After 96 Loan Rejections, This Guy Built A $750 Million Marketplace For Business Loans | ||
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Although his business was profitable and he had a healthy credit score, Hodges just couldn’t get the loan he needed to expand his business. Banks repeatedly declined his loan applications and other online finance companies offered terms that “simply didn’t make sense.” After getting turned down for the 96th time, Hodges realized something was definitely wrong. Big companies with tens of millions in revenue and hundreds of employees were able to easily secure loans exceeding $5 million. But it was nearly impossible for companies of his size, with a few million dollars in sales and less than 50 employees, to find bank loans. “There’s a big gaping hole, and that gap has gotten worse over the last five or six years,” Hodges told Business Insider. So Hodges launched an online marketplace called Emergence Lending Network. His peer-to-peer lending network, which last year merged with the UK-based Funding Circle, provides a marketplace where small business owners could borrow money directly from individual or institutional investors. The way it works is pretty simple. Once you pass its online eligibility test (which takes roughly 15 to 30 minutes), Funding Circle’s own underwriters go through a verification process to ensure you’re eligible to apply for a loan. During this process, it looks into a lot of data, including credit score and profitability, as well as things as small as the quality of social media presence and yelp reviews, to determine the health of the business. Based on this, each borrower is given a grade and loan terms, which help lenders decide which businesses are better to lend to. Hodges says on average it takes less than two weeks to complete a loan. Funding Circle has processed over $750 million since 2010 in the US and UK markets, and it expects to lend out more than $1 billion in 2015. So far, it’s raised over $123 million from Accel Partners, Union Square Ventures, and Index Ventures. Funding Circle is part of a larger group of online lending platforms, and the whole sector has been growing rapidly. Lending Club, for example, is now valued at over $3.75 billion and has filed for a $500 million IPO in August. Prosper, another P2P lender, was last valued at $650 million. In fact, all three of these companies were mentioned in a recent report by Karen Mills, former Administrator of the US Small Business Administration, for using technology to help businesses gain better access to capital. "Emerging online players are filling the technology void left by many banks, and pushing innovation within the banking sector in the same ways in which other online upstarts such as Amazon.com changed retail and Square has changed the small business payments business," she wrote. But what makes Funding Circle different from the rest is its laser focus on small businesses, Hodges says. “Our main message is small businesses can turn online and use marketplaces like ours to get access to finance.” Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Sam Hodges, co-founder and US managing director of Funding Circle, used to run a chain of successful fitness gyms in 2007. That's when he realized the US banking system was broken for small business owners. Amazon Wants To Help You Find A Plumber | ||
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Amazon wants to connect users with handymen like plumbers and electricians through the expansion of its Amazon Local Services division in New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing a document viewed as well as person briefed on the plan. Amazon shoppers in those cities will reportedly see installation or handyman offers after purchasing goods like ceiling fans, air conditioners, and the like. The company will offer a money-back guarantee on its services and will do background checks on any service provider that it lists on the site. Every handyman or woman will have to liability insurance. Here's a deal that we found while searching "ceiling fans" in the Local Services section for Los Angeles:
The company eventually plans to expand the program to include fitness instructors, music teachers, and more, The Wall Street Journal reports. Reuters reported these plans back in June. This service sounds very similar to what's offered by startup Pro.com, a company founded by former Amazon employee Matt Williams. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos invests in Pro.com and it has raised $14 million total.
SEE ALSO: Amazon Fires Back At An Ex-Employee Who Is Planning A Hunger Strike Outside Its Seattle Headquarters Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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These Are The Angry Facebook Posts That Put A Guy In Prison | ||
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The Supreme Court is going to hear a free speech case next week that will determine whether a then-27-year-old's violent, rap-inspired Facebook posts should have landed him behind bars. The court will hear arguments next Monday in the case of Anthony Douglas Elonis, who was convicted of violating a federal law that bars making interstate threats to harm people. Elonis' string of damning Facebook rants came after his wife of seven years left him and took their two kids with her in May 2010, according to the petition asking the Supreme Court to hear the case. Elonis made questionable Facebook posts about his former employer (an amusement park that fired him), followed by posts about his estranged wife, and then a post in which he appeared to threaten elementary school kids. That last post prompted the FBI to start monitoring him, which in turn inspired a derogatory post from Elonis about the "Little Agent Lady" who came to his door.
Elonis argues that his posts — many of which were in rap form — weren't actually meant to threaten their subjects, and that he had a First Amendment right to make these statements. He has support from a number of free speech groups, including the ACLU. "The inherently impersonal nature of online communication makes such messages inherently susceptible to misinterpretation," his lawyers wrote in his petition. The subjects of Elonis' Facebook communications obviously interpreted his posts as threats, and it's not hard to see why. In one Facebook comment, Elonis suggested that his son "dress up as matricide" for Halloween. His wife obtained a Protection from Abuse order, prompting him to post a longer rant about her that was basically a word-for-word adaption of sketch by a comedy group they'd seen together, according to his petition. "Did you know that it’s illegal for me to say I want to kill my wife?" he wrote. "It’s illegal. It’s indirect criminal contempt ... I also found out it's incredibly illegal, extremely illegal, to go on Facebook and say something like the best place to fire a mortar launcher at her house would be the cornfield behind it ..." His post about the FBI agent is more graphic. In it, he noted that it "it took all the strength I had not to turn the b**** ghost. Pull my knife, flick my wrist, and slit her throat." Like a lot of rap lyrics, Elonis' have a violent undertone. His words got him 44 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In the past, violent rap lyrics have even been used to secure murder convictions. Here are the rap lyrics that helped convict a guy of attempted murder Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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People Are Flipping Out Over This Spy Software Created By An Unknown Government | ||
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Symantec believes Regin was likely created for cyber espionage purposes by a nation state, although it didn't suggest which government was responsible for it. “Regin is a complex piece of malware whose structure displays a degree of technical competence rarely seen,” Symantec wrote in a report published on Sunday. “Its capabilities and the level of resources behind Regin indicate that it is one of the main cyberespionage tools used by a nation state.” Symantec says Regin was first detected in 2008, but disappeared three years later, only to resurface in 2013. Regin has attacked all kinds of businesses, including telecoms, hospitality, and airlines, but nearly half of it targeted private individuals and small businesses. Russia and Saudi Arabia were the two hardest hit countries, each accounting for 28% and 24% of the attacks respectively, but it’s also been spotted in Mexico, Ireland, and India. In a follow up report on Monday, another IT security lab, Kaspersky Labs, said it’s been tracking Regin for the past two years. It said the victims of Regin were mostly seen in telecom operators, government institutions, multinational political bodies, or financial/research institutions. It says the two main objectives of the attacks were “intelligence gathering” and “facilitating other types of attacks,” with 14 countries being identified as victims of Regin so far. Like Symantec, Kaspersky concluded, it’s likely Regin is “supported by a nation-state.” Although none of the reports named which nation-state is likely responsible for Regin, Re/code pointed to a couple reports (by The Intercept and the Germany magazine Der Spiegel) as hinting that the NSA and the UK’s intelligence agency GCHQ may have a hand in it. The Wall Street Journal also reported that the malware appears to be the tool used by GCHQ in an attack on a telecom company in Belgium which delivered lots of traffic between Asia, Africa, and the Middle East — areas of interest for western governments. The leak was exposed when emails provided by Edward Snowden showed spies at British intelligence agencies boasting about breaking into the telecom. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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An unusually sophisticated malware called “Regin” has attacked internet and telecommunications companies in 14 countries since 2008, Symantec and Kaspersky Labs said in separate reports. Here's One Reason Why iCloud Has Been Such A Mess (AAPL) | ||
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With its soaring stock price and hugely popular products, Apple has become synonymous with success. While that's generally true for the company's hardware, its online services, like iCloud, are a totally different story. One reason is because Apple has no central dedicated team to work on these services, reports The Information's Jessica Lessin. That means whenever Apple wants to create new online services, they have to rebuild a lot of the underlying technology. This is a legacy of the way Apple is organized: the company is so secretive, it often isolates product groups from each other so product details won't leak. This has become a real problem in the case of iCloud. You probably heard about iCloud last summer. iCloud can be used to store photos taken on users' iPhones. That became a problem when hackers went after some celebrities' iCloud accounts and posted their nude photos online. Apple has since instituted a new privacy policy and enabled two-factor authentication for iCloud in order to reassure users, but the incident damaged Apple's reputation. iCloud isn't Apple's first stab at online services, either. Before iCloud there was MobileMe, which users didn't like. It was expensive, and Google offered similar services for free. There's no telling when Apple will learn from its stumbles in the cloud. But it might start by hiring a team to do just that. SEE ALSO: The 13 Best Custom iPhones Money Can Buy Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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It Looks Like Twitter's CFO Just Accidentally Tweeted A Private Message About Acquiring A Company | ||
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It looks like Twitter's CFO Anthony Noto just accidentally tweeted what should've been a direct message that was meant for someone else: Noto, who joined Twitter in July, has since deleted the tweet. Several people, including TechCrunch reporter Josh Constine and Fusion's Kevin Roose, have pointed out that Noto has recently followed a group of people who work at Mic News, a general news site targeted toward millennial readers. Their speculation is that Noto was talking about Mic. He's not the first one to have a "DM fail" and he likely won't be the last. Generally, Twitter — and especially CEO Dick Costolo — has been under fire since its last earnings report. Critics say that even though it is a mainstream product, it has failed to gain a global audience of logged-in, monthly users. The company has acquired four companies this year. Its most recent buy was Mitro, a company that lets multiple people control passwords for a single account. Twitter had no comment on this report. SEE ALSO: Amazon Fires Back At Ex-Employee Who Is Planning A Hunger Strike Outside Its Seattle Headquarters Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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BlackBerry Will Pay iPhone Owners Up To $550 To Switch (AAPL, BBRY) | ||
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How much are iPhone users worth to BlackBerry? Try $550 apiece. If you're willing to trade in your iPhone 6 o to a Passport on ShopBlackberry.com or Amazon, BlackBerry will give you up to $400 in trade-in value, plus an extra $150 "top up" for U.S. residents. Canadian residents get an extra $200 Canadian. The Phone has to be working, but otherwise it looks like the restrictions are pretty loose. Older iPhones are worth less on trade-in — the iPhone 4 is the least valuable at $90. But the top up applies regardless. The deal kicks off December 1. Details are here. What do you say, iPhone owners? Is this enough to get you to switch?
