GNN

test post ‪#‎Mobcrush‬’s bet is that ‪#‎mobile‬ ‪#‎game‬

2015-11-18T05:47:00.003-08:00

test post #Mobcrush’s bet is that #mobile #game streaming will be as big if not bigger than some of the competitive game-streaming services that already exist.
#Mobcrush’s bet is that #mobile #game streaming will be as big if not bigger than some of the competitive game-streaming services that already exist. The gorilla in the room, of course, is Twitch which Amazon bought for nearly $1 billion last year and has ..

The Tactico Geomaster Is A Crowdfunded Watch I Could Get Behind

2015-08-29T10:45:00.001-07:00

GNN - There are more Kickstarter watches out there these days than grains of sand on the beach. Everyone with a quartz movement and a NATO strap figures they can make and sell some kind of fashion watch to the masses, a concept that is as silly as it is flawed.

That’s why the Tactico Geomaster GMT is actually interesting. First, it uses a mechanical ETA movement – an rare movement these days given their scarcity – and the design is at once familiar and unique. In short, it’s what I wish more watchmakers were doing in crowdfunding circles.

The Geomaster is a GMT watch. This means it can display the time in multiple time zones – depending on how to read the bezel. It’s great for travelers and pilots. It also features Superluminova hands, coat steel case, and a custom date dial. In short, it’s very unique and very clever. It was created by Compañía Relojera Especializada para Actividades Subacuáticas aka CREPAS, a custom diver manufacturer in Zaragoza, Spain.

At about $900 you’re paying an awful lot for a GMT watch but based on the quality and design as well as the movement, it’s not that much. My pet peeve is the date wheel. These sorts of open date wheels – where they show multiple days in order, usually three to five, with today’s date specified by a pip – annoy me because they clutter the dial.

That said if you’re into mechanicals and want something that decidedly can’t send winking smiley face emojis to your friends, this might be a nice starter watch.

Syngenta may seek partners, JVs after product review: chairman in paper

2015-08-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

GNN - Syngenta AG (SYNN.VX) may seek partners to help improve its product lineup after a thorough review in the wake of a rebuffed takeover approach from Monsanto Co (MON.N), the agrichemicals group's chairman told a Swiss newspaper.

Syngenta's board is under pressure from shareholders to show how it plans to generate value after turning its back on Monsanto's $47 billion cash-and-share offer, which it said undervalued the company and had too great an execution risk.

In an interview with Finanz und Wirtschaft, Michel Demare said it was too early to discuss what steps Syngenta planned to boost its results.

But he added: "We will subject our product portfolio to a total review, especially on the seed side. Then we will see if there are appropriate transactions to improve ourselves, perhaps with partnerships and joint ventures."

Asked about short-term steps it could take, he said: "Some of these things can be done in the short term. But what we do not want is to improve earnings in the short term at the expense of the future. We must remain responsible."

Demare said he had no concerns about activist shareholders and had no immediate plans to try to forge a group of core investors from the company's fragmented investor base.

"But if we made a major acquisition, it would be possible for example to take a major investor on board who co-financed the transaction by purchasing Syngenta shares," he added.

Demare said he took six calls from Monsanto boss Hugh Grant in the first two weeks of August alone and had no idea what Grant planned next.

Some Syngenta investors have expressed dismay that the company did not at least open talks with Monsanto. "For me it is clear that the chairman did not behave as many shareholders would have wished," FuW quoted Artisan Partners fund manager Richard Logan as saying.

Demare acknowledged Syngenta had to "explain ourselves, regain trust and deliver results" but also dismissed as "illusion" the offer price of 449 Swiss francs and then 470 francs per share that Monsanto said it had proposed. He noted the 18 months it would have taken to wrap up any deal.

Syngenta shares fell 18 percent on news Monsanto was abandoning its approach and closed on Friday at 323.70 francs.

Demare noted the stock was slightly above the level it was when Monsanto emerged as a suitor, while rivals' shares were down by as much as a fifth.

He said Syngenta's cost-cutting program was ahead of plan but could be expanded should it find more room to cut.

(Reporting by Michael Shields; editing by John Stonestreet)

Erika no longer a tropical storm, loses steam over Cuba

2015-08-29T10:37:00.000-07:00

GNN - Erika, a tropical storm that was losing strength as it hit Haiti with heavy rains and strong winds, fell apart on Saturday over eastern Cuba, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

"Erika has degenerated into a trough of low pressure," the Miami-based hurricane center said in a Saturday morning forecast advisory.

Erika's maximum sustained winds had dropped to 35 mph (56 kph), just below the tropical storm threshold.

Dominica in the eastern Caribbean was the island worst-affected by Erika, with 20 killed and some still missing.

Still posing a threat of wind gusts and flash floods, the remnants of Erika were now expected to move over central Cuba, potentially providing welcome relief from a drought, before heading out into the Gulf of Mexico and skirting South Florida.

The NHC said the weather system could still regenerate into a tropical storm before reaching the northwest Florida Panhandle.

Florida Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency on Friday, noting the storm could travel "up the spine of Florida." He planned to give an update on its potential impact later on Saturday.

Forecasters have described Erika, the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, as unusually hard to predict due to disruption from wind patterns and interaction with mountainous terrain.

Meteorologist Jeff Masters with the private U.S. forecaster, Weather Underground, said the island of Hispaniola, which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic, "has saved us so many times in the past", thanks to its 10,000-feet (3,000-meter) peaks.

"It's probably saved thousands of lives in South Florida over the years," he said.

Impoverished Haiti also appeared to have dodged a bullet as Erika's sustained winds dropped to 45 mph (72 kph) as it moved over the capital, Port-au-Prince, on Friday night, the NHC said.

Haiti is acutely vulnerable to landslides due to widespread deforestation of its hillsides.

After a rainy night, the city woke up Saturday to clear skies and no signs of serious damage. Normally dust-covered trees were a lush green as bulldozers cleared mud from Route 1, the main road north out of the capital.

Dominica's prime minister, Roosevelt Skerrit confirmed in a Friday night address that 20 people had died from swollen rivers and rain-triggered landslides that swept away homes, roads and bridges.

