Rush for safe havens as euro fears rise

US benchmark borrowing costs plunged to levels last seen in 1946 and those for Germany and the UK hit all-time lows as investors took fright at what they see as a disjointed policy response to the debt crisis in Spain and Italy. In a striking sign of the flight to haven assets, German two-year bond yields fell to zero for the first time, below the equivalent rate for Japan, meaning investors are willing to lend to Berlin for no return. US 10-year yields fell as low as 1.62 per cent, a level last reached in March 1946, according to Global Financial Data. German benchmark yields reached 1.26 per cent while Denmark's came close to breaching the 1 per cent level, hitting 1.09 per cent. UK rates fell to 1.64 per cent, the lowest since records for benchmark borrowing costs began in 1703. "They are extreme levels because we are in an extremely perilous situation. People just want to put their money somewhere where they think they will get it back. People may soon be paying Germany or the US to look after their money," said Gary Jenkins, head of Swordfish Research, an independent credit analysis company. The flight to safety came as the situation in Italy and Spain, the eurozone's third- and fourth-largest economies, deteriorated further. Italy held a disappointing debt auction and saw its benchmark borrowing costs rise above 6 per cent for the first time since January. The euro fell 0.8 per cent against the dollar to under $1.24 for the first time in two years. Confusion over how the Spanish government's rescue of Bankia, the stricken lender, will be structured led the premium Madrid pays over Berlin to borrow to hit fresh highs for the euro era at 540 basis points. Analysts said the elevated level meant that clearing houses could soon raise the amount of margin, or collateral, that traders need to post against Spanish debt, a move that led to the escalation of crises in Portugal and Ireland. The European Central Bank has made clear to Spain that it cannot use the bank's liquidity operations as part of a recapitalision of Bankia. However, the central bank said on Wednesday it had not been officially consulted on the plans. Equity markets globally fell on the eurozone fears with bourses in Paris, Frankfurt and London all dropping 2 per cent. But Nick Gartside, international chief investment officer for JPMorgan Asset Management, noted that while US bond yields had halved since April last year the S&P 500 equity market was at the same level. "One of those two markets is mispriced. Core government bonds are an efficient market and they are ahead," he added. Investors said borrowing costs for the US, UK and Germany were likely to continue to fall amid a worsening economic backdrop and the threat of more central bank intervention. Wealth managers have been moving client assets into currency havens in recent weeks, with the Swiss franc and the US dollar among the biggest beneficiaries "Risk aversion, a rapidly slowing global economy and unusually low policy rates will pin these short and intermediate maturity bonds at unprecedented low levels for quite a while," said Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive of Pimco, one of the world's largest bond investors. Mr Gartside said he could easily see German rates going below 1 per cent, following a path that only Japan and Switzerland have taken among major economies, while the US and UK could dip under 1.5 per cent. Markets are increasingly resigned to more turmoil until policy makers take more radical action. The two most popular plans of action for investors are for the ECB to buy Spanish and Italian bonds in unlimited size or for eurozone countries to agree on a fiscal union involving the pooling of debt. "You have to throw everything at it. Spain is just too big for half measures. The next intervention has to be not just massive in size but it has to show a total commitment," said Mr Jenkins. He recommends that the ECB set targets either for the premium Spain and Italy pay to borrow over Germany or for their yields.

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Euro break-up 'could wipe 50pc off London house prices'

Property prices in the capital’s most sought-after postcodes have been driven up by investors moving funds out of assets held in euros to buy into what is seen as a “safe haven” alternative. Foreign money seeking a refuge from the wider economic turmoil accounted for 60pc of acquisitions of prime central London property between 2007 and 2011, according to a report by Fathom Consulting for Development Securities. If the shared currency broke up completely, London property would initially be boosted by the continued flight towards a safe haven, the report predicts. But, once the break-up had taken place, demand for these assets as an insurance against this event would start to ebb. “Although fears about a messy end to the euro debt crisis may account for much of the gain in prime central London (PCL) prices that has taken place over the past two years, we find that a break-up of the single currency area is also the single greatest threat to PCL,” said researchers.

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Leveson - The Hunt is on

Up until now, Lord Justice Leveson has only held the future of the British press in his hands. Today, despite all his protests to the contrary, his inquiry may determine the fate of the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt. The judge insists that it is not his job to put any minister in the dock and that he certainly will not be giving his verdict on whether there have been any breaches of the ministerial code. Nevertheless, the prime minister has made it clear that he sees today's hearing as the moment when Mr Hunt must defend his much criticised handling of News Corp's £8bn bid for total control of BSkyB. The culture secretary has, I'm told, submitted more than 160 pages of internal memos, emails and text message transcripts to the Leveson Inquiry. I understand that he will insist that, despite having originally been a cheerleader not just for Rupert Murdoch but also for his bid, he acted in ways which frustrated it rather than accelerated it once he was made the minister in charge. He will claim that he referred it to the broadcasting regulator Ofcom when told by officials that it wasn't necessary to do so. He is likely to face questions about why he did not follow Ofcom's advice to refer the bid to the Competition Commission. He is likely to reply that he was given legal advice that he had first to consider News Corps offer to spin off Sky News so as to deal with so-called plurality issues. The culture secretary is likely to be asked how he can claim to have been unaware of the scale or nature of the contact between News Corp and his political adviser, Adam Smith - who resigned once his flood of emails and texts were revealed. I understand that Jeremy Hunt originally believed that his adviser had done nothing wrong and told friends he would resign himself rather than letting a junior official resign for him. The prime minister shows no sign yet of wanting to force him out - believing that however bad things may now look, Mr Hunt didn't actually do anything wrong or anything which helped the Murdochs and their bid. Labour argue that - even before today's hearing - it is evident the culture secretary should go as he is in breach of the ministerial code for failing to supervise his adviser, and for misleading the House of Commons when he wrongly asserted he had published all contacts between his department and News Corp - as well as claiming never to have intervened to affect the outcome of the bid.

