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It&#39;s one of the world&#39;s most mysterious books, a centuries-old manuscript written in an unknown or coded language that no one, not even the best cryptographers, has cracked. 
 
Scholars have spent their lives puzzling over the Voynich Manuscript, whose intriguing mix of elegant writing and drawings of strange plants and naked women has some believing it holds magical powers. 
 
The weathered book is locked away in a vault at Yale University&#39;s Beinecke Library, emerging only occasionally. 
 
But after a ten-year quest for access, Siloe, a small publishing house nestled deep in northern Spain, has secured the right to clone the document, to the delight of its director. 
 
&quot;Touching the Voynich is an experience,&quot; says Juan Jose Garcia, sitting on the top floor of a book museum in the quaint centre of Burgos where Siloe&#39;s office is, a few paved streets away from the city&#39;s famed Gothic cathedral. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s a book that has such an aura of mystery that when you see it for the first time. It fills you with an emotion that is very hard to describe.&quot; 
 
Eternal youth? Da Vinci? 
 
Siloe, which specialises in making facsimiles of old manuscripts, has bought the rights to make 898 exact replicas of the Voynich - so faithful that every stain, hole, sewn-up tear in the parchment will be reproduced. 
 
The company always publishes 898 replicas of each work that it clones, a number which is a palindrome, or a figure that reads the same backwards or forwards. It is after the success of their first facsimile that they made 696 copies of another palindrome. 
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<h5>Siloe, which specialises in making facsimiles of old manuscripts, has bought the rights to make 898 exact replicas of the Voynich. The company always publishes 898 replicas of each work that it clones, a number which is a palindrome.</h5>
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The publishing house plans to sell the facsimiles for 7,000 to 8,000 euros ($7,800 to $8,900) apiece once completed -- and close to 300 people have already put in pre-orders. 
 
Raymond Clemens, curator at the Beinecke Library, said Yale decided to have facsimiles done because of the many people who want to consult the fragile manuscript. 
 
&quot;We thought that the facsimile would provide the look and feel of the original for those who were interested,&quot; he said. 
 
&quot;It also enables libraries and museums to have a copy for instructional purposes and we will use the facsimile ourselves to show the manuscript outside of the library to students or others who might be interested.&quot; 
 
The manuscript is named after antiquarian Wilfrid Voynich who bought it around 1912 from a collection of books belonging to the Jesuits in Italy, and eventually propelled it into the public eye. 
 
Theories abound about who wrote it and what it means. 
 
For a long time, it was believed to be the work of 13th century English Franciscan friar Roger Bacon whose interest in alchemy and magic landed him in jail. 
 
But that theory was discarded when the manuscript was carbon dated and found to have originated between 1404 and 1438. 
 
Others point to a young Leonardo da Vinci, someone who wrote in code to escape the Inquisition, an elaborate joke or even an alien who left the book behind when leaving Earth. 
 
Its content is even more mysterious. 
 
The plants drawn have never been identified, the astronomical charts don&#39;t reveal much and neither do the women. 
 
Does the book hold the key to eternal youth? Or is it a mere collection of herbal medicine and recipes? 
 
Scores have tried to decode the Voynich, including top cryptologists such as William Friedman who helped break Japan&#39;s &quot;Purple&quot; cipher during World War II. 
 
But the only person to have made any headway is... Indiana Jones, who in a novel featuring the fictitious archeologist manages to crack it. 
 
Fiction aside, the Beinecke Library gets thousands of emails every month from people claiming to have decoded it, says Rene Zandbergen, a space engineer who runs a recognised blog on the manuscript, which he has consulted several times. 
 
&quot;More than 90 percent of all the access to their digital library is only for the Voynich Manuscript,&quot; he adds. 
 
The art of cloning 
 
Only slightly bigger than a paperback, the book contains over 200 pages including several large fold-outs. 
 
It will take Siloe around 18 months to make the first facsimiles, in a painstaking process that started in April when a photographer took detailed snaps of the original in Yale. 
 
Workers at Siloe are currently making mock-ups before they finally set about printing out the pages in a way that makes the script and drawings look like the real deal. 
 
The paper they use, made from a paste developed by the company, has been given a special treatment so it feels like the stiff parchment used to write the Voynich. 
 
Once printed, the pages are put together and made to look older. 
 
All the imperfections are re-created using special tools in a process kept firmly secret by Garcia, who in his spare time has also tried his hand at cryptology. 
 
&quot;We call it the Voynich Challenge,&quot; he says, adding, &quot;My business partner says the author of the Voynich could also have been a sadist, as he has us all wrapped up in this mystery.&quot; 
 
(AFP) 
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Scholars have spent their lives puzzling over the Voynich Manuscript. Some believe it holds magical powers

It's one of the world's most mysterious books, a centuries-old manuscript written in an unknown or coded language that no one, not even the best cryptographers, has cracked. Scholars have spent their lives puzzling over the Voynich Manuscript, whose intriguing mix of elegant writing and drawings of strange plants and naked women has some believing it holds magical powers. The weathered book is locked away in a vault at Yale University's Beinecke Library, emerging only occasionally. But after a ten-year quest for access, Siloe, a small publishing house nestled deep in northern Spain, has secured the right to clone the document, to the delight of its director. "Touching the Voynich is an experience," says Juan Jose Garcia, sitting on the top floor of a book museum in the quaint centre of Burgos where Siloe's office is, a few paved streets away from the city's famed Gothic cathedral. "It's a book that has such an aura of mystery that when you see it for the first time. It fills you with an emotion that is very hard to describe." Eternal youth? Da Vinci? Siloe, which specialises in making facsimiles of old manuscripts, has bought the rights to make 898 exact replicas of the Voynich - so faithful that every stain, hole, sewn-up tear in the parchment will be reproduced. The company always publishes 898 replicas of each work that it clones, a number which is a palindrome, or a figure that reads the same backwards or forwards. It is after the success of their first facsimile that they made 696 copies of another palindrome. Siloe, which specialises in making facsimiles of old manuscripts, has bought the rights to make 898 exact replicas of the Voynich. The company always publishes 898 replicas of each work that it clones, a number which is a palindrome. The publishing house plans to sell the facsimiles for 7,000 to 8,000 euros ($7,800 to $8,900) apiece once completed -- and close to 300 people have already put in pre-orders. Raymond Clemens, curator at the Beinecke Library, said Yale decided to have facsimiles done because of the many people who want to consult the fragile manuscript. "We thought that the facsimile would provide the look and feel of the original for those who were interested," he said. "It also enables libraries and museums to have a copy for instructional purposes and we will use the facsimile ourselves to show the manuscript outside of the library to students or others who might be interested." The manuscript is named after antiquarian Wilfrid Voynich who bought it around 1912 from a collection of books belonging to the Jesuits in Italy, and eventually propelled it into the public eye. Theories abound about who wrote it and what it means. For a long time, it was believed to be the work of 13th century English Franciscan friar Roger Bacon whose interest in alchemy and magic landed him in jail. But that theory was discarded when the manuscript was carbon dated and found to have originated between 1404 and 1438. Others point to a young Leonardo da Vinci, someone who wrote in code to escape the Inquisition, an elaborate joke or even an alien who left the book behind when leaving Earth. Its content is even more mysterious. The plants drawn have never been identified, the astronomical charts don't reveal much and neither do the women. Does the book hold the key to eternal youth? Or is it a mere collection of herbal medicine and recipes? Scores have tried to decode the Voynich, including top cryptologists such as William Friedman who helped break Japan's "Purple" cipher during World War II. But the only person to have made any headway is... Indiana Jones, who in a novel featuring the fictitious archeologist manages to crack it. Fiction aside, the Beinecke Library gets thousands of emails every month from people claiming to have decoded it, says Rene Zandbergen, a space engineer who runs a recognised blog on the manuscript, which he has consulted several times. "More than 90 percent of all the access to their digital library is only for the Voynich Manuscript," he adds. The art of cloning Only slightly bigger than a paperback, the book contains over 200 pages including several large fold-outs. It will take Siloe around 18 months to make the first facsimiles, in a painstaking process that started in April when a photographer took detailed snaps of the original in Yale. Workers at Siloe are currently making mock-ups before they finally set about printing out the pages in a way that makes the script and drawings look like the real deal. The paper they use, made from a paste developed by the company, has been given a special treatment so it feels like the stiff parchment used to write the Voynich. Once printed, the pages are put together and made to look older. All the imperfections are re-created using special tools in a process kept firmly secret by Garcia, who in his spare time has also tried his hand at cryptology. "We call it the Voynich Challenge," he says, adding, "My business partner says the author of the Voynich could also have been a sadist, as he has us all wrapped up in this mystery." (AFP)

Tiny Spanish publisher buys rights to clone one of world's most elusive manuscripts

India is home to the third largest number of technology-driven start-ups in the world, with the US and the UK occupying the top two positions, according to a report. 
 
The study, conducted by Assocham in association with the Thought Arbitrage Research Institute, also revealed Bengaluru plays host to the largest share of technology start-ups in the country, followed by Delhi-NCR and Mumbai, while Hyderabad and Chennai too are popular among budding tech entrepreneurs. 
 
&quot;In the technology-driven startups, India has moved up to the&nbsp;third position with the US occupying the top position with more than 47,000 and the UK with over 4,500. 
 
&quot;India&#39;s tech start-ups numbered around 4,200 up to 2015,&quot; the report pointed out. 
 
In terms of the&nbsp;total number of start-ups, in both tech and non-tech areas, India again figured among the five biggest hosts in the world along with China (10,000 each). 
 
The US occupies the top slot with 83,000 start-ups. 
 
IT hub Bengaluru is host to 26 per cent of domestic tech start-ups, followed by Delhi-NCR (23 per cent) and Mumbai (17 per cent). In the &#39;catching up&#39; category were Hyderabad (8 per cent), Chennai and Pune (6 per cent each). 
 
&quot;The disruptive innovation in technology and process is creating newer Indian start-ups and foreign investors, including some of the well-known venture capital funds, are showing immense interest in these start-ups,&quot; Assocham president Sunil Kanoria said. 
 
The awareness that a start-up is a vehicle of rapid growth through technological disruption and innovation&nbsp;has to spread across the economy, the report said. Otherwise, if any small traditional business is treated as a start-up, then the ecosystem will never develop properly, it added. 
 
The study recommended that synergising &#39;Startup India&#39; with &#39;Make in India&#39; and &#39;Digital India&#39; initiatives has the potential to expand the domestic ecosystem for new entrepreneurs. 
 
It also suggested tax exemption for research and experimentation to encourage fresh ideas without fear of failure. Recommending a Stanford University model in various Indian universities, the Assocham-Thought Arbitrage paper said courses on creation of small businesses should be encouraged in campuses.&nbsp; 
 
(PTI)

The US and the UK occupy the top two spots

India is home to the third largest number of technology-driven start-ups in the world, with the US and the UK occupying the top two positions, according to a report. The study, conducted by Assocham in association with the Thought Arbitrage Research Institute, also revealed Bengaluru plays host to the largest share of technology start-ups in the country, followed by Delhi-NCR and Mumbai, while Hyderabad and Chennai too are popular among budding tech entrepreneurs. "In the technology-driven startups, India has moved up to the third position with the US occupying the top position with more than 47,000 and the UK with over 4,500. "India's tech start-ups numbered around 4,200 up to 2015," the report pointed out. In terms of the total number of start-ups, in both tech and non-tech areas, India again figured among the five biggest hosts in the world along with China (10,000 each). The US occupies the top slot with 83,000 start-ups. IT hub Bengaluru is host to 26 per cent of domestic tech start-ups, followed by Delhi-NCR (23 per cent) and Mumbai (17 per cent). In the 'catching up' category were Hyderabad (8 per cent), Chennai and Pune (6 per cent each). "The disruptive innovation in technology and process is creating newer Indian start-ups and foreign investors, including some of the well-known venture capital funds, are showing immense interest in these start-ups," Assocham president Sunil Kanoria said. The awareness that a start-up is a vehicle of rapid growth through technological disruption and innovation has to spread across the economy, the report said. Otherwise, if any small traditional business is treated as a start-up, then the ecosystem will never develop properly, it added. The study recommended that synergising 'Startup India' with 'Make in India' and 'Digital India' initiatives has the potential to expand the domestic ecosystem for new entrepreneurs. It also suggested tax exemption for research and experimentation to encourage fresh ideas without fear of failure. Recommending a Stanford University model in various Indian universities, the Assocham-Thought Arbitrage paper said courses on creation of small businesses should be encouraged in campuses. (PTI)

India is world's third biggest tech start-up hub: Study

Embattled automaker Volkswagen will hold talks on Monday with two component suppliers, in a bid to end a stand-off over car parts deliveries that has severely disrupted production at the German giant. 
 