SEE ALSO: Obama -- 'I Forgot My Blackberry' Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Amazon Fires Back At An Ex-Employee Who Is Planning A Hunger Strike Outside Its Seattle Headquarters (AMZN) | ||
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A former Amazon employee who has been protesting outside the company's Seattle headquarters for nearly three weeks, plans to begin a hunger strike tomorrow. He says his goal is to raise awareness about Amazon's "poor employee treatment, low ethical standards, and an abysmal environmental record." Kivin Varghese sued Amazon for wrongful termination in 2012 after working for the company for seven months. Although he won part of his case in July 2013 — Amazon waived enforcement of an 18-month non-compete obligation and granted him all rights to a patent application he'd filed — the trial for the second part of the suit is scheduled for March 2015. An Amazon spokesperson says Varghese's case has never been about treatment of other employees, customers or the environment and that he is raising new issues in an effort to get media attention. Here's the full statement Business Insider recieved: "Mr. Varghese was employed by Amazon for seven months in 2012 and was terminated for poor performance. Since his termination, Mr. Varghese has hired two different sets of lawyers and filed a lawsuit that seeks many millions of dollars of damages from Amazon. He has been aggressively litigating his claims since 2012. While we do not comment on active litigation and won’t do so here, this case has never been about treatment of other employees, customers or the environment – issues he first raised less than three weeks ago in an effort to get media attention. This case is about Mr. Varghese’s own termination and Amazon’s refusal to pay his monetary demands. Trial is set for March 23, 2015." Varghese told Business Insider that he originally started his protest on November 5 because he became frustrated by the drawn-out legal process and wants to draw attention to his case (read more about his original lawsuit and allegations here). Since the protest began, he has expanded his protest — and the forthcoming hunger strike — to include new complaints against Amazon, like broader working condition and environmental issues. (In 2013, Greenpeace gave Amazon an "F" grade renewable energy use and advocacy, but earlier this month, Amazon committed to work towards running cloud services on 100% renewable energy.) Varghese tells Business Insider that he has decided to escalate to a hunger strike after being moved by the response he's gotten from other Amazon employees. "I've heard from so many by email and calls from across the country and on campus," he says. "The stories that they tell me are just awful, of the way that they're treated. Even though I have an issue with how Amazon treated me, this has become much bigger than just my issue." Amazon has come under fire for its warehouse conditions and employee treatment in the past. Varghese chose to start his hunger strike tomorrow as online shopping starts ramping up for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with the goal of trying to convince "even one percent" of Amazon shoppers to take their business elsewhere, either by buying locally or choosing other e-tailers. He will stop eating at 7 a.m. tomorrow and will keep going until "the end," which he says means until he either ends up in the hospital, gets arrested, or gets a response from Amazon with a proposal about how to fix the issues he's highlighting. He admits that his idea might sound "crazy." "All I know is, I need to do the best I can to try to get things to change," he says. "I know it's going to be a huge uphill battle. I'm going to be sitting out there alone on the sidewalk on Thanksgiving and Black Friday. But I'm hoping that my story will make people reconsider their buying for the holiday season." Varghese is the only one protesting outside Amazon's headquarters but a petition he wrote has recieved at lelast 2,217 signatures (with a goal of 20,000). SEE ALSO: The First 21 Amazon Employees: Where Are They Now? Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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MIT-Designed 'Smart' Frying Pan Promises A Perfectly Cooked Meal Every Time | ||
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A new Kickstarter project is promoting something called Pantelligent, which is exactly like a frying pan — only smarter. Fed up with the fact that "frying pans have barely changed in thousands of years," four MIT engineers created this high-tech frying pan. It has a temperature sensor on the inside that communicates with a smartphone app to give the chef a step-by-step guide to cooking a perfect meal. The app comes pre-loaded with a bunch of recipes, including ones for buttermilk pancakes, mushroom risotto, seared scallops, salmon, scallion pancakes, and more. All you have to do is choose which one you want and click "start cooking."
Electronics in the handle transmit the data to a phone through Bluetooth. Just tap the phone to the pan's handle to get the data, and the app can say how hot the pan is, when to add ingredients, and when to stir or flip. All the cook needs to do is follow the alerts. The pan is able to do this through a “patent-pending design that accurately measures the temperature of the pan’s cooking surface,” according to the Kickstarter page. It even gives reassurances and says things like “spot on” when the chef has done done a step correctly.
Chefs who don’t want to follow a step-by-step process can use the “freestyle” mode, which allows the user to set a target temperature for the pan and warns if the pan gets too hot or cold. The freestyle mode works like a “sous chef that never gets distracted,” according to Kickstarter. It even has a recipe-recording feature, which allows chefs to record someone cooking so that they can emulate them later. This feature would be perfect for someone trying to get a family recipe just right. The smart-pan has recieved a lot of praise on Kickstarter, and has already raised $8,000 more than its $30,000 goal at the time of this post, with 42 days lefts to go. Pantelligent asks for a $199 pledge, and will be delivered in August of 2015. But for those who want it immediately, the creators are offering a prototype to be delivered in January for a pledge of over $2,000. For more information, check out the Kickstarter page here. SEE ALSO: An Insane Kickstarter Invention Claims To Scramble Eggs Inside Their Shell DON'T FORGET: Follow Business Insider's Life On Facebook! Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Never feel the need to order takeout after a poorly cooked meal again.
A Gecko-Inspired Invention Lets Humans Scale Walls Like Spider-Man | ||
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Everyone's wished they had a superhuman ability at some point in their lives. And on the super power scale, the ability to scale glass walls like Spider-Man is right up there at the top — and it's already possible, as shown by a new invention described in a recently published study in the journal Interface. Using gecko-inspired hand pads created by these scientists, a person can now walk up a glass wall. "This is one of the most exciting things I've seen in years," Kellar Autumn, a biomechanist at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, who wasn't involved with the study, told Science Magazine. Gecko feetTo build the devices that enable this wall crawling ability, researchers analyzed how geckos support themselves and then improved on that already-powerful adhesive ability. Gecko feet are covered in tiny little bristles or hairs called setae, which interact with the molecules of different surfaces to create an electric attraction called van der Waals force. This force helps the little lizards cling to vertical surfaces and even walk on some ceilings. Part of what makes this really amazing is that the structure of these connections allows the gecko to detach and reattach their feet at will, which is the special skill that actually lets them climb up the wall and not just stick to it in one place. At their strongest, these little hairs are able to create an insanely strong attraction. If each of the 6.5 million tiny bristles was operating at full power all the time, those little gecko feet should be able to hold up a 286-pound adult human — bigger than the average NFL defensive end. But as Science explains, geckos can actually only lift a maximum of 4.4 pounds: The bristles on their feet can't all be used at the same time. The physical structure of the foot means that only a few small hairs can be at their stickiest at once. So on a small scale, they are incredibly powerful, but it's hard to scale up that ability to bigger and heavier objects. A human trickWhenever humans have tried to replicate gecko climbing ability, they've run into the same problem — they can't replicate sticking power using only a tiny surface area, and it's especially difficult to create enough sticking power for something as large as a person. But a team of engineers at Stanford figured out how to make it work.
In the new contraption, the two hand pads are all that hold the climber (lead study author Elliot Hawkes in the image above) in the above photo. The footholds he stands on are connected to those hand pads, so that the pads themselves are holding his body weight and he doesn't have to cling to the wall using brute strength. He's actually just standing on the foot-ledges in the above image. Each of the two hand pads is covered by 24 small tiles. Each tile is covered in tiny silicon rubber hairs that mimic the gecko's setae, each about as tall as human hair is thick. Those little rubber hairs, or microwedges, as they are called, can attach and detach easily without breaking down — and there's something special about their adhesive force that makes them perfect for climbing. The adhesive is designed so it becomes stickier when more force is pulling on it but it becomes less sticky if you take that force away. So by stepping on a foothold connected to a hand pad, Hawkes causes that pad to generate adhesive force and stick to the wall. To detach and climb up, he just has to take his weight off the foothold.
In order to create pads that are small but still able to use that force to hold a person's weight, Hawkes had to figure out where the gecko and other attempts at replicating it were inefficient. "Engineers hate inefficient things," he tells LiveScience. Walk the walkThe key was designing the hand pads so that the 24 tiles would be able to fully attach to the wall even with a weight pulling on them. So he connected the tiles using a material that becomes less stiff and more elastic when it's being pulled on, the opposite of most natural fibers. This means that the pads can evenly distribute all the weight, instead of having the majority of the force pull on one gradually weakening connection. "To be able to climb glass felt a little bit magical — it feels like you're hooking this device onto a perfectly flat smooth surface, and it doesn't feel possible," Hawkes told LiveScience. There are still limitations. This particular version attaches easily to glass, but wouldn't work the same on a rougher or sandy surface. But he thinks that those problems can be solved using other types of bio-inspired design, like the mechanism that geckos use to self-clean their setae as they go. He said that next up is figuring out how to use this type of adhesive to pick up space junk before it smashes into a satellite or to build drones that can walk up and clean skyscrapers. But we're hoping he also takes a shot at harnessing the power of the spiderweb. SEE ALSO: Jetpacks Help Soldiers Run At The Speed Of Olympic Athletes Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Here's Proof Apple Is Exploring Virtual Reality (AAPL) | ||
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Apple has been rumored to be exploring virtual reality for some time now. So far, reports have been based on previous patents filed by Apple revolving around virtual reality, but not all patents see the light of day. This new job listing from Apple, on the other hand, shows that the company is looking for an app engineer to "create high performance apps that integrate with Virtual Reality systems for prototyping and user testing," according to 9to5Mac. What Apple means by "virtual reality systems" isn't clear exactly, but it looks like iPhone maker is at least interested in exploring apps that could be experienced through virtual reality. The real question: Which piece of Apple hardware would these virtual reality apps run on? OS X? iOS? Both Oculus and Samsung are already asking developers to work on apps that will work with the Oculus Rift and Gear VR virtual reality headsets, and both of those developments are mobile-leaning.
Apple could theoretically allow iOS apps to integrate with those headsets, but a previous patent awarded to Apple suggests the company might be working on its own virtual reality headset of sorts. Here are the images from Apple's headset patent, courtesy of PatentlyApple.
While Apple has a habit of filing for numerous design patents that may never materialize into actual products, Apple's move from virtual reality patents to job listings suggests something is in the works. You can check out the full job listing over at Apple's website. SEE ALSO: Steve Jobs Dropped The First iPod Prototype Into An Aquarium To Prove A Point Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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CHART OF THE DAY: Samsung's Mobile Market Share Is Tumbling | ||
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We’ve previously reported on the troubled state of Samsung’s mobile business, but the cheese became a little more binding on Monday with a report from The Wall Street Journal saying the South Korean company is considering replacing some of its top executives as a result of its cratering smartphone business. To get an idea of the pressure Samsung is facing in the mobile sphere, check out the company’s global smartphone market share. Based on IDC data charted for us by BI Intelligence, Samsung’s market share is getting eaten not only by Apple, representing the high-end smartphone market, but most notably from low-end phone makers in China including Lenovo, Huawei, and Xiaomi, which has come out of nowhere to become the biggest smartphone maker in China and the third-biggest in the world. (The "Other" section in this chart includes a bunch of smaller phone makers in India, Indonesia, and other big countries. But they're all much smaller than HTC.) Samsung’s mobile profits and revenue are both tumbling, but that only partially explains the shakeup. As for what Samsung should actually do about its mobile woes, Business Insider’s Jay Yarow has a far-out idea to save the company.
