European data watchdogs target Google over privacy
Six European data protection agencies are contemplating legal action over Google's privacy policy.
The threat comes as a four-month deadline to change the policy expires with Google making "no change" to the policy.
Google's perceived failure to act is being looked in to by data watchdogs in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK.
In a statement, Google said its privacy policy "respects European law".
'Full engagement'
In late October 2012, a European Commission working party reported that Google's privacy policy did not meet Commission standards on data protection.
The report said Google should do more to let users see what information was held about them, provide tools to manage this data and take more care to ensure it did not store too much data about users.
The investigation was kicked off by Google's decision to update its privacy policy so it had one set of guidelines for every service it ran.
Google was given four months to comply with the working party's recommendations to bring the policy into line with European law.
"After this period has expired, Google has not implemented any significant compliance measures," said French data watchdog CNIL in a statement. CNIL headed the probe into the privacy policy.
In addition, said CNIL, Google was warned about the potential for action on 19 March in a meeting with officials from six data watchdogs. "No change," was seen following this meeting, said CNIL.
As a consequence, all six data protection bodies were now opening new investigations into Google and how it handled privacy. The UK's Information Commissioner confirmed it was looking at whether the policy complied but said it could not add further comment because the investigation was ongoing.
A Google spokesman said: "Our privacy policy respects European law and allows us to create simpler, more effective services."
"We have engaged fully with the DPAs involved throughout this process, and we'll continue to do so going forward," added the spokesman.
News of the action comes as Google's privacy director, Alma Whitten, steps down from her job. Ms Whitten was appointed as the search giant's first privacy director in 2010, following a series of mistakes by Google that had led to user data being exposed.
--BBC
Cyprus bailout: Finance Minister Michalis Sarris quits
Cypriot Finance Minister Michalis Sarris has resigned as a judicial panel prepares to investigate the role that he and others played in a financial crisis that pushed the eurozone member to the brink of bankruptcy.
Sarris submitted his resignation Tuesday, saying it was an appropriate step given the need to cooperate with the three-judge commission set up by the government earlier in the day. He previously served as chairman of Cyprus' second largest lender Laiki Bank, whose risky investments led to its break-up last month under the terms of an international bailout for the Cypriot economy.
Sarris, who was appointed finance minister in February, also said he had accomplished the main task of his brief tenure.
"As you know I took over the finance ministry in order to carry out our work, with the first goal being the agreement of the bailout," he said. "I believe with great effort this has succeeded."
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades accepted Sarris' resignation and appointed Labor Minister Haris Georgiades to the finance portfolio.
The Cypriot government said Tuesday that it had finalized the terms of the $13 billion bailout with international creditors. It said the final agreement gives Cyprus an additional two years to fulfill the deal's requirements to improve government finances, with 2018 set as the deadline.
In return for the aid, international creditors forced Cyprus to agree that depositors with more than $130,000 at the Bank of Cyprus, the nation's largest, would lose up to 60 percent of their savings. Cypriot officials said Tuesday the creditors have agreed to let those depositors access one-quarter of the remaining funds, with the rest to be unblocked later.
The judicial panel appointed by the Cypriot president will examine political and regulatory failures that led Nicosia to seek the bailout from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Anastasiades urged the judges to look at his own business dealings and those of his relatives as part of the investigation. Local media have reported allegations that the president's family members used inside information to take money out of the country before deposits were locked down by the bailout deal.
The island nation's central bank also took a step to ease the financial pain of Cypriots on Tuesday, partially relaxing transaction controls aimed at preventing a massive flight of money from the banking system.
The central bank raised the ceiling on transactions not requiring its approval from $6,400 to $32,000, and authorized the use of checks worth up to $11,500. Other restrictions on money transfers remain in effect. The Cypriot government imposed them last week, as banks re-opened following a two-week shutdown prompted by fears of a run on deposits.
Eurozone unemployment rate at record high
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The rate of unemployment in the eurozone has hit a record high of 12%, official figures have shown.
The number of people unemployed in the 17 member states rose by 33,000 during February, to hit 19.07 million, the statistics agency Eurostat said.
The highest jobless rates were 26.4% in Greece, although this figure was from December, and 26.3% in Spain.
Separately, figures confirmed a deterioration in the eurozone's manufacturing sector in March.
Youth unemployment
The lowest unemployment rates recorded by Eurostat were in Austria (4.8%) and Germany (5.4%), both unchanged from January. The overall unemployment rate for the eurozone in January was revised up from 11.9% to 12%.
