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Maps show how warm sea water is melting Greenland from below
 Significantly more ice in Greenland's glaciers may be exposed to warming ocean waters than previously thought, new research suggests. Indeed, more than half the ice sheet may be subject to the melting influence of the sea.

These are the latest conclusions of a detailed mapping project exploring the topography of the seafloor and bedrock around and beneath Greenland's glaciers.

Published in their final form last week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the maps draw on a variety of data sources, including satellite radar and aerial imagery, as well as special sonar data collected on ship expeditions to the front of the ice sheet. (An earlier, although nearly identical, version of the paper was published online in September.)

Included in the new paper are some of the most detailed data yet on the depths of the canyons and fjords scarring the Greenland coast, which carry water in from the sea to lap against the ice. The results suggest that the western and northern regions of Greenland are most exposed to the influence of ocean water. Out of 139 ocean-touching glaciers the team identified, they also found that 67 rest in waters 200 meters (about 650 feet) or more below sea level, where warm water is typically found—at least twice as many as previously thought.

And, worryingly, the research suggests that as these glaciers melt and retreat backward, the shape of the seabed will continue to expose many of them to warm ocean water for hundreds of miles as the ice moves inland.

"The primary uncertainty in sea level rise is what are the ice sheets going to do over the coming century," said Mathieu Morlighem, an expert in ice sheet modeling at the University of California, Irvine, who led the paper along with dozens of other contributors from institutions around the world. "We know that there could potentially be catastrophic collapse of the ice sheets—we know it has happened in the past—but we don't know how likely it is to happen over our time scale. So we've been doing a lot of progress in terms of better understanding how the ice is flowing."

The study also finds that the Greenland ice sheet may contain more ice, with a greater potential to raise global sea levels, than previous research has suggested—about 2.75 inches more, to be exact. Altogether, the new study suggests that the ice sheet has the potential to raise global sea levels by about 24.3 feet, should it melt entirely.

But the new information about the interaction between ocean and ice along the Greenland coast may be the maps' most important contribution.

"A lot of research has shown that intrusions of warm water are responsible for melting ice along the polar coastlines and that these intrusions are steered by the shape of the seafloor," said Jamin Greenbaum, an oceanography and geology expert at the University of Texas, Austin, who was not involved with the new study, in an email.

It's mainly in the last few years that the ocean's melting influence on glaciers has come to the forefront of scientific attention, but scientists now recognize it as a major—if not the primary—contributor to ice loss in both Greenland and parts of Antarctica.

There are many factors driving what scientists believe to be an increase in the amount of warm water (as opposed to colder water) that many glaciers are exposed to. Some of it is as simple as the fact that climate change is causing the oceans to warm, in addition to the outside air, and some of it may also involve the complex ways climate change is believed to be affecting atmospheric patterns, winds and the ocean currents that carry warm water around the world.

And scientists now know that the underwater topography—the hills, slopes and crevices at the bottom of the ocean, where the ice meets the sea—is a critical influence on just how much ice actually touches the water. So mapping projects like this one are critical for helping scientists figure out how much of the ice sheet is actually threatened.

And they can also significantly inform scientists' understanding of how glaciers will behave, and how quickly they'll lose ice, as they melt. This has to do with the physical processes that affect the way ice in a glacier moves and flows out to sea.

Glaciers that back up to the ocean tend to have similar physical structures. The ice is firmly grounded to the bedrock, up to a point known as the "grounding line." At this point, the ice becomes disconnected from the ground and turns into a kind of floating ledge, known as an ice shelf, that juts out into the ocean from the front of the glacier. These ice shelves are responsible for stabilizing the glacier and hold back the flood of ice behind them.

If they begin to melt, however—particularly as they're exposed to warmer ocean water—the shelves become thinner and the grounding line begins to retreat backward, causing the glacier to become less stable and making the ice shelf more likely to break. But the manner in which this retreat happens depends largely on the shape and contour of the bedrock beneath it, Morlighem noted. A downward slope, for instance, might cause the glacier to retreat more quickly, while ridges or other topographical features might help to slow or halt the backward motion.

"The bed topography controls how far the retreat is going to be and how fast also depending on the slope," Morlighem said. "The bed topography is a crucial data set for ice sheet modelers. Even today, the modeling community would tell you that it's the No. 1 data set that we need."

Growing interest in the connections between ice, ocean and bedrock has helped launch multiple research programs aimed at creating more detailed maps of the world's ice sheets. One of these is NASA's Oceans Melting Greenland, or "OMG," mission, which is collecting both aerial and ship-based observations of ocean temperatures and the shape of the seafloor. Data from the OMG mission helped inform the maps Morlighem and his colleagues have just published.

But scientists aren't only interested in Greenland. They believe similar processes are at play in Antarctica—in fact, "a lot of the big changes in Antarctica all seem to be ocean-driven," said Martin Truffer, an expert in glacier physics at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. And many researchers are trying to improve maps of the Antarctic ice sheet, as well. Greenbaum, for instance, has conducted some of his own mapping research in Antarctica, and his work, published in Nature Geoscience in March 2015, has helped reveal that East Antarctica's biggest glacier—the Totten Glacier, sometimes referred to as the region's "sleeping giant"—is vulnerable to the intrusion of warm ocean water.

Meanwhile, the increasingly unstable glaciers in West Antarctica remain some of scientists' biggest concerns about future sea-evel rise. Over the last few years, research has increasingly suggested that ice loss in this region is heavily driven by the influence of the warming ocean. And just last year, the United States and the United Kingdom announced an in-depth coordinated research project focused on one of West Antarctica's largest and most vulnerable glaciers, the Thwaites Glacier, which will focus in large part on the interaction of the ocean and the ice front.

Truffer noted that mapping in Antarctica tends to be more challenging than in Greenland because the Antarctic ice sheet is so much larger and so much more remote. But these projects are no less important.

Morlighem and his colleagues are currently working on some similar efforts to map the Antarctic coast while continuing to update and improve their Greenland maps, as well. Ultimately, Morlighem says, all of the data will inform model projections of how the ice sheets will behave under future climate change and how much they may raise global sea levels over the next few centuries—the real question all this research is aimed at answering.

But he noted, "We can't understand how it works if we don't have a good description of the bed topography first."

Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from E&E News. E&E provides daily coverage of essential energy and environmental news at www.eenews.net.

Output: More than half of Greenland's ice sheet may be under threat of melting from warm sea water, according to a mapping project reported in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The paper includes some of the most detailed data yet on the depths of the canyons around the Greenland coast, which carry water from the sea to the glaciers. Out of 139 ocean-touching ice sheets, 67 rest in waters 200 metres or more below sea level, where warm water is typically found. The study also found that the Greenland ice sheet may have the potential to raise sea levels by 2.75 inches more than previously thought, for a total of 24.3 ft if it were to melt completely.


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Ireland rated worst European country for combating climate change
 Greenpeace activists protest on the river Rhine during the UN climate change conference COP23 in Bonn, Germany: Ireland has fallen 28 places to 49th out of 56 countries ranked in the 2018 Climate Change Performance Index. Photograph: Sascha Steinbach/EPA

Ireland is the worst performing country in Europe when it comes to taking action to combat climate change, a new study has revealed. The State has fallen 28 places to 49th out of 56 countries ranked in the 2018 Climate Change Performance Index, which focuses on the world’s worst countries for emissions.

The report, produced by Germanwatch and the New Climate Institute (NCI), says “greater efforts have been made globally to reduce greenhouse gas emissions” and highlights positive developments on switching to renewable energy sources and energy efficiency.

However, it says “no country is doing enough to prevent dangerous greenhouse gas emissions”.

Progress on this front was was still not in line with the commitments contained in the Paris Agreement on climate change and all countries must deliver much stronger policies to reduce polluting emissions, the report adds.

READ MORE

In light of steps taken by the Trump Administration, the US is placed 56th on the index but the report points to positive actions being taken by individual US states, cities and companies in reducing CO2 emissions.

The index ranks the 56 countries whose combined emissions account for 90 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gases. The analysis is based on evaluating emissions; adoption of renewable energy; energy use; and climate policy.

Report co-author Dr Jan Burck told The Irish Times that rising emissions were Ireland's difficulty, even though performance on this front had improved in the past five years.

The State was “nowhere close to being on track” in its commitments to keep global temperatures to within 2 degrees” currently and up to 2030. However, he did note “a very positive trend in the development of renewable energy”.

The report, which comes as delegates from 200 nations gather in Bonn to discuss climate action at COP23, places Sweden at the top of the index in fourth position – the first three positions were left empty as “no country is doing enough to prevent dangerous climate change”, the report states.

Agricultural emissions

While agricultural emissions were less significant in total emissions globally, where they were high in countries such as Ireland, there was difficulty in reducing them, but dietary changes in livestock and more efficient fertiliser use could play their part, added Prof Niklas Höhne of NCI.

Jerry Mac Evilly, policy co-ordinator for the Stop Climate Chaos coalition, said the report “lays bare the continuing and disturbing contradiction between Government rhetoric on climate change and the sad reality of policy implementation in Ireland”.

Ireland’s polluting emissions are rising and the State is failing to meet EU obligations, he added.

“The Government is not supporting greater EU ambition and, despite some positive noises, there is little indication that this situation is likely to change any time soon. This hypocrisy on climate change not only has significant reputational damage for Ireland but brings with it extremely negative impacts for our economy, our local environment and our health.”

