EU leaders tell Britain to exit swiftly, market rout halts

LONDON/BRUSSELS - European leaders told Britain on Tuesday to act quickly to resolve the political and economic chaos unleashed by its vote to leave the European Union, a move the IMF said could put pressure on global growth.

Financial markets recovered slightly after the result of Thursday's referendum wiped a record $3 trillion off global shares and sterling fell to its lowest level in 31 years, but trading was volatile and policymakers said they would take all necessary measures to protect their economies.

British Finance Minister George Osborne, whose attempt to calm markets had fallen on deaf ears on Monday, said the country would have to cut spending and raise taxes to stabilize the economy after a third credit ratings agency downgraded its debt.

Firms have announced hiring freezes and possible job cuts, despite voters' hopes the economy would thrive outside the EU.

European countries are concerned about the impact of the uncertainty created by Britain's vote to leave on the 27 other EU member states. There is little idea of when, or even if, the country will formally declare it is quitting.

"The process for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union must start as soon as possible," French President Francois Hollande said. "I can't imagine any British government would not respect the choice of its own people."

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker sent a similar message as he prepared for talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron before an EU summit in Brussels, although he did not anticipate an immediate move.

"We cannot be embroiled in lasting uncertainty," Juncker said in a speech to the European Parliament, which he interrupted to ask British members of the assembly who campaigned to leave the EU why they were there.

Cameron, who called the referendum and tendered his resignation when it became clear he had failed to persuade Britain to stay in the EU, says he will leave it to his successor to formally declare the country's exit.

Arriving for the EU summit, he said: "I'll be explaining that Britain will be leaving the European Union but I want that process to be as constructive as possible, and I hope the outcome can be as constructive as possible.

Holding out hope of maintaining good relations with other European countries, he said Britain wanted "the closest possible relationship in terms of trade and cooperation and security. Because that is good for us and that is good for them."

His party says it aims to choose a new leader by early September. But those who campaigned for Britain's leave vote have made clear they hope to negotiate a new deal for the country with the EU before triggering the formal exit process. European leaders have said that is not an option.

"No notification, no negotiation," Juncker said.

No cherry-picking

After Cameron has addressed EU leaders on Tuesday evening, they will meet the next day to discuss Brexit without him.

Leave campaigners in Britain including Boris Johnson, a likely contender to replace Cameron, suggest the country can retain access to the European single market and curb immigration -- but those goals are mutually incompatible under EU rules.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Britain would not be able to "cherry-pick" parts of the EU, such as access to the single market, without accepting principles such as freedom of movement when it negotiates its exit from the bloc.

"I can only advise our British friends not to fool themselves ... in terms of the necessary decisions that need to be made in Britain," she told German parliament in Berlin.

Cameron will meet other European counterparts one-on-one before addressing them all at what promises to be a frosty dinner to discuss what has become known as Brexit.

EU lawmakers say they want him to trigger the exit process at the dinner, but an EU official said that was unrealistic given the political chaos in London, where both Cameron's party and opposition Labour lawmakers are deeply divided.

The ruling Conservative Party is split into pro- and anti-EU camps and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was facing a no confidence vote on Tuesday from parliamentarians who accuse him of lukewarm support for the EU.

The European Parliament jeered when Nigel Farage, the leader of Britain's euroskeptic UKIP party, said in a scathing speech that Europe had deceived its population and Britain would be its "best friend" if it agreed to extend a tariff-free trade deal.

But the vote has caused new friction in the EU at a time of crises over a mass influx of refugees, economic weakness and tensions on its borders with Russia.

Poland's foreign minister demanded Juncker and other leaders of the executive European Commission quit for not preserving the Union. The prime minister of Greece, enduring austerity measures in return for aid, said Europe must change direction.

Germany's financial market regulator delivered a double blow to London, saying it could not host the headquarters of a planned European stock exchange giant after Britain leaves the EU, and could not remain a center for trading in euros.

Fitch joined other credit ratings agencies in downgrading its sovereign debt on Monday, and Osborne said Britain faces tax rises and spending cuts.

"We are going to have to show the country and the world that the government can live within its means," Osborne, who campaigned to stay in the EU, told BBC radio.

Mayor seeks more autonomy for London

The 52-48 percent vote to leave has deepened multiple geographical as well as political and social divisions in the United Kingdom.

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, where a majority voted to stay and people fear job losses if the city loses its status as a global financial center, said access to Europe's market was key. "On behalf of all Londoners, I am demanding more autonomy for the capital - right now," he said.

Scotland, where people voted strongly to remain in Europe, is weighing a possible second referendum on leaving the United Kingdom given the vote to leave the EU.

Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon denounced what she called a vacuum of leadership in London and said three months of political drift until a successor to Cameron is in place would further damage Britain's economy. She said she would meet EU leaders on Wednesday to discuss how Scotland could remain.

The impact looked likely to spread far beyond Britain's borders although European shares rose after a heavy sell-off, partly due to hopes of a more co-ordinated central bank response to financial market losses. Sterling also rose and Wall Street opened higher as investors hunted for bargains.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said central banks around the world should aim to align monetary policies to mitigate "destabilizing spillovers" between economies.

Shares in European banks have come under particular pressure, especially those based in Britain, over doubts about future market access, and Italy, with high levels of bad loans.

Brexit creates huge political uncertainty and will put pressure on global growth, the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s Deputy Managing Director Zhu Min said on Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Tianjin in northern China.

Asian stocks rose and Chinese stocks, protected by capital controls, hit a three-week closing high. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang sought to reassure investors by saying the country would not allow "roller-coaster" rides in capital markets.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said England had collapsed "politically, monetarily, constitutionally and economically".

