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The mobile industry would love to see contactless payment tech built into mobile phones. Unfortunately, they disagree as to how it should be implemented to such an extent that it's unlikely ever to happen. The SIM industry feels very strongly that the SIM should handle everything, while the handset manufacturers think they should build in the technology. The operators don't care either way as long as they get control - which neither of the other groups is prepared to concede.
Perhaps in a decade or two something like Nokia Money might gain a contactless capability - Nokia is the biggest backer of the technology - but until then we'll stick to plastic cards for most things.
But that's not going to stop the Home Office consulting and publishing guidelines, promoted with quotes from the UK Cards Association and Jack Wraith, who apparently represents the mobile phone industry.
The latter gains his credibility from being chair of the Mobile Industry Crime Action Forum (MICAF), an impressively-named group but one we know little about: we do know that Nokia and the other big manufacturers pulled out of MICAF when it became clear the finger was being pointed in their direction, but the Forum declined to provide us with a membership list, or confirm which operators were still signed up.
So we're not clear who exactly Jack is representing when he says "The mobile phone industry welcomes the support of the government and police in the ongoing fight to prevent criminals from benefiting from mobile phone theft," though to be fair the industry is unlikely to be dead set against the idea.
So we now have guidelines endorsed by an individual of unknown provenance and aimed at an industry which doesn't exist, recommending that we do exactly what we're already doing.
The provisional figures of direct tax collections up to February 2018 show that net collections are at Rs.7.44 lakh crore which is 19.5 per cent higher than the mop-up for the corresponding period of last year, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday. "The net direct tax collections represent 74.3 pct of the revised estimates of direct taxes for the FY 2017-18 which stand at Rs 10.05 lakh crore. Gross collections (before adjusting for refunds) have increased by 14.5 pct to Rs 8.83 lakh crore during April 2017 to February 2018. Refunds amounting to Rs 1.39 lakh crore have been issued during April 2017 to February 2018. The growth rate for net collections for corporate income tax is 19.7 pct and for personal income tax is 18.6 pct," the ministry said in a media statement. Tushar Chakrabarty reports.
Watch: Do you know the Sunderland streaker?
Take a look at the hilarious moment a Sunderland streaker could not get his trousers off last night.
In a video not broadcast by the Sky Sports cameras, the video sees the streaker fall in the centre circle with his trousers caught around his ankles.
He was eventually caught by three stewards, who led him off the pitch during the second half at the Stadium of Light.
The main entertainment of the night came courtesy of two Lamine Kone goals and a Patrick van Aanholt free kick as Sam Allardyce's side sent Newcastle and Norwich down, while they will remain in the top flight for another season.
Do you know the streaker? Get in touch with us on Facebook or Twitter and tell us who he is!
Do you know the Sunderland streaker last night?
EUROPE'S FINTECH FUNDING BOOM. The UK took £647.5 million ($901 million) of the £8.9 billion ($12.5 billion) that was invested in fintech globally last year, according to data gathered by Pitchfork on behalf of Innovate Finance. Five other European countries combined took £790 million ($1.1 billion).
Two of the top 20 global fintech deals were from the UK. Challenger bank Atom raised £90 million ($125 million) and peer-to-peer lending platform Funding Circle raised £97 million ($150 million). Three other UK fintechs, all specialising in money transfers and FX, raised over £36 million ($50 million) each. These five deals highlight the three biggest verticals in UK fintech at the moment which together made up 74% of investment volume.
Germany is becoming a major player. The Innovate Finance report revealed Germany received €751 million ($825 million) in fintech investment in 2015, second only to the UK in Europe. Over half of this investment has been in credit and lending fintech, and there is a growing focus on B2B fintech in the country, according to EY. Long seen as a conservative bastion of Europe when it comes to finance and regulation, it looks like Germany will be the first country where fintech is driven by corporate, rather than consumer, demand. There is also no obvious centre for fintech in Germany - as London is for the UK - so it would be wise to keep an eye on both Frankfurt and Berlin.
Fintech funding by financial institutions is growing. 25 fintech-related deals had investment from corporate VCs last year, also according to Innovate Finance's report. The interest among incumbents in the banking industry towards investment in fintechs is a key indicator that they have accepted they cannot compete with fintech startups solely with in-house innovation.
BBVA RAMPS UP OPEN API PLATFORM. The Spanish bank has created the position Head of Open APIs and rehired a Simple executive to fill it. Shamir Karkal was CFO and co-founder of Simple, the digital-only bank BBVA acquired in 2014, and his first responsibility in his new role will be to build BBVA's Open API platform.
