News highlights for 15 September
Apple employees cheer as the first customers to purchase new iPhone 7 walk in the door at Australia’s flagship Apple store in Sydney, September 16, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Reed
Asian fans snap up new iPhone but crowds smaller despite sell-out
SYDNEY/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Apple Inc fans from Sydney to Tokyo, the first to snap the new iPhone 7 off the shelves, cheered as they left stores on Friday brandishing their purchases, flanked by applauding sales staff. But underneath the usual fanfare, and despite complaints that the larger size of the new phone and the new jet black color were sold out, crowds were smaller than in past years. Read more…
Samsung to replace or refund 1 million U.S. Galaxy Note 7 phones
(Reuters) – Samsung Electronics Co Ltd formally recalled 1 million Galaxy Note 7 smartphones sold in the United States, replacing or refunding the flagship phones, whose susceptibility to catching fire has damaged the image of the Korean powerhouse. Samsung received 92 reports of batteries overheating in the United States, including 26 reports of burns and 55 cases of property damage, the company said as it announced the recall in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Read more…
US House panel slams former NSA contractor Snowden
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S congressional intelligence committee on Thursday issued a scathing report accusing former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden of leaking information that “caused tremendous damage” to U.S. national security, lying about his background and feuding with co-workers. In a report endorsed by both its Republican and Democratic leaders, the House intelligence committee said Snowden was “not a whistleblower” as he has claimed. Read more…
Indonesia to investigate Google for possible unpaid taxes
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s tax office will investigate Alphabet Inc’s Google for alleged unpaid taxes in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, a senior finance ministry official said on Thursday. “We will elevate this to an investigation because they refused to be examined, and this is definitely an indication of criminal activity,” said Muhammad Hanif, head of the tax office’s branch for special cases, adding that the probe would not be launched until the end of the month at the earliest.
Blockchain firm Ripple raises $55 million, investors include StanChart
LONDON (Reuters) – Ripple, a U.S. start-up which uses the blockchain technology that underpins digital currency bitcoin to help banks speed up their dealings with one another, has raised a further $55 million from investors, it said on Thursday.
MTN scraps mobile money business in South Africa
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African mobile phone operator MTN Group has pulled the plug on its local mobile money business, saying it was not viable in a country where around three quarters of the population already has a bank account. Read more…
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