Billionaire Investor Peter Thiel Chased Off Stage By Angry Protestors At UC Berkeley | ||
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On Wednesday evening, Thiel spoke at an event hosted by the Berkeley Forum, a student organization at UC Berkeley. But about 20 minutes into the event, protestors came banging on the doors, interrupting the speech multiple times. There was a sense of panic overtaking the surprised audience, but Thiel went on and continued through the Q&A. At around 7:30 PM PST, the sound of protests and door-banging only got louder. The entire crowd at Wheeler Hall turned eerily silent — only until one male student suddenly rose up and yelled at Thiel. “F—k you!” the guy shouted at Thiel, as he walked out of the hall. After a few seconds of silence, Thiel, in his quiet calm voice, said, “This is really a classic Berkeley event today — this is so cool!” Although Thiel insisted on going on with the Q&A, the protests got really loud. Moments later, the doors finally gave in and protestors took over the stage. The protesters held signs of “Ferguson” and “Black lives matter.” Some shouted, “NSA’s got to go!” The crowd booed the protestors and shouted “Peter Thiel matters!” By then, Thiel was already gone. Protests in Berkeley and nearby Oakland have been going on since November 24, when a grand jury decided not to indict the police officer who killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, in Ferguson, Mo. They picked up again a few days ago after a similar decision not to indict the NYPD officer who killed Eric Garner. According to InsideBayArea, today’s protest started at Berkeley High School at around 2:30 PM. Here are some photos from the event:
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A bunch of angry protestors stormed through the doors during Peter Thiel’s speech at UC Berkeley, ultimately shutting down the lecture half way through the event.
Grumpy Cat Definitely Did Not Make $100 Million | ||
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At least Grumpy Cat has an actual reason to be grumpy now. Grumpy Cat, whose real name is Tardar Sauce, was thought to have made nearly $100 million from two books, a movie, and other products. But Grumpy Cat's owner, Tabatha Bundesen, told The Huffington Post that number was "completely inaccurate." Bundesen didn't say how much Grumpy Cat had actually raked in. She seems to be holding out for an interview before diving into the details. Grumpy Cat's famous frown comes from her dwarfism and underbite. And even if she hasn't made $100 million, Grump Cat is definitely an internet celebrity. Bundesen's cat went viral in 2012, and she quit her waitressing jobs days later. Now she spends most of her time traveling and making appearances. Grumpy Cat has over 29 million views on her YouTube channel and more than 7 million likes on Facebook. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Box Is Slowing Down | ||
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Box's growth is slowing down as it cuts sales and marketing expenses. The updated S1 shows revenue of $57 million in the quarter ended October 31, which is up almost 70% from a year ago. But in the July quarter it had $51 million in revenue, up 81% from the previous year, and the tale is the same the farther you go back — revenues were up 94% in the April quarter (from a year ago), and were up 97% in the January quarter (from a year ago). At the same time, the big concern for a lot of potential investors was Box's sales and marketing spend, which on a quarterly basis was higher than its total revenue when the company first filed to go public in March. That's no longer the case — sales and marketing expenses were only $55 million during the quarter, less than the $57 million in revenue. Overall net loss was $45 million. The numbers show a pretty typical balancing act for software-as-a-service companies like Box: customer acquisition costs are directly correlated with revenue growth. The big question is whether Box can book enough recurring revenue now, and get customers to continue paying for it over the long run, to make it worth the huge up-front expenditures. As the company's 29-year-old CEO put it in an interview with Business Insider, "The whole power of this subscription revenue model is that you have a lifetime value of a customer that is very different than the initial annual revenue from the customer and the cost to acquire that customer." There was some other decent news for Box in the updated filing as well. For instance, now 10% of Box's customers pay it for the service, versus only 7% when it first filed. Retention rates are also looking pretty good — Box said only 5% of its customers chose not to renew their subscriptions in the year ended October 31, which is a "decrease" from the previous year.
SEE ALSO: Aaron Levie On Box's Weird IPO Process, Burn Rate, And The 'Race To The Top' Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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EXCLUSIVE: After Just 10 Months, Nike's CIO Is Gone (NKE) | ||
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Business Insider has confirmed that Nike CIO Anthony Watson has left the company. Sources close to the company tell us that Watson and Nike parted ways for reasons unclear. Here's the official statement from a Nike spokesperson Greg Rossiter: "I wanted to confirm that Anthony Watson has left Nike, Inc. for personal reasons." While many corporate CIOs fly under the radar, Watson was extremely visible. For one thing, the 37-year-old British citizen was openly gay. That made him the only openly gay CIO at a Fortune 100 company, according to a blog post by LGBT advocacy group GLAAD. When Apple CEO Tim Cook came out earlier this year, the U.S. business world stood up, looked around and tried to count the other gay role models in top executive ranks at huge companies. The list CNN Money came up with was pretty short, six people, with Watson among them. He was cool with being a role model. He was the first British citizen and non-American to join the board of directors of LGBT activist group GLAAD, back in 2013, before he joined Nike. Beyond that, when Nike hired him away from his position as a CIO of Barclays in February, he was hailed as "a new breed of CIOs that are highly consumer-centric, agile, innovative, transformational and one of Europe's top CIOs," reported Computerworld UK's Mark Chillingworth at the time. Hiring him was seen as "as a big coup for Nike," according to Chillingworth. It was one of many changes Nike was making in its approach to tech. Two months after Watson arrived, Nike changed directions with its Fitband wearable device and fired most of the hardware team working on it, about 55 people, CNET reported. We've heard that Watson was vigorously trying to upgrade much of Nike's internal IT and renegotiate deals with key vendors, such as bringing in a new network equipment vendor, Juniper Networks. We reached out to Watson for comment and will update when we hear back. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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These Robots Literally Sell Themselves | ||
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There's a store in Palo Alto staffed exclusively by robots. The Beam store, which was recently visited by a writer for IEEE Spectrum, sells telepresence robots that let you attend meetings you can't be at. The store's salespeople use the BeamPro — which costs $20,000 — to sell more robots. Beam is also working on a cheaper model that will cost about $2,000. The lack of humans in the store may seem weird, but it makes sense that Beam would use its own products to sell more of them. The entire store is basically a demo for the robots. The robots are tracked using GPS and weigh 92 pounds each, making theft less of an issue. They're also impossible to operate without Beam's software. Beam isn't the only company working on telepresence robots. Cisco has a similar robot that runs off of an iPad app and costs between $4,000 and $6,000. Check out the video of customers interacting with the "salespeople":
SEE ALSO: This Terrifying Robot Was Developed By Google Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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MTV's Snooki Opened Her Own Etsy Shop — And People Are Actually Buying Her Stuff | ||
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Gone are the days spent at the Jersey Shore. MTV star Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi has gone the route of Martha, Blake, and Gwyneth; getting in touch with her inner artist and "launching Nicole’s Craft Room, an Etsy store where she shills handmade mugs, candles, wine glasses and more," The New York Post reports. And she's actually selling her crafts — the entire store is sold out. So far The Post says she's logged 156 sales of her kitschy mugs and vases since the store opened on December 3rd. Most of the items have phrases written on them in Polizzi's handwriting ("Jesus Take The Wheel" is a favorite.)
“So excited to have finally opened up my own etsy store! Hope you guys enjoy my stuff, because I LOVE making everything offered here!” she writes on the store’s information section. The store currently says its getting Christmas orders out but will reopen soon. For now, take a look at two of the crafts offered by Polizzi, which she recently Instagrammed. This "Party like the Jersey Shore" wine glass:
And this mug giving MTV co-star and BFF JWoww a shout out:
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Here Are 15 Great Gifts For The Apple Addicts In Your Life (AAPL) | ||
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The holidays are just around the corner, and you want to get something amazing for the Apple fan in your life. Don't get them an iPhone or an iPad. They already have those. We've put together some gift ideas that will endear you to any Apple lover — at least until the next big thing comes out.