ES Automobilguss, which supplies cast gearbox components, and Cartrim, which makes seat covers, suspended their deliveries in August over a legal dispute with Volkswagen. 
 
VW secured temporary injunctions on August 12 ordering the two suppliers to resume deliveries. 
 
But the part suppliers have appealed the decision, forcing VW to slash work hours at key factories, and even suspend manufacture of the popular Golf model at its main plant in Wolfsburg, northern Germany. 
 
In a bid to resolve the stand-off, the disputing parties held talks into the early hours of Saturday, a VW spokesman said, adding that they decided &quot;jointly to postpone talks to Monday&quot;. 
 
The group &quot;wishes to achieve a result through negotiations&quot;, although it may also be obliged to pursue legal means, added the spokesman. 
 
The parts suppliers accuse VW of having cut several contracts with no advance warning or compensation, leaving them no choice but to suspend deliveries to protect their own workers. 
 
According to media reports, VW has been seeking concessions from all of its suppliers, amounting to several billion Euros. 
 
Volkswagen, which also owns brands from luxury Audi to lower-end Skoda, is still in the throes of its biggest-ever crisis after it admitted in September 2015 to the massive emissions cheating scandal affected 11 million diesel engines. 
 
The revelation slashed the carmaker&#39;s share price by 40 per cent, a drop in market value of 25 billion Euros, in two days. 
 
VW has had to set aside billions of dollars to settle damage claims from car owners and to retrofit the affected cars. 
 
It secured preliminary approval for a $14.7-billion settlement from a California judge in July. 
 
But several German states are examining legal action to claw back losses to pension schemes and other holders of VW shares. 
 
The company may also be forced to pay out for environmental damages in cases brought by several US states. 
 
(AFP)

The move comes in a bid to end a stand-off over car parts deliveries that has severely disrupted production at the German giant

Embattled automaker Volkswagen will hold talks on Monday with two component suppliers, in a bid to end a stand-off over car parts deliveries that has severely disrupted production at the German giant. ES Automobilguss, which supplies cast gearbox components, and Cartrim, which makes seat covers, suspended their deliveries in August over a legal dispute with Volkswagen. VW secured temporary injunctions on August 12 ordering the two suppliers to resume deliveries. But the part suppliers have appealed the decision, forcing VW to slash work hours at key factories, and even suspend manufacture of the popular Golf model at its main plant in Wolfsburg, northern Germany. In a bid to resolve the stand-off, the disputing parties held talks into the early hours of Saturday, a VW spokesman said, adding that they decided "jointly to postpone talks to Monday". The group "wishes to achieve a result through negotiations", although it may also be obliged to pursue legal means, added the spokesman. The parts suppliers accuse VW of having cut several contracts with no advance warning or compensation, leaving them no choice but to suspend deliveries to protect their own workers. According to media reports, VW has been seeking concessions from all of its suppliers, amounting to several billion Euros. Volkswagen, which also owns brands from luxury Audi to lower-end Skoda, is still in the throes of its biggest-ever crisis after it admitted in September 2015 to the massive emissions cheating scandal affected 11 million diesel engines. The revelation slashed the carmaker's share price by 40 per cent, a drop in market value of 25 billion Euros, in two days. VW has had to set aside billions of dollars to settle damage claims from car owners and to retrofit the affected cars. It secured preliminary approval for a $14.7-billion settlement from a California judge in July. But several German states are examining legal action to claw back losses to pension schemes and other holders of VW shares. The company may also be forced to pay out for environmental damages in cases brought by several US states. (AFP)

Volkswagen to hold talks with suppliers on production-crippling dispute

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Microsoft India have announced the&nbsp;signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to offer telecom and IT solutions for big businesses that will help meet the demand for IT and cloud services. 
 
BSNL in a statement said this MoU will help audio and video needs of the BSNL&#39;s enterprise customers, including government organisations. 
 
BSNL has large shares in landline network, including leased line connectivity to various enterprises. 
 
&quot;Microsoft won the bid for a request for proposal invited by BSNL from companies that have expertise in this area and for strategic business alliances with world renowned companies,&quot; it added. 
 
The partnership will serve government to government, government to consumer, government to business and business to business segments. 
 
BSNL further stated that this strategic alliance would be non-exclusive and is aimed to leverage the domain expertise and strategic position in the industry to garner more business either as a front runner or as a support associate. 
 
(ANI)&nbsp;

The government telecom company said the MoU would help the audio and video needs of BSNL's enterprise customers

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Microsoft India have announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to offer telecom and IT solutions for big businesses that will help meet the demand for IT and cloud services. BSNL in a statement said this MoU will help audio and video needs of the BSNL's enterprise customers, including government organisations. BSNL has large shares in landline network, including leased line connectivity to various enterprises. "Microsoft won the bid for a request for proposal invited by BSNL from companies that have expertise in this area and for strategic business alliances with world renowned companies," it added. The partnership will serve government to government, government to consumer, government to business and business to business segments. BSNL further stated that this strategic alliance would be non-exclusive and is aimed to leverage the domain expertise and strategic position in the industry to garner more business either as a front runner or as a support associate. (ANI)

India's BSNL and Microsoft come together to offer IT solutions

State Bank of India (SBI), the nation&#39;s biggest lender by assets, will gain $120 billion in assets following its merger with associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank, the lender said in a statement on Saturday. 
 
In a first move to consolidate the country&#39;s struggling public sector banks, SBI&#39;s board on Thursday approved the share swap ratio for the proposed takeover of five units that had been run at arms-length, as well as the state-run Bharatiya Mahila Bank, a bank for women set up in 2013. 
 
Policymakers want to recapitalise and consolidate the country&#39;s state-run banks so that they can extend fresh credit and help drive an investment-led recovery in Asia&#39;s third-largest economy that is currently getting a boost from state and private consumption. 
 
India&#39;s 27 public sector banks account for 70 per cent of its banking sector assets, as well as the lion&#39;s share of the country&#39;s $120 billion in troubled loans. 
 
SBI said the merger would expand its assets by 36 per cent to about $447 billion.

(Reuters) 
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SBI said the merger would expand its assets by 36% to about $447 billion

State Bank of India (SBI), the nation's biggest lender by assets, will gain $120 billion in assets following its merger with associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank, the lender said in a statement on Saturday. In a first move to consolidate the country's struggling public sector banks, SBI's board on Thursday approved the share swap ratio for the proposed takeover of five units that had been run at arms-length, as well as the state-run Bharatiya Mahila Bank, a bank for women set up in 2013. Policymakers want to recapitalise and consolidate the country's state-run banks so that they can extend fresh credit and help drive an investment-led recovery in Asia's third-largest economy that is currently getting a boost from state and private consumption. India's 27 public sector banks account for 70 per cent of its banking sector assets, as well as the lion's share of the country's $120 billion in troubled loans. SBI said the merger would expand its assets by 36 per cent to about $447 billion. (Reuters)

State Bank of India says will gain $120 billion in assets from merger

Facebook on Friday took direct aim at video-loving adolescents, and Snapchat, with the release of a new iPhone app that allows teens to watch clips about the lives of their classmates. 
 
The app, called Lifestage, was released with no fanfare, and is available for anyone to download on iPhone, although seeing profiles of other users is reserved for those 21 years of age or younger. 
 
The social network allows users to make video clips to describe likes, peeves, dance styles, and other aspects of their character. 
 
Those clips are woven together to serve as public profiles that can be viewed by other Lifestage members, provided they are young enough. 
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A tool in the app lets users block and report &#39;older folks&#39;. 
 
&quot;Lifestage makes it easy and fun to share a visual profile of who you are with your school network,&quot; the app&#39;s iTunes store description says. 
 
Once enough students at any given school are on the app, it becomes &quot;unlocked&quot;. 
 
&quot;Once your school is unlocked, you can access the profiles of others in your school community (and all over!) so you can get to know people better in your school and nearby schools,&quot; the description said. 
 
Lifestage users are invited to share video snippets whenever they wish. 
 
The app comes as a challenge to Snapchat, the vanishing message service that became a hit with teenagers and which lets members share pictures and video clips. 
 
Lifestage was seen by some as an effort by Facebook to stay connected to young internet users disinclined to take part in the leading social network. 
 
Facebook did not return a request for comment. 
 
Earlier this month, Instagram put its own spin on a key Snapchat feature by letting users post &quot;Stories&quot; that eventually vanish from the Facebook-owned photo-and video-sharing app. 
 
Instagram Stories encourages people to share ephemeral collages of everyday moments on the app which has built a reputation for allowing people to post highlights from their lives or artistic works. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp; 
 
 
 
 
 
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'Lifestage', the app, is available for iPhone users although seeing profiles of other users is reserved for those 21 years or younger

Facebook on Friday took direct aim at video-loving adolescents, and Snapchat, with the release of a new iPhone app that allows teens to watch clips about the lives of their classmates. The app, called Lifestage, was released with no fanfare, and is available for anyone to download on iPhone, although seeing profiles of other users is reserved for those 21 years of age or younger. The social network allows users to make video clips to describe likes, peeves, dance styles, and other aspects of their character. Those clips are woven together to serve as public profiles that can be viewed by other Lifestage members, provided they are young enough. The social network allows users to make video clips to describe likes, peeves, dance styles, and other aspects of their character. A tool in the app lets users block and report 'older folks'. "Lifestage makes it easy and fun to share a visual profile of who you are with your school network," the app's iTunes store description says. Once enough students at any given school are on the app, it becomes "unlocked". "Once your school is unlocked, you can access the profiles of others in your school community (and all over!) so you can get to know people better in your school and nearby schools," the description said. Lifestage users are invited to share video snippets whenever they wish. The app comes as a challenge to Snapchat, the vanishing message service that became a hit with teenagers and which lets members share pictures and video clips. Lifestage was seen by some as an effort by Facebook to stay connected to young internet users disinclined to take part in the leading social network. Facebook did not return a request for comment. Earlier this month, Instagram put its own spin on a key Snapchat feature by letting users post "Stories" that eventually vanish from the Facebook-owned photo-and video-sharing app. Instagram Stories encourages people to share ephemeral collages of everyday moments on the app which has built a reputation for allowing people to post highlights from their lives or artistic works. (AFP)

Facebook woos video-loving teens with new 'school community' app

Colombia started circulating a new 50,000-peso banknote&nbsp;on Friday&nbsp;bearing the likeness of late Nobel-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

The light purple piece of money, worth equivalent of $17.40, &quot;pays honour to a person who carried Colombia&#39;s name far and wide from the middle of the last century,&quot; the head of the country&#39;s central bank, Jose Dario Uribe, said.

The banknote was launched in a ceremony in Santa Marta, a town on Colombia&#39;s Caribbean coast, close to Garcia Marquez&#39;s birthplace, that served as the setting for the writer&#39;s landmark 1967 novel &quot;One Hundred Years of Solitude.&quot;

The first retail bank customer to receive the new bill, Jadis Saker, said &quot;this moment will remain carved into my memory,&quot; according to the newspaper El Heraldo.

Garcia Marquez, who was born in 1927, started out as a journalist before finding fame as an author and pioneering a style called &quot;magic realism.&quot; In 1982, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature

He died in April 2014 aged 87, in Mexico, where he lived with his wife. 
 
(AFP)

Country's central bank head said note pays tribute to man who 'carried country's name far and wide'

Colombia started circulating a new 50,000-peso banknote on Friday bearing the likeness of late Nobel-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The light purple piece of money, worth equivalent of $17.40, "pays honour to a person who carried Colombia's name far and wide from the middle of the last century," the head of the country's central bank, Jose Dario Uribe, said. The banknote was launched in a ceremony in Santa Marta, a town on Colombia's Caribbean coast, close to Garcia Marquez's birthplace, that served as the setting for the writer's landmark 1967 novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude." The first retail bank customer to receive the new bill, Jadis Saker, said "this moment will remain carved into my memory," according to the newspaper El Heraldo. Garcia Marquez, who was born in 1927, started out as a journalist before finding fame as an author and pioneering a style called "magic realism." In 1982, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature He died in April 2014 aged 87, in Mexico, where he lived with his wife. (AFP)

Colombia honours Garcia Marquez by using his face on banknote

Grain millers in Bangladesh are boosting their wheat purchases from Russia and Ukraine as cargoes from key exporter India fade due to a supply squeeze in that country.

Bangladesh has booked about 800,000 tonnes of wheat from the Black Sea region for shipment between mid-July and October, up from around 550,000-600,000 tonnes in the same period last year, two trade sources said.

Strong demand from South Asia&#39;s top wheat importer and other key buyers could help buoy benchmark futures, which have been recovering from a 10-year low of $3.99-1/4 a bushel hit earlier this month due to pressure from plentiful global production.