SEE ALSO: CHART OF THE DAY: Apple Has Nearly A Billion Payment Cards On File Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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A Secret Message Hidden In A CIA Sculpture 25 Years Ago Might Finally Be Solved | ||
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Like something from a Dan Brown novel, Kryptos is a cryptographic puzzle at CIA headquarters that has never been solved. The sculpture is 12 feet high, and stands on the grounds of the CIA complex in Langley, Virginia. American artist Jim Sanborn built it 25 years ago. Kryptos contains four hidden messages, carved out of metal. Those four messages are the clues to a riddle. Sanborn has hinted that solving the riddle will be something akin to a treasure hunt on the grounds of the CIA's headquarters. Three of the messages hidden in the sculpture have been solved. The fourth is 97 letters but no one has been able to decipher it. Even the code-cracking masters at the NSA, who were the first ones to solve the other three parts, gave up. In honor of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and Sanborn's 69th birthday, the artist has released a clue, a hint to the world's smartest mathematicians and cryptographers to help them finally crack the last section of code. This is only the second hint he's ever given to crack the code that hides the clues, reports Wired's Kim Zetter. Once all four clues have been revealed, the next step will be to solve the riddle itself. Zetter reports: Four years ago, concerned that he might not live to see the mystery of Kryptos resolved, Sanborn released a clue to help things along, revealing that six of the last 97 letters when decrypted spell the word “Berlin”... To that clue today, he’s adding the next word in the sequence—“clock”... Now the Kryptos sleuths just have to unscramble the remaining 86 characters. The first part of the puzzle that is a clue to the riddle is a poetic phrase that Sanborn composed: "Between subtle shading and the absence of light lies the nuance of iqlusion." The second indicates that the solution to the riddle may be a thing that's buried in the ground: "It was totally invisible. How’s that possible? They used the earth’s magnetic field. x The information was gathered and transmitted undergruund to an unknown location. x Does Langley know about this? They should: it’s buried out there somewhere. x Who knows the exact location? Only WW. This was his last message. x Thirty eight degrees fifty seven minutes six point five seconds north, seventy seven degrees eight minutes forty four seconds west. x Layer two." The third message is a description of opening King Tut’s tomb when it was discovered in 1922 based on the diary of Archaeologist Howard Carter. "Slowly, desparatly slowly, the remains of passage debris that encumbered the lower part of the doorway was removed. With trembling hands I made a tiny breach in the upper left-hand corner. And then, widening the hole a little, I inserted the candle and peered in. The hot air escaping from the chamber caused the flame to flicker, but presently details of the room within emerged from the mist. x Can you see anything? q" The code has been particularly hard to crack in part because some of the worlds have been misspelled like "iqlusion and "undergruund." Sanborn told Wired that he's the only man alive that knows the answer to the riddle. So if the world's smartest crypto-mathematicians don't crack the fourth clue and solve the riddle while Sanborn is still alive, the mystery gracing the grounds of the CIA may remain hidden forever. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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The FAA's New Drone Proposal Would Be Bad News For Amazon And Google (GOOG, AMZN) | ||
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It looks like the Federal Aviation Administration's rules for commercial drone use could be much more restrictive than expected. Drones will have to remain below 400 feet and within sight of their operators who will have to be certified pilots of the manned aircrafts, the The Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources familiar with the rule-making process. Getting pilot certification requires dozens of hours flying manned aircrafts. Flights will also have to be limited to daylight hours. The FAA plans to release these proposed rules for small, commercial drones under 55 pounds by the end of this year. If enacted, these rules would deliver a blow to the commercial drone projects of Amazon and Google, which both planned to use algorithms — not certified pilots — to direct their drones. This FAA proposal isn't set in stone yet. The White House Office of Management and Budget is reviewing it and seeking comment from other parts of the government like the Pentagon, the Journal reports, and specifics could still change. Amazon announced its plans for automated delivery drones nearly a year ago, and Google revealed its own project in August. SEE ALSO: Here's Everything Google Knows About You Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Here Are Apple's Black Friday Deals (AAPL) | ||
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Apple's Black Friday deals are here. Apple is a little less generous with its deals than some third-party retailers, but there are still good reasons to hit the Apple Store this week, especially if you plan on shopping for your friends there. Shoppers will receive an iTunes gift card with certain Black Friday purchases like iPhones, Beats headphones, and Mac computers. Those gift cards can be used on iTunes, the Mac App Store, the App Store, and the iBooks store. So you can't use the gift cards on your Apple Store purchases, but they make a fine present for anyone glued to their iPhone or iPad. Or, you can use them to fill your new gadget up with tunes, apps, or other stuff. Here's how much the gift cards are worth, based on which product you buy to get them:
Certain products are limited to two gift cards per household. You can find more details here. Apple has also partnered with Product (Red), which combats AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, and will make an undisclosed donation to the Global Fund for qualifying purchases. If you're looking for discounted Apple products, try a big box retailer like Walmart. SEE ALSO: The 13 Best Custom iPhones Money Can Buy Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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How iOS 8 Completely Changed The Way You Use Your iPhone | ||
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Apple rolled out its new operating system, iOS 8, in conjunction with the brand-new iPhone 6. While it may not look a lot different on the outside, there are all sorts of hidden features. Check them out. Produced By Matt Johnston. Follow BI Video: On Facebook Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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This App Lets You See Which Apps Your Friends Use Most Often | ||
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It's interesting to see the apps people value the most, and that's the idea behind a new app simply called "Homescreen." Homescreen is the newest app from Betaworks, the company behind Digg, Instapaper, and Dots. The concept of Homescreen is simple: Share your homescreen on Twitter, and check out the homescreens of others. When you click on someone's homescreen via the link they share on Twitter, you're brought to the Homescreen website, which gives you more details on the specific apps on someone's homescreen thanks to the app's built-in image recognition software, according to TechCrunch. If you don't recognize an app, you can hover over it and get a tidy summary of what it does.
One of the coolest features of Homescreen is the ability to see which apps are the most popular among users, which Homescreen keeps track of on its website. Here's the current lineup of the most popular apps.
Homescreen's true potential, however, is its ability to act as a recommendation engine. Apps are already best shared through word of mouth. Personally, if a friend is excited about an app to the extent they'll actually take out their phone and show me, I'm a lot more likely to give it a try knowing that one of my friends is already using it. Homescreen could harness this idea, giving users the chance to show their friends which apps have survived since they last needed to free up space. Not too many people know about Humin, for example, but when I show them it's replaced the Phone app on my dock; that endorsement holds far more weight than a simple tweet. You can download Homescreen for yourself over at the App Store. SEE ALSO: The App 100: The World's Greatest Apps Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Everyone organizes their smartphone homescreens a little differently, giving their favorite apps prime real estate and tucking others away in folders or hiding them on other pages.
Meet Sparc, The Apple Store Of Marijuana Shops | ||
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"If you walk into any other business, whether it's a restaurant or food service business, they put a lot into the atmosphere and customer service," Robert Jacob, Sparc’s executive director, tells CNBC. "Sparc wanted to do the same." The clean, well-lit interior is lined with thick, modern pale wood shelving similar to an Apple retail location, or modern clothing store. And rather than being housed in mismatched boxes, the marijuana is organized uniformly in large, clear plastic cases. The small, clear circular containers are organized in precise rows with well designed labels.
Customers must be at least 18 years or older and have a letter of recommendation from a physician in order to purchase marijuana from Sparc. And the retail store has also partnered with Eaze, a local startup trying to revolutionize medical marijuana delivery. Sparc is officially a non profit, and they donate their surplus funds to San Francisco charities, but the company has seen a big uptick in business thanks to the legal marijuana market’s recent growth. Read more about Sparc on CNBC > Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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When you walk into Sparc, a medical marijuana dispensary in San Francisco, you may have to do a double take before you realize they’re selling weed.
Sparc, which was founded in 2009, currently serves up to 400 customers per day who can sometimes pay $300 for an ounce of marijuana, CNBC reports. How Women, Booze, And Money Made Spotify's CEO 'Completely Depressed' | ||
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Numerous studies have shown that money alone can't make you happy, and there's no better proof than Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek. According to a recent story in The New Yorker, Ek decided to retire in 2006 after selling his online advertising company, Advertigo, for about $1.25 million. He was just 23 years old. As many young men his age might have done given the same privilege, Ek bought himself a Ferrari and hung out in Stockholm nightclubs, where, The New Yorker reports, he got his friends expensive tables and wooed lots of attractive women with fancy champagne. But a year of this lavish lifestyle wound up making Ek "completely depressed." He tells The New Yorker that many of the women he spent time with were not very nice and his friends were only using him for his money. Here's how Ek describes his realization that being rich wouldn't necessarily make him happy: "They were people who were there for the good times, but if it ever turned ugly they’d leave me in a heartbeat. I had always wanted to belong and I had been thinking that this was going to get solved when I had money, and instead I had no idea how I wanted to live my life." He decided to move to a cabin near the Stockholm suburb of Ragsved, where his parents lived, to think about what he wanted to do with his life. There, he had conversations with the Swedish businessman Martin Lorentzon about creating a product that would allow people to have seamless access to all of the world's music. So far, things seem to be going pretty well. SEE ALSO: Here's What To Say When You're Asked About Salary In A Job Interview Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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How Dion Weisler Rose To Become One Of HP's CEOs In Just Three Years (HPQ) | ||
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By this time next year, the company called "HP" will be a completely different beast, divided in half. The PC/Printer division, called "HP Inc." will be headed by Australian-born Dion Weisler. It's been a meteoric ride for Weisler, 47, who joined HP only three years ago (January 2012) to run HP Asia Pacific & Japan Printing & Personal Systems (PPS). A year and a half later, he was promoted to take over the whole $57 billion PPS division, replacing Todd Bradley, (after a quarter when PC revenues nosedived 20%). Whitman was still relatively new to the helm of HP. We understand her management style is to give executives the resources they say they need and if they don't deliver, they're gone. Sources point to the exit of Bradley and promotion of Weisler as an example. Weisler hasn't exactly been avoiding the media since he was named CEO of the soon-to-be HP Inc. He talked to Mad Money's Jim Cramer in late October, for instance, But he hasn't been making himself exceptionally available for interviews either. Bloomberg just posted a profile on him in which it noted that HP "declined to make Weisler available for an interview." He also wasn't directly quoted in a profile Fortune ran of him last month. And he's not scheduled to be part of HP's conference call with Wall Street analysts on Tuesday, the first earnings release since HP announced its split-up plans last month. (Although maybe he'll surprise everyone and show up since there will likely be lots of questions about his area of the company) Still, curiosity about him has ramped up since after HP announced that he would be the CEO of one of the two new businesses. Almost hand-in-hand, Weisler revealed his plans to turn HP Inc. into a successful, growing business again. Last month, he revealed includes releasing the special keyboard-less/mouse-less "blended reality" computer "Sprout" (on sale now in time for the holidays) and previewed its potentially game-changing 3D printer due out next year. Here's what we know about him: He cut his teeth in the PC business at Acer, spending 11 years there before leaving to work a few jobs in his home country of Australia. He soon left again, for Singapore and China, rejoining the PC business again for Lenovo. At Lenovo, he mastered the supply chain skills it takes to profitably build PCs with their razor thin margins. He worked with Rory Read while there, who became CEO of AMD, reports Bloomberg. He came to HP from Lenovo. He had a break-out moment almost immediately when he won a contract to supply 1.5 million PCs to a buyer in India that HP wasn't originally even going to bid on. The previous HP execs thought they'd lose money on the deal. Weisler went through every part — the screws, the plastic, the metal, and so on — and reduced the cost by $67.40 per PC, and won the contract, reports Bloomberg. He likewise boosted HP's profits in the low-end PC business, including Chromebooks. Shortly after Weisler took over (PPS), HP's business started growing again, earning him public praise from Whitman. Weisler has a wry sense of humor, according to former HP executive Charles House, co-author of "The HP Phenomenon: Innovation and Business Transformation." House, who is executive director at InnovaScapes Institute, met Weisler earlier this year at a gathering of HP executives at a Stanford Graduate Business School workshop, reports Fortune's That's where Weisler told a story about himself about how he learned how to make it in Asia, a huge growth area of the world where many U.S. companies struggle. The story goes: Weisler was about to sign a huge deal with a Japanese company. The night before the deal was to be signed, Weisler dined in celebration with the company's president. Drinks were flowing and after a while, Weisler stopped imbibing. The next day, the customer cancelled the order. Weisler called the customer daily. After three months of calls, the man finally talked to him, explaining he cancelled the order because he "couldn't trust" a supplier that wouldn't drink with him, House recounted on his blog, HP Phenomenon. Today, Weisler is obsessed with finding new ways that HP's PCs and printers can prosper again, when both of those businesses are in decline. He thinks about innovation in three ways, he told Cramer, 1) improving existing products, 2) building new products for "the way things are changing" and 3) "category creation." He's very hands-on in trying to create new categories of devices. He personally oversaw the development the keyboard-less/mouse-less Sprout PC, which lets you scan physical objects and work with them via touchscreen. He took the prototype home for several months, playing with it and contacting engineers on evenings and weekends with tweaks and feedback, reports Bloomberg. Here's a peek at the results, the Sprout:
But the real game-changer could be HP's 3D printer, he says. It promises to be faster, handle more types of materials and be more accurate, all while being affordable. Weisler told Cramer this printer "could quite possibly be the trigger for the next industrial revolution." If that's true, then HP Inc. and Weisler both have bright futures. Here's his most recent public media interview with Mad Money's Jim Cramer: SEE ALSO: The 50 Most Powerful People In Enterprise Tech In 2014 Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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THE PROGRAMMATIC ADVERTISING REPORT: Real-Time Bidding Is Taking Over The Digital Ad Market | ||
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A new report from BI Intelligence finds that real-time bidding (RTB), a key piece of the programmatic ecosystem, will account for over 33% of U.S. digital ad sales, or $18.2 billion in 2018, up from just $3.1 billion in 2013. Access The Full Report By Signing Up For A Free Trial Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:
The report is full of charts and data that can easily be downloaded and put to use.
Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Automated ad buying and selling tools are increasingly driving digital ad sales in the U.S. That means less human-mediated, manual sales, and more opportunities for ad tech specialists to gain a share of ad spend. 5 Items You Need To Survive At The Airport [Up To 58% Off] | ||
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The holidays are coming, and while it is great to spend time with family and friends, it also means traveling on some of the busiest days of the year. Insider Picks and Stack Commerce have put together unique deals for some items to help you breeze through baggage check and weather those delays. Handheld Luggage Scale [41% Off]
Don't get caught paying overweight bag fees. This handy digital scale will make sure you're coming in at or underweight before you leave for the airport, so no ugly surprises once you get there. It's got an easy-to-read LCD screen that measure in kilograms, grams, pounds, and ounces to keep you honest in every country. The scale measures weights up to 110 pounds, powers off automatically, and alerts you when your bag is overweight or when the battery is low. Get 41% off The Handheld Luggage Scale ($17.00). The Globally Compatible Router and Charger [30% Off]
The Smart Travel Router serves two primary functions, charging and networking. Both are key to staving off boredom while waiting for the next leg of your journey. Charging: The Router fits electrical outlets in over 150 countries including the US, Canada, Mexico, England, and China. It works for any electronic device, and can charge two devices simultaneously. Everything retracts to make it easy to store. Networking: The Router has four different networking modes:
This tool was built for the sole purpose of making sure your devices stay alive and connected anywhere your life takes you. Get 30% off The Handheld Luggage Scale ($34.99 + Free Shipping). Full specs:
Get 30% off The Handheld Luggage Scale ($34.99 + Free Shipping). 10ft Apple-certified Lightning Cable [52% Off]
The worst part about having to charge up at the airport is that you're stuck sitting by the outlet. Pair your new charger/router with this Apple-certified Lightning Cable, and you'll triple your tether and be able to reach a real seat. Get 52% off The 10 ft. Apple Certified Lightning Cable ($18.99 + Free Shipping). Wireless Feather Earbuds [58% Off]
Travelling is loud. These TOCCs Feather Buds have a noise-canceling outer shell, which will let you trade that screaming baby for your favorite playlist. They're light, and because they don't need to connect to your device, there's less cord in your pocket and less opportunity for tangles. The bluetooth transmission is clear, crisp, and works up to 30 feet away. They also have a built-in microphone, so you can take that last-minute call and stay hands-free. Get 58% off The 10 ft. Apple Certified Lightning Cable ($24.99 + Free Shipping). Full specs below:
Get 58% off The 10 ft. Apple Certified Lightning Cable ($24.99 + Free Shipping). The ShaveTech USB Travel Razor [36% Off]
Shaving while travelling can be frustrating, especially if you use a razor at home. The ShaveTech Electric Razor is USB-chargeable, so if you have a phone charger, you can use it. It's the same size as an average smartphone, so it won't take up much room, keeping you travelling light. Get 36% off The ShaveTech Electric Razor ($18.99 + Free Shipping). Full specs below:
Get 36% off The ShaveTech Electric Razor ($18.99 + Free Shipping). SEE ALSO: Makeup Matters In The Workplace — Here's How To Wear It Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Slack, The Popular App That Aims To Replace Email, Makes A Play For Huge Companies | ||
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Slack, the work collaboration app that’s taking the business world by storm, is making a play for bigger companies with a feature that lets bosses look at employees' private messages. Today it rolled out Compliance Exports, a feature that allows team leaders to access all private conversations, including edit history and direct messages. Slack said in a blog post that the changes were necessary in order to sell to large enterprise customers that deal with heavy regulations, including those in the finance and legal markets. It wrote: “Sadly, there are businesses today that want to use Slack but can’t. Why? Because they have very specific legal and regulatory requirements that require they have access to and store ALL employee communications. This includes companies with on-going litigation and financial services and securities trading firms regulated under FINRA, to cite two examples.” The new feature will be available from January 1 and only on Slack Plus, a new service level targeting big enterprise users. It’s not retroactive, meaning none of the past conversations before the new feature is enabled will be subject to access. Slack isn’t making it easy for companies to take advantage of this new feature. For one, it has a multi-step process that ensures the new feature is only used for serious cases. For instance, before the feature is turned on, the company "make a request in the form of a signed letter on company letterhead stating that the requester is authorized to have this access, that the company policies and employment agreements allow this kind of access, and that they have the necessary legal clearance in their jurisdiction to access employee communications." Still, the feature shows that Slack is growing up, and is dead serious about expanding its market to all kinds of businesses — not just the smaller businesses where most freemium collaboration apps get their start. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Makeup Matters In The Workplace — Here's How To Wear It | ||
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Today's Insider Picks is from guest writer Kara Manos, creator of Politics of Pretty, a DC beauty blog dedicated to helping Washington women look their very best. She’s covered numerous NYC Fashion Weeks and is a frequent host for beauty trend and education events. As a senior marketing consultant for OutMarket by day, Kara balances a busy schedule between weekly manicures. Think wearing makeup in the workplace doesn’t matter? Think again. Wearing makeup is just as important as the outfit and shoes you pick out. In fact, studies have shown that wearing makeup (but not an absurd amount) increases people’s perceptions of a woman’s likability. Plus, makeup helps you look more polished and professional. From long-wearing eyeshadow to moisturizing lip color, I’ve rounded up the best work-appropriate makeup products. Eyes:Dark eye makeup can yield many touch-ups and not-so-pretty meltdowns, and it can be distracting in a business meeting. If you have fair skin, sweep a long-wearing glimmering champagne shadow like Stila Eyeshadow in Kitten across the lid and blend up to the crease. If you have a medium to dark skin tone, try Estee Lauder Pure Color Eyeshadow in Sizzling Copper, a metallic brown that brightens without being too sparkly. Go easy on the mascara by focusing on defining and lengthening lashes with CoverGirl Clump Crusher Extensions Lashblast Mascara. Start by rolling the wand from the base to the tip of your lashes to help separate lashes. Tame your brows with Benefit Gimme Brow, a volumizing fiber gel that fills in where needed and shapes arches for a polished look. Wearing concealer is important because it conceals blemishes and discoloration around the eye area so you look more awake. I tested a bevy of products to find the best drugstore concealer on my blog, and to this day I’m still using Maybelline Age Rewind Eraser because of its ability to conceal dark circles and brighten my under eye area. Apply product in the shape of a piece of pie (not a crescent) for a natural finish. Face:Foundation isn’t necessary unless you feel like you need more coverage than a tinted moisturizer or BB cream. Personally, I love NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 30, which keeps skin hydrated and helps improve complexion over time. As for bronzer, it’s OK to add a little faux color with a matte finish like The Body Shop Honey Bronze Powder. Using a bronzer brush, create the number “3” on both sides of your face, starting at the top of your forehead, dusting it along your cheeks and sweep it across your jawline. Don’t forget to blend it into your neck for a natural finish. For blush, I prefer sheer, buildable coverage in a creamy formula. Laura Mercier Crème Cheek Color in Blaze is equal parts natural looking and long-lasting. It adds warmth to medium-deep complexions and a sun-kissed touch to fair-to-medium tones. Lips:
Lip color isn’t necessary, but a sheer finish can enhance your overall appearance. At the very least, use a light tinted lip balm like AERIN Beauty Rose Lip Balm. You can add color to your lips without overdoing it by sporting a dreamy nude-pink lip color. Bobbi Brown Lip Gloss in Buff is pretty and non-sticky with a beige pink hue. I believe a red lip is no longer reserved for date night—just make sure you apply in moderation. For example, eye makeup should be neutral and light if you wear MAC Lipstick in Russian Red, which is universally flattering on all skin tones and undertones. Using a lip brush, apply the color, starting at the center of the upper lip and moving outward toward each corner. Not a fan of red lipstick? Opt for a barely there hue from Tom Ford in Blush Nude. You can visit Kara's website here for everything from extensive drugstore guides to salon reviews and industry tool breakdowns. Her insider tips and tricks help determine the type of products best-suited for your specific needs. She’s been featured in Washingtonian Magazine, People StyleWatch and Byrdie.com as a top ten beauty blog to bookmark. Follow Kara on Twitter: @politics_pretty. SEE ALSO: 17 Travel Pillows That Will Improve Your Next Trip Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Why 32 Million People Are Obsessed With 'PewDiePie' — The Biggest Star On YouTube | ||
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Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg also known as "PewDiePie" is a foul-mouthed Swedish video-game commentator. With over 32 million subscribers he's by far YouTube's biggest star. Produced by Devan Joseph Follow BI Video: On Facebook Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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10 Things You Need To Know Before European Markets Open | ||
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Good morning! Here are 10 major stories you need to know about before markets open in London and Paris. Samsung Just Won A $3 Billion License In Vietnam. South Korea's Samsung has secured a license to invest $3 billion (£1.91 billion) to expand its production in northern Vietnam, the Vietnamese government said. Hong Kong Police Have Started Clearing Protest Sites. Hong Kong authorities encountered little resistance as they began clearing part of a pro-democracy protest camp in the bustling district of Mong Kok on Tuesday following a court order to reopen a road. Saudi Arabia May Resist Calls To Cut Oil Output At This Week's OPEC Meeting. OPEC's biggest crude producer Saudi Arabia will have its sights set on the upstart US shale oil business at a crucial cartel meeting to debate possible output cuts on Thursday. Iran Negotiations Have Until July. Iran and world powers have given themselves seven more months to clinch a landmark nuclear agreement, and defuse a 12-year standoff, after missing a Monday midnight deadline for a deal. United Technologies' CEO Quit. Investors were not expecting the exit of Louis Chenevert, CEO of the US manufacturer that makes Sikorsky helicopters, according to the Financial Times. US Prosecutors Are Taking Their FX Probe To The UK. US prosecutors will travel to London in the coming weeks to interview traders about currency market manipulation, the latest sign that authorities are closer to filing criminal charges stemming from the long-running probe, sources told Reuters. General Motors Is Expecting Sluggish Demand Everywhere But The US. General Motors President Dan Ammann on Monday said he expects "more of the same" next year from a US auto market that has been growing slowly, while he is bracing for continued soft demand in other parts of the globe. Asian Markets Are Mixed. The Nikkei closed up another 0.29% in Japan, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng is currently trading down 0.16%. US GDP Is Coming. The second estimate of US Q3 growth will be out at 1.30 a.m. GMT, with economists expecting a 3.3% annualised expansion. Italian retail sales for September are also out at 9 a.m. GMT, giving an insight into Europe's third-largest economy. Jean Claude Juncker Is Planning A Big EU Spending Programme. According to the Financial Times, EU Commission President Juncker will soon announce a €315 billion ($391.4 billion) plan named the European Fund for Strategic Investment. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Hughes in critical condition after hit by cricket ball | ||
