Friday, June 30, 2017

Rapper Jay Z addresses infidelity, newborn twins in ‘4:44’ album


LOS ANGELES | Rapper Jay Z let his music do the talking with his new album “4:44” on Friday as he addressed cheating on his wife Beyonce, the birth of his twins and this year’s Oscars best picture.

In the title track, Jay Z admitted in his lyrics that he “often womanize”, more than a year after R&B star Beyonce first shed light on his infidelities in her album “Lemonade”.

Jay Z pens a remorseful ode to his fractured marriage in “4:44”, rapping that it “took for my child to be born, see through a woman’s eyes” in reference to the couple’s daughter Blue Ivy.

He also mentioned their twins, who were reported to have been born this month but whose arrival has yet to be officially confirmed, saying it “took for these natural twins to believe in miracles, took me too long for this song, I don’t deserve you”.

Jay Z added: “What good is a menage a trois when you have a soul mate? You risked that for Blue? … my heart breaks for the day I had to explain my mistakes.”

Fans were left stunned last year when Beyonce made accusations in “Lemonade” that Jay Z had cheated on her, a rare crack in the seemingly perfect facade of one of music’s highest-profile couples.

In her song “Sorry”, Beyonce referred to a mystery woman, calling her “Becky with the good hair”, which is echoed in Jay Z’s track “Family Feud”, a duet with Beyonce in which he raps “Let me alone Becky”.

“4:44” was released exclusively on premium music streaming platform Tidal, founded by Jay Z, in partnership with U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Corp, which purchased a 33 percent stake in Tidal this year and made the album available via a six-month Tidal subscription to Sprint mobile customers.

It can also be heard throughout Friday across 160 U.S. radio stations on iHeartRadio, the digital music service for a network of traditional radio stations.

The 35-minute album features Blue Ivy on the track “Legacy”, in which the five-year-old asks “Daddy, what’s a will?” as the rapper expresses hope that his children use their wealth to promote “black excellence”.

In “Moonlight”, Jay Z tackles the impact of the film being named best picture at this year’s Oscars while in “The Story of O.J.”, the rapper explores black identity in America.

source: interaksyon.com

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Cyberattack sweeps globe, researchers see ‘WannaCry’ link


MOSCOW/KIEV/WASHINGTON — A major global cyberattack on Tuesday disrupted computers at Russia’s biggest oil company, Ukrainian banks and multinational firms with a virus similar to the ransomware that last month infected more than 300,000 computers.

The rapidly spreading cyber extortion campaign underscored growing concerns that businesses have failed to secure their networks from increasingly aggressive hackers, who have shown they are capable of shutting down critical infrastructure and crippling corporate and government networks.

It included code known as “Eternal Blue,” which cyber security experts widely believe was stolen from the U.S. National Security Agency and was also used in last month’s ransomware attack, named “WannaCry.”

“Cyberattacks can simply destroy us,” said Kevin Johnson, chief executive of cyber security firm Secure Ideas. “Companies are just not doing what they are supposed to do to fix the problem.”

The ransomware virus crippled computers running Microsoft Corp’s Windows by encrypting hard drives and overwriting files, then demanded $300 in bitcoin payments to restore access. More than 30 victims paid into the bitcoin account associated with the attack, according to a public ledger of transactions listed on blockchain.info.

Microsoft said the virus could spread through a flaw that was patched in a security update in March.

“We are continuing to investigate and will take appropriate action to protect customers,” a spokesman for the company said, adding that Microsoft antivirus software detects and removes it.

Russia and Ukraine were most affected by the thousands of attacks, according to security software maker Kaspersky Lab, with other victims spread across countries including Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United States. The total number of attacks was unknown.

Security experts said they expected the impact to be smaller than WannaCry since many computers had been patched with Windows updates in the wake of WannaCry last month to protect them against attacks using Eternal Blue code.

Still, the attack could be more dangerous than traditional strains of ransomware because it makes computers unresponsive and unable to reboot, Juniper Networks said in a blog post analyzing the attack.

Researchers said the attack may have borrowed malware code used in earlier ransomware campaigns known as “Petya” and “GoldenEye.”

Following last month’s attack, governments, security firms and industrial groups aggressively advised businesses and consumers to make sure all their computers were updated with Microsoft patches to defend against the threat.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it was monitoring the attacks and coordinating with other countries. It advised victims not to pay the extortion, saying that doing so does not guarantee access will be restored.

In a statement, the White House National Security Council said there was currently no risk to public safety. The United States was investigating the attack and determined to hold those responsible accountable, it said.

The NSA did not respond to a request for comment. The spy agency has not publicly said whether it built Eternal Blue and other hacking tools leaked online by an entity known as Shadow Brokers.

Several private security experts have said they believe Shadow Brokers is tied to the Russian government, and that the North Korean government was behind WannaCry. Both countries’ governments deny charges they are involved in hacking.

WATCH THE REUTERS TV REPORT:


The first attacks were reported from Russia and Ukraine.

