16 tech titans who are giving away most of their money instead of leaving it to their families | ||
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Some entrepreneurs who have made billions off of their tech ventures like to spend them in some pretty extravagant ways, whether it be on private planes, summer homes, or even an entire island. Others turn to more-philanthropic efforts, choosing to donate their wealth to different causes through foundations and trusts. We've rounded up some of the most generous people in tech, all of which have decided to donate large portions of their wealth to charity rather than leave all of it to their children. Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates Gates has been open about his decision not to leave his $84.9 billion fortune to his three children. They will reportedly inherit just a small slice, about $10 million each. "I definitely think leaving kids massive amounts of money is not a favor to them," he said in a Reddit AMA in February. He founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 1994, and it currently has more than $36 billion in assets. Gates also teamed up with longtime friend Warren Buffett to start a campaign called "The Giving Pledge," which encourages other billionaires to donate at least half of their fortune to charity. AOL cofounder Steve Case Case helped millions of Americans get online, and now he's donating much of his wealth to developing other technologies. He founded the Case Foundation in 1997, which focuses on using technology to make philanthropy more effective. He also started an investment firm called Revolution, which invests in startups outside of Silicon Valley, and signed the Giving Pledge. "We share the view that those to whom much is given, much is expected. We realize we have been given a unique platform and opportunity, and we are committed to doing the best we can with it," he and wife Jean wrote. "We do not believe our assets are 'ours' but rather we try to be the responsible stewards of these resources." Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff Benioff recently launched a campaign called SF Gives, which challenged tech companies to raise $10 million for San Francisco-based nonprofit programs in just 60 days. He's encouraged other corporations to follow his 1/1/1 model, which says that a company should donate 1% of its equity, 1% of its employees' time, and 1% of its resources to philanthropic efforts. He and wife Lynne have also personally given a total of $200 million to the children's hospital at UCSF.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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Here's everything that Apple is doing in Europe (AAPL) | ||
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The world's most valuable company doesn't just confine its activities to America. It's also working hard in China and emerging markets, and has an extensive network of factories and acquisitions in Europe. Apple has an important new factory in Ireland, and it has acquired several UK and European tech startups, in addition to its retail stores and offices around the continent. But that's not all it does here. Novauris Technologies - the heart of Siri Novauris Technologies formed a major part of Apple's Siri personal assistant. The company started in 2002, composed of former employees from popular dictation company Dragon Systems. Novauris created accurate speech recognition technology that could work out what you were saying on your phone, meaning that voice input didn't have to be sent to servers to decipher. Like many of Apple's acquisitions, the fact that Novauris had joined Apple was meant to be a big secret. But the company gave the game away when a TechCrunch reporter called its office in 2014 and someone answered the phone with "Apple." It looks like the company's technology is now being used as part of Siri. CEO Yoon Kim now lists on his LinkedIn profile that he manages Siri at Apple in San Francisco. Holyhill factory - makes iMacs Apple is expanding its factory in Hollyhill, Cork. The facility combines both an office and a sprawling factory that's being used to assemble iMac computers. The Irish Independent reported that Apple is undergoing "major expansion" of its Irish office, and it invested €300 million into the development. One local resident says that Apple "basically owns an entire hill" in Cork. Hollyhill - building driverless cars? There's a slim chance that Apple could be using its factory near Cork in Ireland to build the rumoured Apple driverless car. It's hiring as part of the factory expansion, and the roles it's hiring for seem to be connected to the automotive industry. That's not proof in itself, though. But if Apple were to develop a car, then it would want to do it in secret. Where better to do that then on Apple's very own hill in Ireland? See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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This conversation about black people in Silicon Valley tech was really awkward | ||
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In Silicon Valley, we're getting comfortable talking about the fact that there aren't enough women in tech. When it comes to racial diversity, though, the conversation is just getting started. And frankly, it's awkward. On Friday, I watched as interim Reddit CEO Ellen Pao and 500 Startups founder Dave McClure took the stage at the PreMoney conference for venture capitalists to talk to a room of mostly white men about diversity. (Although McClure later told us there were more people of color in the audience than at any other VC event he'd been to.) Pao recently lost her own high-profile sex-discrimination lawsuit against venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. (She has since filed a notice to appeal the decision and is currently embroiled in negotiations with the venture firm over the costs in the case.) But through Pao's trial and because of Sheryl Sandberg's work with Lean In, the tech industry has become more accustomed to talking about the lack of women in the room and making promises to bring the number up. Only 6% of venture capital firms have a woman partner, which has actually declined from the 10% it was 1999, according to a study from Babson College. "So, at the average VC firm of eight people, that would be zero," McClure joked. "Which sounds about right," Pao agreed. Even though she wants to see venture capital at 50% women, Pao said the engineering team at Reddit is only made up of 14% women engineers. "It's a small number. It's not great," she admitted. "We're working on it." But, as the audience found out, the numbers are worse when it comes to racial diversity, and the conversation becomes much more awkward to navigate.
Here's an excerpt of when McClure started asking Pao about what the numbers are like:
From the audience, it felt slightly cringe-inducing and uncomfortable. It's not because McClure and Pao seemed out of line or inconsiderate. Rather, McClure came off as a little nervous (although he says he wasn't), and Pao was a well-spoken sparring partner for McClure's comments. The audience tension came from realizing Pao's comment on the lack of African-Americans in the audience, albeit mostly a jab at McClure, was actually the truth. Her own company was an example of it. Maybe feeling uncomfortable is actually a good thing. The trouble is we haven't figured out how to talk about the diversity problem in tech, let alone how to address it. "I'm not trying to make a joke about this," McClure said shortly after the exchange quoted above. "I feel like this a real issue that we don't talk about very much, and it's uncomfortable to talk about this." "It's hard because it's so complicated," Pao said. "I feel like people are having a hard time because if you say something, and you didn't bring in other types of minorities, other types of issues, and then you get some flack for it, are you being sensitive about all the other issues that are involved? So maybe it's just better to stay quiet." We have to give credit to McClure and the conference for at least forcing an industry to confront its problems. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Gina Bianchini: Here's The Best Way To Handle Gender And Other Biases In Silicon Valley  | ||
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Video games are huge sports now and millions of people are watching them | ||
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If you ever doubted that video games could be a spectator sport, here's the stat to prove you wrong — gaming tournament organiser Gfinity says over 30 million people around the world have watched its 2015 eSports championships. Gfinity is a company that puts on video game tournaments in a converted cinema screen in West London each week. The world's top video game teams — yes, that's a thing — battle each other on titles like "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare," "FIFA 15," "Counter Strike: Global Offensives," and "Starcraft." The "eSports" games are streamed live online for free, but you can buy tickets to watch in person at Gfinity's eSports arena in Fulham, West London. Millions of online viewers are watching competitors play in the same way one would watch football or rugby on television. The main screen shows the video game, while the actual player is displayed in a small box in the corner of the screen. The 30 million viewers mark comes just half way through the season, which runs from March to September. Gfinity flies in teams from around the world to compete at its "eSports arena" and so far this year "crews" or "squads" who have competed include OpTic, Denial, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Fnatic, and Team EnVyUs — all well known in the eSports world. Each specialises in a particular video game and prizes for events reach up to $50,000 (£32,300). There are 25 weekly tournaments.
Gfinity, which listed on London's stock market for small companies AIM last year, is hoping to turn its eSports season into a fixture of the sporting calendar like the Premier League or tennis opens. The company announced today that Jon Varney, the former commercial director of Premiership Rugby, has joined Gfinity's board. Gfinity's CEO and co-founder Neville Upton say in today's statement: "We have delivered excellent levels of viewership in the first half of our first season as an AIM company. It means we are now on track to beat the viewership target we set ourselves for the 2015 season." The company was originally hoping for 50 million viewers. Upton says: "The progress made thus far reflects both the rapid growth in popularity of eSports and our ability to deliver compelling eSports events and content sought-after by a young, global audience, which is otherwise difficult to reach by advertisers and consumer brands."
eSports is worth $621 million globally, according to a recent industry report, with a worldwide audience of 134 million. Korea and China are the biggest markets for video game viewing, followed by North America. Last year, Amazon paid $970 million for video game streaming site Twitch and even ESPN has started coverage of video games. Gfinity said today the majority of its views are on Twitch. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Kids settle the debate and tell us which is better: an Apple or Samsung phone  | ||
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THE APP-STORE MARKETING REPORT: User Acquisition, Retention, And Strategies For Getting Apps To Stand Out | ||
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The total number of apps people are using hasn't changed much over the past few years. This means users are consolidating their app choices, and spending more and more time with a few favorites. This creates added pressure to stand out in the app stores, and develop apps that can gain and keep a loyal audience. In a recent report from BI Intelligence, we discuss why it is becoming increasingly important that developers field a competitive app-marketing strategy for triggering downloads and encouraging sustained use, and retaining users. There are a number of different tactics, both paid and free, that marketers might use. Access The Full Report And Data By Signing Up For A Trial Today >> Here are a few key data points on user behavior and recommended marketing strategies from the report:
The report is full of charts and data that can be downloaded and put to use. In full, the report:
To access the full report from BI Intelligence, sign up for a 14-day trial here. Members also gain access to new in-depth reports, hundreds of charts and datasets, as well as daily newsletters on the digital industry.
Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do  | ||
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An interview with the anonymous teenage hacker who built an easy way to hold computers ransom | ||
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Somewhere in the world there is a teenage boy with pretty good hacking skills who's selling his illegal hacking platform for almost $5,000. I spent the last two weeks trying to get ahold of him. Using a variety of anonymized communication methods, I finally did. His program is called Tox, and he wouldn’t tell me his real name. What is Tox?Tox operates on the Dark Web, meaning the only way to access it is to use a network — like Tor — to anonymize your traffic. It launched some weeks back and made it insanely easy to build what’s called ransomware. These malicious pieces of software, when downloaded on victims’ computers, hold files hostage until they pay a ransom. Tox automates the malware-building process, and then taking a cut of the ransom if the victims pay. It’s a devilishly simple idea, pretty much democratizing malicious hacking. So once people became aware of Tox, it took off. In only a few weeks, wrote its creators a week back, "the platform counted over one thousand users." Then, he did something unexpected. The maker of Tox decided to give it up. In a Pastebin post, the anonymous hacker announced his plans to stop the scheme. He added that he would sell it to another hacker if the price was right. I wanted to know why. So, using email encryption I contacted him to see if he would talk. He would, so long as we continued chatting using anonymizing means. So we took it to a platform called TorChat. Over the course of a few days, I got to know this mysterious person behind Tox to the best of my ability. "I keep my life separated," he wrote, "as mixing them is often a good way to end in prison." He’s right, too. What he made was a pretty powerful tool that made it relatively easy for people to extort endless funds from others. But, according to him, it got too big too fast. And he wasn’t sure if this was the direction he wanted to go in. The genesis"Tox was an experiment," he wrote to me in the chat, "and I wasn’t ready to host such a big platform. It’d be difficult, it’s dangerous, and it’s bad on own [sic]." Like so many great ideas, the idea for Tox dawned on him while he was in the shower. He had been teaching himself to hack for about a year, and had been studying "hidden services" for a few months.