He described the loss of life and economic damage as "monumental", with some communities cut off on the small, mountainous island with a population of about 72,000.

(Reporting by David Adams in Miami and Peter Granitz in Port-au-Prince; Editing by Alison Williams)

Libya arrests three suspected smugglers over migrant boat disaster

2015-08-29T10:33:00.000-07:00

GNN - Libyan authorities have arrested three people on suspicion of involvement in launching a boat packed with migrants that sank off the country's Mediterranean coast, killing up to 200 people, a security official said on Saturday.

The vessel, with up to 400 sub-Saharan, Syrian and Asian migrants on board capsized on Thursday, after setting off from the town of Zuwara, a centre of operations for people smugglers exploiting the anarchy in a country with two rival governments.

Libya has turned into a main transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to make it to Europe.

Three Libyan smugglers involved in launching the ill-fated boat and other vessels to take migrants to Italy have been arrested, said a security official, asking not to be named.

"They are in their twenties," he said. "We think that more are involved which we are still chasing."

By Saturday, 115 bodies had been recovered and about 198 migrants rescued, officials said.

Arrests of smugglers are rare in Libya, where the judiciary has little power since the country is effectively controlled by former rebel groups which helped to oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

On Thursday, Zuwara residents staged a protest to demand authorities clamp down on smugglers who use the town to launch boats due to its proximity to the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Libya has asked the European Union for help to train and equip its navy, which was largely destroyed during the 2011 uprising.

But cooperation was frozen in 2014 as the European Union boycotted a self-declared government controlling western Libya, which seized the capital Tripoli a year ago by expelling the internationally recognized premier to the east.

Western and most Arab powers only deal with the eastern-based government, which has no control of western Libya where smugglers operate.

The number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe has passed 300,000 this year, up from 219,000 in the whole of 2014, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Friday.

(Reporting by Ahmed Elumami, Writing by Ulf Laessing, Editing by Mark Heinrich and Angus MacSwan; Reuters)

Satellite images confirm Syrian temple destruction: U.N

2015-08-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

Satellite images have confirmed the destruction of a Roman-era temple in the Syrian city of Palmyra, a United Nations agency said, after the hardline Islamic State group claimed responsibility for blowing up the structure a week ago.

Islamic State detonated explosives in the ancient Baal Shamin temple on Aug. 25, an act that cultural agency UNESCO has called a war crime aimed at wiping out a symbol of Syria's diverse cultural heritage.

An analysis of an image taken in June and others taken several days ago show the obliteration of the temple in the central desert city, the Geneva-based United Nations Institute for Training and Research said in a statement.

"We confirm the destruction of the main building, while surrounding columns seem to be less affected."

Activists have said Islamic State is tightly controlling communications in the city, making its reports of events difficult to verify independently.

Islamic State has proclaimed a caliphate to rule over all Muslims from territory it holds in both Syria and Iraq. It has often carried out mass killings in places it captures and demolishes monuments it considers sacrilegious.

Islamic State published a photo report of the destruction on Tuesday. The group also beheaded Khaled al-Asaad, an 82-year-old Syrian archaeologist who had looked after Palmyra's ruins for four decades, and hung his body in public, according to Syria's antiquities chief.

The group seized the desert city of Palmyra in May from government forces but initially left its historical sites unharmed.

(Reporting by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

Report/ Retures

Verdict a blow for Egyptian press freedom: Deported Al-Jazeera journalist

2015-08-29T10:27:00.001-07:00

GNN - A decision by an Egyptian court to sentence three Al Jazeera TV journalists to three years in prison was politically motivated and aimed at intimidating the press, one of the three, Australian journalist Peter Greste, said on Saturday.

Greste, 49, was deported from Egypt in February and convicted in absentia by the Cairo court on Saturday for operating without a press license and broadcasting material harmful to Egypt. The case has drawn international condemnation.

His colleagues, Mohamed Fahmy, a naturalized Canadian who has given up his Egyptian citizenship, and Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian, were present at the sentencing and are back in jail.

Greste said the decision was a major blow for Egyptian democracy and no evidence was presented in court which would back it up.

"I am feeling quite sick. We suspected that they might have to give us convictions just to save face. But we thought the most likely sentence would be a suspended sentence," he told Reuters in an interview.

The three men were originally sentenced to between seven to 10 years in prison on charges including spreading lies to help a terrorist organization, a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood which the military toppled from power two years ago.

Rights advocates say their arrest was part of a wider crackdown on free speech.

Greste described the work that led up to the three men's arrest in 2013 as "very mundane, routine journalism". He denied the court's finding that they had fabricated news or supported the now banned Muslim Brotherhood.

"It is outrageous," he said. "It is simply not true. We spoke to the Muslim Brotherhood, absolutely. But the Brotherhood at the time was not a banned organization. It was banned after we went to prison."

The three men have always denied all charges against them.

"We never did any of the things that we are accused of," Greste said.

"The only conclusion that we can come to is that it is a politically motivated verdict. I think it is devastating for press freedom in Egypt. I have always believed that our arrest was intended to send a message to the press in Egypt."

Greste said Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop spoke to him on Saturday evening and told him she intended to pursue diplomatic means to get the sentences overturned. She repeated this in a statement in which she said the verdict was a "distressing outcome".

Greste said the implications of the sentence on his own career were unclear since many countries had extradition treaties with Egypt. But he also expressed concern for his Egyptian colleagues.

"We are going to pursue every legal, diplomatic and social means," Greste said.

(Reporting by Chris McCall, Reuters; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

China passes new pollution law, sets sights on coal consumption cap

2015-08-29T10:23:00.001-07:00

GNN - Legislators have approved amendments to China's 15-year-old air pollution law that grant the state new powers to punish offenders and create a legal framework to cap coal consumption, the Asian giant's biggest source of smog.

The draft amendments were passed by 154 votes to 4, with five abstentions, Zhong Xuequan, spokesman for the National People's Congress (NPC), China's parliament, told a media briefing on Saturday.

The ruling Communist Party has acknowledged the damage that decades of untrammeled economic growth have done to China's skies, rivers and soil. It is now trying to equip its environmental inspection offices with greater powers and more resources to tackle persistent polluters and the local governments that protect them.