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Coulson on Sheridan perjury charge

David Cameron's former communications chief Andy Coulson has been charged over allegations he committed perjury during the trial of former MSP Tommy Sheridan. The 44-year-old was detained for questioning at Govan police station in Glasgow by officers from Strathclyde Police. More than six hours later, the force confirmed he had been arrested and charged with perjury. A report will be sent to the procurator fiscal which will decide if Coulson is to face court proceedings. The former News of the World editor gave evidence at Sheridan's perjury trial at the High Court in Glasgow in December 2010, while he was employed by Downing Street as director of communications. At the trial, he claimed he had no knowledge of illegal activities by reporters during the time that he was editor of the now-defunct newspaper. He said: "I don't accept there was a culture of phone hacking at the News of the World." Sheridan was ultimately jailed for three years in January last year after being found guilty of perjury during his 2006 defamation action against the News of the World. He had been awarded £200,000 in damages after winning the civil case but a jury found him guilty of lying about the tabloid's claims that he was an adulterer who visited a swingers' club. The former Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) leader was convicted of five out of six allegations in a single charge of perjury relating to his evidence during the civil action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. Sheridan was released from jail in January this year after serving one year of his sentence and vowed to continue the fight to clear his name. Coulson was arrested last year in relation to Scotland Yard's long-running investigation into phone hacking at the newspaper. He was held in July on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and corruption, and had his bail extended earlier this month. Coulson resigned as editor in 2007 after the paper's former royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were jailed for phone hacking. In May that year, he was unveiled as director of communications and planning with the Conservative Party. He quit his role as Downing Street communications chief in January last year after admitting the News of the World phone-hacking row was making his job impossible.

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Julian Assange's fight to evade extradition to Sweden appears doomed despite stay of execution

Julian Assange's fight to evade extradition to Sweden appeared doomed today though he was given a stay of execution by the highest court in the land. His celebrity-endorsed legal battle trundled on without him as the self-proclaimed champion of truth and transparency remained stuck in London's notorious traffic, undoubtedly disappointing his legion of fans. While vastly diminished in number from the early days of the furore surrounding the WikiLeaks founder, they were as vociferous as ever, penned in outside the Supreme Court yesterday, carrying megaphones, guitars and banners proclaiming “Free Assange” and “God Save Julian”. Mr Assange, 40, had argued that an European Extradition Warrant from Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual molestation was invalid as the public prosecutor who issued it did not constitute a “judicial authority”. He denies the accusations, insisting they are “politically motivated”. His case was partially trumped by the French translation of the words judicial authority, which judges at the Supreme Court said carried a far wider meaning that simply a judge or court. By a majority of five to two they decided the practice by many European countries to have public prosecutors issue such warrants countered the interpretation in United Kingdom and his appeal failed. Nevertheless they granted his lawyers 14 days to apply to have the case re-opened after they insisted that they had not been given an opportunity to argue on the very legal points on which the judges had based their decision.

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FORMER Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson has been arrested on suspicion of committing perjury during the Tommy Sheridan trial

Andy Coulson has been arrested on suspicion of perjury. Picture: Getty

FORMER Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson has been arrested on suspicion of committing perjury during the Tommy Sheridan trial at the High Court in Glasgow, the Crown Office said today.

 

The 44-year-old was detained in London this morning by officers from Strathclyde Police.

 

Coulson gave evidence in Mr Sheridan’s perjury trial at the High Court in Glasgow in December 2010.

 

He was also arrested last year in relation to Scotland Yard’s long-running investigation into phone-hacking at the News of the World.

 

He was held in July on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and corruption and had his bail extended earlier this month.

 

A Strathclyde Police spokesman said: “Officers from Strathclyde Police Operation Rubicon detained a 44-year-old man in London this morning under section 14 of the Criminal Procedures Scotland Act on suspicion of committing perjury before the High Court in Glasgow.

 

“It would be inappropriate to comment any further at this time.”

 

It is understood Coulson is on his way to Glasgow.

 

Operation Rubicon detectives have been looking at whether certain witnesses lied to the court during Sheridan’s trial as part of a “full” investigation into phone hacking in Scotland.

 

Mr Coulson, then employed by Downing Street as director of communications, told the trial in December 2010 he had no knowledge of illegal activities by reporters while he was editor of the News of the World.