Russia’s Rosneft, one of the world’s biggest crude producers by volume, said its systems had suffered “serious consequences,” but added oil production had not been affected because it switched over to backup systems.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Pavlo Rozenko said the government’s computer network went down and the central bank reported disruption to operations at banks and firms including the state power distributor.

Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk said it was among the victims, reporting outages at facilities including its Los Angeles terminal.

WPP, the world’s largest advertising agency, said it was also infected. A WPP employee who asked not to be named said that workers were told to shut down their computers: “The building has come to a standstill.”

A Ukrainian media company said its computers were blocked and it was asked to pay $300 in the crypto-currency bitcoin to regain access.

“Perhaps you are busy looking for a way to recover your files, but don’t waste your time. Nobody can recover your files without our decryption service,” the message said, according to a screenshot posted on Ukraine’s Channel 24.

Russia’s central bank said there were isolated cases of lenders’ IT systems being infected. One consumer lender, Home Credit, had to suspend client operations.

Other companies that identified themselves as victims included French construction materials firm Saint Gobain, U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co.  and Mars Inc.’s Royal Canin pet food business.

India-based employees at Beiersdorf, makers of Nivea skin care products, and Reckitt Benckiser, which owns Enfamil and Lysol, told Reuters the ransomware attack had impacted some of their systems in the country.

Western Pennsylvania’s Heritage Valley Health System’s entire network was shut down by a cyber attack on Tuesday, according to local media reports.

Last’s month’s fast-spreading WannaCry ransomware attack was crippled after a 22-year-old British security researcher Marcus Hutchins created a so-called “kill switch” that experts hailed as the decisive step in slowing the attack.

Security experts said they did not believe that the ransomware released on Tuesday had a kill switch, meaning that it might be harder to stop.

Ukraine’s cyber police said on Twitter that a vulnerability in software used by MEDoc, a Ukrainian accounting firm, may have been an initial source of the virus, which researchers including cyber intelligence firm Flashpoint said could have infected victims via an illegitimate software update.

In a Facebook post, MEDoc confirmed it had been hacked but denied responsibility for originating the attack.

An adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister said earlier in the day that the virus got into computer systems via “phishing” emails written in Russian and Ukrainian designed to lure employees into opening them.

According to the state security agency, the emails contained infected Word documents or PDF files as attachments.

Following is a list of companies and organizations that have reported being hit by cyberattacks:


ROSNEFT

Russia’s top oil producer Rosneft said its servers had been hit been a large-scale cyberattack but its oil production was unaffected.

A.P. MOLLER-MAERSK


Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk, which handles one out of seven containers shipped globally, said a cyberattack had caused outages at its computer systems across the world.

Maersk’s port operator APM Terminals was also hit. Dutch broadcaster RTV Rijnmond reported that 17 shipping container terminals run by APM Terminals had been hacked, including two in Rotterdam and 15 in other parts of the world.

WPP

Britain’s WPP, the world’s biggest advertising company, said computer systems within several of its agencies had been hit by a suspected cyberattack.

MERCK & CO

Pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. said in a tweet its computer network was compromised as part of a global hack.

RUSSIAN BANKS

Russia’s central bank said there had been “computer attacks” on Russian banks and that in isolated cases their IT systems had been infected.

All Russian branches of Home Credit consumer lender are closed because of a cyberattack, an employee of a Home Credit call center in Russia said.

UKRAINIAN BANKS, POWER GRID

A number of Ukrainian banks and companies, including the state power distributor, were hit by a cyberattack that disrupted some operations, the Ukrainian central bank said.

UKRAINIAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT


Yevhen Dykhne, director of the capital’s Boryspil Airport, said it had been hit. “In connection with the irregular situation, some flight delays are possible,” Dykhne said in a post on Facebook.

SAINT GOBAIN


French construction materials company Saint Gobain said it had been a victim of a cyberattack, and it had isolated its computer systems to protect data.

DEUTSCHE POST


German postal and logistics company Deutsche Post said systems of its Express division in the Ukraine have in part been affected by a cyberattack.

METRO

Germany’s Metro said its wholesale stores in the Ukraine had been hit by a cyberattack and the retailer was assessing the impact.

MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL


Food company Mondelez International said employees in different regions were experiencing technical problems but it was unclear whether this was due to a cyberattack.

TNT EXPRESS


The Netherlands-based shipping company said it was experiencing interference with some of its systems, following a global ransomware attack.

EVRAZ

Russian steelmaker Evraz said its information systems had been hit by a cyberattack but its output was not affected.

NORWAY

A ransomware cyberattack is taking place in Norway and is affecting an unnamed international company, the Nordic country’s national security authority.

MARS INC

A unit of candy manufacturer Mars Inc. has been targeted by cyber attackers, and the company has isolated the issue, a spokeswoman for the company said.

BEIERSDORF AG

India-based employees at Beiersdorf AG, the maker of Nivea skincare products, told Reuters the ransomware attack had impacted some of the company’s systems in the country. The extent of the impact was unclear and Beiersdorf, which is based in Germany, could not be reached immediately for comment in India.