BBVA is ahead of the game. The European legislation known as PSD2, which will confirm the introduction of the much talked about XS2A provision, requiring banks to open up their data to third parties through APIs, is due to become law in 2018. Banks will therefore have to build APIs to the prescribed standard by that date. Some banks are aiming to simply do the minimum to obey the law, but in building its Open API platform BBVA is actively embracing the opportunity it sees PSD2 presenting.
Bank/startup collaboration is the key message. BBVA will begin by inviting a few selected partners in Spain into a closed Alpha to help with the development of the platform. This gives the partners, who will likely be in areas such as biometrics, P2P, and personal finance management, access to BBVA's huge resources, and BBVA access to innovative ideas and talent. It all adds further weight to the idea that the way forward in financial services is collaboration between new entrants and incumbents.
The benefits of APIs are yet to be confirmed. BBVA is working on the principle that by building its platform alongside third parties it will avoid being disintermediated by those third parties in the future. There is no clear guidance from the EU on whether banks will be able to charge third parties for access to their APIs at present, meaning big banks currently building APIs and partnerships are doing so without knowing whether it could eventually provide direct revenue or a strong business opportunity.
UK REGULATORY BODIES PUSH COMPETITION. Both the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) made announcements this week — UK Fintech Week— aimed at further increasing competition in the UK financial services sector. The UK was also found to have the most supportive regulatory framework among countries leading in fintech by Ernst & Young (EY).
FCA to offer more services through Project Innovate. The FCA is a champion of innovation and its Project Innovate service is designed to help startups with new propositions navigate the regulation process. It also helps the regulatory body get processes in place to make it easier for future startups to ramp up and meet regulation requirements. They plan to expand the service to include a live testing environment (The Sandbox) where small firms can test new products, with real consumers and crucially, oversight from the regulator.
PSR recommends banks sell stakes in payments systems. The major payments systems in the UK - Bacs, Faster Payments and Link are all controlled by Vocalink, a firm owned by a small number of large banks and other payment service providers. The PSR has recommended this situation end as it hampers competition. The idea that choice in infrastructure provider will make life better for service providers is valid, but exactly how multiple networks would work remains to be seen.
Policy is a key strength for the UK. The UK's progressive and industry-led regulatory policy puts it ahead of the US, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore in creating a supportive fintech environment. In order to build and sustain a successful fintech industry, government bodies must be supportive and open to change or risk losing out to more welcoming geographies.
Australia's nascent fintech industry gets a boost. The country has recently seen the formation of Fintech Australia, an industry body made up of startups, incubators and investors, and a separate government advisory group made up of names from established financial players. Australian banks have been relatively quick off the mark in innovation, but the country has lagged behind the UK and US in encouraging a startup market.
TransferWise partners with Number26. The UK money transfer service announced a partnership with the German digital bank enabling Number26's customers to leverage TransferWise's services within their existing app. Transfers will be available from the Euro into eight currencies (US Dollars, British pounds, Swedish krona, Indian rupees, Australian dollars, Hungarian forints, Swiss francs, and Polish zloty).
Stripe wants to help foreign businesses launch in the US. The new service, Stripe Atlas, will help successful applicants incorporate their company, open a business bank account, accept payments, and get tax and legal advice.
Plot: Story of Washington D.C. radio personality Ralph "Petey" Greene, an ex-con who became a popular talk show host and community activist in the 1960s.
Cast: Don Cheadle, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Bruce McFee. Directed by Kasi Lemons.
1. Scarborough: As Gorham Coach Mark Karter put it, “Scarborough has the best player in the league (6-foot-7 Nick Fiorillo) and that’s a good place to start.” The defending Class AA South champs graduated some key players, but among returners, Brian Austin was one of the SMAA’s most accurate 3-point shooters (46 percent), and Paul Kirk and Tyler Gobeil are varsity veterans.
2. Falmouth: Added depth could give Falmouth a slight edge over Greely in Class A South. Junior Michael Simonds is back from injury (“He can shoot it and he makes the players around him better,” said Coach Dave Halligan). Point guard Nicco Pitre and 6-7 Nik Hester, Sam Manganello, Brady Douglas and 6-5 center Doug Cooke gained critical experience when the team was crushed by injuries last year.
