Hackers launch assault against Chinese central bank December 19, 2013 The People's Bank of China was hacked on Wednesday in possible retaliation for the country's crack down on the crypto currency Bitcoin. The attack made the Chinese central bank's website temporarily inaccessible. The website was disabled through a Distribute Denial of Service attack. The online Bitcoin exchange BTC China was also hacked. The attack follows [...]
What it’s like to get your secret santa from the world’s richest man December 19, 2013 Reddit's Secret Santa gift exchange took an interesting turn this year when 24 year old Reddit user Rachel received a gift from a surprising secret santa. Her secret santa was no less than the billionaire founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates. The world's richest man, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires, gave Rachel a stuffed cow representing a [...]
Government may face legal hurdles in regulation of zero hours contracts December 19, 2013 In the wake of the governments announcement of a 12-week public consultation on zero hours contracts, some have been questioning whether it is possible to impose to any clear regulation on the employment arrangements due their lack of of legal definition. Global law firm Eversheds commented on the announcement: The major problem faced by the [...]
Vince Cable is wrong – London’s growth is win-win December 19, 2013 Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Vince Cable said that London "is becoming a giant suction machine draining the life out of the rest of the country." The business secretary was discussing the possible expansion of London's Heathrow airport. He added that the country needed to make more use of provincial airports to provide [...]
Here’s why gold has fallen below $1,200 for the first time since June December 19, 2013 Gold has fallen to its lowest price since June at $1,200/oz. Gold fell sharply in the wake of the Federal Reserve's announcement that it will begin the process of tapering its asset purchasing programme by $10bn (£6.1bn) in January. The decline in the price of the gold was hardly a surprise and continues the downward [...]
AstraZeneca grows diabetes market share with Bristol-Myers acquisition December 19, 2013 Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has announced it will acquire the entirety of Bristol-Myers Squibb's interests in the companies' diabetes alliance for an initial consideration of $2.7bn (£1.6bn) on completion and and up to $1.4bn (£850m) in regulatory, launch and sales related payments. The deal will see AstraZeneca take ownership of the intellectual property and global rights [...]
Are the boom times back as competition heats up for top traders? December 19, 2013 European investment banks are set to increase the hiring of stock traders in 2014 on the back of a rallying stock market and stable Eurozone, according to the head of Barclays European equities. Jonathan Beebe said in an interview: Most of the restructuring in equities has happened. Revenue growth this year is around 10 percent [...]
US firm gives artificial hearts new lease of life with $14m investment December 18, 2013 A US firm that makes artificial hearts has raised $14m (£8.6m) to expand and develop a smaller version of its Total Artificial Heart. SynCardia Systems will also be marketing its Freedom portable driver which powers the artificial heart. The device is designed to be wearable so patients can carry it in either a shoulder bag [...]
Europe to miss out on cloned meat as EU Commission imposes ban December 18, 2013 The European Commission has adopted two draft laws banning the sale, import and marketing of cloned meat in the European Union. The Commission adopted the proposals due to concerns over animal welfare and ethical issues surrounding the controversial technology. The EU commissioner responsible for health, Tonio Borg said: Today's initiatives on animal cloning respond to [...]
Dutch sex workers lobby for pensions tax break December 18, 2013 Dutch prostitutes are lobbying for the same pension benefits enjoyed by professional footballers. The campaign is being led by Freya, a company hoping to run a number of brothels in the Dutch city of Utrecht. The company argued that the tax system should treat sex workers in the same way as it does other physically [...]