The amendments are expected to make local governments directly responsible for meeting environmental targets. They also ban firms from temporarily switching off polluting equipment during inspections and outlaw other behavior designed to distort emission readings.

Tong Weidong, vice-director of the NPC's legal work committee, told the briefing the law would improve the way local authorities were assessed and allow them to draw up their own plans to meet environmental targets.

"Amendments to this air pollution law have strengthened pollution treatment from the source - from sources such as industrial policy, energy consumption and automobile pollution," Tong said.

However, researchers said the changes do not go far enough and that the third reading of the bill should have been postponed until all its shortcomings had been resolved.

Tong said such criticism was "very normal" and that it was impossible to include all proposals in the law.

Chang Jiwen, an environmental researcher with the Development and Research Council, a government think tank, has described the new law as "not very useful".

"It is filled with many slogan-like clauses and is more like a policy document than legislation," Chang told the state-backed newspaper China Business. He said many experts had said the bill should have been postponed.

Lawmakers had rejected proposals to include specific coal consumption targets in the law and also ruled out a clause allowing local authorities to set their own restrictions on car use, the official Xinhua news agency said earlier this week.

Wang Yi, head of the policy committee of the China Academy of Sciences and a member of the NPC's standing committee, has told Chinese media the law fails to set clear goals on emissions and air quality standards.

According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, concentrations of hazardous breathable particles known as PM2.5 fell 17.1 percent in the first half of 2015 to 58 micrograms per cubic meter. China doesn't expect to meet the state standard of 35 micrograms until 2030.

(Reporting by David Stanway and Kathy Chen, Reuters; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Paul Tait)

Military plane crashes in northern Nigeria, killing seven

2015-08-29T10:20:00.001-07:00

GNN - A Nigerian Air Force plane crashed into a house in the northern city of Kaduna on Saturday, killing all seven people on board, a military spokesman said.

The air force said the Dornier-228 aircraft crashed into a house shortly after taking off from Kaduna Military Airfield around 06:45 (0145 ET). Nobody on the ground was hurt. "The plane was on a daily routine flight to Abuja when it crashed within the premises of the barracks, killing the four crew members and three civilian passengers," said military spokesman Colonel Abdul Usman.

An investigation has been launched to establish the cause of the crash.

(Reporting by Isaac Abrak, additional reporting by Felix Onuah; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; editing by John Stonestreet, Reuters)

Nigeria says uncovers Boko Haram spy ring at Abuja airport

2015-08-29T10:18:00.002-07:00

GNN - Nigeria has uncovered a spy cell run by militant Islamist group Boko Haram at the international airport in the capital Abuja apparently aimed at selecting targets for attack, the country's national security agency said.

In a statement late on Friday, the Department of State Services (DSS) said it discovered the ring on Monday and was working with aviation authorities to pre-empt any attack.

President Muhammadu Buhari has made halting Boko Haram's six-year-old insurgency a priority, but a Reuters tally shows the jihadist group has killed more than 700 people in Nigeria in bomb attacks and shootings since he came to office on May 29.

The DSS said it had arrested a 14-year-old boy who said he had been instructed to spy on the airport's security procedures, including passenger screening and boarding processes, and report what he had learned.

It said the man who directed the boy had not been located.

"The service, in liaison with the aviation security of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, disrupted a spying network mounted by the Boko Haram terrorists," DSS spokesman Tony Opuiyo said in the statement.

"The service is working closely with major aviation stakeholders, especially the Aviation Security Department, to forestall any possible attack and to ensure adequate security at the airports."

Boko Haram, whose insurgency mainly focuses on the northeast, has carried out some attacks in Abuja including the bombing of the U.N. headquarters in the city four years ago, which killed 23 people.

The insurgents have waged a bloody campaign to create a state adhering to strict Islamic law in the northeast of Africa's most populous state that has left thousands dead and forced around 1.5 million people to flee their homes since 2009.

Boko Haram scattered earlier this tear after an army counter-offensive ousted it from most of the territory it had gained. But the jihadists have since returned to a strategy of selective attacks in which they have bombed or fired on targets in public places such as markets and places of worship.

(Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Mark Heinrich, Reuters)

Judge’s Order To Shut Down NSA Phone Surveillance Reversed By Federal Appeals Court

2015-08-29T10:14:00.003-07:00

GNN - A federal appeals court has just ruled against a 2013 decision ordering the NSA to stop its bulk metadata collection program.

The three-judge panel issued its ruling Friday, contending that conservative privacy activist Larry Klayman had not adequately argued the likeliness that his own data had been collected as a part of the metadata collection program.

Judge Stephen Williams wrote that the plaintiffs “claim to suffer from government collection of records from their telecommunications provider relating to their calls. But plaintiffs are subscribers of Verizon Wireless, not of Verizon Business Network Services, Inc.—the sole provider that the government has acknowledged targeting for bulk data collection.”

Judge Janice Rogers Brown’s separate opinion stated that the plaintiffs had failed to show a “‘concrete and particularized’ injury” in regards to the NSA program. Brown ended her opinion quoting Daniel P. Moynihan’s book Secrecy: The American Experience. “Regulations of this sort may frustrate the inquisitive citizen but that does not make them illegal or illegitimate. Excessive secrecy limits needed criticism and debate. Effective secrecy ensures the perpetuation of our institutions.’’

This court decision’s importance really isn’t as critical as it would have been before the recent legislation passed in Congress, as today’s ruling is more procedural and doesn’t touch on the program’s constitutionality. The law passed by Congress allows bulk phone data collection to continue until the end of the year, but it severely scales back the NSA’s phone surveillance program thereafter.

FEATURED IMAGE: SAUL LOEB/GETTY IMAGES

Mobile Gaming Live-Streaming Service Mobcrush Has Raised Around $10M

2015-08-29T10:12:00.000-07:00

GNN - We’ve heard from sources that Mobcrush, a live-streaming service centered around mobile games much in the same way Twitch is known for streaming popular eSports desktop games, has raised around $10 million in new financing, though the number could have gone beyond that.