RECKITT BENCKISER


The Indian unit of British consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc, which owns brands such as Enfamil, Dettol and Lysol, was also hit by the ransomware attack, employees in India told Reuters. The extent of the impact on its systems was not immediately clear and the company could not be reached for comment in India.

source: interaksyon.com

Monday, June 26, 2017

‘Transformers: The Last Knight’ opens to franchise low $69.1 million


LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) | It seems the “Transformers” franchise is rusty.

As of Sunday morning “Transformers: The Last Knight,” the fifth installment directed by Michael Bay, looks to bring in $69.1 million from 4,069 domestic locations during its five-day opening weekend.

That’s a franchise low for the sequel from Paramount and Hasbro, behind the first in the modern series, which earned $70.5 million in 2007. “The Last Knight” carries an estimated $217 million production budget.

This makes “Transformers: The Last Knight” the latest summer blockbuster to bank on overseas ticket sales to have a shot at turning a profit. In China, the big-budget action sequel made $41 million in its opening day alone. The projected international come through Sunday is $196.2 million, powered by $123.4 million in China.

“The Last Knight” comes at a time when Paramount could have used an all-around hit, following recent misses “Baywatch” and “Ghost in the Shell.”

While the latest “Transformers” movie has been advertised as “the final chapter” and Bay’s last go-around, the franchise will continue — Paramount has at least two more movies slated, including a spinoff that could star Hailee Steinfeld. The franchise has historically been massively profitable and seen solid multiples for the studio. Together, the first four earned over $1.3 billion domestically and well over $3.5 billion worldwide.

The latest take on the series centers on an alliance between Bumblebee, Cade Yeager — who Mark Wahlberg also played in 2014’s “Age of Extinction” — and roles played by franchise newcomers Anthony Hopkins and Laura Haddock. Together, the team works together to save the world. Audiences have earned the film a B+ CinemaScore, while critics have mostly dismissed it — it currently holds a 15 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

“The Last Knight” was uncontested at the box office this weekend, but a few indie releases showed traction. Sofia Coppola’s “The Beguiled” remake from Focus Features played at four theaters this weekend, and should gross $240,545 with a strong per screen average before it expands to over 500 locations next weekend.

“We’re thrilled by this opening,” said Lisa Bunnell, Focus Features’ distribution president. “This is Focus’ third collaboration with Sofia and she’s created an entertaining, atmospheric thriller featuring strong female representation in front of and behind the camera.”

And Kumail Nanjiani’s critically adored romantic comedy “The Big Sick” should earn $435,000 during its opening weekend in five locations — that would give the Lionsgate and Amazon Studios release the highest per screen average of any film that has opened this year so far.

“Kumail and Emily’s true story provided audiences of all ages a much-needed alternative to the summer blockbusters,” said Bob Berney, Amazon Studios’ distribution chief.

Otherwise, “Wonder Woman” continues to post impressive numbers, and holds onto second place during its fourth weekend in theaters. This weekend, it should earn an additional $25.2 million, bringing its domestic total to $318.4 million. Earlier this week, the film became the highest-grossing live-action movie to be directed by a woman — a major distinction for Patty Jenkins.

Disney and Pixar’s “Cars 3” also looks to earn $25.2 million domestically during its second weekend. Some estimates have the film slightly lower, just below $25 million. The family film, which won last weekend’s box office, is expected to pass the $100 million mark in North America by Monday.

“Transformers: The Last Knight’s” performance is a tough break for the summer box office’s bottom line domestically.

For the past two years, this weekend has seen monster grosses for “Jurassic World” and “Finding Dory.” Now, attention is turned toward a trio of releases next weekend, as the box office hopes for a shot in the arm from “Despicable Me 3,” “Baby Driver,” and “The House.”

source: interaksyon.com

LOOK | Rainbow cheers and love at the Metro Manila Pride March


On Saturday, June 24, some 7,500 members of the LGBTQ+ community and their supporters gathered in Marikina City for this year’s Metro Manila Pride March and Festival. Colorful floats, people in rainbow-inspired clothes and accessories, and big and small rainbow flags set the happy and safe atmosphere. Most of all, the unity was palpable as curious spectators were welcomed to join the parade and as a group condemning the community were peacefully tolerated by organizers and participants.

Known as the longest running Pride March in Southeast Asia and now on its 23rd year, “Here Together”—“calling for the community, its allies, friends, family, and even strangers, to come together in a safe space to celebrate love, rights, and pride.”



Nicky Castillo, Co-Coordinator of Metro Manila Pride said in a statement, “At the Pride March and Festival, we provide people with a space where they can express their true selves without fear. But this year, we also want to call on the non-LGBTQ+ people who support us to stand up, speak out, and march on for us. Our voices have been loud these last 23 years. But in our campaign for equality, we need more voices. We need your voices.”

Metro Manila Pride also brought its #PassADB (Anti-Discrimination Bill) campaign on the forefront.

Co-coordinator Loreen Ordoño also told InterAksyon, “It’s important to have these voices standing here together with us because we can’t do it alone. The non-LGBT folks are our family members, co-workers, schoolmates, etc who can help us in the fight against discrimination, hate, and can also help us lobby for the passage of the bill into law. We need their voices.”