&quot;India is out of the market, Bangladesh buyers are taking larger volumes of feed wheat as well as milling grade wheat from Russia and Ukraine,&quot; said one Singapore-based trader.

&quot;It is all about prices, most Bangladeshi millers take the cheapest origin.&quot;

Buyers paid $155-$168 a tonne, free on board, for Black Sea feed wheat with about 10.5-per cent protein content, the sources said. They declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak with media.

For milling wheat with 11.5- to 12.5-per cent protein, importers have paid $165-$180 a tonne FOB, they said.

India has been exporting wheat to Bangladesh for the last few years, but its recent crops have been hit by a severe drought linked to the El Nino weather pattern and by unseasonable rains.

Bin-busting

Russia and Ukraine, two of the Black Sea region&#39;s leading wheat producers, have seen bin-busting grain production.

Ukraine&#39;s 2016 grain harvest is likely to be around 3 million tonnes bigger than the year before at around 63 million tonnes, agriculture ministry official Leonid Sukhomlin said earlier this week.

And Russia is facing a lack of grain storage as it remains on track to produce the largest cereal crop in post-Soviet history, said the head of Russia&#39;s Grain Union. 
 
But analysts warned against relying too heavily on shipments from the Black Sea.

&quot;Worldwide, many countries are depending on Russia to supply much of their wheat and that is risky,&quot; said one agricultural commodities analyst. &quot;There could be delays.&quot;

Much of the Middle East and North Africa has heavily booked wheat shipments from the Black Sea region, taking advantage of lower prices.

Traders said there is already a delay of 10-12 days for ships waiting to load wheat at Russian ports.

Bangladesh has also booked about 200,000 tonnes of higher quality Canadian milling wheat, the sources said.

The South Asian nation has ramped up its wheat purchases from Russia and Ukraine by almost 33%

Grain millers in Bangladesh are boosting their wheat purchases from Russia and Ukraine as cargoes from key exporter India fade due to a supply squeeze in that country. Bangladesh has booked about 800,000 tonnes of wheat from the Black Sea region for shipment between mid-July and October, up from around 550,000-600,000 tonnes in the same period last year, two trade sources said. Strong demand from South Asia's top wheat importer and other key buyers could help buoy benchmark futures, which have been recovering from a 10-year low of $3.99-1/4 a bushel hit earlier this month due to pressure from plentiful global production. "India is out of the market, Bangladesh buyers are taking larger volumes of feed wheat as well as milling grade wheat from Russia and Ukraine," said one Singapore-based trader. "It is all about prices, most Bangladeshi millers take the cheapest origin." Buyers paid $155-$168 a tonne, free on board, for Black Sea feed wheat with about 10.5-per cent protein content, the sources said. They declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak with media. For milling wheat with 11.5- to 12.5-per cent protein, importers have paid $165-$180 a tonne FOB, they said. India has been exporting wheat to Bangladesh for the last few years, but its recent crops have been hit by a severe drought linked to the El Nino weather pattern and by unseasonable rains. Bin-busting Russia and Ukraine, two of the Black Sea region's leading wheat producers, have seen bin-busting grain production. Ukraine's 2016 grain harvest is likely to be around 3 million tonnes bigger than the year before at around 63 million tonnes, agriculture ministry official Leonid Sukhomlin said earlier this week. And Russia is facing a lack of grain storage as it remains on track to produce the largest cereal crop in post-Soviet history, said the head of Russia's Grain Union. But analysts warned against relying too heavily on shipments from the Black Sea. "Worldwide, many countries are depending on Russia to supply much of their wheat and that is risky," said one agricultural commodities analyst. "There could be delays." Much of the Middle East and North Africa has heavily booked wheat shipments from the Black Sea region, taking advantage of lower prices. Traders said there is already a delay of 10-12 days for ships waiting to load wheat at Russian ports. Bangladesh has also booked about 200,000 tonnes of higher quality Canadian milling wheat, the sources said.

Bangladesh looks to Black Sea region for wheat as India supply dwindles

Gold fell on Friday for the first time this week as hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve officials renewed bets on a US rate hike this year, but was still on track to end the week with modest gains. 
 
Spot gold was down 0.3 per cent at $1,348.31 per ounce at 0655 GMT, but up 0.1 per cent for the week. 
 
US gold dropped 0.3 per cent to $1,351.10 an ounce. 
 
San Francisco Fed President John Williams on Thursday joined a growing chorus of his colleagues signalling support for a US interest rate hike in coming months. New York Fed President William Dudley reinforced his confidence on a possible interest-rate hike for a second time in the week. 
 
Dallas Fed president Robert Kaplan, however, saw limited room to manoeuvre on rate hikes. 
 
Reports showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, while manufacturing activity in the US Mid-Atlantic region saw a mild improvement this month. 
 
&quot;There is no clear direction from the Fed. Adding to that there are mixed views from the Fed officials,&quot; said Brian Lan, managing director at Singapore-based gold dealer GoldSilver Central. 
 
Members of the Fed&#39;s rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee were generally upbeat about the US economy and labour market, but several said any slowdown in future hiring would augur against a near-term hike. 
 
Gold is highly sensitive to rising rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion, while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced. 
 
Signals are neutral for spot gold as it is stuck in a range of $1,337.22-$1,358.01 per ounce, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;The money going into the ETFs (exchange-traded funds) looks to be slowing down a bit and it feels that the market has been feeling a bit heavy on the longs,&quot; said a Sydney-based precious metals trader. 
 
&quot;Maybe we need a little bit of washout. Won&#39;t be surprised if we touch new lows of $1,320.&quot; 
 
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world&#39;s largest gold-backed ETF, fell for a second day.&nbsp; 
 
The index of the dollar against a basket of six major currencies was up about 0.2 per cent at 94.359. 
 
A stronger dollar discourages gold buying by making the metal more expensive for holders of other currencies. 
 
European Central Bank rate setters agreed not to discuss any policy change at their July meeting and to keep market hopes for more stimulus in check, minutes showed on Thursday. 
 
Silver was down 0.6 per cent at $19.61 an ounce. 
 
Platinum slipped 0.2 per cent at $1,123. 
 
Palladium was down 0.7 per cent at $707.55, after hitting a one-week high of $717.70 Thursday. 
 
(Rueters)

Fed Reserve officials have demanded for interest rates to be upped in coming months

Gold fell on Friday for the first time this week as hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve officials renewed bets on a US rate hike this year, but was still on track to end the week with modest gains. Spot gold was down 0.3 per cent at $1,348.31 per ounce at 0655 GMT, but up 0.1 per cent for the week. US gold dropped 0.3 per cent to $1,351.10 an ounce. San Francisco Fed President John Williams on Thursday joined a growing chorus of his colleagues signalling support for a US interest rate hike in coming months. New York Fed President William Dudley reinforced his confidence on a possible interest-rate hike for a second time in the week. Dallas Fed president Robert Kaplan, however, saw limited room to manoeuvre on rate hikes. Reports showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, while manufacturing activity in the US Mid-Atlantic region saw a mild improvement this month. "There is no clear direction from the Fed. Adding to that there are mixed views from the Fed officials," said Brian Lan, managing director at Singapore-based gold dealer GoldSilver Central. Members of the Fed's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee were generally upbeat about the US economy and labour market, but several said any slowdown in future hiring would augur against a near-term hike. Gold is highly sensitive to rising rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion, while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced. Signals are neutral for spot gold as it is stuck in a range of $1,337.22-$1,358.01 per ounce, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. "The money going into the ETFs (exchange-traded funds) looks to be slowing down a bit and it feels that the market has been feeling a bit heavy on the longs," said a Sydney-based precious metals trader. "Maybe we need a little bit of washout. Won't be surprised if we touch new lows of $1,320." Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed ETF, fell for a second day. The index of the dollar against a basket of six major currencies was up about 0.2 per cent at 94.359. A stronger dollar discourages gold buying by making the metal more expensive for holders of other currencies. European Central Bank rate setters agreed not to discuss any policy change at their July meeting and to keep market hopes for more stimulus in check, minutes showed on Thursday. Silver was down 0.6 per cent at $19.61 an ounce. Platinum slipped 0.2 per cent at $1,123. Palladium was down 0.7 per cent at $707.55, after hitting a one-week high of $717.70 Thursday. (Rueters)

US gold slides amid talks of Fed rate hike

Wal-Mart Stores Inc&nbsp;reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings on Thursday, saying it benefited from cleaner and more efficient US stores, investments in technology that improved online shopping and higher employee wages that fostered better customer service. 
 
The world&#39;s largest retailer has been spending heavily to entice consumers back to its stores with better stocked shelves, and improving its e-commerce business by investing in new warehouses that can deliver online shipments faster. 
 
Last week, it announced the acquisition of online startup Jet.com for over $3 billion to better compete with Amazon.com Inc&nbsp;. 
 
Wal-Mart also increased entry level wages to $10 an hour earlier this year and said it will invest $2.7 billion in employee compensation and training over two years, a move it said contributed to improved service in its stores. 
 
These steps, analysts said, helped Wal-Mart to raise its fiscal-year forecast and buck a string of weak results from higher-end brick-and-mortar competitors like Target Corp, Macy&#39;s Inc&nbsp;and Kohls Corp&nbsp;. Target cut its fiscal-year profit outlook on Wednesday after quarterly sales fell more than expected. 
 
Wal-Mart US Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran said on a conference call that the company&#39;s customers were still cautious with their spending but were visiting stores more often and buying more items. Store visits increased 1.2 percent, and the average size of an order rose 0.4 percent during the second quarter ended on July 31.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We are seeing a steady improvement in the US business, and it is responding favourably to the changes we are making,&quot; he said. 
 
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said sales were strong for grocery items and apparel but weak for electronics. 
 
&quot;Walmart&#39;s strategic investments are generating traction, which is especially meaningful, given a large portion of its customer base remains challenged,&quot; said Moody&#39;s analyst Charlie O`Shea.&nbsp; 
 
The retailer said it was difficult to quantify the effects of low gasoline prices and unseasonably warm weather, but those factors contributed to overall sales growth. 
 
Online sales growth accelerated sequentially for the first time in more than five quarters, rising 11.8 per cent from 7 per cent in the first quarter.&nbsp; 
 
Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs said e-commerce growth was stronger in the United States than in major overseas markets, mainly because of its larger third-party seller business and the continued roll-out of online grocery pickup options. 
 
Wal-Mart has added 7 million items to its website this year, bringing the total to 15 million. This compares with 200 million on online rival Amazon.com Inc&nbsp;. 
 
The company raised its fiscal-year earnings outlook to between $4.15 and $4.35 a share, including an estimated hit of 5 cents from the Jet.com acquisition, from a previous range of $4 to $4.30. 
 
Second-quarter earnings per share of $1.07, excluding a gain from the sale of Wal-Mart&#39;s e-commerce business in China and other items, exceeded the analysts&#39; average estimate by 5 cents.&nbsp; 
 
Sales at US stores open at least a year rose 1.6 per cent, excluding fuel prices, to beat expectations in their eighth straight quarter of growth.&nbsp; 
 
International sales fell 6.6 pe rcent to $28.6 billion but increased 2.2 per cent on a currency-neutral basis. Total revenue rose 0.5 per cent to $120.9 billion.&nbsp; 
 
Wal-Mart&#39;s shares rose as much as 2.8 per cent earlier in the trading day. They were up 1.8 per cent at $74.23 in afternoon trade. 
 
