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President Trump's Excellent Speech in Springfield, Missouri 30th Aug'17
US regulators approved the first cancer drug that uses a patient’s own cells to fight cancer. But the drug is priced at $475,000.
Oncologists described the drug, made by Novartis and marketed as Kymriah, as revolutionary, but critics worried the first-of-its-kind cancer treatment could usher in a new class of ultra-expensive medications.
Kymriah will be a one-time, intravenous treatment patients receive after scientists at Novartis engineer a patient’s own immune cells (T-cells) to fight cancer. The drug will treat acute lymphocytic leukemia, the most common type of childhood cancer in the US.
Currently, standard treatments push about 85% of children into remissions of five years or longer, according to the American Cancer Society. Kymriah would treat patients who don’t respond to standard treatment, probably only a few hundred children and young adults per year.
“This is a brand new way of treating cancer,” said Dr Stephan Grupp of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who led the Novartis study. Grupp treated the first patient using the new immunotherapy procedure: a girl who was near death but is now cancer-free five years and counting. Grupp described the drug as “enormously exciting”.
Though the price may be shocking to many, analysts will probably view the $475,000 price tag as conservative. A British study suggested the “upper bound” for a drug like Kymriah could be $649,000.
Critics countered that the Novartis treatment, no matter how revolutionary, only proved drug pricing in America was “completely broken”.
“While Novartis’ decision to set a price at $475,000 per treatment may be seen by some as restraint, we believe it is excessive,” said David Mitchell, the president of Patients for Affordable Drugs. Mitchell said Novartis should not “get credit” for bringing an expensive drug to market “and claiming they could have charged people a lot more”.
Mitchell’s group met with Novartis the day before the drug’s approval – and price – was announced.
“Instead of a discussion about how to arrive at a fair price for its new CAR-T drug, Novartis spent most of the meeting explaining why it needs to charge an astronomical price,” Mitchell said.
In a conference call Wednesday, Bruno Strigini, Novartis’s head of oncology, said the $475,000 price was an attempt to balance patient access to the drug with ensuring a return on the company’s investment, Stat News reported.
The company’s CEO, Joseph Jimenez, said in a statement: “Five years ago, we began collaborating with the University of Pennsylvania and invested in further developing and bringing what we believed would be a paradigm-changing immunocellular therapy to cancer patients in dire need. With the approval of Kymriah, we are once again delivering on our commitment to change the course of cancer care.”
The drug company also said in the statement that it was collaborating with Medicare on a plan in which the government would only pay for the treatments if patients responded to them by the end of the first month.
Patients for Affordable Drugs calculated that before Novartis collaborated with University of Pennsylvania, American taxpayers invested roughly $200m into “foundational” research on CAR-T cell therapies, as the new immunotherapy treatment is known.
The FDA approved Novartis’ drug following a study of 63 patients that found 83% who took the medication went into remission. However, it is unclear how long the benefits of the treatment may last; some patients relapsed months later.
Further, patients could also experience extreme and even life-threatening side effects. One side effect, cytokine release syndrome, can cause high fevers, diarrhea and vomiting. Another, neurological toxicities, can cause delirium, loss of balance and difficulty speaking and understanding.
Additionally, patients will almost certainly have to travel to receive the treatment. Novartis individually edits patients’ cells. Anyone seeking treatment will need to travel to one of 32 sites around the country for their cells to be collected and mailed to Novartis in New Jersey, Stat News reported.
Let’s start by clarifying what Australia’s loss to Bangladesh is not. Firstly, it is no disgrace. There is a reason why they have knocked off England, Sri Lanka and now Australia inside 10 months: this is a considerably improved team. They did a tremendous amount right, winning it every bit as much as Australia contributed to own their demise when placed under that intense pressure. Bangladesh earned this triumph.
To point to their ninth-placed ranking to suggest otherwise misunderstands the rolling four-year rating cycle, eternally limited by what it cannot measure – rapid improvement just like Bangladesh’s.
And ignore headlines about remuneration. Sure, the hosts are paid a pittance. Governance structures here, as far as they relate to player hip-pocket returns, are far from healthy. But it is a false equivalency to conclude that Steve Smith’s touring party are inherently more capable because they are banking big salaries.
What this is is a bog-standard subcontinental performance compared to what Australian cricket teams routinely produce at home. Another painful setback; one consistent with history and form. But Australian cricket’s lowest ebb? Hardly.
Now that’s out of the way, what this actually offers is confirmation this inexperienced side are not world beaters and that the India tour was all good and well, but only as a launching point. “I don’t know if we’re better than that at the moment,” Steve Smith said of that prospect of dropping to sixth in those aforementioned rankings – for what little they are worth – in the event of a series whitewash.
Most urgent is redressing batting collapses in this part of the world that continue to plague more meaningful progress. At Dhaka, a fatal stumble of 41-6 came at the moment their chase looked just about licked, alongside slumps of 33-4 and 42-4 in the first dig.
Of course, all international batsmen log untold hours simulating what they might expect. But what cannot be replicated, until the time comes, is the pressure that infuses a mindset once one of these tremors begin. For too long the moment that it enters the Australian psyche they might have a problem, they invariably end up with a serious one. Particularly in Asia. That improvement has to be driven above the shoulders, not below.