Mobcrush’s bet is that mobile game streaming will be as big if not bigger than some of the competitive game-streaming services that already exist. The gorilla in the room, of course, is Twitch which Amazon bought for nearly $1 billion last year and has tens of millions (if not hundreds) of monthly viewers. Mobcrush raised $4.9 million in a round that round was formally announced in May, and in July Mobcrush came out of beta.

To be sure, mobile games are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Some of the most popular games on the App Store are strategy games like Clash of Clans. And while these games are lightweight, phones are becoming more and more powerful and gaining more touch points — meaning it’s ever more likely that someone will figure out a way to replicate the complex nature of mobile games (with one new example of a new touch point being Force Touch, which is expected to end up in the next iPhone).

We heard Kleiner Perkins participated in the most recent funding round, with two sources telling us the firm led the round. We were told the round was incredibly competitive, as you might expect for a company making a bet on a mobile Twitch.

“Mobcrush does not comment on rumors or speculations about our financing,” CEO Royce Disini said. “We’re focused on our execution, excited about our growth and the big opportunity for mobile game live streaming, and have added [three] key hires from Apple, Google and Microsoft to help accelerate our growth.”

So, what does this funding round mean? It could be that investors are salivating over the potential of a next-generation Twitch that’s geared entirely toward mobile. On Twitch, games like Starcraft, League of Legends and Hearthstone are insanely popular. It’s not clear if mobile games are going to hit that sort of trajectory, but already there are lots of competitive games on mobile devices (including Hearthstone). Given the success of Twitch, there’s a good chance that investors believe there’s a huge market for streaming mobile games alongside more complex online games.

The counter argument to all this is that there isn’t a set of games like Starcraft that will eventually end up on mobile. Given the lightweight nature of mobile games, it’s possible that there just won’t be a market for hardcore games like League of Legends, even though several well-funded companies like Super Evil Megacorp are going after the space with games like Vainglory.

And, to be fair, Twitch could build something similar and crush Mobcrush (no pun intended). It already has a huge presence on mobile devices and has broadcasts of Vainglory. Twitch is not unfamiliar with finding its way to new markets, pivoting originally from a live-streaming site to focus on video games and creating a $1 billion company in the process.

Mobile’s Starcraft moment hasn’t happened just yet. However, all roads do lead to mobile — and it seems more and more likely, especially with the arrival of Hearthstone (which is of course on PC) on smartphones, that it’s possible companies will find a way to build a hit game that will be popular among the esports crowd.

FEATURED IMAGE: MOBCRUSH WEBSITE

Sink or sell? Russia spat leaves France with warships to spare

2015-06-02T17:35:00.000-07:00

For sale: two French-built helicopter carriers, tested by Russians. Buy now for only 1.2 billion euros($1.33 billion). Shipping extra.

Tensions between the West and Russia over Ukraine have blocked a deal in which Moscow was to buy the ships, leaving Paris trying to negotiate a face-saving compromise and work out CAwhat to do with two unwanted warships.

"There are three possibilities: deliver the boats to Russia, sell them to someone else or destroy them," said a source close to the matter.

It is an embarrassment that is not of French President Francois Hollande's making. The deal stems from his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy's decision in 2011 to make the West's first major foreign arms sale to Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.

But it will be difficult for Hollande politically and underlines the difficulty for France to reconcile its ambitions as a global arms supplier - a sector on which thousands of French jobs depend - with commitments to NATO allies.

It may also be very costly.

At present the delivery of the ships remains indefinitely suspended rather than formally canceled. But even Russian officials say now that they are not interested in taking the Mistral-class carriers.

Moreover France's NATO allies, notably the United States and Poland - with whom Paris is negotiating 6 billion euros of defense deals - would be outraged if France tried to get the deal back on track with the crisis in Ukraine far from resolved.

That leaves the Russians demanding not only a full refund but also the penalties that go for pulling the deal.

"That Russia won’t take them (the ships) - that's a fait accompli," Oleg Bochkaryov, deputy head of Russia's Military Industrial Commission, told daily Kommersant last week. "There is only one discussion going on now: the amount of money that should be returned to Russia."

SINK OR SELL?
The first carrier, the Vladivostok, had been due for delivery in 2014; the second, named Sebastopol after Crimea's crucial seaport, was supposed to be delivered by 2016.

Russia and French sources say Moscow wants 1.163 billion euros ($1.29 billion) which includes what it has already disbursed - about 800 million euros - plus compensation for costs incurred for the purchase of equipment and training of sailors.

France's special envoy Louis Gautier, who has been shuttling between the two capitals since end-March, has offered just 785 million euros, according to Russian media citing officials who also described the offer as "unacceptable."

Gautier has asked Russia to either contribute to the cost of dismantling them or allow France to sell the Mistrals to another country. Canada and Singapore have been mooted, as has Egypt which has just bought French fighter jets and naval frigates.

Yet senior defense ministry official Yury Yakubov, quoted by Interfax news agency, argued they could not be sold on because the carriers were built to specific Russian navy requirements and therefore it was a "matter of state security."

That may turn out to be just a bargaining position. But even if Russia relents, there would be a cost to France.

For one thing, it is already costing 5 million euros a month to maintain them at their current port on the Atlantic.

The Mistral is known as the Swiss army knife of the French navy for its versatility. But DCNS, the 65-percent state-owned manufacturer, nonetheless estimates any adaptation for another country would cost hundreds of millions of euros - and it would seek compensation.

An intriguing outside bet might involve China.

Amid a warming of Paris-Beijing ties under Hollande, the Dixmude - another Mistral-class vessel - attracted speculation when it docked in Shanghai earlier this month for a week.

But for now, analysts suggest the geopolitical context is just too dicey to contemplate a sale to China.

With growing tensions in the South China Sea, France is not seen willing to risk alienating Japan, with which it has just signed a defense cooperation deal, let alone suffer the displeasure that such a move would incur in Washington.

Said General Christian Quesnot, chief military adviser to Hollande's mentor, the late president Francois Mitterrand: "The cheapest thing would be to sink them."