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Sydney (AFP) - Australian batsman Phil Hughes was in a critical condition in hospital Tuesday after being hit on the head by a bouncer in a Sheffield Shield match. Looking to press his case for a recall to the Test side, the South Australian opener, who was wearing a helmet, had scored a composed 63 when he was hit by a ball from Sean Abbott while attempting a pull shot. Television images showed him standing dazed, looking at his feet before crashing face-first onto the pitch. New South Wales players and the umpires quickly rushed to his side and called for help immediately. "The patient suffered a critical injury and was transported to St Vincent's Hospital in a critical condition," an Ambulance NSW official told AFP. Cricket Australia said in a live match blog on its website that Hughes had "been leaving the short balls, had a go at this one, misjudged it and hit in the head. He blacked out and fell badly". Medical staff worked on the 25-year-old, reportedly including mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, for more than 30 minutes before he was taken from the field ahead of a helicopter landing on the pitch. "Clearly the priority is Phil's health and we want to keep his family fully informed. We don't have any updates on Phil's health at the moment," a Cricket NSW spokesman said. South Australian cricket officials said a statement was expected to be issued shortly. Play was suspended in the game and then abandoned for the day. Hughes has played 26 Tests but has never secured a regular place in the team, partly due to his perceived weakness against the short ball. But with doubts over the fitness of captain Michael Clarke for the first Test against India next month in Brisbane, he was seen as a potential replacement. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Police Cars, A Walgreens, And A Little Caesar's All Go Up In Flames In Ferguson | ||
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Saudi sights set on US shale at crucial OPEC meeting | ||
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Riyadh (AFP) - OPEC's biggest crude producer Saudi Arabia will have its sights set on the upstart US shale oil business at a crucial cartel meeting to debate possible output cuts on Thursday. Analysts say the kingdom is content to see shale oil producers -- and even some members of the cartel -- suffer from low prices and will resist pressure to reduce output and shore up the cost of oil. A barrel of crude has plunged by about one third in value since June to around $80 in an increasingly competitive market. Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi was silent about his government's intentions Monday as he arrived in Vienna ahead of the OPEC gathering. "Is this the first time we have oversupply?" he was quoted as saying by Dow Jones Newswires when questioned about current supply and demand. However his Iraqi counterpart Abdel Mahdi arrived in Vienna pushing for action, deeming the steep price drop "not acceptable". Analysts say the kingdom is strong enough to withstand lower prices. "Saudi Arabia wants to try and knock out shale oil competitors from the market," said Saudi economist Abdulwahab Abu-Dahesh. "They have the fiscal strength to remain steadfast for two to three years," he told AFP. Oil prices have collapsed to four-year lows on factors including dampening demand in a sluggish world economy, a sharp rise in output from shale oil and other unconventional sources, and a strong dollar.
- Oil prices fall further -
Global oil prices fell Monday amid skepticism that OPEC would move aggressively to lift prices. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery dipped 73 cents to $75.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Meanwhile European Brent oil for January dropped 68 cents to $79.68 a barrel in London. Although Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait could bear the burden of lower production, "I don't think they will cut because they will lose their market share," said Fahad Alturki, chief economist and head of research at Jadwa Investment in the Saudi capital. Figures from the US Energy Information Administration showed Saudi exports to the US dropped by almost 30 percent from 1.25 million barrels per day in July to below 900,000 bpd in August, although it remains the second largest US supplier after Canada. The kingdom then cut its prices for crude sold to the US market, sending global prices plummeting in early November by almost $2.
- Defending US market share -
Analysts saw the Saudi move as an effort to hold onto North American market share against cheaper oil from US shale fields. Saudi Arabia also raised prices for its oil sold to Asia and other areas but was apparently "concentrating more on defending its market share in the US", Commerzbank analysts said. The kingdom exports two-thirds of its crude to Asia but this year has seen its market share fall in China and India, said analysts from Platts, a global energy information provider. OPEC pumped 30.6 million bpd last month, above its 30 million bpd target, according to the International Energy Agency which advises member countries on energy policy. Of that total, Saudi Arabia produced around 9.6 million bpd in October, according to data cited by OPEC. Some analysts expect OPEC's 12 members to retain the 30 million bpd ceiling in Vienna.
- Saudi 'is happy' -
"I think the only beneficiaries of an oil cut would be the shale oil producers who are now losing money as the prices are becoming lower than their marginal cost," Alturki said. Technological innovations have unlocked shale resources in North America and raised daily US oil output by more than 40 percent since 2006, but at a production cost which can be three or four times that of extracting Middle Eastern oil. Alturki said that as prices fall into the $70 range "we think the basic survival of the shale oil producer will be a question". He said the kingdom doesn't need to make major production cuts because continuing lower prices will push shale producers out of the market, reduce excess supply and raise prices. "So I think Saudi Arabia is happy with such a dynamic," said Alturki. British-based analysts at Capital Economics said Saudi Arabia is "in a much stronger position" economically than many other OPEC members, and is likely to resist pressure to lower its output. "Over the longer-term, Saudi Arabia may see a period of lower oil prices as working in its favour," boosting oil demand, they said. "In addition, it may cause problems for the shale industry in the US and the Saudis are probably content seeing the less-friendly oil producers in the Middle East, notably Iran, coming under pressure," the analysts said in a briefing paper. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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British TV wins big at International Emmy Awards | ||
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New York (AFP) - Britain led at the International Emmy Awards, with three trophies going to British television series at the ceremony honoring the best TV programming outside the United States. "Utopia," the conspiracy series created by Britain's Dennis Kelly and directed by Marc Munden took home the best drama Emmy, while the best actor trophy went to Stephen Dillane for his role as Karl Roebuck in "Tunnel," the Canal+ series that was also nominated for best drama. "Educating Yorkshire," a documentary program directed by David Brindley and narrated by David Clews about life in a school in northern Britain, took home the award for non-scripted entertainment. British programs were nominated in six categories in total. The best actress award went to the Netherland's Bianca Krijgsman, who plays Mirte in "De Nieuwe Wereld," (The New World) about an airport cleaner's relationship with a West African refugee. Belgium took home the best comedy prize for sketch comedy series from Tim Van Aelst and Sofie Peeters, "Wat Als? 2" (What If? 2). Germany's "Unsere Mutter, Unsere Vater" (Generation War), a World War Two miniseries by Heike Hempel and Benjamin Benedict, won the top prize in its category. Canada, nominated in three categories, walked away with the statue for best arts programming for "The Exhibition," directed by Damon Vignale and produced by Miho Yamamoto. It follows the public's negative reception of an artist's show of artwork based on a police poster of missing women. The best documentary prize went to Sweden's "Frihet bakom galler" (No Burqas Behind Bars), Maryam Ebrahimi's look at an Afghan women's prison. Brazil, which earned five nominations, won the Emmy for best telenovela for "Precious Pearl," Thelma Guedes and Amora Mautner's show about the son of a millionaire factory owner. The 42nd International Emmys were hosted in downtown New York and presented by British comedian Matt Lucas. Matthew Weiner, the creator of the popular AMC series "Mad Men," received an honorable Emmy, presented by two of his show's actors, Christina Hendricks and John Slattery. The International Emmy Directorate Award went to Roberto Irineu Marinho, who heads Brazil's biggest media group Globo. A total of 19 countries competed this year, with 40 nominations in 10 categories. It was also the first time that Spanish-language productions broadcast in the United States were included in the competition. The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which hands out the distinctions, includes media and entertainment representatives from over 50 countries and 500 companies from all sectors of television.
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Protesters Shut Down New York Bridges Over Ferguson Decision | ||
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Thousands of protesters gathered in New York's Union Square and marched through the city following the decision by a grand jury to not indict police officer Darren Wilson, who shot and killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in August. Following the grand jury's decision, crowds marched north from Union Square towards Times Square and south through Washington Square Park before heading east, towards Brooklyn. They reportedly caused shutdowns on three city bridges: the Manhattan, the Tri-Boro, and the Brooklyn Bridge: Here's what the city's traffic situation looked like late Monday night: Hundreds of protesters who marched south down Thompson Street chanted "This is what democracy looks like" and held signs that said "Black lives matter."
As they marched south, the crowd chanted "No justice, no peace, no racist police." Post by Julie Zeveloff . And "Don't shoot, hands up." Post by Julie Zeveloff .
