Law Blog rounds up the morning’s legal news: Authorities allege $1 billion fraud at Platinum Partners: Top executives at the hedge-fund firm, including founder Mark Nordlicht, were arrested and charged with defrauding investors in one of the biggest such cases since Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. [WSJ, Bloomberg] Judge Persky cleared: A California judicial disciplinary panel found no grounds to sanction Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky over the six-month sentence […]
Good morning. Here’s our morning roundup of all the media news you need to know. Want to get this briefing in your inbox every morning? Subscribe here. It could be called the “NBC Very, Very Late Nightly News With Brian Williams.” Instead, it’s “The 11th Hour With Brian Williams” on MSNBC — a new show starring an old face who’s honorably doing what he does well in […]
It started off as one of those typical conversations you have when you’re in a foreign country and the taxi driver recognizes you to be a foreigner. “Where are you from?,” he asks, soon after I get into the bright yellow taxi cab, to which I reply “Sri Lanka.”“Beautiful country,” he responds.“Have you been there?” I ask him politely.“No, but my friend went there for a holiday. He […]
Facebook faces a potential fine after the European Commission accused the social network of being misleading during the approval process of its $19bn takeover of WhatsApp. In a “statement of objections” on Tuesday, the European Commission charged the Silicon Valley giant with inaccurately claiming during the 2014 takeover that it was technically impossible to combine automatically user information from Facebook and WhatsApp. Facebook surprised its users this […]
Samsung has unveiled a new line of 13.3- and 15-inch Notebook 9 laptops, upgrading the specs under the hood and making the models a whole deal lighter than their predecessors. This announcement comes ahead of CES 2017, an event where manufacturers typically take the stage to showcase new devices. Despite the fact that many competitors have yet to reveal their cards for this year, the South Korean […]
Simply getting onto the NBN, let alone making use of it, is impacting the functioning of 43 percent of businesses according to an Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) survey [PDF] released on Tuesday. Only 22 percent of businesses said the NBN connection process was smooth, while businesses said the most common complaint was “ongoing service issues”, ACMA said. Conducted between April and May 2016, ACMA surveyed […]
In this Sept. 5, 2014, file photo, the Apple logo hangs in the glass box entrance to the company’s Fifth Avenue store in New York. Ireland is appealing the European Union’s landmark order to collect 13 billion euros ($14 billion) in taxes from Apple. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) Ireland will appeal the European Union’s landmark order to collect a record 13 billion euros ($14 billion) in taxes […]
Ireland will appeal the European Commission’s ruling to collect €13 billion in taxes from Apple, the Irish Department of Finance has announced on Monday. The Irish countermove comes nearly four months after the European Commission declared tax arrangements between Apple and Ireland — originally established in 1991 — had allowed the company to pay “substantially less tax” than rival companies, and were therefore illegal under state aid […]
Researchers have used the ALMA telescopes to observe the early stages in the formation of a new solar system. For the first time they have seen how a powerful whirlwind shoot out from the rotating disc of gas and dust surrounding the young star. (via WSJ)
Jayant Bhandari warns “there are clear signs that in a very convoluted way, possession of gold for investment purposes will be made illegal” as he discusses India’s attempts to create a cashless society (and consequences of it) and why precious metals and geographical diversification are the most viable options investors around the world, not just India, should be taking. “The situation is getting worse by the day… […]
The barbarians at the gate have claimed a victory in the battle for control over China Vanke, the country’s largest retail property developer, after the company called off a deal to take on a new majority shareholder. Shares in Vanke fell more than 6 per cent to HK$18.22 in Hong Kong on Monday morning after the home builder said on Sunday that it had dropped plans to […]
Ireland has laid out the grounds for its appeal against the European Commission’s demand that it claw back €13bn of state aid from Apple, accusing Brussels of interfering with national sovereignty. The Irish finance ministry said the EU’s executive arm had misunderstood both Irish law and the relevant facts of the case, and also that the commission had exceeded its powers. “Ireland does not do deals with […]