(Additional reporting by Cyril Altmeyer and Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow; editing by Mark John/Jeremy Gaunt)

Missile maker says Russia did not shoot down Malaysian plane over Ukraine

2015-06-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

The Russian company that makes the BUK air defense system that was used to shoot down a Malaysian airliner in east Ukraine said on Tuesday the plane was hit by a missile deployed by Ukraine and not widely used by Russia's military.

State-run Almaz-Antey said its own analysis of the wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines plane brought down on July 17 last year, killing 298 people, indicated it was hit by a BUK 9M38M1 surface-to-air missile armed with a 9H314M warhead.

Shrapnel holes in the plane were consistent with that kind of missile and warhead, it said.

Such missiles have not been produced in Russia since 1999 and the last ones were delivered to foreign customers, it said, adding that the Russian armed forces now mainly use a 9M317M warhead with the BUK system.

"Neither the company nor its enterprises could have supplied these rockets in the 21st century," Almaz-Antey's chief executive, Yan Novikov, told a news conference run by the Kremlin press service at which the company used 3D visuals and computer animation.

After a company presentation translated simultaneously into three languages, he said Ukraine's armed forces had still had nearly 1,000 such missiles in its arsenal in 2005, when it held talks with Almaz-Antey on prolonging their lifespan.

Criticizing sanctions imposed on Almaz-Antey by the European Union, he said: "The corporation was not involved in the Malaysian Boeing catastrophe. Correspondingly, the economic sanctions applied to the corporation for that are ... unjust."

When it imposed the sanctions on Almaz-Antey, the EU said the firm produced anti-aircraft weaponry which the Russian authorities have supplied to pro-Russian separatists fighting Kiev's forces in east Ukraine.

Moscow is trying to deflect blame for the shooting down of the airliner and denies sending arms and soldiers to support the rebels, though the West and Kiev say they have overwhelming proof of the latter.

Russian officials initially said flight MH17 was shot down by a Ukrainian fighter jet but that version was widely ridiculed abroad. They now say it was probably hit by a missile fired from the ground by Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine has denied its forces shot the plane down.

Dutch investigators who are leading an international investigation say their "leading scenario" is that it was hit by a Russian-made BUK.

(Editing by Timothy Heritage)

Mexican teachers protest education reform after government weakens stance

2015-06-02T17:29:00.001-07:00

Thousands of Mexican teachers protested on the streets of Mexico City on Monday against a crucial part of President Enrique Pena Nieto's education reform, sensing that government support for it was crumbling.

On Friday, the Education Ministry said it would suspend the planned teacher evaluations opposed by militant teaching unions in Mexico, which fear it will curb their power.

The decision followed months of agitation from union members, and sparked condemnation from opposition lawmakers and supporters of the law, who said it would gut the reform.

Buoyed by the retreat, 10,000 teachers and opponents of what Pena Nieto has argued is his most important piece of legislation massed on the Paseo de la Reforma, one of the capital's main boulevards, in an effort to kill off evaluations altogether.

"The evaluations are punitive," said Juan Carlos Lopez, 42, a primary school teacher. "It's a justification to fire teachers on a massive scale."

Supporters of the reform said it was urgently needed to improve flagging educational standards and root out corruption in teaching unions. Its critics argue that many poorer teachers lack the financial support to meet required standards.

Opposition to education reform has been strongest among teachers in the southwest of Mexico, where some surrounded a facility of state oil company Pemex in Oaxaca state with cargo trucks and burnt ballot papers in state capital Oaxaca City.

Some protesters have threatened to interfere with nationwide elections due to be held next Sunday, and opposition lawmakers accused the government of sacrificing the reform to protect the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

The need for improvement is clear, and only two weeks ago, Pena Nieto hailed the education reform as the one that would "without doubt" have the biggest impact on Mexico's future.

In the World Economic Forum's latest annual competitiveness survey, Mexico ranked 118th out of 144 countries in quality of primary education, behind many poorer countries, including Honduras, El Salvador, Bolivia, Bangladesh and Sierra Leone.

The government's reasons for suspending the teacher evaluations have not been clearly explained. The Education Ministry said only that it had "new elements to consider" and declined to comment further when contacted on Monday.

Its decision had sent out a "terrible message" about the government and was a betrayal of teachers backing reform, said Juan Carlos Romero, head of the Senate education committee and a member of the center-right National Action Party (PAN).

"We're going from illusion to disillusionment," he said. "Once you've lost confidence it's very hard to re-establish it."

(Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Richard Chang, Toni Reinhold)

Leader in Afghan north dismisses Kabul government as a 'show'

2015-06-02T17:26:00.000-07:00

Atta Mohammad Noor, a powerful governor in northern Afghanistan, visited a local amusement park last week and grabbed a video arcade gun. Firing on fictional aliens made a break from the frequent target of his ire: the government in Kabul.

Noor, a former general hardened in wars against the Soviets and Taliban but now suited and affluent, complains of a lack of leadership by President Ashraf Ghani and is angry his warnings of rising militant violence in the north were not heeded.

"They told me that they will take action, but unfortunately they didn't," the governor of Balkh province told Reuters, recalling a warning he gave Kabul several months ago to prepare for more Taliban violence in the north.

The dissatisfaction is one of Ghani's main challenges; he must contain the Taliban, rally various strongmen behind a single cause and bridge differences with his partner in power, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.

Noor has emerged as one of the government's biggest critics. He questions how the armed forces are being run, the handling of peace talks with the Taliban and Ghani's relationship with Abdullah.

Ghani and Abdullah fought bitterly over the outcome of last year's presidential election which they contested, and despite forming a unity government, mutual suspicion has slowed policy decisions, diplomats and analysts say.

Noor, 51, said neither the president nor the CEO had done much to solve the country's problems.

"Whatever they do is a show," Noor said in the interview at his palatial party offices in Mazar-i-Sharif, capital of Balkh. "Instead, they should work honestly."

Noor strongly backed Abdullah in the election, at one point threatening civil unrest over the outcome. Ultimately Ghani was deemed the winner, and Noor has distanced himself from the rivalry.

Asked what he thought was the government's most significant achievement so far, he chuckled. "I cannot remember any successes at the moment."

DEADLY ATTACKS

Ghani and Abdullah are aware of the grumblings of Noor and other regional power brokers. Both leaders declined to comment for this article.