Massive protests also erupted Monday evening in Ferguson and in cities around the US. In Ferguson, police used tear gas on the crowds, and there were reports of gunshots and protestors smashing police cars. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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After 96 Loan Rejections, This Guy Built A $750 Million Marketplace For Business Loans | ||
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Although his business was profitable and he had a healthy credit score, Hodges just couldn’t get the loan he needed to expand his business. Banks repeatedly declined his loan applications and other online finance companies offered terms that “simply didn’t make sense.” After getting turned down for the 96th time, Hodges realized something was definitely wrong. Big companies with tens of millions in revenue and hundreds of employees were able to easily secure loans exceeding $5 million. But it was nearly impossible for companies of his size, with a few million dollars in sales and less than 50 employees, to find bank loans. “There’s a big gaping hole, and that gap has gotten worse over the last five or six years,” Hodges told Business Insider. So Hodges launched an online marketplace called Emergence Lending Network. His peer-to-peer lending network, which last year merged with the UK-based Funding Circle, provides a marketplace where small business owners could borrow money directly from individual or institutional investors. The way it works is pretty simple. Once you pass its online eligibility test (which takes roughly 15 to 30 minutes), Funding Circle’s own underwriters go through a verification process to ensure you’re eligible to apply for a loan. During this process, it looks into a lot of data, including credit score and profitability, as well as things as small as the quality of social media presence and yelp reviews, to determine the health of the business. Based on this, each borrower is given a grade and loan terms, which help lenders decide which businesses are better to lend to. Hodges says on average it takes less than two weeks to complete a loan. Funding Circle has processed over $750 million since 2010 in the US and UK markets, and it expects to lend out more than $1 billion in 2015. So far, it’s raised over $123 million from Accel Partners, Union Square Ventures, and Index Ventures. Funding Circle is part of a larger group of online lending platforms, and the whole sector has been growing rapidly. Lending Club, for example, is now valued at over $3.75 billion and has filed for a $500 million IPO in August. Prosper, another P2P lender, was last valued at $650 million. In fact, all three of these companies were mentioned in a recent report by Karen Mills, former Administrator of the US Small Business Administration, for using technology to help businesses gain better access to capital. "Emerging online players are filling the technology void left by many banks, and pushing innovation within the banking sector in the same ways in which other online upstarts such as Amazon.com changed retail and Square has changed the small business payments business," she wrote. But what makes Funding Circle different from the rest is its laser focus on small businesses, Hodges says. “Our main message is small businesses can turn online and use marketplaces like ours to get access to finance.” Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Here Is Cop Darren Wilson's Official Account Of The Michael Brown Shooting | ||
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Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson's grand jury testimony has come out as part of a large release of evidence that has followed the jury's decision not to indict him. It's the fullest account we have to date of what Wilson says happened the day he shot and killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Wilson has hidden from public view since the August shooting, which sparked large-scale protests in the St. Louis suburb. Officials announced Monday evening that a grand jury decided not to indict Wilson in the shooting. Wilson told the grand jury that he initially stopped Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson for walking in the street. While he was telling Brown and Johnson to get on the sidewalk, he told the jury, he noticed that Brown was carrying a handful of Cigarillos and realized that he'd heard a call earlier that day for a robbery involving the small cigars. He said he then radioed for another car. "I go to open the [police cruiser] door and I say, hey, come here for a minute to Brown," Wilson said in his testimony. "As I'm opening the door, he turns, faces me, looks at me and says, 'What the f--k are you going to do about it,' and shuts my door, slammed it shut." Wilson said he then opened his door again and used it to push Brown back. Wilson said Brown grabbed the door again and he saw Brown coming into the cruiser. Wilson said Brown then punched him in the face. Brown then reportedly turned to Johnson to hand him the Cigarillos. Wilson tried holding him back, according to the testimony. "When I grabbed him, the only way I can describe it is I felt like a five-year-old holding onto Hulk Hogan," Wilson said. He said Brown then hit him again.
At that point, Wilson said, he thought using his mace would be too dangerous because Brown reportedly had his hands in front of his face and the mace could have gotten onto Wilson and prevented him from being able to see. Wilson then grabbed his gun. He said he warned Brown that he was going to shoot if Brown didn't get back, but Brown reportedly grabbed his gun and said "you are too much of a p---y to shoot me." Brown reportedly then dug Wilson's gun into Wilson's hip. Wilson said he could feel Brown's fingers reaching for the trigger. Wilson eventually regained control of his gun and tried to fire it two times without it working properly. On the third try, a shot fired through his car door, Wilson said. After this, Wilson said, Brown "had the most intense aggressive face." "It looks like a demon, that's how angry he looked," Wilson told the grand jury. Brown reportedly hit Wilson again. Wilson fired another shot from his car. "When I look up after that, I see him start to run and I see a cloud of dust behind him," Wilson told the jury. He then radioed for more cars, he said. Wilson and Brown then started running. Brown eventually stopped, and Wilson said he stopped behind him, telling him to get on the ground. "He turns, and when he looked at me, he made like a grunting, like aggravated sound and he starts, he turns and he's coming back towards me," Wilson said. "His first step is coming towards me, he kind of does like a stutter step to start running. When he does that, his left hand goes in a fist and goes to his side, his right one goes under his shirt in his waistband and he starts running at me." Wilson then started shooting. He said he doesn't remember how many shots he fired. Brown is still coming at Wilson at this point, he said. Wilson then fired another round of shots. "At this point it looked like he was almost bulking up to run through the shots, like it was making him mad that I'm shooting at him," Wilson said in the testimony. Wilson continued telling Brown to get on the ground, and Brown kept coming at him, Wilson said. Brown then started to lean forward "like he was going to tackle" Wilson as he got closer, according to the testimony. "When he gets about that eight to 10 feet away, I look down, I remember looking at my sites and firing, all I see is his head and that's what I shot," Wilson said. "I don't know how many, I know at least once because I saw the last one go into him. And then when it went into him, the demeanor on his face went blank, the aggression was gone, it was gone, I mean, I knew he stopped, the threat was stopped." Brown died on scene.
Other witnesses to the shooting have told a different story. Some claim Brown had his hands up in a sign of surrender and was running away when Wilson shot him. Johnson has said that Wilson grabbed Brown by his neck as Brown tried to pull away. Johnson said there was no struggle over Wilson's weapon. Another witness, Tiffany Mitchell, has also said that it looked like Brown was pulling away from Wilson and Wilson was trying to pull him back. Mitchell's colleague, who was waiting in her apartment for Mitchell to pick her up for work, has also said that it looked like Wilson was trying to pull Brown into his car. Johnson has said that when Wilson fired the fatal round of shots into Brown, the teenager had his hands up in a sign of surrender. Mitchell has told a similar story. "The cop gets out of his vehicle shooting," she said, according to CNN. "[Brown's] body jerked as if he was hit from behind, and he turned around, and he put his hands up. ... The cop continued to fire until he just dropped down to the ground, and his face just smacks the concrete." Protests, which at times turned violent, erupted in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri in August after Wilson shot Brown. Demonstrators took to the streets again Monday night after the grand jury announced its decision not to indict Wilson. You can read Wilson's full grand jury testimony (the relevant part starts on page 12): Darren Wilson Testimony Snippet by Anthony DeRosa NOW WATCH: This Is The Moment Police Fired Tear Gas Into Crowds In Ferguson
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Ferguson riots: Live Report | ||
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Ferguson (United States) (AFP) - 05:07 GMT - WELCOME TO AFP'S LIVE REPORT on the ongoing violent protests in the US town of Ferguson where violent protests erupted after a grand jury chose not to press charges against a white officer who shot dead a black teen. Members of an angry crowd outside the police station in Ferguson where Officer Darren Wilson had been based began throwing bottles and stones. Riot officers responded with teargas. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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This Is Our First Look At Photos Of Officer Darren Wilson's Injuries Presented To The Grand Jury | ||
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We're getting a look at newly released photos of Officer Darren Wilson's injuries. Wilson was not indicted by a grand jury in Ferguson Monday night. CBS News sent out a few of them on Twitter, take a look:
SEE ALSO: OBAMA: 'This Is Not Just An Issue For Ferguson, This Is An Issue For America' Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Missouri Governor: 'The World Is Watching' | ||
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Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) issued a statement on Monday evening hours after it was announced a St. Louis County grand jury would not indict a police officer in the shooting of an unarmed black teenager earlier this summer. In his remarks, Nixon asked for "peace to prevail" during any protests. He also ackbowledged people of the state need to hold themselves to a "higher standard." "While the twelve men and women on the St. Louis County grand jury have concluded their work, the rest of us have much more work to do in order to use the lessons we have learned these past four months to create safer, stronger and more united communities.," Nixon said. Widespread protests erupted in August in the days after Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown. Those demonstrations included vandalism and were met by a violdent crackdown from local law enforcement. Nixon encouraged protesters to remain peaceful in his response to the verdict. "As we continue to await word on the U.S. Justice Department’s ongoing investigation, I urge all those voicing their opinions regarding the grand jury’s decision to do so peacefully," said Nixon. "I also urge everyone to continue working to make positive changes that will yield long-term social, economic and spiritual benefits for all our communities." After the initial protests in Ferguson this summer, Nixon was accused of being absent from the city as police responded to the demonstrations. Prior to the verdict on Monday, Nixon announced a variety of law enforcement agencies would be available to respond to protests including National Guard troops who would be available for "contingency planning." "My commitment to the people of the region and state is this: I will do everything in my power to keep you safe and protect your right to speak," Nixon said. "We must also make a commitment to one another: to trust more and fear less, to hold ourselves to a higher standard of personal responsibility and mutual respect, and to keep working to extend the promise of America to all our citizens." Nixon concluded by reiterating his call for calm. "It is my continued hope and expectation that peace will prevail. The world is watching," said Nixon. "I am confident that together we will demonstrate the true strength and character of this region, and seize this opportunity to build a more just and prosperous future for all." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Manchester City on brink ahead of Bayern test | ||
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London (AFP) - Manchester City are teetering on the brink of a third Champions League group-phase elimination in four seasons ahead of Bayern Munich's visit to the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday. City's dismal 2-1 loss at home to CSKA Moscow in their previous outing left them bottom of Group E with only two points and they will be knocked out if they fail to beat Bayern and there is a winner in the Russian champions' home game with Roma. Manuel Pellegrini's side can draw some solace from the fact that Bayern, who shaded September's reverse fixture 1-0 thanks to a last-minute goal by former City player Jerome Boateng, are already guaranteed to qualify as group winners. City will also take inspiration from their 3-2 win away to Bayern in the group phase of last season's competition, although the circumstances then were quite different, with the visitors having already secured a place in the last 16. City's hand has been weakened by suspensions to Yaya Toure and Fernandinho, both of whom were sent off -- the former for a petulant shove -- during the defeat by CSKA Moscow on November 5. And although City came from behind to beat Swansea City 2-1 in the Premier League on Saturday, midfielder Samir Nasri knows that Pep Guardiola's ruthless Bayern side will be a very different proposition. "We are really lucky to still be in with a chance of qualifying because, with two points and two games left, normally you are out," said the former France international. "Now is our chance. We have to take it and play with nothing to lose. We can take a lot (from beating Swansea), but a game against Bayern Munich will not be the same as a game against Swansea. "No disrespect to Swansea, who are a great team, but Bayern Munich have world-class players in every position."