Dr Cara Augustenborg of Friends of the Earth Ireland said the Citizens' Assembly put forward 13 concrete recommendations for climate action to allow Ireland to catch up with our European neighbours "and end nearly a decade of dithering and delay".

“Yet at national level, we’ve seen a new climate action plan which does not guarantee any immediate reductions in pollution. And at EU level, we’ve seen repeated Government efforts to have loopholes inserted into EU legislation currently under negotiation which would hinder greater climate action.”

Output: A new study by Germanwatch and the New Climate Institute (NCI) has found that Ireland is struggling to manage rising greenhouse gas emissions. The nation is “nowhere close to being on track”, according to the report's co-author Dr Jan Burck. The 2018 Climate Change Performance Index saw Ireland fall 28 places to 49th out of the 56 countries gauged.


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Leaked EU document dismisses possibilty of bespoke deal for UK
 Theresa May’s hopes of negotiating a “deep and special” trading relationship with the EU have been dealt a fresh blow by leaked documents which emphasise that only a basic free trade deal similar to that struck with Canada will be offered.

An internal discussion paper prepared by the European commission spells out how the British government’s rejection of membership of the single market and the customs union leaves the member states with little wriggle room in trade talks.

The document, leaked to the Politico website, was put together by the EU’s negotiating team to aid a “preparatory discussion” on the “framework for the future relationship”.

The paper states that “single market arrangements in certain areas” or the “evolution of our regulatory frameworks” could not be managed within the EU body of law as it stands and therefore the UK would have to be satisfied with a “standard FTA”.

The publication of the leaked document comes ahead of a bilateral meeting between May and the president of the European council, Donald Tusk, on the margins of an EU leaders’ summit in Gothenburg on Friday. Tusk will ask the prime minister to explain how the British government intends to move the negotiations forward, to allow the widening of the talks at the European council summit in a month’s time.

He will warn the prime minister that she cannot take for granted that the other 27 member states will rule that there has been “sufficient progress” on citizens rights, the Irish border and the divorce bill, at the European council meeting on 14 and 15 December.

The Guardian has further learned that the 27 member states have sought a legal opinion from the European commission on a possible extension of the two years allowed for talks under article 50 of the Lisbon treaty.

The member states do not envision a lengthy extension of the two years, however. One EU diplomat said: “We all have our own domestic political situations to deal with and so I can’t imagine us having unanimity on extending article 50. And this extension would only be if we are near striking a deal and need a few extra weeks or months.”

Senior diplomats attached to the member states said they had not yet seen the leaked paper produced by Barnier’s team but confirmed that the terms set out chimed with their understanding of the EU’s position that the red lines set out by May for a future deal also rule out special arrangements in particular sectors, including in financial services.

The documents explain that the UK’s insistence on “regulatory autonomy” and its intention to remove itself from the jurisdiction of the European court of justice mean it is “not compatible” as a partner within the EU framework.

Such a model would provide “no direct branching in sectors like financial services” and the documents add that there are only “limited EU commitments to allow cross-border provision of services”.

The paper will come as a blow to the UK, although the position has been voiced publicly by Barnier in the past.

In her Florence speech in September, May had insisted that the EU and the UK should raise their ambitions and that such a deal, similar to that struck with Canada, would not be good enough.

“Compared with what exists between Britain and the EU today, [a Canada-style arrangement] would nevertheless represent such a restriction on our mutual market access that it would benefit neither of our economies,” May said.

The EU-Canada deal slashes tariffs but trade in food is restricted by quotas and phytosanitary controls. There is also no additional access to the single market for financial services based in Canada.

One senior EU official said the British cabinet was still in “cuckoo land” if it believed the EU would offer anything more.

The EU is still waiting on an improved offer from Britain on its financial settlement, without which direct talks between the EU and the UK on a future deal will not begin.

A senior EU official warned on Thursday that it was up to the British government to move on the divorce issues in order to progress to the next stage of Brexit negotiations.

“We cannot be more clear than we have been,” the official said, adding that it was up to the UK to provide more information on how it intended to settle its EU budget obligations. Brexit negotiations would continue until the UK passed the EU’s sufficient progress test, the official said. “We would also like to see sufficient progress in December ... There is no back-up plan. The back-up plan if needed, is to go on negotiating.”

Output: The UK's insistence on autonomy from EU regulations and the ECJ make it ineligible as a partner, according to an EU document leaked to Politico. The UK would have to be satisfied with a standard Free Trade Agreement, similar to the Canada-US deal of 1988. The document said: "If they want access to single market they will have to comply with EU laws.”


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Brazil, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Slovakia receive Android Pay
 Google announced today that Android Pay has arrived and will arrive soon in four new countries around the world: Ukraine, Czech Republic, Brazil, and Slovakia.

Ukraine got the payments service a few weeks ago, the Czech Republic and Brazil (you can find Google’s local announcements here and here, respectively) are getting it starting today, and Google says it’s soon coming to Slovakia as well.

Google says Ukraine’s Finance Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk was the first to try the service when it launched earlier this month:

And in a region full of Android fans, we’re excited to see it’s already taking off! Ukraine’s Finance Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk was the country’s first person to try Android Pay when we launched on November 1, demonstrating how it works on the Kiev Metro.

And Brazil is the first country in Latin American to get support for Android Pay:

On the other side of the globe in Brazil, contactless payments are just picking up speed. So we partnered with merchants like Ipiranga and Casa do Pão de Queijo to help us merge new experiences (like paying with your phone) with familiar ones (like buying groceries or Brigadeiros).

Finally, as will seemingly be the case until Google has launched Android Pay everywhere, the company teases that it will be “bringing Android Pay to even more places soon.”

Earlier this year, Google also launched Android Pay in Spain as well as Taiwan, Canada, and Russia.

Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:

Output: Google is extending its Android Pay mobile payments service, to users in four new countries as part of its global deployment: Brazil, Ukraine, Slovakia and the Czach Republic. Brazil is the first Latin American country to receive Android Pay, with Google announcing partnerships with local merchants, such as Ipiranga and Casa do Pão de Queijo, to promote the system. Earlier in 2017, Google launched Android Pay in Spain, as well as in Taiwan, Canada, and Russia.


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Pavegen teams up with Google for Pixel launch installation
 Lucid Illusions and Pavegen create an interactive installation for Google | In In Supplier News | By By Caroline Clift

To coincide with the launch of Google’s new Pixel phones, Lucid Illusions partnered with Pavegen to design and create a harvest walkway at Berlin’s Festival of Light.

As visitors walked, skipped and jumped along the path, their footsteps triggered the 176 LED cubes in Lucid’s light wall to react according to pressure, speed and location. Their journey was captured as a gif via Google’s newest pixel phone, housed in a photo pod, custom built by Lucid.

In addition to design and fabrication, Lucid worked closely with Pavegen to develop programming, which could talk to the intelligent tiles and produce a truly unique interactive brand experience.

Chris Carr, founder and director of Lucid Illusions, commented: “The Berlin project marks a key moment for Lucid following the delivery of a series of significant installations for clients including Google, Samsung and Adidas. We see this as a step to further designing and creating increasingly groundbreaking experiences.”

Lucid Illusions are known for producing creative event and experience builds, and the Google project follows a year working on boundary-pushing projects including Samsung’s 12 metre high Hypercube structure.

Carr added: “Working hand in hand with producers, agencies and brands, we’re designing and building highly immersive events and installations with which people can interact and experience on a multitude of levels. With a growing core team, 2018 is shaping up to be Lucid’s most exciting year to date with a range of exciting projects to share with you as they come to fruition over the next couple of months.”

Output: Design firm Lucid Illusions and tech company Pavagen have joined forces with Google to create a Festival of Light installation in Berlin, celebrating the launch of Google's latest Pixel phone. A path equipped with Pavegen's "intelligent" pressure-sensitive tiles, connected to 176 LED cubes in a light wall designed by Lucid, allows visitors to interact with the installation by walking and dancing. Programmatic development was required to facilitate communication between the tiles and the cubes.


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Financial Times makes good progress in stopping domain spoofing
 The Financial Times’ fight against domain spoofing is paying off.

After catching 25 ad exchanges misrepresenting access to its inventory in September, the business news publisher took its fraud-fighting test a step further by purchasing counterfeit inventory that purported to be the FT’s to see which vendors were still selling fake FT impressions. Over few days at the end of October, the FT spent $500 on inventory that claimed to be FT.com.

The publisher found that 24 of the 25 exchanges had stopped spoofing the FT’s domain since the publisher called out the tech vendors that were selling the mislabeled inventory, said Jessica Barrett, global head of programmatic at the Financial Times. She wouldn’t say which vendor continues to misrepresent access to FT inventory.

“I was pleasantly surprised by how many exchanges were willing to work with us to fix this issue,” Barrett said, addressing the Digiday Programmatic Media Summit in New Orleans. “It was much less worse than I originally anticipated.”

In September, the FT ran a test to see which exchanges claimed to have access to its inventory and found that 10 display exchanges and 15 video exchanges falsely claimed to sell its video inventory. The FT estimated the value of the fraudulent inventory to be $1.3 million a month. The publisher demanded that several ad tech vendors, including Oath, SpotX and FreeWheel, stop representing access to its inventory.