David Cameron began 2016 in 10 Downing Street and ended it at DePauw University in a small Indiana town, speaking for a reported £120,000 an hour. The former British prime minister is now paid almost as much for a 60-minute speech as he used to earn in a year, as he tries to make sense of his own historic failure: Brexit. Whatever he says now, Mr Cameron’s […]
It’s been a big month in theme parks in the UAE, with the official opening of Dubai Parks & Resorts in Dubai Sunday, news that IMG Worlds of Adventure are opening yet another venue, Legends, and Miral announcing that SeaWorld is coming to Abu Dhabi. By the time the Expo comes to the UAE in the year 2020, almost every popular movie and animation brand you can […]
A series of big events shaped financial markets in 2016. Here is a selection of FT analyses and commentary, alongside charts, highlighting a tumultuous year. The new year rout January proved brutal for investors. After just 10 trading days, global equity markets had lost more than $4tn of value, with sentiment hammered by fears about China’s economic slowdown and a depreciating currency. In turn, bond markets were […]
Many stakeholders are now coming home after a productive week at the 2016 Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Guadalajara, Mexico. As the first IGF since its 10 year mandate renewal by the UN General Assembly, this was a key edition to set the stage for multistakeholder cooperation in the next few years, and to identify the issues that will have to be addressed by the global Internet community now […]
Designer-to-the-stars Furne One, from the label Amato, rarely talks about his many achievements. Despite having found worldwide success dressing celebrities including Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé and Katy Perry, the Dubai-based Filipino couturier’s reputation for being self-effacing precedes him. Seeking to shine a light on his talent is Los Angeles film producer, and founder of the Fashion News Lifestyle (FNL) network , Rocco Leo Gaglioti. His film, Inside Amato, […]
Microsoft is building out a number of “graphs,” or data indexes, across the company. There’s the Bing knowledge graph, the Office Graph, and now, the LinkedIn professional graph. This week, the company announced plans to add another graph to its stable: A “world graph.” It’s partnering with HERE, TomTom, and Esri to build this geographic data index. The data in the coming world graph isn’t just about […]
Thursday’s exciting launch of eight microsatellites carried by Pegasus XL rocket under the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System mission, or CYGNSS, was special in many ways. Prime among the pull factors was the live coverage accorded by NASA’s F-18 support aircraft while chasing Orbital’s L-1011 carrier aircraft. The launch at a predetermined drop point, 39,000 feet high above the Atlantic Ocean had winged Pegasus XL rocket getting dropped […]
Designer-to-the-stars Furne One, from the label Amato, rarely talks about his many achievements. Despite having found worldwide success dressing celebrities including Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé and Katy Perry, the Dubai-based Filipino couturier’s reputation for being self-effacing precedes him. Seeking to shine a light on his talent is Los Angeles film producer, and founder of the Fashion News Live (FNL) network, Rocco Leo Gaglioti. His film, Inside Amato, had […]
ABU DHABI // Before becoming Europe’s No 1 ethical hacker, Jamie Woodruff took advantage of his autism to become a computer boffin and started hacking when he was nine. In discussing with young people how challenges can be turned to opportunities, Mr Woodruff, 23, showed how he overcame autism, dyslexia and dyspraxia. “I did not have access to education sectors that you would see. When I went to […]
Kuwaiti telecoms firm Zain Group has made a strategic investment in Colle Capital Partners, an early stage technology venture fund based in New York, with a presence in San Francisco. Colle Capital Partners has a diversified technology focus with an emphasis on data in energy, media, telecommunications, health IT, security, and software development. Zain said its investment in Colle Capital Partners is its fourth in technology-focused venture […]
The biggest surprise in meeting the entrepreneur behind Gulf meat eateries such as B+F Burger Boutique and Slider Station is learning that he is a recent adopter of veganism. Basil Al Salem — king of the juicy steak shawarmas on offer at Nomad Kitchen and the Coca-Cola-braised short ribs served up at Slider Station — went vegan earlier this year. But this does not mean that he […]
ABU DHABI // Leaders of the UAE congratulated King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and his people on Bahrain’s national day. President Sheikh Khalifa sent a congratulatory cable to King Hamad, while similar greetings were sent by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and the Rulers […]