Tensions between Kabul and the provinces are likely to grow if security deteriorates in the north, which had until recent years escaped the worst of the Taliban insurgency.

In April, militants stormed a court in Mazar-i-Sharif, killing eight people including the district police chief.

Nine Afghan employees of a Czech-backed aid group were killed in Balkh on Tuesday. People in Need said it was suspending all operations in Afghanistan.

In Kunduz, near Balkh, Afghan National Security Forces have been struggling for weeks to drive out Taliban fighters, leading the government to fall back on militias controlled by local commanders.

Noor said he believed Afghan security forces could fight on their own, provided they had better leadership, support and equipment. Most NATO troops withdrew at the end of 2014, significantly weakening Afghan defense options.

The governor, who has commanded his own militia in the past,

has been increasingly vocal on security matters and recently appeared on Afghan television wearing his old military uniform.

He said former resistance fighters should be recruited into official forces if they wanted to fight, and that if security worsened, militias could be an option "of last resort."

One source of weakness in Afghan security has been the absence of a defense minister.

Tensions within the government between rival ethnic and regional interests have played out in the tortuous process to agree on a candidate.

Ghani has chosen a third nominee after the first was rejected by parliament and the second dropped out amid controversy. Masoom Stanikzai could face a similar fate, with Noor and some lawmakers deeply skeptical.

"He doesn't have military qualifications and hasn't done anything in the peace process," Noor said of Stanikzai, who has been closely involved in a faltering attempt to negotiate peace with the Afghan Taliban.

"I'm sure he will not be a successful (defense) minister."

"NO VOTE"

Others agree. Tribal elders, lawmakers and other influential Afghans from across the country filed into Noor's ornate offices to pay their respects and discuss affairs of state, and some had similar complaints to his.

"My vote is a no vote," said Saifora Niazi, a parliamentarian from Balkh province. "The national unity government is imposing people like him (Stanikzai)."

Mawlawi Shahzada Shahid, spokesman for the High Peace Council of which Stanikzai is a member, defended his colleague's record.

"He held several peace meetings inside and outside Afghanistan. Most of those meetings proved very successful. He brought hundreds of Taliban into normal lives," said Shahid.

After evening prayers, Noor led visitors to a room in his compound for a feast, the table adorned with gold-plated cutlery and plates embossed with the insignia of the Jamiat-e-Islami party dominated by anti-Soviet "mujahideen" figures.

The walls of the corridors were lined with photographs of Noor and fellow mujahideen, including Ahmad Shah Masood, revered leader of the anti-Taliban resistance assassinated two days before the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Later, a convoy of SUVs took Noor and his guests to the amusement park. The host grinned as he lined the aliens up in his sights.

(Additional reporting by Mirwais Harooni in Kabul; Editing by Mike Collett-White)

PRESS DIGEST- British Business - June 3

2015-06-02T17:20:00.001-07:00

June 3 - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. GNN has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

Greece's creditors are putting the final touches to a package of economic reforms for Athens to deliver in exchange for unlocking 7.2 billion euros ($8.03 billion) of rescue loans that would stave off default. (thetim.es/1KBQZ5T)

The head of Anheuser in Germany has lost his job after just five months for drink driving. Till Hedrich, head of German operations for Anheuser-Busch Inbev, crashed his car while travelling on an autobahn near Munich at the end of April while under the influence of alcohol. (thetim.es/1ALGg8N)

The Guardian

Tom Hayes, the trader accused of trying to rig a key interest rate behind trillions of dollars in financial deals, was allowed to keep a 2.2 million stg ($3.37 million) bonus despite being sacked by his then employer, Citigroup, for "attempting to manipulate" financial markets. (bit.ly/1FSmFD7)

Euro zone inflation turned a corner in May, posting a 0.3 percent increase after four months of flat or falling prices. The measure of core inflation, which strips out food, energy and other volatile elements of the consumer prices index, jumped even higher to 0.9 percent, signalling a resurgence in demand across the euro zone. (bit.ly/1G37yrG)

The Telegraph

Former Barclays Chairman David Walker has called on the Chancellor to review the legislation surrounding bank ring-fencing, claiming it will simply burden customers with extra costs and harm competition. (bit.ly/1K85FM5)

IMF economists cited research by Moody's Analytics that suggested countries such as the UK, U.S. and Canada could afford to live "forever" with relatively high debt shares compared with their pre-crisis averages. (bit.ly/1eNHoyX)

Sky News

Royal Mail will on Wednesday name travel industry veteran Peter Long as its next chairman, handing him the delicate task of navigating the likely sale of UK taxpayers' remaining shareholding in the company. (bit.ly/1Fsq8FT)

Sky News has learnt that Caledonia Investments, which traces its roots to the shipping empire established by Charles Cayzer in 1878, is close to agreeing the purchase of a controlling stake in Seven Investment Management. (bit.ly/1eNzNAA)

The Independent

Shares in British and American tobacco companies have been hit by a Canadian court ruling requiring three tobacco companies to pay billions to Quebec smokers who claimed they were not warned about the health risks of smoking. (ind.pn/1FSmZ4D)

($1 = 0.8969 euros) ($1 = 0.6520 pounds) (Reuters)(Compiled by Mirza Mohammed Ali Khan in Bengaluru)

FOREX-Dollar mauled as euro leads vicious short squeeze

2015-06-02T17:12:00.000-07:00

Dollar speculators squeezed out of crowded positions
Euro rallies as EU yields spike, Greek creditors make offer
ECB meets later in day, Australia GDP a test for Aussie

By; Wayne Cole

SYDNEY, June 3 (GNN) - The U.S. dollar was broadly lower on Wednesday as hopes for progress in Greek debt talks and a huge spike in European yields combined to give the euro its biggest gain in three months.

The dollar index, which measures it against a basket of six major currencies, was down at 95.943 having shed 1.5 percent on Tuesday in its biggest one-day drop since July 2013.

The euro was enjoying the view at $1.01150, having climbed 2 percent overnight, while the dollar lapsed back to 124.08 yen and away from a 12-1/2-year peak of 125.070.

