Mar 22, 2019
Uber 'picks New York Stock Exchange' for stock listing
Ride-hailing firm Uber will list on the New York Stock Exchange, according to reports, in one of the most anticipated stock debuts of the year. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reports it would list on the New York Stock Exchange. The New York Stock Exchange has secured some of world's biggest IPOs including Alibaba and General Motors. Uber's IPO come as investors have shown strong appetite for new stock listings. The price shot higher immediately after...
Mar 22, 2019
The engineer who went to the USSR and got stuck for 50 years
In 1929, an African-American Ford engineer, Robert Robinson, was recruited to work in the USSR. He had to stay there, against his will, for nearly 50 years.
Mar 22, 2019
Facebook staff 'flagged Cambridge Analytica fears earlier than thought'
Facebook employees raised concerns about Cambridge Analytica's data-scraping practices three months earlier than thought, according to US court documents. According to the court documents, the Facebook employee "Warned" the company about Cambridge Analytica's behaviour and discussed it with colleagues. The Guardian reported in December 2015 that Cambridge Analytica had processed data on millions of people gathered by a personality quiz app developed by a researcher, Dr Aleksandr Kogan, and...
Mar 21, 2019
Millions of Facebook passwords exposed internally
The passwords of millions of Facebook users were accessible by up to 20,000 employees of the social network, it has been reported. In a statement, Facebook said it had now resolved a "Glitch" that had stored the passwords on its internal network. In a detailed expose, Mr Krebs said a Facebook source had told him about "Security failures" that had let developers create applications that logged and stored the passwords without encrypting them. Commenting on Mr Krebs's story Facebook engineer,...
Mar 19, 2019
Facebook: NZ attack video viewed 4,000 times
Facebook said the video was viewed 4,000 times in total before it was removed. In a statement on Monday, Facebook provided new details about the footage, including that the live broadcast was viewed fewer than 200 times. Facebook said the first user report on the original video came in 12 minutes after the live broadcast ended. Facebook had earlier said it deleted more than 1.5 million copies of the video in the first day after the incident. In the wake of the mosque shootings, Westpac NZ...
Mar 19, 2019
Airbnb host jailed for killing guest over unpaid bill
A jury convicted Jason Colton, 42, of 2017 killing of Ramis Jonuzi. A court heard two housemates had held the 36-year-old down, while Colton beat and strangled him for not paying the A$210 he owed. The bricklayer first rented the room for three nights from the three men - Colton, landlord Craig Levy and housemate Ryan Smart - before asking to extend his stay by a week for A$210. Justice Hollingworth said Colton instigated the "Brutal and one-sided" attack, and later downplayed his actions...
Mar 18, 2019
A scandal in the Amazon - where pilots are forced to lie
Small planes are often the only way to get around - but because most landing strips are unofficial, pilots have to lie about where they are flying. "There's no longer any landing strip there; it was abandoned 15 years ago. Aim for the river, the Parú, instead - try to land on water." Adrian Young of the Netherlands-based aviation consultancy, to70, which advises airports, airlines, and governments around the world, said: "A regulatory system that requires pilots to falsify flight plans, to...
Mar 18, 2019
WorldPay payments firm in $43bn sale to US rival
A UK payment processing firm that used to be owned by Royal Bank of Scotland has been sold in a deal worth $43bn. WorldPay has been bought by Fidelity National Information Services for $35bn in cash and shares, plus WorldPay's debt. FIS chief executive Gary Norcross said "Scale matters in our rapidly changing industry". WorldPay was sold by RBS as a condition of the bank's financial crisis bailout. The value of the FIS purchase means Worldpay is worth about £8bn more than RBS. Last October,...
Mar 17, 2019
Mopping up Dieselgate: The boss transforming Volkswagen
Many of Ms Werner's fellow corporate leaders do not grasp the scale of Germany's problem. Her most likely successor, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, is a woman, as is Andrea Nahles, who leads the main opposition party, the SPD. Hiltrud Werner and Angela Merkel have something in common - both were brought up in East Germany, a country, Ms Werner points out, in which "More than 90% of the women worked". Ms Werner makes an effort to do the opposite: "I don't want to be a woman dressed like a man, I...
Mar 15, 2019
Volkswagen and former boss face US lawsuit over Dieselgate
The US is suing Volkswagen, accusing the German carmaker of "Massive fraud" over the diesel emissions scandal. VW first admitted in September 2015 that it had used illegal software to cheat US emissions tests. Between April 2014 and May 2015 the carmaker had sold $13bn of bonds and securities to US investors, at a time when executives were already aware that illegal software had been installed to manipulate emissions tests, according to the SEC's suit. The SEC said that as a result,...