 Marikina has been celebrating its own pride marches for the past years; this is the first time it is hosting the metro-wide march and festival. As such, organizers of the Metro Pride March praised Marikina as one of those cities helping to create a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community.

source: interaksyon.com

Friday, June 23, 2017

Tesla moves a step closer to building electric cars in China


BEIJING/DETROIT | Tesla Inc took a step closer toward establishing an electric vehicle manufacturing plant in China with its announcement on Thursday that it is in exploratory talks with the Shanghai municipal government.

Tesla has said it wants to build electric cars in China to avoid a 25-percent tariff on imported vehicles.

The company did not provide a timeline for setting up a China plant, but said it expects to “more clearly define” its China production plans by the end of the year.

Tesla shares closed up 1.7 percent at $382.61 in Thursday trading.

China’s central government requires foreign companies such as Tesla to have a Chinese partner in new auto manufacturing ventures, with the foreign company owning no more than 50 percent.

Tesla did not say which companies it might partner with, sparking rampant online speculation. At least three companies – Shanghai Electric Group Co, Shanghai Lingang Holdings Co and Tianjin Motor Dies Co – reported in exchange filings that they were not in touch with Tesla about its plans in response to media reports implicating them.

Much of the speculation has centered on Tencent Holdings Ltd, the internet giant that is China’s largest company. Earlier this year, Tencent acquired a five-percent stake in Tesla for $1.8 billion (1.4 billion pounds).

Tesla has not said which vehicles it plans to build in China. However, a supplier familiar with the company’s thinking said it was considering the Model 3 sedan and a crossover companion called Model Y. The Model 3 is slated to begin production in July at Tesla’s Fremont plant in California, with the Model Y tentatively scheduled to follow in mid-2019.

In a separate but related development, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Thursday he was concerned about Ford Motor Co’s announcement earlier this week that it will move some production of its Focus small car to China and import the vehicles to the United States.

“If it happened for reasons that are non-economic reasons, then I think the administration should take action,” Lighthizer told U.S. lawmakers.

Tesla is the most valuable U.S. automaker, with a market capitalization of more than $60 billion, but it has yet to turn an annual profit.

source: interaksyon.com

Maine Mendoza broadens her horizons beyond AlDub


If there’s anyone who understands that fame is fleeting, it’s Maine Mendoza.

The 22-year-old actress knows what it feels like to be a total unknown one moment and on top of the world the next — as a result of her onscreen love team with actor Alden Richards. She knows the process could go the other way just as quickly.

But two years after she became an overnight phenomenon, Maine is still overwhelmed by the blessings that continue to come her way.

“I never dreamed of being in this position. Everything happened so fast for me and Alden. I still could not fathom what people saw in me. It’s a question that I honestly still could not answer,” Maine said in mostly Filipino during the recent launch of CDO Funtastyk Young Pork Tocino’s “Forever Young” campaign.

Maine insists that a lot of people may not be aware of it but much of AlDub’s success is a product of hard work.

“Some people think that what we do is easy, that it’s all glitz and glamour and everything is very relaxed. But the truth is, there’s a lot of downside to being an artist, a celebrity,” the reluctant superstar pointed out.

Although AlDub remains a daily trending topic on Twitter, the frenzy has somewhat settled down as Maine and Alden are taking well-deserved respites while waiting for their next big projects after their successful teleserye, “Destined to be Yours,” and their blockbuster movie, “Imagine You and Me.”

Even so, Maine is still trying to find ways to broaden her horizons and reveal sides of her that not too many of her fans have noticed before.

“Just like in most things, once you reach the top, you just want to maintain your ranking,” Maine noted.

Early this year, she was included in Mega magazine’s 25 Iconic Women list. Last month, she landed on the cover of the 20th anniversary issue of Cosmopolitan magazine and just recently posted several photos from her recent vacation at the Maldives that also showed her sexy side, which might explain her Top 10 ranking in the last update of FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women list.

But while Maine is not likely to shed her wholesome image anytime soon, most of her activities are geared towards showing her fans that she’s enjoying whatever she has while she still has it.

Maine admits that she’s inspired by the success of CDO Funtastyk Young Pork Tocino, considered as the country’s number one tocino.

“I’m very impressed with the unique concept of their ‘Forever Young’ commercial. We began the campaign with me just saying, ‘Iba talaga pag forever young’ which had people wondering if this is about a new beauty product until we revealed that it’s about food, about CDO Funtastyk Young Pork Tocino. I think this is the kind of campaign that will look and sound fresh for consumers.”

Maine says she’s personally fascinated by the idea of being “forever young” which for her also serves as a reminder to keep her feet firmly planted on the ground.

“Fame may not last forever but at least when it comes to tocino, you can have something that’s forever young,” she quipped.

source: interaksyon.com

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

China’s two supercomputers world’s fastest; US squeezed out of 3rd place


WASHINGTON | China’s Sunway TaihuLight and Tianhe-2 are still the world’s fastest and second fastest machines, but America’s Titan was squeezed into fourth place by an upgraded Swiss system, according to the latest edition of the semiannual T0P500 list of supercomputers released Monday.