CitiFX head G10 strategist, Steven Englander, said the violence of the shift reflected just how much speculators had been long of dollars and short of euros.

"Today's EUR move started as a rates move and looks now to be a position unwind. We estimate that a third of the EURUSD move is driven by the change in rates, and 67 percent by positioning unwinds."

The initial catalyst was EU data showing a surprisingly large increase in headline and core inflation which suggested the European Central Bank's latest easing campaign was gaining traction. [TOP/CEN}

German 10-year Bund yields surged 16 basis points to 0.68 percent, the biggest jump in about three years, while Spanish, Italian and Portuguese yields hit 2015 highs.

The central bank holds a policy meeting later Wednesday and will likely reaffirm its commitment to the trillion euro asset purchase programme.

The euro got another leg up when the ECB, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund agreed on the terms of a cash-for-reform deal to be put to Greece in a bid to conclude four months of debt stalemate.

It was far from clear if the leftist government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras would accept the plan, but the market took it as an encouraging step forward.

Dealers said the speed and size of the euro rally argued for consolidation in the very term, while the technical background looked better after a break of the 20-day moving average at $1.1132. The next major chart target was $1.1210/20 and a breach there could trigger a move to the $1.1325/40 zone.

Still, there is a host of U.S. economic data yet to come this week, including the payrolls report on Friday, and any signs of strength could revive dollar bulls.

For now, the dollar's retreat has lifted commodities and related currencies.

The Australian dollar shot to $0.7762, having jumped 2.2 percent on Tuesday, with the New Zealand dollar not far behind at $0.7175.

The Australian currency faces a hurdle in the form of gross domestic product data later in the session, where an outcome of less than the expected 0.7 percent gain could cause a pullback. (Reuters)(Editing by Eric Meijer)

UPDATE 2-California Senate votes to raise smoking age to 21 from 18

2015-06-02T17:08:00.000-07:00

(Adds details on other states)

By: Alex Dobuzinskis

(GNN) - The California Senate voted on Tuesday to raise the legal smoking age in the most populous U.S. state to 21 from 18, in a move that could make California one of the states with the highest smoking age.

The measure was approved by the Senate 26-8 and must now be approved by the state Assembly.

"We will not sit on the sidelines while big tobacco markets to our kids and gets another generation of young people hooked on a product that will ultimately kill them," Senator Ed Hernandez, a Democrat and the bill's author, said.

"Tobacco companies know that people are more likely to become addicted to smoking if they start at a young age," Hernandez added in a statement.

The Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, has said that increasing the smoking age to 21 would result in more than 200,000 fewer premature deaths nationally for those born between 2000 and 2019.

The Cigar Association of America opposed the bill, contending that 18-year-olds can serve in the military, vote and sign contracts and should thus enjoy the right to smoke, according to the Los Angeles Times.

David Sutton, a spokesman for Altria Group Inc, the parent of Philip Morris USA, said in an emailed statement that Altria believed states should defer to the federal government and "allow FDA and Congress the opportunity to think through this issue further before enacting different minimum age laws."

Representatives for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, a unit of Reynolds American Inc, did not return calls seeking comment.

Hawaii lawmakers approved a measure in April to raise the smoking age to 21, and that is awaiting the state governor's signature. Democratic Governor David Ige has not indicated whether he will sign the measure, and has until June 29 to decide whether to veto it, a spokeswoman for his office said.

Since 2013, New York City has required tobacco purchasers to be 21 or older, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. No state has a smoking age that high, but Alabama, Alaska, Utah and New Jersey set it at 19. (Reuters)(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis and Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Privacy app maker files EU antitrust complaint against Google

2015-06-02T17:04:00.000-07:00

U.S. tech firm Disconnect has filed a complaint to EU antitrust regulators against Google's ban on its privacy app, accusing the Silicon Valley giant of abusing its dominant market position.

Disconnect, set up four years ago by former Google engineers, says its app protects users of the Android operating system from invisible tracking and malware distributed through advertisements.

It said Google had abused its position by blocking the app from the Google Play store last year, and had gained an unfair advantage over competitors by integrating its own privacy and security services into its own products.

"They said we interfered with the ability of third parties to serve ads. Google was not willing to engage in a dialogue," Disconnect Chief Executive Casey Oppenheim told Reuters on Tuesday.

Google said Disconnect's complaint was groundless.

"Our Google Play policies have long prohibited apps that interfere with other apps - such as altering their functionality, or removing their way of making money. We apply this policy uniformly and Android developers strongly support it," spokesman Al Verney said.

The European Commission, which opened a probe into Google's agreements with smartphone and tablet makers using its Android operating system in April, confirmed it had received the complaint on Tuesday and said it would assess it.

The EU competition authority's Android investigation is one of two into Google's business practices. The other, more advanced, inquiry focuses on whether the company distorts web search results to favor its own shopping service.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Pravin Char)

HP CEO says split effective from November 1

2015-06-02T16:58:00.000-07:00

Hewlett-Packard Co Chief Executive Meg Whitman said the separation of HP Inc and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise would be effective on Nov. 1.

Whitman made the announcement during the company's technology event, HP Discover 2015, in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

The world's No. 2 personal computer maker said in October it would split into two listed companies, separating its computer and printer businesses from its faster-growing corporate hardware and services operations.

(Reporting By Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

U.S. plan to cede Internet domain control on track: ICANN head

2015-06-02T16:54:00.000-07:00

A controversial Obama administration plan to cede oversight of the non-profit that manages the Internet's infrastructure is on track to gain government approval by next year's presidential elections, the organization's chief said in an interview.

Some Republican lawmakers have raised concerns about the plan to hand over the stewardship of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to a global multi-stakeholder body, worried that it may allow other countries to capture control.

But ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé said such opposition was fading and that some opponents would come around once they see the accountability mechanisms and other assurances put in place.

"I think they see now that this is actually a good thing for the Internet. The fragmentation of the Internet is bad for everyone," he said.

"I'm never comfortable, but I am optimistic and I believe that all interests are now aligned... Everybody sees that this makes sense."