Mar 14, 2019
Volkswagen boss apologises for Nazi gaffe
The chief executive of Volkswagen has apologised for using a Nazi pun to describe the importance of boosting the group's profits. Volkswagen was founded in 1937, as part of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's vision to enable German families to own their first car. During World War Two, the Wolfsburg-based firm manufactured vehicles for the German army, using more than 15,000 slave labourers from nearby concentration camps. The inscription appeared at the Dachau concentration camp, set up by Heinrich...
Mar 14, 2019
Indian online detergent boycott misfires
The advert for Surf Excel uses the upcoming Hindu spring festival of Holi to illustrate a story about cross-communal harmony, India's Telegraph newspaper reports. Critics of the advert have organised complaints against Hindustan Unilever Ltd, who make Surf Excel, accusing its Colours Unite advert of being "Anti-Hindu" and "Anti-national". Some of their followers have confused the washing powder with Microsoft Excel, giving the mobile spreadsheet app single-star ratings on the Google Play...
Mar 14, 2019
Netflix to remove real disaster footage from Bird Box film
Streaming service Netflix has said it will remove footage of a real-life rail disaster from the film Bird Box. Netflix had initially said it would not substitute the footage in question. In January, Quebec's culture minister wrote to the CEO of Netflix urging the company to have the clips removed. Bird Box was not the only Netflix production containing images of the deadly runaway train disaster. At the time, the stock footage vendor that provided the production company behind the show...
Mar 14, 2019
Facebook loses chief product officer and Whatsapp head
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has announced the departure of the firm's chief product officer Chris Cox and head of WhatsApp Chris Daniels. Mr Cox joined in 2005, a year after Facebook was founded, while Mr Daniels took up his role only a year ago. The changes come shortly after Mr Zuckerberg outlined his plan to transform Facebook into a "Privacy-focused platform." In a separate Facebook post, Mr Cox addressed the recent proposal to shift Facebook further towards private, encrypted...
Mar 12, 2019
Nairobi lion replaced after Twitter uproar
A new sculpture of a lion with a shaggy mane in the Kenyan capital Nairobi has been replaced after it got ridiculed on social media. One Twitter user pleaded: "Please guys help Sonko get a better Lion. What he has put is an embarrassment to the nation." Residents woke up on Saturday morning to find that the "Ugly lion" had been replaced with a new one, and no longer adorned with faux fur. "In the quite and chills of the night when Nairobi was deep asleep, Sonko replaced the stuffed lion with...
Mar 11, 2019
Facebook sues over 'data-grabbing' quizzes
Malicious quiz apps were used to harvest thousands of users' profile data, according to Facebook. The quizzes, with titles such as "What does your eye colour say about you?" and "Do people love you for your intelligence or your beauty?", gained access to this information via the Facebook Login system - which enables connections between third party apps and Facebook profiles. While the system is intended to verify that such connections are secure, in this case, Facebook says, users were...
Mar 8, 2019
Carlos Ghosn: Lawyer sorry for workman 'disguise' idea
A lawyer for former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn has apologised for disguising his client in a workman's outfit to leave Japanese detention. Mr Ghosn was widely identified and photographed as he left prison on bail on Tuesday. Mr Ghosn is charged with financial misconduct and breach of trust. His disguise was roundly mocked by the media, with one Japanese TV station even re-enacting the incident complete with a man in a lookalike outfit, and a similar van to the one Mr Ghosn used. Mr Ghosn's...
Mar 7, 2019
Does Donald Trump get Apple boss’s name wrong?
The US president was praising the work of Tim Cook at an American Workforce Policy Advisory Board meeting.
Mar 6, 2019
Nissan ex-boss Ghosn released after 108 days
Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn has left prison in Japan on bail, more than three months after being arrested. A Tokyo court made the surprise decision to allow his release on Tuesday, setting bail at 1bn yen. Mr Ghosn has been charged with financial misconduct and aggravated breach of trust, but denies wrongdoing. Previous requests for bail were rejected and his lengthy detention has drawn international criticism. Strict bail conditions including video surveillance were set as conditions for...
Mar 6, 2019
Brazil leader Jair Bolsonaro criticised over obscene video on Twitter
EPA Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has provoked controversy by posting an obscene video of two revellers at Carnival, saying he wanted to reveal the truth about the festival. They included critics of the president, personalities and even people who said were his supporters and condemned his decision to post the video. Some users have supported the president - elected with strong support of conservative and evangelical voters - condemning what they called "Indecent" behaviour. The video,...
