1 UK austerity may last until 2018 (The Guardian) George
Osborne has signalled that austerity may need to continue until 2018 as he
prepares to tell the Conservative party conference "the road is longer
than anyone had hoped". The chancellor outlined plans for a fresh round of
£10bn of welfare cuts in 2015-2016, saying: "You can't just balance the
budget on the wallet of the rich."
The Financial Times reported Osborne was set to be told this
autumn by the Office for Budget Responsibility he was likely to miss his
supplementary target of a fall in the burden of public debt by 2015-2016. If
the recent weakness in the growth of the economy continues, the target will
also be under threat in the following year in 2016-2017, according to the FT.
Pressed during a round of broadcast interviews, Osborne
refused to give a "running commentary" on whether targets on reducing
accumulated debt would be met, saying the assessment would be made on 5
December by the OBR. But the chancellor admited the economy was
"healing" more slowly than expected, and said his message to the
conference was "we have got to finish the job" as he outlined further
cuts in welfare spending.
2 US sees threat in Chinese firms (BBC) Chinese telecom
firms Huawei and ZTE pose a security threat to the US, a congressional panel
has warned after an investigation into the two companies. The two firms should
be barred from any mergers and acquisitions in the US, the panel has
recommended in its report. It said the firms had failed to allay fears about
their association with the Chinese government and military. The two are among
the world's biggest makers of telecom networking equipment.
"China has the means, opportunity and motive to use
telecommunications companies for malicious purposes," the committee said
in its report. "Based on available classified and unclassified
information, Huawei and ZTE cannot be trusted to be free of foreign state
influence and thus pose a security threat to the United States and to our
systems." Both Huawei and ZTE have previously denied the allegations.
3 World Bank sees longer Chinese slowdown (BBC) The World
Bank cut its economic growth forecasts for the east Asia and Pacific region, and
said there was a risk the slowdown in China could worsen and last longer than
many analysts have forecast. "Unlike the rest of the region, China is
experiencing a double whammy – the growth slowdown is driven by weaker exports
as well as domestic demand, in particular investment growth," World Bank
chief economist for the region, Bert Hofman, said.
He stressed, however, that the World Bank, like many
economists, still expects China to have a soft landing as seen from the bank's
revised 7.7% growth forecast for this year and 8.1% for next year. The World
Bank released its latest East Asia and Pacific Data Monitor, warning that
China's slowdown could accelerate.
4 Guns and 3-D printers (The New York Times) It has long
been possible to make a gun at home. But what happens when it no longer takes
knowledge and skill to build one? It
won’t be long before a felon, unable to buy a gun legally, can print one at
home. Teenagers could make them in their bedroom while their parents think they
are “playing on their computer.” I’m talking about a fully functional gun, where
the schematic is downloaded free from the Internet and built on a 3-D printer,
all with the click of a button.
Hit print, walk away, and a few hours later, you have a
firearm. There are no background checks. No age limits. No serial numbers
etched on the barrel or sales receipts to track the gun. It might sound like
science fiction, but 3-D printers are quickly becoming a consumer product.
These printers, which now cost about $1,000, can print objects by spraying thin
layers of plastic, metal or ceramics that are built up into shapes.
Long used by industrial companies to make prototypes and
parts, 3-D printers are becoming faster and less expensive almost weekly. One
manufacturer, MakerBot, has set up a retail store in Manhattan. Chinese
companies have started making them, and prices are falling to about $500.
A number of people have already made gun parts using 3-D
printers. And yes, the guns with these parts have successfully fired bullets.
Cody Wilson, a law student at the University of Texas, is in the process of
building a completely functional printed gun. “We hope to have this fully
tested and put the files online in the next couple of months,” said Mr. Wilson,
who runs a Web site called Defense Distributed.
5 You are Facebooked (Khaleej Times) No matter how
impressive your CV looks, for many employers searching for potential recruits,
it just isn’t complete without your passport-sized picture. And when a resume doesn’t give a visual clue
about what a candidate looks like, what do recruiters do to find out what a
potential job applicant looks like? They simply ‘Facebook’ them. Yes,
‘Facebooking’ someone — just like ‘Googling’ them — is a term that has become
synonymous with investigating an individual’s looks, professional and personal
interests, political views (and the list goes on).
And considering that Facebook crossed the one billion users
mark — a proud moment for its owner Mark Zuckerberg, according to his own
statement — it seems like almost everyone out there has a Facebook profile. Thus,
if there’s one big invention of the 21st century that has completely
revolutionised how people communicate, disseminate information and advertise
(and of course stalk), it’s Facebook.
Even though the modern world stresses on the privacy of an
individual, we have ironically compromised that to a great extent by being on
Facebook. But who really cares when the secret stalker in us is too busy
snooping online? And most of us don’t just care about what goes on in ur
friends’ lives, but we also want to know about friends of friends of friends
(i.e. complete strangers)! So considering how addictive Facebook is, it won’t
come as a surprise if more people flood the site in the near future. Zuckerberg
should perhaps now set his sight on the two billion users mark!
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