Tox quite possibly earned him a place in the annals of the dark web. He began interacting with others on anonymous forums, and began to get a rise out of it. "I love to have the privilege to talk with those mysterious people nobody know," he said. At the same time, he never considered himself a card-carrying member of the dark web, and doesn't even like the idea of being a malicious hacker. "It was an experiment, I’m not a malware writer!" he wrote. "I'm going to conquer the world!"But as experiments go, this one seemed to exceed expectations. It also gave him a huge ego boost just knowing he could write a powerful web program that could cause so much conversation and destruction. And so, he's walking away, hoping to sell it for at least 20 bitcoin (which is equal to approximately $4,600). He says he's already received many offers, and is trying to operate things so that he can be sure to get his money and that Tox is put in the right hands. He's also teaching himself the commerce behind the online black market, looking for escrow services that will help him and the potential buyer complete the transaction. Of course, no matter what, the right hands are some other hacker hoping to cash in by making malware available to the masses. I asked him whether or not he felt bad for making it.
He hedged, saying that he doesn't want to hurt people with his programs. He added, "It may seem like selling Tox I'm still doing bad to people, and I thought about this, but it doesn't matter if I sell it or not as other people will implement something like this in the near future." His may be the first, but there will be many more Tox clones down the line. For now, he's going to stop writing malicious code. He has other experiments he wants to tinker with. "After what happened I'm pretty sure I can do something this big again, but I want it to be something I can publicly be proud of." What kind of big things does this Tox maker have in store? "I'm going to conquer the world of course!" he said. SEE ALSO: 23,000 US government emails were dumped on the Dark Web and no one knows where they came from Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Forget the Apple Watch — here's the new watch everyone on Wall Street wants  | ||
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Once the idea for Tox was in his head, he couldn’t let it go. For weeks he tinkered, slowly building out the program. Finally it got to a place where he could put it online.
A tech CEO whose company is valued at $1 billion just admitted it's a bubble | ||
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I had drinks with one of the $1 billion "unicorn" CEOs last night, in a trendy Noho bar in London. He told me he thinks we're in a tech bubble, and it's going to end badly for many companies. Unicorn companies were so-named a few years ago because it was exceedingly rare for a tech startup in private hands to be worth as much as $1 billion. But now there are 102 "unicorn" companies. So finding a unicorn CEO to have drinks with isn't as hard as it used to be. This fact wasn't lost on my unicorn CEO. He was very sure that all these unicorns lying around means we're in a bubble. I was somewhat shocked to hear this because, normally, when tech founders take vast sums of money from investors, they have a lengthy and convincing explanation of why their company is fundamentally different from everyone else's and won't fail when / if the economy runs into trouble. But my guy thinks it's all coming to an end sooner rather than later. Here is the context. In order to believe there is not a bubble, you have to believe the following narrative: Although tech stocks are at an all-time high, and private tech startup valuations are hitting astonishing highs (Uber is valued at $41 billion!), this is not a bubble. It's a boom, for sure, and these companies may be temporarily overvalued. But these companies have real revenues, and the economy is shifting in their direction regardless of the underlying economic cycle. i.e., money is moving out of TV and newspapers and into apps regardless of whether there is a recession or growth. When the recession comes, the "no bubble" people say, some companies will get hurt, just like in a regular recession. But we won't see the kind of full-scale bonkers collapse that we saw in 2000 and 2008. Back in 2000, the tech sector deflated because companies had gone public with no revenue whatsoever. In 2008, the economy tanked because banks had loaned mortgage money to millions of people who couldn't pay it back. This time it's different, because these new tech companies are real businesses, the "no bubble" people say. My unicorn, however, has been worrying that it is a bubble for months.
Of course, like all unicorn CEOs, my unicorn was pretty confident that he's going to do just fine in a recession, or when the Fed and the ECB start raising interest rates. In fact, he's looking forward to it, in part because it will wipe away a lot of not-great, second-rung companies who only exist because so many VCs are diversifying their portfolios across so many tech sectors. But it won't be pretty, he says. Bubbles burst, and we're in one. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Here's what 'Game of Thrones' stars look like in real life  | ||
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Why I'm so excited for Fallout 4, the postapocalyptic game the world's been waiting for | ||
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At E3 this week — basically, the biggest event of the year for learning more about the big-budget video games we're going to be playing over the next year — we're going to get more details on Fallout 4, the post-apocalyptic role-playing game (RPG) that casts you as an explorer and adventurer in a nuclear wasteland as you struggle to survive. It's been five years since Fallout: New Vegas, the game's immediate predecessor. And as one of the many fans — Fallout 3 sold 4.7 million units — who sunk at least a hundred hours each into its immediate predecessors, I cannot wait. Fallout 4, as you may have guessed from the name, is the latest in a long-running series. Fallout 1 and 2 were PC games, released in 1997 and 1998, respectively, where we got our first glimpse of the world after a nuclear war. Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, were first-person games with different combat systems, but brought the series into a full three dimensions.
And there is definitely war. But unlike a lot of other games, where you're rewarded just for being fast on your feet and quick on the trigger, the Fallout games let you choose how you want to explore the world and shape the story. The sheer joy of Fallout is that it gives you so much to explore, from a city made from the ruins of an aircraft carrier, to the burnt-out, radioactive husk of the White House, to a Las Vegas strip that's mostly unchanged except that it's overseen by a brain-in-a-jar. See, according to the Fallout games, there's another World War, and the planet is destroyed in nuclear fire circa 2077.
But all is not lost! The Vault-Tec Corporation set up fallout shelters-slash-underground-cities all over America, where a lucky few could wait out the apocalypse and repopulate the world ten years later. The problem is that only a very few of those Vaults were intended to actually save lives. The rest were more about doing long-term science on the captive populations inside. One vault was populated entirely with children under the age of 15. Another had a purposely broken door so the radiation would get inside and turn the inhabitants into mutants. In Fallout 3, your nameless hero was a citizen of Vault 101, where the door was never actually intended to reopen, as an experiment in isolation under extreme despotism.
Oh yeah, there are mutants. And zombie-like ghouls. And Super-Mutants, which are like mutants, but the size of a small house. And Deathclaws (if you hear one, run). And technology-worshipping, power-armored stormtrooper zealots. And killer robots — Fallout assumes that the future world will look a lot like the 1950's, so Robbie the Robot is the design inspiration for a lot of technology you'll come across. Plus, if you eat too much irradiated food or spend too much time in irradiated water, you'll die. And there are Mad Max-style raiders and would-be despots and gangsters, all of whom are gunning for you for one reason or another. The wasteland is a harsh, unforgiving place. For instance, early on in Fallout 3 — set in the desolate ruins of the Washington DC metro area — you find a town called Megaton, which is called that because there is literally a gigantic, unexploded nuclear bomb sitting in the middle of town.
Megaton's sheriff wants you to disarm the bomb. A shadowy figure in town offers to pay you if you arm it instead. And the choice — and the reward — is all yours. Over the course of each game, you're offered plenty of choices that affect how the post-nuclear world gets saved (or doesn't). There are more subtle choices, too: Fighting is inevitable when you're exploring the wasteland, but your character can be a fast-taking knife-fighter, a laser rifle sharpshooter and cannibal (gross, not recommended), a stealthy pickpocket and explosives expert, a genius hacker that reprograms robots to fight for you, or many combinations therein. There's a lot to do. And I can't wait to see what developer Bethesda Softworks has in store for Fallout 4. Fallout 4 developer Bethesda Softworks is going to be revealing a lot more details about how we're going to explore the post-apocalyptic Boston metropolitan area later today, so stay tuned. And in the meanwhile, join me in watching the trailer for Fallout 4 over and over again. SEE ALSO: Here's the first official trailer for 'Fallout 4,' one of the world's most anticipated games Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Here's Why Microsoft Is Ready To Shell Out Billions For A Simple Video Game  | ||
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That first Fallout, like every Fallout game since, opens with narration from none other than actor Ron Perlman, intoning "War. War never changes." 