Across the 27 member states of the European Union, the unemployment rate rose to 10.9%, up from 10.8% the previous month.
The fresh high in the unemployment rate "is further confirmation of the underlying weakness of the economy", said Jennifer McKeown at Capital Economics.
"The rise in unemployment was the 22nd in a row, making this labour market downturn the most prolonged since the early 1990s."
Youth unemployment remains an area of particular concern, with 188,000 people aged under 25 joining the ranks of the unemployed in February.
More than half the workforce in this age group are now out work in Spain and Greece, and almost a quarter out of a job across the eurozone as a whole.
There was further gloomy news from the eurozone's manufacturing sector, as a survey indicated that manufacturing activity fell to a three-month low in March.
Selected unemployment rates
Greece 26.4%
Spain 26.3%
Portugal 17.5%
Italy 11.6%
France 10.8%
Germany 5.4%
Austria 4.8%
US 7.7%
Japan 4.2%
UK 7.7%
Source: Eurostat
The final Markit eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) for March fell to 46.8, slightly higher than an initial estimate but below the 47.9 recorded in February. Any score below 50 indicates a contraction in the sector.
Germany and the Republic of Ireland both fell back below 50, while the rate of decline accelerated in all other eurozone countries apart from France.
The survey indicated that output and new orders fell across the eurozone, while job losses increased.
"The surveys paint a very disappointing picture across the region," said Markit's chief economist Chris Williamson.
"The manufacturing sector looks likely to have acted as a drag on the economy in the first quarter, with an acceleration in the rate of decline in March raising the risk that the downturn may also intensify in the second quarter."
The eurozone economy is currently in recession, having contracted for the past three consecutive quarters. Some economists expect to see a further contraction in the first three months of this year when growth estimates are published by Eurostat on 15 May, with a slow return to moderate growth expected later in the year.
Analysts say that the short-term economic outlook remains bleak, given that many governments are cutting spending and raising taxes as they struggle to control high deficits and rising debt levels.
US factory orders rise thanks to aircraft sales
New orders at US factories rose in February from January mainly due to a jump in demand for commercial aircraft.
Orders for aircraft nearly doubled, and orders for motor vehicles and parts also increased by 1.4%.
The Commerce Department said orders were up by 3% overall in February - the biggest gain for five months - following a 1% fall in January.
Orders for all durable goods - products expected to last at least three years - were up by 5.6%.
And orders for non-durable goods, such as processed food and clothing, also rose - by 0.8%.
However, orders for core capital goods, including machinery and equipment, fell by 3.2%. Orders for computers and electronic products rose slightly.
Government spending cuts which came into force on 1 March may have an effect on future data.
On Monday, the Institute for Supply Management said that US manufacturing activity had expanded more slowly in March than February, after weaker growth in production and new orders.
The US economy has added an average of 200,000 jobs every month from November to February, bringing the unemployment rate in February to a four-year low of 7.7%.
UK to avoid triple dip recession, says BCC
The UK is set to avoid falling back into recession, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).
The BCC believes a strong performance by Britain's service industries during the first three months of the year has kept the economy growing.
But a separate business survey suggests any recovery has not included the UK's manufacturers.
The Markit/CIPS manufacturing purchasing managers' index suggests the sector continued to shrink last month.
The index registered negative growth for the second month running, and output fell at its fastest rate since October.
The decline was blamed on tough market conditions, subdued confidence and bad weather.
"The onus is now on the far larger service sector to prevent the UK from slipping into a triple-dip recession," said Rob Dobson, senior economist at Markit.
The BCC's survey, which included more than 7,000 firms, found that conditions for both the services and manufacturing sectors were improving, but the services sector saw some of the biggest improvements, with strong domestic sales and exports.
Services account for about three-quarters of the UK economy, while manufacturing makes up about a fifth of GDP. BCC chief economist David Kern said the results of its survey suggested the economy had grown in the first three months of 2013.
He said this was contrary to the picture of the economy being painted by official figures.
"The survey reinforces our assessment that recent [official] gross domestic product figures have exaggerated the weakness of the UK economy and the volatility in output," he said.
"If an announcement of negative growth in the first quarter is misleadingly described as a triple-dip recession, confidence will again be damaged unnecessarily."
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) will give preliminary estimates of GDP growth for the first quarter later this month.