One man who showed he has learned how to the quell chaos is David Warner, who has turned to meditation in an effort to calm himself more broadly. “He adapted beautifully,” said Smith of his deputy. “He never let the bowler settle on a good length which is important in these conditions. The way he played with positive intent helped his defence as well.” In short, he ignored where he was batting and cracked on as he would at home. The neither-here-nor-there Warner from Sri Lanka was long gone in the breakthrough innings. Specifically, when the heat was on, he did not get beaten on the inside edge as so often brought his downfall in Sri Lanka last year.
By contrast, Matthew Wade was out in single digits twice that very way. The incumbent wicketkeeper-batsman is reeling, and there’s no avoiding it anymore. He has never been the most elegant gloveman, but the 30 byes he conceded – however brutal the track and how hard he worked in the horrible humidity – came at the worst possible time.
More to the point, in the modern game consistent runs need to come from No7, and with one half-century in nine Tests since his recall, they aren’t being delivered by Wade. With the urgency of victory in Chittagong, it could be now that he becomes too high a risk to carry.
A left-of-centre option is trusting Peter Handscomb to take over. With ample experience at first class level, he said after the Darwin practice match ahead of this tour he would be available to keep if the circumstances and team balance permitted. Maybe now they do.
Smith was forthright in acknowledging the options available for the second Test, and this is one. Especially if trying to find room for Hilton Cartwright, the West Australian who earned his baggy green in January before completing a bumper 2016-17 domestic season.
The other two alternatives for culling, for different reasons, seem unpalatable. In Usman Khawaja’s case, despite a pair of calamitous dismissals and adding only two runs for his return to the team, the opportunity-cost of shattering his confidence through omission is too much when he will be a necessary member of the Ashes team.
As for Glenn Maxwell, in both innings he looked well in control with solid starts until his disappointing final moments. But he does not look out of his depth, and that still matters plenty.
The puzzle is also shaped by the arrival of Steve O’Keefe, in transit as the Test was decided. Smith said “if the wicket suits” he is comfortable playing three frontline spinners in Chittagong for the first time since Australia played at the same ground in 2006. After the mayhem local tweakers engineered this week, a dust bowl is a lock-in – and in turn O’Keefe. What a week for the discard-cum-inclusion.
After his emphatic man-of-the-match performance, Shakib Al Hasan put it bluntly: “After this Test match, they’ll show a lot more respect.” The SOS for SOK signals a quick change of thinking from the team hierarchy, suggesting they concur. While there was no shame in losing the opener, there’s no excuse not to do whatever it takes from here. Beginning at the selection table.
Researchers have discovered traces of what could be the world’s oldest wine at the bottom of terracotta jars in a cave in Sicily, showing that the fermented drink was being made and consumed in Italy more than 6,000 years ago.
Previously scientists had believed winemaking developed in Italy around 1200 BC, but the find by a team from the University of South Florida pushes that date back by at least three millennia.
“Unlike earlier discoveries that were limited to vines and so showed only that grapes were being grown, our work has resulted in the identification of a wine residue,” said Davide Tanasi, the archeologist who led the research.
“That obviously involves not just the practice of viticulture but the production of actual wine – and during a much earlier period,” Tanasi said.
The storage jars in which traces of wine residue were found.Photograph: Courtesy of Davide Tanasi
Published in the Microchemical Journal, the finding was significant because it was “the earliest discovery of wine residue in the entire prehistory of the Italian peninsula”, the researchers said.
The five organic residue samples taken from late copper age storage jars found in 2012 in a limestone cave on Monte Kronio, near the fishing harbour of Sciacca on Sicily’s south-west coast, were dated to the fourth millennium BC.
“We conducted chemical analysis on the ancient pottery and identified the presence of tartaric acid and its salt,” Enrico Greco, a chemistry researcher at the University of Catania who was involved in the research, told the Guardian.
Known as cream of tartar, the salt of tartaric acid, which is the main acid component in grapes, develops naturally during winemaking. “The presence of these molecules allows us to confirm the use of this vessel as a wine container,” Greco said.
While some experts have suggested humans may have been making wine as long as 10,000 years ago, the earliest known evidence of winemaking – also about 6,000 years old – was uncovered in 2011 near the village of Areni in Armenia.
But in that case scientists said they could not exclude the possibility that traces of malvidin found in the residue they recovered could have come from pomegranates, a common fruit in Armenia and its national symbol.
In the Sicilian find, the malvidin can only have come from grapes since pomegranates did not exist in the area.
The discovery “fills us with joy”, said Alessio Planeta, a winemaking expert and historian from the area, which remains one of Italy’s most important wine-producing regions. “Before this, we used to thinking Sicily’s wine culture arrived with the island’s colonisation by the ancient Greeks.”
This year the next big battleground between the titans of the smartphone industry will be augmented reality, as both Apple and Google duke it out with new phones, cameras and systems designed to provide Terminator vision – or Pokémon Go on steroids – to the masses.
Augmented reality (AR) is nothing new. Many people’s first experience of the concept was seeing through the eyes of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 Terminator in James Cameron’s 1984 blockbuster. The movie showed the Terminator’s vision overlaid with information about subjects, objects and objectives.
