Microsoft Boss Satya Nadella to Visit China Amid Antitrust Headache

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.Microsoft

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is visiting China in late September, as the Asian country bolsters its investigation into the tech giant's alleged violation of antitrust rules.

Reuters citing a source familiar with the matter reported that Nadella, who took over as the CEO of Microsoft in February, is set to visit the country. The news agency said it is not clear if he will meet with any Chinese government officials or try to resolve the antitrust issues with the regulator, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC).

A Microsoft spokesman told Reuters that the company does not comment on executive travel plans.

Nadella's visit comes as the world's largest software maker is facing an antitrust investigation in China.

The SAIC had earlier raided Microsoft offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu at the end of July for alleged breach of antitrust laws, and later extended the probe into the company's offices in Liaoning, Fujian and Hubei.

The state agency also warned Microsoft against interfering with the ongoing anti-trust probe.

Zhang Mao, the head of the SAIC told reporters that the company has expressed willingness to cooperate with the investigation, but is yet to provide full information regarding software, including Windows, Office, Media Player and Internet Explorer.

In May, China's central government offices were banned from using Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 8, after the US Justice Department charged five Chinese military members with hacking the systems of US companies to allegedly steal trade secrets.

Microsoft Deputy General Counsel Mary Snapp already met with SAIC officials in Beijing earlier in August to discuss the antitrust matter.

Microsoft is not the only foreign technology company that is facing an antitrust probe. China's antitrust regulator earlier said that US chipmaker Qualcomm enjoys a monopoly in the world's second largest economy.

The regulator added that it is also probing Qualcomm's Chinese subsidiary for allegedly overcharging and abusing its market position in wireless communication standards.

Qualcomm Inc President Derek Aberle earlier met with China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in order to end the antitrust scrutiny.

Giant Panda Accused of Faking Pregnancy for Extra Buns

Giant panda Ai Hin had her keepers duped.

A giant Chinese panda has been accused of faking a pregnancy in a cunning bid for free buns.

Ai Hin seemed to display all the signs of an expectant mother, including moving less and initially having a smaller appetite

The keepers at Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Centre were said to be so excited at the prospect of the pregnancy they prepared to film the birth.

However, it seems that Ai Hin had everyone duped and was never pregnant at all.

It seems the panda had learnt that her pregnancy news would see her rewarded with plenty of extra buns.

Wu Kongju, a panda expert told China's state news agency Xinhua that giant pandas are moved into a single room with air conditioning when pregnant.

"They also receive more buns, fruits and bamboo, so some clever pandas have used this to their advantage to improve their quality of life."

With only 24% of females in captivity giving birth, the bears have a notoriously low reproductive rate, posing a serious threat to the survival of the species.

China has about 1,600 pandas living in the wild and another 300 held in captivity.

Ebola Outbreak: Scientists Sequence Virus Genomes and Find Clues About Origin and Transmission of Disease

A medical worker in Kailahun in Sierra Leone, the epicentre of the world's worst Ebola outbreak(Getty)

An international team of researchers have sequenced and analysed more than 99 Ebola virus genomes in response to an ongoing, unprecedented outbreak of the disease in West Africa.

The research, led by scientists at the Broad Institute and Harvard University, in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation, may give clues about the origin and transmission of the deadly virus.

For the study, researchers sequenced 99 Ebola virus genomes collected from 78 patients diagnosed with the virus in Sierra Leone during the first 24 days of the outbreak.

The team found more than 300 genetic changes that make the 2014 Ebola virus genomes distinct from those tied to previous Ebola outbreaks.

They also found sequence variations indicating that, from the samples, the outbreak started from a single introduction into humans, subsequently spreading from person to person.

Since it was first reported in Guinea in March 2014, 2,240 cases have been reported with 1,200 deaths.

Augustine Goba, director of the Lassa Laboratory at the Kenema Government Hospital and a co-first author of the paper, identified the first Ebola virus disease case in Sierra Leone.

"We established surveillance for Ebola well ahead of the disease's spread into Sierra Leone and began retrospective screening for the disease on samples as far back as January of this year," said Goba.

"This was possible because of our long-standing work to diagnose and study another deadly disease, Lassa fever. We could thus identify cases and trace the Ebola virus spread as soon as it entered our country."

In the study, researchers sequenced at a depth of 2,000 times on average for each Ebola genome to get an extremely close-up view of the virus genomes from 78 patients.

This high-resolution view allowed the team to detect multiple mutations that alter protein sequences - potential targets for future diagnostics, vaccines and therapies.

The Ebola strains responsible for the current outbreak are likely to have a common ancestor, dating back to the very first recorded outbreak in 1976.

