Credit: George Hodan/public domain Your partner comes in and slams a door. What was that about? Something you did? What if you knew to anticipate it because you were notified in advance from an automated text message that he/she didn’t have a great day at work? Might that change the dynamic of your interactions? You had a bad day. The last thing you need is to get […]
By Mark Hosenball and Joseph Menn French voters are being deluged with false stories on social media ahead of the country’s presidential election, though the onslaught of “junk news” is not as severe as that during last year’s U.S. presidential campaign, according to a study by Oxford University researchers. The study to be published Friday and another published on Wednesday add evidence to complaints by officials in […]
The pound was last worth $1.30 on September 30, a day when lawyers were lining up to derail Brexit in the courts, a resilient consumer was challenging economists’ dire post-referendum predictions and carmaker Nissan was demanding compensation for staying in the UK. Investors have become familiar with such Brexit unpredictability. Yet few of them could have guessed how sterling, tweeted by Nordea analyst Martin Enlund as “the […]
President Donald Trump has tried to ban people from certain Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. and has begun deportation raids, following through on his campaign promise to creating a more cautious, less open America. Recent migrants to the country are starting to worry how far the measures will go and some Indians are worried that the skilled-worker visas they use to enter the country could become […]
US mortgage group Ocwen has lost more than half its market value after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued it over “systemic” misconduct, a reminder of the power wielded by the Washington regulator that Republicans have vowed to rein in. Several states are also taking action as they prepare to revoke operating licenses for the New York-listed company, which was founded in 1988 and employs more than […]
TEHRAN — A council that vets Iran’s political candidates disqualified former two-term president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday — along with hundreds of others — from the presidential election next month. No official reason was given for the disqualifications in the May 19 election, which were announced on state television Thursday night by an election official, Ali Asghar Ahmadi. While Mr. Ahmadinejad’s disqualification was not unexpected, the timing […]
A secret court that oversees the US government’s legal surveillance requests rejected a record number of applications last year, according to new figures. Newly released data by the US Courts show that the Washington DC.-based Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA court) rejected nine applications during the final year of the Obama administration’s tenure. It’s the largest number of requests the FISA court has denied in its entire […]
By Chad Bray A federal judge said he needs more time to consider a $602 million settlement by hedge-fund firm SAC Capital Advisors LP to resolve allegations related to what federal authorities have called the most lucrative insider-trading scheme ever. The civil settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission is one of two such agreements reached earlier this month by SAC, one of the nation’s most successful […]
The London market broke a four-day losing streak as the week’s spate of sterling-induced selling eased and consumer stocks from Burberry to Unilever put in robust performances. The marginal gains for the FTSE 100 were not enough to reverse Wednesday’s fall into losses for the year for the benchmark. But UBS maintaining that Burberry was its “preferred turnround name in luxury” and top pick in that European […]
The US has set the stage for a global showdown over steel, launching a national security investigation that could lead to sweeping tariffs on steel imports in what would be the first significant act of economic protectionism by President Donald Trump. The decision to use a 1962 law allowing the US government to limit imports that threaten its security readiness is intended to deliver on Mr Trump’s […]
The biggest risk, critics say, is that Mr. Trump will talk himself into a war. Only slightly less dangerously, he could weaken the nation’s standing by backing off from a threat to use force. Continue reading the main story “In Beijing, Moscow, Tehran, they are recalibrating their strategies — you can’t deny it — because they don’t have any idea of how Trump will respond,” said Senator […]
At Creative Strategies, we have been researching millennial tech habits and demands for about five years. We recently did a survey with millennials, which challenged some notions you might have about this generation. In an essay that first ran on our blog, my son Ben shared what he found. – Tim Bajarin A core thesis we have about the future of technology here at Creative […]