The guy who took a picture every day while walking through China is now a huge star on Weibo | ||
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See how a man from Germany became a viral hit on Weibo, China's biggest social network. Produced by Monica Manalo. Video courtesy of Associated Press. Follow BI Video: On Facebook Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Facebook scrapped its secret plan to build a $500 million satellite | ||
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Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Kids settle the debate and tell us which is better: an Apple or Samsung phone  | ||
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Apple just showed us the future of the iPhone — here's what app makers think of it so far (AAPL) | ||
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Last week, Apple took the wraps off its next big update for the iPhone and iPad: iOS 9. With iOS 9, which will be released to all current iPhones and iPads in September, Apple wants to make your iPhone more stable and easier to use and catch up with Google's Android in some key areas, rather than adding a bunch of flashy new features. At the same time, iOS 9 lays the groundwork for some new things we may see in Apple's future iPhones and iPads. We caught up with some iOS developers that have access to the trial version of iOS 9 to see what they think of it so far. Here are some of the key takeaways:
Overall, iOS 9 isn't a radical departure from what iPhone users are already experiencing with iOS 8, but Apple has caught up to Google in a few key areas and seems to be laying the foundation for its future products. But when asked what the "killer feature" of iOS 9 is, most developers I spoke with couldn't give a single clear answer. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Here's what happens when you drop an Apple Watch face down on cement  | ||
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Mesmerizing video shows awesome patterns made using magnets and sand | ||
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19 pieces of great advice from top tech execs to help you win in work and life | ||
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The leaders of the most successful tech companies need a lot of skills. One of them is leadership. They must inspire teams of employees to carry out their daring visions against incredible odds. That means they offer some great advice. We've compiled quotes from 19 of the biggest names in tech. Some are investors; others are founders, CEOs, or executives at the most renowned tech companies in the world. Their words will inspire you to achieve more in work and in life. IBM Chairwoman and CEO Ginni Rometty: "Be first and be lonely." Uber CEO Travis Kalanick: "Stand by your principles and be comfortable with confrontation. So few people are, so when the people with the red tape come, it becomes a negotiation." Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg: "Move fast and break things. Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough." See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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FACEBOOK'S ATLAS AD SERVER: What it is, how it works, and why it could finally move digital advertising beyond 'cookies' | ||
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Jack Dorsey is the only person who can be Twitter's next CEO (TWTR) | ||
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With Twitter CEO Dick Costolo announcing his resignation, the next logical question is who takes over? Twitter cofounder, and board member, Jack Dorsey, is stepping in as "interim" CEO while Twitter conducts a search for a CEO. I believe the "interim" title will be gone by the end of the year. I believe Dorsey will be CEO. Why? There's a number of obvious reasons. First, and most importantly, I believe Dorsey wants to be the full-time CEO of Twitter. On Thursday, The New York Times reported: "Ever since his ouster in 2008, Mr. Dorsey has wanted to return to the helm of Twitter, according to two people with knowledge of his thinking." I interviewed Dorsey and Costolo after the shake up was announced. I twice asked Dorsey if he wanted to be CEO permanently . He didn't say no. Instead, he deflected: "Again, I'm not going to answer that because it's not my focus, it's not what I'm thinking about; I have enough to focus on." The Square factorOne complicating factor is that Dorsey is currently the CEO of Square. Square started out as a company that was going to change how financial services and payments work. It has since scaled back its ambitions, and is now a enterprise company that helps small and medium businesses. It's a good business, but it's not a huge, sexy consumer facing company like Twitter. Last year, in a story on Dorsey and Square, a Square employee told us Dorsey finds the idea of running $6 billion — or even $8 billion — enterprise payments company “boring." Twitter would be much more exciting.
Square is reportedly set to IPO this year. In fact, it may have already filed a confidential registration. If this is true, then Dorsey can't bail on Square mid-process to run Twitter. It would be hard to run Twitter even as an interim CEO if he's also going on a roadshow to sell Square's IPO. (Square has been reportedly interested in an IPO for years now. So, this could just be another mistaken report. Or, Square could push back its IPO plans.) One former executive at Square who knows Dorsey well thinks he will never leave Square, and believes he'd like to run both companies. "It wouldn't be easy, but he could do it." He thinks the desire is there, and this is a trial run to see how well both companies do under his leadership. What happens to Square if Dorsey decides he has to choose, and chooses Twitter? That's probably OK. Dorsey has assembled a solid team of executives. He can appoint one of them, probably Gokul Rajaram who is beloved, as CEO. It's a lot easier to find someone to run Square than it is to find someone to run Twitter.
It would be a hard job for an outsiderIf Dorsey doesn't want to be Twitter's CEO, then Twitter's going to have a hard time finding a replacement. Twitter's board will have Dorsey, Costolo, and Evan Williams on it. All three are former CEOs. That means that whoever comes in will have to deal with three people who have run the company and have strong opinions about how the company should operate. If an outsider wants to rip up the current product roadmap, it's going to be mighty awkward with those guys sitting there. Further, an outsider is exactly what Twitter doesn't need right now. While Twitter has 300 million monthly users, and annual revenue projected to be $2.2 billion this year, the company is in a delicate state.
In social media, Facebook has 1.4 billion monthly users. Instagram has over 300 million monthly users. Facebook messenger has 700 million monthly users. Snapchat doesn't release monthly user data, but it says it has 100 million daily active users. We would guess that Twitter has ~150 million daily active users based on past data. That means Snapchat is likely to pass Twitter in daily usage pretty soon.
If an outsider comes in, he or she is going to install his or her own people as executives. That's just how it works. New executives would mean Twitter gets stuck in limbo as the new people adjust to their new company. Twitter can not afford to be stuck in limbo at a time when so much is happening. Therefore, Twitter needs an insider. The problem with Adam BainThe only person other than Dorsey that makes sense as an insider is Adam Bain, who has successfully led the company's ad products. Bain is well-regarded by people on Wall Street, and in the advertising industry. He's a smart, personable executive who helped create Twitter's ad products. Before he arrived at Twitter, the company was struggling to figure out revenue generating products. Now, it's not. Alex Konrad at Forbes says Bain is the front-runner. (People close to the company told Business Insider the same thing before Costolo's resignation was announced.) Konrad also says more than half the company supports Bain. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who owns 5% of Twitter, seemed like he would prefer Bain over Dorsey if he had to pick one. He doesn't mention Bain, but he describes the next CEO as someone that sounds a lot like Bain. “Jack has another company called Square which requires a lot of attention and a full-time job round there. I believe and trust that Jack Dorsey is there on a temporary basis,” Alwaleed told the FT. “The new leader has to have tech savviness, an investor-oriented process, and a marketing mentality.” The problem with Bain is that he's a business guy. Twitter's biggest problem is the "product". How do you take this wonderful, real-time network, and make it appeal to billions of people? The conundrum for Twitter is that what makes it great is what makes it terrible. People that love Twitter don't want a thing to change about it. They've been lucky because very little has changed. But a billion people have tried Twitter and decided it's not for them because it's so overwhelming, and at times, weird. Whoever takes over has to solve this riddle.
So, again, this brings us back to Dorsey as CEO as the only logical choice. He's a product-oriented founder. Dorsey will have the moral authority as the creator of Twitter to tweak it to make it more appealing to a broader audience. When I asked Costolo about the executive shuffle and risk of disrupting the company, he said: "Well that would be true if it was someone from the outside, but we have the benefit of Jack being the chairman of the board, the inventor of the product, and a cofounder. He's already a visible leader within the company, he speaks to the company and in company events both in the US and abroad with some frequency. There's no one better than him to lead the company through a transition like that." Costolo's answer would make sense if Dorsey was sticking around. But, if he's just there until they bring in an outsider, then it makes no sense. Why not just make Dorsey CEO and be done with it? A source told us that this interim period allows Dorsey to adjust to life as the CEO of a public company. It allows the board to see how he handles the role. It also protects the board from shareholders if Dorsey is a mess. Would Dorsey be a good CEO? That's hard to say. He was fired in his first stint as Twitter CEO, but he was young and undisciplined at the time. He's matured and developed into a capable CEO at Square. He has learned to delegate and trust people. He would have to do that at Twitter. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 5 clever iPhone tricks only power users know about  | ||
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User growth has decelerated significantly. Revenue has been growing, but 
So, Twitter is at risk of falling to fourth, or fifth, in terms of social platforms advertisers want to target. 
Harvard professor: 'Twitter is rapidly becoming the BlackBerry of social media' (TWTR, XOM, GS) | ||
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Just a day after Twitter announced that CEO Dick Costolo was stepping down, a Harvard Business School professor said the company needs a "clean sweep" to prevent a total downfall. Bill George, a Harvard professor who was formerly the CEO of Medtronic and sits on the board of directors at Goldman Sachs and ExxonMobil, said Twitter needs to speed things up quick. George, like many others, called for Costolo to resign months ago amid the company's struggles to grow its user base. He said Twitter is at risk of following BlackBerry's path — from a leader in the industry to obsolescence. "They haven't even appointed a search committee until now," George told CNBC on Friday. "What are they doing? The world is passing them by." "Twitter is rapidly becoming the BlackBerry of social media," he added. George joins the many critics who say that the company's issues stem from its board of directors, and he said Twitter should look at Google and Facebook's example of bringing on innovative leaders from the outside in order for the company to grow in new ways. "But if they continue on the way they are, this does not bode well for Twitter at all," George said. "I see them in the same malaise they’ve been in the last five years." He also said that the company's interim CEO, cofounder Jack Dorsey, needs to be out quick. However, many people, including Business Insider's Henry Blodget, believe that Twitter isn't gearing up for a fresh start and that was Dorsey really wants to become the permanent CEO of the company. You can see George's comments below. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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How Facebook is eating the $140 billion hardware market (FB, HPQ) | ||
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It started out as a controversial idea inside Facebook. In four short years, it has turned the $141 billion data-center computer-hardware industry on its head. Facebook’s extraordinary Open Compute Project is doing for hardware what Linux, Android, and many other popular products did for software: making it free and "open source." That means that anyone can look at, use, or modify the designs of the hugely expensive computers that big companies use to run their operations — all for free. Contract manufacturers are standing by to build custom designs and to build, in bulk, standard designs agreed upon by the group. In software, open source has been revolutionary and disruptive. That movement created Linux, which is the software running most data centers around the world, and Android, the most popular smartphone platform in the world. Along the way, massively powerful companies like Microsoft, Nokia, and Blackberry were disrupted —some to the brink of extinction. OCP threatens to do the same to decades-old hardware companies like Cisco. Since it launched in 2011, OCP has:
An inspirationJonathan Heiliger dreamed up OCP in 2011 back when he was leading Facebook’s infrastructure team. Those are the people who oversee the technology that keeps Facebook up and running. (Heiliger is now a VC.)
A data center is a huge warehouse-like building filled with thousands and thousands of computer servers and various other pieces of hardware, like racks and switches, that connect them. Most companies lease space in already existing data centers. But for huge tech companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon, it's more efficient to build their own. In 2011, Facebook joined that club. The computers in Facebook's data centers ARE Facebook. Everything you do, every picture you store, every status update you post, is computed and stored there. The trouble was, in 2011, data centers were becoming known as one of the dirtiest, carbon-spewing parts of the tech industry. Facebook built its state-of-the-art data center in Prineville, Oregon, where it invented ways to use less electricity. So Facebook published the Prineville designs to contribute to the green data-center movement. Then it occurred to Heiliger: Why not share all of the Facebook's hardware designs? “I wrote a short paper, circulated it to Zuck and the rest of team,” he remembers, referring to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Heiliger argued that the technology, particularly the hardware, “is not our competitive advantage." and that "open source should be a core tenet at Facebook.” There are some huge advantages to making hardware open source. Hardware engineers, no matter who they work for, could collaborate. Ideas would flow. New tech would be invented more quickly. Difficult tech problems are fixed faster. And everyone would to share equally in the results. It would be 180 degrees from the classic culture of patents and lawsuits and trade secrets that has ruled the tech industry for decades. But Facebook didn't make hardware, so there was no risk to its business. Zuck was in. One argument was particularly persuasive: "A company in Mountain View thinks their tech was a differentiator. We didn’t believe that,” Heiliger says, referring to the fact that Google builds much of its own hardware and a lot of its own software and keeps most of that stuff a closely guarded secret. Google's top guy is not terribly impressedNow that OCP has become a phenomenon, Google's top hardware-infrastructure guy (a legend in his world), Urs Hölzle, offers a begrudging respect for the project.