Its figures show the economy shrank by 0.3% in the last three months of 2012. An economy is considered to be in recession if it contracts for two consecutive quarters.
If the UK economy does contract in the first three months of the year, it will have fallen back into recession for the third time in five years.
The BCC says it expects the UK economy will record "positive but subdued growth" in 2013, but its director general John Longworth was keen to sound a note of caution. He said the survey overall suggested a "long and tortuous road to recovery".
"These results provide a glimpse of the as-yet-distant sunlit uplands of recovery," he said.
"Businesses up and down the country are working hard to drive the economy, create jobs and export, but they cannot accelerate this process alone."
Manufacturers also said they needed help to ride out economic problems both at home and in key export markets in the eurozone.
Lee Hopley, chief economist at EEF, the manufacturers' organisation, said falling demand for UK exports was a particular concern.
"While manufacturers have made some good gains in non-EU markets over the past couple of years, the ongoing drag on orders from the eurozone is still significant and likely to impact on prospects over the coming months," she said.
Mixed signals over the future of the economy come ahead of the Bank of England's latest decision - due on Thursday - on whether to take more action to try to boost the economy.
Previous meetings of the bank's Monetary Policy Committee have seen members divided on whether to extend the current programme of quantitative easing.
Dow Jones and S&P climb to new highs
New York's Dow Jones and S&P 500 share indexes have set new all-time highs.
The rallies mean the stock markets are returning to levels not seen since before the global financial crisis.
The Dow rose 89 points, to close at 14,662, after an earlier intraday high of about 14,684, The previous record high of 14,285 was set in March.
And the broader S&P 500 closed at a record high of 1,570, suggesting investors are regaining confidence in the US economy.
The Dow has more than doubled in value since it plummeted to less than 6,550 points in the depth of the crisis in March 2009.
Tuesday's rally came after a US Department of Commerce report that showed new orders for manufactured goods rose 3% in February, topping predictions.
And carmakers General Motors, Ford and Chrysler reported strong US monthly sales performances.
GM said "a strengthening economy and new products" were factors behind the result.
Above average hurricane season predicted
Hurricane forecaster and Professor Emeritus, Dr. William Gray, is predicting what he described as an ‘above average’ Hurricane Season in 2013.
Addressing the 2013 National Hurricane Conference in New Orleans, Dr. Gray said his prediction is based on favorable conditions in the tropics.
“The only thing I can see that can stop it is if an El Nino develops for this year, and we don’t think that will happen,” he said.
An average session calls for 12 named storms of which 6 will become Hurricanes with 3 Intense Hurricanes of Categories 3, 4 or 5.
Attending the conference from Dominica was Former National Disaster Coordinator, Cecil Shillingford, who made a presentation on “The Effects of Secondary Hazards on Dominica” focusing on the 2011 flooding as a result of Hurricane Ophelia, landslides with specific mention of the 2010 San Sauveur Disaster and Storm Surges of Hurricanes Lenny and Omar, 1999 and 2008 respectively.
He also participated on a panel which looked at Disaster Risk Reduction efforts in the Caribbean Region and Moderated a session which looked at Hurricane Planning in the Private Sector, Tools for Alert and Warning and Early Warning in Dutch St. Maarten.
Shillingford is a member of a small committee which organized the Tropical Islands Sessions at the National Hurricane Conference. That Committee was able to arrange for 10 presentations from the Caribbean Region. Funding for most of the Caribbean presenters and participants to the Conference was made possible through the United States Agency for International Development/ Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA).
The four-day conference, which ended last week, included over a hundred sessions in forecasting, emergency response, insurance issues, recovery, debris management, techniques in increasing public awareness and Tropical Island issues and was attended by nearly 1,500 participants from across hurricane prone areas.
Rio de Janeiro bus in deadly viaduct fall
Seven people have died in Rio de Janeiro after a bus fell 10m from a viaduct in the city centre, Brazilian police say.
Several more passengers were injured as the 328 bus crashed on to the Avenida Brasil, one of the city's main thoroughfares, landing on its roof.
Firefighters said 13 passengers were on the bus at the time of the accident.
Fire engines, ambulances and two helicopters have been working to ferry the injured to hospitals.
Police said those killed were five men and two women.
The accident happened at around 16:30 (20:30 BST) close to Rio's Governor's Island, in the northern area of the city.
Globo TV footage shot from a helicopter showed emergency teams evacuating the injured from the overturned bus with rush-hour traffic at a standstill on Avenida Brasil.
