April, 2018

• 8 April

  Foxconn, Sirin Labs join forces to manufacture blockchain phone

  

  Bloomberg Foxconn Technology Group grew into the world’s largest electronics manufacturer for hire by churning out best-selling products such as iPhones, Kindles and PlayStations. Now, it’s deploying that power to bring cryptocurrencies to the masses. A subsidiary of Foxconn has agreed to help develop and produce a blockchain phone from Sirin Labs, according to the startup. The new device, called ...

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• 8 April

  Firms need licence to trade cryptocurrencies, says UK watchdog

  

  LONDON / Reuters Britain’s financial watchdog said that firms offering services linked to cryptocurrency derivatives must meet all relevant rules in the regulator’s handbook or could face sanctions. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) does not currently regulate cryptocurrencies. But it said that dealing or arranging transactions in, advising on or providing other services related to derivatives referencing cryptocurrencies or tokens ...

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• 8 April

  UK productivity growth hit decade-high in ’17

  

  LONDON / Reuters Britain recorded its strongest productivity growth in more than a decade in the second half of 2017, helped by a strong fourth quarter, but economists said the improvement was unlikely to prove a turning point for one of the economy’s key weak spots. Productivity growth in most advanced economies has been poor since the 2008 financial crisis ...

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• 8 April

  Facebook scandal a ‘game changer’ in data privacy law

  

  Bloomberg Revelations that data belonging to as many 87 million Facebook Inc. users and their friends may have been misused became a game changer in the world of data protection as regulators are looking to raise awareness about how to protect information. Elizabeth Denham, the UK privacy regulator leading the European investigations into how user data ended up in the ...

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• 8 April

  German industrial output slumps over protectionism angst

  

  BERLIN / Reuters German industrial output fell by the most in more than two years in February and the sector is losing momentum, the Economy Ministry said, as factories in Europe’s largest economy throttle back in the face of the rising threat of protectionism. Output fell by 1.6 percent after rising by a revised 0.1 percent in January, data from ...

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• 8 April

  Apple hires former Amazon devices CTO for software role

  Bloomberg Apple Inc. said it has hired technology executive Jon McCormack as a vice president working on software. McCormack previously led software for HP Inc., according to his LinkedIn profile. Before that, he was an executive in Google’s Advanced Technology and Products group. He spent several years at Amazon.com Inc. as chief technology officer of the devices group and a ...

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• 8 April

  US calls for global response after alleged Syria chemical attack

  

  Bloomberg The US demanded an immediate international response to reports of a chemical attack outside Syria’s capital that rescue workers and activists said killed dozens. The allegations emerged amid renewed government fire on Douma, the last rebel stronghold in the Eastern Ghouta suburb, after a truce in the area unraveled on April 06. A chemical weapons attack last April provoked ...

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• 8 April

  Brazil’s Lula surrenders to police, ending standoff

  

  Bloomberg Brazil’s former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva turned himself in to the police, finally ending a tense stand-off with authorities after ignoring a court-ordered deadline to begin a prison sentence. Lula left the metalworkers union headquarters, where he had hunkered down since last week, and is in police custody, TV footage showed. He ended up leaving by foot, ...

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• 8 April

  Macron, Merkel may agree with US on China

  

  Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron will attempt a pincer movement on Donald Trump, with China emerging as the likely target of their joint effort to avert a trade war with the US. The leaders of Europe’s two biggest economies will visit the president in Washington within days of each other this month as the clock ...

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• 8 April

  Italy’s League sees chance of deal with Five Star: Corriere

  Bloomberg Italy’s euroskeptic League leader Matteo Salvini sees a “real” chance that Italy’s next government will be between the center-right coalition and the populist Five Star Movement, according to an interview in Corriere della Sera. The coalition’s policy differences with Five Star “are less pronounced than people think,” Salvini said in the article. “There’s a real possibility to build a ...

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