Domain spoofing — where unscrupulous publishers and vendors obscure the nature of their traffic to resemble legitimate websites — most obviously hurts ad buyers since it leads them to waste money on junk. It also hurts publishers. The FT’s concern is that fraudulent impressions won’t drive results for advertisers, and if advertisers mistakenly think they’re getting FT inventory, they’ll blame the FT for getting a low return on investment.

The ad industry’s push for transparency likely nudged the vendors to clean up their act once the FT surfaced the amount of domain spoofing occurring in their platforms, Barrett said. With initiatives like the IAB Tech Lab protocol ads.txt — a text file that publishers host on their web servers that lists all the companies authorized to sell their inventory — taking off, vendors have incentive to hop on the clean inventory bandwagon to avoid becoming a pariah.

But just because the vast majority of exchanges stopped selling fake FT impressions once the publisher brought it to their attention doesn’t mean masked URLs claiming to be the FT won’t resurface again on their platforms.

“It’s easy to spot domain spoofing, but it is hard to put the kibosh on it,” Barrett said.

Output: The Financial Times claims tests of its domain spoofing screening methods have successfully caught out tech vendors offering counterfeit inventory. Testing 25 ad exchanges that were misrepresenting its inventory access, the publisher purchased $500 in counterfeit inventory supposedly from the Financial Times to test which vendors were still offering FT impressions. The publisher believes that fraudulent inventory could be costing $1.3m per month, highlighting the need for countering domain spoofing. The FT's focus on dismissing fraudulent impressions is to prevent results loss for advertisers and to maintain transparency.


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Microsoft previews online payments via Skype for businesses
 Microsoft has opened up previews for a new type of Skype account that allows users to accept online payments and take notes from a single desktop client.

Skype Professional Account is aimed at small business owners and who conduct lessons over the video communication platform, such as tutors, instructors and consultants.

The new service merges features from third-party online payment platforms and Outlook, allowing users to accept payments, take bookings and record notes within Skype.

Skype users will also be able to search for businesses they would like to work with within Skype. The platform features dedicated profile pages for small businesses to include information like pricing and business hours.

Microsoft said Skype Professional account would be free during the preview period, but did not provide any indication of pricing after that. Users can sign up for the preview on the Skype website, though the preview is only available in the US.

In September, Microsoft announced plans to shift cloud customers using Skype for Business into Teams, its new collaboration suite.

The company also announced Microsoft 365, a software bundle including Windows 10 and Microsoft's most popular productivity tools into a single subscription package aimed at SMBs and enterprise users, both of which are available in Australia now.

Output: Microsoft is previewing the new Skype Professional Account, which merges features from third-party online payment platforms and Outlook. The Professional Account enables users to accept online payments, take bookings, make notes and search for businesses that they would like to work with. The preview is available in the US and will be free initially, with no indication yet provided by Microsoft of the final product pricing. The service is aimed at small businesses and those who provide services via Skype, such as language teachers.


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Miniature robot swims with, learns and can influence other fish
 Researchers at EPFL’s Robotic Systems Laboratory (LSRO), which is headed by Professor Francesco Mondada, have developed a miniature robot that can integrate perfectly into schools of zebrafish. Their work was carried out as part of an EU research program among six partner institutions,* and the findings were recently published in Bioinspiration & Biomimetics.

“We created a kind of ‘secret agent’ that can infiltrate these schools of small fish,” says Frank Bonnet with a smile. Bonnet is a post-doc researcher at the LSRO and one of the study’s authors. The robot is seven centimeters long – longer than the fish it’s modeled after but with the same shape and proportions. It is equipped with magnets that link it to a tiny engine installed under the aquarium to propel it through the water. The researchers chose zebrafish, or Danio rerio, for their study because it’s a robust species whose schools tend to switch direction and move about very quickly.

There are two aspects to the research program. The first deals with biology, studying the social interactions between individual fish. Here the robot helps scientists generate targeted stimuli and test the fish’s response. The second aspect deals with robotics, and this is where the EPFL researchers focused their work.

Finding the right criteria

First, the team determined the key criteria that would allow the robot to integrate into schools of zebrafish and subsequently influence their behavior. These included the fish’s physical characteristics, like shape, color, stripes, etc. Their behavioral characteristics were also taken into account, such as linear velocity, acceleration speed, the distance between individual fish, the size of the schools, their vibrations and motion, and the rhythm at which they move their tails.

The researchers also wanted to develop a closed-loop system in which the robot is able to not only influence the fish’s behavior, but also adapt its own behavior by learning how to communicate and move like they do. As a result, the robot’s swimming mechanism – initially designed with the help of biologists – gradually improved as the robot spent more time with the fish.

Follow me!

The team tested their robot in different aquariums, some of which had delineated areas like little rooms and corridors. The tests involved ten schools of four zebrafish each that interacted with the robot. For each test, the researchers recorded the position and movement of individual fish, the movement of the school as a whole and the robot’s propensity to integrate into the school. They then compared their results with observations made on schools of five zebrafish swimming under the same conditions, but without the robot. And their findings were unequivocal. “The fish accepted the robot into their schools without any problem,” says Bonnet. “And the robot was also able to mimic the fish’s behavior, prompting them to change direction or swim from one room to another.”

Similar studies had already been carried out at the LSRO, but on cockroaches. “Fish are much more complicated animals. To integrate into an insect community, a robot simply has to emit certain kinds of pheromones. But integrating into a community of vertebrates seems to involve many more criteria, in terms of such things as appearance, movement and vibration,” says Bonnet.

*Université Paris Diderot– LIED,University of Graz – Artificial Life Lab, Cybertronica research, University of Zagreb – LARICS, FCiências.ID – Associação para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento de Ciências, EPFL - LSRO.

Output: Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Laussane’s (EPFL) Robotic Systems Laboratory have a developed a robot that looks like a fish and can seamlessly swim with other fish, eventually leading their direction. The trial used zebrafish and was successful in a range of aquariums with differing criteria. The robotic fish successfully integrated into a community, copying “appearance, movement and vibration”.


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Singapore offers $20m funding for AI and data fintech projects
 Singapore has stepped up its fintech ambitions with the offer of a S$27m ($19.91m) grant to promote the further use of artificial intelligence and data analytics in the financial services market.

The scheme was officially presented by Ravi Menon, managing director of The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) at the Singapore FinTech Festival, a state-sponsored event that purports to be the world's biggest fintech gathering with over 25,000 visitors expected over the course of the week.

According to the MAS, the Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics Grant is reserved for Singapore-based financial institutions and research firms. For banks it can provide as much as a 50% reimbursement projects which "leverage artificial intelligence and data analytics techniques to generate insights, formulate strategy and assist in their decision making".

These techniques may include machine learning, natural language processing or text analytics, deep learning or neural networks, predictive and prescriptive analytics.

A key consideration however will be the impact of the projects on the bank's workforce and the plans for appropriate training programs.

For research firms, up to 70% reimbursement is on offer for those that can demonstrate "local knowledge transfer and industry sharing" and a "clear application to financial services," stated the MAS.

The launch of the grant scheme comes a day after the MAS and Singapore's Association of Banks decided to release the source-codes of three successful blockchain prototypes for interbank payments in order to encourage more banks to experiment with the technology.

The MAS has also signed an agreemet with its Polish counterpart the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) which lays out a fintech framework for co-operation and referrals between the two regulators as it continues to use the FinTech Festival to publicise a stream of initiatives.

With the event due to run until Saturday 18th, more announcements could be imminent.

.

Output: Singapore is offering S$27m ($20m) in grant funding for AI and data analytics initiatives in the financial services market, according to the managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Ravi Menon. Banks may receive up to 50% reimbursement for projects that focus on machine learning, natural language processing, neural networks, text analytics and predictive and prescriptive analytics. Recipients will be expected to consider their projects' effects on the banking workforce and its training needs. Research teams can gain up to 70% reimbursement for "local knowledge transfer and industry sharing" for projects aimed at the financial sector.


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UK Visa card will allow cryptocurrency payments in shops
 New UK Visa card lets you spend Bitcoin like normal money Is it as good as it says it is? We'll have to find out.

With Bitcoin trading at all time high, investors are working out whether it's best to sit on their stockpile or make the most of it while they can. For those wishing to utilise their investment, opportunities can be limited, with only a small number of big companies currently supporting cryptocurrency transactions. London Block Exchange (LBX) wants to change that. It's launching a new Visa debit card that will let users spend their Bitcoin (and other digital currencies) anywhere across the UK.

LBX claims that the Dragoncard, which launches in the coming weeks, is the first to let investors instantly convert their Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin and Monero currency into sterling. The platform and accompanying smartphone app are secured by the same systems that underpin the UK banking system and have provisionally been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

When used on the High Street, customers will be charged a 0.5% fee for converting their cryptocurrency holdings into pounds at the till. The Dragoncard also comes with a one-off £20 charge and will charge a small fee for ATM withdrawals. Public pre-registrations are already open, but institutional investors will only be accepted via invitation.

Bitcoin transactions, by default, aren't typically fast. They take several minutes to complete, which has led experts to deem it unsuitable as method of payment. LBX handles the conversion itself, rather than at the point of sale, allowing it to potentially remove that headache for users altogether.

