WhatsApp Will Now Tell You When Your Friends Are Ignoring Your Messages | ||
| | ||
WhatsApp now tells you whether your friends are actually reading your messages. This week users have been wondering why their double-check ticks suddenly appear blue. One tick (or "check" as Americans say) means the message was sent. A second tick means it's been delivered. When the ticks turn blue it means your friend has actually seen the message. So now you'll know that if they don't respond, it's because they're choosing not to, not because they "didn't get the message". The new signal means that any possible delivery confusion for its 600 million users is being completely eradicated, as the app's Support Team announces here. Here's WhatsApp's notification: | ||
| |
Jay Z Just Bought A Company That Sells £120,000 Gold Bottles Of Champagne | ||
| | ||
American rapper Jay Z has purchased the legendary Armand de Brignac champagne brand, the company known for its incredibly expensive gold bottles of champagne. BBC News reports that Jay Z acquired the French company for an undisclosed amount from its current owner, Sovereign Brands. While normal-sized bottles of Armand de Brignac retail for $300, it's the giant versions that have made the company a favourite of the rich and famous looking to show off their wealth. Rappers often refer to the champagne as "Ace of Spades" due to its distinctive gold design. The largest bottle the company produces is known as "the Midas." Here's how big it is:
American gambler Don Johnson famously purchased a £120,000 "Midas" bottle of Armand de Brignac during a party in a London nightclub, breaking the world record for the most expensive bottle of champagne. The previous record was held by an anonymous customer who purchased one of the company's "Nebuchadnezzar" bottles. Jay Z has a long association with the Armand de Brignac brand. He displayed a tower of bottles during a fundraising party attended by President Obama at his 40/40 club in New York. It was reported at the time that the tower was worth $280,000. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
| |
In June 2011, Mark Cuban spent $90,000 on a single bottle of the champagne to celebrate the Dallas Mavericks winning the NBA championship. German travel chaos as train drivers widen strike | ||
| | ||
Berlin (AFP) - German train drivers extended their unprecedented strike action Thursday to passenger services in a thorny labour dispute, causing major travel disruption across the country. The work stoppage by the GDL train drivers' union hit long-distance and regional rail services as well as commuter S-Bahn train networks from 0100 GMT as planned. The strike -- the union's sixth bout of industrial action since September -- kicked off with freight services on Wednesday, added passenger trains on Thursday and is due to continue until early Monday. German rail operator Deutsche Bahn said the walkout had caused "massive disturbances" but that it aimed to ensure a third of intercity transport services kept running. About 30 percent of regional trains and S-Bahn services were running in the west and north of the country, about 40 percent in the south and between 15 and 30 percent in the east, it said. Politicians and industry groups have voiced fears about the impact of the strike, which is the longest in Deutsche Bahn's 20-year history, and will hit weekend celebrations for the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Chancellor Angela Merkel has insisted that the right to strike has to be carried out "responsibly" and "with a sense of proportion." Late Wednesday, the GDL union rejected an arbitration offer by Deutsche Bahn, which has slammed the latest walkout as "pure bullying". GDL says Deutsche Bahn is stonewalling in talks over workers' demands for a five-percent wage hike and a shorter working week of 37 hours. Union leaders also want to represent other groups of employees within Deutsche Bahn such as conductors, catering staff, dispatchers, and not just drivers.
Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
| |
OECD: The World's Economy Is Stuck In The Mud And Europe Is Failing | ||
| | ||
Global growth is pretty slow: but nothing is quite as slow as Europe. That's the main message from the Organisation for Economic C0-operation and Development (OECD) Thursday morning. Its latest set of economic forecasts are out, and they're not pretty. According to the Paris-based think tank, global growth will only reach 3.3% this year, 3.7% next year and 3.9% in 2016. That's a pretty meagre pace in comparison to the expansion before the crisis. But if you thought global growth was poor, check out the eurozone:
France and Italy's growth projections for 2015 are only beaten by Russia. In 2016, the OECD suggests only ageing Japan will see slower growth than the two sluggish euro economies. Even a relatively optimistic 1.7% projection for GDP growth for the eurozone by 2016 is barely half the pace expected for the US. So at this point the OECD are pleading with the ECB, who announce their latest policy decisions today: please, please do QE. Buy something, buy anything!
