Volkswagen bought back hundreds of thousands of emissions-cheating cars. We just discovered what it has done with them all… As Bloomberg reports, the German automaker agreed last year to buy back about 500,000 diesels that it rigged to pass U.S. emissions tests if it can’t figure out a way to fix them. Except for a handful of 2015 models, VW dealers can’t sell the cars until […]
File Photo Spyware developer FlexiSpy planned to lure researchers to disclose vulnerabilities in its software through HackerOne. HackerOne had other ideas. Last month, the surveillance firm revealed plans on Twitter to transfer its bug bounty program to HackerOne. The bug bounty program, created in the “interest of transparency,” would have offered researchers between $100 and $5000 to privately disclose bugs to the company. FlexiSpy said that the […]
Police have ruled out terrorists being behind twin bomb blasts in Manila that killed two people and injured six others. Blasts ripped through shops and pavement stalls on Saturday night in the historic Quiapo district near the Golden Mosque, a well known landmark in the city. A member of the Philippine National Police secures the area following two overnight explosions in Manila’s Quiapo district. Photo: AP Police said on Sunday […]
Monday UN focus on migrants The UN will meet in Geneva to address the “human rights of all migrants, social inclusion, cohesion and all forms of discrimination, including racism, xenophobia and intolerance”. Organisers say they are working towards an ambitious global policy on migration, an issue high on the political agenda after the Mediterranean migrants’ crisis and US President Donald Trump’s clampdown on migration into the US […]
Labour has announced a “personal tax guarantee” that it would not raise income tax or national insurance for the 95 per cent of taxpayers earning less than £80,000, with tax increases for the wealthiest. John McDonnell, shadow chancellor, hopes the policy will confer credibility on the party’s economic policies, while outflanking the Conservatives who have so far refused to recommit to a “triple lock” to hold down […]
Uber is once again potentially in hot water with US regulators following the disclosure of a program used to track and avoid government officials. The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has launched a criminal investigation into Uber concerning the Greyball program, software which helped drivers avoid local authorities while remaining on the road. Greyball, disclosed in March by the New York Times, was a secretive system used […]
A computer scientist has developed new techniques and tools to manage high performance computing systems more efficiently. This in an effort to comply with the increasing demand to handle large amounts of data within research and allowing for advance simulations. (via WSJ)
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. The image of power was simple: Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump walking off Marine One Thursday, hand-in-hand, and boarding Air Force One for a short trek to New York City with Kushner’s father-in-law. Yes, Jared Kushner, trusted power broker, to […]
Invesco’s move to snap up Source, the London-based exchange traded fund provider, has thrust the US asset manager into the centre of an increasingly ferocious battle across Europe’s passive investment industry. European fund managers now face another formidable US competitor in addition to the existing heavyweights BlackRock and Vanguard, which are pursuing a cut-throat ETF price war as they expand their presence in Europe. Atlanta-based Invesco already […]
By Jonathan Cable | LONDON LONDON The fate of the European Union and the euro could hang on the outcome of Sunday’s French presidential election. The expected victory of centrist, pro-EU candidate Emmanuel Macron would be taken by markets as a sign that political risk in Europe is receding; a surprise win for far-right candidate Marine Le Pen would raise the risk that the euro zone’s number […]
Shifting of cases from FBR HQ to ‘inexperienced’ field formations raises eyebrows PHOTO: AFP ISLAMABAD: After a one-year hiatus, the government has shifted over 400 cases against persons named in the Panama Papers from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Headquarters to its field formations, raising concerns that the authorities intend to bury the issue like many other high-profile cases. The decision shows that the federal government has […]
If you travel a lot and you need to listen to livestreams, webinars and podcasts — and, of course, music — on the go, then noise-reducing or noise-isolating headphones are a boon. Noise-reducing headphones use white noise and other tricks to mask the background noise, while noise-isolating headphones are earbuds that fit so snugly into your years that the background noise doesn’t get in. That also has […]