(Reuters)

Improved online shopping was another factor behind the US retailer's higher-than-expected result

Wal-Mart Stores Inc reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings on Thursday, saying it benefited from cleaner and more efficient US stores, investments in technology that improved online shopping and higher employee wages that fostered better customer service. The world's largest retailer has been spending heavily to entice consumers back to its stores with better stocked shelves, and improving its e-commerce business by investing in new warehouses that can deliver online shipments faster. Last week, it announced the acquisition of online startup Jet.com for over $3 billion to better compete with Amazon.com Inc . Wal-Mart also increased entry level wages to $10 an hour earlier this year and said it will invest $2.7 billion in employee compensation and training over two years, a move it said contributed to improved service in its stores. These steps, analysts said, helped Wal-Mart to raise its fiscal-year forecast and buck a string of weak results from higher-end brick-and-mortar competitors like Target Corp, Macy's Inc and Kohls Corp . Target cut its fiscal-year profit outlook on Wednesday after quarterly sales fell more than expected. Wal-Mart US Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran said on a conference call that the company's customers were still cautious with their spending but were visiting stores more often and buying more items. Store visits increased 1.2 percent, and the average size of an order rose 0.4 percent during the second quarter ended on July 31. "We are seeing a steady improvement in the US business, and it is responding favourably to the changes we are making," he said. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said sales were strong for grocery items and apparel but weak for electronics. "Walmart's strategic investments are generating traction, which is especially meaningful, given a large portion of its customer base remains challenged," said Moody's analyst Charlie O`Shea. The retailer said it was difficult to quantify the effects of low gasoline prices and unseasonably warm weather, but those factors contributed to overall sales growth. Online sales growth accelerated sequentially for the first time in more than five quarters, rising 11.8 per cent from 7 per cent in the first quarter. Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs said e-commerce growth was stronger in the United States than in major overseas markets, mainly because of its larger third-party seller business and the continued roll-out of online grocery pickup options. Wal-Mart has added 7 million items to its website this year, bringing the total to 15 million. This compares with 200 million on online rival Amazon.com Inc . The company raised its fiscal-year earnings outlook to between $4.15 and $4.35 a share, including an estimated hit of 5 cents from the Jet.com acquisition, from a previous range of $4 to $4.30. Second-quarter earnings per share of $1.07, excluding a gain from the sale of Wal-Mart's e-commerce business in China and other items, exceeded the analysts' average estimate by 5 cents. Sales at US stores open at least a year rose 1.6 per cent, excluding fuel prices, to beat expectations in their eighth straight quarter of growth. International sales fell 6.6 pe rcent to $28.6 billion but increased 2.2 per cent on a currency-neutral basis. Total revenue rose 0.5 per cent to $120.9 billion. Wal-Mart's shares rose as much as 2.8 per cent earlier in the trading day. They were up 1.8 per cent at $74.23 in afternoon trade. (Reuters)

Wal-Mart rides on higher store visits to boost quarterly earnings

Brent crude oil prices rose above $51 a barrel on Friday to hit an eight-week high and was on track to rise for a seventh trading day, as hopes that producers could agree measures to support crude buoyed sentiment. 
 
International benchmark Brent crude oil futures were trading at $51.15 per barrel at 0618 GMT, up 26 cents from their last close. Brent prices remain in a bull-run that has lifted the market by over 20 percent since early August. Brent earlier hit $51.20. 
 
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures, were at $48.67 a barrel, up 45 cents. 
 
&quot;Oil prices climbed higher because of the US crude stocks downtrend and positive market sentiment, led by OPEC talks. Oil ETFs and managed money also continued to bet on the oil rise recently,&quot; a Hong Kong-based trader said. 
 
Nigerian oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said on Thursday that while a cut in OPEC production is unlikely, there is hope a meeting of producers in Algeria next month could help shore up crude prices. 
 
US crude was also pushed up by an open arbitrage opportunity to export WTI to Europe, leading to a rush of new orders. 
 
However, analysts and traders warned the rally was overblown, especially since planned talks between the Organization of the Petroleum 
Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other major producers like Russia to rein in on ballooning overproduction were unlikely to lead to a reduced supply overhang. 
 
&quot;Some believe &ndash; or more appropriately, hope &ndash; that the OPEC may come up with a plan to support prices at its informal meeting next month, something which we doubt will happen,&quot; said Fawad Razaqzada, a market analyst at Forex.com. 
 
The market appeared to be approaching overbought territory, a Singapore-based trader said. 
 
&quot;Prices could potentially rise another $1 to $2 a barrel before they fall, but the market will need a catalyst to spark the selloff,&quot; the trader said.&nbsp; 
 
(Reuters)

The market hopes that oil producers could agree on measures that will support crude buoyed sentiment

Brent crude oil prices rose above $51 a barrel on Friday to hit an eight-week high and was on track to rise for a seventh trading day, as hopes that producers could agree measures to support crude buoyed sentiment. International benchmark Brent crude oil futures were trading at $51.15 per barrel at 0618 GMT, up 26 cents from their last close. Brent prices remain in a bull-run that has lifted the market by over 20 percent since early August. Brent earlier hit $51.20. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures, were at $48.67 a barrel, up 45 cents. "Oil prices climbed higher because of the US crude stocks downtrend and positive market sentiment, led by OPEC talks. Oil ETFs and managed money also continued to bet on the oil rise recently," a Hong Kong-based trader said. Nigerian oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said on Thursday that while a cut in OPEC production is unlikely, there is hope a meeting of producers in Algeria next month could help shore up crude prices. US crude was also pushed up by an open arbitrage opportunity to export WTI to Europe, leading to a rush of new orders. However, analysts and traders warned the rally was overblown, especially since planned talks between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other major producers like Russia to rein in on ballooning overproduction were unlikely to lead to a reduced supply overhang. "Some believe – or more appropriately, hope – that the OPEC may come up with a plan to support prices at its informal meeting next month, something which we doubt will happen," said Fawad Razaqzada, a market analyst at Forex.com. The market appeared to be approaching overbought territory, a Singapore-based trader said. "Prices could potentially rise another $1 to $2 a barrel before they fall, but the market will need a catalyst to spark the selloff," the trader said. (Reuters)

Crude oil prices on a bull-run, cross $51 a barrel

Gawker will shutter its flagship website next week, after a court order to pay $140 million to retired wrestling star Hulk Hogan over a sex tape drove the company to bankruptcy. 
 
The announcement on Thursday came two days after Spanish-language broadcast television network Univision made a winning bid of $135 million for Gawker&#39;s other assets. 
 
Gawker founder Nick Denton broke the news to staff members on the same day that a bankruptcy court judge in Manhattan approved the Univision deal. 
 
Those working at Gawker.com will be given jobs at the websites being sold to Univision or elsewhere in that company, according to the post. 
 
Gawker Media websites include Deadspin, Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Jalopnik, and Jezebel, which are devoted to interests ranging from games and cars to sports, technology and women&#39;s empowerment. 
 
Not included in the Univision deal is 14-year-old Gawker.com or Denton, who had hoped the bankruptcy auction would keep the website alive. 
 
&quot;Sadly, neither I nor Gawker.com, the buccaneering flagship of the group I built with my colleagues, are coming along for this next stage,&quot; Denton said in a farewell message to employees posted online. 
 
&quot;We have not been able to find a single media company or investor willing also to take on Gawker.com. The campaign being mounted against its editorial ethos and former writers has made it too risky. I can understand the caution.&quot; 
 
In a sign that Gawker.com might plan to go down swinging, a post there late Thursday invited people to send tips worth pursuing. 
 
Univision confirmed the Gawker deal on Thursday, saying it will take over the six websites, which reach nearly 50 million readers monthly. 
 
Gawker assets will be integrated into a Fusion Media Group division at Univision to join The Onion and other offerings aimed at young, diverse audiences it considers to be &quot;the rising American mainstream.&quot; 
 
&quot;I expect the addition of these digital-first media assets will help FMG exceed the demands of the young, cross-cultural influencers we serve,&quot; Univision Communications Inc. chief news, entertainment and digital officer Isaac Lee said in a release. 
 
In March, a US jury ordered that wrestling star Hogan be allowed to collect $140 million in total compensation after Gawker published a videotape of him having sex with a friend&#39;s wife. 
 
Gawker filed for bankruptcy in June in an attempt to sidestep a shutdown from the judgment. 
 
Denton earlier this month filed for personal bankruptcy protection in a bid to stop his assets from being seized because of the judgment. 
 
The case drew heightened attention when tech billionaire Peter Thiel acknowledged that he had helped fund that and other litigation against Gawker, a company Thiel has feuded with for years since it &quot;outed&quot; him as gay. 
 
&quot;For my part, I am proud to have contributed financial support to his case,&quot; Thiel, who bankrolled the Hogan lawsuit, said in an op-ed piece in The New York Times this week. 
 
&quot;It is ridiculous to claim that journalism requires indiscriminate access to private people&#39;s sex lives.&quot; 
 
Denton has slammed what he called a &quot;personal vendetta&quot; and said in a memo to staff that it was &quot;disturbing to live in a world in which a billionaire can bully journalists because he didn&#39;t like the coverage.&quot; 
 
While Gawker has come under fire for its no-holds-barred approach to celebrity coverage, the case raised questions about whether powerful interests can use their resources to silence media for unfavorable coverage. 
 
German-born Thiel was a founder of the online payments firm PayPal, and served as its chief executive before it was sold to eBay. He was also an early investor in Facebook and has been active in venture investing in Silicon Valley. 
 
(AFP)

The employees will be given jobs at websites being sold to Spanish media network Univision or elsewhere in that company

Gawker will shutter its flagship website next week, after a court order to pay $140 million to retired wrestling star Hulk Hogan over a sex tape drove the company to bankruptcy. The announcement on Thursday came two days after Spanish-language broadcast television network Univision made a winning bid of $135 million for Gawker's other assets. Gawker founder Nick Denton broke the news to staff members on the same day that a bankruptcy court judge in Manhattan approved the Univision deal. Those working at Gawker.com will be given jobs at the websites being sold to Univision or elsewhere in that company, according to the post. Gawker Media websites include Deadspin, Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Jalopnik, and Jezebel, which are devoted to interests ranging from games and cars to sports, technology and women's empowerment. Not included in the Univision deal is 14-year-old Gawker.com or Denton, who had hoped the bankruptcy auction would keep the website alive. "Sadly, neither I nor Gawker.com, the buccaneering flagship of the group I built with my colleagues, are coming along for this next stage," Denton said in a farewell message to employees posted online. "We have not been able to find a single media company or investor willing also to take on Gawker.com. The campaign being mounted against its editorial ethos and former writers has made it too risky. I can understand the caution." In a sign that Gawker.com might plan to go down swinging, a post there late Thursday invited people to send tips worth pursuing. Univision confirmed the Gawker deal on Thursday, saying it will take over the six websites, which reach nearly 50 million readers monthly. Gawker assets will be integrated into a Fusion Media Group division at Univision to join The Onion and other offerings aimed at young, diverse audiences it considers to be "the rising American mainstream." "I expect the addition of these digital-first media assets will help FMG exceed the demands of the young, cross-cultural influencers we serve," Univision Communications Inc. chief news, entertainment and digital officer Isaac Lee said in a release. In March, a US jury ordered that wrestling star Hogan be allowed to collect $140 million in total compensation after Gawker published a videotape of him having sex with a friend's wife. Gawker filed for bankruptcy in June in an attempt to sidestep a shutdown from the judgment. Denton earlier this month filed for personal bankruptcy protection in a bid to stop his assets from being seized because of the judgment. The case drew heightened attention when tech billionaire Peter Thiel acknowledged that he had helped fund that and other litigation against Gawker, a company Thiel has feuded with for years since it "outed" him as gay. "For my part, I am proud to have contributed financial support to his case," Thiel, who bankrolled the Hogan lawsuit, said in an op-ed piece in The New York Times this week. "It is ridiculous to claim that journalism requires indiscriminate access to private people's sex lives." Denton has slammed what he called a "personal vendetta" and said in a memo to staff that it was "disturbing to live in a world in which a billionaire can bully journalists because he didn't like the coverage." While Gawker has come under fire for its no-holds-barred approach to celebrity coverage, the case raised questions about whether powerful interests can use their resources to silence media for unfavorable coverage. German-born Thiel was a founder of the online payments firm PayPal, and served as its chief executive before it was sold to eBay. He was also an early investor in Facebook and has been active in venture investing in Silicon Valley. (AFP)

Gawker to shut down its flagship website

The US ride-sharing service Uber announced Thursday it had acquired the commercial transport-focused tech start-up, Otto as the company presses ahead with its pursuit of self-driving technology. 
 
The announcement came as the company also announced a $300 million effort with the Sweden-based automaker Volvo Cars to develop driverless cars. 
 
&quot;If that sounds like a big deal, well, it is,&quot; Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said in a statement. 
 
&quot;In order to provide digital services in the physical world, we must build sophisticated logistics, artificial intelligence and robotics systems that serve and elevate humanity.&quot; 
 
Anthony Levandowski, the co-founder of Otto, a 90-person startup, will now lead Uber&#39;s efforts to develop self-driving technology for personal driving, delivery and trucking in Palo Alto, California, San Francisco and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 
 
The statement did not disclose the value of Otto&#39;s purchase. 
 
Kalanick claimed 90 per cent of road accidents were due to human error and that driverless cars would save lives. 
 
(AFP)

Otto co-founder Anthony Levandowski will now lead Uber's efforts to develop self-driving technology

The US ride-sharing service Uber announced Thursday it had acquired the commercial transport-focused tech start-up, Otto as the company presses ahead with its pursuit of self-driving technology. The announcement came as the company also announced a $300 million effort with the Sweden-based automaker Volvo Cars to develop driverless cars. "If that sounds like a big deal, well, it is," Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said in a statement. "In order to provide digital services in the physical world, we must build sophisticated logistics, artificial intelligence and robotics systems that serve and elevate humanity." Anthony Levandowski, the co-founder of Otto, a 90-person startup, will now lead Uber's efforts to develop self-driving technology for personal driving, delivery and trucking in Palo Alto, California, San Francisco and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The statement did not disclose the value of Otto's purchase. Kalanick claimed 90 per cent of road accidents were due to human error and that driverless cars would save lives. (AFP)

Uber buys commercial transport-focused tech start-up Otto

Less than a year after the coal industry was declared to be in terminal decline, the fossil fuel has staged its steepest price rally in over half a decade, making it one of the hottest major commodities. 
 