Output: The London Block Exchange is to launch the Dragoncard, a Visa debit card that will allow UK users to spend bitcoin. Due to launch in the next few weeks, the card will enable the instant conversion of bitcoin, ether, ripple, monero and litecoin into sterling. The financial protections are the same as those offered by UK banks, and the Dragoncard has gained provisional approval from the Financial Conduct Authority. The card will charge a 0.5% fee for conversion at point of sale and offers a low fee for cashpoint withdrawals. There is a one-off £20 charge for the card.


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Off-the-shelf underwater drones touted to revolutionise research
 "We have no idea what we might find," Dr Dean Miller, director of science and media at the Great Barrier Reef Legacy tells me.

"As scuba-divers we can get down to around 30 to 40 metres safely but with this ROV (remotely operated underwater vehicle) we are allowed to go to 150, so this really turns into exploration in its purist form."

Blueye's Pioneer drone is less expensive and more user friendly than previous gear. Credit: Blueye Robotics AS

Dr Miller is the first to use the brand new Blueye Pioneer underwater drone, embarking on a 21-day expedition to explore the Great Barrier Reef's most remote, unexplored reaches, and assess the region's declining coral reef corridor.

"I don't think there is anyone out there who didn't dream as a kid of being able to see what is down in the deeper regions of our oceans," Dr Miller enthuses.

Output: Scientists are exploring the Great Barrier Reef at depths of up to 150 metres, thanks to a new off-the-shelf remotely operated underwater drone. The Blueye Pioneer drone will "revolutionise the way we understand what happens beneath the waves", and provide access to deeper coral reefs, to see how they survived recent mass bleaching events, according to Dr Dean Miller, director of science and media at the Great Barrier Reef Legacy. The Pioneer drone is made to "withstand the forces of the ocean" and has two hours of battery life, said CEO of Blueye Robotics, Erik Dyrkoren.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Rising sea levels threaten 42 million Indonesian homes
 Almost 42 million homes in Indonesia’s coastal areas are under threat by rising sea levels.

Almost 42 million homes in the coastal regions of Indonesia are under threat by rising sea levels.

Water levels are rising at the rate of eight millimetres a year in many places.

Most of the affected rely on the sea for their livelihoods, so they cannot move away.

In Bahagia village (“Happy” village), half the population has had to move away, and the shrimp ponds where residents worked have been destroyed.

The people of Bahagia fear that unless the government intervenes to build a dam, the entire village will be washed away.

Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen reports from Bekasi, West Java.

Output: Almost 42 million homes in the coastal regions of Indonesia are under threat by sea levels that are rising as fast as 8 millimetres a year. Many of those affected rely on the sea for their livelihoods, so cannot move away. In Bahagia village, half the population have left, and the shrimp ponds where residents worked have been destroyed.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Flood maps out of date as sea levels rise
 News

As officials in Washington try to repair the nation’s flood insurance program, scientists in California are grappling with a looming threat that will complicate flooding hazards in the state: sea-level rise.

Creeping ocean waters are already flooding coastal areas more frequently and eroding sea cliffs more rapidly. They’re also worsening damage from extreme weather events like high tides and torrential rains.

Flooding issues will worsen as sea levels rise, Griggs said, both in coastal regions and inland areas.

Scientists can’t predict exactly how much sea levels will rise over time because there are too many unknown factors, particularly how much more climate-warming greenhouse gas humans will produce, said Gary Griggs, a geologist at UC Santa Cruz who studies the coast.

Some parts of the coast will experience greater sea level rise than others. Ocean levels don’t change uniformly along the entire California coast due to geographical variation, but the whole coastline will be affected as sea levels rise.

Griggs and a team of other scientists published a report on California sea-level rise in April. In the most extreme scenario they considered, they projected sea levels could rise over 10 feet by the end of the century.

Flooding issues will worsen as sea levels rise, Griggs said, both in coastal regions and inland areas where water systems will also be impacted by rising ocean levels.

Congress faces a December deadline to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides flood coverage to millions of Americans. The program relies on floodplain maps many criticize as out-of-date. The program is billions of dollars in debt, and congressional leaders have said they plan to overhaul it as part of the reauthorization process.

“Mother Nature doesn’t read flood maps.” — Frank Mansell

When studying flood risk in parts of California, Griggs said he has found some federal maps of flood zones to be “way off” and not reflective of flood risks from sea-level rise.

Flood maps are costly and take three to five years to create, said Frank Mansell, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency in California. Although some parts of the maps have “phenomenal” accuracy, some may be out of date because flood zones change constantly with new construction and environmental changes.

“Sometimes they’re out of date by the time you finish revising,” he said, adding that, even when they’re accurate, “mother nature doesn’t read flood maps.”

The maps don’t account for sea-level rise projections because they reflect only current conditions, Mansell said.

At the state level, California lawmakers have had numerous discussions about sea-level rise, but have done little in the way of actual policy.

Opponents say Stone’s bill infringes on Californians’ right to protect their property from ocean rise by building sea walls.

“The Legislature hasn’t really done that much other than worry about it a little bit,” said Assemblyman Mark Stone, a Democrat whose coastal district includes Santa Cruz and Monterey. “It’s going to have a dramatic impact on homeowners along the coast.”

This year, Stone introduced a bill he says is the first major piece of state legislation to adapt the coast to sea-level rise. His bill, AB1129, would give the state more power over sea walls, which can protect properties from ocean rise but can shrink beaches and shift problems to other coastal areas.

The effort has proven to be a “struggle” because changing local land use rules is politically unpopular, Stone said. The bill didn’t make it out of the Assembly, the house where it originated. Stone said he will continue to try to pass the bill next year. It must clear both houses of the Legislature and secure approval from the governor to become law.

Opponents say Stone’s bill infringes on Californians’ right to protect their property from ocean rise by building sea walls.

“We think that it’s unfair to property owners to have the government approve developments, allow people to move in and then turn around and not allow for the protection of those properties from erosion,” a representative from the California Association of Realtors said at a committee hearing on the bill earlier this year. “AB1129 works against communities and property owners trying to protect themselves against rising sea levels”

Moving forward, Stone says the Legislature needs to give resources to local communities to help them address sea-level rise.

Rising ocean levels also threaten major public infrastructure, particularly structures intentionally built at sea level near the coast, such as power plants and sewage treatment facilities. The airports in San Francisco and Oakland that are built on landfill also face catastrophic damage from sea-level rise.

Griggs said he is aware of only a handful of projects to move infrastructure away from the coast. The structures being moved are mostly roads and parking lots in areas with space nearby to relocate them. He described the projects as positive, but “low hanging fruit.” More substantial changes will require greater political will.

“It’s a lot easier to talk about it than it is to take that first step,” Griggs said. “It keeps creeping up on us.”

Output: Many US flood maps are out of date because they don't account for sea-level rise projections, according to Frank Mansell, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency in California. Flood maps are costly and take three to five years to create, he said. Although some parts of the maps have “phenomenal” accuracy, some may be out of date because flood zones change constantly with new construction and environmental changes. “Sometimes they’re out of date by the time you finish revising,” he said.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
120,000 'excess deaths' linked to NHS funding cuts
 Over 60s and care home residents most at risk; changes in nurse numbers may be key

The squeeze on public finances since 2010 is linked to nearly 120,000 excess deaths in England, with the over 60s and care home residents bearing the brunt, reveals the first study of its kind, published in the online journal BMJ Open.

The critical factor in these figures may be changes in nurse numbers, say the researchers, who warn that there could be an additional toll of up to 100 deaths every day from now on in.

They estimate that an annual cash injection of £6.3 billion would be needed to close this ‘mortality gap.’

Between 2010 and 2014, the NHS in England has only had a real term annual increase in government funding of 1.3 per cent, despite rising patient demand and healthcare costs.

And real term spend on social care has fallen by 1.19 per cent every year during the same period, despite a significant projected increase in the numbers of over 85s–those most likely to need social care–from 1.6 million in 2015 to 1.8 million in 2020, say the researchers.

While this mismatch in supply and demand and the funding gaps facing services have been well quantified, the potential impact on population health remains unclear.

To try and address this, the researchers mined nationally available data on population deaths, life expectancy, and potential years of life lost. And they collected data on health and social care resources and finances from 2001 to 2014.

They then compared actual death rates for 2011 to 2014 with those that would be expected, based on trends before spending cuts came into play, and taking account of national and economic factors, such as unemployment rates and pensions.

They categorised their findings by age, place of death, and the local government area in which the death occurred, and used these to estimate future death rates up to 2020.

Finally, they looked at the health and social care funds that would be needed in addition to those already budgeted by the government as of 2016 to close any gaps in death rates.

Analysis of the data showed that between 2001 and 2010, deaths in England fell by an average of 0.77 per cent every year, but rose by an average of 0.87 per cent every year between 2011 and 2014.

The spending restraints were associated with 45,368 excess deaths between 2010 and 2014 compared with equivalent trends before 2010.

Most of these deaths were among the over 60s and care home residents. And every £10 drop in spend per head on social care was associated with five extra care home deaths per 100,000 of the population, the analysis showed.

These associations remained after further detailed analysis and taking account of global and national economic factors.

Changes in the numbers of hospital and community nurses were the most salient factors in the associations found between spend and care home deaths. From 2001 to 2010 nurse numbers rose by an average of 1.61% every year, but from 2010 to 2014 rose by just 0.07%–20 times lower than in the previous decade.