 

He also claimed: “I don’t accept there was a culture of phone hacking at the News of the World.”

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Former News of the World Editor arrested in dawn raid on his London home

 

PR man: Andy Coulson was held today by Strathclyde Police,David Cameron’s former No 10 spin doctor Andy Coulson was arrested today on suspicion of committing perjury.

Mr Coulson, 44, was detained at his home in Dulwich at 6.30am by seven officers from Strathclyde police and taken to Glasgow where he will be questioned.

The case centres on claims that he misled a court about his knowledge of phone-hacking during a criminal trial in Glasgow. The former News of the World editor, hired by the Prime Minister as his director of communications, told a court in 2010 that he had no knowledge of illegal voicemail interception when in charge of the tabloid.

During the perjury trial of former Scottish MP Tommy Sheridan, Mr Coulson said: “I don’t accept there was a culture of phone hacking at the News of the World.” He also denied knowing that the

 newspaper paid corrupt police officers for tip-offs. Mr Cameron has faced questions over his decision to bring Mr Coulson into the heart of government. Mr Coulson has already been arrested by the Met on suspicion of phone-hacking and bribing public officials.

The perjury charge, which carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years, is potentially the most serious facing the former Conservative Party spokesman.

One Downing Street source said the arrest came as a “complete surprise”.

Mr Coulson was a major witness in a trial involving Sheridan who was accused of lying in court during a libel victory against the NoW.

Coulson was editor when it published a story that labelled Sheridan an adulterer who visited swingers’ clubs. He was called as a witness and told the court that he had no knowledge of illegal activities by reporters.

Sheridan was jailed for three years last year after being found guilty of perjury during his 2006 defamation action against the NoW. He had successfully sued the newspaper over its claims.

Strathclyde police announced its probe into Mr Coulson last July but it was thought to be taking a back seat as five major Scotland Yard inquiries into the Murdoch media empire rumbled on.

However, the Standard can disclose that officers from Scotland recently visited London to interview several former NoW staff about their old boss.

Under Scottish law a suspect is detained on suspicion of an offence unlike in England and Wales where a suspect is arrested. Mr Coulson has not been charged.

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3D Printing Revolution Could Re-Shape World

Advances in 3D printing technology could revolutionise the way we produce goods and repatriate manufacturing jobs to the UK. Additive manufacturing, as the process is technically known, works by building up solid objects layer by wafer-thin layer, in much the same way as a conventional 2D inkjet printer. The object is scanned, or designed on computer modelling software, then sliced up, like a loaf of bread, into thousands of tiny layers, which can then be printed out to form a solid three-dimensional product. If the last industrial revolution brought us mass production and the advent of economies of scale - the digital revolution could bring manufacturing back full circle - to an era of mass personalisation, and a return to individual craft. Dr Phil Reeves, managing director of Econolyst, an additive manufacturing consultancy, explained: "The ability to mass-personalise products and produce individual products for individual consumers opens up an enormous opportunity, it almost takes us back to a craft industry where things were made for individuals. "And then we moved into the domain of mass production and everything was the same - now we're using digital tools but to make individual products. "At the moment we're 3D printing hearing aids, hip implants, we're starting to see consumer goods and personal products - toys - being personalised to the individual consumer, and that in itself has benefits to the environment because people are keeping the product for longer, and it has more value to the consumer."

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Times are desperate in Spain. The Sun is setting on expats' Costa dreams

 