The researchers revealed the lineage responsible for the current outbreak diverged from the Middle African version of the virus within the last decade and spread from Guinea to Sierra Leone by 12 people who had attended the same funeral.

The team's catalog of 395 mutations (over 340 that distinguish the current outbreak from previous ones and over 50 within the West African outbreak) may serve as a starting point for other research groups.

"We've uncovered more than 300 genetic clues about what sets this outbreak apart from previous outbreaks," said researcher Stephen Gire.

"Although we don't know whether these differences are related to the severity of the current outbreak, by sharing these data with the research community, we hope to speed up our understanding of this epidemic and support global efforts to contain it."

The study was published in the journal Science .

Algeria To Launch Five Year Investment Plan Worth $262bn to Reduce Oil and Gas Dependence

Algeria's president Bouteflika walks with nephews after casting ballot during parliamentary elections in Algiers(Reuters)

Algeria has announced a new investment plan to be rolled out from 2015 in a bid to reduce the country's dependence on oil and gas, the government said.

Algiers has already invested heavily in a range of social programmes to quell social unrest and rebalance its economy.

The plan, which is set to be finalised during the final months of the year, will run from 2015 to 2019 and is intended to "develop a productive and diversified economy", the government revealed in a statement.

The announcement, which came after a cabinet meeting chaired by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, did not provide specific details of the plan.

Algeria currently relies on oil and gas sales for around 97% of its export revenues, while it spends more than $50bn each year on importing goods.

It is the only country in North Africa that did not experience massive street demonstrations in the Arab Awakening of 2010 and 2011.

That could be down to a conflict-weariness among the population that lived through the country's bloody civil war in the 1990s.

It may also be the result of the government's massive spending on social projects from 2005 to 2009, followed up by a further five year plan worth $286bn that is due to expire this year.

However, analysts have said the outcomes of those plans failed to have a major impact due to the slow pace of reform and excessive bureaucracy.

Facekini: Will Women Around the World Go For China's Latest Swimwear Trend?

No, these are not Pussy Riot's holiday photos, they're pictures of Chinese women wearing the latest beachwear must-have – the facekini.

(Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

The masks covering the head are worn by women who don't want to expose their faces to the sun's harsh rays. They are often worn with long-sleeved swimsuits.

Facekinis are particularly popular in the city of Qingdao, where they also protect swimmers from regular algae blooms in the Yellow Sea.

We doubt they'll catch on in Europe, but Nigella Lawson was photographed wearing what the press dubbed a 'burkini' on Bondi Beach in 2011, and CR Fashion Book has just published a facekini-inspired photoshoot, so you never know.

(Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

(Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

(Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

(Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

(Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

(Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

(Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

(Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

(Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

(Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

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Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt Agree On River Nile Mega Dam Inspections

Labourers work at the Grand Renaissance Dam in Guba Woreda, Ethiopia.(Tiksa Negeri/Reuters)

Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have agreed to work together in a bid to resolve the long-running conflict over the construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam.

Following a bitter standoff between Egypt and Ethiopia over the dam's potential impact on Cairo's water supply, water affairs ministers from the three countries agreed to complete studies of the dam's potential impact within six months.

Map of the river Nile locating the Grand Renaissance Dam under construction in Ethiopia.(Reuters Graphics)

The two-day talks in Khartoum were hailed as "fruitful" and were held "in an atmosphere of trust and transparency", according to a statement from all three parties. Yet, the construction of the hydro-electric dam remains a pressing concern for Cairo.

While the language used by the ministers may have been conciliatory, Ethiopia has pressed ahead with the project, while Cairo has been weakened by a period of political chaos.

Cairo's water shortage fears

Egypt lies downstream of the proposed dam on the Nile, and has frequently stressed its opposition to the construction of any projects on the river that could diminish its water supply.

Cairo also claims historic rights to the river Nile, dating back to treaties from 1929 and 1959, which it says give it the right to veto any projects upstream.

Those treaties, agreed with Sudan and the UK, award Egypt around two-thirds of the Nile's water to Egypt. Other countries in the Nile basin contest the validity of these treaties.

Ethiopia began work on the project to divert the Blue Nile last year. That river eventually joins with the White Nile at Khartoum in Sudan, where it forms the river Nile and flows on through Sudan and Egypt.

Ethiopian officials have said the project would eventually lead to the construction of a 1,780m long and 145m high dam that could produce 6,000 megawatts of electricity.

The total cost of the project has been estimated at $4.2bn (£2,5bn, €3.2bn.)

Douglas McArthur McCain: The Rapping Clown Turned Isis Martyr

Douglas McArthur McCain, the American citizen killed while fighting for the Islamic State in Syria, was once a fun-loving, bastketball-playing amateur rapper, it has emerged.