3. South Portland: The Red Riots graduated four starters who accounted for 77.7 percent of the scoring. So why is Kevin Millington’s team rated so highly? Because it figures to be the deepest squad in the league, very athletic and able to play both big and fast. Scott Lewis, at 6-7, is a force ready to emerge, Millington said, and also one of the team’s best shooters.
4. Greely: The Rangers have won 44 straight games and back-to-back Class A titles and return three starters – All-State senior guard/forward Zach Brown, senior forward Andrew Storey and junior guard Logan Bagshaw. The 6-6 Storey has shown “tremendous” improvement over the past nine months, according to Coach Travis Seaver.
5. Deering: This could be the year for the Rams to rise in AA North, if they cut down on turnovers (16.3 per game). Ben Onek is a 6-foot-5 force who can finish in traffic and drain 3-pointers. Much will depend on the continued maturation of the junior class, including three-year varsity point guard Darryl Germain. They took their lumps last year, going 8-11, but gained valuable experience.
6. Portland: Seniors Trey Ballew, Pedro Fonseca and Simon Chadbourne form a strong core, but with seven varsity newcomers, Coach Joe Russo expects it will take time for his team to jell. “By the end of the year we could be a spoiler,” Russo said. Other coaches aren’t buying that prognosis. “I think Portland is the team to beat,” Millington said.
7. Thornton Academy: Expect the Trojans to contend for the AA South title after an atypical 8-11 season. Payton Jones, a 6-1 sophomore, has already shown the type of all-around game that makes him difficult to shut down and figures to improve on his 10.1 scoring average. Point guard Anthony Bracamonte and center Will Chapman provide senior leadership.
8. Medomak Valley: The Panthers are looking to build on their surprise run to the A North final with a mix of returners and newcomers. Gabe Allaire is a hard-working, 6-3 junior forward who is a consistent scorer and strong rebounder. He and seniors Ryan Creamer (guard) and Alec Coughlin (6-5 forward) led a group that put in considerable time over the summer.
9. Wells: The Warriors’ regular-season record might not glitter, but the two-time Class B South champs will be ready for the postseason. Led by seniors Matt Sherburne, Tyler Bridge and Dylan Whitney, Coach Troy Brown’s squad has better depth. “My 10 guys can all play,” Brown said. He hopes that depth also translates into a more aggressive, less post-centric offense.
10. Waynflete: Junior guards Diraige Dahia (14.2 ppg, 55 3-pointers) and Askar Houssein (12.6 ppg, 4.8 assists, 3.7 steals) return after leading last season’s team in scoring. Sophomore Dominick Campbell should provide an inside scoring presence, and junior Solomon Levy’s grit stood out in the preseason.
Be it through compliance or through resistance, it seems that every day a new major tech company is becoming embroiled with a government over data access.
After both Apple and BlackBerry made headlines for their contrasting responses to requests from the American and Canadian law enforcement respectively, it’s no surprise that Microsoft is now wrapped up in its own fight.
“Microsoft brings this case because its customers have a right to know when the government obtains a warrant to read their emails, and because Microsoft has a right to tell them,” the company wrote in its filing.
While it took a whopping 2,600 secrecy orders accompanying some 5,624 search warrants over 18 months (the majority without a fixed end date) for Microsoft to be fed up, this is nevertheless a welcome move.
There’s much handwringing around how to implement the perfect laws around virtual property and privacy, and much of it attributed to the virtual nature of data. But much of it is for show.
In the absence of clear legal boundaries, governments, rather than establish best practices for citizens, are trying to see what they can get away with, and for how long. In other words, delaying implementing legal boundaries has clear benefits for those who would overreach, a fact that is lost on the rest of us.
While it’s true that digital property is different, one can take heavy inspiration from how physical property is governed. It’s simple really.
Applying the scenarios to which Microsoft’s customers have been subjected to to a real life situation would look something like this: police obtain a search warrant targeting an apartment complex or landlord and are able to monitor entire buildings of residents indefinitely, without their knowledge. This equivalent would be mind-boggling.
Search warrants target specific addresses owned by specific people, and they are executed on specific days with the knowledge of the person being investigated, with rare exceptions.
Law enforcement and courts that enable them must get away from warrants accessing entire technologies, such as a cloud, and target individual users and devices instead, usually with their knowledge, as one would in a tried-and-true scenario of physical property.
Technology creators must also move towards models that individualize security on devices of different users, so that access to one device does not open the door to the rest, as was the case of BlackBerry’s global encryption key which it forked over to the RCMP.
Similarly, just as a government or landlord cannot simply take the contents of an apartment, governments and cloud providers need to understand that they have no inherent right to the data stored on their infrastructure.
