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UK scientists make breakthrough in treating Huntington's disease
 A landmark trial for Huntington’s disease has announced positive results, suggesting that an experimental drug could become the first to slow the progression of the devastating genetic illness.

The results have been hailed as “enormously significant” because it is the first time any drug has been shown to suppress the effects of the Huntington’s mutation that causes irreversible damage to the brain. Current treatments only help with symptoms, rather than slowing the disease’s progression.

Q&A What is Huntington's disease? Show Huntington’s disease is a congenital degenerative condition caused by a single defective gene. Most patients are diagnosed in middle age, with symptoms including mood swings, irritability and depression. As the disease progresses, more serious symptoms can include involuntary jerky movements, cognitive difficulties and issues with speech and swallowing.

Currently there is no cure for Huntington's, although drugs exist which help manage some of the symptoms. It is thought that about 12 people in 100,000 are affected by Huntington's, and if a parent carries the faulty gene there is a 50% chance they will pass it on to their offspring. Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback.

Prof Sarah Tabrizi, director of University College London’s Huntington’s Disease Centre who led the phase 1 trial, said the results were “beyond what I’d ever hoped ... The results of this trial are of ground-breaking importance for Huntington’s disease patients and families,” she said.

The results have also caused ripples of excitement across the scientific world because the drug, which is a synthetic strand of DNA, could potentially be adapted to target other incurable brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche has paid a $45m licence fee to take the drug forward to clinical use.

Huntington’s is an incurable degenerative disease caused by a single gene defect that is passed down through families.

The first symptoms, which typically appear in middle age, include mood swings, anger and depression. Later patients develop uncontrolled jerky movements, dementia and ultimately paralysis. Some people die within a decade of diagnosis.

“Most of our patients know what’s in their future,” said Ed Wild, a UCL scientist and consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, who administered the drug in the trial.

The mutant Huntington’s gene contains instructions for cells to make a toxic protein, called huntingtin. This code is copied by a messenger molecule and dispatched to the cell’s protein-making machinery. The drug, called Ionis-HTTRx, works by intercepting the messenger molecule and destroying it before the harmful protein can be made, effectively silencing the effects of the mutant gene.

To deliver the drug to the brain, it has to be injected into the fluid around the spine using a four-inch needle.

Prof John Hardy, a neuroscientist at UCL who was not involved in the trial, said: “If I’d have been asked five years ago if this could work, I would have absolutely said no. The fact that it does work is really remarkable.”

The trial involved 46 men and women with early stage Huntington’s disease in the UK, Germany and Canada. The patients were given four spinal injections one month apart and the drug dose was increased at each session; roughly a quarter of participants had a placebo injection.

After being given the drug, the concentration of harmful protein in the spinal cord fluid dropped significantly and in proportion with the strength of the dose. This kind of closely matched relationship normally indicates a drug is having a powerful effect.

“For the first time a drug has lowered the level of the toxic disease-causing protein in the nervous system, and the drug was safe and well-tolerated,” said Tabrizi. “This is probably the most significant moment in the history of Huntington’s since the gene [was isolated].”

The trial was too small, and not long enough, to show whether patients’ clinical symptoms improved, but Roche is now expected to launch a major trial aimed at testing this.

If the future trial is successful, Tabrizi believes the drug could ultimately be used in people with the Huntington’s gene before they become ill, possibly stopping symptoms ever occurring. “They may just need a pulse every three to four months,” she said. “One day we want to prevent the disease.”

The drug, developed by the California biotech firm Ionis Pharmaceuticals, is a synthetic single strand of DNA customised to latch onto the huntingtin messenger molecule.

The unexpected success raises the tantalising possibility that a similar approach might work for other degenerative brain disorders. “The drug’s like Lego,” said Wild. “You can target [any protein].”

For instance, a similar synthetic strand of DNA could be made to target the messenger that produces misshapen amyloid or tau proteins in Alzheimer’s.

“Huntington’s alone is exciting enough,” said Hardy, who first proposed that amyloid proteins play a central role in Alzheimer’s. “I don’t want to overstate this too much, but if it works for one, why can’t it work for a lot of them? I am very, very excited.”

Prof Giovanna Mallucci, associate director of UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, described the work as a “tremendous step forward” for individuals with Huntington’s disease and their families.

“Clearly, there will be much interest into whether it can be applied to the treatment of other neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s,” she added. However, she said that in the case of most other disorders the genetic causes are complex and less well understood, making them potentially harder to target.

About 10,000 people in the UK have the condition and about 25,000 are at risk. Most people with Huntington’s inherited the gene from a parent, but about one in five patients have no known family history of the disease.

The full results of the trial are expected to be published in a scientific journal next year.