China’s homegrown supercomputers

Sunway TaihuLight, described by the T0P500 list as “far and away the most powerful number-cruncher on the planet,” maintained the lead since last June, when it dethroned Tianhe-2, the former champion for the previous three consecutive years.

It means that a Chinese supercomputer has topped the rankings maintained by researchers in the United States and Germany for nine times in a row.

What’s more, Sunway TaihuLight, with a performance of 93 petaflops, was built entirely using processors designed and made in China.

“It highlights China’s ability to conduct independent research in the supercomputing field,” Haohuan Fu, deputy director of the National Supercomputing Center, where Sunway TaihuLight was installed, told Xinhua.

“China is simultaneously developing hardware and software technologies of supercomputers,” Fu said. “It is expected that rapid development in homegrown hardware technologies, supported by homegrown software, will lead to a stronger research and engineering test capacity in many fields, thus promoting an industrial upgrading and, eventually, a sustainable development of China’s homegrown supercomputing industry.”

Tianhe-2, capable of performing 33.9 petaflops, was based on Intel chips, something banned by the U.S. government from selling to four supercomputing institutions in China since 2015.

Swiss system ‘really a surprise’


In the latest rankings, the new number three supercomputer is the upgraded Piz Daint, a system installed at the Swiss National Supercomputing Center.

Its current performance of 19.6 petaflops pushed Titan, a machine installed at the U.S. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, into fourth place. Titan’s performance of 17.6 petaflops has remained constant since it was installed in 2012.

“This is the second time in the 24-year history of the TOP500 list that the United States has failed to secure any of the top three positions,” the TOP500 organizers said in a statement.

The only other time this occurred was in November 1996, when three Japanese systems captured the top three spots.

“Nevertheless, the U.S. still claims five of the top 10 supercomputers, which is more than any other nation,” they said.

Fu called the upgraded Swiss system “really a surprise,” saying that “it reflects the increased investment in large-scale supercomputers in Europe.”

America’s strong strength


“Although the U.S. dropped out of the top three, it still has strong strength in high performance computing,” Fu told Xinhua. “If everything goes well, we could see two U.S. systems with a performance of 200 to 300 petaflops in the next rankings at the end of the year.”

Just days before the TOP500 announcement, the U.S. Department of Energy said it has awarded AMD, Cray, HP Enterprise, IBM, Intel and NVIDIA a total of 258 million U.S. dollars in funding to accelerate the development of next-generation supercomputers.

“Continued U.S. leadership in high performance computing is essential to our security, prosperity, and economic competitiveness as a nation,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said in a recent statement.

The immediate goal of the United States is to develop at least one exascale-capable system by 2021, which will be at least 10 times faster than China’s Sunway TaihuLight.

“Global competition for this technological dominance is fierce,” the U.S. Department of Energy asserted. “However, the U.S. retains global leadership in the actual application of high performance computing to national security, industry, and science.”

In addition, the latest list showed that the United States leads the pack in the total number of TOP500 systems, with 169, while China is a close second with 160. Both countries lost share compared to six months ago, when they each claimed 171 systems.

Besides the United States and China, the most well-represented countries on the list are Japan, with 33 supercomputers, Germany, with 28, France, with 18, and Britain, with 17.

Overall, aggregate performance on the TOP500 rose to 749 petaflops, a 32 percent jump from a year ago.

Such an increase, though, is well below the list’s historical growth rate of about 185 percent per year, said the organizers.

“The slower growth in list performance is a trend that began in 2013, and has shown no signs of reversal,” they said.

When it comes to companies making these systems, the U.S.-based Hewlett-Packard Enterprise claims the number one spot with 143 supercomputers. China’s Lenovo is the second most popular vendor, with 88 systems, and Cray is in third place, with 57.

There are three other Chinese companies in the vendor list: Sugon (No. 4 with 44 systems), Inspur (No. 6 with 20 systems) and Huawei (No. 7 with 19 systems).

The Top500 list is considered one of the most authoritative rankings of the world’s supercomputers. It is compiled on the basis of the machines’ performance on the Linpack benchmark by experts from the United States and Germany.

source: interaksyon.com

Sunday, June 18, 2017

Beyonce gives birth to twins: celebrity news websites


U.S. singer Beyonce has given birth to twins in Los Angeles, several celebrity news websites reported on Saturday, citing unidentified sources.

Beyonce, 35, and rapper and music producer Jay Z, already have a five-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy.

E! News, citing multiple unidentified sources, reported the birth and that Jay Z and Blue Ivy were seen at a Los Angeles area hospital on Thursday.

Us Weekly, also citing multiple unidentified sources, reported that the couple welcomed twins earlier this week.

“Bey and Jay are thrilled and have started sharing the news with their family and closest friends,” one unidentified source told PEOPLE.

Reuters could not verify the reports. A representative for Beyonce did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The celebrity news websites did not provide additional details, such as the date and time the twins were born or the sex of the infants.

The “Lemonade” singer, one of the most powerful women in the music business, announced the pregnancy on her Instagram account in February along with an image of her posed in lingerie and caressing a noticeable baby bump.