Lastly, we can’t sit around and expect the big players, the Apples, the Microsofts of the world to ensure civil liberties. While welcome, there is no requirement for companies to enter these arena. The first 2,599 secrecy orders that went unchallenged at Microsoft are proof of this, as is BlackBerry’s compliance, which one has to wonder whether it was at the whim of one executive.
The longer legal boundaries of any kind are absent, the longer privacy suffers.
Tourism Minister says response to Givat Assaf terror attack should be legislation normalizing unrecognized villages in Judea and Samaria.
Tourism Minister Yariv Levin called on the government to respond to Thursday's bloody terror attack in Givat Assaf by pushing forward legislation that would regulate hundred of homes in Judea and Samaria.
Levin said that he would start pushing forward a bill that would give non-recognized Jewish outposts the same rights as legal villages, such as water and electricity.
"The residents of the communities in the planning stages are entitled to all municipal services, just like any other citizen in Israel - including connection to water and electricity infrastructure, budgets and anything needed to live a normal life," said Levin.
Levin added that "our response to the murderous terrorism must be clear and sharp. We will continue to persecute the despicable terrorists everywhere and at any time, while at the same time working to continue construction throughout Israel."
Levin's remarks came after two Israelis were killed after two terrorists opened fire on them next to the village of Givat Assaf near Bet El.
Initial investigations found that a terrorist drove up to the Givat Assaf Interchange, got out of the vehicle and approached the hitchhiking station before pumping at least 15 bullets into the soldiers and civilians assembled there. The terrorist then fled the scene and abandoned his car near Ramallah.
Multiple politicians have called to respond to the recent upsurge of terrorism in Judea and Samaria by legalizing disputed homes that remain in legal limbo. Earlier this week, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked urged Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who also serves as Defense Minister, to normalize the status of the Israeli town of Ofra in Samaria, following a shooting attack next to the town Sunday night.
First established in 1975, the town of Ofra currently includes some 700 homes. While most of the buildings were constructed decades ago, a Defense Ministry report revealed that some 500 of the 700 homes faced legal issues – despite backing from the state at the time of their construction.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India is committed to buying Iranian oil and continuing the two nations’ economic cooperation, the Iranian foreign minister said after a meeting with his Indian counterpart and ahead of U.S. sanctions aimed at halting Tehran’s oil exports.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s May withdrawal from an international nuclear pact with Iran was followed up with plans to impose new sanctions against the third-largest producer among the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Washington is pushing allies to cut Iranian oil imports to zero once the sanctions start on Nov. 4.
Iran’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met his Indian counterpart, Sushma Swaraj, in New York on the sidelines of United Nation General Assembly, according to a video from news agency ANI, a Reuters affiliate.
“Our Indian friends have always been categorical in terms of their intention to continue economic cooperation and (the) import of oil from Iran. And I heard the same statement from my Indian counterpart,” Zarif said when asked if India has given an assurance about continuing with oil imports.
India, Iran’s second-biggest oil client behind China, has already reduced its intake of Iranian oil but has not yet decided whether to end purchases completely.
“We have comprehensive cooperation with India and that comprehensive cooperation also includes energy cooperation because Iran has always been a reliable source of energy for India,” Zarif added.
Iran is India’s third-biggest oil supplier and the South Asian nation had drawn plans to increase purchases this financial year after Tehran offered almost free shipping and extended credit period.
In the previous round of sanctions, India was one of the few countries that continued to trade with Iran.
Zarif said Iran wants to expand its bilateral relations with India.
The Indian-backed Chabahar port complex in Iran is being developed as part of a new transportation corridor for land-locked Afghanistan. The complex could open the way for millions of dollars in trade and cut India’s dependence on sometimes-hostile neighbor Pakistan.
The plant is expected to be operational by 2019.
India is looking at providing a $3.5 million-equivalent bank guarantee for development of the port through UCO Bank, another Indian government source said.
Zarif said that Chabahar is still functional and Iran wants to expand its capacity with support from Indian and other investors.
It’s official: Shohei Ohtani, the so-called Babe Ruth of Japan, will take up his new life in the United States as a member of the Los Angeles Angels.
After meeting face to face with seven major league teams, but not, surprisingly, the Yankees, Ohtani, the star pitcher and designated hitter of the Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan, announced on Friday that he had settled on the Angels, a big-market club on the West Coast. He will now set about trying to become baseball’s first two-way star since the player who inspired his nickname.