Output: Scientists at University College London’s Huntington’s Disease Centre have developed a drug based on synthetic DNA that appears to halt the progression of the incurable degenerative condition Huntington’s disease. The leader of the phase one trial involving 46 early-stage patients, Sarah Tabrizi, said the outcome was "probably the most significant moment in the history of Huntington’s" since the genetic disorder's discovery. The drug, Ionis-HTTRx, was developed by California biotech firm Ionis Pharmaceuticals. Swiss company Roche has paid $45m for a licence to develop the drug for clinical use.


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Karrot Health offers bonuses for using employer gym memberships
 Image via shutterstock

In their efforts to promote health and wellness, many companies cover gym memberships for their employees. But what if they just paid them to work out instead?

That’s the premise behind Karrot Health, a new Chicago startup targeting the employee wellness market.

“When I worked for Uber, they gave me $80 a month for a gym membership, which adds up to almost $1,000 per year,” said founder and CEO Kelley Halpin. “All they could tell was that, at some point, I signed up for a gym.”

Karrot lets employers set up a recurring “bonus” for employees that is unlocked by hitting certain fitness milestones — like logging 10,000 calories’ worth of workouts in a single month. Employees track progress using wearable devices or the fitness tracking features built into their smartphones.

To ensure that employees actually take advantage of the program, Karrot’s iOS app pulls data automatically from HealthKit, Apple’s default fitness feature, allowing users to track workouts without having to remember to activate anything.

“That the data was collected passively was important to me,” said Halpin. “Once you set this up, you are good to go. Everything just runs smoothly on its own after that.”

Halpin said Karrot is currently gearing up for beta tests with a handful of early customers. Companies typically offer around $50 per month per employee in incentives, but they’re free to adjust that amount as they see fit.

While Karrot’s beta version is centered primarily around payouts for workouts, Halpin said his long-term plan is to build a full-fledged workout app with personalized challenges and social features. He also wants to dig deep into their data to learn how, when and where users are exercising in order to nudge them into exercising at just the right time.

Although Karrot is initially launching for iOS and Apple Watch, its goal is to support as many devices as possible, including Android devices and popular fitness trackers like Fitbit. To get there, the startup is recruiting for additional technical talent.

“We’re looking for at least two or three developers to start,” said Halpin. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

For now, Karrot is primarily working with startups and smaller technology companies, which Halpin said tend to be more open to adopting new technologies — and have employees who use Apple Watches and other wearable devices. But he’s also in dialog with some larger employers.

“When companies reach a certain size, they start to self-insure employees,” he said. “That makes health insurance costs very important for them.”

Output: Chicago start-up Karrot Health is aiming to encourage people to use gym memberships handed out by employers with an app offering financial bonuses for hitting fitness milestones. The company, which is preparing for beta testing, said participants' data is automatically collected from their wearables by its iOS app, while Apple's HealthKit monitors and tracks their attendance and progress. The company aims to expand the app's availability to Android and other fitness trackers, and also plans to broaden the app to include personalised goals and social features.


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Samsung to expand biometrics security with palm-scanning feature
 Going Mystical

Samsung could be looking to branch into palm reading sometime in the near future, but not to gain insight into your love life.

Recent patent filings by the South Korean electronics giant show that the company may be investing in yet another means of biometric scanning. Samsung's palm recognition technology would join other biometrics, such as facial recognition and fingerprint scanning, along with standard passwords, pin numbers, and patterns as a means of securing your device.

Image credit: Samsung

The patent shows that this functionality is meant to deliver password hints to the user — it won't unlock the phone directly. The filing includes an image of a user taking a photo of a hand and using the lines in the palm to complete letters on the device's screen.

These letters are supposed to provide a subtle hint at the password. However, Samsung could theoretically extend the capabilities of this function to allow the palm scans to unlock the device directly.

Biometrics Showdown

Some may question the need for yet another bio-scanning capability. Apple, Samsung's chief competitor in the mobile phone market, has done away with all biometric security features other than facial recognition in their top-of-the-line iPhone X.

The use of biometrics, in general, is also still fairly controversial. While these features may be more secure and convenient than traditional passwords or pins, they also carry some unique weaknesses. A person's fingerprint can be lifted off another surface and used to hack their phone, or someone could even use a sleeping person's finger to unlock their device.

Samsung's palm recognition feature is just a patent, and it may never actually make it into a device. However, with each new potential security feature, companies need to ensure safety is always the top priority. Convenience cannot trump security in terms of importance for consumers.

Output: South Korean electronics giant Samsung has filed a patent for palm-print recognition technology as a means of helping users recover forgotten passwords. According to the filing, a photo of the user's upturned hand could be examined in order to proffer password hints and reminders. The filing suggests the technology could also be used to unlock devices. Samsung has developed other means of biometric identification, from fingerprint scanning to facial recognition.


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Microsoft to set up $50m 'AI for Earth' project
 There are plenty of stories about artificial intelligence ending the world as we know it (see 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Terminator, certain Elon Musk tweets). There are fewer about how AI could save the world, but believers are out there. At a gathering Monday for the two-year anniversary of the Paris climate accord, Microsoft announced a $50 million investment in its AI for Earth project that it believes can be a “game-changer for our planet.”