But he simultaneously pooh-poohed how important OCP will ultimately be. "I think in the long term it’s less important because most people should not use their own racks even if it’s Open Compute. It solves a short-term problem, so for a while it will be relevant because there are a lot of legitimate use cases where you don’t have another choice. In that sense, it competes with the Dells of the world ... It will be relevant only for the very, very large companies — for the Facebooks, the Ebays, the Microsofts." He doesn't think its useful for businesses beyond huge internet companies, even those that run their own data centers today, like Citibank. "Not even Citibank. I think five years from now, my goal is that all the CIO’s of the Citibanks of the world are GCP [Google Cloud Compute] customers. Not because they were forced to but because they realize it’s far better than doing it themselves. ... We have financial customers — they are some of the eager adopters, not reluctant adopters." Three smart movesHölzle is turning a blind eye to the fact that the financial companies are already involved in OCP in a big way today. That's because Helinger did several smart things when he started this project. First, he hired Frank Frankovsky away from Dell to help Facebook invent hardware and to lead Open Compute Project. Frankovsky quickly became its face and biggest evangelist.
Next, he got Intel, a much older company with lots of experience in open source, on board. Intel's legal team set up OCP's legal structure so that all companies could share technology without fear that they would forced to share secrets they didn't want to expose. "Intel, their legal team are incredibly savvy about IP law," Frankovsky says. After they set up that up, Intel signed on as a founding member. Then, he asked Goldman Sachs' Don Duet to join the board. Duet tells us, "We knew the team at Facebook for several years, before people like Frank and others joined. In 2007 and 2008, Facebook was starting to grow and they called on us to help and advise them on how to run infrastructure." (Goldman Sachs helped Facebook raise a late-stage investment round and was one of the bankers involved in its IPO.) Duet liked the idea of OCP. He thought the hardware industry was lagging because it was dominated by a few huge hardware vendors. "It felt bespoke," he describes. He knew they were onto something almost immediately at OCP's first conference. "We thought maybe 50 people would show up." Instead over 300 came. "That was incredible," he remembers. Flash forward to March 2015: Over 2,500 people came to US conference held at the San Jose Convention Center, OCP's new full-time CEO Corey Bell tells us. The financial industry is on boardGoldman has been happy to buy OCP servers.
Duet says Godman will never go back to buying servers the old way. "We’ve been clear to the vendor community. There's no reason to go backwards. We didn’t go back after adopting open-source operating systems." With Goldman as a marquee user of OCP, Frankovsky shrugs off Hölzle's slam. "If you're using 100 to 200 computers, that’s 80% of everyone on the Internet, you should use the cloud. The question always comes up, when should you exit the cloud? When you’re spending enough money on your cloud bill that a small fraction of that should pay for an engineering team." "The fascinating thing is that industry most ravenous to adopt OCP has been the finance world," Frankovsky says. In fact, another huge financial tech firm recently went public with its use of OCP: Fidelity Investments. Fidelity says OCP hardware has reduced its data center energy bill by 20%, among other benefits. A $1 billion business in just a couple of yearsBy 2013, just two years into the project, Heiliger knew it would be a hit.
He knew the man. This was one of the first people he talked to when he started OCP.
Working closely with the customers on designs meant he knew what customers wanted. Having the legal right to share that information with other manufacturers was helping his relationship with them, too. The man asked to take a selfie with Heiliger. "For a brief moment I felt like I’m a rock star, someone take a selfie with me." Now it's spawning a whole family of related companiesThe true test for any tech project is if it leads to more tech projects. Earlier this year, the first OCP startup by a former Facebooker launched, called Coolan. It helps companies crowdsource how to configure and troubleshoot data-center hardware. It was backed by Heiliger (among others).
Meanwhile, contributors in the community have also created 15 new hardware projects, each of which includes five to six other projects. Plus, "this year's summit had 50 sponsors and over 2,500 registered attendees, which represented over 800 companies from 40 countries," Bell tells us. "What I find really, really cool now is seeing a whole community people building on top of OCP to create new solutions. It's whole new economic spectrum," Duet smiles. Facebook's vice president of infrastructure, Jason Taylor, agrees. "There's this growing year-over-year validation," he says. "The thing I've found deeply satisfying is how much the project is evolving the conversation around hardware. [OCP is] taking lots of companies that wouldn’t have avenues to work together and finding ways to work together and collaborate."
In that atmosphere, Taylor's team has taken hardware creation to a whole new level. Facebook has created some revolutionary designs for computer storage and for networking switches, trying them in Facebook and then contributing them to OCP once they know they work. Facebook's work around switches has put Cisco on the defensive. Cisco has responded by offering its customers a high-end switch with optional software that lets them create their own hacks to their Cisco network.
"The OCP stuff going on in networking is extremely exciting," Taylor says. Next up, Facebook is inventing a piece of optical networking equipment that makes data center networks much faster and less expensive. It could inspire a whole new crop of hardware innovation, he says. A seminal dayBut perhaps the biggest watershed moment for OCP happened just a few weeks ago, on March 10, 2015.
He said HP’s server unit had agreed to become an OCP contract manufacturer and had launched a new line of OCP servers. It was working with its partner Foxconn, the Chinese assembly factory that builds everything from Apple’s iPhones to HP’s PCs. Both HP and Dell had been watching and involved in OCP for years, even contributing to the designs. But behind the scenes they were not completely on board.
So HP came up with an answer: It partnered with Foxconn, the giant Chinese manufacturer that makes iPhones and many other popular tech products. Frankovsky applauds it. "We see recently huge changes at HP. They are clearly thinking differently," Frankovsky says. HP also jumped on board to sell OCP's new switch that competes with its long-time nemesis Cisco. One day, Frankovsky hopes that Cisco will follow HP's lead and join the open-source hardware movement. The open-source hardware movement will lead to its own massive hits that will totally change the industry. SEE ALSO: Retiring Cisco CEO delivers dire prediction: 40% of companies will be dead in 10 years Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Facebook tried to copy Apple with its big Oculus unveiling and it failed miserably  | ||
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It started off with Facebook's data centers.
When asked about OCP, Hölzle told us, "It actually makes a lot of sense because it’s open source for hardware. It’s relatively basic today," he said. "It could be the start of something a little bit deeper."
"We started at mid-point last year purchasing OCP servers," he says. Now Goldman has committed that "80% of its servers would be OCP." It will only buy regular commercial servers for oddball, outlier applications, where it doesn't make sense to spend time on custom designs.
Heiliger was at the Open Compute Summit conference in Santa Clara, California, when an executive of a huge Chinese manufacturer stopped him.
The man told him that OCP had turned his company into a $1 billion business, with hundreds of new customers.
Last December, Frankovsky left Facebook to launch his own OCP hardware-inspired startup, too, an optical-storage startup still in stealth. He remains the chairman of the OCP project. And there have been other startups, 
Hardware engineers across the industry are using OCP to ask each other questions. "It's hard to get even two companies to work together. We’ve managed to get couple of hundred companies to work together and to let engineers be engineers."
But Facebook has more up its sleeve.