It was sundowner time at the Cantina tapas bar in the picturesque village of Frigiliana, a few miles inland from the Costa del Sol town of Nerja. Inside, local men were watching bullfighting on television and smoking cigars in quiet contravention of the smoking ban. Outside, expatriate Britons were discussing the vagaries of living in Spain while downing glasses of tinto de verano, the popular summer drink of red wine and lemonade. Mark Jones, who runs his own gardening and pool maintenance company, had spent two days queuing at the local municipal office to renew his residence permit. "I got there at 9am on the first day and my number was 26; by lunchtime they were only up to number 6 and they close at 2pm," he complained. "You have to renew every bit of paper here every few years but I can't afford two days off to queue in an office. There are no staff now because of the cuts, so it all takes longer. It's like everywhere – as soon as the recession hits, it's the immigrants who cop it worst."  Conversation turned to a local couple, who are desperate to leave Spain but who can't because their house is still unsold after four years on the market - despite dropping the asking price from €1 million to €750,000. In 1992 the BBC spent millions of pounds launching an ill-fated soap opera, Eldorado, following the fortunes of British expats on the Costa del Sol. The project flopped and was cancelled a year later. Now, 20 years later, the real-life diaspora is experiencing an equally disastrous end to its Iberian dream. Times are desperate in Spain. More than a million people took the streets earlier this month to protest at budget cuts, 24 per cent unemployment and the rising cost of living. The price of milk and bread has risen by 48 per cent during the last year, according to a recent study, and of potatoes by 116 per cent. Electricity bills are up 11 per cent while property prices are in free fall; they have declined for 15 consecutive quarters and are 41 per cent lower than in 2006. Several of its banks are faltering: this weekend Spain's government is preparing to pump a further €19 billion into Bankia, the country's fourth-largest lender, in the biggest single bank bailout in the country's history. Trading in the bank's shares was suspended on Friday until negotiations over the rescue were complete. Santander, Europe's largest bank, was among 11 Spanish financial institutions to be downgraded by the credit rating agency Standard and Poor earlier this month; and there's no sign of anything like economic recovery on the horizon. Expats are finding life hard in a country where they once basked in a cheaper way of life. Around one million Britons spend part or all of the year in Spain, but thousands are now returning home – and more want to, but say they can't afford to because their property is no longer worth what they paid for it. For the first time since 1998, Spain recorded a drop in foreign residents last year, according to newly released figures. With its narrow cobbled streets, whitewashed houses and children riding horses down the main road, Frigiliana lives up to most tourists' idea of an authentic Spanish village. But appearances can be deceptive. Out of its 3,000-strong population, 1,280 are foreign nationals including 700 Britons, making the village one of the most expat-dominated in Spain. The school advertises itself as bilingual. The British population is so large that the local council pays Kevin Wright, a former travel rep from Leicestershire who has lived in Spain for more than 20 years, to run a "foreigners' department". He helps expats deal with everything from local business permits to burst pipes and land disputes with neighbours, and has noticed changes since the eurozone crisis began. "Before, I was getting 10 newbies a week moving here from the UK; now I get one," he said. "Some Brits have lived here for 20 years but now families move out here then six, eight months later pack up and go back because they can't find work, or didn't realise what the cost of living would be." Mr Wright says many Britons fail to learn Spanish or to assimilate, so that the community becomes dependent on itself – to its cost. "People think they can set themselves up doing business to other Brits, like finance or house sales and rentals, or pool maintenance, gardening and cleaning. "But the property market isn't there any more and people have cut back and do their own maintenance, so there's less work." In desperate economic times, the expat community is increasingly vulnerable to financial trickery. "The worst people for scamming you are other Brits," said Gary Smith, a builder, who emigrated two years ago. "You trust them more but they just take your money for an investment and you never see a penny." Elderly residents are particularly vulnerable. The exchange rate - still far less favourable than five years ago - has meant British pensions and other income in sterling do not stretch as far as they once did. Julia Hilling moved from the UK to Fuengirola, along the coast from Frigiliana, 20 years ago with her husband. They bought a spacious, three-bedroomed apartment with two balcony patios in an upmarket area, overlooking the town's castle. Six years ago, Mrs Hilling, by then a widow aged 83, was persuaded by an independent financial adviser to take out a full mortgage on the apartment. She was told the equity raised would be invested, risk-free, to provide an income, while the mortgage would help offset Spain's 34 per cent inheritance tax when she died. Now 89, Mrs Hilling has never seen any return on her money, owes more than €300,000 to Rothschild Bank on the mortgage and relies on handouts from her children to stay in Spain. "It's devastating," she said. "The man was British, very charming, and said there was no risk. My children said 'Mummy, please don't do this', but I needed the extra income. Now I'm fighting for my life and my home." She is one of more than 100 mainly elderly British expats who have banded together in a Spanish court action to have their mortgages voided, arguing they were mis-sold. Rothschild and several Scandinavian banks also named in the legal action claim the financial advisers are to blame; and the advisers, who are not regulated in Spain as they are in Britain, insist the risk was mentioned in the small print. In a country fighting for its own survival, Spanish politicians are not unduly concerned with the plight of British residents, particularly when many are retired so do not actively contribute to the national economy. Spain's government is currently involved in a dispute with Britain over extent of free health care for Britons under EU law and there are moves to force them to pay 10 per cent of their prescription costs. But for some, returning home remains unthinkable. Former fitness instructor and gym owner Jo Morrison, 49, moved to Spain from London with her partner Lloyd 11 years ago. In 2008 she sold her house in Putney so she could open a gym in Nerja but the project failed after her business partner pulled out, and then the global financial crisis erupted. She now works as a cleaner while renting a one-bedroom home. "Sometimes we've gone without food and I still can't believe that I don't have my house or any savings any more," she said. "But Spain is my home now. I'd rather sleep on the beach than go back to the UK."

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EU cookie implementation deadline is today

A year after its implementation in May 2011, the European Commission's Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive will finally start to be enforced as of tonight, meaning visitors to websites are required to be informed of, and given choice over, the site's intentions to store their data in cookies. Though there has been fierce opposition to the directive, some companies, such as the BBC, Channel 4 and the Guardian, have now begun implementing measures that range from multiple user choices in the level of information shared with the site, to a single message informing the user that, by continuing to browse, they have automatically agreed to have their information stored. Further reading EU cookie law is a 'restraint to trade online', says online retailer Most UK organisations not compliant with EU cookie law New EU cookie law set to come into force But the majority of companies, it is widely reported, will miss tonight's deadline. While the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) still disagrees that a "one size fits all" policy of standardisation is not the way forward when enforcing cookie legislation, some believe such a framework is the only way forward. Society for engineering and technology professionals, the Institution of Engineering & Technology said, "The implementation of this directive is likely to prove very variable until the introduction of a set of standards on the best way to provide a balance between easy browsing and personal privacy. "We had hoped that more progress would have been made on achieving this in the 12 month implementation delay that the Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, gave British organisations."