It isn't cheap, but this Parrot Quadcopter drone runs off an iOS app and shoots high-definition video. Get this for the Apple fan you truly love. Available on Amazon for $666.67. This case for the iPhone 5 and 5S comes in handy at parties. It's got a bottle opener built in. Available on opencase.com for $10. And this keychain breathalyzer will let your friend know when it's time to call an Uber. Available on Amazon for $52.02. See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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'King Of Instagram' Released From Jail | ||
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Dan Bilzerian, known to his 5 million Instagram followers as the "King" of the social media platform, has been released from jail after he was arrested late Tuesday night at LAX. KTLA reports charges were dropped against the the 34-year-old. LAPD Officer Jack Richter tells KTLA that Bilzerian was "arrested on a fugitive warrant out of Nevada, and had faced felony charges in the state, including possessing or manufacturing explosive or incendiary devices." Bilzerian earned his royal status on the photo-sharing app after sharing hundreds of photos of his seemingly-lavish lifestyle. You can take a look at his entire profile here, but if you're just looking to get a sense of who this guy is and what he's doing on Instagram, we've selected some images:
NOW WATCH: The Truth About 'The Most Interesting Man In The World'SEE ALSO: Son Of Alleged Drug Kingpin Has Amazing Twitter Feed Full Of Guns And Cash Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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REPORT: eBay Will Cut Thousands Of Jobs Early Next Year | ||
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eBay might eliminate thousands of jobs early next year as it gets ready to spin off PayPal, sources familiar with the situation tell The Wall Street Journal. The cuts would affect at least 3,000 employees in eBay's core marketplace division, according to one source. That would be the largest cut at eBay in many years (blowing past the 325-person cut from PayPal back in 2012). The company announced that it would spin off PayPal in September to give each company a sharper focus. At the end of last year, eBay had 33,500 employees split between PayPal and the marketplace part of the company. The Journal's sources said that the company is still evaluating its options and could alter the job-cut plan, but adjustments are undoubtably on the horizon. "There will be changes," Devin Wenig, current marketplace division president and future chief executive of eBay, told The Wall Street Journal last month. "There will be significant changes." An eBay spokesperson told Business Insider that the company doesn't comment on rumors. "We are focused on running the business and setting eBay and PayPal up for success as independent companies." SEE ALSO: You Can Now Haggle For Certain Items On Amazon Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Tinder User Tries To Get Dates By Using Darren Rovell's Tweets As Pick Up Lines | ||
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Can Darren Rovell's 140-character bursts of thought be useful when trying to score a date? One Tinder user tried to find out. Bleacher Report says this person, "who was blocked by Rovell on Twitter, decided to use the ESPN reporter's tweets on women." Rovell is a sports reporter for ESPN that focuses on business. He and his followers have a love/hate relationship. This Tinder experiment led to a variety of results, which are all compiled on this Tumblr. Here are some of our favorites: Blimp rankings:
Asking for an opinion about Joe Paterno is a smooth entrance:
Did you know?
Soulmates:
Opinions on hummus:
Makes you think! | ||
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CHART OF THE DAY: Instagram Is Now Bigger Than Twitter | ||
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Instagram on Wednesday announced it has more than 300 million monthly active users, which surpasses Twitter’s 284 million users. Based on company data charted for us by BI Intelligence, Instagram has been rapidly adding users over the last few years — Facebook’s $1 billion purchase of the photo sharing service in April 2012 seems to have helped spur that growth considerably. And while Twitter is growing, too, it probably won’t catch Instagram: Based on Twitter’s current growth rate and BI Intelligence’s own estimates, Twitter should reach about 296 million monthly active users in the fourth quarter, which is still several million users short of Instagram’s current status.
SEE ALSO: Facebook And YouTube Account For Almost 40% Of All Mobile Internet Traffic Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Check Out The 'Gravity Room' Where Zuck And Kevin Systrom Celebrated Instagram's Latest Milestone (FB) | ||
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Instagram on Wednesday announced it now has more than 300 million active users. With that number, the photo-sharing platform has officially passed Twitter, which has about 284 million users, according to Re/code. To celebrate the milestone, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted this picture of him and Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom posing in a space called the "gravity room," located in the Instagram building at Facebook headquarters. "Congrats to the Instagram community for reaching 300 million people! Here's a photo of Kevin and me celebrating in the Instagram gravity room," Zuckerberg's caption reads. SEE ALSO: The 10 Most Popular Places To Instagram This Year Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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PLANET GOOGLE: How One Company Dominates Digital [SLIDE DECK] | ||
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Google is eating the world.
It dominates several key tech industries and dwarfs competitors in each of these markets:
Google's success has also allowed it to explore new ventures like self-driving cars, health tech, and drones. As part of Business Insider's Ignition event, Business Insider CEO Henry Blodget broke down the numbers driving Google's massive growth and global dominance. BI Intelligence is a new research and analysis service focused on mobile computing and the Internet. Only subscribers can download the individual charts and datasets in Excel, along with the PowerPoint and PDF versions of this deck. Please sign up for a trial membership here.    See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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United Is Giving 23,000 Flight Attendants An iPhone 6 Plus (AAPL, UAL) | ||
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United is giving each of its 23,000 flight attendants an iPhone 6 Plus. They'll use the iPhones to take credit cards from customers for on-board purchases. They will also be able to use them for email and access internal documents like training manuals. United has been giving iPads to its pilots since 2011. United isn't the first airline to issue smartphones to its flight attendants. Delta gave its flight attendants Nokia Windows phones over a year ago. Delta also gave its pilots Surface tablets from Microsoft. So this United deal is also a big win for Apple, which has been doing more work to sell devices directly to big companies (like Microsoft), instead of only to individuals. It's been hiring enterprise salespeople, and its deal with IBM is beginning to bear fruit as the two companies develop apps for businesses. SEE ALSO: Here's The $22 Gadget That Started A Huge Fight, Causing A United Airlines Flight To Get Diverted Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Someone Squeezed All The Best Games Of The Year Into A Two-Minute Video | ||
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While we’re busy compiling our own list of the best games of 2014, YouTube user Malcolm Klock borrowed clips from many of those games and set them to music, editing everything down into a comprehensive two-minute clip. Klock, who is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker, has grown quite adept at creating end-of-the-year video game montages, and this one’s pretty great. You can see clips from “Mario Kart 8,” the latest “Call of Duty” and “Smash Bros.” games, and many more. Check it out below. SEE ALSO: Even People Who Hate Games Will Be Blown Away By How Realistic This One Is SEE ALSO: 21 Video Games We Can't Wait To Play In 2015 Read more:#ixzz3LX7nHuVV Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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It’s December, which means everyone’s doing their respective Producer Megan Ellison Responds To A Colleague Who Called Her A 'Lunatic' In Leaked Email | ||
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Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison's 28-year-old daughter, movie producer Megan Ellison, is just one of the new names being thrown into the Sony hacking scandal. In megaproducer Scott Rudin's explosive emails to Sony Co-Chairman Amy Pascal, which leaked late Tuesday, Rudin had some harsh words for the young, Oscar-nominated producer who had wanted to finance the Steve Jobs movie when it was at Sony. Ellison's father, Larry Ellison, was real-life best friends with Steve Jobs. In the leaked emails to Pascal, Rudin calls Ellison "a bipolar 28-year-old lunatic" and implied that she needed to take her "meds" to get the production off the ground. Defamer published the full nugget about Ellison, which she tweeted with a witty response to her nearly 76,000 followers: Well played, Ellison.