On the basis of the trends between 2009 and 2014, the researchers estimate that an extra 152,141 people could die between 2015 and 2020, equivalent to nearly 100 extra deaths every day.

The funds needed to close this ‘mortality gap’ would be £6.3 billion every year, or a total of £25.3 billion, they calculate.

This is an observational study, so no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, but the findings back up other research in the field, say the researchers.

The study has several policy implications, as it indicates that lower spend on health and social care is “associated with a substantial mortality gap,” they explain.

Universal coverage is undoubtedly important, they write, but it has to be properly financed if it is going to improve health. And the excess deaths among older people and care home residents make a strong case for targeted interventions, they add.

“This includes funding increases in social care, in addition to maintenance or rises in nursing numbers aligned with demand,” they conclude.

(Visited 9,268 times, 1 visits today)

Output: In the first study of its kind, the British Medical Journal has reported that 120,000 deaths have occurred as a result of underfunding in the NHS since 2010. From analyzing trends between 2009 and 2014, researchers estimate an extra 152,141 people could die between 2015 and 2020, amounting to nearly 100 extra deaths every day. In the fragile Brexit negotiations, and considering the £350m weekly pledge by the Leave campaign, funding will be the determinant of these figures. The funds needed to close what the researchers are calling the 'mortality gap' would be £6.3bn per year.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Fujitsu unveils inter-blockchain cryptocurrency exchange solution
 NOTE: this is an archived page and the content is likely to be out of date.

Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. today announced that it has developed its "ConnectionChain," a security technology that can safely and easily execute exchanges and payments in different virtual currencies.

A great deal of attention has recently been focused on virtual currency exchange among individuals and companies using initial coin offerings (ICOs)(1) to raise capital from the sale of virtual currencies. Settlement between virtual currencies managed using blockchains, however, requires a reliable application to handle the currency exchange processing at the boundaries between the blockchains, and ensuring transparency in this process has been an ongoing issue.

Fujitsu Laboratories has now developed an extension of smart contract(2) technology which inter-connects multiple blockchains by recording the series of related transactions on each chain in a dedicated blockchain, or a "connection-type chain," to link to the currency exchange into a single transaction process that can be automatically executed. It has also developed a transaction control technology to synchronize execution timing of the transaction process on each chain. With these technologies, transparency of transactions can be guaranteed, because all transaction processes are recorded as a trail in the connecting blockchains, even when they cross multiple chains.

In a trial that used this technology in a simulated virtual currency exchange system, Fujitsu Laboratories confirmed that when the currency exchange process was executed that the entire transaction trail for the virtual currency exchange was recorded in the connecting blockchain. These technologies make it easy to support payments in a variety of regional currencies, and operators can also easily setup special exchange rates for promotional campaigns.

Fujitsu Laboratories will continue expanding this technology beyond currency exchange to areas such as high-trust data exchanges between companies and contract automation, while also continuing to conduct trials in a variety of fields, with the goal of commercialization in fiscal 2018 and beyond.

Development Background

Without a central authority, blockchain offers high usability and guaranteed reliability due to being resistant to modification. It is therefore expected to be widely used in a number of fields, including finance and distribution. For this reason, it is said that around 2020, numerous blockchains will be set up across a range of fields. In addition, as applications in the financial field, there are ICOs in which companies and individuals sell virtual currencies to raise capital, as well as the issuing of proprietary virtual currencies by financial institutions. As a result, the volume of virtual currency being issued is skyrocketing, and it is expected that demand will increase for solutions that can handle transfers between these sorts of virtual currencies or data exchanges managed by blockchains.

Issues

With services to exchange virtual currencies or other assets, existing smart contracts merely execute transactions or contracts automatically and operate only within the limited scope of a single blockchain.

There were two major issues when executing exchanges across multiple blockchains, as follows (figure 1).

1. The need to ensure transparency in the application located between the blockchains, which handles the processing for things like the exchange rate and handling fees.

2. The need to control transaction timing across multiple blockchains, and to deal with them as a single continuous series.

About the Newly Developed Technology

Now, Fujitsu Laboratories has developed connection-type chain security technology that can safely and easily execute payments between different virtual currencies (figure 2).

Details of the technologies are as follows.

1. Extended Smart contract technology

Fujitsu Laboratories has enhanced the capability of smart contracts, which automate contract processing and the handling of such tasks as placing orders and payments, to also be able to handle processes involving multiple blockchains.

This technology is enabled by adding new nodes to connect blockchains, forming ConnectionChain, a blockchain used for connecting blockchains. The block data containing the relevant transaction process is extracted from the two blockchains via this connection node, and each transaction process is connected. This enables the entire series of transactions, including task processing on the ConnectionChain, to be automatically executed as a single smart contract.

By inheriting capability of the blockchain on handling the linking and task processing, rather than trusting to an application, operators can ensure the transparency and confirm the accuracy of the processing.

2. Transaction control technology

Fujitsu Laboratories has developed technology to control the transfer of assets in response to transaction processes across all blockchains that make up a system, designing an asset depositing concept that can put asset-transfer on hold, which did not previously exist in blockchain transactions. This technology controls the timing of the transaction processing in each chain, first putting the asset on hold temporarily without confirming the transaction process on the asset-holder's side, then, after confirming the currency transfer from the recipient, confirming the transaction status for the asset-holder, and so on. This enables users to put the entire transaction process into a waiting state, which was difficult with existing blockchain technology, and then either confirm or cancel the transaction process based on the overall outcome.

Effects

In a trial that used this technology in a simulated virtual currency exchange system, Fujitsu Laboratories interconnected two blockchains using different architectures to a system for exchanging proprietary virtual currencies, and executed asset transfers by exchanging virtual currency. The results confirmed that the transaction records relating to an asset transfer, including the transaction IDs on each blockchain, the amount of assets transferred, and the results of those transactions, were recorded on ConnectionChain as a single transaction (figure 3, left). In addition, if a transaction across blockchains were to fail while in progress, for reasons such as an inability to pay or settle, Fujitsu Laboratories also confirmed that the ID and timestamp for the transaction process that returned the assets on hold to their original owner was recorded (figure 3, right).

This technology will make it easy for small businesses, such as small-scale online shops that might be operated by a single person, and which accept virtual currencies, to support new regional currencies, and it also enables the operator to freely define exchange rates, enabling initiatives such as preferential exchange campaigns for users who hold a particular virtual currency.

Future Plans

Fujitsu Laboratories aims to expand this technology beyond currency exchange to areas such as high-trust data exchanges between companies and contract automation, while also continuing to conduct trials in a variety of fields, especially in finance, with the goal of commercialization in fiscal 2018 and beyond.

Output: Fujitsu has unveiled a smart-contracts-based technology to handle cryptocurrency exchanges between multiple, separate blockchains. Called ConnectionChain, the technology connects blockchains so that a series of transactions can be executed automatically in a single smart contract. With task processing included and the ability to synchronise the timing of executions, the technology aims to fill a gap by providing transparency at the processing stage of transfers. Fujitsu has expressed an interest in extending it to other areas like contracts, and is looking to commercialise the tech in the 2018 fiscal year.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Foxconn proposes autonomous car lane to serve Wisconsin factory
 Foxconn, the Taiwanese company known for doing contract manufacturing for companies like Apple, brought up the idea of adding autonomous vehicle lanes to a stretch of Interstate 94 near its new Wisconsin factory in a meeting with regional officials, according to the Journal Sentinel.

The highway is already slated to be widened from six lanes to eight in anticipation of traffic from the factory, which will cover 20 million square feet and cost $10 billion to build. But Foxconn reportedly suggested that some lanes be reserved for autonomous vehicles only. Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, suggested that driverless-vehicle lanes could connect the Foxconn factory with Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport.

That doesn't mean the dedicated lanes are anywhere close to a done deal, though. A spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation told the Journal Sentinel that the autonomous-driving proposal is just one of many "on the table." Implementing the plan would likely require significant legal wrangling...not to mention the acquisition of a fleet of autonomous vehicles.

Foxconn announced plans for an autonomous-vehicle development center in Michigan in August, so the company is definitely interested in the technology. Michigan has a fairly open attitude to self-driving cars, which isn't surprising, given the massive auto industry presence in the state. But it's unclear how Wisconsin will handle autonomous vehicles—or if officials are really willing to dedicate highway lanes to them.

Output: Taiwanese company Foxconn has suggested to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation that some lanes on Interstate 94 could be reserved for autonomous vehicles. The route is set to be expanded from six lanes to eight in preparation for the increase in traffic after Foxconn's $10bn, 20 million sq ft Midwest facility opens. Although the company's proposal is one of several being considered, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce has also suggested a similar self-driving lane be built between Foxconn's site and Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Foxconn proposes autonomous car lane to serve Wisconsin factory
 A US freeway may get self-driving car lanes thanks to Foxconn The I-94 highway connects to the Apple supplier's upcoming facility in the Midwest.

Wisconsin highway planners are studying the possibility of placing driverless vehicle lanes on I-94 to serve Foxconn's mega factory in Racine County. The Taiwanese company -- supplier to tech firms including Apple, Microsoft, and Nintendo -- reportedly made the suggestion at a meeting with regional officials, according to USA Today's Journal Sentinel.