US President Barack Obama told National Public Radio there had been some hysteria "as if somehow NATO's gone, the trans-Atlantic alliance is dissolving, and every country is rushing off to its own corner. That's not what's happening."

In view of the disarray in Britain, some people questioned whether Brexit would happen at all. Nordea bank analysts gave it a likelihood of 70 percent and a senior EU official involved in the process said he thought the country may find a way never to announce its formal departure to the bloc. (Additional reporting by Alastair Macdonald, Paul Taylor, Gabriela Baczynska, Phil Blenkinsop and Jan-Robert Bartunek in Brussels; Sudip Kar-Gupta and Guy Faulconbridge in London and Alistair Scrutton in Stockholm)

source: interaksyon.com

NetSuite aims for the next billion dollar revenue

SAN JOSE, California — The biggest announcement in this year’s SuiteWorld is probably the statement of NetSuite Chief Executive Zach Nelson saying that after 18 years, the company he leads is set to become a Billion-dollar company in 2016.

With a vision to deliver enterprise-grade services via the cloud, Nelson attributes most of company’s success to the efforts of its employees worldwide, together with the companies, subsidiaries, and organizations that use its products as expressed in his keynote to delegates on the first day.

“Every type of company in the world is using Netsuite…and we’re very excited about that,” said Nelson. “The cloud has completely won. And my argument is, that is has won in every industry and will continue to win in every industry.”

Early this year, Netsuite was ranked as the No. 1 Cloud ERP vendor by research firm Gartner, and with a market share growing 45% in 2015, compared to its closest competitors having only single digit growth, except for Microsoft with 10.6 percent. Still, far from what the San Mateo-based ERP company achieved.

“Clearly (NetSuite) is the most widely used business system in the cloud in the world today.” said Nelson as he continue his keynote. “We will hit a billion dollar revenue this year.”

New products

At this year’s SuiteWorld, which happened at the San Jose Convention Center, one of the major announcements was SuiteBilling, a new product that recognizes the complex processes from order to billing to revenue recognition all within one system since it’s built natively into NetSuite’s core ERP system.

Another announcement was the release of a host of new product enhancements to NetSuite OneWorld, a cloud-based ERP system designed for enterprises to meet complex industry, regulatory and tax requirements at global scale. With OneWorld 16, the new release “further helps global companies increase operational efficiency, streamline financial reporting, deepen local and global compliance, localize business processes and deliver peace of mind for CFOs, controllers and finance users”.

“The robust functionality and flexibility of NetSuite OneWorld makes it the last ERP system you’ll ever need,” said Zach Nelson, NetSuite chief executive. “Whether they’re a fast-growing start-up or a multinational enterprise, NetSuite continues to meet customer demands with features that enable them to confidently expand into new markets, launch new products or services and adapt to customer and market demands with a unified and agile cloud-based platform.”

Further, Netsuite added new capabilities on the company’s Order Management application, which they said is one of the most widely used cloud-based, order management solutions in the world. With Intelligent Order Management, Netsuite provided intelligent omnichannel order allocation so merchants can automate how to best fulfill orders based on their inventory availability and the configurable business rules they establish inside the ERP system.

‘Most widely used business system’

When Nelson proclaimed that “every type of company in the world is using Netsuite…(and it’s the) most widely used business system in the cloud today”, the company co-founder’s pronouncement holds water.

Companies such as Boston Globe Media Partners, the parent company of Boston Globe; Specialty Bakery, a leading supplier of frozen bakery goods; Sanitary Care Products Asia (Sanicare), a manufacturer of home and facial paper products in the Philippines; that URBAN626, manufacturer of the URB-E compact electric vehicle; Lingerie Company of Australia, a leading luxury lingerie wholesaler and retailer who represents Simone Pérèle and Implicite brands; specialist professional recruitment company PageGroup; finance company SoFi, and Blue Yonder, a leading predictive applications company based in Germany, to name a few, are all NetSuite customers. A variety of companies catering to different markets, globally.

 And there seems to be no stopping in terms of diversity.

Only recently, the Japanese subsidiary, NetSuite Co., Ltd., added HobbyLink Japan Inc. to the company’s growing roster. HobbyLink is a distributor of Japanese toys and hobby products to consumers and retail businesses across the globe. The popular online source for anything anime has selected NetSuite OneWorld to support its global expansion plans.

Since its establishment in 1995, HobbyLink Japan, supplies some of the world’s finest hobby kits, figures and toys, to the delight of anime fans all over the world. The online e-commerce website includes a comprehensive selection of Gundam, Sci-Fi, anime and military models, books and supplies from a 4,000-square-meter facility in Tochigi.

For 20 years the toy distributor enjoyed business growth but experienced challenges with its existing on-premise accounting system and numerous spreadsheets that created extensive manual work and were prone to error. The company said that the old system required heavy customization and could only offer basic reporting capabilities. It added that employees had to hand code most of the customer queries and responses, which eventually hampered the company’s ability to manage growth.

“With NetSuite OneWorld, we expect to have clear insights into the business and business performance and I believe that there will be significant productivity improvements as the system will allow us to get near-instant access to business critical information,” said HobbyLink Chief Executive Scott Hards. We believe with NetSuite, we will be able to effectively manage our inventory to keep our stock levels and types at a point where we can execute well on demand and our customer service department can give the most up-to-date information to our customers. HobbyLink’s aim is to continue to supply the world’s finest hobby products and toys to its customers and provide an exceptional customer experience. “

HobbyLink Japan has a catalogue of 125,000 SKUs and actual inventory of 60,000 items that can be ordered online and shipped to customers and collectors around the world with large markets in the US, Australia, the UK, Canada, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Germany, Malaysia and the Philippines. Currently, 30 percent of its sales go through hobby shops and the other 70 percent through the ecommerce site.

