A group of Newsweek editors have accused the company of trying to silence a journalistic inquiry into the company’s business practices. Two editors and a reporter were reportedly fired after covering a legal probe into Newsweek’s parent company.

The editors penned a note to their readers, explaining what happened. Senior editors Ken Li and Bob Roe and veteran reporter Celeste Katz have lost their jobs after covering a story about a “long-running fraud probe” into Newsweek’s financial ties with a New York university.

According to the editors, Newsweek Media Group decided to fire the three employees for virtually “doing their jobs”. The company would have liked to see two other reporters gone if another editor hadn’t defended them.

The controversial story claims that Newsweek Media Group has a long history of illegal financial ties to California’s Olivet University, which two years ago opened a campus in Dover, New York.

Newsweek’s Shady Financial Ties with University

The university allegedly gave Dover County officials free advertising in the publication in exchange for the construction permit for the campus and tax breaks. Last year, two county agencies benefited from $149,000 worth of advertising in Newsweek, according to the report.

According to the newspaper, Manhattan district attorney’s office has launched a probe into the financial ties between the media group and the school.

The fired editors accuse the company of intervening many times in the story which led to major breaches of journalistic integrity and confidentiality. One of the company’s executives reportedly showed college officials a draft of the story before it was published.

Also, editors were asked to unveil the names of their sources, who were then contacted by Newsweek executives and asked about what they had discussed with the reporters.

The pressure was so high that the reporters and editors behind the story felt that the company would force them to resign.
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On Monday, Samsung’s billionaire heir Lee Jae-yong was released from prison after one court suspended his jail term despite him spending less than a year behind bars. It is not the first time a South Korean billionaire gets released from prison earlier in an unexpected court reversal.

Lee’s conviction was the result of multiple street protests in 2016, when South Koreans had had enough with politically-tied companies’ leaders hardly spending any time in jail.

The 2016 protests also led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, who allegedly took bribes from family-controlled companies like Samsung. Lee’s prison time was a time for celebration for millions of protesters, and so was Park’s sentencing.

However, corruption seems to run in the family, as Lee’s father Lee Kun-hee was twice convicted on corruption and bribery charges. The older Lee, however, didn’t spend a single day in prison.

The younger Lee was sentenced to five years behind bars on corruption charges last year. The lower court’s decision was hailed by transparency advocates nationwide. But on Monday, an appeals court freed the billionaire, trimming his jail term to two and a half years before suspending it.

South Korea’s Business Tycoons too Powerful to Be Held Accountable

South Koreans are well aware of the pattern. Business oligarchs are paraded from one court to another but never get sentenced for corruption charges. While some had light sentences, which were quickly suspended, others were allowed to run their businesses from jail. Koreans that were convicted for less grave crimes usually spend more time in jail than these politically well-positioned oligarchs.

The practice led to criticism that companies like Samsung are too powerful to be held accountable. Park’s successor President Moon Jae-in won the presidential seat after running a campaign based on the popular discontent with such practices.

While Samsung is seen as a huge success story that helped South Korean get back on its feet after the war, in South Korea, many people are more and more disgruntled with the tech giant’s shady business practices.
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On Monday, a Tesla model S sedan crashed into a stationary fire truck outside Culver City, California. The car was traveling at 65 mph at the moment of the crash, having the Autopilot on.

Regulators are now concerned that the technology may not be as safe as Tesla touts it, which could delay the regulatory approval for the company’s fleet of driverless cars.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has sent a team of two investigators to the crash site. The accident happened Monday on Interstate 405.

The Culver City Fire Department said the truck was parked with its lights on in the emergency lane while firefighters were assisting another crash. The department tweeted that the fire truck called Engine 42 was struck from behind by a Tesla speeding on the freeway on Monday morning.

The Tesla driver said he had the vehicle on Autopilot. He was not injured, but the fire department urged Tesla drivers to stay alert while driving.