Foxconn's $10 billion midwest facility will span 20 million square feet and could create up to 13,000 jobs. That's an awful lot of humans commuting back and forth from work, and that's before you take into account the goods getting hauled in. But, seeing as the I-94 highway is getting a bump from six to eight lanes anyway, regional officials figured they were prepared for the uptick in traffic. Foxconn, it seems, has other ideas in mind.

While companies like Uber and Waymo are trialing self-driving vehicles on roads across the US, there's also been talk of dedicated lanes for robocars (and trucks). Last year, VC firm Madrona Ventures floated the idea for replacing the I-5 freeway between Seattle and Vancouver with an "autonomous vehicle" corridor.

But, Foxconn's desire to yield regular car lanes to driverless vehicles could be a way off yet. A spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation told the Journal Sentinel that the proposal is just one of many "on the table." One possibility, according to Tim Sheehy (president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce), is driverless lanes between the Foxconn plant and Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport.

Output: Taiwanese company Foxconn has suggested to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation that some lanes on Interstate 94 could be reserved for autonomous vehicles. The route is set to be expanded from six lanes to eight in preparation for the increase in traffic after Foxconn's $10bn, 20 million sq ft Midwest facility opens. Although the company's proposal is one of several being considered, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce has also suggested a similar self-driving lane be built between Foxconn's site and Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport.


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Input:
International tech labour deterred from London firms due to Brexit
 Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

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A third of London’s tech companies have lost out on international hires due to Britain’s decision to leave the European Union last year, according to a new survey.

Industry body Tech London Advocates said almost two thirds of tech entrepreneurs believe Brexit has already damaged the capital’s international reputation as a leading tech hub.

Despite the findings, over half of the 5,400 tech founders surveyed believed London remains the best place in Europe to start a tech company.

The majority of London’s tech community also believes that future investment in the capital’s tech sector will come from North America rather than Europe.

“Entrepreneurs are defined by their ability to turn challenges into opportunities and the sentiment across London’s tech sector is increasingly one of determination, conviction and ambition”, said Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates.

“Slowing down access to European talent will make growing a tech company harder, but London is focused on strengthening its relationship with tech hubs across Europe and around the world that are already fuelling our investment pipeline.”

Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday that the UK is to double the number of visas available to workers in tech and science after Brexit.

Tech giants including Facebook, Google and Amazon have all announced plans to open London offices since the Brexit vote, but have cited the challenge of attracting top talent.

Output: One in three tech companies in London has seen potential international hires fall through due to the UK's decision to leave the EU. Tech London Advocates said two thirds of businesses surveyed believed London's reputation has been damaged by the Brexit vote. Theresa May has announced plans to double the number of Tier 1 visas available, to draw talent in. Despite this, those surveyed still believed London is the best place in Europe for start ups, affirmed by announcements Facebook, Google, Amazon and Snapchat have that they plan expand in London since the Brexit vote.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Bidalgo to become a Google Premier Partner for Mobile Advertising
 by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, November 15, 2017

In a partnership announced Wednesday with Google, Bidalgo is joining the Premier Partner for Mobile Advertising program in Google's Universal App Campaigns to help app marketers "master" UAC, which helps marketers target ads based on business goals across Google Play, Google Search,

YouTube and the millions of third-party sites and apps in the Google Display Network.

Part of Bidalgo's plan may be to reach $250 million in revenue this year -- up from $86 million in 2016, according to one report. Peli Beeri, CEO of Bidalgo, told VentureBeat in October that the company has averaged $25 million in revenue each month for the past three months. With that type of run rate, the company could generate $300 million in revenue in the next 12 months as it becomes the go-to source for brands that are looking to buy mobile ads to promote apps and games.

Bidalgo, which got its start in Tel Aviv, Israel, touts that its automated advertising platform runs on artificial Intelligence. And that aside from Google, it has official marketing partnerships with Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest.

advertisement advertisement

Games developer Pixelberry Studios worked with Bidalgo on the UAC platform to become a top 25-grossing app in the U.S., to grow revenue across a diverse gaming portfolio, and drive effective app marketing with a focused team.

With three employees leading marketing efforts, Pixelberry reached specific goals by working with Bidalgo. Those goals include landing on the top 25-growing apps in the U.S., increasing scale by four times across UAC in six months, and achieving 250% higher return on ad spend with UAC for measurable actions compared with installations.

The two companies worked to identify creative elements and design a large set of high-performing creative assets for the campaign.

Output: As part of a plan to reportedly reach $250m in revenue this year, Bidalgo is joining the Premier Partner for Mobile Advertising programme in Google's Universal App Campaigns (UAC). Google's UAC helps marketers target ads based on their business goals across all Google properties, as well as third-party sites and apps in the Google Display Network. Bidalgo, which was founded in Tel Aviv, offers an advertising platform and has marketing partnerships with Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest. CEO Peli Beeri said in October the company had averaged $25m of revenues in each month for the past three months.


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UK inflation remains at five-year high of 3%
 2. Things you need to know about this release

An article sets out the impact of planned improvements to the CPIH and CPI, designed to improve the representativeness of price movements of volatile items (specifically fresh fruit and vegetables).

The National Statistics status of the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) was reinstated on 31 July 2017. A letter (PDF, 160KB) from the Director General for Regulation to the National Statistician detailed the actions that were taken to meet the requirements as set out in the CPIH assessment report.

We have illustrated our future approach to measuring changing prices and costs faced by consumers and households using three “use cases”, along with how they relate to the measures that we currently publish and those that are under development. Specifically, they refer to the CPIH as our lead measure of inflation based on economic principles; the Household Costs Indices (HCIs, currently under development) as a set of measures to reflect the change in costs as experienced by households; and the Retail Prices Index (RPI) as a legacy measure that is required to meet existing user needs.

Consumer price inflation is the rate at which the prices of goods and services bought by households rise or fall. It is estimated by using price indices. One way to understand this is to think of a shopping basket containing all the goods and services bought by households. Movements in price indices represent the changing cost of this basket. Consumer price indices – a brief guide gives an overview of the indices and their uses.

The most common approach to measuring inflation is the 12-month inflation rate, which compares prices for the latest month with the same month a year ago. In any given month, the 12-month rate is determined by the balance between upward and downward price movements of the range of goods and services included in the index.

This release also examines how the various types of goods and services contribute to the change in the 12-month inflation rate between the latest two months. The size and direction of these contributions depends on how prices changed between both the latest two months this year and the same two months last year. For example, the price of a product could make an upward contribution to the change in the rate even if it fell, provided that it fell by less than it did between the same two months a year ago. Explaining the contribution to change in the 12-month rate covers this concept in more detail.

The CPIH is the most comprehensive measure of inflation. It extends the CPI to include a measure of the costs associated with owning, maintaining and living in one’s own home, known as owner occupiers’ housing costs (OOH), along with Council Tax. Both of these are significant expenses for many households and are not included in the CPI.

Aside from including OOH and Council Tax, CPIH is otherwise identical to CPI. This means that, aside from these two components, the factors contributing to the CPI rate are the same as those contributing to the CPIH. For example, if food is reported as increasing the CPIH rate, it is also acting to increase the CPI rate. The size of the contributions for components other than OOH and Council Tax are exaggerated in the CPI compared with the CPIH because they account for a larger proportion of the overall index.

The CPI is produced at the same level of detail as CPIH, in the accompanying dataset and time series dataset.

The Retail Prices Index (RPI) does not meet the required standard for designation as National Statistics. In recognition that it continues to be widely used in contracts, we continue to publish the RPI, its sub-components and RPIX. To view the all-items RPI and 12-month inflation rate and an at-a-glance comparison with other measures, please see the time series section of the inflation and price indices area of our website. The accompanying dataset and time series dataset provide more detailed information.

The figures in this publication use data collected on or around 10 October 2017.

Output: The UK's inflation rate remained at 3% in October, a whole percentage point above the government's inflation target, according to a new report by the ONS. Wages are growing at a lesser rate of 2.2% and employment fell by 14,000 people. On the other end of the scale, output grew at its fastest rate in six years - however this follows a considerable dip in the period following the recession of 2007.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
UK inflation remains at five-year high of 3%
 It has been a week of troubling data for the British economy.

Inflation remained at a five-year high of 3%.

Employment fell by 14,000 people. Employment figures have been almost universally positive for the last two years.

Retail sales witnessed their first year-on-year slump for four years.

LONDON — On three consecutive days, the Office for National Statistics released vital data about the health of Britain.

And the picture that data painted was, in a word, worrying.

On Tuesday morning, the ONS showed that inflation remained at a five-year high of 3% in October. Sure, it didn't go up from the previous month, but it remains a whole percentage point above the government's official inflation target and analysts expect a further rise before the end of the year.

High inflation might be manageable for regular Brits if wages were keeping up. Unfortunately, they aren't. Wage numbers released on Wednesday showed nominal wages grew by 2.2% over the most recent data period. This effectively means that the amount Brits have to spend is falling. In a healthy economic climate, this should be the opposite.

Slowing consumer spending and overall household consumption are widely acknowledged to have been behind the slowdown in the wider British economy this year, which has pushed the UK to the bottom of the pile in terms of GDP growth in major economies.

The extent of the consumer slowdown was brought into further contrast by news on Thursday morning that retail sales shrunk during October compared to last year. As Ian Gilmartin, head of retail and wholesale at Barclays Corporate Banking pointed out, this is the "first dip in year-on-year quantity sold for several years." In fact, the last time there was a year-on-year drop like this was in September 2013.