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Google plans to warn more than half a million users of a computer infection that may knock their computers off the Internet this summer.

Unknown to most of them, their problem began when international hackers ran an online advertising scam to take control of infected computers around the world. In a highly unusual response, the FBI set up a safety net months ago using government computers to prevent Internet disruptions for those infected users. But that system will be shut down July 9 -- killing connections for those people.

The FBI has run an impressive campaign for months, encouraging people to visit a website that will inform them whether they're infected and explain how to fix the problem. After July 9, infected users won't be able to connect to the Internet.

LONG ARM OF SCOFFLAW

An online ad scam is having some unintended ramifications: The fix may prevent as many as 360,000 from getting online. Several sites will show if you're infected:

DNS Changer Working Group: can discern whether you’re infected and explain how to fix the problem.

DNSChanger Eye Chart: if the site goes red, you’re in harm’s way. Green means clean.

The FBI website: type in the IP address of your DNS server to find out if it is infected.

Read more on how to stay safe

On Tuesday, May 22, Google announced it would throw its weight into the awareness campaign, rolling out alerts to users via a special message that will appear at the top of the Google search results page for users with affected computers, CNET reported. 

“We believe directly messaging affected users on a trusted site and in their preferred language will produce the best possible results,” wrote Google security engineer Damian Menscher in a post on the company’s security blog.

“If more devices are cleaned and steps are taken to better secure the machines against further abuse, the notification effort will be well worth it,” he wrote.

The challenge, and the reason for the awareness campaigns: Most victims don't even know their computers have been infected, although the malicious software probably has slowed their web surfing and disabled their antivirus software, making their machines more vulnerable to other problems.

Last November, when the FBI and other authorities were preparing to take down a hacker ring that had been running an Internet ad scam on a massive network of infected computers, the agency realized this may become an issue.

"We started to realize that we might have a little bit of a problem on our hands because ... if we just pulled the plug on their criminal infrastructure and threw everybody in jail, the victims of this were going to be without Internet service," said Tom Grasso, an FBI supervisory special agent. "The average user would open up Internet Explorer and get `page not found' and think the Internet is broken."

On the night of the arrests, the agency brought in Paul Vixie, chairman and founder of Internet Systems Consortium, to install two Internet servers to take the place of the truckload of impounded rogue servers that infected computers were using. Federal officials planned to keep their servers online until March, giving everyone opportunity to clean their computers.

But it wasn't enough time.

A federal judge in New York extended the deadline until July.

Now, said Grasso, "the full court press is on to get people to address this problem." And it's up to computer users to check their PCs.

'We started to realize that we might have a little bit of a problem on our hands...'

- Tom Grasso, an FBI supervisory special agent

This is what happened:

Hackers infected a network of probably more than 570,000 computers worldwide. They took advantage of vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Windows operating system to install malicious software on the victim computers. This turned off antivirus updates and changed the way the computers reconcile website addresses behind the scenes on the Internet's domain name system.

The DNS system is a network of servers that translates a web address -- such as http://www.foxnews.com -- into the numerical addresses that computers use. Victim computers were reprogrammed to use rogue DNS servers owned by the attackers. This allowed the attackers to redirect computers to fraudulent versions of any website.

The hackers earned profits from advertisements that appeared on websites that victims were tricked into visiting. The scam netted the hackers at least $14 million, according to the FBI. It also made thousands of computers reliant on the rogue servers for their Internet browsing.

When the FBI and others arrested six Estonians last November, the agency replaced the rogue servers with Vixie's clean ones. Installing and running the two substitute servers for eight months is costing the federal government about $87,000.

The number of victims is hard to pinpoint, but the FBI believes that on the day of the arrests, at least 568,000 unique Internet addresses were using the rogue servers. Five months later, FBI estimates that the number is down to at least 360,000. The U.S. has the most, about 85,000, federal authorities said. Other countries with more than 20,000 each include Italy, India, England and Germany. Smaller numbers are online in Spain, France, Canada, China and Mexico.

Vixie said most of the victims are probably individual home users, rather than corporations that have technology staffs who routinely check the computers.

FBI officials said they organized an unusual system to avoid any appearance of government intrusion into the Internet or private computers. And while this is the first time the FBI used it, it won't be the last.

"This is the future of what we will be doing," said Eric Strom, a unit chief in the FBI's Cyber Division. "Until there is a change in legal system, both inside and outside the United States, to get up to speed with the cyber problem, we will have to go down these paths, trail-blazing if you will, on these types of investigations."

Now, he said, every time the agency gets near the end of a cyber case, "we get to the point where we say, how are we going to do this, how are we going to clean the system" without creating a bigger mess than before

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Lacambra hand-makes leather products with an emphasis on clean lines, simplistic design and customizable options

Founded less than a year ago, Spain-based Lacambra hand-makes leather products with an emphasis on clean lines, simplistic design and customizable options. While the range of bags, backpacks and cases seems basic at first look, their thoughtful designs reveal a myriad of smart features upon closer inspection. Plus, each product is available in multiple colors with the option for mixing and matching both inside and out, or adding a custom monogram. We were particularly impressed by the iPad Cover for its range of utility packed within such a richly simple case.