But after failed attempts at making that concept a reality for the mass market, with Google Glass and others, AR was thrown back into the spotlight in July 2016 with the launch of Pokémon Go, which overlaid the mini-beasts bobbing about in the real world for players to catch.
While Google has had AR systems in place with its Project Tango technology from 2014, which ended up in specialised tablets and smartphones from Lenovo and Asus, it was Apple which recently took the spotlight with its ARKit that is due to be released as part of iOS 11 in the coming weeks.
While Apple’s system doesn’t rely on specialist hardware, as with Google’s Tango, and may lack some of the skills that dedicated sensors afford, ARKit is due to roll out to not only Apple’s anticipated next iPhone, but also on smartphones as old as the iPhone 6S from 2015.
Geoff Blaber from analyst firm CCS Insight said: “Apple’s ARKit is what AR badly needs. With a sizeable addressable market consisting of iPhones and iPads with A9 or A10 chips (iPhone 6S and beyond), it offers developers immediate scale and incentive to invest.”
For AR to become a thing that the mainstream actually enjoy and use requires scale. Because the majority of Apple’s iPhone users all update their smartphones to the latest versions of the company’s iOS almost in unison with its release, it, more than any other technology company, has the leverage to reach the scale required to make big investments in the software and apps by developers viable.
Big investments, particularly in the early stages of a new technology, mean better products, greater penetration with consumers and a greater likelihood of success, if the big software houses buy into the idea and the user base expands to a critical mass.
“AR is big and profound,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook told investors earlier in August. “And this is one of those huge things that we’ll look back at and marvel on the start of it.”
Google isn’t resting on its laurels. While its Tango system may not be going anywhere, the Android maker announced a brand new system called ARCore that takes a similar approach to Apple’s ARKit in that it doesn’t require special depth sensors to operate.
Google said that it expects to make ARCore available to at least 100 million users, starting with owners of Samsung’s top-end Galaxy S8 smartphone and Google’s own-brand Pixel phone. But the diversity of the Android ecosystem presents challenges for a unified platform that relies on a consistent experience. To spread its AR system beyond the Galaxy S8 and Pixel phone, Google will have to figure out how to account for the wide variety of Android phone cameras or convince phone makers to use specific parts – a tough sell given the unproven benefit of AR.
“This is a classic example of where Apple’s ownership of the whole widget including both hardware and software is a huge advantage over device vendors dependent on Android and the broader value chain of component vendors,” said Jan Dawson, founder and chief analyst of Jackdaw Research.
Neither Apple nor Google are pushing AR for the sake of technology. When Pokémon Go launched to great success it proved there could be a business case for some form of AR, with Apple expected to make $3bn from in-game purchases from Pokémon Go players made through its App Store over two years. And that’s just one platform. The riches are there for the AR platforms that succeed, which could provide another important revenue stream for both Apple and Google following a decline in smartphone sales as buyers hold on to existing handsets longer.
Pokémon Go proved augmented reality is a viable business model.Photograph: Olivia Harris/Getty Images
While Apple will have the instant lead in smartphone-based AR come the autumn with the release of iOS 11, more advanced AR which involves pointing a smartphone at something and using the camera to overlay virtual objects or information on the real world still has yet to gain it’s “killer app”.
Many have tried, from early pioneers Word Lens and Blippar, but other than feeding users additional ad experiences, none have really come close to a convincing must-have or at least must-try experience.
Visualising objects in the home for shopping may come the closest in the near future. Michael Valdsgaard, a developer with the furniture chain Ikea, called Apple’s ARKit “rock solid”, noting that it could estimate the size of virtual furniture placed in a room with 98% accuracy, despite lacking special sensors, making an AR furniture catalogue viable for iPhone and iPad users in the millions.
The fruits of Ikea, and other developers’ labour, is expected in the autumn. But smartphones are expected to be just a stop on the road to AR technology embedded in broader world around us.
Blaber said: “The technology has clear scope to evolve into form factors such as a heads-up display and ultimately a head-worn device … but like Google Glass, it faces an enormous hurdle of consumer acceptance.
“Nonetheless, this is where the real potential lies. AR and VR are largely considered to be two distinct use cases, but CCS Insight believes they will ultimately merge. In this scenario, a single head-worn device would be able to seamlessly switch between an opaque screen for VR, to a transparent one for AR applications. It could become a converged solution that complements and potentially even replaces the smartphone, depending on the context.”
Whether the general public will ever accept a piece of technology that has to be strapped to their face remains to be seen, but for the time being pointing your phone at your table to see a virtual lamp, war-torn landscape or animated character come to life will have to suffice.