“HobbyLink joins the growing number of businesses that see the value of bringing their mission-critical data together in NetSuite,” said Tomoyuki Nakanishi, vice president and general manager Japan for NetSuite. “With the flexibility, agility and scalability of NetSuite’s cloud ERP, these businesses can continue to grow and profit.”

source: interaksyon.com

FOCUS | Buyer's remorse as Brexit sinks in

LONDON - As the markets crashed, sterling hit a 31-year low and Prime Minister David Cameron resigned, it dawned on some of those who voted for Britain to leave the EU that they may have got it wrong.

"It's a bit too soon to know what's going to happen but I have the feeling I made a mistake," 32-year-old Pam McVey told AFP as she celebrated London's Gay Pride this weekend.

As the early implications of Thursday's historic referendum became clear, there was a buzz on social media as people shared the regrets of some of the 52 percent of Britons who voted to quit the 28-nation alliance.

"I'm a bit shocked, to be honest. I didn't think that was going to happen," said Adam, a young man interviewed on the BBC in a widely shared clip.

"My vote, I didn't think it was going to matter too much because I thought we were going to remain.

"The David Cameron resignation has blown me away to be honest. I think the period of uncertainty that we're going to have for the next couple of months, that's just been magnified now. So yeah, I'm quite worried."

Few people have had the courage to admit that they were wrong, but the hashtags #regrexit and #BrexitRegret or #Bregret were trending on Twitter -- used mostly to mock those who regretted their choice.

"We're the girl who got drunk & dumped her loving, stable boyfriend because he was a bit boring and now realises she's ruined her life," tweeted Leila Molana-Allen.

'What is the EU?'

Others had regrets that they had not voted in a referendum that will have far-reaching consequences.

"I didn't know we could vote," said Bianca Kostic-London, a 30-year-old Australian who would have been eligible because she is a citizen of the Commonwealth.

She cried when she realized. "I said it was my fault," she said, hand on her chest. "I did feel very bad and disappointed."

Research during the campaign revealed how many Britons were misinformed about the EU, particularly on immigration and economic issues -- the main focuses of the battle for votes in the run-up to the referendum.

It seemed that many did not seek to address this problem until it was too late.

Google Trends revealed that the second top search in Britain on Friday, as the results rolled in, was "What is the EU?"

For some of the regions who voted to leave, the result also prompted an urgent call for reassurance that the government in London would match any EU funds they might lose when Britain finally breaks with the bloc.

The leader of Cornwall council said he was seeking "urgent steps" to ensure the impoverished county in southwest England would be protected.

"We will be insisting that Cornwall receives investment equal to that provided by the EU program which has averaged £60 million ($82 million, 73 million) per year over the last 10 years," said John Pollard.

Similar appeals came from Yorkshire in northern England, and from the first minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, who had advocated a vote to "Remain" but whose countrymen and women chose to leave.

Wales and its three million population has benefited from more than £4 billion since 2000 from EU structural funds.

"Hi I'm Welsh. My community depends on EU funding and I voted out. FUCK #eufuckup" @eufuckup," wrote one social media user on twitter.

Others defended their decision, right or wrong. "I voted leave. if it turns out that it was the wrong decision in the future, I have the right to regret it," wrote one.

source: interaksyon.com

ANALYSIS | Can the EU survive Brexit?

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Britain's vote to become the first country to leave the EU, as projected by national media, is a shattering blow that threatens the survival of the post-war European project, officials and analysts said.

The loss of one of its biggest members will at the very least force major changes on an embattled bloc already struggling to deal with growing populism, a migration crisis and economic woes.

In the long-run, "Brexit" may lead to other countries holding referendums, a far looser union, and possibly even the disintegration of a grouping set up 60 years ago to bring security and prosperity after World War II.

EU President Donald Tusk warned in the run-up to the vote that Brexit could lead to the "destruction of not only the EU but also of Western political civilization."

With Europe facing a resurgent Russia and the threat of terrorism, Tusk said "our enemies ... will open a bottle of champagne if the result of referendum is negative for us."

In a less doom-laden assessment, European Commission Chief Jean-Claude Juncker said last week that the EU was not "in danger of death" from a Brexit but that it would have to learn lessons.

'Very serious blow'

Chris Bickerton, a lecturer at Britain's Cambridge University and author of "The European Union: A Citizen's Guide," said it was a "very serious blow" but not terminal, given the "core role" of the EU in much of European political life.

But he added that it would probably drift towards a "looser, ad hoc" union.

"I don't think it would suddenly disappear but over the longer term, we might see it slowly decline and become something different," he told AFP.

The next steps for the EU would be difficult, he added.

"We are very much in uncharted territory," he said. "I don't think anyone really thought Brexit was really likely, certainly not when they were negotiating with Cameron, otherwise they would have done a very different deal."

In the immediate aftermath of the British vote, seven years of potentially bitter divorce negotiations between Brussels and London loom.

The remaining EU countries will likely be keen to move ahead. France and Germany, the main EU heavyweights, have already been working on a joint plan for the future.

But with Berlin and Paris at loggerheads over future integration of the eurozone, any plan is likely to be a modest affair that deals only with issues such as security and defense.

Even without Britain in the club, the drift away from "ever closer union" and federalism is likely to increase, with growing talk of a "two-speed Europe" that allows states opt-outs from key rules.