Microsoft launched AI for Earth over the summer with an initial $2 million, hiring Lucas Joppa to run it as the company’s chief environmental scientist—a role that, as far as Joppa knows, doesn’t exist at any other technology company. Since the launch, the company has given out 35 grants to groups in 10 countries. The new investment will support and expand upon the current projects as well as new ventures over the next five years.

“We’re impatient and a lot of partners are too,” Joppa told MIT Technology Review. “There isn’t enough money and resources for people doubling down on these issues.”

AI for Earth grants give groups access and training to use the Azure platform and other Microsoft AI products. The projects so far include producing a more precise land cover map of the Chesapeake Bay watershed for conservation work, a mosquito tracking program that lets researchers learn about wildlife populations through blood analysis (it also functions as an early-warning system for Zika outbreaks), and getting farmers more data to increase crop yields with fewer resources.

AI for Earth is, of course, good for Microsoft’s bottom line as well. Joppa said that if the technology works for small, cash-strapped groups often working in tough conditions in the field, Microsoft gets feedback for their products and clients can be assured that the system will work for them.

“Anytime we can stress-test the technology, the better,” he said.

And of course, AI talent retention and recruiting is a huge concern for the tech industry. Joppa said that AI for Earth and its mission are a draw for researchers and developers.

“Yes, you need to pay them,” he said. “But you need to give them meaningful things to work on.”

Output: Microsoft has announced $50m of extra funds for a new Artificial Intelligence project aimed at saving the planet. 'AI for Earth' was initially launched this summer with $2m, which has provided the funds for 35 environmental projects around the world. Among those it has supported are a mosquito tracking programme and a system for helping farmers maximise crop efficiency and use fewer resources. The new funding will help support these existing projects and new ones, with partners receiving training and access to Microsoft's AI products, including the Azure platform.


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FDA to add new pathway to medical device approval process
 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is planning to add a new voluntary, alternative pathway for medical devices, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, announced Monday.

The flexible pathway will lean on more modern criteria for a reference standard and allow comparisons to standards that are more closely aligned with the particular technology FDA is being asked to evaluate.

The new framework will let device manufacturers demonstrate substantial equivalence by meeting objective performance and safety rules. Gottlieb said this will include FDA-recognized standards, guidance documents, or a combination of the two.

[Also: 2017 was a big year for FDA digital health regulations]

Further, the pathway will be available to pre-specified mature device categories that meet or exceed the safety and performance criteria of existing devices on the market. Gottlieb said the approach will make it easier for the agency to adopt a new product framework that meets international consensus standards.

The new pathway would be voluntary and manufacturers could opt to continue to use the current 510(K) evaluation pathway.

Regulatory processes for the agency have remained relatively the same since its first implementation about 40 years ago, Gottlieb wrote. The 510(K) pathway for device approval, for instance, requires manufacturers to show a new device is substantially equivalent to similar devices already on the market and it demands comparisons to devices often up to 40 years old.

“FDA recognizes that such direct comparison testing creates burdens for 510(K) applicants, especially when many new devices are designed in novel ways, using more advanced technologies,” Gottlieb wrote. “It’s sometimes hard to identify sufficient, appropriate predicate devices in order to conduct testing. This can create an obstacle to certain kinds of innovation and lead to inefficiency in the review process with few, if any, benefits to patient safety.”

The FDA will release its draft guidance on the new 510(K) pathway in the first quarter of 2018.

Healthcare IT year in review This was one of our most popular stories of the year.

Twitter: @JessieFDavis

Email the writer: jessica.davis@himssmedia.com

Output: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is planning to update its almost 40-year-old regulatory processes for approval of medical devices by adding a voluntary alternative alongside the existing 510(K) pathway, according to commissioner Scott Gottlieb. He said identifying "sufficient, appropriate predicate devices" for testing sometimes stood in the way of innovation, and the new FDA framework would be open to pre-specified mature device categories that met or exceeded the criteria applying to products already on the market. Draft guidance on the voluntary pathway is set to be released early next year.


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MEP tables amendments to make joint report legally binding
 David Davis calling the phase one Brexit deal a "statement of intent" was "unhelpful and undermines trust", the European Parliament's chief Brexit coordinator has said.

Guy Verhofstadt has gone as far as proposing amendments to the European Parliament document that approves the deal so that it reflects his displeasure.

He tweeted two pictures of the amendments.

One says Mr Davis' comments were a "risk to undermine the good faith that has been built during the negotiations".

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The other says phase two talks could only happen "if the UK Government also fully respects the commitments it made".

Mr Davis responded hours later on Twitter saying it was a "pleasure, as ever" to talk to Mr Verhofstadt.

He wrote: "We both agreed on the importance of the Joint Report. Let's work together to get it converted into legal text as soon as possible."

Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake responded by calling for Mr Davis to "put a sock in it".