Straddling the border between Albania and Macedonia, Ohrid sits on the lake of the same name, one of the deepest in Europe. The Church of Saint Jovan Kaneo teeters on a cliff above a harbour full of brightly coloured fishing boat, and there’s a scattering of small beaches. A few miles south, the Bay of Bones museum reconstructed prehistoric village built on stilts over the lake. The name refers not to human bones but to the many animal remains found in the water, some of which are on display inside. Visitors can opt to scuba dive to see the excavations under the water, which is blue in some lights, mythical green in others. Stay atHotel Villa Sveta Sofija, doubles from €60 room-only)
Titisee-Neustadt, Germany
Try to see past the comedy name: Titisee is the largest natural lake in the Black Forest, perfect for a family pedalo outing (some come with onboard water slides). Medieval Titisee-Neustadt is a spa town with cute streets and a huge waterpark. Long-distance trails start from the Seestrasse promenade and there are spectacular views from a tower at the top of 1,190-metre Hochfirst mountain. Renting a bike is a great way to see the area: the Bähnle-Radweg path trail takes in breweries, waterfalls, farmyards and a huge viaduct. For a multi-country jaunt, Neustadt is also close to the French and Swiss borders. Stay at Action Forest Active Hotel,doubles from £90 B&B
Hallstatt, Austria
It wasn’t the setting for Frozen – but it could have been. The town of 1,000 residents is so perfectly formed it looks like it was designed by Walt himself. Much of Hallstat’s action focuses around Market Square, with its traditional buildings below towering trees. The square is the picturesque setting for processions, markets and live music throughout the summer. There are great views from the lakeside promenade of calm waters backed by the Dachstein mountains. A 350-metre-high Skywalk just outside town is a platform jutting from the cliff, with views as far as Slovenia and the Czech Republic. Those with a fear of heights may prefer a tour of the salt mines, said to be the oldest in the world. All details at hallstatt.net. Stay at Scenic campsite Klaussner-Höll, tent pitch from €6, plus €9.90 per adult and €5.50 per child
Savonlinna, Finland
Olavinlinna castle, in Savonlinna.Photograph: Getty Images
Four hours from Helsinki, Ovaninlinna castle in the middle of Lake Saimma hosts a renowned opera festival in July and August each year. There are also plenty of water-based activities: fishing, kayaking, swimming. However, Savonians are traditionally very laid-back, and happy to while away their afternoon at a waterside restaurant serving fresh fish lunches and tart berry deserts. Stay atTurtialan Lomakylä Holiday Village (one-bedroom self-catering cabin from €80
Mikołajki, Poland
There’s plenty to explore in Poland’s majestic Masurian lake district: resort towns including Wegorzewo, Olecko and Gizycko are buzzing in summer. The more southerly town of Mikołajki, near the region’s biggest lake, Śniardwy, makes a perfect base. The dainty town of red-roofed houses, with three bridges and a marina, is particularly popular with sailors: visitors can hire a boat and follow the waterways up to Gizycko, or cross the lake to Orzysz. The town hosts a sea shanty festival every July. Stay atAparthotel Mikolajki, doubles from £60 B&B aparthotelmikolajki.pl
Talloires, France
On the bank of stunning Lake Annecy, the tranquil village of Talloires happens to be where Haitian dictator “Baby Doc” Duvalier arrived after being given political asylum by France in 1986. But don’t hold that against it: it’s a peaceful alternative to the main town of Annecy, 30 minutes’ drive away. It also has an array of fine dining options, including the Michelin-starred Jean Sulpice restaurant at Auberge du Père Bise, a hotel once graced by the likes of Brigitte Bardot and Charlie Chaplin, and Aux Jardins des Délices, in the 17th-century Abbaye de Talloires hotel and known for its fantastic wine list and artful gastronomy. There are three beaches nearby, and Talloires makes an easy base for cycling and hiking. Stay at La Villa des Fleurs, doubles from €90 room-only
Castiglione del Lago, Italy
On the corner of Lake Trasimeno, close to the Tuscan border in Umbria, the village of Castiglione del Lago dates back to the Roman, and before them the Etruscans (an ancient civilization that existed in north west Italy). Its 13th-century walls and gates are still standing, and its medieval churches have stunning 19th-century frescoes. More frescoes can be found at the 16th-century Palazzo Duca della Corgna. Enjoy sunbathing and volleyball on several nearby beaches, and ferries to lake islands including the peaceful Isola Maggiore. As if it couldn’t get any more picturesque, at the start of May the village hosts a kite festival, that sees the skies filled with colourful kites and hot air balloons. Stay at Apartment Trasimeno Bandita, a former coach house sleeping four with shared pool, from £61 self-catering
Morcote, Switzerland
Scherrer Park Garden of Wonders
Amid rolling hills on the southern shores of Lake Lugano, Morcote is one of the most beautiful villages in Switzerland. There’s a dreamy feel to its narrow streets and ancient buildings, and the romantic Scherrer botanical gardens right on the waterside. The energetic can make the five-to-six-hour hike to Lugano on a trail that takes in the summit of 912-metre Monte San Salvatore, with incredible views. Stay atHotel Morcote, doubles from £90 per night
Sigtuna, Sweden
Sweden’s oldest town (and a pretty one at that) was founded on the banks of Lake Mälaren, just west of Stockholm, in 980AD, so it’s a perfect place to discover Sweden’s history. As well as a medieval centre and several ruined churches, it’s home to 40 of the region’s famous rune stones, carved by the Vikings. Half an hour away, 17th-century Skokloster castle is the biggest private house in Sweden and one of five castles worth visiting in the region. It’s a great spot for outdoor adventure too, with two beaches, canoeing and other water sports. Stay atVenner Bo traditional rooms and cottages, with shared facilities and communal kitchens, cost from £37 for a double or twin
Iznájar, Spain
An hour’s drive north of Malaga, the small town of Iznájar looks across the Embalse de Iznájar – the biggest reservoir in Andalucía – from a rocky mount. Established in the 8th century, the historic site includes the ruins of a 1,200-year-old castle, while the Barrio del Coso is a timeless maze of narrow streets and alleys. The freshwater lake itself has a beach where you can swim, rent canoes or sailing boats, and is surrounded by rolling hills carpeted in olive groves, where you can stock up on locally produced oil. Stay atCortijo las Rosas, holiday cottages just outside of Iznájar from €55 per night for two or €82.50 for four
Wolfing down a mountain of fruit and vegetables every day offers no more benefit in staving off death than eating just three to four portions, researchers have found, adding that the findings could have important ramifications for those on low incomes.