Retail sales represent around one-third of consumer spending, and provide a good indication of how people are feeling about the state of their finances. As Pantheon Macroeconomics' Samuel Tombs explained, the most recent data "shows consumers’ cautious mindset."

"While today’s number has beat expectations, it comes after a clattering fall in September and does nothing to ease concerns that the High St is under severe pressure heading into the only time of year that it makes any money," Jeremy Cook, chief economist at WorldFirst said.

"The real wage picture is not supportive of consumption, neither is the consumer credit outlook. Therefore we remain very concerned for consumer focused businesses and their wider contribution to growth."

So, inflation is high, wages aren't growing quickly enough to keep up, and people are buying less in the shops. But what about employment — the jewel in the crown of Britain's economic recovery since the financial crisis?

After several years of falling, it finally looks as if a reversal might be coming in the British jobs market. Wednesday's jobs data may have showed another small fall — 59,000 fewer people out of work — but for the first time in a long while, the number of people in work fell as well, dropping by 14,000 between July and September.

"After two years of almost uninterrupted growth, employment has declined slightly on the quarter," senior ONS statistician Matt Hughes said.

This doesn't appear to be a blip, Tombs argued on Wednesday, saying that "the stagnation of job vacancies indicates that employment growth will remain weak over the coming months."

A glimpse of positivity?

To be fair, Wednesday also saw the announcement of an increase in the UK's average output per hour — a key measure of productivity. Output grew at its fastest rate since 2011, according to the ONS' flash estimate.

Productivity growth in the UK since the financial crisis has been virtually non-existent, leading Bank of England Governor Mark Carney in December 2016 to describe the last 10 years as "the first lost decade since the 1860s" when "Karl Marx was scribbling in the British Library."

Philip Wales, the ONS' head of productivity, urged caution on Wednesday's data, saying that "the medium-term picture continues to be one of productivity growing but at a much slower rate than seen before the financial crisis."

Later in the day, Ben Broadbent, the Bank of England's Deputy Governor for Monetary Policy also issued a warning on productivity, saying it is not "inconceivable" that Brexit could lead to a "sharp step down" in the UK's output growth, and comparing it to the financial crisis in terms of potential downside.

"We saw a sharp step down in productivity growth after the financial crisis. And I think there are things involved in Brexit that, once one digs below the macro-economic surface, could potentially do the same," Broadbent said, adding that the crisis led to a slowing of productivity growth for a "painfully long time."

So even the one glimmer of hope in the British economy is something of a false positive.

Growth will slow further

All of these negatives mean that overall GDP growth is also set to slow further, having already taken a leg lower since last summer.

UK growth will lag behind virtually every other major European nation for the next handful of years, according to estimates from the European Commission released last week.

The commission's figures suggest that by 2019, UK economic growth will have slowed to just 1.1%, slower than Italy, Spain and Greece.

Here's the chart:

European Commission

"The European Commission’s latest set of forecasts does not make for particularly pleasant reading for UK policymakers, showing as it does a continued slowdown in UK GDP growth," said Commerzbank’s top UK economist Peter Dixon.

Growth, the commission points out, has already slowed significantly in the UK in the last couple of years, falling from 2.3% in 2017, to just 1.8% in 2016. By the end of 2017, growth will likely be around 1.4%-1.5%. That will get even worse in 2018 and 2019, as continued uncertainties surrounding the shape of Brexit take hold.

"Given the ongoing negotiation on the terms of the UK withdrawal from the EU, projections for 2019 are based on a purely technical assumption of status quo in terms of trading relations between the EU27 and the UK. This is for forecasting purposes only and has no bearing on the talks underway in the context of the Article 50 process," the European Commission's forecasts note.

"Under this assumption, GDP growth is still expected to remain subdued at 1.1%. Lower consumer price inflation in 2019 is expected to support private consumption but this may be partially offset by a marginal increase in the household savings rate.

Let's be clear, there may be issues with the British economy that existed before Brexit. Productivity, for example, hasn't simply stopped growing because of the referendum.

However, Brexit is pretty much the only game in town when it comes to the economy and companies' investment decisions, and it is now virtually impossible to deny the negative impact it is having on the economic fortunes of regular Brits and the wider nation.

Output: The UK's inflation rate remained at 3% in October, a whole percentage point above the government's inflation target, according to a new report by the ONS. Wages are growing at a lesser rate of 2.2% and employment fell by 14,000 people. On the other end of the scale, output grew at its fastest rate in six years - however this follows a considerable dip in the period following the recession of 2007.


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'Memory prosthesis' improves human memory for the first time
 It’s all starting to take shape Lea Paterson/Science Photo Library

A “memory prosthesis” brain implant has enhanced human memory for the first time. The device is comprised of electrodes implanted in the brain, and is designed to mimic the way we naturally process memories, and can boost performance on memory tests by up to 30 per cent. A similar approach may work for enhancing other brain skills, such as vision or movement, says the team behind the work.

“We are writing the neural code to enhance memory function,” says Dong Song of the University …

Output: A professor from the University of Southern California has developed a device which can improve the human memory. Research associate professor of biomedical engineering Dong Song collected data from brain electrodes implanted in 20 volunteers during memory improvement tests. Song's device then analysed the patterns to find the best-performing areas of the brain, before stimulating them in the same way. This resulted in a 15% improvement in short-term memory, and working memory boosted by a quarter. The work could lead to a breakthrough for Alzheimer's and dementia sufferers.


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No-deal Brexit risks €1.3tn of financial services contracts: MEP
 Up to €1.3 trillion worth of financial services contracts are at risk from the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal, Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes has warned.

Mr Hayes said the EU’s regulatory framework enables financial services to be “passported” between the UK and all EU countries, but this framework will cease to apply after March 2019 when the UK leaves the EU.

“And if no arrangements are put in place to manage the fallout from the change in the regulatory relationship between the UK and the EU, then over €1.3 trillion worth of financial services contracts are at risk,” he said.

“These are agreed long-term contracts whose lifespan lasts well beyond Brexit. They relate mainly to insurance and derivatives and are of huge importance for the financing of the EU economy,” Mr Hayes said.

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“If we have a no-deal scenario, effectively a cliff edge, many of these financial services contracts will be null and void and there is complete uncertainty about the value of the outstanding assets and how they would be redeemed.”

The UK government wants a trade pact with the EU in financial services but EU negotiators are dismissive of the trade models being put forward by London, noting it is not possible to be half in and half out of the single market.

Output: Financial services contracts worth around €1.3tn ($1.5tn) that "are of huge importance for the financing of the EU economy" could become null and void in the event of a no-deal Brexit, according to Irish Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes. The long-term contracts, mainly related to insurance and derivatives, were due to last well beyond the UK's proposed 2019 departure from the EU, and a no-deal scenario would mean "complete uncertainty about the value of the outstanding assets and how they would be redeemed", said Hayes.


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Betterment allows users to donate shares to charity
 Betterment users can now donate shares from their portfolios directly to charitable organizations with an account on the automated advice platform, a feature industry experts said is a another step toward the robo advisor offering more holistic services to investors.

The company announced the new feature Wednesday, along with a number of organizations already on board, including UNICEF, the Wounded Warriors Family Support, Save the Children and The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Those charities and others will be able to receive donations in the form of shares of stock. More partnerships are expected to be announced in the future. The feature will launch Nov. 28 and also be available through Betterment for Advisors.

“We’re throwing technology at the problem like we usually do,” said Alex Benke, Betterment’s vice president of Advice and Investing.

Benke said the Charitable Giving feature has been on Betterment’s to-do list and now seemed as good a time as ever given the year’s market performance and interest from investors. There was some concern that charitable organizations would be hesitant to open an account with the robo advisor, but the benefits ultimately overcame any perceived risk, he said.

Through Betterment, 100 percent of share contributions make it to the organization. But donors and charities also enjoy respective benefits from using the feature.

Investors choose the amount they want to donate and Betterment funds that donation using shares from their portfolio that have appreciated in value the most. The strategy cancels out any capital gains taxes an investor would pay had they just sold the securities. In addition to reducing their tax liability, investors can also deduct the full appreciated value of the donation.

Kendra Thompson, the managing director and head of Accenture’s global wealth management practice, said robo advisors need to do more than asset allocation and move toward offering holistic advice to continue to attract new investors. Betterment’s Charitable Giving “broadens the value proposition” to investors, Thompson said.

Aside from a new source of potential donors, charities get a more efficient way to accept donated shares that is free of paper and fees. Charitable organizations don’t pay an administration fee for a Betterment account and are not charged for the management. Accounts with assets valued more than $1 million are changed 25 basis points, but the charities are encouraged to sell donated securities and withdraw funds before they reach that threshold, a Betterment spokesperson said.

The charities are also relieved of the operational burden to accept shares. Betterment handles the transaction from end-to-end and sends both the donor and the charity their required tax documents. ”[Charities] absolutely love that because they are able to spend more time doing what they do best as a charity and that’s focused on their actual cause and not record keeping,” Benke said.

Charitable giving is “perhaps the least automated wealth management function,” according to William Trout, a senior analyst at Celent whose research focuses on securities, wealth management and banking.