Cargo prices for Australian thermal coal from its Newcastle terminal, seen as the Asian benchmark, have soared over 35 per cent since mid-June to more than one-year highs of almost $70 a tonne, pushed by surprise increases in Chinese imports. 
 
&quot;Coal markets, after five years of declining prices, appear to have found a bottom in the first quarter,&quot; Australia&#39;s Whitehaven Coal said on today, as its shares hit a three-year high on the release of its annual results. 
 
&quot;Reasons for the increase in prices include mine closures in Indonesia, United States and Australia and policy change by Chinese authorities,&quot; Whitehaven said, adding it was confident that coal prices will rise. 
 
Goldman Sachs, reversing a gloomy outlook it issued last September, said this week restrictions on domestic production by Chinese regulators had turned coal &quot;into one of the best performing commodities so far this year.&quot; 
 
Global mining majors like Glencore and Anglo American, but also regional Asian players like Whitehaven and Thailand&#39;s Banpu, are reaping the benefits. 
 
All four have seen their shares rise sharply, particularly since China in April cut mine operating days by 16 per cent in a bid to help meet its target of reducing capacity by 250 million tonnes this year. 
 
Banpu, which operates several export mines across Asia-Pacific, said this week that it expects to sell its 2016 coal supplies at an average price of over $50 a tonne, up from a previous target of $47 to $48 per tonne. 
 
The price recovery is an unexpected boon for miners, who were hit hard by a years-long downturn, and stands in sharp contrast to previous calls by Goldman and the International Energy Agency (IEA), who said last year that coal was in terminal decline. 
 
As a result of China&#39;s surprise move, Goldman said there was now &quot;support (for) global prices for the foreseeable future.&quot; 
 
The bank raised its three, six and 12 month price forecasts to $65/$62/$60 per tonne for Newcastle coal, up as much as 38 per cent from its previous outlook. 
 
Winners and losers 
 
Coal has also been garnering support from Asian industrial powerhouses Japan and South Korea, while demand remains firm in India, Vietnam and the Philippines. 
 
Japan and South Korea have both said they want to expand future coal imports while reducing more expensive imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). 
 
China&#39;s power consumption has also risen against expectations, jumping 8.2 per cent from a year ago in July to reach 552.3 billion kilowatt hours. 
 
While almost all thermal coal miners were hit by the previous price decline, and most shut or sold assets, those left with the best assets now stand to benefit from the rebound. 
 
The biggest winners are those with mines in Australia, thanks to the high average quality of its coal. 
 
Whitehaven said it was confident its high quality coals will continue to attract a premium price. 
 
Shares of Anglo American, a major thermal coal miner in Australia, have also recovered from record lows earlier this year of around 2.2 pounds to around 8.7 pounds. 
 
Glencore, the world&#39;s biggest thermal coal exporter with huge Australian operations, has also seen its shares soar from around 70 pence early this year to nearly 2 pounds. 
 
Glencore was not available for comment ahead of reporting its half-year results on Aug. 24.&nbsp;Other miners have not been able to benefit from coal&#39;s 2016 boom. 
 
Indonesia, the world&#39;s biggest exporter of thermal coal, has seen its output fall during the lull, and its miners are unable to raise production due to debt constraints. 
 
(Reuters)

Cargo prices for Australian thermal coal from its Newcastle terminal have soared over 35 per cent since mid-June

Less than a year after the coal industry was declared to be in terminal decline, the fossil fuel has staged its steepest price rally in over half a decade, making it one of the hottest major commodities. Cargo prices for Australian thermal coal from its Newcastle terminal, seen as the Asian benchmark, have soared over 35 per cent since mid-June to more than one-year highs of almost $70 a tonne, pushed by surprise increases in Chinese imports. "Coal markets, after five years of declining prices, appear to have found a bottom in the first quarter," Australia's Whitehaven Coal said on today, as its shares hit a three-year high on the release of its annual results. "Reasons for the increase in prices include mine closures in Indonesia, United States and Australia and policy change by Chinese authorities," Whitehaven said, adding it was confident that coal prices will rise. Goldman Sachs, reversing a gloomy outlook it issued last September, said this week restrictions on domestic production by Chinese regulators had turned coal "into one of the best performing commodities so far this year." Global mining majors like Glencore and Anglo American, but also regional Asian players like Whitehaven and Thailand's Banpu, are reaping the benefits. All four have seen their shares rise sharply, particularly since China in April cut mine operating days by 16 per cent in a bid to help meet its target of reducing capacity by 250 million tonnes this year. Banpu, which operates several export mines across Asia-Pacific, said this week that it expects to sell its 2016 coal supplies at an average price of over $50 a tonne, up from a previous target of $47 to $48 per tonne. The price recovery is an unexpected boon for miners, who were hit hard by a years-long downturn, and stands in sharp contrast to previous calls by Goldman and the International Energy Agency (IEA), who said last year that coal was in terminal decline. As a result of China's surprise move, Goldman said there was now "support (for) global prices for the foreseeable future." The bank raised its three, six and 12 month price forecasts to $65/$62/$60 per tonne for Newcastle coal, up as much as 38 per cent from its previous outlook. Winners and losers Coal has also been garnering support from Asian industrial powerhouses Japan and South Korea, while demand remains firm in India, Vietnam and the Philippines. Japan and South Korea have both said they want to expand future coal imports while reducing more expensive imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). China's power consumption has also risen against expectations, jumping 8.2 per cent from a year ago in July to reach 552.3 billion kilowatt hours. While almost all thermal coal miners were hit by the previous price decline, and most shut or sold assets, those left with the best assets now stand to benefit from the rebound. The biggest winners are those with mines in Australia, thanks to the high average quality of its coal. Whitehaven said it was confident its high quality coals will continue to attract a premium price. Shares of Anglo American, a major thermal coal miner in Australia, have also recovered from record lows earlier this year of around 2.2 pounds to around 8.7 pounds. Glencore, the world's biggest thermal coal exporter with huge Australian operations, has also seen its shares soar from around 70 pence early this year to nearly 2 pounds. Glencore was not available for comment ahead of reporting its half-year results on Aug. 24. Other miners have not been able to benefit from coal's 2016 boom. Indonesia, the world's biggest exporter of thermal coal, has seen its output fall during the lull, and its miners are unable to raise production due to debt constraints. (Reuters)

After years of pain, coal becomes one of the hottest commodities of the year

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd is investing a total of $1.8 billion to increase its stakes in the top mobile operators of Thailand and India as part of its strategy to boost exposure to emerging markets. 
 
&quot;Thailand, India and Africa continue to be attractive, high-growth markets for us,&quot; Singtel&#39;s group CEO, Chua Sock Koong, said in a statement on today. 
 
SingTel has built a portfolio of stakes in regional mobile associates as it hunts for growth outside its small and mature home market of Singapore. 
 
SingTel said it had entered into conditional shares purchases with state investor Temasek Holdings to acquire 21 per cent of Thai telecoms firm Intouch Holdings. Intouch is the largest shareholder in Advanced Info Services, the country&#39;s biggest mobile operator, in which SingTel currently holds 23.3 per cent. 
 
It will also acquire 7.39 per cent of India&#39;s Bharti Telecom Ltd, the holding company of Bharti AirTel Ltd, the country&#39;s largest telecoms firm and SingTel&#39;s existing partner. 
 
The transactions will be funded through internal cash, short-term debt and proceeds from a share placement of 386 million new Singtel shares to Temasek totalling S$1.605 billion. 
 
Singtel, 51.1 per cent owned by Temasek, said the acquisitions and share placement are interdependent and have to close at the same time. 
 
(Reters)

SingTel said it plans to acquire 21 per cent of a Thai telecoms firm and will also acquire 7.39 per cent of India's Bharti Telecom

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd is investing a total of $1.8 billion to increase its stakes in the top mobile operators of Thailand and India as part of its strategy to boost exposure to emerging markets. "Thailand, India and Africa continue to be attractive, high-growth markets for us," Singtel's group CEO, Chua Sock Koong, said in a statement on today. SingTel has built a portfolio of stakes in regional mobile associates as it hunts for growth outside its small and mature home market of Singapore. SingTel said it had entered into conditional shares purchases with state investor Temasek Holdings to acquire 21 per cent of Thai telecoms firm Intouch Holdings. Intouch is the largest shareholder in Advanced Info Services, the country's biggest mobile operator, in which SingTel currently holds 23.3 per cent. It will also acquire 7.39 per cent of India's Bharti Telecom Ltd, the holding company of Bharti AirTel Ltd, the country's largest telecoms firm and SingTel's existing partner. The transactions will be funded through internal cash, short-term debt and proceeds from a share placement of 386 million new Singtel shares to Temasek totalling S$1.605 billion. Singtel, 51.1 per cent owned by Temasek, said the acquisitions and share placement are interdependent and have to close at the same time. (Reters)

SingTel to invest $1.8 billion to raise stakes in Indian, Thai mobile operators

Cisco Systems Inc is laying off about 14,000 employees, representing nearly 20 per cent of the network equipment maker`s global workforce, technology news site CRN reported, citing sources close to the company. 
 
California-based Cisco is expected to announce the cuts within the next few weeks, the report said, as the company transition from its hardware roots into a software-centric organization.&nbsp; 
 
Apart from Cisco, the other tech giants, which have announced job cuts in the face of PC industry decline in recent years, are Microsoft Corp, HP Inc and Intel Corp. 
 
Microsoft Corp kicked off one of the largest layoffs in Tech history in July 2014 after it said it would slash 18,000 jobs. 
 
HP Inc said in September 2015 that it expected to cut about 33,300 jobs over three years. 
 
Intel said in April that it would slash up to 12,000 jobs globally, or 11 per cent of its workforce. 
 
Cisco, which had more than 70,000 employees as of April 30, declined to comment. 
 
Cisco increasingly requires &quot;different skill sets&quot; for the &quot;software-defined future&quot; than it did in the past, as it pushes to capture a higher share of the addressable market and aims to boost its margins, the CRN report said citing a source familiar with the situation. 
 
Cisco has been investing in new products such as data analytics software and cloud-based tools for data centers, to offset the impact of sluggish spending by telecom carriers and enterprises on its main business of making network switches and routers. 
 
The company has already offered many early retirement package plans to Cisco`s employees, according to CRN.&nbsp; 
 
Up until Tuesday`s close of $31.12 on the Nasdaq, the company`s stock had risen about 15 per cent this year, compared with a 10.5 per cent increase in the Dow Jones US Technology Hardware &amp; Equipment index.&nbsp; 
 
(Reuters)

The company remained tight-lipped about the matter but sources privy to the information claim the downsizing would begin in next few weeks

Cisco Systems Inc is laying off about 14,000 employees, representing nearly 20 per cent of the network equipment maker`s global workforce, technology news site CRN reported, citing sources close to the company. California-based Cisco is expected to announce the cuts within the next few weeks, the report said, as the company transition from its hardware roots into a software-centric organization. Apart from Cisco, the other tech giants, which have announced job cuts in the face of PC industry decline in recent years, are Microsoft Corp, HP Inc and Intel Corp. Microsoft Corp kicked off one of the largest layoffs in Tech history in July 2014 after it said it would slash 18,000 jobs. HP Inc said in September 2015 that it expected to cut about 33,300 jobs over three years. Intel said in April that it would slash up to 12,000 jobs globally, or 11 per cent of its workforce. Cisco, which had more than 70,000 employees as of April 30, declined to comment. Cisco increasingly requires "different skill sets" for the "software-defined future" than it did in the past, as it pushes to capture a higher share of the addressable market and aims to boost its margins, the CRN report said citing a source familiar with the situation. Cisco has been investing in new products such as data analytics software and cloud-based tools for data centers, to offset the impact of sluggish spending by telecom carriers and enterprises on its main business of making network switches and routers. The company has already offered many early retirement package plans to Cisco`s employees, according to CRN. Up until Tuesday`s close of $31.12 on the Nasdaq, the company`s stock had risen about 15 per cent this year, compared with a 10.5 per cent increase in the Dow Jones US Technology Hardware & Equipment index. (Reuters)

Cisco to lay off 14,000 jobs: Report

Uber has launched a legal challenge against new rules in London which could require thousands of its drivers to take an English-language test, the company said on Tuesday. 
 
The move comes ahead of measures to be introduced on October 1 by the regional transport authority, Transport for London (TfL), that will tighten regulation of the private hire industry in the British capital. 
 
