A busy week, from a spyware scandal, via the ongoing impact of the pandemic and some signs of recovery, to a press made out of paper.

Indian Printer and Publisher carries a statement from the Editors Guild of India on its shock at the use of the Israeli NSO Pegasus software by governments around the world to hack the phones of journalists, politicians and activists. The Guild has demanded an “urgent and independent inquiry”, a call echoed by newspapers worldwide.

Africa Print reports that Kalideck is reopening for business today in KwaZulu-Natal despite the excessive damage to its facility and loss of inventory due to looting following the recent unrest in South Africa. Kalideck praised the passion of its team and the support from its other branches in the country.

In Australia, Sprinter notes that Durst Oceania is planning to set up a new certified refurbished service for the Australia and New Zealand region to expand its market share. Customers can choose to buy or rent the second hand machines. Durst is also looking to hire three new staff members.

Meanwhile, Print21 reports that PacPrint and the associated trade shows Visual Impact and LabelExpo that were due to take place in Melbourne this September have been postponed till next June because of the ongoing Covid pandemic, which has resulted in large parts of Australia currently being in lockdown.

In contrast, Ink World, based in the USA, writes that the ink industry is slowly recovering from the pandemic despite huge challenges in the supply chain. Interestingly, the story concludes that many ink companies are seeing more demand, which in turn would suggest that printers are also starting to recover.

The German magazine World of Print reports that Agfa UK opened its new Inkjet Competence Centre in Rugby earlier this month, taking advantage of the sunshine to host a BBQ for customers and suppliers and showing off a number of its wide format printers alongside a Kongsberg cutting table.

However, Print Business asks if Monday’s Freedom Day - the end of all pandemic restrictions in the UK - is really groundhog day, as we will still have the fear of Covid infections and associated risks and many people will still work from home and practice social distancing so nothing much will change.

Elsewhere Print Business writes about the Italian Future Factory event, a high level conference for the entire print, brands, packaging and retail supply chain scheduled for September. It’s a hybrid event, with most of the presenters being in a Milan theatre and the audience being entirely online.

The Italian magazine Converter has talked with Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics for a story on the recyclability of packaging, pointing out that most packaging is not yet easily recycled. The story argues that it’s necessary to start with the design of the packaging to create a circular, closed loop approach.

From Canada, Graphic Arts Media reports on the launch of the Sustainable Mail Group, which focusses on the environmental impact of direct mail. Based in Markham, Ontario, the group is made up of leaders in the production and distribution of printed mail and aims to address consumer demand for responsible mail production practices.

Surprisingly, since I normally write about cutting edge print technology, my favourite story of this week, courtesy of ME Printer, is of a life-size Heidelberg letter press machine, created entirely out of paper by the Korean artist Lee Ji-Hee, who points out that even though reading habits are changing, paper still has meaning.