The announcement got more than 8 million “likes” in the first 24 hours to become the “most-liked” Instagram ever.

The R&B singer performed live at the Grammy awards in Los Angeles two weeks later, proudly displaying her swelling belly in a motherhood-themed show. She has since posted numerous pictures of her bare baby bump on her social media accounts.

The birth of Blue Ivy caused a paparazzi storm in 2012, with New York’s Lenox Hill hospital shutting down part of its maternity wing to accommodate music’s royal couple.

News of the pregnancy came less than a year after the release of Beyonce’s 2016 album “Lemonade,” in which she appeared to address long-standing rumors of trouble in her eight-year marriage.

The lyrics of several songs spoke about being cheated on, and regretting being married. But Beyonce made clear in the final tracks of the album and in music videos featuring Jay-Z that she had decided to stay in the relationship.

The couple have never addressed the rumors publicly.

source: interaksyon.com

Thursday, June 15, 2017

UPS shooting leaves 4, including gunman, dead in San Francisco


SAN FRANCISCO — A UPS driver armed with a handgun opened fire at a United Parcel Service Inc. package-sorting center in San Francisco on Wednesday, killing three people before fatally shooting himself as officers closed in.

The victims, like the gunman, were also company drivers, said Steve Gaut, head of investor relations at UPS. The man opened fire while the workers were gathered for their daily morning meeting before they were due to head out on their delivery routes, he added.

Two other people were taken to an area hospital with gunshot wounds, San Francisco police said. Authorities did not immediately identify the gunman or the victims.

Police offered no explanation as to a possible motive for the shooting. But Assistant Police Chief Toney Chaplin told a news conference the shooting was not an act of terrorism.

Police recovered two firearms from the UPS facility, including the murder weapon, which they described as an “assault pistol.”

The UPS facility, which employs about 350 workers in the city’s Potrero Hill area, was initially placed under a security lockdown as a precaution.

The gun violence there erupted hours after another, unrelated mass shooting at a charity baseball practice in the suburbs of the nation’s capital left a congressman and several others wounded before the assailant was killed by police.

“We are always saddened by the loss of life to gun violence. Any shooting is one shooting too many,” San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said on Twitter.

Gaut said the facility’s employees were dismissed from work once the lockdown was lifted and that most had since left the building. The company is providing trauma and grief counseling.

Video footage from the scene showed a massive police presence near the facility, with workers being escorted outside and embracing one another on the sidewalk.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all those touched by this incident,” UPS said in a statement. A similar statement of condolence was issued by James Hoffa, president of the Teamsters union that represents UPS workers.

The San Francisco bloodshed came three years after a UPS employee shot and killed two of his supervisors before turning the gun on himself at a UPS distribution center in Birmingham, Alabama. That gunman had recently been fired from the facility.

The deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history occurred in June 2016 when a gunman claiming allegiance to the Islamic State militant group killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

Gun laws in the United States rank among the most permissive of any developed country, with the right to “keep and bear arms” enshrined in the Constitution’s Second Amendment. Efforts to tighten national gun control measures failed after mass shootings at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012 and the nightclub shooting in Orlando.

source: interaksyon.com

Friday, June 9, 2017

PM May’s grip on power in doubt as UK election heads for stalemate


LONDON — British voters punished Theresa May for her electoral gamble by denying her the resounding mandate she wanted to strengthen her hand in Brexit talks, casting doubt over her premiership and raising the prospect of a deadlocked parliament.

An exit poll predicted the Conservatives would win 314 seats in Britain’s 650-member parliament and the left-wing opposition Labor Party 266 — a “hung parliament” with no clear winner.

May unexpectedly called the snap election seven weeks ago to increase the slim majority she had inherited from predecessor David Cameron before launching into arduous divorce talks with the European Union, set to start in just over a week.

Instead, if the exit poll showing strong gains for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labor is anywhere near accurate, she risks losing power in what would be an ignominious end to her 11 months at Number 10 Downing Street.

May had spent the campaign denouncing Corbyn as the weak leader of a spendthrift party that would crash Britain’s economy and flounder in Brexit talks, while she would provide “strong and stable leadership” to clinch a good deal for Britain.

But her campaign unraveled after a major policy u-turn on care for the elderly, while Corbyn’s old-school socialist platform and more impassioned campaigning style won wider support than anyone had foreseen.

“We still don’t know the final result of this election, it is too early to say, but it looks likely to be a very, very bad result for Theresa May,” said Labor’s Deputy Leader Tom Watson in a statement after holding his own seat.

Sterling fell by more than two cents against the U.S. dollar.

“A hung parliament is the worst outcome from a markets perspective as it creates another layer of uncertainty ahead of the Brexit negotiations and chips away at what is already a short timeline to secure a deal for Britain,” said Craig Erlam, an analyst with brokerage Oanda in London.

Brexit questions
With the smaller parties more closely aligned with Labor than with the Conservatives, the prospect of Corbyn becoming prime minister no longer seems fanciful.