May 7, 2017 by: Harriet Agnew and Michael Stothard in Paris The French go to the polls on Sunday to vote for their next president in a run-off election where they will pick between independent centrist Emmanuel Macron and Front National leader Marine Le Pen. They face a choice between two radically different visions for the eurozone’s second-largest economy. Mr Macron, a 39-year old rookie politician whose […]
Zounds! ‘Tis Free Comic Book Day, when younglings and olds alike descend upon their local comic book merchants in search of the only nourishment that will slake their savage geek thirst: MOAR COMIC BOOKS. But despite the feeding frenzy focused on the wonder secreted in the pages of these paper treasures, Free Comic Book Day is actually a sweet moment for many families when friends and family […]
By Joseph Sipalan and Praveen Menon | KUALA LUMPUR KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia’s 1.6 million public servants have long been one of the most reliable vote banks for Prime Minister Najib Razak’s ruling coalition, but as he prepares to seek re-election he faces warnings that soaring living costs risk eroding that support. Prices have risen sharply since Malaysia cut state subsidies and launched a national goods and services […]
Apart from a promise to “show the world what’s next”, this image of Shanghai and the May 23 event date are all Microsoft has explicitly revealed so far, but it’s been dropping some heavy hints. Image: Microsoft Microsoft has teased a new event on May 23 in Shanghai where it promises to “show the world what’s next”. Microsoft’s newly launched event page doesn’t reveal anything more than […]
Wall Street people underestimated how nasty and political the struggle over the post-Brexit fate of European clearing houses would become. This week the European Commission offered threats to London-based clearing houses and inducements for their customers to move their trade to the EU. €650bn Value of euro-denominated trades that clear through London each business day UK negotiators in turn demand that euro derivatives clearing should stay in […]
Hamas announced on Saturday that it had chosen Ismail Haniyeh, a longtime leader of the militant Islamist group in Gaza, as its new political chief, after signalling a more pragmatic line in a new policy document. Mr Haniyeh served as a deputy to Khaled Mashal, the outgoing political leader of Hamas, and is expected to continue his policies. As head of the group’s political bureau, Mr Mashal […]
Korea expert Robert Kelly says the ‘real concern’ for the Philippines is being on the flight path of North Korea’s missile tests MANILA, Philippines – Remember the dad whose children barged in during his live video interview with the BBC? The man now known as the “BBC dad” is Robert Kelly, a political science professor at Pusan National University in South Korea. Kelly, an expert on Korea, […]
Government agencies want their own backdoor into communications. Image: iStockphoto More details of how the UK’s new surveillance law will operate have been revealed, in details about the use of encryption. Under draft regulations to support the new Investigatory Powers Act, the government will be able to issue ‘technical capability notices’ to companies with more than 10,000 UK users to make it easier for police, spy agencies […]
France could play Test matches in the coming two seasons in the United Arab Emirates, French federation president Bernard Laporte said Saturday. Talking after signing a memorandum of understanding with the UAE rugby federation, Laporte said staging France matches overseas would “help develop rugby in the UAE and the region”. Emirati federation general secretary Qais al-Dhalai, quoted by Gulf News, said: “A proper Test match between France […]
A corner of Wall Street has been gripped by the unknown identity of a trader that has been buying up Vix call options priced at 50 cents each, swelling to account for nearly 10 per cent of the listed market. The FT has now reported that bankers with knowledge of the trades say the so-called “50 Cent” – a reference to the American rapper known for his […]
The U.S. job market saw a strong rebound in April, driving the unemployment rate to the lowest level in a decade. The economy saw 211,000 jobs added in April, according to new government data released on Friday, May 5. The job market boost dropped the unemployment rate to 4.4 percent, the lowest level since May 2007. The latest stats should calm some fears about the state of the […]
Tens of thousands of Poles took part in an opposition protest in Warsaw on Saturday, accusing the ruling nationalist Law and Justice party of curtailing freedoms in the biggest show of popular discontent so far this year. As many as 90,000 marched chanting “We will defend democracy” and “Here is European Poland!” in the three-hour protest, organised by the opposition Civic Platform party, in conjunction with other […]
