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  Apple boss Tim Cook has defended his company’s decision to comply with the Chinese government’s demand it remove VPN software from the App Store. Virtual Private Networks are often used to skirt censorship and surveillance in countries with tight restrictions on internet use. The company has been heavily criticised for removing several VPN apps, and was accused of “aiding Chinese censorship efforts”. Apple said it disagreed with China’s position but had to comply with the country’s laws. "We would obviously rather not remove the apps,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said on Tuesday. "But like we do in other countries we follow the law wherever we do business. Mr Cook said comparisons to a legal battle in the US last year - in which the firm refused to help the FBI unlock a dead terrorist's iPhone - were unfair. "They’re very different,” he said. "In the case of the US, the law in the US supported us. I was very clear. In the case of China, the law is also very clear there. Like we would if the US changed the law here, we’d have to abide by them in both cases." 'MOST DRASTIC MEASURE' Activists and indeed regular citizens in China have been finding ways to poke holes in the country’s infamous Great Firewall of China which blocks “questionable” content and is heavily monitored. To operate a VPN service in the country, companies must be authorised by the Chinese authorities. Those without permission, such as ExpressVPN, have been singled out for removal from Apple’s App Store. “We’re disappointed in this development, as it represents the most drastic measure the Chinese government has taken to block the use of VPNs to date,” said ExpressVPN in a blog post. “We are troubled to see Apple aiding China’s censorship efforts. ExpressVPN strongly condemns these measures, which threaten free speech and civil liberties.” Mr Cook said Apple stated its opposition to the removal through the “appropriate” channels. "We believe in engaging with governments even when we disagree,” he said. "In this particular case, we are hopeful that over time the resections we’re seeing are loosened, because innovation requires freedom to collaborate and communicate.” Mr Cook’s remarks were made during the firm’s quarterly earnings call. While the firm performed strongly in most of the world, it continues to struggle in China where revenues dropped 10 per cent compared to this time last year.   ....

Published at: 2017-08-02 00:00:05

An activist of Jubo League was hacked to death at Joralganj in Mirsarai upazila of Chittagong district on Tuesday. The deceased was identified as Parvez Hossian, 23, son of Rahim Ullah of Morgang village in Osmanpur union and an activist of local Jubo League unit. Local sources said a gang of miscreants attacked Parvez indiscriminately with sharp weapons in front of his house in the afternoon, leaving him seriously injured. Locals have taken Parvez to Upazila Health Complex where he succumbed to his injuries in the evening. Mirsarai circle Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mahbubur Rahmman said legal action would be taken against the culprits involved in the incident.....

Published at: 2017-08-02 00:00:05

A man was killed and three others sustained serious injuries when a Chandpur-bound passenger bus from Comilla hit a Hajiganj-bound CNG-run auto-rickshaw from Chandpur on Chandpur-Comilla regional highway in Devpur area of Sadar upazila on Tuesday evening. The deceased was identified as Makbul Hossain, 33, a domestic help of the injured one Maksuda Begum. The seriously injured are Maksuda Begum, 55, wife of Md Abu Yusuf, her son Robin, 30, residents of Tipu Sultan Road in Dhaka and Moharram Bepari, 17, driver of the CNG-run auto-rickshaw, reports UNB. Sadar Model Police Station sub-inspector Trinath Saha said Makbul, Maksuda, and her son Robin were heading to Hajiganj by a CNG-run auto-rickshaw. When the auto-rickshaw reached Devpur area under Chandpur Sadar, a Chandpur-bound bus from Comilla knocked down the three-wheeler, leaving Makbul dead on the spot and three others seriously injured. The injured were rushed to Chandpur General Hospital. Later, they were shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Both the vehicles were seized. However, the driver of the alleged killer bus fled away. A case has been filed in this connection.....

Published at: 2017-08-02 00:00:05

At least 29 people were killed and 64 others injured in a suicide attack in a Shia mosque in the western Afghan city of Herat on Tuesday, officials said. More than 1,700 civilians have been killed in attacks in Afghanistan so far this year, hitting confidence in the Western-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani. “Two attackers entered the mosque and started shooting and throwing grenades at people,” said Mohammad Adi, a worshipper at the mosque who was injured in the attack and taken to hospital. Mohammad Asif Rahimi, governor of Herat, said at least 29 people were killed and 64 wounded in the incident which came two months after an attack on a 12th century mosque, in which seven people died. There was no claim of responsibility. But the Taliban, fighting to install strict Islamic law and drive foreign troops out of Afghanistan, denied any involvement. Afghan President condemned the bombing and called on religious scholars to “raise their voices against the terrorist attacks”. Afghanistan has traditionally been relatively free of the sectarian violence common in Iraq or Syria but hardline Sunni militants from the local branch of Islamic State have repeatedly attacked the mainly Shi’ite Hazara minority in the past year, according to Reuters.....