That would make the course of Brexit even harder to predict. During his three decades on Labor’s leftist fringe, Corbyn consistently opposed European integration and denounced the EU as a corporate, capitalist body.

As party leader, he unenthusiastically campaigned for Britain to remain in the bloc. How he would steer Britain through Brexit negotiations has not been explained in detail.

Early results were in line with the exit poll, with Labor doing better than expected. That was in part because votes that had previously gone to the anti-EU UKIP party were splitting evenly between the two major parties instead of going overwhelmingly to the Conservatives as pundits had expected.

The Conservatives failed to win the constituency of Darlington in northern England, a key target. In Wales, the closely-fought Vale of Clwyd seat was the first to switch from the Conservatives to Labor.

One of May’s top ministers, Home Secretary Amber Rudd, faced a recount in her south coast constituency, an indication that the result there was very close.

In Battersea, a London constituency, a Conservative junior finance minister lost her seat to Labor.

Even if the exit poll has underestimated the number of Conservative seats, as it did in 2015, and the party ends up with a slim majority, May will be so weakened that she may not be able to keep her job.

When she called the election, she was enjoying opinion poll leads of 20 points and more. She was widely expected to win a landslide. Should she now be forced to step down, that would make her tenure the shortest of any British premier since the 1920s.

“MAYHEM” screamed the headline in the tabloid Sun newspaper. “Britain on a knife edge,” said the Daily Mail.

Troubled campaign
Apart from the U-turn on care policy, May was also criticized during the campaign for refusing to debate her opponents on television. After Britain was hit by two Islamist militant attacks that killed 30 people in less than two weeks, she also faced questions for having overseen cuts to numbers of police officers during her six years as interior minister.

Her opinion poll lead narrowed sharply, although the consensus before the exit poll remained that she would win a majority.

If the exit poll is correct and neither party wins an overall majority, Corbyn could attempt to form a government with smaller parties that also strongly oppose most of May’s policies on domestic issues such as public spending cuts.

If Labor does take power with the backing of the Scottish Nationalist Party and the center-left Liberal Democrats, both parties adamantly opposed to Brexit, Britain’s future will be very different to the course the Conservatives were planning.

Labor has said it would push ahead with Brexit but would scrap May’s negotiating plans and make its priority maintaining the benefits of both the EU single market and its customs union.

In domestic policy, it proposes raising taxes for the richest 5 percent of Britons, scrapping university tuition fees, investing 250 billion pounds ($315 billion) in infrastructure plans and re-nationalizing the railways and postal service.

The exit poll forecast the Scottish National Party (SNP) would win 34 seats, the center-left Liberal Democrats 14, the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru three and the Greens one. Other parties were projected to win 18 seats.

“If the poll is anything like accurate, this is completely catastrophic for the Conservatives and for Theresa May,” said George Osborne, former Conservative finance minister.

May herself had said during her campaign: “It’s a fact that if we lose just six seats, we will lose our majority and Jeremy Corbyn will become prime minister,” predicting that the Scottish Nationalists and Liberal Democrats would back him.

“Well results are still coming in, but we are going to hold her to that,” Labor’s deputy leader Watson said.

Almost all of the smaller parties are opposed to May’s Brexit strategy built around leaving the EU’s single market, controlling immigration and escaping the jurisdiction of EU courts.

The center-left, strongly pro-EU Liberal Democrats, who were in coalition with the Conservatives between 2010 and 2015, looked unlikely to go down that route again. They were close to wiped out in the 2015 election.

Their former leader Nick Clegg, who was deputy prime minister during the coalition years, said the party would not prop up a Conservative government.

In Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist Party, a natural ally of the Conservatives, said it would negotiate with the Conservatives if they fell short of a majority, as both parties had common ground.

source: interaksyon.com

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

‘PLANET OF THE APPS’ | Apple’s first TV series shows what it takes to build an app


LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA | Apple Inc’s long-awaited move into original television series starts Tuesday, with a reality show about a universe that is key to the technology giant’s business: the world of app developers trying to bring their ideas to the masses.

The 10-episode “Planet of the Apps,” an unscripted show with similarities to ABC’s “Shark Tank,” is part of an effort to add exclusive video programing to Apple’s music streaming service to help attract new subscribers. The first episode will be available for streaming around the globe starting at 9 p.m. PDT on Tuesday (midnight EDT/0400 GMT).

Hollywood has been awaiting the entry of deep-pocketed Apple into original TV series, a field crowded with award-winning dramas and comedies from outlets such as Netflix and Time Warner Inc’s HBO.

The first “Apps” episode will be free to anyone who wants to see it on iTunes and the show’s website. Subsequent episodes will be released each Tuesday on Apple Music and available only to the streaming service’s subscribers.

On the show, developers try to interest celebrity mentors with a 60-second pitch on an escalator. The advisers help contestants build their products and prepare appeals for funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners, the first investor in Snapchat.

“The question when you have ideas is how to take those to fruition,” Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services, said in an interview. “Sometimes you may not know how, you might be afraid of what’s involved. This really shows how that’s possible.”

Apple’s future programing plans include an adaptation of comedian James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke” segment from his CBS show that will begin airing in August, as well as a documentary about Sean Combs in June and another about Clive Davis in a few months, Cue said.