Although details are still emerging about McCain, who was killed by members of the Free Syrian Army over the weekend of 23-24 August, news teams and former friends have already begun piecing his back-story together.

Their accounts tell us that the FSA fighters found $800 in cash, and a US passport, on McCain's body after their cut him down. His death comes two months after 15 Somali-Americans from Minnesota were believed to have linked up with Isis in Syria.

McCain was active on social media, where he went by the name "Duale Khalid" on Twitter and "Duale ThaslaveofAllah" on Facebook. His Twitter bio reads "It's Islam over everything," and a tweet from 14 May proudly claims he "reverted to Islam to 10 years ago" and called it "the best thing that ever happen [sic] to me."

On 26 June, he retweeted a tweet that in part said "pray for ISIS."

McCain's Facebook bio says he was born in Chicago, lived in San Diego and studied at San Diego City College. NBC News said he moved from Chicago to Minnesota before moving again to California after high school.

Those who knew McCain said he was an aspiring rapper, and a happy presence at school - hardly the sort of character one would normally associate with militant jihadism. Classmates from Robbbinsdale Cooper High School in New Hope, Minnesota, said he was "always smiling" and liked to joke and play basketball.

"He was a goofball in high school," according to an unnamed classmate. "Doug was a fun guy to be around. Played basketball, joked a lot, had a small sense of humor. Got along with most ... Wasn't the best athlete, but liked to play."

McCain was desperate to be recognised for his rapping; he even went to Sweden to enter a rap battle. Kevin Törnström Kohlin, one of the Swedes McCain met on the trip, said he talked about religion with McCain and "he respected my Christianity."

While in California, McCain worked at African Spice, a Somali restaurant, and frequented a San Diego mosque.

"He was a normal guy, who was social, open-minded, liked to smile always, and always wanted to be a good Muslim," said an unnamed acquaintance of McCain's from African Spice.

It's unclear exactly when McCain joined Isis, but in April, he traveled to Turkey, a frequent way station for people on the way to fight in Syria.

George Akerlof: Impose Uniform Tax on Carbon Emissions to Fight Global Warming

The Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is seen in this undated Nasa image. Vast glaciers in West Antarctica seem to be locked in an irreversible thaw linked to global warming that may push up sea levels for centuries, scientists said in May.Reuters

Nobel Prize winning American economist George Akerlof believes that the imposition of a uniform tax on carbon emissions will be an effective, though expensive, way to fight global warming.

Akerlof, writing in the latest issue of Finance & Development, the IMF's quarterly magazine, identified climate change as the biggest problem facing the global economy of the future.

The economist said that a carbon emissions' tax "should escalate until emissions fall to desirable levels."

He also called for the "subsidisation of research and development into ways to reduce emissions."

A file photograph of George Akerlof.Reuters

Akerlof worte: "Parents don't take a baby's temperature to decide whether the room is too warm; likewise, for global warming we need a story that spurs us to do what is necessary."

"...global warming is a global problem and emissions come from everywhere, so taxes and subsidies must be global..."

"There are thus two inconvenient truths. The first is global warming itself. The second is that we aren't yet telling ourselves the stories that compel us to combat it..." he added.

Earlier in the week, the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) dashed out a final draft of its synthesis report to governments the world over, warning that global warming's impact on humans and the environment could be irreversible.

Global temperatures, the report said, are expected to increase by around another 2°C (3.6°F) by mid-century. The heating trend will also push up sea levels, and trigger heat waves, extreme flooding and drought, it added.

The 127-page draft, obtained by the Associated Press, used the word risk 351 times.

Shell Speeds up Nigeria Oilfields $5bn Sell-Off Plans

Royal Dutch Shell to sell off Nigerian oilfields(Reuters)

European oil major Royal Dutch Shell is moving ahead with plans to sell a number of its Nigerian oilfields as it ploughs ahead with planned asset sales.

The Anglo-Dutch firm is leading a consortium that is close to selling a cluster of oilfields that include the Nembe Creek Trunk Line, for around $5bn (£3bn, €3.8bn,) according to the Financial Times newspaper.

The move is the latest attempt by a western oil company to pull out from the restive Delta region and the Nigerian market amid recurring incidents of infrastructure sabotage that have caused billions of dollars' worth of damage.

A deal is expected to be finalised in the next few weeks and the total figure for the sale could still change.

Shell "has signed sales and purchase agreements for some of the oil mining leases but not all that we are seeking to divest", Shell said in a statement. "The assets under consideration are OMLs 18, 24, 25, 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk Line, but the process has not yet concluded."

Shell has already sold off around $8bn worth of assets this year after it announced plans to sell around $15bn worth of assets through 2015.

Indigenous oil companies have expanded in Nigeria in recent years, capitalising on a government plan to boost domestic control over the oil industry.