He said: "David Davis has endangered the entire divorce agreement because he couldn't resist playing to the Brexit gallery and because the Cabinet can't even agree among itself what kind of Brexit it wants.

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Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 1:12 Brexit breakthrough: Key details

"The sheer incompetence and chaos coming from the Government is unprecedented in my lifetime. Every time David Davis speaks, the Brexit divorce grows worse for Britain."

The row broke out after Mr Davis said the deal struck between Downing Street and Brussels last week was not "legally enforcable".

Irish government chief whip Joe McHugh quickly shot back that they would "be holding the United Kingdom to account, as will the EU".

He told broadcaster RTE: "My question to anybody within the British Government would be: why would there be an agreement, a set of principled agreements, in order to get to phase two, if they weren't going to be held up?

"That just sounds bizarre to me.

"This, as far as we're concerned, is a binding agreement, an agreement in principle."

Image: EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier insisted there is 'no possibility' of a trade deal by 2019

Leaders of the remaining 27 EU member states will meet in Brussels at the end of this week to decide whether to formally sanction the start of Brexit trade talks.

Ahead of the summit, European Council president Donald Tusk wrote to heads of government confirming he will recommend a progression to the second phase of negotiations.

But, in an apparent warning over the chances of agreeing a final Brexit agreement before the UK's departure in March 2019, Mr Tusk wrote: "The conclusion of the first phase of negotiations is moderate progress, since we only have ten months left to determine the transition period and our future relations with the UK.

"This will be a furious race against time, where again our unity will be key."

Meanwhile, EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier insisted there is "no possibility" that Britain and the EU can conclude a free trade deal by the time Britain quits the bloc.

The European Commission official said only a "political declaration" outlining a future EU-UK relationship will be ready by March 2019.

Output: David Davis, the UK's Brexit Secretary, has angered the EU by saying that the joint report released, indicating the first stages of agreement on Brexit, is not legally binding, speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr show. In response, Guy Verhofstadt, the Brexit Coordinator for the European Parliament, has submitted amendments to the resolution to hold the UK accountable for agreements made.


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Skills shortage sees Microsoft set up internal 'AI university'
 Ryan is a senior editor at TechForge Media with over a decade of experience covering the latest technology and interviewing leading industry figures. He can often be sighted at tech conferences with a strong coffee in one hand and a laptop in the other. If it's geeky, he’s probably into it. Find him on Twitter (@Gadget_Ry) or Mastodon (@gadgetry@techhub.social)

Microsoft is so concerned about the shortage of AI skills that it’s setting up an ‘AI university’ to overcome it. Unfortunately, it’s only for Microsoft employees (for now.)

The internal AI university will train employees on different concepts that are important for the development of AI. Microsoft Research Director Chris Bishop says the program is designed to give practical skills and knowledge to people who are trained elsewhere in the business.

I recently covered Microsoft’s concern about the lack of AI talent on our sister publication, IoT News. The company is not alone, and many have voiced their concerns about private companies stealing talent from academia — which is in danger of leaving a generation without important skills.

For its part, Microsoft is taking an ethical approach to recruiting AI talent.

The company partners with universities to ensure it doesn’t steal talent, allows employees to continue roles in teaching, funds some related PhD scholarships, sends researchers to co-supervise students in universities, and offers paid internships to work alongside teams at Microsoft on projects.

For those who have AI skills, they are currently reaping the benefits of the shortage. AI talent is so in demand that employers are offering six-figure salaries.

These large salaries pose another problem as — while companies like Microsoft, Google, and Apple can afford it — innovative startups have even less of a chance at competing against these established giants by not being able to offer the same huge paychecks.

Nevertheless, Microsoft’s continued approach to recruiting and training its own AI talent is commendable. Hopefully, other companies will follow to ensure the industry can thrive without being hindered by a lack of skills.

What are your thoughts on the AI talent shortage? Let us know in the comments.

Output: Microsoft is setting up an internal university to teach its employees the knowledge and skills to develop artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The move is in response to the current skills shortage in AI, which has raised salaries along with concerns over an academia “brain drain” and competition for top talent. Against this backdrop, Microsoft’s recruitment has adopted a co-working approach, partnering with universities, enabling employees to continue to teach, giving students access to its researchers and funding PhD scholarships and internships.


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Skills shortage sees Microsoft set up internal 'AI university'
 Microsoft has set up its own internal "university" to train Microsoft staff in the field of artificial intelligence.

The company is also looking to hire people at machine learning conferences likes NIPS.

Chris Bishop, head of the Microsoft Research lab in Cambridge, said he's keen to avoid "hoovering" up AI professors from universities.

Microsoft has set up an internal "AI University" in a bid to help it overcome the skills shortage in the booming field of artificial intelligence (AI).

Chris Bishop, the director of a Microsoft Research lab in Cambridge, UK, told Business Insider that the Microsoft AI University is one of several schemes Microsoft has implemented to address the lack of talent in the field of AI, where there's fierce competition between tech firms to hire the best people.