That's when the man that heads up one of Hewlett-Packard’s all-important computer server and 
The problem for HP and Dell is that creating custom servers, or following a design you don't control, "wreaks havoc" on their traditional supplier systems. It's hard to order parts in huge low-cost quantities, if you're not in charge of the design. Scientists are super excited that our comet-landing space probe just phoned home after 7 months of silence | ||
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After about seven months of silence, a probe that landed on a comet back in November has finally woken up and established communication with the spacecraft orbiting the comet. The European Space Agency (ESA) made history when it became the first to send a spacecraft into orbit around a comet in November, 2014. ESA's Rosetta spacecraft then attempted to land a probe called Philae on the surface of the comet. But ESA lost contact with Philae when it landed on the comet too hard, bounced high into the air twice, and landed in the shadows under an outcrop of the comet. Philae operates on solar power, so with no sunlight shining on it, it went into hibernation mode. It was able to get about 60 hours of work done before shutting off, but scientists were worried that was all it would be able to do, since it landed in a shady area of the comet, unable to get enough sun to recharge its batteries. Philae took close up photos of the comet and surface samples before powering down. All ESA scientists could do was wait and hope that the comet would turn toward the sun enough so that Philae could charge up her batteries. Early in the morning on June 14, (late afternoon on June 14 European time) Philae's social media team sent a message after they heard from the probe: The initial data looks promising though, according to ESA. "Philae is doing very well: It has an operating temperature of -35ºC and has 24 Watts available," Philae Project Manager Stephan Ulamec said in a press release. "The lander is ready for operations." ESA will post more information as it becomes available, but it looks like we'll get to learn a lot more about Rosetta's comet. The data from Philae may help scientists figure out exactly what went wrong with the landing and where on the comet Philae ended up. SEE ALSO: First Images Of Comet From The Philae Lander Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Here's what it's like to slingshot with a parachute out of a hot air balloon at 16,000 feet  | ||
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Google want the man building the Garden Bridge to design their new £1 billion London HQ | ||
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Google has commissioned high-profile British designer Thomas Heatherwick to work on its new £1 billion ($1.56 billion) London headquarters, a source close to Heatherwick tells Business Insider. Heatherwick is already designing the search giant's new Californian headquarters and our source indicates that Google has now asked him to look at London, after rejecting proposals from architecture agency AHMM. London-based AHMM drew up plans that included an indoor climbing wall and a running track on the roof but Google CEO Larry Page reportedly found the designs "boring", according to the Daily Mail. You can see AHMM's proposals here. The Architecture Journal reported back in February that several frustrated AHMM staff working on the project left the company as a result. It is not clear whether AHMM has been taken off the project or will work with Heathwick Studios. Heatherwick Studios and Google both declined to comment. We contacted AHMM for comment and will update when we hear back from them. Heatherwick's profile has rocketed in recent years thanks to projects such as the Olympic cauldron for the 2012 London games, and a redesign of London's iconic Routemaster buses. He's currently working on plans for a new "garden bridge" across the Thames. Heathwick's design agency was one of two appointed to work on Google's new Mountain View offices earlier this year. His agency's ambitious plans for the new offices include translucent canopies that can control the climate within. Google and Heatherwick released a video outlining their plans earlier this year. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Kids settle the debate and tell us which is better: an Apple or Samsung phone  | ||
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China's Warren Buffett is doing a deal with Thomas Cook | ||
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Fosun, which is backed by billionaire Guo Guangchang who is dubbed the Chinese Warren Buffett by the Financial Times with a net worth of $4.3 billion (£2.8 billion), will own 51% of the new venture while Thomas Cook will own the remaining 49%, to help develop domestic, inbound and outbound tourism activities for the Chinese market under Thomas Cook brands. "We are delighted to work with Thomas Cook, the world's best known name in travel, to develop a leading travel business serving the growing number of Chinese travellers," said Qian Jiannong, President of Fosun's Tourism & Commercial Group, in a statement. "Today, there is a lack of innovation and differentiation in the travel product offerings for Chinese tourists in China and abroad, presenting an excellent opportunity for our new joint venture to gain a competitive advantage." The idea between the joint venture is to utilise Thomas Cook's expertise in the international travel while Fosun will help with local market knowledge and operational resources, so Thomas Cook will gain direct exposure to China's growing demand for leisure travel. Peter Fankhauser, CEO of Thomas Cook, added:"Today marks a significant milestone in our strategic partnership with Fosun. We are excited at the prospects of entering the largest and fastest-growing tourism market in the world with such an experienced partner." Thomas Cook reported £8.5 billion ($13.2 billion) in sales in the year ending September 30, 2014. It has approximately 24,000 employees and operates from 15 source markets. In China, Fosun pursues an approach similar to Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, combining an insurance business with ownership stakes in businesses including pharmaceuticals, construction, mining and steel production. According to Bloomberg data, Guo Guangchang's Fosun has spent almost $25 billion (£16 billion) on overseas acquisitions since 2010, so the joint venture is the latest in a long line of deals. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Forget the Apple Watch — here's the new watch everyone on Wall Street wants  | ||
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Britain's biggest travel group Thomas Cook just entered a joint venture with China's S. Korea reports 16th MERS death and five new cases | ||
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Seoul (AFP) - South Korea on Monday reported the 16th death in an expanding MERS outbreak and announced financial aid to the tourism industry, warning earnings could be slashed by up to $2.3 billion as thousands cancel travel plans. Seoul also declared five new patients -- bringing the total number of cases including the deaths to 150 -- with fears growing over the impact of the crisis on Asia's fourth-largest economy. Vice tourism minister Kim Chong said more than 100,000 foreign travellers -- mostly from China -- have already cancelled trips to South Korea since the beginning of June and more are expected to follow suit. "We estimate that... our foreign currency earnings will dwindle by $900 million if the number of foreign travellers drops by 20 percent, or by $2.3 billion if the number plunges by 50 percent," Kim said, as the country approaches its peak tourist season of July and August. He promised financial aid worth 72 billion won ($64 million) to help tourism-related businesses. "Our tourism industry is faced with a very dire situation," he said. A 58-year-old man, who had been suffering from diabetes, is the latest victim of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome which broke out in South Korea less than a month ago. The five new patients -- aged from 39 to 84 -- were infected in hospitals in cities including Seoul and Daejeon, 140 kilometres (90 miles) south of the capital. Among them was a nurse who had performed CPR on an infected patient in Daejeon and one infected in Samsung Medical Centre in Seoul -- the epicentre of the outbreak where more than 70 patients, visitors and medical staff contracted the virus. The health ministry added 17 patients remained in an unstable condition. -- Hospitals at centre of outbreak -- The outbreak, the largest outside Saudi Arabia, started on May 20 when a 68-year-old man was diagnosed after returning from a trip to the country. The virus has since spread at an unusually rapid pace and more than 5,200 people have been placed in quarantine. Businesses including shopping malls, restaurants and cinemas have reported a sharp drop in sales as people shun public venues with large crowds. On Thursday, the outbreak forced the central Bank of Korea to cut its key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points as the spread of the virus dampened already weak consumer sentiment. Almost all patients were infected in hospital and experts from the World Health Organisation said Saturday they had found no evidence to indicate transmission of the virus in communities outside hospitals. The Samsung hospital -- one of the country's largest -- suspended most services Sunday to help curb the spread of the potentially deadly virus. There is no vaccine for MERS which has a mortality rate of 35 percent, according to the WHO. In Saudi Arabia, more than 950 people were infected and 412 died from the disease. The outbreak in the South triggered alarm elsewhere in Asia including Hong Kong, which last week advised its citizens against non-essential travel to South Korea. Pyongyang also urged Seoul to ban trips to the Kaesong joint industrial zone in the North by southerners who had visited MERS-affected venues, Seoul's unification ministry said Monday. The isolated country earlier vowed "water-tight" measures to ward off the virus by stepping up screening at border crossings. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Thousands back gymnast in 'genitalia' row at SEA Games | ||
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Singapore (AFP) - Thousands of people have shown their support for Malaysian gymnast Farah Ann Abdul Hadi after she was criticised for competing in revealing clothing at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. By Monday, 11,000 people had "liked" the Facebook page "Farah Ann Abdul Hadi For Malaysia" which calls for "praise and support" for the double gold-medallist. Last week, some critics in the majority Muslim country slammed the 21-year-old, saying they could see the shape of her "aurat" (genitalia) in her leotard. Abdul Hadi wrote on the page: "I would just like to express my sincerest gratitude to all of you who have been supporting me. "It is such an overwhelming feeling to have had such a great and positive respond from all of you." Abdul Hadi, who won six medals in total at the Games in Singapore, has won broad support in the controversy including from Malaysia's youth and sports minister. In response to her critics, Khairy Jamaluddin tweeted: "In gymnastics Farah wowed the judges and brought home gold. "In her deeds only the Almighty judges her. Not you. Leave our athletes alone." However, divisions remain and one Malaysian Islamic group reportedly called for guidelines to help female Muslim athletes stay sharia law-compliant when they compete. "Women should not be stopped from sports, but they must prioritise the Islamic codes in sports attire," said Roszida Kamaruddin, head of the female wing of the National Muslim Youth Association, according to the Malay Mail. "Furthermore, there are many Muslim female athletes who succeed even by covering their aurat."
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10 things you need to know before European markets open | ||
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Eurozone trade figures are coming. At 10 a.m. London time (5 a.m. New York) the eurozone's trade balance figures for April will be released. In March, the seasonally adjusted trade surplus ran to €19.7 billion (£14.20 billion, $22.07 billion). Presidential front runner Hillary Clinton dropped a massive hint on a controversial trade deal. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton said drug companies that would benefit from a Pacific trade pact should sell their products to the US government at a discount in her strongest comments yet on an issue that has divided her party. Clinton's comments amount to an implicit rebuke of President Barack Obama's efforts to secure the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The Greek government says it's ready to resume talks after a breakdown. Greece remains open to finding a deal with lenders and is prepared to bridge a budget gap as demanded by lenders but not by cutting pensions or raising taxes, the deputy prime minister said on Sunday after a breakdown in negotiations. But Greece's finance minister is still ruling out Grexit. Greece Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said he could rule out a 'Grexit' because it would not be a sensible solution to the Greek debt crisis and in a German newspaper interview on Monday also said a debt restructuring was the only way forward. "I rule out a 'Grexit' as a sensible solution," Varoufakis told Bild newspaper. "But no one can rule out everything. I can't even rule it out a comet hitting earth." China is going to make a massive investment in Europe's infrastructure fund. China will pledge a multi-billion dollar investment in Europe's new infrastructure fund at a summit on June 29 in Brussels, according to a draft communique seen by Reuters - Beijing's latest round of chequebook diplomacy to win greater influence. Some South Korean investors are siding with US hedge Elliott fund against Samsung. Small stakeholders have converged on a public web forum in recent days to protest what they say is a low-ball all-stock takeover offer from Cheil Industries, an affiliate of Samsung Group and the conglomerate's de facto holding company. Heirs of Samsung Group's founding Lee family want the $8 billion (£5.15 billion) merger to consolidate holdings of key affiliates including Samsung Electronics into a company under their control. Analysts and investors are starting to name another Twitter executive as a potential CEO. Twitter Inc's next chief executive officer faces a crucial challenge as the company seeks to appease Wall Street after this week's management shakeup - helping disaffected advertisers connect with users. And many advertisers, analysts and investors say Twitter already has the right person for the job: not interim CEO Jack Dorsey but Adam Bain, the company's president and head of revenue, who has emerged as an early favourite. Asian stocks are falling. Japan's Nikkei is down 0.39%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng is down 1.40% and the Shanghai Composite Index is down by 1.06%. Gunmaker Colt is filing for bankruptcy. Storied American gunmaker Colt, which has roots stretching back centuries, plans to file for bankruptcy protection, The Wall Street Journal reported. The company, which lost a large US Army contract, is in need of the protection "amid business-execution issues and a heavy debt burden," the report said. Hong Kong is bracing for a showdown. Hong Kong is gearing up for a vote this week on a contentious electoral reform package backed by Beijing, with a weekend poll showing public support has shifted against the proposal amid renewed street marches by pro-democracy protesters. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: This 1998 supercar could auction for $15 million  | ||
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Good morning! Here's what you need to know in markets today. The 10 most important things in the world right now | ||
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1. The US bombed an Al Qaida-associated target in Libya Saturday night, which killed militant leader Mokhtar Belmokhtarhad. 2. Bailout talks between Greece and its creditors ended without a deal on Sunday, while a European Union spokesman said "a significant gap" remains "between the plans of the Greek authorities and the joint requirements of the Commission, ECB and IMF." 3. Two escaped murders who used power tools to cut through their cells of a maximum-security prison in New York could be in Mexico by now, officials said Sunday. 4. Thousands of protesters in Hong Kong on Sunday called on lawmakers to block Beijing's plan for electing the city’s next chief executive in 2017. 5. Kurdish militia are advancing toward Tal Abyad, a strategic Islamic-held town on the Syrian-Turkish border. 6. Nepal will reopen heritage sites nearly two months after an earthquake killed more than 8,000 people. 7. The number of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) cases in South Korea has risen to 150, while the death toll has climbed to 16. 8. Dozens of dangerous animals, including tigers, lions, bears, and wolves, escaped from a zoo in the country of Georgia after heavy rainfall and flooding broke open the cages. 9. "Jurassic World" had the the largest worldwide opening of any movie ever, bringing in $511.8 million (£329.4 million). 10. American gunmaker Colt plans to file for bankruptcy amid a debt burden of $355 million (£228 million). And finally ... Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: This Animated Map Shows How European Languages Evolved  | ||
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Hello! Here's what you need to know for Monday. Child sacrifice for wealth and power in Uganda | ||
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Luweero (Uganda) (AFP) - Kanani and Sylvia, brother and sister aged nine and eight, were grazing the family cattle in rural Uganda when they were approached by a man they vaguely knew. Sperito Bisekwa was angry. He accused the children of allowing their cows to eat his fodder and dragged them into a nearby forest. He attacked Kanani first. When the boy awoke he had a machete wound on his neck and his sister lay dead beside him. "He grabbed me, strangled me and cut the back of my neck. When I came to, I realised my sister had been cut everywhere and she was dead," said Kanani. Sylvia's young body had been gruesomely mutilated, her heart and clitoris cut out with a knife and taken for use in a witchdoctor's ritual, according to police. Child sacrifice is a disturbing and widespread phenomenon in Uganda, serious enough that the government has established a special taskforce. Activists say child sacrifice is not about tradition, but greed as people seek a quick route to wealth or power and with elections due in 2016 they worry killings are set to increase.