The World Health Organisation currently recommends individuals eat at least 400g of fruit, vegetables and legumes – plants such as peas and beans – each day, although recent studies have suggested as much as 800g should be consumed to reduce the risk of stroke, heart disease and premature death.
But the latest study, drawing on data from more than 135,000 participants all over the world, has revealed that eating as little as 375g can be sufficient – a quantity corresponding to three 125g portions as by measured by the US Department of Agriculture, or just under five portions judging by the WHO definition of 80g each.
The researchers say the findings could prove valuable for those from low or middle-income countries where fruits and vegetables are expensive, noting that the extra quantity needed to meet WHO targets can put a substantial strain on individuals’ finances.
“That 25g [difference] is about 2% of total household income in low-income countries,” said Victoria Miller, first author of the research from McMaster University in Canada.
However, she added that doesn’t mean we should stop striving for a diet high in fruit and veg.
“In western countries like North America and Europe we don’t want to suggest that [people] should start eating less fruit and vegetables – we think that it is part of an overall healthy diet and there is benefit from eating more.”
Writing in the Lancet, the international team of researchers describe how they recruited participants over a 10-year period from 2003. All were free of cardiovascular disease and were aged between 35 and 70 years old, with their locations spanning 18 countries including the west, the Middle East, China, Africa and south-east Asia, where little data has previously been collected.
When enrolled, participants were quizzed on their frequency of eating various foods, including region-specific dishes, allowing the researchers to determine the quantity of fruits and vegetables – and corresponding nutrients – eaten each day. Fruit juices, as well as potatoes and other tubers including cassava, were excluded.
The participants were followed for between 5.5 and 9.3 years, with their health tracked at least every three years.
Taking into account a host of factors including participants’ age, sex, education, smoking status and physical activity, the results reveal that eating a combination of fruit, vegetables and legumes helps lower the risk of dying from non-cardiovascular diseases such as cancer, as well as the overall risk of death. Fruit consumption alone was also linked to a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular death.
But the team found the greatest impact was for those who ate between 375g and 500g a day, with a reduction in overall risk of death by 22% compared with those who ate less than 125g a day. No further reduction in risk was seen when even more fruits and vegetables were eaten.
The team say the findings chime with those from the study that suggested eating 10 portions of fruit and veg a day, pointing out that study found that beyond eating about 400g a day, only modest addition health gains were observed.
While the researchers admit the study had its limitations, not least that participants were only asked once about their fruit, vegetable and legume eating and that different methods for cooking vegetables weren’t taken into account, they say the study could prove valuable to those living in low-income countries or on a tight budget.
“Even a small reduction from 400g to 375g a day may have important implications on household spending and food security in poorer countries,” the authors note.
Writing in an accompanying editorial, Estefania Toledo and Miguel Ángel Martínez-González from the University of Navarra welcomed the research but said that it was important to consider fruit and vegetables as part of a wider diet.
“Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables should be at the expense of reducing other foods and drinks, such as sugar-sweetened beverages, red and processed meats, saturated and trans fat, refined cereals, and sugar-rich desserts,” they write, “not in isolation or as a mere addition to the rest of the dietary pattern.”
Uber will stop its controversial practice of tracking users for up to five minutes after a trip has ended, as it attempts to turn around its mired public image.
A change to the Uber app due to roll out this week will allow users to share location data only when actively using the app, stopping further tracking once a trip is complete, according to Uber’s chief security officer Joe Sullivan.
Sullivan leads a team of about 500 that has been working to beef up customer privacy at Uber since he joined in 2015. The chief security officer, who is a member of the executive leadership team that has been co-running Uber since Kalanick left, said: “We’ve been building through the turmoil and challenges because we already had our mandate.”
An update to the app made last November eliminated the option for users to limit data gathering to only when the app is in use, instead forcing them to choose between letting Uber always collect location data or never collect it.
Uber said it needed permission to always gather data in order to track riders for five minutes after a trip was completed, which the company said could help in ensuring customers’ physical safety. The option to never track required riders to manually enter pickup and drop-off addresses.
But the changes were met with swift criticism by some users and privacy advocates who called them a breach of user trust by a company already under fire for how it collects and uses customers’ data. Uber said it never actually began post-trip tracking for iPhone users and suspended it for Android users.
Sullivan said Uber made a mistake by asking for more information from users without making clear what value Uber would offer in return. If Uber decides that tracking a rider’s location for five minutes is valuable in the future, it will seek to explain what the value is and allow customers to opt in to the setting, he said.
