RT

A small climbing enthusiast website called ‘Climbook’ has won its copyright battle against Facebook after Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development ruled that Mark Zuckerberg does not have exclusive use of the word ‘book.’

The tech giant initiated a complaint about the not-for-profit community site in 2015, arguing that it was too similar in its “structural, visual, phonetic, and conceptual” design, and that the services it offered were “partly similar” to those provided by Facebook, which could confuse users.   Continue reading “Facebook climbdown: ‘Arrogant’ social media giant loses mountaineer battle”

RT

America’s ruling class has a curious attitude to democracy. It seems to be interpreted as something that’s good for the US and its allies but bad for critters who won’t accept their role in the ‘America-led international order.’

First off, let me be clear. I think all foreign electoral interference is wrong. In any country. And if it’s eventually proven that Russians meddled in America’s 2016 presidential election, I certainly won’t condone it. But I’ve have always doubted that the Russian state organized some heinous plan to tilt the contest to Donald Trump, so I’ll be shocked if something of this nature is ever proven.   Continue reading “America’s elite thinks it has a divine right to rule the world”

RT

Whistleblowers who do not report to the Securities and Exchange Commission will not be covered by existing legislation, the US Supreme Court said. The ruling came in the case of a former employee against a real estate trust.

The justices ruled unanimously in favor of Digital Realty Trust Inc. They decided that that the Dodd-Frank Act, a 2010 Wall Street reform law, protects whistleblowers from retaliation only if they have brought their claims of securities law violations directly to the SEC.   Continue reading “US Supreme Court refuses to broaden protection for corporate whistleblowers”

RT

A computing error at a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Zaif has allowed some customers to claim digital tokens for $0. This raises further questions about security at crypto exchanges.

The glitch happened with Zaif’s price calculation system and allowed seven customers to obtain digital money for free. Six of the transactions have been voided, and the exchange has been trying to resolve the problem with the seventh customer, who tried to cash out.  Continue reading “$20 trillion in free bitcoin: Exchange glitch allows traders to claim cryptocurrency for $0”

RT

Singapore-based fintech company HelloGold has received certification for its gold-backed virtual currency that entirely complies with Sharia law.

The company has been granted permission to operate its cryptocurrency product GOLDX by Malaysia-based Islamic finance consultancy Amanie Advisors. The new digital currency was introduced by HelloGold at the end of 2017.  Continue reading “Singapore firm to mint Islamic cryptocurrency backed by gold”

RT

A government minister involved in Seoul’s regulatory crackdown on digital currencies was found dead at his home on Sunday, reportedly from a heart attack.

Jung Ki-joon, 52, was head of economic policy at the Office for Government Policy Coordination. The official coordinated measures for developing new legislation to curb cryptocurrency speculation and illicit activities, according to a South Korean government spokesman, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal. The police launched an investigation into the death.  Continue reading “S. Korean official in charge of cryptocurrency crackdown found dead”

Mail.com

PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — A hundred Stoneman Douglas High School students are busing 400 miles to Florida’s capital Tuesday to urge lawmakers to act to prevent a repeat of the massacre that killed 17 students and faculty last week.

The students plan to hold a rally Wednesday in hopes that it will put pressure on the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature to consider a sweeping package of gun-control laws, something some GOP lawmakers said Monday they would consider. Shortly after the shooting, several legislative leaders were taken on a tour of the school to see the damage firsthand and they appeared shaken afterward.   Continue reading “Students going to state capital to push for gun law changes”

Mail.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The suspect in the fatal shooting of two Ohio police officers is being held without bail as the potential death penalty case proceeds. Thirty-year-old Quentin Smith is charged with aggravated murder in the Feb. 10 shootings of Westerville officers Eric Joering and Anthony Morelli. They were responding to a 911 hang-up call at Smith’s home in the Columbus suburb.

Prosecutors requested that the court deny bail for Smith, characterizing him as a danger to the community. A public defender represented Smith during his initial appearance Tuesday in Franklin County Municipal Court and didn’t object to him being jailed without bail.   Continue reading “Suspect in slaying of 2 police officers jailed without bail”

RT

Gold prices have edged up on the back of a tumbling US dollar which, according to analysts, has set the stage for a new bull market for the precious metal. Experts project higher gold prices in the near-term.

The yellow metal was trading at $1,354.65 an ounce as of 10:20 GMT on Thursday, after enjoying its best trading day on Wednesday since June 24, 2016.   Continue reading “Plunging US dollar boosts gold’s safe-haven demand”

RT

It is no secret that Palestinian trust in Washington as an impartial broker and mediator in future peace talks with Israel has been shredded.

And given the Trump administration’s reckless, not to mention illegal, decision to declare Washington’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017, who can blame them?   Continue reading “Washington no more: Palestine turns to Moscow for future Israel talks”

Mail.com

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia’s prime minister announced Thursday he has submitted a resignation letter after the worst anti-government protests in a quarter-century, saying he hoped the surprise decision would help planned reforms succeed and create a “lasting peace.”