NOW WATCH: 13 Things You Didn't Know Your iPhone 6 Could Do
SEE ALSO: Two Sony Execs' Entire Email Boxes Got Leaked By Hackers And Now All Hell Is Breaking Loose Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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You Can Buy Two Original iPhones On eBay For Just $25,000 (AAPL) | ||
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Here's a good stocking stuffer for two of your loved ones. If you have an extra $25,000, why not spend it on a pair of original 8 GB iPhones that are on sale on eBay? Even better, the iPhones are still sealed in their original packaging, so they're guaranteed to be in mint condition. But you have to hurry. Bidding closes this Sunday and two people are currently "watching" the sale, according to the eBay page. (We first saw this on TUAW.) SEE ALSO: The best smartphones in the world Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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BI Intelligence Is Hiring A VP Of Research | ||
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BI Intelligence is a fast-growing, cutting-edge research service from Business Insider. At BI Intelligence we believe every knowledge worker deserves access to research, charts, and data to make their lives easier and their job performance better. We are adding a VP, Research to the BI Intelligence team, someone who can direct the strategic direction of the product, manage a growing team of analysts, and be the face of BI Intelligence to the outside world. Flexibility to work on multiple projects, great organizational skills, and ability to hit deadlines are important in this fast-paced environment. We are looking for someone who is able to deliver against a dynamic workload and the pace inherent in a client-service business. To succeed in this role, here are some of the traits you possess:
The role offers a chance to help grow the research product in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. The ideal candidate is ready to take the next step in her/his career. If this is the right gig for you, please apply online and tell us a bit about why you're a good fit for the role. Thanks in advance. ABOUT BI INTELLIGENCE: Check out some of our work SEE ALSO: Build your career at Business Insider Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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The 16 Best Startups That Launched In 2014 | ||
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2014 was a great year for consumer tech, so we decided to take a look at the best startups that launched this year. When looking at the best startups, we took into account factors like funding, revenue, growth, and investor interest. Did we miss a great startup that launched this year? Let us know in the comments! GLAMSQUAD brings hair salon-quality blowouts to your apartment. What it is: GLAMSQUAD co-founder Victoria Eisner got the idea for her startup on New Year's Eve one year. Despite using on-demand services to plan the rest of her evening — Uber to go to her event and Rent The Runway for her dress — but she couldn't find a startup that would bring a blow-out appointment and beauty styling to her door. "I wished that beauty services could come to me at the touch of a button just like a car or my dinner," she told Business Insider. With GLAMSQUAD's app, you press a button and a stylist will show up at your home to blow dry your hair ($50) or do your makeup ($75). A few months ago, GLAMSQUAD hired Gilt Groupe co-founder Alexandra Wilkis Wilson as its CEO. Launch date: GLAMSQUAD launched in New York City in January, and also recently launched in Los Angeles. Funding: GLAMSQUAD raised $2 million in seed funding in January, and in October, the startup raised another $7 million from Softbank Capital, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, BBG Ventures, and Montage Ventures. Website: www.glamsquad.com Spring is the Instagram for shopping. What it is: Angel investor David Tisch has funded startups like Harry's, Kitchensurfing, and Flatiron Health, but he took a stab at cofounding a startup this year with Spring. Spring is sort of like the Instagram for shopping: you swipe through lifestyle pictures, not just flat pictures of products, and you can purchase anything you see in the app with a few taps. Spring has new products from major fashion brands daily, exclusive Spring offers, and you can even use Apple Pay to purchase clothes and goods with your fingerprint. Apple just named Spring one of the best apps of 2014. Launch date: Spring launched in August. Funding: Spring raised a $7.5 million Series A round in July. The round was led by Thrive Capital, Groupe Arnault and Box Group. Other investors include Founder Collective, Google Ventures, SV Angel, and Lerer Hippeau Ventures. Website: shopspring.com DWNLD makes apps easy to make, customize and get published in the App Store. What it is: DWNLD is to apps what Wordpress is to websites: it's a startup that lets anyone create an app quickly and cheaply and put it in the App Store. DWNLD was founded by angel investor Fritz Lanman and Alexandra Keating. DWNLD's service costs $15 a month, and lets its users customize apps with easy design tools. Publishers also have the option of turning on iAds to monetize their apps. After the app is complete, DWNLD submits it to the App Store, and within 7 to 10 days, the app usually gets approved. Launch date: DWNLD launched in September. Funding: DWNLD has quietly raised $2 million in seed funding from WME, Michael Arrington’s CrunchFund, The Chernin Group, Gordon Crawford, and other media executives. Website: dwnld.me See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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The CEO Of This Year's Hottest Tech IPO Will Get An Extra $30 Million (LC) | ||
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At the top range of that, Lending Club will raise up to $929 million when it goes public tomorrow, which makes it the largest IPO for a US tech company this year. On a fully diluted basis, Lending Club will be worth more than $6.5 billion. The IPO price increase also means that its CEO, Renaud Laplanche, just added roughly $29.8 million to his total net worth. Laplanche owns 14.9 million shares, or 4.7% of the company, and at the mid-price of $13 a share, he’ll be worth nearly $193.6 million after the IPO. Lending Club had $143 million in sales in the first nine months of this year, up 122% from the same period of last year. But like many other fast-growing tech companies, it’s losing money, with a net loss of $23.9 million this year, according to its S1. The company claims it processed over $6 billion worth of loans since its founding in 2007, making it the largest peer-to-peer lending platform in the US. It’s raised nearly $400 million in funding so far from VCs like Kleiner Perkins and Norwest Ventures. Its board members include Kleiner Perkins’ Mary Meeker, ex-Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack, and former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. Here’s a chart that shows how fast Lending Club has been growing:
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Lending Club, the online marketplace for loans, has raised its IPO price range to $12 to $14 a share from $10 to $12.
10 Things You Need To Know Before European Markets Open | ||
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UK House Price Growth Has Now Been Slowing For Six Months. According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, prices grew at their slowest pace in about 18 months in December, Bloomberg reports. Argentina's Stocks Got Hammered. Argentina's main stock index ended the day nearly 7% down, a second day of heavy losses after oil prices dropped even further. Honda And Nissan Are Recalling Half A Million Cars. Honda is recalling 400,000 cars as a precaution against potentially deadly airbags made by Takata Corp, and Nissan is recalling another 152,000 for the same reason. China Is Pushing Banks To Step Up Lending. China has told its banks to issue more loans in the final months of 2014 and has relaxed limits on their loan-to-deposit ratios to help hit a record new lending target as the government steps up efforts to lift flagging economic growth, according to a Reuters exclusive. But Mark Mobius Says China's Stock Boom Is Just Getting Started. The Templeton Emerging Markets Group chairman said that the current rapid rise in the Shanghai stock index is the beginning of a long-term bull run, according to Bloomberg. Italy's Industrial Output Is Coming. At 9 a.m. GMT, we'll get a look at how the manufacturing base of Europe's third-largest economy is holding up. Analysts are expecting a 0.3% increase in October, despite France's bleak figure yesterday. Lending Club Priced Its Shares At $15. The online loan marketplace, which is about to offer its first public shares raised its share price to $15, above the initial target range. The move values the company at around $5.4 billion (£3.44 billion) according to the Financial Times. German Inflation Got Confirmed At 0.5%. Germany's Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices is up just 0.5% in the year to November, confirmed at the second estimate. That's the lowest level since the recession that came immediately after the financial crisis. Putin Is In India. Russia's President Vladimir Putin will hold talks Thursday with India's new prime minister as his sanctions-hit country seeks to strengthen energy, defence and strategic ties in Asia. Asian Markets Are Sinking. Japan's Nikkei closed down 0.89%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng is currently down 1.08%, and China's Shanghai Composite is down 0.66%.
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Good morning! Here are the 10 stories you need to know about in markets today. Christie's celebrates modernists at 2nd India auction | ||
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Mumbai (AFP) - Christie's hopes to consolidate its foothold in the Indian art market Thursday with only its second sale in the country, showcasing a range of work by homegrown modern artists. The London-based auction house is offering 80 lots at Mumbai's luxury Taj Mahal Palace hotel, all by Indian artists, following its first sale at the same venue last year that raised $16.3 million. Works by modernists M.F. Husain, Tyeb Mehta and Vasudeo S. Gaitonde are among those going under the hammer later Thursday, with the oldest piece being a pocket notebook of author Rabindranath Tagore, dated 1889 to 1904. "The reason we have come here is we have seen very active bidding out of India," said Amin Jaffer, international director of Asian art. "We've seen an expansion in the range of interest." India's art market lags behind that of China, where the first Christie's auction last year raised $25 million, and which was pouring money into new museums to improve its already developed art scene. Christie's said education and exposure were a key aim of its sales in India, where the art scene has also suffered from cumbersome regulations and import duties. "Many of the pieces are of museum quality," Jaffer told reporters at a viewing this week. "It's a rare opportunity." At last year's India auction, which more than doubled estimates, 35 percent of buyers were new registrants to Christie's and the auction house hopes to expand on that this year. Contemporary Indian art suffered badly after the 2008 global economic crisis, but Christie's specialist Deepanjana Klein said the market for modernist works was "extremely robust". She said they were not just trying to sell Indian art to Indians but promote it to "an international group of collectors". The record for a modern Indian artwork was set by Syed Haider Raza's 1983 painting "Saurashtra", which sold for almost 2.4 million pounds ($3.5 million) at Christie's in London in 2010. The top lot at Thursday's sale is Mehta's 1999 work "Falling Bull", with a pre-sale estimate of $1.4 to $2.0 million. Several other works on offer are deemed "national art treasures", such as the Tagore notebook, meaning they are non-exportable. Alongside the modern art on offer, the proceeds from 10 contemporary lots will benefit the Delhi-based art residency, Khoj International Artists' Association.