One major step could be making membership of the euro non-compulsory, which would help Poland, which appears to have no intention of joining the single currency but is officially meant to.

Domino effect?
The main fear in many European capitals is that either way, the result could trigger a domino effect of referendums in other countries.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Tuesday urged all EU states to follow Britain's example, and eurosxeptics in the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden have made similar calls for referendums.

Vivien Pertusot, Brussels-based analyst with the French Institute of International Relations, said the EU was likely to survive but be weakened.

"Institutions rarely die," he told AFP. "Maybe there will not be disintegration, but a loss of relevance. The EU will lose, bit by bit, its centrality for all the most political projects."

The danger for the EU is that even after it makes changes following the British referendum, it will still not be able to quell the forces of history tearing it apart.

"The EU is in a negative spiral," Janis Emmanouilidis, director of studies at Brussels-based think tank European Policy Centre, told AFP.

The question of what could replace the EU if it does collapse is even more vexed.

"It might sound as if yes, this story has ended, a new one has begun, but that's not easy. Especially after the experience of failure," said Emmanouilidis.

source: interaksyon.com

The latest Samsung Galaxy J Series is here

MANILA, Philippines — Samsung Philippines launched today the Galaxy J Series, which the South Korean tech giant said would answer many smartphone woes often encountered by Filipinos.

Lost signal, high phone bill charges on data usage, and running out of storage memory are among the problems most smartphones users have, and will soon be a thing of the past with the new J Series smartphones, according to tech company.

First up is the Signal Max, an RF technology feature that provides wider signal coverage and at the same time enhances call quality. Along with all components of the three-point Signal Flow Technology, the new Galaxy J Series makes it so much easier to stay connected, allowing J Series users to enjoy an upgraded call quality.

Then, there’s the Ultra Data Saving for optimized data usage — a mobile saving solution that saves up to 50% on mobile data by compressing applications and browser content and limiting mobile data to only selected applications. It frees up the phone’s RAM for an enhanced performance, greatly improving your browsing experience. Samsung said that it even exerts less effort on the battery, prolonging hours of phone usage.

The smartphone’s 16GB memory and bundled with a 32GB micro SD card — a total of 48GB memory — allows users to store more content. Plus, its 13MP F/1.9 camera and its rear 5MP camera can take clear selfies with its autofocus ability, complemented by a powerful Quad Core Processor for top performance.

Both Android-based devices come with equally powerful fast-charging batteries 3,100mAH batteries and large screen HD Super AMOLED displays (5.2-inch for the J5, while the Galaxy J7 carries 5.5-inch). The J Series also come with exclusive Filipino-themed wallpapers, icons and screensavers.

The Galaxy J5 is tagged at P11,990 and the J7, P14,990.

source: interaksyon.com

Sony brings latest ‘intelligent’ Xperia X-Series smartphones to PH market

MANILA, Philippines — Sony Philippines recently introduced the new Xperia flagship mobile devices with the launch of the Xperia X and Xperia XA — two new smartphones under the X Series.

The two Android-powered Sony smartphones deliver next generation features with a fresh new look, improved camera technology, smart battery management, and stylish design.

“Smartphone users are demanding more from their smartphones: some want a better camera, others longer battery life, and the rest just simply want a sleeker design,” said Jhoana Benedicto, marketing officer for Sony Mobile’s the Philippine office. “Sony Mobile took this into consideration and provides a major improvement with the X Series. Every detail of the X series shows great improvement in all the key areas, particularly in camera, battery, and design.”

The X Series offers a range of next-gen technologies: from fast autofocus on a moving object with Xperia X’s Predictive Hybrid Autofocus and a more stable video capture that features SteadyShot video stabilization for recording smooth videos and minimizing “shaky cam” effects, to low-light selfie camera on the XA model for an anytime, anywhere shot.

The Xperia X is equipped with camera features such as an improved 13MP front camera and quick startup from standby mode of only 0.6 seconds at the touch of a button to capture that once in a lifetime photo moment.

Crafted with a seamless metal back and curved glass edges of its 5-inch display, the Xperia X also has fingerprint sensor on the power button which provides instant access to the phone.

The phone’s smart battery management provide up to two days of battery life with its Quick Charge technology delivering up to two times battery lifespan using ground-breaking Qnovo Adaptive Charging technology that maintains battery health while charging.

For the mid-range Xperia XA model, this Sony smartphone features the world’s narrowest 5-inch smartphone in a sophisticated bezel-less design that gives a seamless edge-to-edge display that stretches the full width of the phone to make full use of the entire display.

It comes with a 13MP rear camera, plus hybrid autofocus, and super-fast quick launch, too. In addition, the XA’s 8MP front camera enables users to capture clear photos in low-light environment including an improved wide angle lens.

XA’s battery power lasts up to two days from a single charge. And with the same smart battery management system as the Xperia X, the Qnovo Adaptive Charging technology gives the Xperia XA two times battery lifespan. Pairing this smartphone model with the optional accessory Quick Charger, the user can get 5.5 hours of battery life with just a 10-minute charge.

The dual-SIM Xperia X is tagged at P29,990 and comes in colors: Graphite Black, White, Lime Gold, Rose Gold. While the Xperia XA is P13,990 in colors: Graphite Black, White, Lime Gold, Rose Gold. Both smartphones will also be available on all Sony Centers and Xperia shops nationwide by early July.

source: interaksyon.com

Trumped by Trump, Republicans stumped for words

WASHINGTON -- The awkward efforts of Republicans to embrace their party’s standard-bearer Donald Trump looked particularly painful in Congress this week as lawmakers ducked into elevators, dashed away from reporters, ignored questions or, worse, tried to answer them.