- In contention -
Bayern have gone 18 games without defeat since losing to Borussia Dortmund in the German Super Cup on August 13, winning all four of their games to date in the Champions League. The 2013 European champions extended their lead at the Bundesliga summit to seven points by crushing Hoffenheim 4-0 at the Allianz Arena on Saturday. Bastian Schweinsteiger made his first competitive appearance since starring for Germany in the World Cup final, coming on as a late substitute, and Guardiola has hinted that he could feature again at City. "It's good news for him and for us. I have seen how important Bastian is for the club and the fans," said Guardiola, who is bidding to win his third Champions League title as a coach after two previous successes with Barcelona. "With Philipp (Lahm), David (Alaba), (Javi) Martinez and Thiago (Alcantara) out, we now have a super midfielder back, but he has only trained for a week with us. "He's not ready for 90 minutes, but he has huge amounts of experience. But for this period now until Christmas with the Bundesliga and Champions League, he will of course be a big help to us." Schweinsteiger's return will help to ease Bayern's problems in midfield, particularly in light of the fractured ankle that is expected to keep Lahm out for three months. With Toure and Fernandinho both unavailable for City, Fernando, James Milner and former Chelsea veteran Frank Lampard are all in contention to start in central midfield. Captain Vincent Kompany made his return from a calf complaint against Swansea, but Spanish playmaker David Silva is not expected to feature after missing City's last four games with a knee problem. Recent form does not favour City. The English champions have won only two of their last nine Champions League home matches, while Bayern have lost just one of their last 13 away games in the competition. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Hong Kong removes more pro-democracy protest barricades | ||
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Hong Kong (AFP) - Hong Kong authorities Tuesday tore down barricades at a protest site in Mongkok, the scene of some of the more violent clashes to take place during nearly two months of pro-democracy sit-ins. Dozens of bailiffs, backed by more than 100 police officers, stood guard as workers cleared makeshift barriers obstructing part of a busy shopping street in Mongkok, one of three main protest sites where thousands of demonstrators have camped out demanding free leadership elections. Instructed by police to vacate the area, protesters, some wearing goggles, helmets and gas masks, responded with jeers, shouting "we want real universal suffrage" and raising a large yellow banner with the same slogan. "I am not going to move. I will let them arrest me," Ng Pun-tuk, a 78-year-old protester wearing a helmet told AFP. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to achieve democracy. I am prepared to go to jail," Ng, who was one of about 200 protesters at the site, declared. "People at the scene, please leave as soon as possible in accordance with the court injunction," a police spokesman ordered the crowd -- which included a scrum of journalists -- over a loudspeaker before the clearance action. The court injunction for Tuesday only covered the protest area on Argyle Street, but police are expected to execute a separate court injunction for a larger portion of the Mongkok protest area on busy Nathan Road Wednesday morning, reports said. The pro-democracy protests, which have paralysed parts of the city, drew tens of thousands of people initially, but the crowds have shrunk as the movement has struggled to maintain momentum. The Chinese government insists that candidates for a 2017 leadership vote in Hong Kong must be vetted by a loyalist committee -- an arrangement the protesters say will ensure the election of a pro-Beijing stooge. Last Tuesday, dozens of police and bailiffs stood guard as workers dismantled metal barricades blocking access to a skyscraper opposite government headquarters, on the edge of the sprawling main camp in the central district of Admiralty.
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Chelsea's Mourinho faces ex-Blues boss Di Matteo | ||
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Gelsenkirchen (Germany) (AFP) - Jose Mourinho comes up against the only coach to have steered Chelsea to the Champions League title when the Blues travel to Roberto Di Matteo's Schalke 04 on Tuesday. Victory will confirm Chelsea's place in the Champions League's knock-out phase, but the focus will be on Mourinho's opposite number on the Schalke bench. Chelsea coach Mourinho, the self-styled 'Special One', won the Champions League title as Inter Milan coach in 2010 and Porto boss in 2004, but the European crown has so far eluded him in his two stints at Stamford Bridge. Premier League leaders Chelsea are unbeaten in their first 12 league matches -- a club record -- and strolled to a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion at home on Saturday with goals by Diego Costa and Eden Hazard. Chelsea face Schalke in Gelsenkirchen as Group G leaders, three points clear of their second-placed German hosts, but the Premier League side have a much better goal difference. Di Matteo has won all four of his home matches since taking charge of Schalke last month and is in his first role since being sacked by Chelsea in November 2012, just six months after winning the Champions League title. Mourinho clearly did not like to be reminded that he will be up against the only coach to bring the Champions League to Stamford Bridge and insisted it is Chelsea against Schalke, not him against Di Matteo. "I don't play against him," said Mourinho dryly. "If I play against him, he wins because he plays better than me. Unless I am fitter, which I don't know, but normally he wins because he is much better than me. "It is Chelsea against Schalke, it is not me against Di Matteo." Schalke earned a point at Stamford Bridge in September, before Di Matteo took charge, when Cesc Fabregas's early goal for the hosts was cancelled out by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar's second-half equaliser.
- 'Everything is still open' -
Mourinho said his team's aim is to finish top of their group and have their place in the knock-out stage confirmed as quickly as possible. "The group is easy to analyse, we can finish first, second or third," he said. "To finish third and go to the Europa League should be something that would be against the evolution of this team. "This team wants to be a very good team and to be a very good team you have to play against the best teams in the best competitions." Di Matteo's Schalke enjoyed a 3-2 win over Wolfsburg on Saturday, which ended Wolves' eight-match winning streak and pushed the Royal Blues up to seventh in the table. The Italian, also a former Chelsea player, said there will be no room for sentiment on Tuesday. "For me personally, I'll just concentrate on my work of trying to win the game for Schalke. Chelsea also played on Saturday and they are in the same position as us in terms of recovery," he said. "We have the Champions League game on Tuesday where everything is still open and anything can happen, but we want to take at least a point from the home game." Di Matteo has said he is considering using the 5-3-2 formation which worked well against Wolves, with full-backs Atsuto Uchida of Japan and Austria's Christian Fuchs given licence to attack. It paid off initially as Schalke raced into a 3-0 lead with Cameroon striker Eric Choupo-Moting scoring twice and Fuchs firing home a free-kick before Wolfsburg fought back. Chelsea have Costa back to full fitness with the 11-goal striker saying he is "totally recovered" from nagging groin and hamstring injuries after a fortnight of rest during the international break. "It's easy to see the difference in him now. He can run, he can sprint, he can get behind people, he can challenge for every duel," Mourinho said. "It was very important for him to have these two weeks to recover properly." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Watch The Chilling Protests In Ferguson As Police Fire Tear Gas Into Crowds | ||
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This Video Appears To Show The Moment A Police Car Was Lit On Fire In Ferguson | ||
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Following the grand jury's decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson chaos has ensued in Ferguson. Police have fired tear gas, and there have been reports of gunshots. We've also seen video of police cars set on fire. Instagram user dionte_betts put up this video which appears to document the very moment that a police car lit up into flames in Ferguson, via Buzzfeed News on Twitter. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Protests Erupt In Ferguson, Police Fire Tear Gas | ||
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Protests have erupted in Ferguson, Missouri following the decision by a grand jury to not indict police officer Darren Wilson, who shot and killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown in August. We've seen reports of gunshots and protestors smashing police cars. Police have resorted to tear gas, as you can see below in an aerial view of police firing tear gas out into the crowds (via CNN's live stream):
We also saw tear gas land right in front of CNN reporters while live on the air: What we believe to be police cars are also being set on fire: NOW WATCH: The Moment Police Fired Tear Gas Into The Crowd
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OBAMA: 'This Is Not Just An Issue For Ferguson, This Is An Issue For America' | ||
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President Barack Obama made a statement from the White House on Monday evening shortly after Saint Louis County prosecutors announced a grand jury would not indict a Ferguson, Missouri police officer who shot an unarmed African-American teenager earlier this summer. In his remarks, which were announced just a few minutes before they occurred, Obama encouraged those who might protest the verdict to do so peacefully. He also acknowledged there are real "problems" and a "deep distrust" that exists "between law enforcement and people of color" around the country. "We need to recognize that the situation in Ferguson speaks to the broader challenges that we face across the nation," Obama said. Protests erupted in August in the days after Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed teenager Michael Brown. Those demonstrations resulted in some vandalism and were met with a violent crackdown by local law enforcement. Wilson has said he shot Brown in self defense, however, some witnesses have said the teenager had his hands up and was running away when he was killed. Obama noted the grand jury decision was a result "that either way was going to be subject of intense disagreement, not only in Ferguson, but across America." "First and foremost, we are a nation built on the rule of law and we must accept that this decision was the grand jury's to make," said the president. Obama noted some people might agree with the verdict while others would be "disappointed, even angry." He encouraged anyone upset by the decision to express themselves without violence. "I'm asking anyone who protests to do so peacefully," Obama said. In his speech, Obama read a statement from Brown's father that was issued before the verdict. "After the grand jury’s decision, we are asking for four-and-a-helf minutes of silence to remember why we lift our voices," Michael Brown Sr. said in that statement. "We are not here to be violent. We are here in memory of our son." Obama argued Brown's family "lost more than anyone." "We should be honoring their wishes," said Obama. In addition to urging the protesters to remain peaceful, Obama called on law enforcement to show "care and restraint" in "managing peaceful protests that might occur." He also discussed what he described as "problems" that exist with law enforcement in "communities of color." "We need to recognize that this is not just an issue for Ferguson, this is an issue for America," Obama said. Obama pointed out there has been "enormous progress ... in race relations over the past sev decades," but he also argued there "are still problems." "Communities of color aren't just making those problems up," said the president. Obama went on to note that, as the first African-American president, he has seen this issues in his "own life." Still, he argued these issues don't exist in the "majority of communities" and among the "vast majority of law enforcement officials." The president encouraged people to look beyond the verdict in Ferguson. He also called for those who are angered by the decision to respond "constructively, not destructively." Obama said there is "never an excuse for violence" and argued progress could not be made by "throwing bottles" or "smashing car windows." Following Brown's death, the Department of Justice began investigating the police in Ferguson and Attorney General Eric Holder has said "the need for wholesale change in that department is appropriate." In spite of this, there appears to be little chance that Wilson will face federal charges for the shooting. According to The Washington Post, sources have said the Justice Department did not have a strong enough case to charge Wilson and prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he intended to violate Brown's constitutional rights. After his remarks Monday evening, Obama was asked by a reporter whether he would consider traveling to Ferguson in the wake of the verdict. "Let's take a look and see how things are going," said Obama. This post was last updated at 10:53 p.m. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Iran nuclear deal deadline extended to July 1 | ||
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Vienna (AFP) - Iran and world powers have given themselves seven more months to clinch a landmark nuclear agreement, and defuse a 12-year standoff, after missing a Monday midnight deadline for a deal. The failure came despite an intensive five-day diplomatic push in the Austrian capital Vienna involving the foreign ministers of Iran, the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. But US Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking in Vienna, and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, speaking in Tehran, said real progress had been made in the talks and raised hopes a deal could eventually be sealed. "This path of negotiation will reach a final agreement," Rouhani said on state television. "Most of the gaps have been removed." In their second extension this year, Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, known as the P5+1, will seek to strike an outline deal by March and to nail down a full technical accord by July 1, officials said.
- Talks will 'stay tough' -
"These talks aren't going to suddenly get easier just because we extend them," Kerry said Monday as he and other officials conceded the midnight deadline would be missed. "They are tough. They have been tough and they are going to stay tough," he told hundreds of journalists crowded into a tent outside the 19th century palace where the talks were held. "But in these last days in Vienna we have made real and substantial progress and we have seen new ideas surface." Kerry's Iranian counterpart, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, gave a similar upbeat assessment to reporters later. "All of us are insisting that we don't need seven months" to strike a deal, because the negotiators are going to get down to work immediately, Zarif said. In the best chance to resolve the standoff over Iran's nuclear programme, the P5+1 world powers have been for months seeking to turn an interim deal into a lasting accord. Such an agreement is aimed at easing fears that Tehran will develop nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian activities, an ambition Iran denies. It could see painful sanctions on Iran lifted, silence talk of war and usher in a new era of cooperation between Washington and Tehran, which have called each other the "axis of evil" and the "Great Satan." But a last-ditch diplomatic blitz in Vienna in recent days involving Kerry and the other foreign ministers failed to bridge the remaining gaps. This included eight meetings since Tuesday between Kerry and Zarif and numerous other gatherings in the Austrian capital.