Feb 15, 2017 11:46 am IST India’s space agency on Wednesday launched a record 104 satellites from a single rocket as it crossed another milestone in its low-cost space-exploration program. The satellites from seven countries were carried by the Indian Space Research Organization’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on its 38th consecutive successful flight. The mission reinforces India’s emerging reputation as a reliable and cost-effective option for launching […]
Breakthrough Listen — the initiative to find signs of intelligent life in the universe — has released its 11 events ranked highest for significance as well as summary data analysis results. It is considered unlikely that any of these signals originate from artificial extraterrestrial sources, but the search continues. (via WSJ)
Following years of acrimony between OPEC and the hedge fund community, which the cartel dismissed simply as “speculators”, things suddenly changed in 2016 when the two groups got so close, there were outright reports of collusion between the two on various occasions. We documented this last month in “Why OPEC Is Colluding With Hedge Funds.” However, as Reuters’ energy analyst John Kemp pointed out on twitter this […]
(Image: Mastercard) Swipe-to-pay, then chip-and-PIN. What next, credit cards with fingerprint sensors? Turns out that’s Mastercard’s latest invention, a new credit card with an integrated fingerprint sensor, which aims to fight in-store fraud. The card, currently under trial in South Africa, includes sensor is embedded in plastic of the credit card, allowing customers to authorize a payment with a fingerprint, rather than a PIN code or a […]
Wall Street still exudes widespread optimism that 2017 will provide another year of solid if unspectacular economic growth and only gentle interest rate rises. With the S&P 500 up over 4.5 per cent for the year, here is a series of charts that will hearten investors of a more bearish persuasion. While there are good reasons why each chart should not be taken too seriously, together they […]
Bloomberg News Prosecutors are investigating claims made last year by Swedish public broadcasting that TeliaSonera was engaged in money laundering connected to the SEK 2 billion Swedish ($314.6 million) acquisition in 2007 of an Uzbekistan wireless-data license, spectrum frequencies and number series from Gibraltar-based Takilant Ltd. (via WSJ)
Verizon lost hundreds of thousands of customers in the first three months of the year despite resurrecting its unlimited data plan. The largest US mobile carrier that powers more than 100m US mobile devices said it lost 307,000 postpaid phone subscribers in the first quarter. Analysts had expected Verizon to add about 200,000 postpaid, or monthly, subscribers, which are viewed as the most lucrative wireless customers. Analysts […]
“We lost everything,” said Hiba Beidak, 34, whose husband ran a pharmacy in the Syrian city of Aleppo. He had thyroid surgery before the war and needs medical care now, as does their 10-year-old daughter, who is unable to walk. Ms. Beidak brought her 6-year-old daughter on the tour. Ms. Taki’s older sister, Ghosoom Taki, 38, left the city of Homs for Jordan in 2011. She arrived […]
A few months ago, staff at The Minneapolis Star Tribune did something journalists don’t always have the time to do: think way ahead. One year in advance, staff photographers shot images of the Minnesota winter for next winter’s StarTribune Magazine. The quarterly magazine debuted Sunday, marking a new product for a newsroom that’s worked hard over the last year to become more digital. But that new product […]
Feb 16, 2017 10:46 am IST The decision of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do away with large-denomination notes in November led to a temporary cash shortage that slowed the economy and forced people to queue at banks to get money. New Delhi touted its move as an opportunity to make India’s economy less dependent on cash, saying it will help it shrink the black economy […]
It’s springtime. Flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and love is in the air. That can only mean one thing: It’s time to send pictures of your bits and pieces! If you’ve ever used your phone to send someone special a picture of your thing(s), you’re not alone. Data shows that sexting is a highly popular pastime enjoyed by men and women alike. As you […]
By Roberta Rampton | JAKARTA JAKARTA U.S. Vice President Mike Pence toured Southeast Asia’s largest mosque on Thursday during a visit to Indonesia, calling the Muslim-majority nation’s tradition of following a moderate form of Islam “an inspiration to the world”. Pence, an evangelical Christian, has sought to use his trip to soften some of the harsher edges of rhetoric about the Muslim world used by U.S. President […]