Only days after a furor over his criticism of a Mexican-American judge, the presumptive presidential nominee sent Republicans reeling again by renewing his call for a ban on Muslim immigration after a gunman who pledged allegiance to Islamic militants killed of 49 people at a Florida nightclub.

Then former reality TV star Trump waded into two sensitive topics for social conservatives by embracing the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and suggesting the country may need certain new gun control measures.

For lawmakers accustomed to well-crafted talking points and predictable lines of questioning, the week marked a chaotic flurry of contorted responses or terse, tight-lipped replies.

Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming walked away when asked about Trump's embrace of the LGBT community, saying: "I don’t know what the latest is. I haven’t read anything. I haven’t been watching."

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a former Trump adversary in the presidential primaries, had to bat away two Trump questions before he could announce that he is considering running for re-election -- a decision that could determine whether Republicans retain control of the Senate in the November 8 election.

Senator Ted Cruz, another rival in the primaries, refused to respond directly to the speech in which Trump hardened his line on Muslims while Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr called it “an OK speech” before stepping into an elevator and refusing to respond to any more questions.

The Trump challenge is obvious even for seasoned Republicans. 

"I'm spending my days commenting on everything that Donald Trump says," lamented John McCain, chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee.

Orrin Hatch, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate, ricocheted from rejection of Trump’s comments on Muslims to doubts about the legality of his proposed immigration ban to bafflement over the billionaire’s response to the Orlando shootings.

'You can't make this up'

Trump controversies have also overshadowed House Speaker Paul Ryan’s rollout of a policy agenda, a campaign document that was supposed to help bring Trump’s position more into line with mainline party doctrine.

Asked on Thursday whether he was bothered by having to contend with Trump's remarks, Ryan called Trump "a different kind of candidate ... (in) a different kind of year."

Asked how many more times he would be called on to do so, Ryan said: "I don't know the answer to that question either."

In an ironic message to his critics among the Republican leadership this week, Trump had this to say: "Be quiet, just please be quiet. Don't talk. Please be quiet. Just be quiet.”

Ryan's response? "... You can't make this up sometimes," he said.

A political neophyte who has never held elected office, Trump has also said he may not need much from his Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill anyway.

"We have to have our Republicans either stick together or let me just do it by myself. I’ll do very well,” he said in a CNN interview. “A lot of people thought I should do that anyway, but I'll just do it very nicely by myself." 

source: interaksyon.com

Tech, beauty intersect in Silicon Valley

SAN FRANCISCO, California — The beauty industry has long relied on creating a sense of mystery, magic even, around its creams, powders and potions. But now it has something else up its sleeve: high technology.

French cosmetics giant L’Oreal has opened a “tech incubator” employing two dozen people in San Francisco and elsewhere seeking ways to use big data and algorithms to win the hearts and minds of customers.

It may involve analyzing large data sets to find the right color for nail polish, or patches that measure absorption of ultraviolet radiation — or using technology to spot emerging beauty trends ahead of the curve.

The French group is hoping that Silicon Valley’s talents can help it improve its products and connect better with customers.

Guive Balooch, who heads the San Francisco incubator, said he sees how these kinds of analytics and other technologies can help improve beauty products.

One of the innovations from the team has resulted in the L’Oreal Lancome brand developing an individualized makeup foundation, known as “Le Teint Particulier.”

This system, now used in some retail outlets, scans a person’s skin and uses an algorithm that designs a custom-blended product based on skin tone. The system was developed by California startup Sayuki, which L’Oreal bought in 2014.

L’Oreal’s team also created the Makeup Genius application which uses virtual reality to allow people to try various makeup schemes on their smartphone. It has been downloaded some 20 million times.

The cosmetics giant also worked with California Organovo for “bioprinting,” creating three-dimensional human tissue to test its cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, and with PCH Lime Lab, a San Francisco design and engineering firm on the patch that sticks to one’s skin and changes color with exposure to sun rays.

Hair tech

The L’Oreal team also hopes one day to have a Genius app on hair color, which could help another key product line, if it can overcome technical challenges.

“Hair color is very complex, because you have 100,000 fibers on average in your hair, on your head, and they’re all moving in different directions,” Balooch said.

L’Oreal wants to stay on top of trends, and the data analytics team can play an important role, says Balooch.

“We do know from anonymous data what colors people are trying all around the world, we know what products they’re trying, we know how long they’re using them before trying something else,” Balooch said.

Being aware of new trends is also critical for marketing efforts. L’Oreal is working with Google, with whom it has an online advertising deal, to help better understand fashion trends by studying search queries.

This could allow L’Oreal to place ads better based on keywords, according to its digital strategist Axel Adida.

Adida said it is important “to be on point with the latest fashion that comes up on the street.”

“The thing which is very cool when you work with Google, it’s a sort of beauty insight center,” he added.

“So the things that come up and that pop up as a novelty, the new fashion and beauty, a lot of it is being searched very early. You see little things moving in the trends — and you end up with something as big as smoky eyes.”

source: interaksyon.com

Around 20 dead, 42 injured in Orlando gay bar attack: officials

ORLANDO, Florida - An estimated 20 people were killed at a gay nightclub after a heavily armed gunman seized hostages early Sunday, prompting a police SWAT team to storm the venue, officials said.

"Unfortunately there are people who died from gunshot wounds, maybe around 20, inside the night club," FBI special agent Ron Harper told a media briefing.