Tesla Driver Was Not Injured

The driver was offered medical assistance, but he refused to be taken to the hospital. Medics said he had no visible injuries.

Over the weekend, a California driver was arrested for driving under influence while his car was on Autopilot. The California Highway Patrol said they found the man passed out with a high amount of alcohol in his system on Friday.

The driver said he put the car on Autopilot, but the police were not impressed. After towing the car, officers tweeted that the car did not drive itself to the tow yard.

Tesla responded to both incidents by reminding other drivers that the Autopilot feature is designed to assist them, not replace them. Drivers should be “fully attentive” when the semi-autonomous system is on.
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According to several people familiar with the matter, AT&T turned its back to a major deal with the China-based smartphone maker Huawei citing national security concerns.

The U.S. wireless carrier had been reportedly pressurized by the U.S. government to refuse to carry Huawei’s phones because the Chinese government may use the opportunity to spy on U.S. citizens.

Reuters confirmed Tuesday that U.S. regulators are concerned that Chinese intelligence agencies could install malicious software on Americans’ Huawei phones to spy on them.

U.S. lawmakers have also advised AT&T not to accept the Chinese company’s 5G wireless standard, also citing national security concerns. According to Reuters, Washington is poised not to let China Mobile’s products and technologies to enter the American market.

A spokesperson for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission told Reuters that the U.S. government doesn’t want Beijing to set the standards for the next wave of wireless communication or sell equipment that may be compromised to the U.S. market.

Huawei Not a U.S. Government’s Darling

The latest decision was a hard blow to Huawei which is now the world’s third largest smartphone maker, behind Apple and Samsung. The Chinese tech giant is also the planet’s largest producer of telecom hardware, after Ericsson.

Nevertheless, U.S. lawmakers are concerned that Huawei products may be used by the Chinese intelligence services as Trojan horses to spy on domestic users.

The concerns, however, are not new. In 2013, U.S. regulators asked Sprint and Softbank to not employ the Chinese manufacturer’s equipment. At the time, Huawei’s chief executive Ren Zhengfei laughed off allegations in an internal e-mail telling employees that the ties of his company with the Chinese government and its secretive behavior had been greatly exaggerated.

With regards to the media, I have always been completely transparent,

Mr. Ren said back then.

He also promised that the next in line to the helm of the company would not be a family member.
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Ford plans to come up with 40 electric vehicle models over the next five years after an $11 billion investment. The recently announced sum is more than double than Ford’s previous EV target.

The 40 models will include fully electrified cars and hybrid models. The company’s chairman Bill Ford made the announcement at the Detroit auto show last week.

Ford had originally announced that it planned to invest just $4.5 billion in EVs by 2020. That figure included R&D costs. In 2016, the company’s total R&D costs were $7.3 billion, a notable increase from 2015 levels.

In October, the company told investors that it plans to save $14 billion by 2022 and reinvest those savings into electric and hybrid models and trucks. The company will reportedly focus less on internal combustion engines.

The 40 new models will be rolled out globally. Of those, just 16 models will be fully electric vehicles, sources inside the company said. Ford also said that its “most iconic” vehicles will be electrified since those vehicles are already popular.

The Auto Industry Going Electric

GM, Volkswagen, and Toyota have also unveiled plans to build an EV fleet and to lure customers who seek luxury, SUV-like features, and performance in one vehicle. Automakers are focusing more on EV technology as they are facing increased pressure from regulators in Europe, U.S., and China to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The auto industry is also facing pressure from Tesla which has succeeded in creating extremely successful mainstream electric vehicles. Tesla’s cars are so popular that showrooms are flooded with wannabe buyers and the cars are pre-ordered years in advance.

GM plans to release 20 new EV models by 2023, and use the profits from traditional cars to fund the plan. The company assured shareholders that its electric cars will start generating revenue by 2021.
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On Thursday, the U.S.-based taxi app firm Uber Technologies admitted to remotely locking computers in some of its international offices to prevent law enforcement officers raiding the buildings from getting access to sensitive information.