The cause of the accident is not yet known. However, Globo cited a witness as saying that the driver had a dispute with a passenger shortly before the crash.
Police say they are investigating.
Digicel to sell 4G smartphone for under US$100
Caribbean consumers will soon be able to buy a fully loaded 4G Android smartphone for “well under US$100” from telecommunications company, Digicel Group.
Due to hit company retail stores in mid-May, the Digicel Smartphone DL600 will run on the latest version of the popular Android operating system (OS) - Jellybean 4.1.
In a statement issued from the company’s Kingston, Jamaica offices yesterday, Digicel said the phone’s other features include a 3.5 inch display, a one gigahertz (1Ghz) processor, “an aesthetically appealing and fresh design” that is 4G capable with speeds of 7.2 megabits per second (Mbps).
Although Digicel Group has more than 13 million customers of varying ages across 30 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific, the company is targeting the younger generation with the DL600.
“Fully loaded with a range of popular and useful apps (applications) which will allow customers to do more,” Digicel expressed confidence the DL600 would “appeal to young people on the go who want style, functionality and affordability, as well as superfast speeds to suit their busy lifestyles.”
Commercial Director for Digicel Group, Brian Finn, was quoted in yesterday’s statement as saying the aim of introducing a Digicel-branded smartphone was to bring “the amazing experience of 4G to as many people as possible. It’s about accessibility, style and affordability.”
Finn noted the demand in the youth market to be connected “via messaging, social media and other lifestyle and information apps,” all of which the DL600 was designed to deliver.
No word yet on where the phone is being manufactured or if it will be immediately available in all 30 of Digicel Group’s markets upon its release in mid-May.
Bermudian killed in US car crash
Condolences poured in yesterday for Bermudian Juriena Smith Vincent-Lee who was killed in a car crash in North Carolina on Saturday.
The former Bermuda police officer lost her life in the head-on collision; the driver of the other car died as well.
The 35-year-old’s mother, Lucetta Beckles, and her daughter’s adopted mother, Judy Lee, are to leave Bermuda for North Carolina today.
The victim’s two sisters, Keivanna Lee, 37, and Tiffany DeSilva, 30, are both resident in the UK but will join them to assist with funeral arrangements.
Ms Beckles was still in shock and very distraught when she spoke with The Royal Gazette yesterday.
She said her daughter was injured beyond recognition, identified only through dental records.
Ms Vincent-Lee moved to the US 15 years ago. She married Tashonda Vincent last year in Washington DC. She was employed with the North Carolina campus police in Hillsborough.
Said Ms Beckles: “My phone hasn’t stopped ringing since, but we are grateful for all of the condolences sent.”
Ms DeSilva said she and her sister were devastated on hearing of their sibling’s death.
“We still don’t have all the information, we’re heading out on Thursday for North Carolina to meet up with family there.
“My sister and I are coping with this, we all are, but it’s hard. It’s really, really hard,” she said.
“Things like this make me cherish my loved ones even more and I’m so grateful I spoke with Juriena on Wednesday. I will cherish that last conversation with her for the rest of my life and I feel so blessed that I got to tell her that I love her one last time.”
She continued: “I know she was very happy before her life was ended too soon. I just want to celebrate her life and I don’t want her to ever be forgotten. You could never ask for a better sister.
“She was always there, always supportive, always giving advice. It all feels like a bad dream that’s just wrong and it feels like it shouldn’t have happened.
“I can’t help but think of so many memories; I can’t really say what my fondest memory is of her I have so many. But what sticks out in my mind most today is when I was pregnant with my second child and how Juriena catered to me endlessly.
“I would tell her I could do it and she just refused to let me do anything. I don’t know why I even thought about that today.”
Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Michael DeSilva extended condolences to the family on behalf of the Bermuda Police Service.
“Juriena is a former Bermuda police officer who joined the service as a cadet in August 1995. She went on the following year to attend Recruit Foundation Course #52, where I was one of her trainers.
“I remember Juriena well, and I commented on her training reports that she was ‘an energetic young officer with huge potential’.
”During her short career with us she earned a Letter of Good Work from Commissioner Jean-Jacques Lemay for her excellent work on the task force. Juriena left the service in January 1999 to pursue further education, and she returned to us as a summer student until 2004.”
He continued: “Juriena will be remembered as a keen and determined officer who was always warm and pleasant. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family for their untimely and tragic loss.”
A memorial service is likely to be held in Bermuda in due course, a family member said.