He said around 42 injured were taken to three area hospitals.

The gunman has been identified as an citizen of Afghan descent, US television networks reported on Sunday.

Quoting law enforcement sources, CBS News named the shooter as Omar Mateen, who was born to Afghan parents in 1986 and lives in Port St Lucie, Florida.

The network reported that Mateen -- who died in a shootout with police after the hostage siege -- has no apparent criminal history and that authorities are investigating whether he had ties to Islamic extremism.

Police have yet to officially identify the gunman.

'Hostage situation'

"This did turn into a hostage situation," Orlando police chief John Mina said. "At approximately 0500 hours (0900 GMT) this morning, the decision was made to rescue hostages that were in there."

It was unclear whether all the victims were killed by the gunman or if some died in the ensuing shootout with police.

Police said earlier in a Twitter message that there were "multiple injuries". Local media reported that from seven to as many as 20 people had been shot at the Pulse nightclub, but had no further details.

The nightclub urged patrons to "get out" and "keep running" in a post on its Facebook page.

Several patrons had posted on social media that a gunman was holed up inside and holding hostages. One man who said he was inside the club posted that the shooting broke out around 2 a.m. and that he heard about 40 shots being fired.

Police said they had carried out a "controlled explosion" at the club hours after the shooting broke out, but did not say why that was done. They described the scene as a "fluid situation".

Video posted online showed a large number of police and emergency vehicles outside the nightclub. Bomb sniffing dogs were also on the scene, CNN reported.

The nightclub shooting occurred just a day after a man thought to be a deranged fan fatally shot Christina Grimmie, a rising singing star who gained fame on YouTube and as a contestant on "The Voice", while she was signing autographs after a concert in Orlando.

source: interaksyon.com

Marriage quality has differing effects on diabetes risks for men and women

Marriage has been linked to health benefits, especially happy marriage, but when it comes to developing or controlling type 2 diabetes, marriage quality seems to have opposite effects on men and women, according to a US study.

For women, a happier marriage meant lower risk of developing diabetes over a five-year period, but for men, declining marriage quality was tied to lower risk of diabetes and better control of the condition for those who had it, researchers found.

“The results for men suggesting that an increase in negative marital quality is related to lower risk of developing diabetes and higher chance of controlling diabetes are surprising,” said lead author Hui Liu of the department of sociology at Michigan State University in East Lansing.

A good marriage may provide a source of emotional and social support and help to reduce stress for women, who are more sensitive to stress than men, Liu told Reuters Health by email.

“Wives are more likely than husbands to regulate the spouses' health behaviors,” reminding their husband to quit smoking, eat healthier and take medication, which may promote the husbands' health but at the same time may also increase marital strain, she said.

The researchers looked at data from two national surveys, in 2005 and 2010, and focused on 1,228 married people aged 57 to 84 years who participated in both waves.

Each time, the men and women answered questions about closeness, happiness and emotional satisfaction in their marriages, how much of their free time they prefer to spend with their spouse and how often their spouse made too many demands on them.

Participants also had lab tests in 2005 and again in 2010. In the first wave, 389 people, or 19 percent of the whole group, had type 2 diabetes based on formal diagnosis or on blood sugar levels at the time. In 2010, 30 percent of participants were diabetic.

For women, an increase in reported marriage quality between 2005 and 2010 was tied to a lower risk of having diabetes in 2010. But for men, an increase in negative marital quality was associated with lower risk of having diabetes in 2010 and a higher chance of controlling diabetes in 2010, according to the results in the Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences.

It’s unclear if marriage quality causes changes in diabetes management or if the two are related in some other way, Liu said.

In a previous study, Liu found that poorer marital quality is related to higher risk of cardiovascular disease for women, but not men.

“Some forms of marital strain can be protective, but support can be stifling,” said Deborah Carr, professor of sociology at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, who was not part of the new study.

“Marital conflict doesn’t necessarily mean tension and discord, it can be squabbles over things like, ‘why didn’t you take your meds’?” Carr told Reuters Health.

This paper and most others accounted for other factors like race, age, socioeconomic status and other physical health conditions, Carr said.

For older men with a health condition, “being supported and coddled might actually be anxiety provoking,” she said.

“For women, improving marital quality may help to reduce the risk of diabetes,” Liu said. “For men, wives' nagging on health behaviors may be good for their health.”

It’s a very rare patient who is wholly responsible for their own health, Carr said.

“It’s important for healthcare providers to get a sense of what marriage is like and important for spouses to go to doctor appointments together,” she said.

source: interaksyon.com

Facebook gets in game-streaming with Blizzard

SAN FRANCISCO, California – Facebook on Monday announced that it is getting into the eSports game, jumping into the field of video games as spectator sports against Amazon-owned Twitch and Google’s YouTube Gaming.

Later this month, people will be able to use Facebook accounts to log in to Blizzard Entertainment computer games such as “World of Warcraft.”

The move will pave the way for Blizzard game fans to use the leading social network’s Live video service to broadcast play in real time, the companies said in a joint release.

California-based Blizzard, owned by video game publisher Activision, is in the process of creating a “Go Live” feature that would let players stream on-screen action to Facebook timelines, according to the companies.

Blizzard games in line for the Facebook streaming capability included freshly released “Overwatch.”

The collaboration will add social features to Blizzard games while highlighting Facebook as a platform for sharing, viewing and discussing play, the companies said.

“Our collaboration on ‘Overwatch’ demonstrates Facebook’s commitment to partnering with AAA game companies, while further empowering Blizzard gamers to connect and share the content they’re most passionate about with the friends they play with around the world,” said Facebook global games director Leo Olebe.