Mar 6, 2019
Zuckerberg outlines plan for 'privacy-focused' Facebook
AFP Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has said he believes secure, private messaging services will become more popular than open platforms. In a blog, Mr Zuckerberg outlined his vision to transform Facebook into a "Privacy-focused platform." As part of his privacy goals, he said Facebook would not "Store sensitive data in countries with weak records on human rights like privacy and freedom of expression." Facebook firm has faced been sharply criticised in the past over user privacy and the spread...
Mar 5, 2019
Mark Zuckerberg's wealth shrinks by $8.7bn on Forbes rich list
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's wealth has shrunk by $8.7bn in the past year, according to the latest billionaire's list compiled by Forbes. Of all the billionaires on the list only 252 are women, and the richest self made woman is real estate mogul Wu Yajun of China, worth an estimated $9.4bn. The number of self-made women reached 72 for the first time, up from 56 a year ago. The list of Chinese billionaires has seen some big changes - it has 44 newcomers to the list while 102 have...
Mar 4, 2019
Kenya helicopter crash: Americans and VIP pilot dead
A helicopter has crashed in northern Kenya, killing four American tourists and their Kenyan pilot, officials say. The helicopter reportedly crashed in Central Island National Park on Sunday. He had previously served as a Kenya Defence Forces pilot, but had been working for private firm, KIDL Helicopters, since March 2017. Richard Onyonka - a relative of the pilot and the areas MP - said Cpt Magonga had been cleared to fly several high profile guests in the past, including former US President...
Mar 4, 2019
Netflix responds to Oscars and Steven Spielberg backlash
Netflix has defended itself against backlash to its Oscars run after some filmmakers - including Steven Spielberg - have criticised its films being in the awards ceremony. The Netflix film Roma got 10 Oscar nominations and won three. Netflix does release some of its films in cinemas for a few weeks so it can qualify for awards such as the Oscars. At an awards show in February, Steven Spielberg said that he loves TV but "The greatest contributions we can make as filmmakers is to give audiences...
Mar 4, 2019
Airbnb host admits manslaughter after killing guest over unpaid bill
An Airbnb host has admitted killing a guest at his home near Melbourne, Australia, who couldn't afford to pay. Jason Colton, 42, denies murder but has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Ramis Jonuzi in October 2017. A court heard two housemates held the 36-year-old man down, while Colton beat and strangled him for not paying the A$210 he owed them. Prosecutor Mark Gibson told the court that Colton was the first to attack Mr Jonuzi: "[He] picked him up and threw him against the wall and...
Feb 28, 2019
Family pug seized by town over unpaid debts and sold on eBay
One of the officials then listed the dog on eBay at an apparent bargain price of €750 - half of what its new owner expected to pay. Upon calling the number listed in the advert, she spoke to an employee of Ahlen's administration, who explained that the dog had been seized because the owner owed the city money - including for unpaid dog tax. Since changing owners in December, she has needed four operations due to eye problems, including an emergency operation over Christmas. Her demands from...
Feb 28, 2019
'Useless slimming pills face fake Amazon reviews' fine
A company that sold "ineffective" fat-fighting herbal supplements is facing a $12.8m (£9.6m) fine.
Feb 28, 2019
90210 actor Luke Perry suffers stroke
The actor Luke Perry is in hospital after suffering a stroke on Wednesday in Los Angeles. Perry, 52, rose to fame on Beverly Hills, 90210 and is currently starring as Fred Andrews in Netflix show Riverdale. He had been in LA shooting scenes for Riverdale at the Warner Bros film lot. A representative for Perry told the BBC that he is "Is currently under observation at the hospital" with no further details about his condition made available. On the same day it was announced that Beverly Hills,...
Feb 26, 2019
Making a Murderer: Steven Avery wins right to appeal
Wisconsin Department of Corrections/AFP A US man whose murder conviction was the focus of the popular Netflix series Making a Murderer will have his case re-examined by a court in Wisconsin. Steven Avery is serving a life sentence for the murder of young freelance photographer Teresa Halbach in 2005. Avery has won a motion to appeal based on possible human bones found in a gravel pit. If the bones - found near the Avery property - are found to belong to Ms Halbach, Ms Zellner says it...
Feb 23, 2019
Netflix: Is streaming killing the cinema industry?
As ever more people sign up to streaming services, are fewer going to the movies?