Investors have long donated shares to charitable organizations and many, especially the largest charities, are well equipped and experienced in accepting them. Those organizations still stand to benefit from partnering with Betterment but smaller charities without the resources or with little experience in accepting shares also have much to gain, said Chris Martinez, the managing director of Oakbrook Solutions, a consultant to wealth managers on systems, process and delivery.

Martinez, who was previously the managing director and chief information officer at Wilmington Trust, said Betterment’s new feature was, to his knowledge, unique and he could see it attracting broad interest. Younger generations are especially interested in what they are investing in and conscious of how efficiently they are giving to charity, he said.

But Martinez also said for Betterment’s new feature to really become widely used, it must continue to give investors good cause to use the robo advice platform in the first place.

Thompson shared a similar opinion—the Charitable Giving feature will not solely continue to draw assets away from traditional managers but that “richer experiences will drive people to the platform.”

Personal Capital, another robo advice platform, said its advisors can help its investors donate shares but it does not have an automated process like Betterment’s. The robo advice company Wealthfront could not be reached about its process for donating shares.

Output: US robo-adviser Betterment has begun to let investors donate to charity via its platform. Users can donate to participating charities in the form of shares of stock. Users define an amount they wish to donate and the robo-adviser transfers to the charity by re-allocating the stocks which have appreciated the most within a portfolio. UNICEF, the Wounded Warriors Family Support, Save the Children and The Breast Cancer Research Foundation are among participating organisations. The service is due to launch at the end of this month.


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Another Chinese city halts subway project over financing concerns
 Hohhot, capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, has canceled construction on its subway Lines 3 and 4. Work on subway Lines 1 and 2, scheduled for completion in 2020, won't be affected. Above, Hohhot Deputy Mayor Sun Jianhua discusses the design of the city's proposed subway on Aug. 20, 2015, in Hohhot. Photo: Visual China

Another city in northern China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region has halted construction of subway projects worth billions of dollars, as the central government tightens scrutiny of local authorities’ infrastructure financing.

Separate sources from banks and regulatory bodies told Caixin that Hohhot, the capital city of Inner Mongolia, scrapped plans to build two subway lines and one expressway linking the city with Ordos, a mining city in southwest Inner Mongolia.

The abandoned construction in Hohhot followed similar moves in neighboring Baotou, also in Inner Mongolia. Caixin learned from sources close to the matter that the central government called off a 30 billion yuan ($4.5 billion) subway construction project in Baotou in August because of concerns over the drain on city coffers.

The cancellation of the Inner Mongolia subway projects is having a ripple effect in other cities. Several city governments, including those of Xianyang in Shaanxi province and Wuhan in Hubei province, said in statements that their subway plan are unlikely to win immediate approval under the central government’s crackdown on financial risks related to borrowing for such projects.

In Hohhot, the canceled subway Lines 3 and 4, involving a total investment of 27 billion yuan, were to be part of an urban subway network project approved by the State Council in April 2014. Hohhot planned to build 54.9 kilometers (34.1 miles) of subway lines to serve the city’s 3 million people with investment totaling 95 billion yuan by 2023.

Construction of subway Lines 1 and 2, which began in 2015 and scheduled to be completed by 2020, will not be affected, according to a source from Inner Mongolia Communications Investment Co., a government-backed infrastructure contractor.

Hohhot also halted a 26.4 billion yuan plan to build a 181-kilometer expressway to Ordos, as approved by the regional government in July.

While new city-rail projects have been encouraged in China since 2015 to boost economic growth, the construction halts in Inner Mongolia reflect tightening scrutiny by the central government as part of efforts to contain local-government borrowing risks, sources told Caixin. The central government noticed the heavy spending plans in Baotou and Hohhot in August and told the cities to halt the projects and use the money to support business development and people’s livelihood instead, sources told Caixin.

The sources from Inner Mongolia Communications Investment said regional and city governments have since issued policies to reassess local infrastructure investment projects and related financing plans.

Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)

Output: Another city in China's Inner Mongolia – Hohhot – has had to halt the building of subway projects worth billions of dollars because of financial issues. The stoppage followed a similar scenario in another Inner Mongolia city, Baotou, where a $4.5bn subway project has been stopped after local authorities said they couldn't afford it. Other cities, including Xianyang and Wuhan, have said they are not expecting to get approval by the central government for their subway plans because of the financial risks attached to borrowing for this type of scheme. Beijing recently increased scrutiny of local authority infrastructure financing.


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Bitcoin cheats death as hash rate slumps in shift to rival coin
 Bitcoin’s price fell over the weekend—while the price of an offshoot, bitcoin cash, soared. The rally in bitcoin cash was so bullish that it even briefly surpassed another cryptocurrency, ethereum, in total market value, at $29.9 billion.

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While the bitcoin and bitcoin cash price action is exciting, investors in either would do well to pay attention to another critical metric: the amount of computational power committed to mining each digital coin, also known as the hash rate. A steep and prolonged drop in bitcoin’s hash rate could set off a much-feared “chain death spiral” that could render the bitcoin network useless. Bitcoin showed signs of its potential for triggering this dynamic over the weekend, when its hash rate fell by 50%.

How does a death spiral work? The bitcoin network currently adds a new bundle of transactions, known as a “block,” roughly every 10 minutes. The exact time is determined by how long it takes for a bitcoin miner to process a block of transactions. This, in turn, is set by something called the “difficulty” on the bitcoin network. Difficulty automatically adjusts itself to match the hash rate so that transactions won’t take too long.

But bitcoin’s difficulty only adjusts every 2,016 blocks, or roughly every two weeks. So if the hash rate suddenly plummets, the difficulty could be rendered too high for the amount of processing power on the network. This in turn could mean severe delays in completing bitcoin transactions. As transactions start getting delayed, the network’s utility is reduced and investors could start dumping bitcoins, causing the price to drop. Miners, in turn, could start mining other coins because a lower bitcoin price means mining is less profitable.

And so the cycle would continue, with investors and miners abandoning bitcoin, causing greater delays in transaction times, and preventing a difficulty adjustment from happening quickly enough to break the cycle. “Transactions get backlogged to a point where the coin becomes basically useless,” says Peter Kim, who co-founded a developer tool called Nitrous and is now working on an app for the cryptocurrency markets.

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Think the death-spiral scenario sounds far-fetched? It came close to happening over the weekend. Bitcoin’s hash rate fell by 50% over two days as miners switched their machines from bitcoin to bitcoin cash, because it was more profitable to do so. The drop in the hash rate meant that the average time taken to complete a bitcoin transaction doubled from 10 minutes to 20 minutes or more, according to bitcoin analyst Jimmy Song. This coincided with a more than 20% crash in bitcoin’s price. “Bitcoin cash was up to 100% more profitable to mine because of the price run-up,” Song says.

Ironically, bitcoin was saved by bitcoin cash’s own difficulty increases. The algorithm governing difficulty adjustments on bitcoin cash caused a surge in the difficulty, making the coin less profitable to mine. The bitcoin cash people didn’t want volatile hash rates in their cryptocurrency, so they changed the protocol’s difficulty adjustment rules on Nov. 13. By this time, many miners had already switched their hash power back to bitcoin.

According to the hash rate monitor at Fork.lol, bitcoin’s hash rate has recovered to about 20 percentage points from where it was before it crashed. Bitcoin’s hash rate is once again well above that of bitcoin cash. A death spiral was averted.

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Bitcoin watchers don’t expect to see the last of this sort of volatility in hash rate. “When it’s more profitable to mine [bitcoin cash], miners will go there. When it’s more profitable to mine [bitcoin], like right now, miners will go there,” Song said.

Which means the threat of a death spiral for either digital currency can’t ever be written off.

Correction: An earlier version of this article said a bitcoin-cash hard fork led to miners switching their hash rate to bitcoin; in fact it was bitcoin cash’s difficulty adjustment that caused a surge in difficulty, causing miners to switch.

Output: Bitcoin came close to collapse when computers used to process its transactions switched to servicing a separate crypto-currency called bitcoin cash. Ironically, bitcoin was saved when miners returned after their earlier desertion inflated the price -- and reduced the profitability -- of the rival coin. The turn of events brought the leading cryptocurrency close to a "chain death spiral", which happens when there isn't enough computer processing power to maintain transactions. Buffers built into the system to adjust for such changes work too slowly to repair a sudden plunge in this so-called hash rate.


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TalkTalk TalkTalk outlines how it intends to step up investment in growth
 TalkTalk will 'step up investment' in the second half after adding 46,000 customers

The FTSE 250 telecoms company said it would step up investment in the second half after adding 46,000 customers in the six months to September 30, compared with a loss of 29,000 last time.

It had already prioritised growth over earnings in a shake-up spearheaded by founder and chairman Sir Charles Dunstone earlier this year which saw Dido Harding replaced as chief executive by Tristia Harrison.

Its broadband base grew for the third straight quarter as the number of customers on fixed low-price plans reached 1.6 million, more than half of its overall customer base and up from one million in March.

The rate at which customers leave for rivals, the so-called customer churn, was reduced from 1.5 per cent to 1.3 per cent.

Output: UK telecomms company TalkTalk plans to capitalise on the strong demand for its fixed, low-price plans and step up its investment in growth during the second half of the fiscal year, according to CEO Tristia Harrison. Her comments came after the company posted a loss of £75m ($99m) for H1 to September and took a £31m restructuring hit. The company's shares fell 17% to 178¼p.