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Billionaire Investor Peter Thiel Chased Off Stage By Angry Protestors At UC Berkeley | ||
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On Wednesday evening, Thiel spoke at an event hosted by the Berkeley Forum, a student organization at UC Berkeley. But about 20 minutes into the event, protestors came banging on the doors, interrupting the speech multiple times. There was a sense of panic overtaking the surprised audience, but Thiel went on and continued through the Q&A. At around 7:30 PM PST, the sound of protests and door-banging only got louder. The entire crowd at Wheeler Hall turned eerily silent — only until one male student suddenly rose up and yelled at Thiel. “F—k you!” the guy shouted at Thiel, as he walked out of the hall. After a few seconds of silence, Thiel, in his quiet calm voice, said, “This is really a classic Berkeley event today — this is so cool!” Although Thiel insisted on going on with the Q&A, the protests got really loud. Moments later, the doors finally gave in and protestors took over the stage. The protesters held signs of “Ferguson” and “Black lives matter.” Some shouted, “NSA’s got to go!” The crowd booed the protestors and shouted “Peter Thiel matters!” By then, Thiel was already gone. Protests in Berkeley and nearby Oakland have been going on since November 24, when a grand jury decided not to indict the police officer who killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, in Ferguson, Mo. They picked up again a few days ago after a similar decision not to indict the NYPD officer who killed Eric Garner. According to InsideBayArea, today’s protest started at Berkeley High School at around 2:30 PM. Here are some photos from the event:
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Holders look to secure berth in Europa League last 32 | ||
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Paris (AFP) - Trophy holders Sevilla are among the clubs looking to claim one of the 10 berths still up for grabs in the Europa League knockout stage in Thursday's final round of group games. The Spanish side, who beat Benfica on penalties in last season's final in Turin, host Rijeka of Croatia needing just a point to progress, while their visitors have to win to advance from Group G alongside Dutch giants Feyenoord. However, coach Unai Emery has urged his side, who are currently in fourth place in La Liga, to make sure they win the game. "Our objective is to win the game and be in the hat for the last 32," Emery wrote on his personal website. "We feel that we are strong in our own stadium and we hope to maintain that by carefully preparing a game in which (Rijeka) can't afford to settle for a draw." Elsewhere, Borussia Moenchengladbach and Villarreal will advance from Group A by avoiding defeat in their games, while Qarabag can become the first club from Azerbaijan to survive in a major European competition into the spring if they can win at home to Italian giants Inter, who are already certain to win Group F. "We will be playing in front of our fans and this sometimes can add to the pressure," Qarabag captain Rashad F Sadygov told UEFA.com, mindful of the fact that a slip-up could see either Saint-Etienne or Dnipro of Ukraine take advantage. "We have a huge responsibility and just can't let them down. So we have to be patient and hope God will help us." Among the other decisive encounters, Lille welcome Bundesliga high-flyers Wolfsburg to northern France in a direct shoot-out to decide who progresses from Group H along with Everton. While Wolfsburg can afford to settle for a draw, Lille have to win, something they have yet to do in the group. - Everton 'not out to relax' -
Everton are already certain to progress as group winners, which means they will be seeded in next Monday's draw for the last 32 along with the four third-placed teams with the best records in the Champions League group stage. Given their current travails in the Premier League, that means Toffees manager Roberto Martinez will shuffle his pack when already-eliminated Krasnodar visit Goodison Park, and Ghanaian winger Christian Atsu is one of those looking to get a chance. "It's been quite difficult since I came here," Atsu, who has started just three games since joining on loan from Chelsea, told evertontv. "I'm working hard for the team and I believe the fans haven't seen the best of me yet." Of the game, the 22-year-old added: "We have a very good team spirit and we want to win every game. We are not treating it like we have qualified – we are not going out to relax." Scottish champions Celtic are also already through, although Ronny Deila's side know they will finish second in Group D to Salzburg, rendering their trip to play Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia meaningless. "The pressure will be off and the gaffer might change the team but we don't want to let the fans down over there," said Celtic's Irish forward Anthony Stokes, scorer of his team's winning goal in the weekend Premiership win at Motherwell. Tottenham Hotspur are also through, although in their case first place in Group C is still up for grabs as they go to Istanbul to face Besiktas. A draw will be enough for Spurs to clinch top spot, but a defeat would see them leapfrogged by the current Turkish league leaders, who reports suggest may be forced to do without leading scorer Demba Ba due to a toe injury. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Qaeda group blames Obama for Yemen hostage deaths | ||
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Sanaa (AFP) - Al-Qaeda blamed US President Barack Obama for the deaths of two hostages -- an American photojournalist and a South African teacher -- during a failed rescue attempt over the weekend, in a video message released Thursday. "Obama made the wrong decision, and signed the death warrant for his American compatriot" Luke Somers, who along with South African national Pierre Korkie was killed on Saturday, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) official Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi said in the video. Somers and Korkie were shot and fatally wounded by their captors when US commandos stormed an Al-Qaeda hideout in southwestern Yemen. The failed raid came just a day before Korkie was due to be released under a deal with the kidnappers. US-based monitoring agency SITE Intelligence Group said Somers was seized in the Yemeni capital in September 2013. Korkie was abducted together with his wife in May 2013, but she was released in January. AQAP, considered by Washington as the most dangerous affiliate of Al-Qaeda, has exploited instability in the impoverished country since a 2011 uprising forced president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. And in recent years the group has carried out a growing number of abductions, with several hostages still in captivity. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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These 7 Men Owned The Company Linked To CIA Torture | ||
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Following the release of the details of the Senate probe, NBC News reported the company that worked to develop these techniques and received over $80 million from the government for its work was a firm based in Spokane, Washington called Mitchell, Jessen & Associates. While much of the attention on Mitchell, Jessen & Associates has focused on the two owners of the company who gave it its name, the firm actually had seven co-owners. Documents exclusively obtained by Business Insider on Wednesday confirmed the names of these seven people as well as their roles at the company. The records also detailed when Mitchell, Jessen & Associates was first established. According to a document filed with the state of Washington in 2008, the seven owners of Mitchell, Jessen & Associates were: James Mitchell, John Bruce Jessen, David Ayers, Randall Spivey, James Sporleder, Joseph Matarazzo, and Roger Aldrich. Records show Mitchell, Jessen & Associates became inactive in October 2009. However, four of the company's owners appear to work at other firms that currently consult with the US government. Three of them, Spivey, Sporleder, and Aldrich, are still working together at a company called the Center For Personal Protection & Safety, which counts both the Department of Defense and FBI among its clients. Their company reportedly developed interrogation techniques the Senate report described as "brutal" including forced rectal feedings, waterboarding, sleep deprivation, mock executions, and intense psychological manipulation. Late Wednesday evening, a CIA spokesperson said the agency would not be able to comment on this story until the following morning, at the earliest. Reverse Engineering TortureThe majority of the owners of Mitchell, Jessen & Associates previously worked with the military's Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) program, which trains American service members to survive and resist interrogation by enemy forces. In this program they worked with soldiers who survived being captured and abused in foreign countries. The SERE trainers studied the effects of this torture. They also engaged in role playing scenarios where they taught soldiers to face these techniques. Participation in the SERE program gave the owners of Mitchell, Jessen & Associates firsthand experience in what torture techniques were most effective and the psychology behind them. The CIA later reverse engineered these tactics to use on terrorism suspects at so-called "black sites" placed in foreign countries outside of US legal jurisdiction due to the fact the practices employed during these "enhanced" interrogations were clearly prohibited by American law. In 2011, Truthout obtained a series of handwritten notes it claimed were written by Dr. John Bruce Jessen, who Business Insider has learned was the president of Mitchell, Jessen & Associates. In these notes, which were written during his time working at the SERE program, Jessen described what he referred to as the "psychological aspects of detention."