Sullivan said Uber was committed to privacy but had previously suffered “a lack of expertise” in the area.
The change comes two weeks after Uber settled a US Federal Trade Commission complaint that the company failed to protect the personal information of drivers and passengers, and was deceptive about its efforts to prevent snooping by its employees.
Uber agreed to conduct an audit every two years for the next two decades to ensure compliance with FTC requirements. The location-tracking changes will initially only be available to iPhone users, but Uber intends to bring parity to Android devices, Sullivan said.
The changes are part of a series of updates expected in the coming year to improve privacy, security and transparency at Uber, Sullivan said.
Uber’s stance is expected to change on a number of things under the leadership of the Iranian American Khosrowshahi, who has been vocal in his criticism of Donald Trump. Khosrowshahi will have to reform workplace culture, recruit new executives including chief financial officer and chief operating officer, and deal with various legal wrangles.
Traditional broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV and Sky could lose a combined £1bn per year if rival services from Amazon, Facebook and YouTube become dominant players in the TV industry over the next decade.
A new report says that UK broadcasters could suffer the same fate as industries including music, news, insurance and property where powerful digital newcomers – including Apple, Google, YouTube, Moneysupermarket and Rightmove – muscled in as middlemen to take a significant share of revenues.
The report, by OC&C Strategy Consultants, argues that broadcasting could be controlled by one or two “super-aggregators” that will act as viewing gateways for consumers looking for a simple way to access a plethora of content.
The modern TV viewer now has an array of viewing options to choose from, with the BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube among the platforms vying for the attention of British households. More than 20% of under-35s use more than seven services to keep up with their favourite shows, and 40% say they are becoming confused by how many options are available, according to an OC&C survey.
“Viewers are facing a complex web of different routes to access TV content, leading to an unsustainable level of confusion and inconvenience,” says Mostyn Goodwin, partner at OC&C. “This environment is giving rise to the need for a super-aggregator service that provides a universal access point to content.”
The report estimates that the UK broadcast industry – which include the TV businesses of the likes of Sky and BT, ITV, Channel 4 as well as the BBC’s licence fee and commercial income – is worth up to to £15bn in revenues annually, including advertising revenues and pay-TV subscriptions.
OC&C based the £1bn loss figure – equivalent to the TV industry’s annual profit from broadcasting activities – on an analysis of the proportion of revenue that middlemen, or aggregators, have taken from traditional players in other sectors.
These vary from 5% to 10% in the insurance industry, which has players including moneysupermarket, to 20% in the taxi sector following the rise of Uber, to 20%-30% in music and news.
“This is not theoretical, in other industries we have seen how powerful these aggregators can become,” said Goodwin.
The report identifies Amazon, Facebook and YouTube, each of whom have enormous global user bases, as being potential middlemen for TV viewing and the biggest threats to traditional TV broadcasters.
Earlier this year Steve Cooper, Warner Music’s chief executive, renewed the company’s deal with YouTube but complained it was struck under “very difficult circumstances” and wasn’t done under “free market” conditions.
“It is about the balance of power,” says Goodwin. “At first there may not be much of a charge [to appear on an aggregator platform], commercial negotiations are easy as the digital players want to grow their businesses. Over time, as they grow scale, the nature of the deals can change. What choices the broadcasters make now will define what scale of ‘problem’ they will face.”
On Saturday (26th August 2017) North Korea fired three short-range missiles from the North’s eastern coast. According to the new report its says all missiles are successful despite earlier reports suggesting failure, .
Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said South Korea and U.S. militaries were analyzing the launch.
Thousands of owners of high-end Samsung TVs have complained after a software update left their recently acquired £1,400 sets with blank, unusable screens.
The Guardian has been contacted by a number of owners complaining that the TVs they bought – in some cases just two weeks ago – have been rendered useless by an upgrade sent out by Samsung a week ago.
Others have been posting furious messages on the company’s community boards complaining that their new TVs are no longer working.
The company has told customers it is working to fix the problem but so far, seven days on, nothing has been forthcoming. The problem appears to affect the latest models as owners of older Samsung TVs are not reporting the issue.
Lohith Jajee, one of those affected, wrote: “We spent nearly £1,400 on this TV two weeks ago. It’s holiday period in the UK and we thought kids would enjoy watching [a] new TV. To my horror, it stopped working from day two. What’s even more frustrating is the customer service: all I get is ‘we are aware of the issue and will get back’. Six days on and counting.”
Another person, posting on the Samsung community boards, wrote: “So here we are. Another morning without my TV working AND more importantly another morning with NO update from anyone at Samsung.
“I honestly can’t believe the incompetence that is being shown by a company of this size. The lack of communication is astounding and if I could take my TV back it would be there in a heartbeat.”
This is not the first time Samsung customers have experienced problems after buying TVs. Last year Guardian Money reported that buyers had been left frustrated after their new TVs would not access the BBC iPlayer.
The company, thought to be the world’s biggest TV manufacturer, had sold the TVs without having the correct licensing agreements in place.
On Wednesday Samsung is launching its Galaxy Note 8 smartphone in New York. It hopes the new model will restore the company’s reputation after last year’s “exploding” Note 7 problem that necessitated a mass recall.