For a $20 million posting fee, a fairly modest bonus and a minimum-salary contract in 2018, the Angels get a 23-year-old player who is one year removed from being named the most valuable player of Japan’s Pacific League. The 6-foot-3, left-handed batter and right-handed pitcher gave up millions of dollars to come to the United States now instead of in two years, when he would have been a true free agent and received a contract most likely to have topped $100 million.
Is it Otani or Ohtani?
Despite what you may have read, he prefers for his last name to be spelled Ohtani. In truth, his name does not directly translate from kanji, the symbols used to write Japanese, into English letters. The translation is done the way the words are spoken, so both Otani and Ohtani could be considered correct. But he did not exactly hide his preference: “Ohtani” was written on the back of his Fighters jersey.
How will the financials work?
The amount of money will not look anything like what the Yankees paid for Masahiro Tanaka when he left Japan. Under a reworked agreement between Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball, the winning bidder was required to pay a posting fee of $20 million to the Fighters. The winner could then use its international bonus pool money to give Ohtani a signing bonus. In recent days, the Seattle Mariners had worked to increase their bonus pool by making several trades, and by Thursday had the most money to offer Ohtani — $3.56 million. The Texas Rangers were second with $3.54 million. The Angels had $2.31 million. Four other teams — the Giants, the Cubs, the Dodgers and the Padres — had $300,000.
But by baseball standards, the bonus pool amounts were not that big to start with and the difference in what the top three teams could offer was not that substantial. In the end, Ohtani did not opt for the team with the most bonus money.
As an international free agent who is under 25, Ohtani is also limited to a minor league contract and subject to the typical salary restrictions of a player who is not yet eligible for arbitration. As a result, he will start in the major leagues with a salary of $545,000. Tanaka, who came over as an established star at a time of fewer restrictions, earned a rookie salary of $22 million.
Is he a pitcher or a hitter?
The short answer is that he is both. Ohtani was a starting pitcher for the Fighters and also served as the designated hitter. He has had as many as 382 plate appearances in a season and started as many as 20 games as a pitcher in a single season. It was an unusual setup, as the other starting pitchers on Ohtani’s Japanese team had a handful of at-bats each.
So which is he better at, pitching or hitting?
That is where it gets more interesting. In 2016, his last full season, he managed to be named to two different spots on the Pacific League’s “Best 9,” which honors the best player at each position. It is not hard to see why, considering Ohtani’s batting (.322/.416/.588, 22 home runs) and pitching (10-4, 1.86 E.R.A., 174 strikeouts) lines that year. While it is not a perfect measure of his quality at either skill, Ohtani received 190 of the 245 votes at designated hitter and 111 at pitcher.
Despite that, many talent evaluators believe Ohtani’s best bet in the majors is to succeed as a pitcher.
Can he hit for power?
Ohtani had a .500 career slugging percentage in Japan, and 66 of his 171 hits over the last two years went for extra bases, but it would be surprising for him to be much of a power hitter in the majors. For reference, Hideki Matsui’s career slugging percentage went from .582 in Japan to .462 in the United States, and Ichiro Suzuki’s declined from .522 to .403.
Why did he play so much less in 2017?
An ankle injury in the 2016 Japan Series resulted in Ohtani’s missing the World Baseball Classic and helped limit him to five pitching starts in 2017. His workload was also reduced as a batter: He appeared in 65 games at D.H. a season after starting 104.
His pitching was not as sharp. His E.R.A. went up to 3.20 thanks in part to a drastic increase in walks, but it was too small of a sample size to draw any conclusions. His hitting mostly matched up with previous seasons in terms of performance.
What will he do in 2018?
Many possibilities exist should Ohtani prove to be capable of both pitching and hitting at the major league level. He could D.H. on days he does not pitch, and he might be best used as a sixth starting pitcher, which would keep him on a similar workload to the one he had in Japan while also keeping him fresh for batting duties. The possibility does exist, though, that he will require time to adjust to the superior competition in the major leagues since he is younger than the majority of Japanese stars who have come over in the past.
Any talk of Ohtani playing the outfield or truly playing every day is probably just talk. He has appeared in the outfield a total of eight times in the last four seasons, and all eight appearances were in 2014. His typical workweek in Japan consisted of starting a game as a pitcher, being a D.H. for the next few days, then taking two days off before his next start. To think that he could handle more frequent work, and the demands of playing a position in the field, after not doing so against lesser competition in Japan, is a stretch.

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