NBC reported that Mitchell, Jessen & Associates presented the CIA with 20 techniques, and the agency passed on a few "because some of proposed techniques were considered too harsh even for terrorists." From A Fortified Facility To A Quiet Office BuildingSERE is based at the Air Force Survival School, which is located at an Air Force base just outside of Spokane. The program is overseen by the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency, which conducts more secretive work and is located at a facility adjacent to the base that reportedly has a barbed wire fence, armed guards, and "3-foot thick, blast-proof concrete walls." Through their work with the CIA, these experts from Mitchell, Jessen & Associates seem to employed their expertise on the torture techniques used by America's enemies to develop tactics that the US subsequently used on its own prisoners.
President Barack Obama has acknowledged some terrorism detainees were tortured while being questioned by the CIA. He banned the enhanced interrogations shortly after he took office in 2009. A company registration filed in Washington in 2007 showed Mitchell, Jessen & Associates was originally formed in Delaware on September 9, 2004 and began doing business in Washington in 2005. The company was operated out of a suite in a nondescript office building in downtown Spokane. In the handwritten registration, which was signed by Jessen, it said the company "provides consulting and training to U.S. government." Read about the seven owners of Mitchell, Jessen & Associates and their connections to the CIA torture program below.
He has been widely described as the "architect" of the CIA's enhanced interrogation program. According the 2009 New York Times story that first publicized his role in the CIA torture program, Mitchell joined the Air Force in 1974 and was initially stationed in Alaska where "he learned the art of disarming bombs and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology." Mitchell, who was from Florida, went on to work with the SERE program in the 1980s at the Air Force Survival School outside of Spokane with Dr. John Bruce Jessen. Both Mitchell and Jessen were close during their time at the Air Force Survival School. The Times said the two men "took weekend ice-climbing trips together" and became "part of what some Defense Department officials called the 'resistance mafia,' experts on how to resist enemy interrogations." Initially, Jessen was the SERE psychologist at the school. In this capacity, he vetted instructors who portrayed interrogators at the school's mock prison camp that was used to train soldiers who might end up in enemy hands. In 1988, the Times said Jessen left his position at the survival school and took "the top psychologist’s job at a parallel 'graduate school' of survival training, a short drive from the Air Force school." He was replaced by Mitchell. According to the Times, Mitchell retired from the military shortly before the September 11th attacks in 2001 and that he began consulting for the CIA by "the start of 2002." In March of 2002, when Abu Zubaydah, who was suspected of being the third ranked member of Al Qaeda, was captured in Pakistan, the Times said Mitchell traveled to a CIA "black site" in Thailand to oversee the interrogation. Zubaydah's questioning reportedly included him being sleep deprived, waterboarded, held in a box stripped naked, exposed to cold temperatures, and beaten. The Senate report that was released Tuesday identified Zubaydah as something of a guinea pig for the CIA's harsh interrogation techniques. The Times said Jessen joined Mitchell in Thailand a few months after he arrived in order to observer Zubaydah's questioning. After the Senate report on CIA interrogation techniques was released, Mitchell told Bloomberg he could not confirm or deny whether he was involved with the program due to a non-disclosure agreement. "I’m in a box — I’m caught in some Kafka novel," Mitchell said. "Everyone is assuming it is me, but I can’t confirm or deny it. It is frustrating because you can’t defend yourself." Mitchell did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider on Wednesday.
Jessen, who was once a Mormon bishop, became the SERE psychologist at the Air Force Survival School outside of Spokane in the 1980's. According to the Times story, while at the survival school, Jessen made an "unusual job switch" and went "from supervising psychologist to mock enemy interrogator." The Times reported Jessen became "so aggressive" in his staged interrogations that he actually frightened some colleagues. NBC's Robert Windrem, who first connected Mitchell, Jessen & Associates to the Senate report, published a story on Tuesday that said "former intelligence officials and congressional investigators" confirmed the CIA began consulting with both Jessen and Mitchell about interrogation techniques in July 2002. "Jessen immediately resigned from the Air Force and, along with Mitchell, another recently retired colleague, founded Mitchell, Jessen & Associates," Windrem wrote. In 2009, the Senate Armed Services Committee conducted an inquiry into the "treatment of detainees in U.S. Custody." Both Jessen and Mitchell testified before the committee about their work advising the government on interrogation techniques. The committee's report noted many of their tactics were developed based on their work with SERE and the JPRA. It also said Mitchell, Jessen & Associates had seven co-owners and "between 55 and 60 employees, several of whom were former JPRA employees." The report did not name the other co-owners of Mitchell, Jessen & Associates. On Wednesday, committee staffer told Business Insider the report was the only public record from the inquiry and further details of Jessen and Mitchell's testimony were not released. Jessen could not be reached for comment on this story. David Ayres: Records for Mitchell, Jessen & Associates show David Ayres was the firm's CFO. In January, a press release from a Virginia-based defense contractor, TATE, Incorporated, identified a man named David Ayres as the company's president. According to its website, TATE "is the preeminent firm focusing exclusively on personnel recovery." "We provide unparalleled expertise in PR training to the Department of Defense (DoD), other U.S. Government agencies and government contractors," the site says. In 2009, ProPublica reported TATE, Incorporated was headquartered at an address in Alexandria, Virginia that was also shared by Mitchell, Jessen & Associates. Ayres did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
The document filed in Washington state in 2008 listed Spivey as a partner at Mitchell, Jessen & Associates. His biography on the CPPS website says Spivey is a former DOD executive who "provided oversight to all Hostage Survival training programs in the Department of Defense from 1997 to 2002 and co-authored multiple hostage-related policy and doctrine documents." According to the CPPS website, two other former owners of Mitchell, Jessen & Associates, James Sporleder and Roger Aldrich, currently work with Spivey at the company. Spivey did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Business Insider on Wednesday.
On the CPPS website, Sporleder is identified as the company's "president and co-founder." In this capacity, the site says he "is responsible for directly training more than 5,000 high-risk-of-capture personnel from some of the most elite units in the military." "During his government career, he was responsible for planning, preparation, support, and execution of numerous repatriation operations reaching back to 1993. He served as team chief in repatriation preparations for three U.S. Army soldiers held in Kosovo in 1999 and also led the debriefing team for that effort," the CPPS site says of Sporleder. "He was additionally assigned as the Repatriation Team Chief, Forward, for the return and debrief of 24 United States Navy EP-3 Crew members detained for 13 days in the People's Republic of China." The record for Mitchell, Jessen & Associates filed with the state of Washington listed Sporleder as one of the company's partners. He did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Joseph Matarazzo: In a statement emailed to the Spokesman-Review in 2007, Joseph Matarazzo said he owned one percent of Mitchell, Jessen & Associates. In spite of admitting partial ownership, Matarazzo, a former psychology professor who was once president of the American Psychological Association, told the newspaper he "is not and never has been involved in the company’s operational decisions" and only "attends brief and infrequent company meetings." Matarazzo also disavowed the torture of terrorism suspects. "I have never been involved in the use either of torture or the legal or illegal interrogation of prisoners or anyone else. And I would strongly advise against it," said Matarazzo. "I also have no knowledge of anyone who has been involved in such torture or interrogation." On the document filed with Washington State, Matarazzo was described as a partner at Mitchell, Jessen & Associates. Matarazzo, who is nearly 90-years-old, could not be reached for comment on this story. An Oregon phone number listed in his named was disconnected.