“Overwatch” is a team-based shooter game played online.

Facebook earlier this year ramped up its challenge to Twitter-owned Periscope with upgrades to the social network’s live video broadcasting feature.

A new featured was added to the Live streaming feature at Facebook to let people “broadcast: to groups at the social network or in scheduled “events.”

Facebook Live launched in the middle of last year and was initially limited to celebrities but recently opened to a wider audience of broadcasters.

- eSports heavyweights -

Getting into the eSports game will pit Facebook against heavyweight rivals including pioneering firm Twitch and popular online video sharing service YouTube, owned by Google-parent Alphabet.

Yahoo Esports launched about two months ago as an online venue for live tournaments, commentary, features, interviews and more tailored for the booming trend of video games as spectator sports.

The rollout of YouTube Gaming in the middle of last year marked the public debut of an online spot where video game lovers can find commentary, live play, on-demand snippets and more.

The online arena for video game channels incorporates the search smarts of Google to surface fresh or must-see content.

US online retail giant Amazon snatched up Twitch and its huge audience for live-streamed gaming in 2014.

The acquisition was one of the largest in Amazon’s history — $970 million in cash for the three-year-old Internet company.

Twitch Interactive streams games being played for non-playing viewers to watch, and hosts gaming events.

It allows viewers to chat with the players and others, lending it some of the qualities of social networking websites, and it also sells advertising to generate income.

source: interaksyon.com

Success with immunotherapy in handling hard to treat cancer

CHICAGO - Results of several clinical trials released Sunday show the revolutionary potential of immunotherapy in treating advanced cases of hard to treat types of cancer, such as bladder and lung cancer.

One has shown that the antibody Tecentriq -- a product of Genentech, a subsidiary of the Swiss pharmaceutical Roche -- reduced advanced bladder tumors in a quarter of 119 patients tested, with a median survival of almost 15 months. These results compare with a nine to 10 month survival rate typical with chemotherapy, the researchers said.

The findings were presented at the annual conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the world's largest cancer congress, held this weekend in Chicago.

Tecentriq, which allows the immune system to attack the cancer cells, was shown to be effective with patients who had advanced bladder cancer and were too weak for chemotherapy.

"Up to half of patients with advanced bladder cancer are too frail to receive the only known survival-prolonging treatment," said lead study author Arjun Vasant Balar, a medical doctor and assistant professor of medicine at New York University.

"We are encouraged to see that atezolizumab immunotherapy may help address this major unmet need," Balar said.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently authorized sales of Tecentriq on an expedited basis based on preliminary results of this clinical trial.

"This and other immunotherapies have brought new momentum to bladder cancer treatment, which until recently had seen practically no treatment advances in more than a decade," said Charles Ryan, a professor of clinical medicine and urology at the University of California at San Francisco who participated in the study.

"The fact that this treatment appears safe for elderly patients, who too often have few good options, is all the more encouraging," Ryan said.

The researchers plan to carry out a more extensive clinical trial with Tecentriq as first treatment for advanced bladder cancer that mainly affects older people, the vast majority of whom are smokers or former smokers.


Promising treatment

A new immunotherapy combined with an agent that kills cancer cells has also shown to be promising in treating patients suffering from the most aggressive form of lung cancer, which amounts to 10 to 15 percent of all lung tumors, according to the results of a separate clinical trial with 74 patients that was presented at ASCO Sunday.

This treatment combines a new immunotherapy, rovalpituzumab tesirine (Rova-T), developed by the start-up Stemcentrx that was recently acquired by the US laboratory AbbVie.

This combination blocked tumor growth in 89 percent of patients with high levels of DLL3 protein, and resulted in a cancer regression in 39 percent of the group being tested, which included some who had been given only one more year to live.

"We've seen too few successes in recent years for small cell lung cancer, which makes these early signs of efficacy all the more encouraging," said lead study author Charles Rudin, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

A European study also presented at the ASCO conference showed encouraging results for an immunotherapy that targets the protein claudine18.2 in cases of advanced gastric cancer.

That immunotherapy, IMAB362 of Germany's Ganymed Pharmaceuticals, is also combined with chemotherapy.

The clinical study with 161 patients who suffered from aggressive gastric tumors showed that this antibody significantly prolonged their survival when combined with chemotherapy, with 13.2 months or 16.7 months against 8.4 or nine months in patients treated with chemotherapy alone.

source: interaksyon.com

Amber Heard sues comedian Stanhope for defamation over Johnny Depp

LOS ANGELES | Lawyers for actress Amber Heard filed a defamation lawsuit against comedian Doug Stanhope on Friday after he wrote an article accusing her of blackmailing and manipulating her estranged husband, actor Johnny Depp.

The complaint was filed in Cochise County, Arizona, against Stanhope and 20 unnamed individuals associated with the comedian.

The lawsuit demands a jury trial and says that Heard would donate all proceeds to a battered women’s shelter in Arizona.

Representatives for Stanhope and Depp did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The complaint is in response to a May 29 guest column by Stanhope published on entertainment trade outlet TheWrap.com and headlined “Johnny Depp Is Being Blackmailed by Amber Heard – Here’s How I Know.”

Stanhope, who said he was a friend of Depp’s, wrote that Depp had told him that Heard was leaving him and “threatening to lie about him publicly in any and every possible duplicitous way if he didn’t agree to her terms.”

“Blackmail is what I would imagine other people might put it, including the manner in which he is now being vilified,” Stanhope wrote.

Lawyers for Heard called Stanhope’s comments, detailed in the complaint, “completely false and highly defamatory.”