"We have a thing called AI University, which is an internal education programme so that people who are incredibly smart and capable but trained in a different domain can quickly learn about machine learning both in a foundational sense but also in a practical sense of how to use it," said Bishop.

When it comes to AI talent, Microsoft is competing with the likes of Amazon and Apple, who also have research offices in Cambridge, as well as DeepMind (owned by Google), Facebook, Twitter, and many others.

Chris Bishop is the head of a Microsoft Research lab in Cambridge. Microsoft

The global battle for talent is raging because of the potential AI breakthroughs that bright minds stand to make in the next few years thanks to recent advances in computation power and the availability of vast data sets.

AI is now at the core of almost all of the big tech companies' major products (think Apple's iPhone, Amazon Echo, Microsoft Surface, etc) and even fairly small advances in areas like speech recognition and image search could have a big impact on profits.

In a bid to attract the most capable people, the multibillion dollar tech giants are offering annual salaries in the hundreds of thousands of pounds and some people leading AI-focused teams at these companies are earning over £1 million a year, according to multiple sources that Business Insider has spoken to.

How Microsoft is recruiting AI talent

Microsoft is also trying to bring people into the company by finding talent at conferences and sponsoring students through university on the condition that they take a job when they've finished studying.

The Redmond-headquartered company has set up a large stand at an AI conference in LA this week called NIPS (The Conference and Workshop on Neural Information Processing Systems), where Bishop and his team hope to recruit a number of people.

The computer science department at Cambridge University. Business Insider UK/Sam Shead

Unlike some other companies, Microsoft is keen to avoid hiring all the best AI professors straight out of university, according to Bishop.

"One of the things we're trying to avoid doing is simply going into a university, hoovering up all the top professors and then just leaving tumbleweed blowing down the corridors," he said.

"That might be a short term fix for some companies but I don't think it serves even the industry itself very well, let alone academia or the nation, to take that rather short term view."

Dozens of AI researchers have left Oxford and Cambridge over the last few years for what are likely to be better-paid roles at DeepMind, according to LinkedIn.

Irina Higgins, for example, left her role as a machine learning tutor at Oxford in April 2015 before joining DeepMind as a research scientist in June of the same year. Higgins also completed a PhD in computational neuroscience and artificial intelligence at Oxford before leaving to join DeepMind.

Salaries at DeepMind averaged $345,000 (£258,000) in 2016, according to UK regulatory filings cited by Bloomberg.

Bishop, who declined to comment on DeepMind's hiring, said his lab is funding masters degrees and PhDs at the University of Cambridge and other schools in a bid to spot talent early and get it on side.

"We try to work with them [universities] to fuel that talent pipeline," said Bishop. "So for example we're a major sponsor of a masters programme at Cambridge University." Bishop added that Microsoft Research has funded around 200 PhD scholarships at the centuries-old institution.

Other tech firms, including DeepMind, are also funding students through university but perhaps not on the same scale. Researchers from DeepMind are also giving AI and machine learning lectures to students, and some are even acting as PhD supervisors.

Staff from Microsoft Research in Cambridge also helped to develop the UK's new "computing" curriculum, which replaced ICT in 2014.

Output: Microsoft is setting up an internal university to teach its employees the knowledge and skills to develop artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The move is in response to the current skills shortage in AI, which has raised salaries along with concerns over an academia “brain drain” and competition for top talent. Against this backdrop, Microsoft’s recruitment has adopted a co-working approach, partnering with universities, enabling employees to continue to teach, giving students access to its researchers and funding PhD scholarships and internships.


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South Korea to create military drone swarm unit
 Beijing: South Korea plans to create a combat unit of weaponised drones next year that would be capable of swarming the nuclear-armed North in the event of a conflict.

Army officials said the drones would primarily focus on reconnaissance operations against strategic North Korean military sites, amid growing tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programme.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects an intercontinental ballistic missile test in North Korea. Credit: AP

But the unit could be mobilised to launch swarm attacks if necessary, with an army official claiming drone combat would be a "game-changer in warfare" on the Korean peninsula.

"The army plans to set up a special organisation to lead the development of dronebots, establish a standard platform and expand the dronebot programme," the unnamed official said.

Output: Army officers in South Korea are working on plans to create an attack unit of weaponised drones for use in the event of conflict with North Korea. The autonomous aerial vehicles would be primarily used to conduct surveillance operations, but would have the ability to 'swarm' into battle if needed. The technology is based on systems created by Israel, though similar systems are in development by a range of other countries, including the US, Russia and China.


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AEye develops hybrid sensor that works like the human eye
 Dussan, AEye’s founder and CEO, has worked in electronics and optics labs at Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; he put a PhD in computational physics on hold to launch the startup. He initially planned to build AI to help vehicles drive themselves, but he soon found that sensors on the market couldn’t provide the data he wanted to use. “We realized we had to build our own hardware,” he explains. “So we did.”