- Anti-Human Sacrifice Task Force -
Child sacrifice is "expected to rise", said Moses Binoga, head of Uganda's Anti-Human Sacrifice and Trafficking Task Force. "Now we are going into elections, you will find that there are so many Ugandans, even high profile people, going to witch doctors' shrines," said Binoga. "Some of them will be so desperate that if they're told to win a seat as an MP 'You must sacrifice a child', they'll do it." Binoga said there have been five reported cases of child sacrifice so far this year and nine last year, although those numbers are disputed with activists saying the actual figures are higher. A sharp rise in reported cases of child sacrifice in 2009 spurred the setting up of Kyampisi Childcare Ministries (KCM), a charity that works with survivors and victims' families. Child protection officer Shelin Kasozi said the charity receives a few cases every month, stressing that the ritual murders "cut across all Ugandan society". "The rich believe, 'If I sacrifice then my business will prosper'," she said. "The poor believe if they sacrifice a child they'll get rich."
- Genitals hacked off -
Kasozi pointed to the case of "very, very rich" Kampala businessman Godfrey Kato Kajubi who received a life sentence in 2012 for the ritual murder of a 12-year old boy who was beheaded and his genitals cut off. Cases of children disappearing as they walk between school and home, or while fetching water from communal wells, can be found across Uganda. Sometimes their dismembered body parts are later discovered in forests or building sites. Kidnappings and ritual murders are commonly organised by witchdoctors whose clients pay for the killings in the belief that sacrificing a child will lead to wealth and prosperity, cure impotence or boost fertility. Binoga said it was rare for the financiers to be prosecuted as witch doctors refused to name their clients. Bisekwa pleaded guilty to the February 2013 attack in Nansaka village, 130 kilometres (80 miles) northwest of the capital Kampala. He is serving a 10-year sentence for the attempted murder of Kanani and awaits sentencing for Sylvia's murder. He admits sending the body parts to his brother, a witchdoctor, in exchange for the promise of $16,500 (14,600 euros). The children's distraught father, Joseph Nankunda, wants his daughter's murderer to be given a death sentence. "I want the death penalty for him, so he can be an example for the others," said the 48-year-old cattle farmer and father of six. "My heart beats faster every time my children take a long time coming back. I live in fear every day," said Nankunda. In February Uganda's government drafted a National Action Plan to stem the killings and has approved a bill regulating traditional healers, some of whom practice as witch doctors. One reformed witch doctor is trying to convert others and persuade them to destroy their shrines. But Binoga warned child sacrifice may not be easy to stamp out. "It is based on the mindsets of beneficiaries of the crime," said Binoga. "As long as we have people who have such a belief, that practice will continue."
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Honda reports another death in exploding airbag crisis | ||
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Tokyo (AFP) - Japanese automaker Honda has reported a new death linked to an exploding air bag crisis -- bringing the global total to seven fatalities and scores more injuries -- which sparked the recall of millions of vehicles. The company on Monday confirmed that a woman in Louisiana died in April after the faulty inflator in her 2005 Honda Civic's airbag ruptured, firing metal shrapnel at her. The confirmation came after Honda's US unit said Friday it had reported the woman's death to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The announcement marks the latest chapter in a snowballing crisis for Tokyo-based airbag supplier Takata, which last month agreed to double a US recall to a record of nearly 34 million vehicles made by some of the world's biggest automakers. The defect -- thought to be linked to a chemical propellant that helps inflate the airbags -- can cause them to deploy with explosive force, sending metal shrapnel hurtling toward drivers and passengers. Honda, which is appointing a new president this week to help it navigate the crisis, is the most heavily affected by the recall, which has also affected Toyota, Ford, General Motors, Nissan, and Germany's BMW. A senior Takata executive told US lawmakers earlier this month that the company -- one of the world's biggest airbag makers --- was still searching for the main cause of deadly explosions. Kevin Kennedy, executive vice president at Takata's US arm, said it has already focused on the possibility that instability of the main ammonium nitrate propellant in its airbag inflators could be to blame in some circumstances. But that is not the only issue, he added, and "we do not have the definitive root cause". US legislators pressed the company on why it continued to manufacture inflators with the explosive chemical, arguing that it appears to be the reason why dozens of Takata airbags have inflated with excessive force. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Nuclear weapons states upgrade warheads despite disarmament | ||
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Stockholm (AFP) - Nuclear armed states continue to upgrade their stockpiles despite an international trend towards disarmament, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported Monday. Between 2010 and 2015 the number of warheads fell from 22,600 to 15,850 according to the institute's annual disarmament report which said the US and Russia represented the bulk of the reduction. The institute also pointed to "extensive and expensive long-term modernization programmes" in the world's two largest nuclear powers which account for 90 percent of the weapons. "Despite renewed international interest in prioritizing nuclear disarmament, the modernization programmes under way in the nuclear weapon-possessing states suggests that none of them will give up their nuclear arsenals in the foreseeable future," SIPRI researcher Shannon Kile said in a statement. The other three nuclear armed states legally recognised by the 1968 Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty -- China (260 warheads), France (300 warheads), Britain (215 warheads) -- are "either developing or deploying new nuclear weapon systems or have announced their intention to do so" according to the Stockholm-based peace institute. China was the only state among the five global nuclear powers to have a "modest" increase in the size of its arsenal. While the remaining nuclear states -- India (90 to 100 warheads), Pakistan (100 to 120 warheads) and Israel (80 warheads) -- have considerably smaller stockpiles, India and Pakistan continue to increase their arsenals while Israel has tested long-range ballistic missiles. North Korea is believed to be developing its arsenal of six to eight warheads but SIPRI said "technical progress" was difficult to assess. Reliable information on nuclear stockpiles varied greatly between states with the US getting top marks for transparency in the report, while Britain and France were more restrictive and Russia divulged nothing officially, except in bilateral contacts with the US. In Asia, China revealed little about its arsenal and the only information made public by nuclear rivals India and Pakistan was announcements of missile tests. The five nuclear powers and members of the UN Security Council -- US, Russia, China, Britain and France -- along with Germany, are in ongoing talks with Iran to persuade the Islamic Republic not to develop nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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High stakes in Geneva as Yemen sides meet over bloody conflict | ||
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Sanaa (AFP) - Yemen's warring factions will come together for the first time in Geneva Monday in a bid to resolve the bloody conflict between Iran-backed Shiite rebels and the government of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. The UN's peace envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, said in a statement that Monday would see the start of "preliminary inclusive consultations" on the war that has claimed more than 2,500 lives and sparked a "catastrophic" humanitarian crisis. Analysts said a breakthrough was "very unlikely", however, and the delegations will not even begin talks in the same room. Instead they will start with "what we call proximity talks" in two separate rooms with the envoy shuttling between them "with the hope they can be brought together", UN spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told reporters in Geneva. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who will attend the opening session of the talks, appealed for participants to take part "in good faith and without pre-conditions". He has said the negotiations are aimed at securing a ceasefire, agreeing on a withdrawal plan for the Huthi rebels and stepping up humanitarian aid deliveries. Yemen has been wracked by conflict between the rebels and Hadi's internationally recognised government, with analysts saying the fighting has reached a stalemate. The rebels, supported by military units loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have seized control of large parts of the country including the capital Sanaa, forcing Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia. Fearing an Iran-friendly regime on its southern border, Riyadh has been leading a campaign of air strikes against the rebels since March 26 but has so far failed to force them from territory they have seized. International powers are keen for a resolution to the conflict, fearing the growing power of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemeni branch of the jihadist network which has taken advantage of the chaos to seize territory. Meanwhile the UN has described the country's humanitarian crisis as "catastrophic", with 80 percent of the population -- 20 million civilians -- in need of aid. Any chance of success at the first talks between the warring factions since Hadi fled Sanaa in February was "very unlikely", Yemen expert Laurent Bonnefoy said, adding: "Indeed, each side appears to be inflexible, disinclined toward compromise". Nevertheless, the talks could offer breathing space, allowing Saudi Arabia to announce a truce that would launch more serious discussions as well as "save face by stopping an offensive they are clearly unable to win on the field," said the analyst from the International Research Centre at Sciences Po.