On the CPPS website he is listed as the company's chief communications officer. According to CPPS, Aldrich spent 33 years working for the DOD at the JPRA where he was "an instructor, instructor trainer, curriculum developer, and director of the U.S. Government’s only specialized, foreign governmental detention and hostage survival program." Aldrich was identified as a Mitchell, Jessen & Associates partner in the record filed with Washington state. He did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider on Wednesday. View the Mitchell, Jessen & Associates records obtained by Business Insider below. Some personal information has been redacted. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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The U.S. Senate report 
The CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques were initially employed during the administration of President George W. Bush, who authorized them in the wake of the September 11th attacks. The Senate report argued the interrogations that employed these techniques 
James Mitchell: 
Dr. John "Bruce" Jessen: In the document filed with Washington state, Jessen was named as the president of Mitchell, Jessen & Associates.
Randall Spivey: The website of the Center for Personal Protection & Safety, a firm based in Spokane and Virginia, identifies Randall Spivey as the company's CEO and founder. CPPS's site 
James V. Sporleder: A 
Roger Aldrich: The Times report on Mitchell and Jessen Kohli survives helmet bouncer to lead India fightback | ||
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Adelaide (Australia) (AFP) - Skipper Virat Kohli survived being hit on the helmet by a Mitchell Johnson bouncer as he led the way for India on the third day of the opening Adelaide Test against Australia on Thursday. Kohli was struck with the first ball he faced from Johnson and remained unbeaten on 48 with Ajinkya Rahane on 19 at tea. The tourists were 223 for three and still 294 runs in arrears, after Michael Clarke declared Australia's first innings at their overnight 517 for seven. Johnson welcomed Kohli with a bouncer but the Indian captain was OK to continue after a few moments of concern from the fielders. Australia batsman Phillip Hughes was fatally struck by a rising ball late last month, plunging the cricketing world into mourning. Kohli could not avoid the short-pitched delivery and ducked into the path of the ball which crashed into the front of his helmet. The Indians only lost the wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara for 73 in the middle session after losing two wickets before lunch. Pujara missed his chance of a Test century in Australia when he was bowled in unfortunate circumstances by off-spinner Nathan Lyon. Pujara played a defensive shot, but the ball dribbled off the bat and on to the stumps, ending his 188-minute stay at the crease for 73. He put on 81 runs for the third wicket with Kohli. Although Pujara has scored two double Test centuries against England and Australia in India, he has only scored one ton away from the sub-continent with his 153 in South Africa a year ago. Pujara and Murali Vijay posted India's highest second-wicket stand at the Adelaide Oval, surpassing the modest 71 put on by Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar in 2007. Pace spearhead Johnson struck just before lunch to remove Vijay, who had looked threatening in reaching his seventh half-century with 53 off 88 balls with three fours and two sixes. Vijay hit the first six of the Test when he advanced down the wicket and slammed Lyon over the long-on ropes and followed up with a four next ball in the 20th over. He smashed another towering six in Lyon's next over to keep the Indian scoring rate humming along at more than four an over. Shikhar Dhawan looked dangerous early, taking 14 off one Johnson over, before Ryan Harris bowled him off an inside edge for 25 off 24 balls in the eighth over. Michael Clarke spent the first two sessions in the field and made a couple of sprawling saves in the outfield despite his back injury.
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Sanctions-hit Putin visits India to boost energy, trade ties | ||
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New Delhi (AFP) - Russia's President Vladimir Putin will hold talks Thursday with India's new prime minister as his sanctions-hit country seeks to strengthen energy, defence and strategic ties in Asia. Putin will be looking to advance nuclear power, oil and natural gas and even diamond deals with longstanding ally India on his first visit to India since Prime Minister Narendra Modi swept to power in May. The president is seeking new markets for Russia's natural resources as its economy reels under US and EU sanctions over its backing of an uprising in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. "He (Putin) wants to show the world that he isn't isolated and to a certain extent he's not, he still has the BRICS countries," Russia expert Nandan Unnikrishnan said of Putin's visit. "India now is all about development and it's looking to Russia to share its technology on military hardware for making here," said Unnikrishnan, a senior fellow with Delhi-based think-tank the Observer Research Foundation. Putin is expected to focus on boosting two-way trade, which stands at just $10 billion despite strong ties that date back to the 1950s after the death of Stalin. Since coming to power Modi has sought closer ties with US President Barack Obama, who has accepted an invitation to join India's Republic Day celebrations in January. But India opposes joining Western sanctions against Russia, and is likely to disregard a caution from Washington that now is not the right time to do business with Moscow. Putin said before he arrived early Thursday that he would be seeking to strengthen their "privileged strategic partnership", singling out more reactors for energy-hungry India's nuclear power plants and hiking military hardware sales.
- 'Very strong' bond -
Modi tweeted on Thursday that the "bond between the people of Russia and India is very strong", expressing hopes Putin's visit would take the relationship to "new heights". It comes after Russia, which has the world's second-biggest natural gas reserves, cancelled a $50 billion South Stream pipeline meant to pump gas to Europe without going through Ukraine. Moscow is seeking greater investment from Indian state-run companies in Russian oil and gas projects, including ones being explored in the Arctic. But Putin poured cold water on a proposed pipeline pumping gas to India, saying it might not be cost effective, instead emphasising current arrangements to ship liquefied natural gas in tankers. Russia has supplied two nuclear reactors to a plant at Kudankulam in southern India under a long-delayed agreement, and will push to supply more under deals signed in 2010 and 2008. Russia is the largest supplier of weapons to India, the world's top arms buyer. Moscow recently sealed a military cooperation pact with Pakistan after lifting its embargo on arms supplies to India's arch-rival, and is in talks to supply Islamabad with combat helicopters. Putin is also meeting with Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and attending the World Diamond Conference, with both sides keen on ramping up direct exports to India. Russia is the world's top producer of rough diamonds and the majority of them pass through India, where a cheap workforce cuts and polishes the gemstones before most are exported again for use in jewellery. But only about a fifth of rough produce is sold directly from Russian mines to India, with the rest passing through diamond hubs such as Antwerp and Dubai.
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Taliban suicide blast kills six Afghan soldiers in Kabul | ||
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Kabul (AFP) - A suicide blast claimed by the Taliban killed at least six Afghan soldiers in the suburbs of Kabul Thursday morning, police said. A suicide bomber on foot targeted a bus carrying Afghan troops in Tangi Tarakhil on the outskirts of the capital, Kabul Crime Branch Unit chief General Farid Afzail told AFP. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in a message sent to the media. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Chinese police seek 100 Vietnamese runaway brides: report | ||
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Beijing (AFP) - Chinese police are seeking more than 100 Vietnamese brides who vanished after marrying bachelors from a poor rural area, with reports saying Thursday an "organised ring" could be behind the disappearance. The men, from Quzhou in the central province of Hebei, were introduced to the women by Wu Meiyu, a Vietnamese bride who had lived in the area for 20 years, the China Daily said. Wu, who received payments of more than 100,000 yuan ($16,000) if the introductions were successful, disappeared with the women, it added. The state-run newspaper cited an unnamed local official saying an organised ring may have been involved in the mass disappearance. "With the advanced communication techniques of today, it's easy for all the brides to leave at the same time," he told the newspaper. Buying wives from Southeast Asian countries has become increasingly common in some of China's poor rural areas, where a gender imbalance has developed due to a traditional preference for sons and the country's family planning policies. Across China, 118 males are born for every 100 females, according to government statistics. In some rural areas men can be expected to own a house, car and have considerable wealth before they can attract a Chinese bride, a cost the China Daily said could reach 400,000 yuan. But with many unable to do so the trade in overseas brides, which is often linked to human trafficking, has grown in China. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Oil Prices Are Cratering — But So Is The Price Of Gas (USO) | ||
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All anyone in the market is talking about these days is oil. And as the price of oil has cratered, so has the price of gas. As of Monday, the average price for one gallon of regular gas in the US was $2.63, the lowest since 2010, according to data from the Federal Reserve. Some analysts will tell you that falling oil prices are good for the economy because lower gas prices means more money for consumers to spend. Others will say that the speed and depth of the decline in oil prices could be signaling something bad about the state of the global economy. The last time gas prices fell this far, this fast, we were in a recession. Though some research suggests that the decline in gas prices has so far amounted to a tax cut of $500 per household. As Jeffrey Gundlach said in his webcast on Tuesday: "The one thing that's constant in the world of investing is change."