Responding, the company said: “Samsung is aware of a small number of TVs in the UK (fewer than 200) affected by a firmware update to 2017 MU Series TVs on 17 August. Once this issue was identified the update was switched off and we are now working with each customer to resolve the issue. Any customers affected are encouraged to get in touch with Samsung directly by calling 0330 726 7864.
“We would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused to our customers.”
Amazon has set the stage for a price war with retail giant Walmart as it signaled a wave of price cuts at Whole Foods, the grocery chain it acquired for $13.7bn in June. The move signals the start of a much wider battle – to see who will be the king of online retail in America.
Walmart, America’s second largest bricks and mortar retailer, was slow to develop its online retail offer in the face of Amazon’s growing dominance over the last 10 years. However, more recently it has been trying to play catch-up with significant investment in its digital operation. This culminated in Walmart’s purchase of online retailer Jet.com for $3bn.
This set the battle for the country’s biggest online retail war, and it was only a matter of time before Amazon responded. That happened two months ago when they bought Whole Foods.
Today’s announcement is a sign that the battle has taken off in earnest. Items that will see the first price cuts on Monday include Whole Trade bananas, organic avocados, organic large brown eggs, kale and other organic food.
The online retailing behemoth said it hopes to give Amazon Prime members special savings and other in-store benefits, including lockers where they pick up and drop off items. The company also said the 450 new physical locations it acquired in the deal for Whole Foods should help it speed up its grocery delivery capability.
“This is just the beginning – we will make Amazon Prime the customer rewards program at Whole Foods Market and continuously lower prices as we invent together,” said Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer. “There is significant work and opportunity ahead, and we’re thrilled to get started.”
Though Walmart lags way behind Amazon it has begin to make some progress – it now sells 67m items a month, up from 10m early last year. Amazon, however, sells hundreds of millions of items.
Amazon’s move on price is a direct attempt to attract Walmart customers who will have been put off by Whole Foods’ high prices. At stake is an enormous online retail market which Amazon not only want to protect, but grow.
The move also comes a day after Walmart announced a partnership with Google where the search giant will start offering Walmart products to people who shop on Google Express, the company’s online shopping mall. As the New York Times reported: “It’s the first time the world’s biggest retailer has made its products available online in the United States outside of its own website.”
Amazon’s announcement also comes just one day after Walmart announced it will expand its grocery delivery service with ride-hailing service Uber.
The moves are clearly designed to help begin to remake Whole Foods’ image for being overly expensive – “Whole Paycheck” as it is derisively known – and to position it ahead of an anticipated war with chains like Walmart, the largest US grocer, also looking to expand their reach in the food sector.
The company said Whole Foods Market will continue to operate under its 365 brand name and pledged to “preserve its high standards and commitment to providing the finest natural and organic foods”.
Also on Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission said it won’t investigate or try to stop Amazon’s $13.7bn takeover of the food retailer. “We have decided not to pursue this matter further,” the FTC said in a statement.
Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey, who is staying on as CEO, said the company’s core mission – “to bring the highest quality food to our customers” – remained intact.
He anticipated the Amazon-Whole Food hook-up would enable the company to “lower prices and double down on that mission and reach more people with Whole Foods Market’s high-quality, natural and organic food”.
Mackey added: “As part of our commitment to quality, we’ll continue to expand our efforts to support and promote local products and suppliers. We can’t wait to start showing customers what’s possible when Whole Foods Market and Amazon innovate together.”
Gamescom, the world’s largest video game event, has just taken place in Cologne, bringing 400,000 visitors – including Angela Merkel – to the vast Koelnmesse for a week of hype and hands-on action.
Here are the 11 games we most enjoyed amid the chaos.
Cuphead (Studio MDHR; PC, Xbox One)
Manic 1930s cartoon platformer … Cuphead.Photograph: Studio MDHR
This long-awaited platformer matches its astonishing 1930s cartoon art-style with manic gameplay inspired by classic console titles from the 1980s and 90s. The run-and-gun action is deceptively tricky, thanks to some seriously challenging bosses, but its meticulous detail will keep you in awe while you die over and over again. Gets extra points for its soundtrack, composed by a 10-piece ragtime jazz band (including the occasional tap shoe sound effects).
Monster Hunter World (Capcom; PC, PS4, Xbox One)
A whole world of Monster HunterPhotograph: Capcom
The slick new addition to the beast-bludgeoning fantasy series is full of gasp-out-loud moments. Huge detailed areas (split into seamlessly connected zones), giant monsters and satisfying combat are all promised, with a range of weapons that utilise different combos and strategies. Add the drop-in co-op gameplay and it’s far from the watered down experience some fans feared.
Giant spiders and space dwarves … Deep Rock Galactic.Photograph: Ghost Ship Games
Published by Coffee Stain (developers of the absurdly popular Goat Simulator) this four player co-op shooter has space dwarves mining for precious minerals amid a huge underground cave system riddled with giant spiders and other monsters. The stylised visuals, procedurally generated environments and digging mechanic have drawn comparisons with Minecraft, but this is much more loot-and-shoot than click-and-create.