Melanie Ensign, a spokesperson for Uber, said the technology enabled Uber to remotely access and lock smartphones and computers and even change passwords on devices located outside its San Francisco-based headquarters.

Bloomberg found that the ride-hailing company used the technology from early 2015 through late 2016 in its Brussels, Montreal, Paris, Hong Kong, and Amsterdam offices.

While some Uber employees believe the system was abused to hinder lawful investigations, other employees believe the tool prevented warrantless investigations.

It is not the first time Uber hinders law enforcement oprations through an app. A few years ago, the company used an app called Greyball to identify law enforcement agents that hailed rides to prove Uber was breaking the law.Those orders were either canceled or never carried out.

Uber Routinely Hindering Law Enforcement Operations

The Department of Justice also found that the company seemingly used a similar software to monitor drivers working for a rival company called Lyft.

In Montreal, authorities raided Uber’s offices in 2015 to seek evidence of tax law breaking by Uber. However, Uber used an app called Ripley to remotely lock access to any computer system in its Montreal office. After a second search warrant, the company agreed to cooperate.

Uber said it had to ditch Ripley two years ago because the app was not working well. It unveiled that it has a new tool to lock screens and encrypt devices from a distance called the ULocker.

The spokesperson for the company refused to confirm whether Ulocker was being used against law enforcement. Uber employees, however, are instructed to not use the app when its use is considered illegal.
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By mid-January, Coca Cola’s Diet Coke will sport four new flavors – zesty blood orange, twisted mango, feisty cherry, and ginger lime. However, the new varieties will include a controversial artificial sweetener which is 200 sweeter than sugar – acesulfame potassium also known as Ace-K.

The regular Diet Coke will retail in skinnier and taller cans, but its base sweetener will remain aspartame. Ace-K was invented in the 1960s and has been often used alongside aspartame in diet beverages.

In 1988, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the sweetener for human consumption, underlining that around 90 research papers had supported its safety.

There are critics who still believe that not enough research has been conducted on the health risks. The head of the Center for Science in the Public Interest Michael Jacobson underlined that neither side can tell Ace-K is completely safe to consume.

Historically, regular Diet Coke has been sweetened with aspartame, another controversial artificial sweetener that has been linked to a series of health problems like infertility, memory loss, and even cancer.

Diet Coke’s Taste Will Remain the Same

The four new flavors were tailored especially for the Millennial generation, and the new sweetener is designed to mask the new flavors’ sour taste while maintaining the Diet Coke’s crispness.

Coke Zero contains both aspartame and Ace-K, which makes the taste more similar to regular Coke than the Diet Coke.

The soft drink company wants the new flavors to revive sales volumes amid a declining trend. Shoppers are more health conscious and tend to avoid sodas that contain aspartame. Millennials are also more into natural ingredients, while trying to cut dramatically their sugar intake.

So, soda makers have been seeking the best sugar substitute using natural ingredients. Coca-Cola has reportedly partnered with a biotech company in an effort to enhance the sweetness of sugar so that its products contain less of it without sacrificing the taste.
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India plans to implement a 70% duty on Malaysian and Chinese solar panels and cells in an effort to preserve local jobs and protect the Indian manufacturing industry. The Indian government “threat of serious injury” to its industry. India is China’s largest market for solar panel equipment.

The country’s the Directorate General of Safeguards first unveiled the levy on January 5. The new measure is slated to last 200 days. In 2017, one third of China’s solar panels were purchased by India.

The Indian Finance Ministry explained that the new duty is justified by the need to save the domestic industry from “serious injury” which would be very hard to undo. Indian authorities are also concerned about potential job losses.

India’s annual capacity of solar cells is about 3 gigawatts of the recommended 20 gigawatts. So, the rest needs to be imported from other countries like China. India is currently Beijing’s largest trade partner when it comes to solar cells and modules.