Since 1998, the United States, which gave birth to the Internet, has contracted out, through the Commerce Department, the management of the master database for top-level domain names like .com and .net and their corresponding numeric addresses to ICANN.

The Commerce Department has long expected to phase out its oversight and planned to do it at the end of the current ICANN contract in September, though the timing may slip slightly and may require an extension.

ICANN members are working to draft a proposal for how the group would operate as an independent body run by stakeholders from across the world, including academics and business and government representatives.

Chehadé, who plans to leave ICANN in March, said the community should produce the proposal by the end of the year for the U.S. government, including the administration and Congress, to review. He said the review process, according to government estimates, would take 60 to 90 days.

Chehadé said he remained optimistic that those steps could be concluded before the U.S presidential election in November 2016, which may result in a Republican hostile to an ICANN power shift controlling the White House.

Once the review process was completed, ICANN members would work to implement the plan. It remains unclear how long that process would take.

The White House on Tuesday issued a veto threat to a bill proposed in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives that would restrict the Commerce Department's ability to use its funding to relinquish ICANN oversight.

(Reporting by Alina Selyukh; Editing by Christian Plumb)

Deutsche Bank to launch three tech startup labs in 2015: source

2015-06-02T16:50:00.000-07:00

Deutsche Bank aims to launch three technology innovation labs in Berlin, London and Silicon Valley this year designed to accelerate development of so-called "fintech" companies which could aid the banking sector and its clients.

Germany’s largest lender, grappling with an overhaul of its own technology infrastructure, aims to get the three operations up and running by the end of the year, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The bank, which unveiled broad plans in April to overhaul its strategy and modernize its tech infrastructure, hopes to screen some 500 fintech start-ups per year, with some seeking to develop security, payments, efficiency, organization or process applications.

A spokesman for Deutsche Bank declined comment.

The move follows similar initiatives by rivals including Swiss bank UBS and Commerzbank to turbocharge tech developments that will help banks work more efficiently and stay close to clients.

American Express also recently opened a tech lab in Palo Alto, California, to focus on cloud computing and mobile infrastructure.

Deutsche Bank has not set aside a specific sum of money to invest in the firms, the source said, rather it aims to partner with chosen start-ups by either using the technology itself, fostering development, or perhaps channeling it into clients or other portions of the financial sector, the source said.

Deutsche wants to partner and work with start-ups, give them feedback on their ideas and find ways to employ their technology, not try to benefit solely from a financial perspective, said the source. “This is primarily about innovation, not investments.”

The launch, which comes weeks after board member Henry Ritchotte was named chief digital officer, marks a bigger commitment to developing a field where the banking sector fell behind similar tech advances in manufacturing following the financial crisis.

(Additional reporting by Eric Auchard; Editing by Andreas Framke and Kirsti Knolle)

Instagram takes steps to open platform to advertisers

2015-06-02T16:46:00.004-07:00

Instagram said on Tuesday that it is taking steps to make its ads available to all types of businesses, not just hand-selected brands.

Starting in June, Instagram this year is rolling out to advertisers the ability to more closely direct campaigns by zip code and other data sets like interests in the same ways that brands can target consumers on its parent company Facebook Inc.

In addition it will let advertisers link to external websites or app stores with buttons such as "shop now," "sign up," "learn more," and "install now."

Currently, it works closely with only a handful of brands like Levi's, Banana Republic and Ben & Jerry's. Ads can only be targeted by gender, age and country.

"The quality of the ad experience remains a very important point of differentiation for us," Instagram's global head of business and brand development James Quarles said in an interview.

The move to widen and sharpen the ad platform is a significant one for the popular mobile photo app that has more than 200 million daily active users across the world. It has carefully allowed advertising on its platform starting a year and a half ago. Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion in 2012.

Quarles added that making ads more relevant and delivering them to the right target is the next stage of development.

Still, by opening up to all advertisers, including hundreds of thousands of small businesses, Instagram risks losing quality control of campaigns and potentially irking users.

"People are used to seeing beautiful brand imagery in their feeds," said Debra Aho Williamson, principal analyst at eMarketer. "Now they will see some direct response ads and we all know the baggage that comes with that."

Still, Williamson expects a "strong ramp-up" from advertisers long eager to do more with the platform.

Facebook does not break out Instagram revenue but Pivotal Research estimates it is in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Kfir Gavrieli, co-founder and CEO of Tieks, an online-only retailer known for its ballet flats, said it's currently "clumsy and awkward" for an Instagram user to get from a post to a landing page.

"The shop now button," he said, "will be much more seamless."

(Reporting by Jennifer Saba in New York; Editing by Christian Plumb)

Boost.vc Diversifies With A Push Into VR

2015-06-02T16:45:00.000-07:00

Startup accelerator Boost.vc is diversifying its next cohort of startups, shifting its line-up of accepted startups from focusing solely on Bitcoin to include those working on virtual and augmented reality.

In a chat with TechCrunch last week, Boost.vc co-founder Adam Draper explained the accelerator’s reasoning. “We’re good at building communities around early tech sectors. We bring together investors, entrepreneurs, and builders, and by focusing investments on a category over time, we ourselves become experts in the subject, and thus more valuable to startups that might want to join.”

After two and half years investing in Bitcoin-related startups, Draper says the team decided they didn’t need to only apply those strengths to a single ecosystem. So with their next cohort, or “tribe,” of startups, the accelerator plans to accept a roughly equal number of virtual reality startup as those working to solve problems with Bitcoin.

In addition to mentorship from investors and entrepreneurs with experience in the virtual reality scene, startups that join up in the next group get free housing (for teams of 1-4 people) and $15-25,000 in capital in exchange for ~6% of their company. It’s like the living arrangement on HBO’s “Silicon Valley,” except without an investor hanging around with a bong all day.

As for the kinds of virtual reality startups the accelerator will be investing in, Draper says Boost will not be backing teams working on hardware. Instead, they’re looking for companies building a software infrastructure around the creation and consumption of experiences in virtual reality.

Draper thinks that outside of gaming, the earliest successful VR products will show up on Google’s Cardboard and Samsung’s Gear VR. And with applications like Google’s Expeditions popping up, Draper says he’s “very excited about VR and education technology.”

Source: TC