Angel Gurria, secretary general of the OECD, summed it up: "There is an increasing risk of stagnation in the euro area. Countries must employ all monetary, fiscal and structural reform policies at their disposal to address these risks and support growth." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
| |
Ukraine imposes passport controls around rebel area | ||
| | ||
Kiev (AFP) - Ukraine announced Thursday that anyone crossing in or out of areas controlled by pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country will have to show a passport. The rule, announced by the border guards service, was aimed at sealing off the separatist region in what will de facto become an internal border in the seven-month conflict. Ukrainian citizens will be allowed to travel in and out of the area "on condition of showing passports," the border guards service said in a statement. Foreigners will "be sent to filtration points to determine the purpose of their visit" and will have "to show a passport or the required visa," the statement said. Officials said the passport regime will apply to the area of what the government calls the "anti-terrorist operation," but did not specify the exact outlines of the area. The rule appeared to signal the creation of an increasingly formal border between the Russian-backed separatist zone and the rest of Ukraine. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
| |
The Reclusive Billionaire Behind eBay Has Lived For Years In Second Life As A Segway-Riding Black Guy | ||
| | ||
New York Magazine recently ran a long, fascinating profile of billionaire eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. He's the man behind the internet's most popular auction site, and also First Look Media, the new publishing group that has attracted the likes of Glenn Greenwald. But buried in the profile was the fact that Omidyar spent years living as a recluse, interacting with his business contacts using the virtual online world Second Life. He has an avatar named Kitto Mandala; a tall, tattooed black man with no hair. It might sound weird, but this is Second Life. The entire point of the virtual platform is to let people do strange and wonderful things they cannot in real life. You can be anyone you want in Second Life, there is no point in being "yourself" (you can do that in real life). Gawker has discovered that Omidyar has kept a Flickr profile filled with photos of his online avatar.
Omidyar also posted a collection of images showing his online avatar using a range of what appears to be bondage equipment in a mature-rated dungeon named "Outré."
Omidyar shared images of his online avatar as it/he attended talks and events within Second Life.
He is an investor in Linden Labs, the company behind the popular virtual world. New York magazine reports that "hardly anyone" in the game knew that Kitto Mandala was actually a billionaire. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
| |
AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd charged with murder plot in New Zealand | ||
| | ||
Wellington (AFP) - The drummer with legendary rock band AC/DC, Phil Rudd, was accused Thursday of trying to hire a hitman to kill two men after police raided his luxury New Zealand home. Police swooped on the veteran rocker's waterfront house at Tauranga in the North Island in the early hours and charged him with "attempting to procure murder" and threatening to kill. They also charged the 60-year-old with possessing methamphetamine and cannabis after allegedly finding the drugs in his property, Tauranga District Court was told. Court officials confirmed Rudd, a long-time member of one of the world's highest grossing bands, was granted bail and ordered to reappear on November 27. He looked tired and tousled as he appeared in court shoeless and wearing a baggy grey jumper, with his lawyer unsuccessfully arguing that media should not be allowed to take images of him because they just wanted to capture his client "at his worst". He was not required to enter a plea during his brief appearance but court documents reveal he is accused of trying to organise a hitman to kill two men in late September, although judge Louis Bidois suppressed the identities of those involved. Rudd, who has played on hits including "Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap" and "Highway to Hell", refused to comment after leaving court and was driven away in a silver Mercedes Benz. Under New Zealand law, attempting "to procure any person to murder any other person" is punishable by up to 10 years in jail, while threatening to kill can attract a seven-year sentence.