The lawsuit is the latest step in the increasingly acrimonious split between Heard, 30, and Depp, 52, who had been married for 15 months.

Heard filed for divorce from Depp in Los Angeles last month, citing irreconcilable differences, and obtained a temporary restraining order against the actor.

She said in court papers that Depp had been abusive to her throughout their relationship, culminating in a May 21 argument during which he hurled a cell phone at her face and shattered objects in her apartment.

The documents included photos of the actress with a bruised eye that she said she sustained in the incident. Heard later gave a statement to Los Angeles police in which she accused Depp of domestic violence.

Depp, one of Hollywood’s top stars and box office draws, is currently touring with his band Hollywood Vampires in Europe and is scheduled to perform in Bucharest, Romania, on Monday.

The actor’s 17-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, Lily-Rose Depp, supported her father on Instagram last week, posting a photo captioning her father as “the sweetest most loving person I know.”

source: interaksyon.com

Clinton attacks Trump's foreign policy as a threat to US safety

WASHINGTON - US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton lambasted Donald Trump's foreign policy platform as "dangerously incoherent" in a speech on Thursday that cast her Republican rival as both a frightening and laughable figure.

In remarks that at times resembled a comedy roast, Clinton unleashed a torrent of polished zingers and one-liners to attack Trump's policies and character, suggesting Trump might start a nuclear war if elected to the White House simply because "somebody got under his very thin skin."

"Donald Trump's ideas are not just different, they are dangerously incoherent," she said to a room of supporters in San Diego, California. "They're not even really ideas, just a series of bizarre rants, personal feuds and outright lies."

Clinton, the front-runner in the race to become the Democratic presidential nominee, delivered her speech as she seeks to shift her attention to the Nov. 8 election against likely rival Trump and away from Bernie Sanders, a US senator from Vermont, who is continuing his long-shot bid for the nomination.

Clinton was speaking in San Diego ahead of California's June 7 primary election.

Democratic Party leaders have fretted about how to best oppose Trump, who managed to knock out all 16 rivals for the Republican nomination in part with his uninhibited style of assailing them with personal insults. Trump revels in referring to Clinton as "Crooked Hillary" and dredging up the infidelities of her husband, Bill Clinton, the former president.

Clinton's remarks were intended in part to show she would not be cowed and that she could go toe-to-toe with him in scornful put-downs.

"He says he has foreign policy experience because he ran the Miss Universe pageant in Russia," she said as the crowd guffawed, and she suggested Trump would run the US economy "like one of his casinos."

During her speech, Clinton predicted Trump, who has been deeply critical of Clinton's foreign policy record, would take to his Twitter account to insult her, and he did.

"Bad performance by Crooked Hillary Clinton!" ran one posting during the speech, which included a typo. "Reading poorly from the telepromter! She doesn't even look presidential!"

Trump has said previously that Clinton is distorting his actual policies.

Two visions

Amid the laugh lines, Clinton cited her own experience as secretary of state, in particular her role advising President Barack Obama during the mission to kill al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, to suggest her approach to foreign policy was the more serious.

"He praises dictators like Vladimir Putin and picks fights with our friends, including the British prime minister, the mayor of London, the German chancellor, the president of Mexico and the pope," Clinton said, listing some of the allies with whom Trump has verbally sparred in the last year.

Obama, who has also been repeatedly mocked by Trump, has criticized Trump as being ignorant or cavalier about world affairs and has said that Trump's rise has "rattled" foreign leaders.

Trump has talked tough on foreign policy. He has said he would bring back waterboarding and other brutal interrogation techniques for terrorism suspects that are widely regarded as torture and were discontinued by Obama.

Trump has also vowed to renegotiate trade deals, called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country, and said he would ask members of the 28-nation NATO alliance to "pay up" or "get out." He has said he would sit down with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try to stop Pyongyang's nuclear program.

Clinton derided these and other positions, promising she would do a better job keeping the United States safe. Standing in front of a backdrop of 19 large US flags, an unusual abundance even by the standards of presidential campaign events, Clinton painted the election as a choice between "two very different visions."

"One that's angry, afraid and based on the idea that America is fundamentally weak and in decline," she said, summing up Trumpism. "The other is hopeful, generous and confident in the knowledge that America is great, just like we always have been."

Trump has criticized Clinton for her handling of foreign policy during her 2009-2013 stint as secretary of state, including the Sept. 11, 2012, attack by Islamist militants on a US diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the US ambassador and three other Americans.

He cites Clinton's support for the war in Iraq, launched by former Republican President George W. Bush, as another example of her shortcomings.

Democratic challenger Sanders echoed Clinton's concerns about Trump after her speech, though he also criticized Clinton's foreign policy. "I agree ... that Donald Trump's foreign policy ideas are incredibly reckless and irresponsible," Sanders said in a statement.

In criticizing Clinton, Sanders cited her vote for the war in Iraq, calling it "the worst foreign policy blunder in modern American history," and said "she has been a proponent of regime change, as in Libya, without thinking through the consequences."

In assailing each other's suitability for the White House, Clinton and Trump are reflecting a negative voter mood ahead of next month's party conventions that will choose the presidential nominees.

Both Clinton and Trump are facing record-low favorability ratings. A Reuters/Ipsos poll taken Friday through Tuesday shows half of Trump supporters say the primary reason they are going to vote for him is "I don't want Hillary Clinton to win," while 41 percent of Clinton supporters cite their primary reason as not wanting Trump to win. (Additional reporting by Chris Khan in New York and Ginger Gibson in Washington)

source: interaksyon.com