SEE ALSO: Here's Who Really Controls Oil Prices Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Asian shares mostly lower after Wall St tumble | ||
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Hong Kong (AFP) - Asian markets mostly sank again Thursday after Wall Street was hit by a further fall in oil prices, while the dollar edged up after tumbling against the yen. Analysts said traders were taking their cash off the table before the end of the year after enjoying a surge over the past few weeks that has been supported by strong US data, Japanese easing measures and hopes for stimulus in China. Tokyo tumbled 1.54 percent, Hong Kong sank 1.40 percent, Sydney shed 0.58 percent and Seoul lost 0.85 percent but Shanghai added 0.20 percent. In New York the Dow and S&P 500, which last week ended at record highs, retreated owing to a pullback in petroleum plays that came after OPEC lowered its demand forecast for 2015 and the US revealed its stockpiles surged. The Dow fell 1.51 percent, the S&P 500 sank 1.64 percent and the Nasdaq slipped 1.73 percent. However, oil prices rebounded slightly in Asia Thursday. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery gained 53 cents to $61.47 while Brent crude for January was up 54 cents to $64.78. WTI dropped $2.88 in New York, while Brent lost $2.60 in London. Crude has plunged around 40 percent since June on the back of an oversupply in global markets, which was exacerbated by OPEC's output decision last month. On foreign exchange markets the dollar ticked up to 118.18 yen in late morning trade after sinking to as low as 117.44 yen at one point as traders spooked by the equities selling looked for safer investments. The yen is considered a haven in times of turmoil. The greenback is still well down from the seven-year-high of 121.84 yen seen Monday. "Large overseas hedge funds and other hedged investors are making their year-end position adjustments, booking profits after going long on the dollar and Nikkei futures and shorting the yen," Eiji Kinouchi, chief technical strategist at Daiwa Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires. The euro slipped to 146.43 yen early Thursday before bouncing back to 147.20 yen. It sat at 146.68 in US trade. The single currency was also at $1.2486 against $1.2446 in New York. In Shanghai stocks bucked the global trend again after a roller-coaster week that saw the composite index plunge more than five percent Tuesday, having racked up gains of more than 20 percent since mid-November. The market has been buoyant as tr Asian markets mostly sank again Thursday after Wall Street was hit by a further fall in oil prices, while the dollar edged up after tumbling against the yen. Analysts said traders were taking their cash off the table before the end of the year after enjoying a surge over the past few weeks that has been supported by strong US data, Japanese easing measures and hopes for stimulus in China. Tokyo tumbled 1.54 percent, Hong Kong sank 1.40 percent, Sydney shed 0.58 percent and Seoul lost 0.85 percent but Shanghai added 0.20 percent. In New York the Dow and S&P 500, which last week ended at record highs, retreated owing to a pullback in petroleum plays that came after OPEC lowered its demand forecast for 2015 and the US revealed its stockpiles surged. The Dow fell 1.51 percent, the S&P 500 sank 1.64 percent and the Nasdaq slipped 1.73 percent. However, oil prices rebounded slightly in Asia Thursday. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery gained 53 cents to $61.47 while Brent crude for January was up 54 cents to $64.78. WTI dropped $2.88 in New York, while Brent lost $2.60 in London. Crude has plunged around 40 percent since June on the back of an oversupply in global markets, which was exacerbated by OPEC's output decision last month. On foreign exchange markets the dollar ticked up to 118.18 yen in late morning trade after sinking to as low as 117.44 yen at one point as traders spooked by the equities selling looked for safer investments. The yen is considered a haven in times of turmoil. The greenback is still well down from the seven-year-high of 121.84 yen seen Monday. "Large overseas hedge funds and other hedged investors are making their year-end position adjustments, booking profits after going long on the dollar and Nikkei futures and shorting the yen," Eiji Kinouchi, chief technical strategist at Daiwa Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires. The euro slipped to 146.43 yen early Thursday before bouncing back to 147.20 yen. It sat at 146.68 in US trade. The single currency was also at $1.2486 against $1.2446 in New York. In Shanghai stocks bucked the global trend again after a roller-coaster week that saw the composite index plunge more than five percent Tuesday, having racked up gains of more than 20 percent since mid-November. The market has been buoyant as traders bet on the government introducing fresh stimulus measures after last month unveiling a surprise cut in interest rates. In Hong Kong dealers are keeping an eye on the streets as police and bailiffs prepare to clear the main pro-democracy site after more than two months of occupation. Gold was at $1,228.00 an ounce compared with $1,204.67 late Tuesday.
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Bailiffs start to dismantle Hong Kong protest site | ||
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Hong Kong (AFP) - Bailiffs moved in to Hong Kong's main pro-democracy site Thursday in the first step of a clearance operation to end more than two months of rallies calling for free leadership elections. Dozens of workers dismantled barricades at one end of the Admiralty protest camp as hundreds of protesters waited further down the highway to face a police swoop which will clear the rest of the site later in the morning.
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Malala vows to fight on as she shares Nobel Peace Prize | ||
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Oslo (AFP) - Malala Yousafzai vowed Wednesday to struggle for every child's right to go to school as she became the youngest ever Nobel laureate, sharing the peace prize with Indian campaigner Kailash Satyarthi. "I will continue this fight until I see every child in school," the 17-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl told an audience in Oslo City Hall after receiving the award. Malala became a global icon after she was shot and nearly killed by the Taliban in October 2012 for insisting that girls had a right to an education. In a speech peppered with self-deprecating humour, she used the award ceremony to call not just for education but also for fairness and peace. "The so-called world of adults may understand it, but we children don't. Why is it that countries which we call 'strong' are so powerful in creating wars but so weak in bringing peace?" she said. "Why is it that giving guns is so easy but giving books is so hard? Why is it that making tanks is so easy, but building schools is so difficult?" Malala, who described herself as the "first recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize who still fights with her younger brothers", triggered applause and also frequent outbursts of laughter during her speech. But the underlying message was that a world that may soon be able to send a person to Mars still allows millions to suffer from "the very old problems of hunger, poverty, injustice and conflicts".
- 7,000 Norwegian children -
Moments after Malala received the prize, a man carrying a Mexican flag walked towards her, but was caught by security. The motives of the man, who was later identified as a student and asylum seeker from Mexico, were unknown. Before the ceremony, Malala and Satyarthi met with 7,000 Norwegian children aged between six and 14 in the heart of Oslo. "You have given me so much energy," Malala said. "You might not know but there are so many girls who cannot go to school, there are so many boys who cannot go to school," she said. "They have never dreamed of any iPad, any PlayStation, any Xbox. The only thing that they dream of is a school, a book and a pen." Satyarthi, 60, was recognised by the Nobel committee for a 35-year battle to free thousands of children from virtual slave labour. "I refuse to accept that the world is so poor when just one week of global military expenditure is enough to bring all of our children into classrooms," he said after receiving the prize. "I refuse to accept that the shackles of slavery can ever be... stronger than the quest for freedom." Malala was 15 when a Taliban gunman shot her in the head as she travelled on a school bus in response to her campaign for girls' education. Although she almost died, she recovered after being flown for extensive surgery in Birmingham, central England. She has been based in the city with her family ever since, continuing both her education and activism.
- Indian-Pakistani symbolism -
The pairing of Malala and Satyarthi had the extra symbolism of linking neighbouring countries that have been in conflict for decades. After she was named as the winner, Malala said she wanted both states' prime ministers to attend the prize-giving ceremony in Oslo. Although the leaders of the two South Asian arch enemies were not present in Oslo Wednesday, Malala expressed optimism for her region. "I am... glad that we can stand together and show the world that an Indian and a Pakistani can be united in peace and together work for children's rights," she said. Satyarthi's organisation Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Movement to Save Childhood) prides itself on liberating more than 80,000 children from bonded labour in factories and workshops across India and has networks of activists in more than 100 countries. According to the International Labour Organization there are about 168 million child labourers around the world. Nobel winners receive eight million Swedish kronor ($1.1 million, 862,000 euros), which is shared in the case of a joint win. The Peace Prize is the only Nobel award handed to recipients in Oslo. The other prizes -- including literature prize winner Frenchman Patrick Modiano and his compatriot Jean Tirole with the economics award -- were awarded Wednesday in Stockholm. Tirole, speaking before 1,500 guests at an elaborate traditional banquet celebrating the recipients at Stockholm City Hall, said economists' inability to predict the global financial crisis was "a powerful reminder of the dangers of pride". "There is so much we still have to learn, and the world is changing so fast, faster maybe than our understanding," he said.