- Fans stunned by charges -
Stunned fans reacted on social media, airing concerns about the future of the band, which is still reeling from the retirement of founding member Malcolm Young in September after he entered a Sydney care facility suffering from dementia. "This is so shocking i hope its not true but i will be praying for u guys and i hope yalls pull through this and bring him back," Joseph Anderson wrote on the band's official Facebook page, which has more than 30 million likes. Tina Durst Van Gundy posted: "No matter... still one of my all time favourite bands... hang in there guys." Australian-born Rudd joined the band in 1975 and left in 1983 after arguing with founding member Malcolm Young. He moved to New Zealand at the time, settling in the coastal community of Tauranga, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) southeast of Auckland. He remained in the area even after patching up his differences with the band in 1994, using it as his base as he followed a punishing global touring schedule with the notoriously hard-living heavy metal pioneers. Rudd was part of the AC/DC line-up inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 and won a Grammy for best hard rock performance with the band for "War Machine" in 2010. Later that year he was convicted of cannabis possession after police raided his boat, receiving a fine of NZ$250 ($190). AC/DC are one of the best selling music acts of all time, amassing sales estimated at 200 million albums worldwide featuring songs that remain staples on classic rock radio, including "Back in Black", "Jailbreak" and "High Voltage". Rudd, who released a solo album "Head Job" in August, said earlier this year that Malcolm Young's illness would not spell the end for the band. "It'll never happen. Angus (Young) will never retire and as long as Angus never retires I won't retire either," he said then. The band have since announced a new album, "Rock or Bust", will shortly be released and they were due to undertake a world tour in 2015. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
| |
Here's The Secret Letter That Shows The ECB Forced Ireland To Ask For A Bailout | ||
| | ||
A leaked letter published by The Irish Times on Thursday shows the European Central Bank (ECB) threatened in November 2010 to pull emergency funding from Irish banks if the Irish government did not apply for a bailout. The letter is significant because the ECB previously held that Ireland voluntarily asked for a bailout, effectively declaring that the state was failing. That has now been shown to be false. During some of the worst moments of the financial crisis, central banks around the world acted decisively to head off the possible collapse of financial system. In Europe, it seems, that support came with a price tag. Below is the full letter from then- ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet to Brian Lenihan, Ireland's finance minister at the time (emphasis added). It shows the ECB demanded not only that the Irish government seek a bailout, but also that Irish taxpayers guarantee the emergency funding to its banking sector in order to receive central bank support. The letter in evidence of the ECB straying into government policy of member states as early as 2010. As this two line statement issued by the ECB at the time Cyprus fell into difficulty in 2013 demonstrates, making emergency liquidity assistance conditional on accepting economic reforms under the oversight of the so-called troika (made up of the European Commission, the IMF and the ECB) has now become the region's de facto model for dealing with banking crises. Critics would argue that such conditionality shows the ECB was willing to overstep the traditional boundaries of central banks by straying into the sovereign affairs of euro member states. Mr Brian Lenihan, Tánaiste and Minister of Finance Frankfurt, 19 November 2010 Dear Minister, As you are aware from my previous letter dated 15 October, the provision of Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) by the Central Bank of Ireland, as by any other national central bank of the Eurosystem, is closely monitored by the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) as it may interfere with the objectives and tasks of the Eurosystem and may contravene the prohibition of monetary financing. Therefore, whenever ELA is provided in significant amounts, the Governing Council needs to assess whether it is appropriate to impose specific conditions in order to protect the integrity of our monetary policy. In addition, in order to ensure compliance with the prohibition of monetary financing, it is essential to ensure that ELA recipient institutions continue to be solvent. As I indicated at the recent Eurogroup meeting, the exposure of the Eurosystem and of the Central Bank of Ireland vis-a-vis Irish financial institutions has risen significantly over the past few months to levels that we consider with great concern. Recent developments can only add to these concerns. As Patrick Honohan knows, the Governing Council has been asked yesterday to authorise new liquidity assistance, which it did. But all these considerations have implications for the assessment of the solvency of the institutions which are currently receiving