What the other papers say this morning – 20 December 2013 December 19, 2013 FINANCIAL TIME Taper pressures emerging markets Markets soured on the day after the US Federal Reserve’s dramatic tapering of its asset purchases from $85bn to $75bn per month as the dollar climbed and vulnerable emerging markets came under pressure. The taper heralded a new era of dollar strength, with the US currency up by 0.6 [...]
Any Other Business – 20/12 December 19, 2013 Need help getting home after that Xmas party? Apple announced its top apps of 2013 this week and one of the editor’s picks was London-born travel app Citymapper. For those who haven’t already used the app – it takes your destination and gives a range of options for getting there. For giggles, it also includes [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 17 December 2013 December 16, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES US judge ruling on NSA surveillance The National Security Agency’s surveillance methods have suffered a significant legal setback after a federal judge ruled yesterday that a programme that collects bulk phone records was likely to be unconstitutional. In an often scathing ruling about the activities of the NSA, the court said the programme [...]
UK division of Leica sees slower sales despite new camera launch December 13, 2013 THE UK division of Leica Cameras, the iconic camera brand used by celebrated photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, reported a slowdown in sales last year despite rolling out a new flagship camera. Leica Camera, which is owned by German parent company Leica AG and distributes cameras in the UK, reported a 12 per cent dip in turnover [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 13 December 2013 December 12, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Bitcoin start-up fundraises $25m A Silicon Valley company that allows speculators and merchants to trade Bitcoin has raised $25m (£15.3m) in venture capital funding in the largest investment so far in a virtual currency business. As a result of the deal, San Francisco-based Coinbase will have two of the most prominent venture capitalists [...]
The Long View: Three reads for Christmas: Glamour, Cicero’s web and high-tech fiction December 12, 2013 I WROTE at the end of November that the rise of the selfie marked the death of the audience and the rise of an age committed to universal self-expression and performance. This week, even world leaders have been joining in. When David Cameron and Barack Obama were caught taking silly pictures of themselves at Nelson [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 12 December 2013 December 11, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Nigeria’s missing $50bn oil cash A letter from the Central Bank of Nigeria suggests that the state oil company has failed to account for nearly $50bn in crude oil sold between January 2012 and July 2013 that should by law have been remitted to government coffers. The alleged shortfall amounts to 76 per [...]
Capco’s Covent Garden scheme wins approval December 11, 2013 CAPITAL & Counties (Capco) was given the go-ahead by Westminster Council yesterday to build a leisure and residential scheme connecting two of Covent Garden’s busiest shopping areas. The developer wants to transform the space between King Street and Floral Street within its £1.1bn Covent Garden estate, creating a new public courtyard overlooked by eight shops, [...]
Imagination out of favour after demand slows December 11, 2013 IMAGINATION Technologies said a slowdown at the top end of the smartphone market would hit the number of chips shipped with its graphics and video technology in the second half of the year, sending its shares down more than 20 per cent. Its lower guidance, combined with disappointing first-half results, pushed Imagination’s shares down to [...]
The tech giants are right: We could be sleepwalking into a surveillance state December 9, 2013 THE CHIEF executives of eight of the biggest businesses in the world sent a clear message to global leaders yesterday: as far as surveillance laws are concerned, the status quo is not an option. It is hardly a common occurrence that AOL, Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo agree on something, let alone write [...]