Uber originally backed the changes but said its opposition arose after more details of the regulations emerged. 
 
&quot;This legal action is very much a last resort,&quot; Tom Elvidge, general manager of Uber London said in a statement.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We&#39;re particularly disappointed that, after a lengthy consultation process with Transport for London, the goalposts have moved at the last minute and new rules are now being introduced that will be bad for both drivers and tech companies like Uber.&quot; 
 
Despite facing regulatory challenges in numerous countries, Uber has so far expanded to more than 50 countries and is worth an estimated $68 billion. 
 
The company&#39;s application for judicial review in London focuses on four of the new TfL rules.&nbsp; 
 
They include the requirement that all private hire drivers not from majority English-speaking countries must prove their language skills. 
 
While Uber supported an English- speaking and -listening test, it has argued that making drivers provide a certificate showing they have an intermediate level of writing and reading is unnecessary and costly.&nbsp; 
 
Uber has more than 30,000 drivers in London and estimates thousands would be affected by the change. 
 
Under the new rules, private hire companies will be required to run an operating centre within London, which their passengers are able to call during a ride.&nbsp; 
 
Uber`s customer support centre is currently based in Ireland and it is against moving its operations to London. 
 
Other rules opposed by Uber relate to drivers` insurance policies and the requirement that the company inform TfL of any upcoming changes to its app. 
 
TfL confirmed it received a letter from Uber warning it of the legal challenge. 
 
&quot;We responded to Uber`s letter and will be robustly defending the legal proceedings brought by them in relation to the changes to private hire regulations,&quot; a TfL spokesman said in a statement.&nbsp; 
 
(AFP)

Cab-hailing app contends that providing drivers with certificates proving their proficiency in the language is costly and unnecessary

Uber has launched a legal challenge against new rules in London which could require thousands of its drivers to take an English-language test, the company said on Tuesday. The move comes ahead of measures to be introduced on October 1 by the regional transport authority, Transport for London (TfL), that will tighten regulation of the private hire industry in the British capital. Uber originally backed the changes but said its opposition arose after more details of the regulations emerged. "This legal action is very much a last resort," Tom Elvidge, general manager of Uber London said in a statement. "We're particularly disappointed that, after a lengthy consultation process with Transport for London, the goalposts have moved at the last minute and new rules are now being introduced that will be bad for both drivers and tech companies like Uber." Despite facing regulatory challenges in numerous countries, Uber has so far expanded to more than 50 countries and is worth an estimated $68 billion. The company's application for judicial review in London focuses on four of the new TfL rules. They include the requirement that all private hire drivers not from majority English-speaking countries must prove their language skills. While Uber supported an English- speaking and -listening test, it has argued that making drivers provide a certificate showing they have an intermediate level of writing and reading is unnecessary and costly. Uber has more than 30,000 drivers in London and estimates thousands would be affected by the change. Under the new rules, private hire companies will be required to run an operating centre within London, which their passengers are able to call during a ride. Uber`s customer support centre is currently based in Ireland and it is against moving its operations to London. Other rules opposed by Uber relate to drivers` insurance policies and the requirement that the company inform TfL of any upcoming changes to its app. TfL confirmed it received a letter from Uber warning it of the legal challenge. "We responded to Uber`s letter and will be robustly defending the legal proceedings brought by them in relation to the changes to private hire regulations," a TfL spokesman said in a statement. (AFP)

Uber moves to block London's English test for drivers

Univision on Tuesday won the bidding for embattled Gawker Media, which recently filed for bankruptcy after being ordered to pay $140 million to Hulk Hogan for releasing his sex tape. 
 
Gawker confirmed that a deal was made to sell the company to the Spanish-language media giant, but did not disclose the price. 
US media reports pegged the purchase at $135 million. 
 
&quot;I am pleased that our employees are protected and will continue their work under new ownership, disentangled from the legal campaign against the company,&quot; Gawker founder Nick Denton said in an email. &quot;We could not have picked an acquirer more devoted to vibrant journalism.&quot; 
 
In March, a US jury in Florida ordered that wrestling star Hogan be allowed to collect $140 million in total compensation after Gawker published a videotape of him having sex with a friend`s wife. 
 
Gawker filed for bankruptcy in June in an attempt to sidestep a shutdown from the judgment. 
 
&quot;For my part, I am proud to have contributed financial support to his case,&quot; tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who bankrolled the Hogan lawsuit, said in an op-ed piece in The New York Times on Monday. 
 
&quot;It is ridiculous to claim that journalism requires indiscriminate access to private people&#39;s sex lives.&quot; 
 
Denton earlier this month filed for personal bankruptcy protection in a bid to stop his assets from being seized because of the judgment. 
 
Denton has slammed what he called a &quot;personal vendetta&quot; and said in a memo to staff that it was &quot;disturbing to live in a world in which a billionaire can bully journalists because he didn`t like the coverage&quot;. 
 
While Gawker has come under fire for its no-holds-barred approach to celebrity coverage, the case also raised questions about whether powerful interests can use their resources to silence media for unfavorable coverage. 
 
The case drew heightened attention when Thiel, a Silicon Valley titan, acknowledged that he had helped fund the litigation and others against Gawker, a company Thiel has feuded with for years since it &quot;outed&quot; him as gay. 
 
A filing in federal bankruptcy court in New York lists Gawker assets in a range of $50 million to $100 million, and liabilities between $100 million and $500 million. 
 
German-born Thiel was a founder of the online payments firm PayPal, and served as its chief executive before it was sold to eBay. He was also an early investor in Facebook and has been active in venture investing in Silicon Valley. 
 
Univision reportedly outbid US digital media company Ziff Davis for Gawker. 
 
(AFP)

The purchase of the blog company was made for $135 million, according to reports in the US media

Univision on Tuesday won the bidding for embattled Gawker Media, which recently filed for bankruptcy after being ordered to pay $140 million to Hulk Hogan for releasing his sex tape. Gawker confirmed that a deal was made to sell the company to the Spanish-language media giant, but did not disclose the price. US media reports pegged the purchase at $135 million. "I am pleased that our employees are protected and will continue their work under new ownership, disentangled from the legal campaign against the company," Gawker founder Nick Denton said in an email. "We could not have picked an acquirer more devoted to vibrant journalism." In March, a US jury in Florida ordered that wrestling star Hogan be allowed to collect $140 million in total compensation after Gawker published a videotape of him having sex with a friend`s wife. Gawker filed for bankruptcy in June in an attempt to sidestep a shutdown from the judgment. "For my part, I am proud to have contributed financial support to his case," tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who bankrolled the Hogan lawsuit, said in an op-ed piece in The New York Times on Monday. "It is ridiculous to claim that journalism requires indiscriminate access to private people's sex lives." Denton earlier this month filed for personal bankruptcy protection in a bid to stop his assets from being seized because of the judgment. Denton has slammed what he called a "personal vendetta" and said in a memo to staff that it was "disturbing to live in a world in which a billionaire can bully journalists because he didn`t like the coverage". While Gawker has come under fire for its no-holds-barred approach to celebrity coverage, the case also raised questions about whether powerful interests can use their resources to silence media for unfavorable coverage. The case drew heightened attention when Thiel, a Silicon Valley titan, acknowledged that he had helped fund the litigation and others against Gawker, a company Thiel has feuded with for years since it "outed" him as gay. A filing in federal bankruptcy court in New York lists Gawker assets in a range of $50 million to $100 million, and liabilities between $100 million and $500 million. German-born Thiel was a founder of the online payments firm PayPal, and served as its chief executive before it was sold to eBay. He was also an early investor in Facebook and has been active in venture investing in Silicon Valley. Univision reportedly outbid US digital media company Ziff Davis for Gawker. (AFP)

Spanish media giant Univision acquires Gawker Media

Uber has launched a legal challenge against new rules in London which could require thousands of its drivers to take an English-language test, the company said. 
 
The move comes ahead of measures to be introduced on October 1 by the regional transport authority, Transport for London (TfL), that will tighten regulation of the private hire industry in the British capital. 
 
Uber originally backed the changes but said its opposition arose after more details of the regulations emerged. 
 
&quot;This legal action is very much a last resort,&quot; Tom Elvidge, general manager of Uber London said in a statement yesterday. 
 
&quot;We&#39;re particularly disappointed that, after a lengthy consultation process with Transport for London, the goalposts have moved at the last minute and new rules are now being introduced that will be bad for both drivers and tech companies like Uber.&quot; 
 
Despite facing regulatory challenges in numerous countries, Uber has so far expanded to more than 50 countries and is worth an estimated USD 68 billion. 
 
The company&#39;s application for judicial review in London focuses on four of the new TfL rules. 
 
They include the requirement that all private hire drivers not from majority English-speaking countries must prove their language skills. 
 
While Uber supported an English- speaking and -listening test, it has argued that making drivers provide a certificate showing they have an intermediate level of writing and reading is unnecessary and costly. 
 
Uber has more than 30,000 drivers in London and estimates thousands would be affected by the change. 
 
Under the new rules private hire companies will be required to run an operating centre within London, which their passengers are able to call during a ride. 
 
Uber&#39;s customer support centre is currently based in Ireland and it is against moving its operations to London. 
 
Other rules opposed by Uber relate to drivers&#39; insurance policies and the requirement that the company inform TfL of any upcoming changes to its app. 
 
TfL confirmed it received a letter from Uber warning it of the legal challenge. 
 
&quot;We responded to Uber&#39;s letter and will be robustly defending the legal proceedings brought by them in relation to the changes to private hire regulations,&quot; a TfL spokesman said in a statement. 
 
(AFP)

Cab-hailing app argues that making drivers provide a certificate showing they have an intermediate level of writing and reading is costly

Uber has launched a legal challenge against new rules in London which could require thousands of its drivers to take an English-language test, the company said. The move comes ahead of measures to be introduced on October 1 by the regional transport authority, Transport for London (TfL), that will tighten regulation of the private hire industry in the British capital. Uber originally backed the changes but said its opposition arose after more details of the regulations emerged. "This legal action is very much a last resort," Tom Elvidge, general manager of Uber London said in a statement yesterday. "We're particularly disappointed that, after a lengthy consultation process with Transport for London, the goalposts have moved at the last minute and new rules are now being introduced that will be bad for both drivers and tech companies like Uber." Despite facing regulatory challenges in numerous countries, Uber has so far expanded to more than 50 countries and is worth an estimated USD 68 billion. The company's application for judicial review in London focuses on four of the new TfL rules. They include the requirement that all private hire drivers not from majority English-speaking countries must prove their language skills. While Uber supported an English- speaking and -listening test, it has argued that making drivers provide a certificate showing they have an intermediate level of writing and reading is unnecessary and costly. Uber has more than 30,000 drivers in London and estimates thousands would be affected by the change. Under the new rules private hire companies will be required to run an operating centre within London, which their passengers are able to call during a ride. Uber's customer support centre is currently based in Ireland and it is against moving its operations to London. Other rules opposed by Uber relate to drivers' insurance policies and the requirement that the company inform TfL of any upcoming changes to its app. TfL confirmed it received a letter from Uber warning it of the legal challenge. "We responded to Uber's letter and will be robustly defending the legal proceedings brought by them in relation to the changes to private hire regulations," a TfL spokesman said in a statement. (AFP)

Uber moves to block London's new English test rule for drivers

The British pound slumped to a fresh three-year low against the euro Monday and edged lower on the dollar, as signs of weakness mounted in the British economy. 
 
At 86.80 pence on the euro, the pound was at its weakest level since August 2013. 
 
Meanwhile sterling fell to $1.2883, just barely above its $1.2798 post-Brexit vote level that marked a three-decade low against the US greenback. 
 
The currency&#39;s fall came as data from Britain showed London residential rents fell for the first time in six years in July, amid worries the June 23 vote to exit the European Union was already having an impact on the economy. 
 
The rental data came on the heels of numbers showing home prices fell for the second straight month. 
 
&quot;In the month of August, the British pound has been the weakest currency and the trend continued today,&quot; said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management. 
 