“Planet of the Apps” came from musician will.i.am, who with producer Ben Silverman had shopped the series to traditional TV players before approaching Apple. Will.i.am appears as a judge alongside entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk and actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Alba, who have started businesses.

“I felt like this was a great way to show that app developers or business people are not just white dudes in suits, or white dudes coding,” Alba said.

In the first two episodes, developers present apps for online shopping, campus safety and a school backpack. One team tries to adapt after Google announces a feature similar to its own concept. Another developer feels overwhelmed by will.i.am’s rapid-fire list of ideas.

At the show’s end, viewers are told they can download the apps from Apple’s App Store. The show itself will be promoted on the Apple.com home page, on iTunes and elsewhere.

“All of our customers are going to be exposed to this in one way or another,” Cue said.

source: interaksyon.com

Monday, June 5, 2017

Epson dominates printer market


MANILA, PHILIPPINES | Taking its cue on what consumers are looking for in a printer, Epson pioneered the world’s first genuine Ink Tank System printers, thus gaining a larger market in the printing category.

The Epson L-Series, which came to the market in 2013, combines the best of both worlds: an inkjet printer that significantly lowered total ownership costs while producing Epson-quality prints.

This innovation “stemmed from the customers’ drive for high volume printing and affordable supplies cost without sacrificing quality and reliability,” practically revolutionized the landscape of printing.

“Epson has changed the market with the introduction of the Genuine Ink Tank and we have become the brand of choice here in the country and the whole of Southeast Asia as well. Since the launch of the first Epson L-Series printers, we have sold over 15 million units, and we are glad to say that 1 out of 2 printers sold last year was an Epson inkjet printer”, said Russer Cabrera, product manager for Business Inkjet Printers, Epson Philippines.

With the Japanese company’s Vision Statement dubbed “Epson 2025”, first unveiled last 2016, the company has since strengthened its focus on its four key areas of innovation, Visual innovation (projectors), Wearables innovation (smart glass), Robotics innovation, and Inkjet innovation.

According to Epson, for Inkjet innovations, Epson gained a 51% market share, while in the Professional Printers category, where Epson also continues to dominate, the company reported a 41% market share. Moreover, Epson has also been the No. 1 POS Receipt Printer for 7 years running.

The intelligent range of Epson POS printers connect seamlessly with tablet POS solutions, operating connectivity via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet — which creates new opportunities of growth and mobility for retail businesses.

“Epson delivers unmatched ease-of-use, exceptional connectivity and legendary quality for customers, with all the technical resources they need,” said Thea Austria, product manager for Professional Printers Group, Epson Philippines.

Epson’s small printer category also includes label printers, which have been developed for industrial and commercial use, addressing the new wave of printing on-demand in color.

For his part, Toshimitsu Tanaka, managing director and president, Epson Philippines and country manager, Epson Singapore Pte. Ltd, said: “2017 is truly vital for the company as we continue to focus on making lives simpler and tasks easier with our innovations. These are what make Epson a trusted brand in many parts of the world.”

Watch what Epson Ink Tank printers can do for your business in this official Epson video:

source: interaksyon.com

Friday, June 2, 2017

Google faces hefty EU fine in shopping case by August: sources


BRUSSELS, BELGIUM | EU antitrust regulators aim to slap a hefty fine on Alphabet unit Google over its shopping service before the summer break in August, two people familiar with the matter said, setting the stage for two other cases involving the U.S. company.

The European Commission’s decision will come after a seven-year investigation into the world’s most popular internet search engine triggered by scores of complaints from both U.S. and European rivals.

The EU competition authority accused Google in April 2015 of distorting internet search results to favor its shopping service, harming both rivals and consumers.

The Commission and Google declined to comment. The U.S. company has in the past rejected the charges, saying that regulators ignored competition from online retailers Amazon and eBay Inc.

Fines for companies found guilty of breaching EU antitrust rules can reach 10 percent of their global turnover, which in Google’s case could be about $9 billion of its 2016 turnover.

Apart from the fine, the Commission will tell Google to stop its alleged anti-competitive practices but it is not clear what measures it will order the company to adopt to ensure that rivals get equal treatment in internet shopping results.

The regulator could set out general principles or specific instructions for Google to follow, said an observer.

The Commission’s tough line is in sharp contrast with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission which settled its own web search case with the company in 2013 by requiring Google to stop “scraping” reviews and other data from rival websites for its own products.

Google made three unsuccessful attempts to settle the case with the previous European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia in a bid to stave off a possible fine and a finding of wrongdoing.

May’s lead falls to 3 percentage points, YouGov poll shows a week before election
Almunia’s successor Margrethe Vestager, however, has shown no willingness to settle with Google.

The company has also been charged with using its Android mobile operating system to squeeze out rivals and with blocking competitors in online search advertising related to its “AdSense for Search” platform.

The platform allows Google to act as an intermediary for websites such as online retailers, telecoms operators or newspapers. The Commission has warned of massive fines in both cases.

source: interaksyon.com