ELA. It is the position of the Governing Council that it is only if we receive in writing a commitment from the Irish government vis-a-vis the Eurosystem on the four following points that we can authorise further provisions of ELA to Irish financial institutions: 1) The Irish government shall send a request for financial support to the Eurogroup; 2) The request shall include the commitment to undertake decisive actions in the areas of fiscal consolidation, structural reforms and financial sector restructuring, in agreement with the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the ECB; 3) The plan for the restructuring of the Irish financial sector shall include the provision of the necessary capital to those Irish banks needing it and will be funded by the financial resources provided at the European and international level to the Irish government as well as by financial means currently available to the lrish government, including existing cash reserves of the Irish government; 4) The repayment of the funds provided in the form of ELA shall be fully guaranteed by the Irish government, which would ensure the payment of immediate compensation to the Central Bank of Ireland in the event of missed payments on the side of the recipient institutions. I am sure that you are aware that a swift response is needed before markets open next week, as evidenced by recent market tensions which may further escalate, possibly in a disruptive way, if no concrete action is taken by the Irish government on the points I mention above. The assessment of the Governing Council on the appropriateness of the Eurosystem’s exposure to Irish banks will essentially depend on rapid and decisive progress in the formulation of a concrete action plan in the areas which have been mentioned in this letter and in its subsequent implementation. With kind regards, Jean-Claude Trichet Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
| |
Here's A Full List Of Companies That Allegedly Have Shady Tax Deals With Luxembourg | ||
| | ||
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) this morning revealed the details of hundreds of secret tax deals made between global companies and the government of Luxembourg. The private deals, which appear to have saved more than 300 companies millions of dollars in tax, are completely legal in Luxembourg. Here are the 310 companies — which include Pepsi and AIG — named by the ICIJ in their database of leaked documents, which includes 548 private tax rulings and corporation tax returns. We suggest heading over to the database for more context — it's a fantastic resource. Here's the full list (twenty-seven more company names are expected come over the next month): 2PCT Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
| |
10 Things You Need To Know In Markets This Morning | ||
| | ||
Good morning! Here's what you need to know. Dealogic Is Being Bought For $700 Million (€559 Million). Carlyle Group LP said it would partner with other investors to buy US-based financial data provider Dealogic. Wind Hit Siemens’ Profits. German engineering group Siemens missed expectations for third quarter core profit, hurt by charges for faulty wind turbines that pushed its wind power division to a loss. India’s Infosys Is Hiring 2,100 People In The US. The IT services provider said it plans to hire over 2,100 people in the United States as the company works toward scaling up its global presence and boost key work areas like client relationship management and consulting. Hong Kong’s Remaining Protesters Clashed With Police. Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters clashed with police in the densely populated district of Mong Kok early Thursday as tensions escalated at one of three remaining demonstration sites for the first time in more than two weeks. News Corp Revenues Are Up 4%. News Corp, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, the Sun, and the Times, reported a 4% rise in quarterly revenue, helped by higher sales at its book publishing and online real estate services businesses. The ECB Meeting Is Coming. The big economic calendar event today is the European Central Bank’s rates decision, and Mario Draghi’s press conference. Here’s everything you need to know. Asian Markets Are Mixed. The Nikkei closed down 0.86%, a slight correction for Japanese stocks after several rallies. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is currently up 0.01%. German Factory Orders Were Awful Again. The eurozone’s biggest economy recorded a measly 0.8% boost to factory orders for September. Analysts had expected a 2.3% rise, which would have partly counteracted August’s 5.7% collapse. Luxembourg’s Alleged Secret Tax Deals With Massive Firms Have Been Leaked. Hundreds of the world's biggest companies reportedly brokered secret deals with Luxembourg to avoid paying billions of dollars in tax according to a trove of leaked documents published by an investigative journalism group. Italian Bank Monte Dei Paschi Will Raise €2.5 Billion. The world's oldest bank has approved the capital increase to fill to its capital deficit, revealed in the ECB's recent stress tests, and to pay back the 1.1 euros it still owes to the Italian state. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
| |