Bad North (Oskar Stålberg, Richard Meredith and Martin Kvale; console, PC and mobile)
Watch out for viking raids … Bad North.Photograph: Oskar Stålberg, Richard Meredith, Martin Kvale
Drawn in cute isometric visuals, this complex real-time strategy game has you defending various islands against hordes of Vikings. As you play, the detritus of war starts to litter your realm, the bodies, burned buildings and crashed ships affect both the Vikings and your own warriors. Seeing enemy craft gradually appearing through the fog is as beautiful as it is eerie.
Post-apocalyptic kung fu … Biomutant.Photograph: THQ Nordic
Created by a new indie studio set up by ex-staff from the Just Cause and Mad Max titles, BioMutant is described as a “post-apocalyptic kung fu fable”. In practice, that seems to mean an open-world RPG with an idiosyncratic comic book art style, deep Wushu fighting system, and a racoon-like protagonist who can be augmented with mutations and prosthetics. Kung Fu Panda meets Fallout? OK then.
Anno 1800 – commerce and morality in the 19th centuryPhotograph: Ubisoft
The Anno series of real-time strategy city builders has gone back to what it does best: the past. Anno 1800 focuses on the industrial revolution of the 19th Century, dealing with issues of colonialism, empire and workforce exploitation, and allowing you to deal with them as you see fit. But be warned that a small strike in your city can lead to a protest, which leads to a riot, and then a revolution. This looks to be a game about systems rather than morals, but you have to deal with the consequences of your tyranny.
Assassin’s Creed Origins (Ubisoft Montreal; PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Ubisoft has refreshed its assassination adventure series in this latest instalment, adding a focus on narrative and a new hitbox-based combat system. The recreation of ancient Egypt looks stunning, with thorough historical research clearly on show. Judging by the Gamescom demo, however, unnecessary UI and markers on maps still have the potential to distract and disrupt the beautiful view.
Woodland exploration … Fe.Photograph: Electronic Arts
Inspired by the developers’ childhoods playing in the forests of Sweden, the focus here is on exploration and discovery. Playing as an adorable fox-type creature you sing to animals and plants in the woods, gradually gaining their trust and help as you rid the woodlands of a corrupting evil. Riding deer around, chucking lizards about, scampering up trees and gliding elegantly down; it’s a delightful natural playground in a blue and purple palette.
A hit at E3 and now a star at Gamecom, the latest Mario adventure has the plumber travelling through various worlds, possessing people and objects with his anthropomorphic hat, Cappy. While the implications of being able to inhabit the bodies of enemies is a little disturbing, the game’s intricately designed 3D platforming and feature-packed environments are sure diverting.
Set throughout a serene post-apocalyptic environment, the goal in Far is to pilot your vessel across the vast expanse of a dried-up sea, now barren and littered with the remains of a seafaring civilisation. Wonderfully eerie and atmospheric, with a painterly grey-hued palette, you discover the stark narrative via ruins and wrecks. Created by Zurich-based studio Okomotive, who began this striking game as students, there are no enemies, apart from the emptiness around you, making for a subtly moving experience.
Isometric point-and-click adventure … The Almost Gone.Photograph: Happy Volcano
The delicate and pretty look of this game masks a dark story: a young girl must understand her own death if she is to help guide others to the afterlife. The isometric point-and-click puzzle adventure is a collaboration with Dutch author Joost Vandecasteele, offering discreet, gently coloured interiors to explore. An award winner in its native Belgium, The Almost Gone looks set for further acclaim.
The National Institutes of Health deleted multiple references to climate change on its website over the summer, continuing a trend that began when the Trump administration took charge of the dot.gov domain.
The changes were first outlined in a report by the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI), which has been using volunteers to track changes to roughly 25,000 pages across multiple government agencies since Trump took office. EDGI counted five instances in which the term “climate change” was changed to simply “climate” on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) site.
The NIH, an agency of the federal government, is the world’s leading public health research body.
EDGI’s findings can be confirmed by using the internet archive Wayback Machine and looking up the affected NIH pages. The database appears to show the deletion as having occurred between 28 June and 6 July of this year.
The references were altered on pages belonging to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH’s division dedicated to the study of the environment and its effects on human health. NIEHS also removed links to an educational factsheet from two separate pages, and a page dedicated to explaining the environmental impacts of climate change.
The scrubbing was ineffectual, though, as the term was mostly only deleted from page titles and subheadings. “No other language changes were made and the term ‘climate change’ continues to be used in the body text of the page,” EDGI reported.
For example, on the first edited page cited in the report, originally called “Climate Change and Human Health” before the word “change” was removed, the term “climate change” still appears 35 times. Even the page URL, which ends with “/climatechange”, remains unaffected. The page still accurately explains: “Climate change makes many existing diseases and conditions worse, but it may also help introduce new pests and pathogens into new regions or communities.”
Donald Trump and key members of his administration have expressed skepticism and outright rejection of the scientific consensus about man-made climate change. Trump has tweeted inaccurate or misleading facts or opinions about climate change more than 100 times.
The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.
In May, the Guardian reported that the Trump administration was systematically cutting references to climate change from government websites, scrapping an entire section from the White House page on climate change, and replacing it with a brief treatise entitled “An America first energy plan” that made no mention of the empirically uncontroversial reality of climate change.
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