- Rebel gains -
On Sunday the rebels faced little resistance as they took control of Al-Hazm, the main city of Jawf province, residents and pro-government fighters said. The city lies only 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of the border with Saudi Arabia. In Yemen's main southern city of Aden, coalition air strikes on Sunday killed 13 rebels, a military source close to them said. Fighting raged on across several districts of Aden, residents said, accusing the rebels of firing Katyusha rockets on residential areas and destroying at least six homes. And in Daleh farther north, six rebels and four pro-government fighters died in 24 hours of clashes, the province's deputy governor said. The UN Security Council and Ban have called for a renewed humanitarian halt in the fighting after a five-day truce last month. The World Health Organization said Friday that 2,584 people had been killed in fighting in Yemen as of June 7, with 11,065 wounded. Representatives of Hadi's government had arrived on Saturday for the talks, which had been due to start on Sunday but were delayed after the rebels refused to board a UN plane that had been scheduled for a stopover in Saudi Arabia. The government delegation led by the foreign minister reiterated its demands on Sunday night, including that any ceasefire must see the militias withdraw from all territory they have conquered. The talks had first been due to take place on May 28 but were postponed.
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The similarities between the New York max security prison break and the show 'Prison Break' are unreal | ||
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Convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat have pulled off what is now considered one of the longest prison escapes in New York history. What's probably most striking about the escape is the similarities to the Fox television series, "Prison Break," which aired from 2005 to 2009. In the television series "Prison Break," successful engineer Michael Scofield (played by Wentworth Miller) executes an elaborate plan to break his older brother Lincoln, who was framed for murder, out of jail. To do so, Scofield robs a bank to join his brother in jail and break him out from the inside. The biggest similarity between the real-life jail break and the fictional one is the relationship between the convicts and a particular prison worker. On Friday, 51-year-old prison worker Joyce Mitchell was arrested on charges of providing the men with the tools they needed to break out. In "Prison Break," Scofield befriends the prison doctor, secures her trust, and eventually recruits her into his escape plan, asking her to leave the door to the infirmary unlocked — a crucial part of their path out of the prison. Joyce Mitchell apparently told investigators she planned to drive the men away from the prison, but later changed her mind. The New York Daily News cites sources who claim Mitchell confessed she was going to take the convicted murderers to her home, where they would kill her husband.
While the prison doctor in "Prison Break" never arranged to have the convicts kill someone for her, the close relationship between the inmates and the prison worker is uncanny. In addition, CNN cites authorities who say the inmates managed to leave their cells "under the cover of darkness to rehearse their escape in tunnels."
In "Prison Break," Michael and his hesitant cellmate make tools to burrow a hole in the wall of their cell, and rehearse their escape meticulously. On the night of the breakout, Michael (and 7 other criminals who weaseled their way into the plan) climb through the hole in the wall, and squirrel through the innermost pathways of the prison, ducking into sewer pipes, underground tunnels and long-abandoned rooms. The home stretch is a thick bundle of wires that stretches from the prison to the wall that separates it from the outside world. Most of them get out, some do not. But the principal characters, Michael and Lincoln are free and running for their lives. A huge manhunt ensues. Investigators later find out the doctor helped them escape and she's arrested. This, of course, is not meant to minimize the very real danger the convicted murderers pose to the public, nor make light of the vicious crimes they committed, but it's a compelling look at how, quite strangely, life and art imitate each other, for better or worse. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: The trailer for the 'Minority Report' TV show looks better than the original movie  | ||
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Gunmaker Colt to file for bankruptcy protection: report | ||
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Washington (AFP) - Storied American gunmaker Colt, which has roots stretching back centuries, plans to file for bankruptcy protection, The Wall Street Journal reported. The company, which lost a large US Army contract, is in need of the protection "amid business-execution issues and a heavy debt burden," the report said, citing unnamed people familiar with the plan. Connecticut-based Colt Defense, which dates back to 17th-century New England, has secured funds to keep its doors open. "The company has secured financing from its existing senior lenders to continue operating while in bankruptcy and expects to remain in business after the restructuring," the Journal added. The company has a $355-million debt burden it wants to put a dent in with a court-monitored auction of some business, the report said, citing the same sources.
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Ton-up Williamson happy to play his way | ||
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Southampton (United Kingdom) (AFP) - New Zealand's Kane Williamson was happy to prove elegance and timing still had a place when batting in one-day international cricket with a brilliant century in a three-wicket win over England on Sunday. Victory at the Rose Bowl saw World Cup finalists New Zealand go 2-1 up in the five-match series. The Black Caps, chasing 303 for victory, were wobbling at 36 for two. But a New Zealand record third-wicket stand of 206 between Williamson (118) and Ross Taylor (110), ultimately proved decisive. There have long been anguished debates about whether advances in bat technology and modern-day power-hitting are making ODI cricket too much of a batsmen's game. But the 24-year-old Williamson proved the traditional virtues of touch and timing remain effective in white-ball cricket. Indeed his final scoring shot, in a sublime 113-ball innings which included 12 fours, was a seemingly effortless straight six off David Willey. "I don't think aggressive has to mean slogging or hitting the ball 150 metres," said man-of-the-match Williamson, who also bowled England captain Eoin Morgan for 71 with his off-spin. "I think the style of play is what you want to achieve in an innings and the runs you want to get and that dictates who’s picked," added Williamson following his seventh hundred in 77 matches at this level. "Most teams have a balance of players who contribute to that and we're no different." New Zealand suffered a setback before this match when in-form paceman Trent Boult was ruled out of the rest of the tour with a back injury.
- Key wickets -
But replacement Ben Wheeler, like Boult a brisk left-armer, marked his ODI debut with an impressive return of three for 63 in 10 overs. "He came in and bowled really well, swung it a little bit and bowled with good pace," said Williamson of the 23-year-old Central Districts bowler. "I think he just enjoyed himself really. He picked up some key wickets as well." Such is the changing nature of 50-over cricket that New Zealand did well to hold England, who won the toss, to a total of 302 all out. England lost their last five wickets for just 14 runs, with 28 balls left when the innings ended. "It was nice to pick up those late wickets that restricted them –- you don’t usually use that in the same sentence as 300 but with the way scores have been recently it was a good effort," said Williamson. Meanwhile, Morgan was not worried by the fact England failed to bat out their overs, saying it was a consequence of a new approach that saw them score a national record 408 for nine in their 210-run win in the series opener at Edgbaston. By making 302, Morgan's side became the first England team to pass 300 in three successive ODIs and the former Ireland international was keen for them to retain their attacking intent "We're trying to change our process and mind-set with the bat -- which may take time," said Morgan, also England's captain when they suffered a humiliating first-round exit at this year's World Cup. "We've come a long way in the last three games, scoring 300 plus in each of them -- which is a huge achievement and a big turnaround. "I want the guys to continue with that mind-set, and not worry about batting 50 overs," added the former Ireland international, who top-scored in an England innings where both Ben Stokes (68) and Joe Root (54) also passed fifty. "I think that makes guys hesitate and question their natural way of playing. I don't want that to happen." The series continues at Trent Bridge on Wednesday.
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Jihadist Belmokhtar was target of US air strike: Pentagon | ||
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Washington (AFP) - Notorious Algerian jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar was the target of a US air strike in Libya, the Pentagon said Sunday, without immediately confirming local claims that he was killed. "I can confirm that the target of last night’s counterterrorism strike in Libya was Mokhtar Belmokhtar," spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said in a statement. "The strike was carried out by US aircraft. We are continuing to assess the results of the operation and will provide more details as appropriate." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Neymar saves Brazil, Colombia upset at Copa | ||
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Temuco (Chile) (AFP) - Brazil captain Neymar scored once and set up an injury-time winner as the five-time world champions scraped a 2-1 win over Peru on Sunday after Colombia suffered a shock defeat to Venezuela. Neymar headed in a fifth-minute equaliser before creating a goal for team-mate Douglas Costa deep into stoppage time to seal Brazil's 11th consecutive victory since last year's World Cup. "This is a very tough competition," Neymar said afterwards as he collected a man-of-the-match award. "We got the win and that's important." Neymar has now reached 44 international goals at the age of 23, a year earlier than Brazilian legend Pele. "I want to keep on reaching records, with goals, assists and everything that can help the team to win," Neymar said. The Brazilian star was at the centre of the action throughout the game, even getting a bizarre yellow card for pushing aside the foam the referee had sprayed on the pitch to show where a free kick should be taken. Peru, who took the lead after only three minutes when Christian Cueva punished a defensive blunder by David Luiz, looked to have done enough to secure a share of the Group C points. - Last Gasp - But with the final whistle looming, Neymar advanced menacingly down the left flank and threaded a pass through a forest of bodies for unmarked Shakhtar Donetsk striker Douglas Costa. Douglas, who had earlier squandered a golden chance created by Neymar, made no mistake with his second opportunity, calmly placing his shot beyond the despairing dive of Pedro Gallese. While Brazil can now start planning for the knockout rounds, Group C rivals Colombia must regroup after their upset defeat to Venezuela. A second-half goal from Russian-based striker Salomon Rondon settled a hardfought encounter in Rancagua as the highly-rated Colombians struggled to break down the Venezuelans. Despite a starting line-up packed with star names from Europe's strongest leagues, including James Rodriguez from Real Madrid, Manchester United's Radamel Falcao and Chelsea's Juan Cuadrado, Colombia were never able to impose their attacking style on the contest. Venezuela's goal came after a quick throw caught Colombia's defence off guard. Juan Arango improvised a first-time cross across the box to Alejandro Guerra, who headed back into the path of Rondon. The Zenit St. Petersburg striker, reportedly a summer transfer target for English clubs Tottenham and Liverpool, guided a superb header over Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina before being mobbed by his team-mates. Colombia rallied furiously in search of an equaliser but could find no way past Venezuelan goalkeeper Alain Baroja. "We knew they were going to play hard," said Colombia goalkeeper Ospina, who offered no excuses. "Venezuela closed down the space well. We did not get the room for our individual skills. In the end we lost the game, but there are still two more left to turn this around." "Now we have to recover and start thinking about Brazil," Ospina added. Wednesday's game against Brazil promises to be one of the ties of the first round, a rematch of the bruising quarter-final at last year's World Cup, won 2-1 by the hosts. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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The maker of 'the gun that won the West' is reportedly filing for bankruptcy | ||
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Colt Defense, the gun manufacturer that has been in business since the 1800s, is expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. The publication cites people familiar with the pending action who say the company's "business execution issues" and some $355 million in debt are among the issues that led to the pending bankruptcy filing. The West Hartford, Connecticut-based company is expected to continue operating during the bankruptcy process, the WSJ said. Colt Defense has enjoyed success for much of the last century, thanks in part to lucrative contracts with the US armed forces, in which Colt was the primary manufacturer of the weapons used by front-line troops. The contract ended in 2013 and, combined with some supply troubles and a slowdown in sales, business began to flounder. Colt missed a $10.9 million bond payment last month, much to the chagrin of holders carrying $250 million in the company's senior bonds. CRT Captial analyst, Kevin Starke told Reuters last week that a sale "might be best for the stumbling company and its bondholders." "Sometimes the best way out is to sort of scrap the whole thing and start again," Starke said. SEE ALSO: Finally Americans are starting to believe in the economy again Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Here's the most looked-up word in the Merriam-Webster dictionary  | ||
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One of London's trendiest coffee chains wants customers to give it £1.5 million | ||
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Grind, the trendy London chain of coffee shops started by a DJ and a tech entrepreneur, has just launched a crowdfunding campaign to try and raise £1.5 million ($2.34 million). Independent coffee chain Grind, which has four branches across London, is hoping loyal customers will buy its bond on website Crowdcube, which gives investors 8% interest in return for lending their cash to the business. Co-founder and CEO David Abrahamovitch told Business Insider: "I love disruption. Rather than just borrow from the banks I love the idea that people can put their money into something they really care about." The four year old chain epitomises London's current cultural renaissance, combining technology, music, start-up culture and artisan produce. Abrahamovitch was working at a technology start-up when he decided to set up the first Grind on Old Street Roundabout — now the heart of London's so-called Tech City — with his friend Kaz James, a DJ from group Bodyrockers. It was a side project for the pair for two years before Abrahamovitch went full time. As well as offering hip, artisan coffee, Abrahamovitch and James opened a recording studio above the shop at its Shoreditch Grind site. The studio has been used by artists like Sam Smith, Idris Elba and Tinnie Tempah. It's all painfully cool and Abrahamovitch says the company aims to be "young, Shoreditch and fun." But Grind has struck a chord with coffe lovers as we hispters. Abrahamovitch told Business Insider he believes Grind's custom blend is the best coffee in London and the flat white I had at Shoreditch Grind with him last week was definitely a great coffee. Abrahamovitch plans to put the money the company hopes to raise towards opening its own coffee roasting facility in East London near its original site in Shoreditch, which will allow it to sell its coffee wholesale. Abrahamovitch also wants to open new Grind sites across London in trendy areas like Brixton, Peckham, Dalston, London Fields, Vauxhall and Islington. It currently has branches in Shoreditch, Holborn, Soho and London Bridge, with a Covent Garden site opening in the summer.