On the outside of the sturdy leather folio you'll find a single pocket just deep enough for a single letter or thin packet of paper. On the inside are three card slots and one larger pocket for papers or cords, while the opposite side is reserved to snugly hold all generations of the iPad behind a slender leather flap and a leather-covered elastic band.

Taking a second to focus on the fine details one will notice matching stitching throughout and a few important technical features. The single leather strap hides magnets that connect the case's two sides to prop up your iPad at an angle for proper viewing. A strip of canvas tucked in an interior pocket rolls up into a pyramid similar to the Apple Smart Cover design, and can be placed underneath the iPad a few different ways to elevate the device for a more comfortable writing position.

While we must admit a tendency to shy away from anything bulkier than a Smart Cover alone, Lacambra's iPad Case makes a strong argument for some handsome extra packaging. With just enough room for the essentials and an elegant unisex design, this case may very well become a go-to for traveling.

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Google completed its $12.5 billion acquisition of phone maker Motorola

Google completed its $12.5 billion acquisition of phone maker Motorola - and immediately appointed a senior Google exec as CEO.

Google is widely expected to use the acquisition to produce further phones and tablets running its Android software - including Google-branded rivals to Apple's iPad.

Dennis Woodside, previously president of Google's Americas region, is Motorola's new CEO. 

It is Google's largest acquisition ever, and pushes it deeper into the phone market. 

Google CEO Larry Page said, 'Many users coming online today may never use a desktop machine, and the impact of that transition will be profound.'

Besides producing smartphones and tablet computers, Motorola  also makes cable-TV boxes that could provide Google with a springboard for delivering more of its services, including advertising, to living rooms in the form of a revamped version of its Google TV service.

Macquarie Securities analyst Benjamin Schachter believes Google is particularly interested in developing a better tablet computer powered by its Android software to compete against Apple's hot-selling iPad and Amazon's Kindle Fire.

 Google is already a formidable force in mobile computing thanks to its Android software, the most popular mobile operating system on Earth. 

Motorola's Xoom tablet: Google is widely expected to use the acquisition to produce further phones and tablets running its Android software - including Google-branded rivals to Apple's iPad

At the same time, the acquisition has been interpreted as largely a defensive one. 

Google needs Motorola's trove of 17,000 cellphone patents to defend Android phones against lawsuits by Apple, which accuses them of copying iPhone features.

Google and Motorola announced the deal last summer, expecting it would close late last year or early this year.

But approval from Chinese regulators was slow in coming.

On Saturday, China approved the deal, on condition that Google Inc.'s Android software would remain free for other phone makers for at least five years. 

Regulators in the U.S. and Europe had cleared the deal three months ago.

The acquisition will also test Google's ability to keep its business partners, shareholders and employees happy as it moves beyond Internet search and other services built on software to begin manufacturing a wide range of equipment for the first time. 

Google executive Dennis Woodside was appointed as the new CEO of Motorola. Woodside is also an Ironman Triathlete

 

Google has been reassuring its Android partners that Motorola's devices won't get souped-up versions of the software or receive other preferential treatment.

Although it initially was drawn to Motorola Mobility for its patents, Google has been signaling recently that it has been drawing up more ambitious plans for Motorola Mobility. 

The company also will likely have to do some hand-holding with investors who have already been fretting about Motorola Mobility's troubles eroding Google's hefty profit margins.

As its line of smartphones has waned in popularity, Motorola Mobility has suffered losses totaling $1.7 billion during the past three years. Google has earned a total of $25 billion over the same stretch. The contrasting fortunes of the two companies is one reason why CEO Larry Page has decided to operate Motorola Mobility separately so it will be easier for investors to track how the different lines of business are faring.

Turning around Motorola Mobility also will require layoffs, a painful process that belies Google's carefully cultivated image as a cuddly employer. Google laid off about 300 people after it paid $3.2 billion to acquire online advertising service DoubleClick Inc. in 2008, up until the biggest deal in the company's history. The cutbacks represented about one-quarter of the workforce that Google inherited from DoubleClick. If Google imposes a similar reduction on Motorola Mobility's 20,500-employee payroll, it would translate into about 5,000 layoffs.

Taking on so many new employees also raises the risk of culture clashes with the 33,000 people already working at Google.

Motorola Mobility is one half of the old Motorola Inc. It split at the beginning of last year. The other half, Motorola Solutions Inc., is still independent. It sells police radios, barcode scanners and other products aimed at government and corporate customers.

Google shares fell $5.69 to $608.41 in morning trading Tuesday. They are still near their 52-week high of $670.25 per share set in early January.