“I want to be part of the solution,” Hailemariam Desalegn said in remarks carried by the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation. “I believe that the public’s demands and questions should be met and answered.” It was not immediately clear whether lawmakers had accepted the resignation.   Continue reading “Ethiopia’s prime minister submits resignation after protests”

Mail.com

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — Two of the three people who were in a sport utility vehicle that was stopped and fired upon when it tried to enter the National Security Agency campus without authorization have been released, an FBI spokesman said Thursday.

NSA police turned over the other person to the Howard County Sheriff’s Office, because he was wanted on allegations of being behind on child support payments, said Dave Fitz, the spokesman for the FBI’s Baltimore field office.   Continue reading “2 freed after shots fired at SUV in NSA campus confrontation”

RT

The risk of inter-state conflict is higher now than at any time since the end of the Cold War, according to US Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats.

The most immediate threats over the next year will come from North Korea and from “Saudi-Iranian use of proxies in their rivalry,” Coats said during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday.
Continue reading “Risks of interstate conflict higher than any time since end of Cold War – DNI chief”

Mail.com

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A festive close to Mardi Gras was marred by shootings across New Orleans that left three people dead and five others wounded. The first two shootings happened in the afternoon, when fights broke out near the traditional parade route.

Police clarified Wednesday that two teenage boys were wounded in one of the parade route shootings. Gunfire struck one boy in the “head area” and the other had a leg wound, police said in a news release.   Continue reading “Mardi Gras marred as 3 killed, 5 wounded in New Orleans”

Mail.com

PHOENIX (AP) — Nearly 100 people strolled through the high school cafeteria throughout the evening, studying colored graphs of flight takeoffs and jotting down comments for officials. More than three years after they awoke to find window-rattling flights rerouted in an airborne highway above their homes, residents of Phoenix’s downtown historic districts said they finally felt the Federal Aviation Administration was listening.

A court victory by Phoenix and neighborhood groups over the FAA last year has prompted the agency to be more responsive to residents as it continues to beat back noise complaints around the United States over the air traffic modernization plan known as “NextGen.”   Continue reading “Agency adopts more responsive tone on airplane noise”

Mail.com

GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. (AP) — One climber fell to his death and several others had to be rescued after conditions turned treacherous on Oregon’s tallest peak. More than a half-dozen people had been climbing near Mount Hood’s peak when a climber fell about 1,000 feet, (304 meters) said Sgt. Brian Jensen, a Clackamas County sheriff’s office spokesman.

“One of the guys slipped,” said climber Quinn Talley of Welches, Oregon, who had been descending after summiting Tuesday morning. “At first he was just sliding and right before he disappeared, he started cartwheeling.”   Continue reading “1 climber dies, others rescued on Oregon’s tallest peak”

I had an interesting conversation with a customer at work today. This woman and her husband were recently driving down the Garden State Parkway.  This week they received a letter from EZ Pass.  The letter stated that they went from “point A” to “point B” in “X” amout of time, so they should watch their speed.  There was no traffic citation, but it makes one wonder how long before such fines start being issued upon unsuspecting drivers.  Those who use EZ Pass (or as I like to call it, Sleazy Pass), be aware that your speed is being tracked by those devices.

RT

As the wealthy continue sucking the country dry, the question now isn’t if the US will cease to provide a decent standard of living for its people. Rather it is how many people will be sacrificed on the way down.

In America, the richest nation in the world when measured by raw GDP, children are getting sick from living by open pools of raw sewage. This was one of many shocking findings by the United Nations late last year, following a two-week investigation into extreme poverty in the US.   Continue reading “American decline: Open pools of raw sewage in the richest country in the world”

Mail.com

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Tens of thousands of revelers are expected on New Orleans streets for parades and rowdy fun as Mardi Gras caps the Carnival season in a city with a celebration of its own, its 300th anniversary.

The anniversary of this Louisiana port city will feature prominently in Fat Tuesday’s festivities. Rex, New Orleans’ oldest parading Carnival group, is celebrating the tricentennial with 21 of its 28 floats commemorating its history from those who lived in the area before Europeans settled it in 1718 to the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Other floats in the Rex parade include one for St. Louis Cathedral, the descendant of a church built the year of the city’s founding, and the yellow fever, which killed more than 41,000 people between 1815 and 1905.   Continue reading “Mardi Gras parade honors New Orleans’ tricentennial”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — A terrorist who set off small bombs in two states, including a pressure cooker device that blasted shrapnel across a New York City block, is set to be sentenced Tuesday to a mandatory term of life in prison.

Ahmad Khan Rahimi, who was born in Afghanistan but lived in New Jersey, injured 30 people when one of his bombs exploded in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood on a September night in 2016. A second bomb planted nearby did not detonate.   Continue reading “Bomber faces life in prison for New York, New Jersey attacks”