Most autonomous cars use lidar sensors, which bounce laser beams off nearby objects, to create accurate 3-D maps of their surroundings. The best versions that are commercially available, made by market leader Velodyne, are mechanical, rapidly sweeping as many as 128 stacked laser beams in a full 360 degrees around a vehicle.

But even though they’re good, there are a couple of problems with those mechanical devices. First, they’re expensive (see “Lidar Just Got Way Better—But It’s Still Too Expensive for Your Car”). Second, they don’t offer much flexibility, because the lasers point out at predetermined angles. That means a car might capture a very detailed view of the sky as it crests a hill, say, or look too far off into the distance during low-speed city driving—and there’s no way to change it.

AEye

The leading alternative, solid-state lidar, uses electronics to quickly steer a laser beam back and forth to achieve the same effect as mechanical devices. Many companies have seized on the technology because they can be made cheaply. But the resulting sensors, which are on offer for as little as $100, scan a regular, unvarying rectangular grid and don’t offer the standard of data required for driving at highway speeds (see “Low-Quality Lidar Will Keep Self-Driving Cars in the Slow Lane”).

AEye wants to use solid-state devices a little differently, programming them to spit out laser beams in focused areas instead of a regular grid. The firm isn’t revealing detailed specifications on how accurately it can steer the beam yet, but it does say it should be able to see as far as 300 meters with an angular resolution as small as 0.1 degrees. That’s as good as market-leading mechanical devices.

AEye’s setup doesn’t scan a whole scene in such high levels of detail all the time, though: it will scan certain areas at lower resolution, and other areas at higher resolution, depending on the priority of the car's control software.

Still, the fact that it can be reprogrammed at will makes that a useful feature. “You can trade resolution, scene revisit rate, and range at any point in time,” Dussan says. “The same sensor can adapt.” On the freeway its view could be focused primarily on the lane ahead, like a human eye, gathering fewer data points in the periphery of the image. On city streets, it could cover the entire field of view equally, but randomly shift where the points are acquired to minimize the chances of missing an obstacle.

The device can also use data from its camera in some neat ways. First, it can add color to raw lidar images. That’s a bit different from the way most autonomous cars process lidar, sending it to a central computer to be fused with data from other sensors. Such rapid processing is useful for quickly spotting things where color is important—like brake lights.

Output: San Francisco start-up AEye has developed an adaptive imaging hybrid sensor for self-driving cars. According to CEO Luis Dussan, AEye's combination of a low-light camera, solid-state lidar and embedded artificial-intelligence algorithms can scan areas in low and high resolution, and add colour to pick out important objects. However, the system is restricted to a 70-degree field of vision, making it expensive to ensure 360-degree coverage on a single car. AEye said it is testing the sensors in automated taxis with "one of the largest vehicle manufacturer OEMs on the planet".


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Redrow Redrow announces net gain approach to enhance biodiversity
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Redrow has been trialling ways to enhance biodiversity across select developments, with an aim in place to improve the ecological value of an area after project construction has been completed. Following successful trials at Caddington Woods in Bedfordshire and Saxon Brook in Exeter, the housebuilder has agreed to expand the initiative across all new developments.

“At Redrow we don’t just build homes, we strive to foster thriving communities, and promoting natural habitats and wildlife in an accessible way for residents is an integral part of this,” Redrow’s sustainability manager Nicola Johansen said.

“We have established important partnerships and initiatives in recent years relating to site ecology and wildlife. In order to entrench the importance of biodiversity across the business we are now taking the step of measuring biodiversity on our developments, to ensure we are having a positive impact and can make improvements where necessary.”

Redrow becomes one of the first UK housebuilders to attempt to achieve a net biodiversity gain across all developments, including homes, amenities and green spaces.

The company worked with the RSPB at Caddington Woods to transform the former 6,000-space car park to improve surrounding woodland areas. At Saxon Brook, Redrow has partnered with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust to create pollinator-friendly habitats. Redrow is also building 950 homes at Ebbsfleet Garden City, the largest Healthy New Town Programme pilot.

In 2015, Redrow was the first housebuilder to be awarded WWF’s Three Trees status for sustainable timber use. The housebuilder has been awarded the status again this year, as part of a second assessment period.

New approaches

There are ongoing calls for the construction sector to champion approaches to biodiversity and natural capital. The concept of natural capital seeks to integrate ecosystem-oriented management with economic decision-making and development and some think tanks believe that it can be combined with conservation approaches to align business actions and environmental protection.

There are also specific cases of this type of approach leading to economic benefits. AECOM and National Grid found that an estimated £9,000 of natural capital improvements could be made per hectare on the land they assessed, driving a benefit-to-cost ratio of 8:1 over 30 years.

