravity of his past activities relating to match manipulation”.

After Tan’s first arrest in 2013, the then-Interpol chief Ronald Noble said the Singapore-based ring he allegedly led was the world’s “largest and most aggressive match-fixing syndicate, with tentacles reaching every continent”.

Singapore’s ministry of home affairs, under heavy international pressure, had invoked a special anti-gangster law against Tan, 51, after it became difficult to find enough evidence and witnesses to file criminal charges.

In a statement issued a day after Tan was freed last month, the ministry said it would study the judgement carefully and decide on its next step.

It said that Singapore law enforcement agencies began investigating Tan in 2011 “when he was repeatedly cited in Italian court papers for his involvement in transnational criminal activities in the form of match-fixing”.

Tan was detained under the special law “for being the leader and financier of a global criminal syndicate that conducted match-fixing operations out of Singapore,” the statement said.

“Investigations indicated that Tan had an extensive network of people under his control –- many of whom were recruited in, and directed out of Singapore,” it added.

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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Police in Alaska’s capital city have not determined whether the city’s new mayor died from a natural event or foul play but have tentatively ruled out gunshots, drugs or suicide in the death.

Stephen “Greg” Fisk, 70, was found in his Juneau home with injuries that police did not describe. Police are awaiting autopsy results to announce a possible cause of death.

“It’s not clear what the cause of those injuries are,” police spokeswoman Erann Kalwara said Tuesday.

Fisk’s adult son of found the mayor’s body Monday and alerted police.

Fisk lived alone. There was no sign of forced entry into Fisk’s home above Juneau’s downtown, where a lone police vehicle sat outside the home Tuesday afternoon. Police tape kept the curious away, and a sign announced the sidewalk — which are really steps along the mountainside street — was closed.

Police are hoping the state medical examiner in Anchorage will complete the autopsy in a couple of days, she said.

Fisk had scheduled appointments Monday and when he missed them, his adult son, Ian, went to his father’s home and spotted the body.

In their official statement, police acknowledged rumors of an assault but said those rumors were “speculation.”

An attack was “one of the possibilities out there, but there’s others that could have happened,” Police Chief Bryce Johnson told the Juneau Empire newspaper. “There could’ve been a fall. There’s lots of things that would cause it.”

The department has fielded media inquiries from around the country, Kalwara said. Sometimes, it’s obvious at the scene that a person died of natural causes.

“In this case, we just can’t confirm that yet or rule anything out,” she said Tuesday afternoon.

Citing Johnson, however, Kalwara said there was no apparent gunshot wound and “nothing at the scene to indicate there were drugs involved.”

Likewise, “There’s nothing on scene to indicate it was a suicide,” she said.

Ian Fisk said in an email that his family is grieving privately.

“We sincerely appreciate the support of the community and we recognize that, as would be the case with any public figure, his death brings a lot of attention,” Ian Fisk said. “At this time we have no reason to speculate as to the cause of his death and are awaiting the results of his autopsy. Meanwhile I will not be responding to any further media requests of any kind, and ask for your understanding.”

Fisk, a fisheries consultant, handily defeated incumbent Merrill Sanford in the Oct. 6 election to become mayor.

Bob King, a veteran of Alaska politics who worked as press secretary to former Gov. Tony Knowles and as a fisheries aide to former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, was Fisk’s next-door neighbor, friend and campaign manager.

“He wanted to focus on strengthening Juneau’s role as Alaska’s capital city,” King told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Fisk wanted to encourage development of Juneau’s waterfront and pledged to push the federal government to restore jobs that had been moved to Seattle from Juneau, King said.

Fisk also intended to work for more affordable housing in the city whose downtown is bounded on one side by the ocean and on the other by mountainsides.

“He had a lot of different thoughts and he really jumped into it,” King said.

Fisk had served on boards and commissions but had never run for office. When he asked King to be his campaign chairman, King didn’t give Fisk much of a chance but helped out in minor ways, he said. Fisk ran an active campaign, going door-to-door to speak to voters and hear their concerns. Fisk ended up taking nearly two-thirds of the vote.

“He earned every one of those votes that he got,” King said.

Fisk was sworn in Oct. 20, said city clerk Laurie Sica. Deputy Mayor Mary Becker was named acting mayor.

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Joling reported from Anchorage, Alaska.

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TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — The trial of two Arizona parents accused of imprisoning and abusing their three young daughters could come to a close Wednesday after attorneys deliver closing arguments.