Shell has faced long-running criticism from human rights groups over its oil production operations in Nigeria.

The company had not taken effective measures to restore the damaged environment in the Niger Delta after oil production caused contamination of the water there, Amnesty International reported in August.

Cryptocurrency News Round-Up: Bitcoin to Battle Ebola and BitGive Gets Charitable Status

Bitcoin's recovery continues as charitable organisations look to it to raise funds(IBTimes UK)

Bitcoin has continued its steady recovery with a 2.5% rise in price over the last 24 hours that takes its market cap back up towards $7 million (£4m, €5m).

Litecoin - often referred to as the silver to bitcoin's gold - also saw a similar price rise, however dogecoin and darkcoin both saw their values tumble by around 10%.

While this drop might be damaging for darkcoin considering its recent downwards trend, dogecoin's price fall comes off the back of a significant surge on Monday 25 August. It translates to an overall gain of around $2 million to its market capitalisation since last week.

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Bitcoin to Battle Ebola

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A West African digital currency advocate group has turned its attention towards the Ebola outbreak that is affecting the region.

The Sierra Leone Liberty Group (SLLG) is hoping to raise donations through bitcoin in an effort to combat the virus that has claimed the lives of over 1,400 individuals.

"It is very hard to live in a society that [has] such a deadly virus," Mustapha Cole, founder of SLLG, told CoinDesk. "The Sierra Leone Liberty Group is made up of men and women just like you, who intend to make Sierra Leone a better place to live.

"We believe that progress comes from personal productivity of individuals but you can't get different results by doing the same things."

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BitGive Gets Charitable Status

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The BitGive Foundation has become the first bitcoin charity to be given tax-exempt status by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The news comes just over a year after the organisation was founded, in which time it has raised funds and led campaigns donating to several public health and environmental causes.

"One of our first goals was to secure our 501 (c) (3) [tax-exempt] status, which enables BitGive to provide US donors a tax deduction for their donation and provides a number of legal and financial benefits to the organisation," said Connie Gallippi, executive director of BitGive.

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Air India Website Crashes as National Carrier Offers £1 Tickets for Five Days

Air India

The website of India's national carrier has crashed after it announced the offer of air tickets for as low as £1 for a limited period, as it celebrates 'Air India Day' on 27 August.

Air India is offering tickets for 100 rupees (£0.99, €1.25, $1.65), excluding taxes, for five days from 27 August. The company is celebrating 'Air India Day' on 27 August to commemorate its merger with Indian Airlines.

"On this occasion Air India is launching the Air India Offer for its travellers. Under the scheme tickets will be offered for Rs 100 apart from all applicable taxes," the company earlier said in a statement.

"The sale of these tickets will be made only through the Air India website for five days from August 27 to 31 2014 for travel between August 27 and September 30, 2014, only."

Price-sensitive Indian travellers have rushed to Air India's website, and the high traffic caused the portal to go offline.

Air IndiaAir India

Air India was amalgamated with Indian Airlines to form Air India on 27 August, 2007. Indian Airlines had been operating the country's domestic routes.

It is for the first time the airline is celebrating the Air India Day. In a separate function to celebrate the day, Air India is honouring its meritorious employees.

100,000 Employees in Korea's Financial Sector Set for One-Day Strike Against Job Cuts

An employee of Kookmin Bank walks out of the bank's branch office in Seoul.REUTERS

Employees at South Korean banks and state-run financial firms will go on a one-day strike in September in order to protest against job cuts and lower wages in the industry.

Korea Financial Industry Union (KFIU), representing about 100,000 employees from 37 financial companies including all banks in the country, said that 91% of its members voted in favour of the strike scheduled for 3 September.

Ahead of the strike, the employees plan to hold a protest rally at Yeouido, the country's key financial district, according to the union.

The union added that the protest is against issues such as the government's push to cut welfare and benefits at state-run financial firms and the appointment of high-ranking government officials at such state-run financial firms.

It will also question the country's early integration of two Hana Financial Group affiliates – Hana Bank and Korea Exchange Bank.

Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan earlier met with union leaders and asked them to cancel the strike, citing potential economic losses. However, the union decided to go ahead with the strike.

The strike would be the union's first in 14 years after about 65,000 employees protested against government-led industry mergers in July 2000.

A planned strike in 2012 failed despite receiving 91.3% votes, as two major units of the union could not participate in it.

Korean lenders are reducing their branches and employees in line with declining loan growth and shrinking profit margins. KFIU is looking to prevent job cuts amid the restructuring in the industry.

The union also wants an increase in base salaries by at least 6.1% in 2014 and a change in retirement to 60 from 57, according to a statement on its website.

It accuses the government's excessive influence over the industry and close ties between executives and politicians of destroying the sector.