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World's tallest broadcasting tower Tokyo Skytree opens

Tokyo Skytree, the world's tallest broadcasting tower at 634m, has opened to the public. The tower, which took three-and-a-half years to build, stands about twice the height of Tokyo Tower, the city's landmark tower since the 1960s. The main attractions of the needle-shaped structure are two observation decks at 350m and 450m above ground. The Burj Khalifa in Dubai remains the tallest building structure in the world at 828m. The Skytree, also double the height of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, offers broadcasting services across the Tokyo area. Continue reading the main story World's Tallest Buildings: Burj Khalifa (Dubai, 828m), Taipei 101 (Taipei, 508m), Shanghai World Financial Center (Shanghai, 492m), International Commerce Centre (Hong Kong, 484m), and Petronas Tower (Kuala Lumpur, 452m) Towers: Tokyo Skytree (Tokyo, 634m), Canton Tower (Guangzhou, 600m), CN Tower (Toronto, 553m), Ostankino Tower (Moscow, 540m), and Oriental Pearl Television Tower (Shanghai, 468m) Source: Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat Major broadcasters, including Japan's public broadcaster NHK, will begin using it for transmissions from next year, reports said. The first observation deck of the Skytree can accommodate up to 2,000 people and the second deck up to 900, said local media reports. The tower withstood damage from the devastating earthquake that hit Japan in March 2011 during its construction. The disaster pushed back building efforts by two months, but no-one was hurt and construction was resumed. The tower is now viewed as a testimony to Japan's earthquake-resistant building technology, as well as a symbol of resilience, local media reports said.

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Japanese man chops off realtor’s arm

A Japanese man has been arrested after lopping off the arm of the president of a real estate company with a samurai sword. He also attacked two other employees, leaving them with serious stomach wounds. Hifumi Kuwada was charged on Saturday over the attempted murder of Katsumi Jitskata, the president of Daikyo Home, and two workers with a 70cm blade. Employees Hiroshi Jitsukata, Kiyoshi Sato are currently being treated in hospital for severe stomach lacerations. Kawada has pleaded guilty to the charges. He reportedly smuggled the samurai into the Daikyo Home’s offices inside a golf bag before embarking on the bloody rampage. Kawada then fled the scene in his car, but was caught and arrested shortly afterwards by local police. Japanese police suspect that the attack was motivated by business interests. According to newspaper The Japan Times Hifumi Kuwada runs a construction company and had ordered Daikyo Home to work on an apartment building project. Police are currently investigating the motives behind the attack. It seems that sword attacks in Japan have not been that uncommon recently. In a separate incident last month, a 97-year-old man was arrested in the western Japanese province of Kanazawa after he attacked one of his relatives with a sword. He reportedly used his walker to break in to the 84-year-old relative’s nearby home before slashing her hand with a 60cm sword blade.

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Hats made by Stephen Jones on view at the Bowes Museum

One of British Fashion’s best loved characters, whose client list boasts style icons such as French First Lady Carla Bruni alongside pop divas Madonna and Kylie Minogue, is exhibiting a selection of his stunning creations at The Bowes Museum this summer. Milliner Stephen Jones, whom Italian Vogue’s Anna Piaggi describes as ‘the maker of the most beautiful hats in the world’, has worked with some of the world’s most prominent fashion houses and designers during his illustrious career, including Jean Paul Gaultier, Vivienne Westwood, Christian Dior, John Galliano and Giles Deacon. And now he is lending a selection of his fabulous hats for the show From Georgiana to Boy George, which opens at the Barnard Castle treasure house on Saturday 19th May. One of the original New Romantic style setters, Jones saw his passion for museums fuelled when he studied at St Martin’s School of Art in the late 1970s. He opened his first millinery salon in Covent Garden in 1980, with an eclectic client mix which included the then Lady Diana Spencer and Visage front man Steve Strange, and was soon asked to create hats for catwalk shows. His hats can be inspired by an historical discovery or an imagined narrative prompted by an artefact, painting or photograph, with designs drawn from relics of the Renaissance, cluttered Victoriana, the glamour of the 1930s and the ‘swinging sixties.’ The Georgian era is a period Jones returns to again and again, especially the Regency. He is entranced by the elegance of neo-classical architecture, the romantic poets, fluttering plumes, bonnets and turbans, which he describes as ‘having history between every seam.’ Always at the cutting edge of fashion, his captivating hats habitually adorn the chicest magazine covers, and now they will be modelled by a collection of vintage mannequins in The Bowes Museum’s stunning Fashion & Textile Gallery. Joanna Hashagen, The Bowes Museum’s Keeper of Fashion & Textiles, said: “We are delighted to have attracted such a top designer as Stephen Jones to exhibit in our amazing gallery, which recently hosted a highly successful exhibition of Vivienne Westwood Shoes. To have Stephen’s hats here really is topping it off in a prestigious manner.” Dubbed ‘the most original milliner working today’, Jones, whose boutique and atelier is still based in Covent Garden, was awarded the OBE in 2009 for his services to millinery. His work is represented in the permanent collections of a number of international museums, including the V&A in London, the Louvre in Paris, The Fashion Institute of Technology and the Brooklyn Museum (both New York), the Kyoto Costume Institute, Japan, and the Australian National Gallery in Canberra.