Published at: 2017-08-02 00:00:05

Apple Inc on Tuesday delivered surprisingly strong fiscal third-quarter earnings and signalled that its upcoming 10th-anniversary phone lineup is on schedule, driving the stock up 6 per cent to an all-time high in after-hours trading. The stock climbed above its intraday record high to $159.10 after the company reported better-than-expected iPhone sales, revenue and earnings per share. The stock price move was expected to help drive the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the 22,000 mark on Wednesday. Apple also said it hit a milestone of 1.2 billion iPhones sold.  The April-June quarter is traditionally a soft one for Apple as the market waits for the September launch of new iPhone models. But Tuesday’s results show that iPhone buyers may be less inclined than they once were to delay purchases until a new model is out. The iPad product lines also showed unexpected strength, service revenue continues to grow at a healthy clip, and even the much-maligned Apple Watch showed a 50 per cent sales increase. Apple is widely tipped to adopt higher-resolution OLED displays for the latest iPhone, along with better touchscreen technology and wireless charging - which could come with a $1,000 plus price tag. The phone is expected to launch in September. The company forecast total revenue of between $49 billion and $52 billion for the current fourth quarter, while analysts on average were expecting $49.21 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Apple's fourth quarter generally includes first-weekend sales of the company's latest devices. The forecast "makes it fairly certain that at least some new iPhone models will be released on the normal schedule,” said analyst Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research. “That doesn’t necessarily mean all new models will go on sale then, or that they’ll all be in abundant supply, but I would think it means that at the very least the successors to the current phones will be available." But Bob O'Donnell, chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research, cautioned that if Apple releases cheaper models before the premium models in its 10th anniversary phone lineup, the cheaper models could dampen sales of more expensive units released closer to the holidays. The company said iPhone sales rose 1.6 per cent to 41.03 million in the third quarter ended July 1, above analysts' average estimate of 40.7 million units, according to FactSet StreetAccount. Apple sold 40.4 million iPhones a year earlier. But a lower average iPhone selling price of $606, well below Wall Street expectations of $621, caused iPhone revenue to come in at $24.8 billion, below expectations of $25.5 billion. Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told Reuters the weak price was partly explained by Apple lowering the flow of inventory by 3.3 million units, which he said were “entirely at the high end of the range.” Apple reports how many phones it sells to retailers, not how many phones it sells to consumers, what is known as a sell-in basis. When factoring how many existing “high end” phones the company cleared out of retail inventory, Maestri said average selling prices were higher. The company's net income rose to $8.72 billion, or $1.67 per share, from $7.80 billion, or $1.42 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $45.41 billion from $42.36 billion in the quarter, typically the company's weakest, beating expectations of $44.89 billion. CHINA REVENUE DOWN, AUTONOMY TO THE FUTURE Apple said revenue from emerging markets excluding China grew 18 per cent, a bright spot. But sales from the Greater China region fell 9.5 per cent to $8 billion in the latest quarter, as consumers switched to newer domestic offerings. The decline was smaller than recent quarters. Apple's Maestri said mainland China revenue was flat, as were iPhone sales in the mainland. Sales of other Apple products rose in mainland China and were also up in Taiwan. “The decline from a market standpoint was concentrated in Hong Kong, which is a place that has been really affected by a reduction in tourism because the Hong Kong Dollar is pegged to the US dollar,” Maestri said. Apple CEO Tim Cook also directly addressed the company's decision to remove so-called VPN apps from the App Store in China. Those apps help Chinese users circumnavigate government internet restrictions. "We would obviously rather not remove the apps, but like we do in other countries we follow the law wherever we do business," Cook said. "We believe in engaging with governments even when we disagree. This particular case, we’re hopeful that over time the restrictions we’re seeing are lessened, because innovation really requires freedom to collaborate and communicate." Strong iPad sales of $4.9 billion - almost $1 billion above Wall Street expectations - and a 21.6 per cent jump in the company's services business that includes the App Store also helped boost revenue. In particular, Apple said that Walmart Stores Inc would buy 19,000 iPads to train as many as 225,000 employees. The company also said it increased production of AirPods, its wireless headphones. Apple CEO Tim Cook declined to directly address US President Donald Trump's claims that Apple will build three new factories in the US, instead citing the company's job creation efforts and a $1 billion US manufacturing fund. Cook also hinted that Apple's experiments with self-driving cars may include ambitions that extend beyond cars. He said the company is making a "big investment" in autonomous systems. "From our point of view, autonomy is sort of the mother of all AI projects," Cook said. "And the autonomous systems can be used in a variety of ways, and a vehicle is only one, but there are many different areas of it. And I don't want to go any further with that."  ....

Published at: 2017-08-02 00:00:05