&quot;The main reason why the currency is weak is because investors are worried about this week&#39;s UK economic reports.&quot; 
 
Even if the formal moves to leave the European Union will not be taken by the government until next year, Lien said, &quot;the damage has been done and consequences are just beginning to appear.&quot; 
 
2100 GMT Monday Friday 
 
EUR/USD 1.1183 1.1165 
 
EUR/JPY 113.23 113.07 
 
EUR/CHF 1.0877 1.0882 
 
EUR/GBP 0.8680 0.8643 
 
USD/JPY 101.25 101.27 
 
USD/CHF 0.9726 0.9747 
 
GBP/USD 1.2883 1.2918

The currency's fall comes as data showed London residential rents fell for the first time in six years in July

The British pound slumped to a fresh three-year low against the euro Monday and edged lower on the dollar, as signs of weakness mounted in the British economy. At 86.80 pence on the euro, the pound was at its weakest level since August 2013. Meanwhile sterling fell to $1.2883, just barely above its $1.2798 post-Brexit vote level that marked a three-decade low against the US greenback. The currency's fall came as data from Britain showed London residential rents fell for the first time in six years in July, amid worries the June 23 vote to exit the European Union was already having an impact on the economy. The rental data came on the heels of numbers showing home prices fell for the second straight month. "In the month of August, the British pound has been the weakest currency and the trend continued today," said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management. "The main reason why the currency is weak is because investors are worried about this week's UK economic reports." Even if the formal moves to leave the European Union will not be taken by the government until next year, Lien said, "the damage has been done and consequences are just beginning to appear." 2100 GMT Monday Friday EUR/USD 1.1183 1.1165 EUR/JPY 113.23 113.07 EUR/CHF 1.0877 1.0882 EUR/GBP 0.8680 0.8643 USD/JPY 101.25 101.27 USD/CHF 0.9726 0.9747 GBP/USD 1.2883 1.2918

British Pound slumps to three-year low against Euro

The weak outlook for the UK economy will outweigh any potential pay rise for British workers if the country&#39;s EU exit leads to immigration cuts, a report warned on Monday.

Future cuts to immigration could have a positive impact on the income of some British workers, but they will still be exposed to&nbsp;Brexit&#39;s impact on the broader economy, the Resolution Foundation think tank said.

Cleaners, security employees and sales staff are among those who have seen their income fall in recent years as a result of immigration, it said in an analysis.

These workers could see their income increase by between 0.2 and 0.6 per cent by 2018 if immigration fell immediately to tens of thousands a year, a key policy pledge by former prime minister David Cameron.

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But such a salary boost would not shelter workers from the wider economic consequences from Brexit, the think tank said.

The Bank of England earlier this month issued its biggest-ever downgrade of a GDP forecast in the light of Britain&#39;s looming EU exit.

Its growth forecast was slashed from 2.3 per cent for both 2017 and 2018 to 0.8 per cent next year and 1.8 per cent the year after.

&quot;Those expecting a wage boost off the back of a post-Brexit&nbsp;fall in migration are likely to be disappointed,&quot; said Stephen Clarke, a policy analyst at the Resolution Foundation.

&quot;Any such gains will be dwarfed by the losses caused by the post-referendum slowdown in the economy.&quot; 
 
Immigration was a focus point of the June 23 referendum, with campaigners to leave the EU calling for an end to freedom of movement for members of the bloc.

The Resolution Foundation said overall the increase in immigration over the past 10 years has not had an impact on the wages of British workers.

The think tank warned a cut to migration would prove challenging for food and clothing manufacturers, as well as domestic personnel services, which rely more heavily on a foreign labour force.

Prime Minister Theresa May, who replaced Cameron following the referendum, has said she intends to guarantee the rights of EU citizens currently living in Britain.

May said her promise depends on the rights of British citizens living in other EU countries being guaranteed after the UK leaves the union, which is not expected to happen before 2019. 
 
(AFP)

The study also warned that curbing migration would prove challenging for food and clothing manufacturers

The weak outlook for the UK economy will outweigh any potential pay rise for British workers if the country's EU exit leads to immigration cuts, a report warned on Monday. Future cuts to immigration could have a positive impact on the income of some British workers, but they will still be exposed to Brexit's impact on the broader economy, the Resolution Foundation think tank said. Cleaners, security employees and sales staff are among those who have seen their income fall in recent years as a result of immigration, it said in an analysis. These workers could see their income increase by between 0.2 and 0.6 per cent by 2018 if immigration fell immediately to tens of thousands a year, a key policy pledge by former prime minister David Cameron. The think tank warned a cut to migration would prove challenging for food and clothing manufacturers, as well as domestic personnel services, which rely more heavily on a foreign labour force. But such a salary boost would not shelter workers from the wider economic consequences from Brexit, the think tank said. The Bank of England earlier this month issued its biggest-ever downgrade of a GDP forecast in the light of Britain's looming EU exit. Its growth forecast was slashed from 2.3 per cent for both 2017 and 2018 to 0.8 per cent next year and 1.8 per cent the year after. "Those expecting a wage boost off the back of a post-Brexit fall in migration are likely to be disappointed," said Stephen Clarke, a policy analyst at the Resolution Foundation. "Any such gains will be dwarfed by the losses caused by the post-referendum slowdown in the economy." Immigration was a focus point of the June 23 referendum, with campaigners to leave the EU calling for an end to freedom of movement for members of the bloc. The Resolution Foundation said overall the increase in immigration over the past 10 years has not had an impact on the wages of British workers. The think tank warned a cut to migration would prove challenging for food and clothing manufacturers, as well as domestic personnel services, which rely more heavily on a foreign labour force. Prime Minister Theresa May, who replaced Cameron following the referendum, has said she intends to guarantee the rights of EU citizens currently living in Britain. May said her promise depends on the rights of British citizens living in other EU countries being guaranteed after the UK leaves the union, which is not expected to happen before 2019. (AFP)

Brexit fallout to dwarf benefits of pay rise: Report

The Dollar slumped today as dealers awaited the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve&#39;s&nbsp;last meeting, while an overnight jump in oil prices lifted emerging Asian currencies. 
 
The US central bank is on Wednesday due to release minutes of its July 26-27 meeting, when it left key interest rates unchanged. 
 
But the Fed acknowledged an improved performance in the world&#39;s top economy, suggesting a rate hike may still be on the horizon this year. 
 
A rise in borrowing costs would tend to stoke demand for the Dollar-denominated assets, boosting the green back. 
 
&quot;The market really has not moved to price in any more chance of Fed tightening,&quot; Daniel Katzive, head of foreign-exchange strategy for North America at BNP Paribas, told Bloomberg News. 
 
&quot;That&#39;s sapped the Dollar of any momentum.&quot; 
 
In Tokyo, the Dollar slipped to 100.44 yen from 101.25 yen Monday in New York and its lowest level in about a month, while the euro was at $1.1191 against $1.1183. 
 
The common currency weakened to 112.41 yen from 113.23 yen in US trade. 
 
The pound traded at $1.2902 against $1.2883 in the US, still near its weakest levels in more than 30 years touched in the aftermath of Britain&#39;s&nbsp;June vote to leave the European Union. 
 
The Dollar also dropped against higher-yielding emerging market currencies, which benefited from stronger oil prices and an uptick in investor sentiment. 
 
The oil-linked Malaysian ringgit, the South Korean won, Singapore and Taiwan Dollars, Philippine peso and Indonesian rupiah all rose against the US unit.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;A recovery in risk appetite is sending emerging currencies stronger,&quot; said Wu Mingze, a Singapore-based foreign-exchange trader at INTL FCStone Inc. 
 
&quot;Commodities are rallying, lifting stock prices and commodity currencies.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

A rise in borrowing costs would tend to stoke demand for Dollar-denominated assets, boosting the green back

The Dollar slumped today as dealers awaited the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting, while an overnight jump in oil prices lifted emerging Asian currencies. The US central bank is on Wednesday due to release minutes of its July 26-27 meeting, when it left key interest rates unchanged. But the Fed acknowledged an improved performance in the world's top economy, suggesting a rate hike may still be on the horizon this year. A rise in borrowing costs would tend to stoke demand for the Dollar-denominated assets, boosting the green back. "The market really has not moved to price in any more chance of Fed tightening," Daniel Katzive, head of foreign-exchange strategy for North America at BNP Paribas, told Bloomberg News. "That's sapped the Dollar of any momentum." In Tokyo, the Dollar slipped to 100.44 yen from 101.25 yen Monday in New York and its lowest level in about a month, while the euro was at $1.1191 against $1.1183. The common currency weakened to 112.41 yen from 113.23 yen in US trade. The pound traded at $1.2902 against $1.2883 in the US, still near its weakest levels in more than 30 years touched in the aftermath of Britain's June vote to leave the European Union. The Dollar also dropped against higher-yielding emerging market currencies, which benefited from stronger oil prices and an uptick in investor sentiment. The oil-linked Malaysian ringgit, the South Korean won, Singapore and Taiwan Dollars, Philippine peso and Indonesian rupiah all rose against the US unit. "A recovery in risk appetite is sending emerging currencies stronger," said Wu Mingze, a Singapore-based foreign-exchange trader at INTL FCStone Inc. "Commodities are rallying, lifting stock prices and commodity currencies." (AFP)

Dollar slumps ahead of Fed meeting minutes

BHP Billiton reported a record $6.4 billion annual loss&nbsp;today, hammered by a bad bet on shale, a dam disaster in Brazil and a commodities slump, but said it expects its cash flow to more than double this year. 
 
The world&#39;s biggest mining company said with cost cuts and a reduction in net debt it expects to generate more than $7 billion in free cash flow in the year to June 2017, at current prices for iron ore, copper, coal, oil and gas. 
 
&quot;While commodity prices are expected to remain low and volatile in the short to medium term, we are confident in the long-term outlook for our commodities, particularly oil and copper,&quot; chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said in a statement. 
 
Excluding $7.7 billion in writedowns and charges, underlying profit still slumped 81 per cent to $1.2 billion for the year to June 2016 from $6.4 billion a year ago, hit by weak prices for its major commodities.&nbsp;The company said weaker commodity prices wiped $US10.7 billion off its pre-tax earnings. 
 
The major costs came from cutting the value of its US shale oil and gas assets ($US4.9 billion), the Samarco iron ore disaster in Brazil ($US2.2 billion) and money set aside for global taxation reassessments ($US570 million). 
 
Even excluding those write-downs, BHP Billiton&#39;s underlying net profit crashed 81 per cent to $1.22 billion. 
 
The underlying profit was the weakest since the merger of BHP and Billiton in 2001, but better than analysts&#39; expectations of around $1.1 billion. 
 
Shoring itself up against tough markets, BHP, like rival Rio Tinto, in February abandoned its long-held policy of never cutting dividends, and flagged instead it would pay out at least 50 percent of underlying profit from then on. 
 
It announced a full-year dividend of 30 cents, which it said was more than the minimum under its new payout policy, although it was just below analysts&#39; forecasts around 32 cents. 
 
Net debt rose slightly from December to $26.1 billion, which was higher than the $25 billion that analysts had expected, but BHP said it expects net debt to fall in the 2017 financial year. 
 
&quot;We continue to pursue capital-efficient latent capacity opportunities which will support volume growth of up to four per cent next year, excluding our onshore US assets where we continue to defer activity to maximise value,&quot; Mackenzie said, referring to its shale oil and gas business.&nbsp; 
 
BHP Billiton was formed through the 2001 merger of Australia&#39;s mining and oil giant BHP and UK-based mining group Billiton. The merger created the world&#39;s largest diversified resources company, with operations in 20 countries spanning the aluminum, coal, copper, ferro-alloys, iron ore, titanium, nickel, diamond, and silver mining sectors, as well as the oil, gas, and liquefied natural gas markets. 
 
BHP Billiton has posted a statutory net full-year loss of $US6.385 ($8.3 billion) on significant one-off write-downs. 
 
The final dividend of 14 US cents per share, fully-franked, down 77 per cent from last year&#39;s final payout of 62 US cents was declared. 
 
(Reuters)

The mining company was hamstrung this year by a bad gamble on shale and the dam disaster in Brazil

BHP Billiton reported a record $6.4 billion annual loss today, hammered by a bad bet on shale, a dam disaster in Brazil and a commodities slump, but said it expects its cash flow to more than double this year. The world's biggest mining company said with cost cuts and a reduction in net debt it expects to generate more than $7 billion in free cash flow in the year to June 2017, at current prices for iron ore, copper, coal, oil and gas. "While commodity prices are expected to remain low and volatile in the short to medium term, we are confident in the long-term outlook for our commodities, particularly oil and copper," chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said in a statement. Excluding $7.7 billion in writedowns and charges, underlying profit still slumped 81 per cent to $1.2 billion for the year to June 2016 from $6.4 billion a year ago, hit by weak prices for its major commodities. The company said weaker commodity prices wiped $US10.7 billion off its pre-tax earnings. The major costs came from cutting the value of its US shale oil and gas assets ($US4.9 billion), the Samarco iron ore disaster in Brazil ($US2.2 billion) and money set aside for global taxation reassessments ($US570 million). Even excluding those write-downs, BHP Billiton's underlying net profit crashed 81 per cent to $1.22 billion. The underlying profit was the weakest since the merger of BHP and Billiton in 2001, but better than analysts' expectations of around $1.1 billion. Shoring itself up against tough markets, BHP, like rival Rio Tinto, in February abandoned its long-held policy of never cutting dividends, and flagged instead it would pay out at least 50 percent of underlying profit from then on. It announced a full-year dividend of 30 cents, which it said was more than the minimum under its new payout policy, although it was just below analysts' forecasts around 32 cents. Net debt rose slightly from December to $26.1 billion, which was higher than the $25 billion that analysts had expected, but BHP said it expects net debt to fall in the 2017 financial year. "We continue to pursue capital-efficient latent capacity opportunities which will support volume growth of up to four per cent next year, excluding our onshore US assets where we continue to defer activity to maximise value," Mackenzie said, referring to its shale oil and gas business. BHP Billiton was formed through the 2001 merger of Australia's mining and oil giant BHP and UK-based mining group Billiton. The merger created the world's largest diversified resources company, with operations in 20 countries spanning the aluminum, coal, copper, ferro-alloys, iron ore, titanium, nickel, diamond, and silver mining sectors, as well as the oil, gas, and liquefied natural gas markets. BHP Billiton has posted a statutory net full-year loss of $US6.385 ($8.3 billion) on significant one-off write-downs. The final dividend of 14 US cents per share, fully-franked, down 77 per cent from last year's final payout of 62 US cents was declared. (Reuters)

World's biggest miner BHP Billiton reports $6.4 billion record loss

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan called on Monday for a new structure to oversee state-owned lenders, saying too many regulators had overlapping jurisdictions. 
 