- Gaps on crucial points -
Diplomats said that, despite some progress, both sides remain far apart on two crucial points: uranium enrichment and sanctions relief. Enriching uranium renders it suitable for peaceful purposes like nuclear power. But at high purities it is also used as the fissile core of a nuclear weapon. Tehran wants to massively ramp up the number of enrichment centrifuges in order, it says, to make fuel for a fleet of power reactors that it is yet to build. The West wants the enrichment dramatically reduced, a move which together with more stringent UN inspections and an export of Iran's uranium stocks, would make any attempt to make the bomb all but impossible. Iran wants painful UN and Western sanctions that have strangled its vital oil exports lifted, but the powers want to stagger any relief over a long period to ensure Tehran complies with any deal.
- More time on the clock -
The conditions set by last November's interim deal will remain in place until July, including a continued freeze by Iran of contentious parts of its nuclear activities. In return, Iran will keep receiving around $700 million (560 million euros) in frozen funds per month, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said, or $4.9 billion by July, adding to some $7 billion received since January. Another extension -- as happened to an earlier deadline of July 20 -- however carries risks of its own, including possible fresh US sanctions that could lead Iran to walk away. "New sanctions legislation against Iran, which has been proposed by more than several members of Congress, would undermine the chance to reach a comprehensive deal that guards against a nuclear-armed Iran," Arms Control Association analyst Kelsey Davenport told AFP. "The imposition of new sanctions measures will most certainly provoke Iran to take escalatory measures that could lead to a larger crisis in the Middle East." Kerry appealed on Monday to US lawmakers -- with Republicans in control of both houses from January -- not to pass fresh sanctions on Iran. "This is certainly not the time to get up and walk away... We look for your support (in Congress) for this extension," Kerry said. US House and Senate members reacted coolly to the extension of negotiations, with sceptical lawmakers demanding Congress "tighten the economic vice on Tehran" through new sanctions. The European Union is likely to extend a freeze on certain sanctions against Iran, a diplomatic source in Brussels said. Such a move could be adopted by the 28 members of the EU as early as Tuesday. The measure would involve a range of sanctions suspended in January.
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Ferguson policeman who shot teen will not be charged | ||
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Ferguson (United States) (AFP) - The US policeman who shot dead an unarmed black teenager in the Missouri town of Ferguson, triggering weeks of racially-charged unrest, will not face charges, the St Louis County prosecutor said. Robert McCulloch told reporters that a grand jury had reviewed the evidence gathered about the August shooting and "determined that no probable cause exists to file any charge against Officer Wilson." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Ferguson Grand Jury Will Not Indict The Cop Who Shot Michael Brown | ||
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A grand jury has decided not to indict Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson. Wilson, who is white, shot unarmed teenager Michael Brown after stopping him and a friend for walking in the street. Wilson has said he shot Brown in self-defense. He reportedly told investigators that there was an altercation in his police vehicle before he shot the teenager. Wilson said Brown was reaching for Wilson's gun. Brown's autopsy report seemed to support Wilson's version of events, according to experts who spoke to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last month. Brown's wounds seem to suggest that he was facing Wilson when the deadly shot was fired. But other witnesses have told a different story. Some claim Brown had his hands up in a sign of surrender and was running away when he was shot. Protests, which at times turned violent, erupted in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri in August after Wilson shot Brown. Police and federal authorities have been preparing for more protests in light of the grand jury decision. Michael Brown's family said Monday night that they are "profoundly disappointed that the killer of our child" was not indicted. In a statement they urged protesters to avoid violence, remain peaceful and to channel their frustration into a campaign for body cameras to be worn by every police officer on a street beat in the United States. There seems to be little chance that Wilson will face federal civil rights charges for the shooting. Sources told The Washington Post last month that the Justice Department didn't have a strong enough case to charge Wilson and prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he intended to violate Brown's constitutional rights. The Justice Department has also been investigating the policing practices of the Ferguson Police Department. Attorney General Eric Holder has said "the need for wholesale change in that department is appropriate." NOW WATCH: THE CHILLING PROTESTS IN FERGUSON AS POLICE FIRE TEAR GAS INTO THE CROWD
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Pope heads to Strasbourg to reinvigorate 'tired' Europe | ||
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Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - Pope Francis heads to Strasbourg Tuesday for a lightning visit to the European Parliament, where he hopes to help reinvigorate a "tired" Europe, hit by economic crises and surging nationalism. Francis will leave his pope-mobile behind and -- unusually for the crowd-loving Argentine -- dedicate his time to addressing lawmakers and the Council of Europe in a four-hour trip, the shortest abroad by any pope. In what will be the second visit by a pope to the parliament in the French city of Strasbourg, Francis will also meet briefly with outgoing European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and new European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker. The climate has changed greatly since the last papal visit to the French city in 1988, and Vatican watchers say the Argentine pontiff will have to fight harder to be heard in an increasingly secular continent. Crowds of faithful are expected to watch the speeches on giant screens set up in front of the city's cathedral. For protocol reasons the head of the Catholic Church will be driven between the parliament and council buildings rather than walking, the Vatican said ahead of the trip. The 77-year old has in the past dubbed Europe a "tired" continent which has lost its way, and he may repeat such warnings amid a rise in radicalisation, particularly among the disillusioned younger generation. He is expected to call for greater tolerance, social inclusion and dialogue as a recourse to an increase in racism in countries hit hard by the economic crisis, where nationalist, Eurosceptic and anti-immigration parties are thriving. His visit has sparked protests in some quarters -- including from a bare-breasted Femen rights group demonstrator who mounted the altar in Strasbourg cathedral on Monday -- with critics slamming European Parliament head Martin Schulz's decision to invite a religious leader to address a secular body. Schultz defended the invitation in an editorial for the Vatican Osservatore Romano newspaper this weekend, saying the visit could "shake Europe out of its torpor" and was by no means "an attack on secularism." The pope's right-hand man, Vatican Prime Minister Pietro Parolin, said Francis's message would have a strong social dimension, calling on Catholics to make their "own contribution" to the European project, while showing "solidarity with the marginalised." The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics will likely call for more to be done to tackle youth unemployment -- which stands at an average 21.6 percent in the continent -- and to care for those fleeing war zones and persecution, as well as the elderly. Many, particularly in the Church's conservative arm, will be watching closely to see whether Francis will address hot-button topics such as gay marriage, abortion and euthanasia -- particularly after a slew of recent legislative changes in European countries. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Dustin Hoffman wants 'love story' with Judi Dench | ||
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London (AFP) - Hollywood actor Dustin Hoffman has confessed admiration for "scrumptious" Briton Judi Dench, saying he would love to make a romantic film with the Dame. The star of "The Graduate" spoke after co-starring with Dench in an adaptation of Roald Dahl's Esio Trot made by British broadcaster BBC One. Hoffman, 77, described Dench, 79, as "a scrumptious looking woman" and said he had watched some of her early performances online. "I said to Judi, 'If I met you then, I wouldn't have let you get away,'" Hoffman said. "There must be a way to do a love story where we meet in our 20s but yet we're acting as we are now." In Esio Trot, Hoffman features as a bachelor in love with his neighbour, played by James Bond star Dench, who showers all her love on her pet tortoise. The adaptation by "Notting Hill" and "Four Weddings and a Funeral" screenwriter Richard Curtis is due to be screened at Christmas. Curtis earlier this month said Hoffman and Dench's characters in Esio Trot were the couple "most likely to stay together" out of all those who had appeared in his films. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Amazon Wants To Help You Find A Plumber | ||
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Amazon wants to connect users with handymen like plumbers and electricians through the expansion of its Amazon Local Services division in New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing a document viewed as well as person briefed on the plan. Amazon shoppers in those cities will reportedly see installation or handyman offers after purchasing goods like ceiling fans, air conditioners, and the like. The company will offer a money-back guarantee on its services and will do background checks on any service provider that it lists on the site. Every handyman or woman will have to liability insurance. Here's a deal that we found while searching "ceiling fans" in the Local Services section for Los Angeles:
The company eventually plans to expand the program to include fitness instructors, music teachers, and more, The Wall Street Journal reports. Reuters reported these plans back in June. This service sounds very similar to what's offered by startup Pro.com, a company founded by former Amazon employee Matt Williams. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos invests in Pro.com and it has raised $14 million total.
SEE ALSO: Amazon Fires Back At An Ex-Employee Who Is Planning A Hunger Strike Outside Its Seattle Headquarters Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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'Casablanca' piano sold for $3.4 million at US auction | ||
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New York (AFP) - The painted upright piano that adorned Rick's Cafe in the classic movie "Casablanca" fetched $3.4 million at auction after a frenzied sale in New York. The orange piano -- on which Sam (Dooley Wilson) famously plays "As Time Goes By" at the request of his one-time love Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) -- was among 200 items from Hollywood's golden age that went under the hammer at Bonham's in New York on Monday. The piano featured prominently in the Oscar-winning 1942 romantic drama, with leading man Humphrey Bogart using it as a hiding place for the letters of transit that ultimately secure his former lover's safe passage to the United States. Dresses worn by Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland and Rita Hayworth were also auctioned, as well as a jacket worn by Clark Gable in "Gone With the Wind." The Lion costume worn by Bert Lahr in "The Wizard of Oz" was also put up for sale. Auctioneers had declined to estimate the Casablanca piano's likely price, saying only that they expected it to fetch "the low- to mid-seven figures." Bidding opened at $1.6 million and escalated rapidly before closing three minutes later at $3.4 million including taxes. The piano was specially adapted to allow Bogart's character to perform his sleight of hand with the transit papers, hiding them in plain sight of the clientele at Rick's. The writers decided that the papers should be stashed in the top of the piano, but had to alter its lid to make it work on camera. "The only way this works, however, is if the lid opens from the rear, otherwise Rick would have to reach over Sam's shoulder to hide the papers, a hardly subtle move," the auction house said. "The solution to this staging problem was to have the prop department completely remove the top of the piano, leaving the piece secured by a hook and eye only." - Chewing gum included - Most likely made in 1927, the piano also has only 58 keys, 30 fewer than a classic piano. It had been owned by a dentist in Los Angeles since the 1980s. Bonham's said the painted Moroccan designs were restored about three decades ago under the direction of Warner Bros. The piano was offered for sale with a signed photograph of actor Dooley Wilson and a copy of "Casablanca," and even came with a wad of petrified chewing gum found stuck beneath the keyboard. A faint outline of a fingerprint could be seen on the gum, but its owner was unknown. A winner of three Academy Awards, "Casablanca" is ranked as the second greatest movie of all time by the American Film Institute, behind "Citizen Kane" and just ahead of "The Godfather." Items related to the film generated snappy business at Bonham's, with a draft screenplay entitled "Everybody Come to Rick's" fetching $106,250, well above its $40,000-$60,000 estimate. The doors featured in the entrance of Rick's Cafe sold for $115,000, having been estimated at $75,000 to $100,000. The famous letters of transit at the heart of the film, estimated at between $100,000 and $150,000, sold for $118,750. One of the chairs from Rick's Cafe fetched $5,000. Several dresses featured in other movies fetched hefty sums as well, including a gown worn by Garland in "Easter Parade" that sold for $11,875 and another worn by Barbra Streisand in "The Way We Were" that earned $8,750. A gown worn by Hayworth in "The Loves of Carmen" fetched $6,000. However, a dress worn by Grace Kelly in "Mogambo" estimated to be worth between $15,000 and $20,000, failed to secure a buyer at the auction. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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