10 things in tech you need to know today

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Project Loon

The Verge/Google X

One of Google's Project Loon balloons.

Good morning! Here's the tech news you need to know this Thursday.

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1. Facebook beat earnings expectations, but its stock sunk. Despite revenue growing 39% year-on-year, its share price dropped around 3.4%.

2. GitHub has landed £160 million ($250 million) in new funding and is now worth £1.28 billion ($2 billion). The round was led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital, and Institutional Venture Partners.

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3. Samsung's earnings were hurt by a Galaxy S6 supply shortage. Its operating profit fell 4% from a year earlier, after it misjudged demand for its newest flagship smartphone.

4. Yelp is in a "death spiral." In March, its stock was trading at £62 ($98)/share; on Wednesday, it was trading at £15 ($24). The company's recent earnings were a disappointment, and the chairman has stepped down from the board.

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5. Facebook has finally revealed its plan to make money off Messenger and WhatsApp. It's going to allow users to have "organic interactions with businesses."

6. Google has done something that's going to annoy the US and UK governments. Its business customers will be able to provide their own encryption keys - making it almost impossible for governments to gain access to their information.

7. David Cameron is going big on fintech. The British Prime Minister says he wants "the UK to be the leading fintech centre in the world."

8. Facebook is adding one of LinkedIn's most abused features. The social network will now let users add profile tags to their friends' pages.

9. Sri Lanka will be the first country to test Project Loon, Google's ambitious new internet project. It's an attempt to provide internet access in remote areas using high-altitude balloons.

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10. British Uber drivers are claiming that the company doesn't provide them with basic workers' rights. Trade union GMB is starting legal action against the on-demand driver service.