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Hacking threatens airline safety: aviation chiefs | ||
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Montreal (AFP) - Cyber crime is a serious threat to safety in the skies, aviation industry heavyweights said, vowing to fight the growing scourge before it causes a catastrophic incident. Hackers, cyber criminals and other "terrorists" are stealing information but in a worst-case scenario could endanger lives by tampering with airline systems. Among the five organisations getting together to take action against hacking are the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and other bodies that signed a new cyber security agreement late last week, formalising their front against cyber crime. "Our common goal in developing this agreement is to work more effectively together to establish and promote a robust cyber security culture and strategy for the benefit of all actors in our industry," said Raymond Benjamin, secretary general of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). He added: "As technologies rapidly evolve and become more readily accessible to all, cyber threats cannot be ignored. "This is an important new area of aviation security concern and our global community will ensure that it is met with a strong level of commitment and response." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Mark Cuban On Ray Rice: 'I Believe In Second Chances' | ||
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Mark Cuban talked with Henry Blodget at Business Insider's Ignition 2014. He told us how he would handle the Ray Rice situation. Follow BI Video: On Facebook
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Goldman deals pass $1 trillion for 2014 | ||
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New York (AFP) - Goldman Sachs, Wall Street's biggest dealmaker, has surpassed $1 trillion in mergers and acquisitions for a single year for the first time since the financial crisis. The US investment bank passed the closely-watched benchmark for 2014 following transactions this week, according to data Wednesday from Dealogic. The last time a firm surpassed $1 trillion in a year came in 2007, when Goldman also breached the level. Goldman's latest big deal was Merck's $9.5 billion takeover of Cubist Pharmaceuticals, unveiled Monday. Goldman has also worked on the $66 billion purchase of Botox-maker Allergan by Activis and the $48.5 billion acquisition by AT&T of DirecTV. With 380 deals worth just over $1.0 trillion, Goldman leads the pack in global mergers and acquisitions, according to Dealogic. JPMorgan Chase ranks second with $741 billion in deals and Morgan Stanley is third with $692 billion in deals. Barclays is the highest ranked non-US firm with $540 billion in deals, the data show The ranking does not include data for initial public offerings, an area in which Goldman is also active. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Grumpy Cat Definitely Did Not Make $100 Million | ||
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At least Grumpy Cat has an actual reason to be grumpy now. Grumpy Cat, whose real name is Tardar Sauce, was thought to have made nearly $100 million from two books, a movie, and other products. But Grumpy Cat's owner, Tabatha Bundesen, told The Huffington Post that number was "completely inaccurate." Bundesen didn't say how much Grumpy Cat had actually raked in. She seems to be holding out for an interview before diving into the details. Grumpy Cat's famous frown comes from her dwarfism and underbite. And even if she hasn't made $100 million, Grump Cat is definitely an internet celebrity. Bundesen's cat went viral in 2012, and she quit her waitressing jobs days later. Now she spends most of her time traveling and making appearances. Grumpy Cat has over 29 million views on her YouTube channel and more than 7 million likes on Facebook. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Hong Kong protesters brace for police swoop | ||
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Hong Kong (AFP) - Hundreds of protesters braced for a police swoop on Hong Kong's main pro-democracy site early Thursday, to end more than two months of rallies calling for free leadership elections. Bailiffs are set to move into the Admiralty protest camp, which sprawls across a multi-lane highway through the heart of the city's business district, from 9:00 am (0100 GMT) to clear parts covered by a court injunction. Police will then sweep away the rest of the site -- an entrenched camp of tents, supply stations and art installations -- to open up a kilometre-long stretch of road in what they say is a bid to restore public order. While some demonstrators have vowed to stay and face arrest, others were packing up their tents Thursday morning ahead of the police swoop, which is expected at 11:00 am (0300 GMT). "I'll probably leave just before the action because my job would be difficult if my name was recorded by police," said a 29-year-old surnamed Chow who works for a civil society group. "I'm still young and I have a lot of opportunities -- I don't want to waste them by being arrested," added a 23-year-old welfare worker who gave her name as Dubi. Authorities have said they will take "resolute action" against those who resist the clearance, which they say is being carried out to open roads and restore public order. Student protest leaders have encouraged demonstrators to stay at the site to face police but have urged non-violence. They will be joined by more than 20 pro-democracy lawmakers who will hold a sit-in at the site. There are fears that radical splinter groups will dig in for a final stand, following violent clashes outside government headquarters at the end of last month. The rallies erupted after China's communist authorities insisted candidates in the 2017 leadership election will be vetted by a loyalist committee. Protesters say this will ensure the election of a pro-Beijing stooge. At their height, the protests saw tens of thousands take to the street, but public support has waned in recent weeks. However, thousands gathered on Wednesday night for one final mass rally at the site, chanting "We want true universal suffrage; we will fight to the end." Student leaders and lawmakers addressed an emotional crowd while many took photos of the site before it is dismantled.
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Chelsea's Mourinho ready to swim with Euro sharks | ||
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London (AFP) - Jose Mourinho insists Chelsea will show no fear when they dive into the shark infested waters of the Champions League last 16. Mourinho's side got back on track with a 3-1 win over Sporting Lisbon in their Group G finale at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday to erase the bitter taste of their first defeat of the season at Newcastle last weekend. As group winners, the Blues will be pitted against one of big-spending French club Paris Saint Germain, Italian champions Juventus, Swiss side Basel, Germany's Bayer Leverkusen or Shakhtar Donetsk of the Ukraine in Monday's draw for the knockout stages of Europe's elite club competition. Mourinho knows taking on PSG or Juventus would be a tough test for the Premier League leaders, while the Blues boss is also well aware of the qualities of Basel, who knocked out Liverpool this season and beat Chelsea twice in the group stages last term. But there was no chance of a feisty competitor like Mourinho voicing any concerns about the dangers lying in wait for his team as they try to improve on last season's semi-final exit. Asked how he felt about the impending draw, Mourinho produced a typically memorable response as he suggested he would have no problem taking on Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the rest of the expensively assembled Paris squad. "I like swimming with sharks -- in a cage! I did it in French Polynesia. I didn't want to do it, but my wife and kids pushed me," he said. "The draw is the draw. We have five possible opponents. "I think Paris would be good because it is easy to travel for us and the fans. But we can't decide. "Everyone is hard. You think Basel is easy? We lost twice to them last year and they beat Liverpool this season and Manchester United a few years ago. "Leverkusen is a German team, Shakhtar? I don't think there is an easy team at this moment." - Sterner tests ahead -
Mourinho's men scored 17 goals in their six group fixtures -- more than any other team in this season's tournament -- but the Blues boss acknowledges the challenges standing between him and the third Champions League title of his career will get much sterner from now on. "I don't think any of the big teams are out of the Champions League. Maybe Liverpool. But all the teams that want to win the competition are there and season after season it is the same," he said. "I used to say that the real Champions League starts now. Barcelona are there, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich. Then Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Dortmund are all there as well. "What can we do? I don't know. Last season we were not one of the top four teams in Europe for sure but we made the semi-finals. Lets go step by step and see how we do." Mourinho was also encouraged by a promising cameo from 18-year-old midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who made his debut for the final seven minutes. "He showed immediately the quality he has," Mourinho said. "Everyone in the stadium got the feeling we have a good talent. He has to keep working and hopefully the people around him don't destroy the work we are doing. "I told him 'I give you this (his debut) and you give me a nice bottle of red wine'. Immediately he said no problem!" Sporting had needed only a draw to be sure of joining Chelsea in the last 16, but manager Marco Silva conceded his side could have no complaints after paying a high price for their nervous start. "We didn't start well so maybe in the first 15 minutes we felt some pressure because it was a big game," he said. "We couldn't manage them in the first half and didn't have any rhythm. We were better in the second half but our aspirations were killed when they scored the third goal."
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