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The Beatles' Abbey Road rare backwards photo up for auction at Bloomsbury in London Iain MacMillan, Abbey Road,

The Beatles' Abbey Road rare backwards photo up for auction at Bloomsbury in London Iain MacMillan, Abbey Road, 1969. Signed chromogenic print, printed later, editioned 1/25 in the margin. Estimate: £7,000-9,000. LONDON.- Bloomsbury Auctions, London announced its May 22nd Photographs and Photobooks sale. It will encompass a range of photographs dating from the 1850s to the present day. Nineteenth century highlights from the auction include a group of eight rare and early salt prints (from albumen on glass negatives) of Rome by Eugène Constant (£8,000 - £10,000 for the group) and one of the celebrated portraits of Julia Jackson by Julia Margaret Cameron (£6000 - 8000). The sale also includes photographs from a private Italian collection which contains vintage prints by Alexander Rodchenko, an Irving Penn portrait from the Cuzco series (£6,000 - 8,000) and and a portrait by Adolph de Meyer of his wife Baroness Olga (£6,000 - 8,000). A Postwar British photography section features photographers such as Bill Brandt, Thurston Hopkins, Grace Robertson, John Blakemore, Raymond Moore, Paul Hill and Colin Jones as well as offering Cecil Beaton's portrait of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton taken at the Rothschild Proust Ball in 1971 (£8,000 -10,000). A small section on music photography features a variant of one of the most iconic album covers of all time, Abbey Road by Iain MacMillan (£7,000 - 9,000). The sale also offers classic twentieth century photographs including Le Baiser de L'Hotel de Ville by Robert Doisneau (£4,000 - 6,000), three prints by Henri Cartier-Bresson, a wide selection of photographs by Magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt and his alter ego Andre S. Solidor, and an early print of Larry Clark's Dead (Billy Mann), 1968 which comes with a signed first edition of the book Tulsa (£1,500 - 2,000). The collection of photobooks in the sale includes first edition copies of Alexey Brodovitch's Ballet (£800 - 1200) Robert Frank's Les Americains (£2000 - 3000), an inscribed presentation copy of Josef Koudelka's Gypsies and The New Industrial Parks by Lewis Baltz (£800-1,200).

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YIBD “Project R6” is an urban boutique residence for short-term business people, young urban professionals, and foreign residents.

© Luxigon

Architect: REX
Location: Seoul, Korea
Built Area: 115,500 sqm (1,240,000 sqf)
Completion year: 2016
Program: 47,800 sqm of luxury housing for short-term residents, 27,000 sqm of retail, and 929 parking stalls
Renderings: Luxigon and Rex

   

 

YIBD “Project R6” is an urban boutique residence for short-term business people, young urban professionals, and foreign residents. Due to the transience of its target users and the short durations during which they are home, R6’s unit sizes are small, including 40 sqm, 50 sqm, and 60 sqm residences, with the majority being 40 sqm.

© Luxigon

To meet the trends of its users and compensate for its small unit size, R6 must engender a strong sense of community and its residences must be highly attractive, providing generous views, daylight, and cross-ventilation. Maximizing daylight and cross-ventilation are also paramount to providing a highly sustainable residence.

© REX

In a standard housing tower, 40 sqm to 60 sqm units would create poorly dimensioned and oppressive residences, offering constrained views, little daylight, and poor ventilation, and community would be limited to activities at the tower’s base.

© Luxigon

By pulling layers of the typical housing tower in opposing directions, the small units maintain their size, but are stretched into favorable proportions that provide views and daylight from both sides, excellent cross-ventilation, and a strong sense of community through the creation of a central courtyard, roof terraces, and conversation / reading/ play pods.

© REX

The stretched layers are strategically positioned to guarantee unobstructed daylight into all units, and to create adequate continuity of the building’s primary structure: a concrete-encased steel mega-brace that encircles the courtyard.

© REX

The mega-brace supports a shelf-like matrix of walls and floor slabs that define each unit. Into each shelf is inserted a wooden shell containing a bathroom on one side and a kitchen on the other. A movable wall—using standard compact shelving technology—shifts within the unit to define a bedroom (adjacent to the bathroom) or a living room (adjacent to the kitchen). The wall includes a bed, nightstands, couch, television mount, task lights, and storage.

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asymmetrical lounge chair and swivel table are integrated for 'moment', a seating design by amsterdam-based feiz studio

'moment' by feiz design for offecct


an asymmetrical lounge chair and swivel table are integrated for 'moment', a seating design by amsterdam-based feiz studio 
for swedish furniture company offecct. 

'noticing that we rarely 'just sit', we started to reflect on all the activities we do while sitting: all the moments that we read, 
we drink a cup of coffee, we work, we engage in conversation… 'moment' was born out of these situations.' khodi feiz.

an ergonomic cup shape is the supportive seating element of the furniture object. the cold-foam moulded and upholstered structure 
is finished with a powder-coated aluminum swivel tray. this surface is able to fold either in or out depending on the activity of the user. 
the design is also an exploration of private and public, testing the notion of openness in a public setting through the form of an object. 
the lounger was on show at salone del mobile during milan design week 2012. 



the asymmetrical chair has an attached tray 



the lounger on show during milan design week 2012 
image © designboom



swivel leg version of the seating object 
image © designboom



designer khodi feiz
portrait © designboom



the process of finding the right ergonomic shape 



the staff tests out their model 



the design process continues 



concept rendering 



sketch

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