Redrow’s announcement arrives at an interesting time for UK housebuilders. Last week, NextGeneration, which benchmarks the sustainability performance of the UK’s largest homebuilders, awarded Lendlease the top spot in its sustainability index. Redrow was ranked third in the report.

At a national level, the Clean Growth Strategy confirmed that all fuel-poor homes will be upgraded to EPC band C by 2030, while a sector deal with the construction industry following the new Industrial Strategy saw the industry pledge to halve emissions in the built environment by 2025.

Matt Mace

Output: Housing developer Redrow has announced a new initiative to enhance biodiversity and improve the ecological value of its sites. The new "net gain" approach has been trialled at developments in Exeter and Bedfordshire, and will now be rolled out to all new projects. It means the company will aim to achieve a net biodiversity gain across all its developments, making it the first housebuilder in the UK to do so. Projects completed so far include the conversion of a 6,000-space car park into woodland at one site, and the creation of pollinator-friendly habitats at another.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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People warned not to put homes at risk to buy into bitcoin mania
 UBS Wealth Management is not a believer in bitcoin becoming a legitimate currency even as the launch of futures lead some investors to believe the cryptocurrency will become a more stable market.

"The bubble to end all bubbles continues. Cryptocurrencies only have value if accepted as currencies. However, they cannot be used for the most important transaction in an economy, and cryptocurrency supply can only rise and never fall (making them a poor store of value)," global chief economist Paul Donovan wrote in a post Monday. "To date, using cryptocurrencies requires (effectively) a simultaneous asset sale and purchase of goods or services."

The economist said in an October report that bitcoin's extreme price volatility detracted from its ability to be a "store of value," which is an essential feature of being a currency.

"A twenty-fold increase in bitcoin prices in just two years, and an absence of any fundamental economic backing, cryptocurrency prices are almost certainly a bubble," he wrote in that report.

Output: People are taking out mortgages and using credit cards to buy bitcoin, according to Joseph Borg, a securities regulator. He warned people buying into bitcoin "you're on this mania curve. At some point there's got to be a levelling off. This is not something a guy who's making $100,000 a year, who's got a mortgage and two kids in college ought to be invested in." The chief economist of UBS Wealth Management, Paul Donovan, is also sceptical of bitcoin as a currency despite the launch of futures, saying, "the bubble to end all bubbles continues".


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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People warned not to put homes at risk to buy into bitcoin mania
 Bitcoin is in the "mania" phase, with some people even borrowing money to get in on the action, securities regulator Joseph Borg told CNBC on Monday.

"We've seen mortgages being taken out to buy bitcoin. … People do credit cards, equity lines," said Borg, president of the North American Securities Administrators Association, a voluntary organization devoted to investor protection. Borg is also director of the Alabama Securities Commission.

"This is not something a guy who's making $100,000 a year, who's got a mortgage and two kids in college ought to be invested in."

Bitcoin has been soaring all year, starting out at $1,000 and rocketing above $19,000 on the Coinbase exchange last week. The price on Coinbase, which accounts for a third of bitcoin trading value, is often at a premium over other exchanges.

The cryptocurrency was trading at just under $16,700 on Coinbase at 2:21 p.m. New York time Monday.

"You're on this mania curve. At some point in time there's got to be a leveling off. Cryptocurrency is here to stay. Blockchain is here to stay. Whether it is bitcoin or not, I don't know," Borg said in an interview with "Power Lunch."

He also doesn't think futures contracts legitimize the digital currency.

Bitcoin futures , trading under the XBT ticker symbol, debuted on the Cboe futures exchange on Sunday night. The CME plans to launch its bitcoin futures Dec. 18.

While futures contracts are regulated, bitcoin itself is not. Borg said that's because innovation and technology always outrun regulation.

"As [technology] continues to accelerate and continues to increase, regulators have got to understand what it is that the innovation's coming up with and we're still trying to get educated," he said.

"We're looking at it from a money transmission point of view but that doesn't cover the entire bitcoin space."

Disclaimer

Output: People are taking out mortgages and using credit cards to buy bitcoin, according to Joseph Borg, a securities regulator. He warned people buying into bitcoin "you're on this mania curve. At some point there's got to be a levelling off. This is not something a guy who's making $100,000 a year, who's got a mortgage and two kids in college ought to be invested in." The chief economist of UBS Wealth Management, Paul Donovan, is also sceptical of bitcoin as a currency despite the launch of futures, saying, "the bubble to end all bubbles continues".


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PolicyCastle ties up with Cocoon home security to offer discount
 PolicyCastle now offers a market-leading 15% home insurance discount to Cocoon home security customers who use the AI-powered smart home security device to protect their home

Cocoon, the Aviva-backed smart home security system, has announced a deal with PolicyCastle, the innovative digital home insurance platform, giving people buying home insurance through PolicyCastle a 15% discount when protecting their home with the connected security system.

Cocoon’s partnership with PolicyCastle bolsters people’s security across the UK with this new market-leading home insurance deal, providing home protection in the lead up to Christmas when potential intruders take advantage of the dark nights and high-value presents.