Chinese Solar Panels Extremely Popular in India

China shipped $8 billion in solar shipments of which one-third ended up in India, according to Bloomberg. In 2012, India only bought 1.52 percent of Chinese solar shipments. In just five years, the figure jumped to 22 percent, an official document shows.

Analyst Vandana Gombar noted that the South Asian country’s “solar story” was built on Chinese panels and low tariffs. So, if the duty is implemented may slow down the Indian solar development.

The new duty comes in response to a request from five domestic solar panel producers – Mundra Solar PV, Jupiter Solar Power, Helios Photo Voltaic, Mundra Solar PV, and Websol Energy Systems. On December 5, the five companies asked a higher duty on solar imports regardless of them being cells or panels.
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After multiple reports from former employees that Facebook is “destroying how society works,” the social network’s founder Mark Zuckerberg promised to do anything he can this year to fix Facebook. His New Year’s resolution, though, was widely mocked.

Zuckerberg, who is now listed among the top ten richest men in the world with his $70 billion fortune, wants to ensure Facebook users don’t wreck their personal and social lives anymore, the social media network is not used for online abuse, and foreign actors no longer spread their vile messages across the platform.

Zuckerberg said in a recent interview that fixing those issues has become his “personal challenge for 2018”. He is confident that if the company manages to turn things around, 2019 would start on a “much better trajectory”.

Internet’s Reaction

However, the announcement was met with irony on the Internet. One Internet user noted that the Facebook boss vowed to “do the job he already has”.

It is not the first time Zuckerberg sets and ambitious goal. In the past, he vowed to bring Internet to remote places in India, to read more books, and meet interesting people across the U.S. But this year, his sole goal seems to be to improve the way the social network affects our society. One user highlighted the irony of the endeavor:

Zuckerberg’s personal challenges:

’09: wear tie daily
’10: learn Mandarin
’11: eat ONLY meat he’s killed
’12: code daily
’13: meet non-FB person daily
’14: write thank-you note daily
’15: read book every 2 wks
’16: build AI, run 365 miles
’17: visit 50 states
’18: FIX FACEBOOK

— Tim Stenovec (@timsteno) January 4, 2018

Zuckerberg has not unveiled any changes that could help him reach the new goal. He only spoke about the society’s general distrust when it comes to the people who run the tech industry, like himself.

He noted that many people are concerned that things are getting too centralized, when technology’s initial goal was to decentralize and “put power in people’s hands”. Today, many people no longer believe in that promise since so many governments and big industry giants are now using tech to spy on citizens.
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Starting Jan. 1, Oregonians will be allowed to pump their on gas at gas stations, but the new state law has left many flabbergasted as they don’t know how to do it.

It is the first time the Beaver State green lights self-serve gas stations statewide. Under the new law, in counties that have a population of 40,000 people or lower, residents will be allowed to fill their gas tanks without assistance.

With the new law, the only U.S. state that still doesn’t allow residents to pump their own gas is New Jersey.

Oregonians, however, dislike the idea completely. Some of them took to social media to vent out their frustration. They argue that they need attendants because those people need a job too.

Oregonians’ Reaction

What’s more, many people have no idea how to pump their own gas which can be extremely hazardous. One user said he tried once and it almost got him killed. And there is also the problem of the smell.

Some drivers don’t want to smell of gas when they head to work.

I don’t even know HOW to pump gas and I am 62, native Oregonian…..I say NO THANKS! I don’t want to smell like gasoline!,

another user wrote.

Other users noted that they have been living in the state their entire lives, but they refuse to pump their own gas. They think the service is for qualified people only and pledged to park at the pump and wait for an attendant show up.

However, if pumping your own gas seems a very difficult task to do there are countless online guides to how to do it. Take for instance the guide posted by roadandtrack.com, which has only 13 steps to complete.

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