Grind made £2.4 million ($3.74 million) in sales last year and is forecasting sales of £4.4 million ($6.85 million) this year. Its Shoreditch branch made £1 million ($1.56 million) in 2014 alone, selling around 800 coffees a day. As well as great coffee, Grind's branches sells cocktails in the evening and also offers food at its new London Bridge site. Abrahamovitch says he wants Grind to me "a lot more than a coffee brand." He and James are considering taking the chain abroad, possibly to LA, saying: "It's about taking it to places we want to spend time. We did this from the start a little bit for us. We only set up sites in places we go to." He added: "I'm not interested in putting these into glass boxes is shopping centres. I don't want a faceless chain of 50 sites, that's not what the brand is, that's not what we are." He says he is looking to private members club Soho House for inspiration, saying: "Soho House have done a fantastic job of becoming a global brand while staying true to themselves. What they do is a very different thing but what they do is excel at whatever they do. We want to do that too." Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Forget the Apple Watch — here's the new watch everyone on Wall Street wants  | ||
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Algerian jihadist Belmokhtar killed in US strike: Libya's recognised govt | ||
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Benghazi (Libya) (AFP) - Notorious Algerian jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar has been killed in a US airstrike in Libya, the strife-torn country's internationally recognised government said in a statement Sunday. "American jets conducted an operation which resulted in the deaths of Mokhtar Belmokhtar and a group of Libyans belonging to a terrorist organisation in eastern Libya," said the statement which was posted on Facebook. The announcement came after the Pentagon said the US military had carried out a strike on "an Al-Qaeda-associated terrorist" inside Libya. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Here's everything that Apple is doing in Europe (AAPL) | ||
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The world's most valuable company doesn't just confine its activities to America. It's also working hard in China and emerging markets, and has an extensive network of factories and acquisitions in Europe. Apple has an important new factory in Ireland, and it has acquired several UK and European tech startups, in addition to its retail stores and offices around the continent. But that's not all it does here. Novauris Technologies - the heart of Siri Novauris Technologies formed a major part of Apple's Siri personal assistant. The company started in 2002, composed of former employees from popular dictation company Dragon Systems. Novauris created accurate speech recognition technology that could work out what you were saying on your phone, meaning that voice input didn't have to be sent to servers to decipher. Like many of Apple's acquisitions, the fact that Novauris had joined Apple was meant to be a big secret. But the company gave the game away when a TechCrunch reporter called its office in 2014 and someone answered the phone with "Apple." It looks like the company's technology is now being used as part of Siri. CEO Yoon Kim now lists on his LinkedIn profile that he manages Siri at Apple in San Francisco. Holyhill factory - makes iMacs Apple is expanding its factory in Hollyhill, Cork. The facility combines both an office and a sprawling factory that's being used to assemble iMac computers. The Irish Independent reported that Apple is undergoing "major expansion" of its Irish office, and it invested €300 million into the development. One local resident says that Apple "basically owns an entire hill" in Cork. Hollyhill - building driverless cars? There's a slim chance that Apple could be using its factory near Cork in Ireland to build the rumoured Apple driverless car. It's hiring as part of the factory expansion, and the roles it's hiring for seem to be connected to the automotive industry. That's not proof in itself, though. But if Apple were to develop a car, then it would want to do it in secret. Where better to do that then on Apple's very own hill in Ireland? See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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A bomb threat sent police swarming around an Alitalia flight that landed at JFK Airport | ||
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ABC 7 New York reports that men in hazmat suits boarded Flight 604 as passengers were ordered off the aircraft and taken to nearby buses where they were held for more than an hour. The station cites a passenger who says passengers were taken off the plane "and put on buses for an hour and a half and then put back on the plane shortly before 6pm." Alitalia tweeted this statement on the incident: Alitalia has been informed by the TSA of a bomb threat on its flight AZ604 Milan-JFK. Emergency procedures have been put in place. The flight safely landed in JFK at 4,08 PM local time. All passengers disembarked without any problem. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: This 1998 supercar could auction for $15 million  | ||
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Police surrounded an Alitalia passenger jet that landed at JFK airport Sunday afternoon because of a bomb threat. Spain grind out win, Rooney the late hero for England | ||
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Paris (AFP) - Reigning European champions Spain closed in on a place at Euro 2016 by grinding out a 1-0 qualifying win over Belarus on Sunday as Wayne Rooney's late goal gave England victory in Slovenia. Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck a brace as Sweden beat Montenegro but Russia were the day's big losers, a defeat to Austria coming as a blow to their prospects of reaching the finals in France in a year's time. England are on a fast track to Euro 2016 having won six games out of six in qualifying Group E, although they needed an 86th-minute winner from Rooney to secure victory in Ljubljana. Milivoje Novakovic gave Slovenia the lead in the 37th minute at the Stozice Stadium before Jack Wilshere broke his international duck with a pair of brilliant, almost identical second-half goals to put England ahead. Slovenia substitute Nejc Pecnik appeared to have rescued a point with an 84th-minute equaliser, but moments later Rooney atoned for two glaring earlier misses by scoring his 48th England goal, taking him level with Gary Lineker and leaving him one goal behind all-time leading scorer Bobby Charlton. "It's great to score the winner, but it was a great team performance," captain Rooney told ITV. England are six points clear at the top of the section from Switzerland, who came from behind to beat Lithuania 2-1 in Vilnius. Fiodor Cernych put the home side ahead in the second half but Josip Drmic equalised soon after for the Swiss before Xherdan Shaqiri of Inter Milan got the winning goal six minutes from time. In the group's other game, Sergei Zenjov scored two goals either side of half-time as Estonia defeated minnows San Marino -- England's next opponents in September -- 2-0 in Tallinn. Meanwhile, Euro 2008 and Euro 2012 winners Spain made it five victories from six games in Group C by beating Belarus 1-0 at the Borisov Arena in Barysaw. Manchester City's David Silva got the only goal of the game in Vicente del Bosque's 100th match in charge of La Roja, controlling a Cesc Fabregas free-kick at the back post and volleying in. It is Slovakia who top the section, however, after they made it six wins out of six by downing Macedonia 2-1 in Zilina. Kornel Salata and Napoli star Marek Hamsik scored for the Slovaks, with Arijan Ademi getting one back for the visitors, who had forward Feran Hasani sent off late on. Spain and Slovakia meet in early September, while third-placed Ukraine are not out of the running after second-half goals from Artem Kravets, Denys Garmash and the excellent Yevhen Konoplyanka secured a 3-0 win over Luxembourg in Lviv. - Capello critical - In Group G, Russia's hopes of qualifying were dealt a blow as Fabio Capello's side slumped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Austria. Giant striker Marc Janko scored the only goal of the game for the Austrians with a spectacular overhead kick in the 33rd minute at Spartak Moscow's Otkrytie Arena as they extended their lead at the top of the section. After six games, unbeaten Austria -- whose only previous European Championship appearance came as co-hosts in 2008 -- are top with 16 points, four points clear of Sweden, with Russia a further four points adrift in third, which is likely to bring with it a play-off place. Fabio Capello, the coach of the 2018 World Cup hosts, seemed to blame his team's performance on the "pedestrian" pace of the game in Russia. "It's very hard to play at top speed because my players haven't got into the habit of doing so in Russian Premier League matches," said the 68-year-old Italian. "After the pedestrian football which they play in the domestic league it's impossible to meet the requirements of European football, where everybody plays much faster." Sweden won 3-1 at home to Montenegro with Marcus Berg opening the scoring before skipper Ibrahimovic, of Paris Saint-Germain, netted twice in four minutes just before half-time, with Dejan Damjanovic hitting a penalty consolation for the away side. Also in Group G, Liechtenstein and Moldova drew 1-1 with Sandro Wieser's brilliant strike putting the hosts ahead in Vaduz before Gheorghe Boghiu levelled. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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