The nearly three-week trial in Tucson has been marked by dramatic testimony from the girls, who said they had to follow bizarre rules and were beaten if they disobeyed.

They said they were confined to their rooms and rarely allowed bathroom breaks, forcing them to use their closets instead.

The girls were 12, 13 and 17 when the two youngest sisters escaped in November 2013 after an encounter with their stepdad. The oldest was kept in a separate bedroom and was removed from the home by police that night.

The Associated Press does not generally name minors who authorities say are victims of crimes.

Fernando and Sophia Richter each face three counts of kidnapping and child abuse. Fernando Richter also faces two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Sophia Richter took the witness stand on Tuesday, denying the accusations against her.

She said the girls ate well, with diets that included lots of fruit, and they were allowed to leave their rooms. She said she never physically abused the girls.

Her husband Fernando Richter did not testify.

“They had fruit daily, they had snacks daily. They were never without. I always had fruit for them,” Sophia Richter said.

The girls testified that they were forced to wake up at 2 a.m. to do marching-like exercises for hours. One said she wasn’t allowed to get off her bed or brush her teeth for lengthy stretches.

The oldest sister described plastic water jugs the girls were given as moldy and the meals they were fed twice a day as rancid.

“It was nasty. Gagging nasty,” she testified. “We would have to lick our plates if we wanted them clean, and if not my mom would just throw more food on it if I didn’t lick it.”

Her mother denied those allegations during her limited testimony. She wasn’t allowed to say anything that would incriminate her husband.

Police say the abuse began in a house in Catalina in nearby Pinal County, where the Richters face separate criminal charges. They pleaded not guilty in both cases.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The married couple dubbed the “San Francisco witch killers” seemed locked away for good when each was sentenced to 75 years to life for three Northern California murders three decades ago.

But because of a recent federal court ruling, prison officials had to consider them for parole.

On Wednesday, a parole board at a women’s prison in Chino, California, will consider whether Suzan Carson, 73, is suitable for release.

The killers’ chance at freedom has upset families of their victims, who say the self-described vegetarian Muslim “warriors” have never expressed remorse or abandoned beliefs that they were on a “holy war against witches” during their killing spree.

Carson and her second husband, Michael “Bear” Carson, were convicted of killing three people during a drug-fueled quest to rid the world of witches between 1981 and 1983.

“Witchcraft, homosexuality and abortion are causes for death,” said bearded, long-haired Michael Carson during a 1983 “press conference” arranged by investigators with San Francisco media that lasted five hours.

Authorities allowed the jailhouse interview in exchange for incriminating information about the three murders. With his wife smiling by his side, Carson described her as “a yogi and a mystic with knowledge of past, present and future events.” The couple described themselves as Muslim.

Suzan Carson told reporters she ordered her husband to kill Karen Barnes in her San Francisco apartment 1981 because she falsely converted to their religion and was “draining” Suzan of her health and “yogic powers.” The couple killed twice more in California before capture in 1983.

Barnes’ sister Lisa Long has traveled from her home near Atlanta to Chino, California, to testify Wednesday against Suzan’s release. “They are unrepentant,” Long said.

Michael Carson canceled his June 30 hearing, acknowledging he still harbored his religious beliefs.

“I know this is absurd,” Michael Carson wrote prison officials from Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, California, on a form formally canceling his hearing. “No one is going to parole me because I will not and have not renounced my beliefs.”

He can try again in 2020, prison officials said.

Suzan Carson’s public defender, Laura Sheppard, didn’t return phone calls and email inquiries.

The Carsons received parole consideration because a federal court concerned with prison overcrowding last year ordered hearings for about 1,400 inmates older than 60 who have served more than 25 years of their sentences. Most elderly inmates qualifying for consideration are being turned down for parole, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Since February 2014, 267 elderly inmates have been granted parole and 729 have been denied, according to the department. An additional 450 hearings have been cancelled or postponed.

Despite the odds against the couple’s release, Michael Carson’s daughter is aiding the families and formally opposes her father’s release as well. “They are still dangerous,” she said.

Jennifer Carson said her college-educated dad was a stay-at-home father caring for her in 1970s suburban Phoenix while her mother supported the family by teaching.

“I remember those times as very happy times,” Jennifer said. “But then his behavior began to change.”

She said her father changed dramatically after he met Suzan Carson at a party. The couple soon divorced their respective spouses and married each other.

Jennifer Carson said her father and Suzan were heavy drug users who created their own moral and religious code. “It was like a match meeting dynamite,” she said of the day the couple met.

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