Rajan listed a number of institutions that oversee banks, including parliament, the recently created Banks Board Bureau to improve governance at state-owned lenders and the RBI. 
 
He added that the government and the central bank also needed to reduce the difference in treatment towards private lenders and their state-owned rivals, which are subject to mandates including lending to under-served segments of the population. 
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However, the RBI governor, who is due to step down on September 4, said his views were intended to start a discussion and did not represent the formal stance of the RBI. 
 
&quot;With so many overlapping constituencies to satisfy, it is a wonder that bank management has time to devote to the management of the bank,&quot; Rajan said in an address to a bankers&#39; conference in Mumbai. 
 
&quot;It is important that we streamline and reduce the overlaps between the jurisdictions of the authorities, and specify clear triggers or situations where one authority&#39;s oversight is invoked.&quot; 
 
Rajan added that banks&#39; boards needed to be empowered to provide proper oversight of banks, suggesting the RBI should withdraw its representative from boards at state-owned lenders and provide a &quot;pure regulatory role&quot;, an action that would require a change to current legislation. 
 
Restoring India&#39;s state-owned banks to health is vital for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revive lending, investment and create jobs for the million young Indians who join the labour market each month. 
 
Government-owned lenders account for around 70 percent of lending in Asia&#39;s third-largest economy. 
 
(Reuters)&nbsp; 
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The outgoing RBI chief said his views were intended to start a discussion and did not represent the formal stance

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan called on Monday for a new structure to oversee state-owned lenders, saying too many regulators had overlapping jurisdictions. Rajan listed a number of institutions that oversee banks, including parliament, the recently created Banks Board Bureau to improve governance at state-owned lenders and the RBI. He added that the government and the central bank also needed to reduce the difference in treatment towards private lenders and their state-owned rivals, which are subject to mandates including lending to under-served segments of the population. "With so many overlapping constituencies to satisfy, it is a wonder that bank management has time to devote to the management of the bank" However, the RBI governor, who is due to step down on September 4, said his views were intended to start a discussion and did not represent the formal stance of the RBI. "With so many overlapping constituencies to satisfy, it is a wonder that bank management has time to devote to the management of the bank," Rajan said in an address to a bankers' conference in Mumbai. "It is important that we streamline and reduce the overlaps between the jurisdictions of the authorities, and specify clear triggers or situations where one authority's oversight is invoked." Rajan added that banks' boards needed to be empowered to provide proper oversight of banks, suggesting the RBI should withdraw its representative from boards at state-owned lenders and provide a "pure regulatory role", an action that would require a change to current legislation. Restoring India's state-owned banks to health is vital for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revive lending, investment and create jobs for the million young Indians who join the labour market each month. Government-owned lenders account for around 70 percent of lending in Asia's third-largest economy. (Reuters)

Raghuram Rajan calls for revamp of India's bank regulators

Federal investigators probing Volkswagen&#39;s diesel emissions cheating scandal have uncovered evidence of criminal wrongdoing, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing sources familiar with the matter. 
 
The justice department is now negotiating a settlement which may involve significant financial penalties for the company, the newspaper said. 
 
The German automaker has worked swiftly to put the emissions scandal behind it, reaching multi-billion-dollar civil settlements with most US states and offering to compensate owners and fix deficient automobiles. 
 
But, with the possibility of criminal sanctions, Monday&#39;s news added a grave new dimension to the company&#39;s travails. 
 
Prosecutors had yet to decide on specific charges, according to the Journal. 
 
It said the department is weighing the alternatives of requiring a guilty plea from the company, or offering it a deferred prosecution agreement, which would require certain corrective behaviour by the company over time after which charges would be dropped. 
 
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on the report. 
 
In a statement, Volkswagen said talks were continuing with federal and state authorities, including the Justice Department. 
 
&quot;Volkswagen is committed to earning back the trust of our customers, dealers, regulators and the American public.&quot; 
 
The company admitted last year to installing cheating devices on nearly 600,000 diesel-powered vehicles in the US and as many as 11 million worldwide. 
 
Cars were configured to reduce harmful nitrogen oxide emissions during official pollution tests, while allowing emissions of up to 40 times the legal limit during actual driving. 
 
The company, which also markets Audi and Porsche vehicles, settled civil cases in June over cheat devices on 2.0 liter cars in an agreement valued at $14.7 billion. 
 
It still needs to settle complaints about its 3.0 liter diesel cars. 
 
Lawsuits filed last month by the attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts implicated senior company executives in the emissions cheating, suggesting a current and former CEO may have been aware of it. 
 
Both men, current CEO Matthias Mueller and his predecessor Martin Winterkorn, have denied personal responsibility for wrongdoing. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp; 
 
&nbsp;

The justice department is now negotiating a settlement which may involve significant financial penalties for the company, WSJ said?

Federal investigators probing Volkswagen's diesel emissions cheating scandal have uncovered evidence of criminal wrongdoing, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The justice department is now negotiating a settlement which may involve significant financial penalties for the company, the newspaper said. The German automaker has worked swiftly to put the emissions scandal behind it, reaching multi-billion-dollar civil settlements with most US states and offering to compensate owners and fix deficient automobiles. But, with the possibility of criminal sanctions, Monday's news added a grave new dimension to the company's travails. Prosecutors had yet to decide on specific charges, according to the Journal. It said the department is weighing the alternatives of requiring a guilty plea from the company, or offering it a deferred prosecution agreement, which would require certain corrective behaviour by the company over time after which charges would be dropped. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on the report. In a statement, Volkswagen said talks were continuing with federal and state authorities, including the Justice Department. "Volkswagen is committed to earning back the trust of our customers, dealers, regulators and the American public." The company admitted last year to installing cheating devices on nearly 600,000 diesel-powered vehicles in the US and as many as 11 million worldwide. Cars were configured to reduce harmful nitrogen oxide emissions during official pollution tests, while allowing emissions of up to 40 times the legal limit during actual driving. The company, which also markets Audi and Porsche vehicles, settled civil cases in June over cheat devices on 2.0 liter cars in an agreement valued at $14.7 billion. It still needs to settle complaints about its 3.0 liter diesel cars. Lawsuits filed last month by the attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts implicated senior company executives in the emissions cheating, suggesting a current and former CEO may have been aware of it. Both men, current CEO Matthias Mueller and his predecessor Martin Winterkorn, have denied personal responsibility for wrongdoing. (AFP)

US uncovers evidence of criminality in Volkswagen's emissions probe: Report?

China leads the world in connecting everyday devices to the internet, but is creating huge hacking vulnerabilities for itself and others by doing so, renegade American software pioneer John McAfee warned today. 
 
Hackers had already been able to gain control of devices such as safes and heating controls, and take over the computer systems of automobiles and aeroplanes, he said. 
 
&ldquo;China is taking the lead in putting intelligence into devices, from refrigerators to smart thermostats, and this is our weakest link in cybersecurity,&rdquo; he said in Beijing. 
 
&quot;I am hoping that in the short time I am here I can raise a warning flag that we have to take security of these devices even more importantly than our large computers or our smart phones,&quot; he told a conference of internet security professionals. 
 
&quot;Because there are so many more of these devices, and the more that are connected, then the higher the risk of a potential hack becomes.&quot; 
 
McAfee, 70, is the colourful founder of an antivirus software company who once fled Belize after police sought to question him in a murder case. 
 
He has since returned to the United States, where he announced he was running for president. 
 
He amassed an estimated $100 million fortune during the early days of the internet in the 1990s, but lost most of it to bad investments and the financial crisis. 
 
He was living with a 17-year-old girl in Belize when police came looking for him to discuss the killing of his neighbour -- a crime of which he maintains his innocence. He was briefly incarcerated and fled the Central American country. 
 
McAfee&#39;s at times dire and alarming speech in Beijing came as his new company MGT Capital prepares to launch cybersecurity products later this year.&nbsp; 
 
&#39;Not an alarmist&#39;&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Our species has never before faced a threat of this magnitude. And we have not noticed it by and large,&quot; he said. 
 
&quot;You may thinking I am exaggerating, that I am an alarmist. I am friends with many of the hackers who have the capability to do enormous damage if they so chose.&quot; 
 
Chinese companies such as Xiaomi have been praised for innovation in adding internet connectivity to a variety of devices including air purifiers and rice cookers, allowing users to switch them on from work or on their way home. 
 
Such connections create serious new weaknesses that could leave users&#39; networks especially vulnerable to hacking, McAfee said. 
 
But in a briefing with reporters, he also commended Beijing&#39;s protection of its domestic internet, which is heavily censored and blocks many foreign websites, for its seeming security against the large-scale breaches seen recently in the US. 
 
&ldquo;You may notice that last year America suffered hundreds of major hacks from all around the world,&rdquo; he said, and added that he had &ldquo;heard nothing&rdquo; of similar hacks on China. 
 
&ldquo;Now perhaps that&#39;s the government&#39;s control of the press, I don&#39;t know,&quot; he said. &quot;But I do know that within certain industries of China, the awareness of cybersecurity threats is far greater than our awareness in America.&rdquo; 
 
(AFP) 
 
 
&nbsp;

Hackers had already been able to gain control of safes and take over the computer systems of cars & planes, he said

China leads the world in connecting everyday devices to the internet, but is creating huge hacking vulnerabilities for itself and others by doing so, renegade American software pioneer John McAfee warned today. Hackers had already been able to gain control of devices such as safes and heating controls, and take over the computer systems of automobiles and aeroplanes, he said. “China is taking the lead in putting intelligence into devices, from refrigerators to smart thermostats, and this is our weakest link in cybersecurity,” he said in Beijing. "I am hoping that in the short time I am here I can raise a warning flag that we have to take security of these devices even more importantly than our large computers or our smart phones," he told a conference of internet security professionals. "Because there are so many more of these devices, and the more that are connected, then the higher the risk of a potential hack becomes." McAfee, 70, is the colourful founder of an antivirus software company who once fled Belize after police sought to question him in a murder case. He has since returned to the United States, where he announced he was running for president. He amassed an estimated $100 million fortune during the early days of the internet in the 1990s, but lost most of it to bad investments and the financial crisis. He was living with a 17-year-old girl in Belize when police came looking for him to discuss the killing of his neighbour -- a crime of which he maintains his innocence. He was briefly incarcerated and fled the Central American country. McAfee's at times dire and alarming speech in Beijing came as his new company MGT Capital prepares to launch cybersecurity products later this year. 'Not an alarmist' "Our species has never before faced a threat of this magnitude. And we have not noticed it by and large," he said. "You may thinking I am exaggerating, that I am an alarmist. I am friends with many of the hackers who have the capability to do enormous damage if they so chose." Chinese companies such as Xiaomi have been praised for innovation in adding internet connectivity to a variety of devices including air purifiers and rice cookers, allowing users to switch them on from work or on their way home. Such connections create serious new weaknesses that could leave users' networks especially vulnerable to hacking, McAfee said. But in a briefing with reporters, he also commended Beijing's protection of its domestic internet, which is heavily censored and blocks many foreign websites, for its seeming security against the large-scale breaches seen recently in the US. “You may notice that last year America suffered hundreds of major hacks from all around the world,” he said, and added that he had “heard nothing” of similar hacks on China. “Now perhaps that's the government's control of the press, I don't know," he said. "But I do know that within certain industries of China, the awareness of cybersecurity threats is far greater than our awareness in America.” (AFP)

Software maverick McAfee warns China of hacking weakness