PolicyCastle’s transparent online service helps UK customers make informed choices when buying home insurance, and perfectly aligns with Cocoon’s mission to help people feel safe at home. UK homeowners can now benefit from the home insurance offer when buying a policy with PolicyCastle for properties protected by a Cocoon smart home security system.

Sanjay Parekh, Cocoon CEO said: “We’re delighted to partner with PolicyCastle, the innovative digital home insurance platform, giving UK homeowners using Cocoon to protect their homes and loved ones a genuinely

market-leading discount on their home insurance policy. The connected home has gone through a technological evolution, having mostly failed to deliver much real-world benefits to customers, but just as smart thermostats have saved customers hard-earned cash, Cocoon partnering with PolicyCastle gives UK homeowners security and real year-on-year cost savings at a time when household incomes are being squeezed. We call that a win for the customer.

We see innovation, whether through technology or commercial partnerships, as the most effective way to improve the lives of our customers. Working together with PolicyCastle and other innovative insurance partners is just one way to kickstart change in the home insurance industry and force larger, established brands to improve their offerings to UK customers. The cost of protecting the home and loved ones is priceless, and here at Cocoon we truly believe that our smart security system will be at the centre of that change”.

Edmund Dilger, PolicyCastle CEO said: “We are excited to partner with Cocoon to offer a home insurance discount to their customers. Smart home devices have the opportunity to revolutionise the way we maintain and protect our homes and we are delighted to support customers who are using them. PolicyCastle is creating the first database relating different smart home devices, perils and claims, and will work with insurers to provide tailored home insurance policies for customers based on the data. We are delighted to work with Cocoon and other smart home technology businesses as we innovate on behalf of customers.”

Cocoon is changing the way we all secure our homes, with a unique AI-powered all-in-one home security system that uses sound-detection to protect more of the home than any other security device. Simple to setup and use, keeping people connected to their home via an app, Cocoon’s Subsound® technology, offers multi-room protection through infrasound motion detection. A hassle-free way to protect what you care about most.

Output: UK online home insurance provider PolicyCastle is offering a discount to customers who make use of the monitoring system developed by smart home security firm Cocoon. Policyholders receive a 15% discount when purchasing policies through the online platform while also making use of Cocoon's home security system. Cocoon is backed by UK insurer Aviva.


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Vietnam hit by rare billion-dollar economic catastrophe losses
 Typhoon Damrey made landfall in Vietnam during November as a Category 2 strength storm, bringing estimated economic damages of VND22.1 trillion (US$1.0 billion) – a rare billion-dollar event for the country, according to Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model development team.

This year marks the first time since 1993 in which Vietnam has had a season with a Category 2 storm (Damrey) and Category 3 storm (Doksuri) making landfall, said Impact Forecasting’s November 2017 Global Catastrophe Recap.

Damrey killed at least 108 people, injured 364, while 12 people were listed as missing as a result of the storm, which destroyed more than 3,560 homes and caused damage to an estimated 300,000 additional homes, said the report.

“The month of November featured an active stretch throughout parts of Asia. Vietnam endured its second significant typhoon landfall of 2017 after Typhoon Damrey left an estimated US$1.0 billion in economic damage, primarily due to flooding,” said Adam Podlaha, global head of Impact Forecasting. [Editor’s note: economic damage is uninsured damage].

“Additional floods were noted elsewhere in Asia with the return of the annual northeast monsoon, with particular impacts in sections of Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia and Thailand,” he added. “Despite the expensive nature of these events, insurance penetration remains low in this part of the world and signifies the continued financial vulnerabilities of an at-risk population to natural disasters.”

Further natural hazard events to have occurred elsewhere during November include:

A major magnitude-7.3 earthquake struck northeastern Iraq, killing at least 543 people and injuring almost 10,000 others. At least 40,000 structures collapsed, primarily in rural areas with poor construction. Damage in Iran alone was estimated at up to IRR26 trillion (US$740 million). Local insurers cited that roughly 3 percent of residents in the affected region have insurance.

South Korea endured its joint strongest earthquake on record when a moderate magnitude-5.4 tremor struck Gyeongsangbuk-do province on November 15, injuring at least 57 people. The tremor caused damage to more than 1,000 homes and infrastructure.

Separate tremors also struck Tibet and China, causing damage to a combined 12,000 structures.

Powerful thunderstorms left widespread damage across parts of the United States in the Midwest and Northeast. The greatest impacts resulted from tornado touchdowns, hail larger than the size of baseballs, and damaging straight-line winds. Some of the hardest-hit areas came in the states of Missouri, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Total economic losses were estimated around US$275 million. Public and private insurers cited payouts nearing US$200 million.

A strong storm system in the Mediterranean Sea led to outbreaks of powerful thunderstorms in parts of Greece, Turkey and Italy. At least 17 fatalities were reported, along with considerable damage to homes, businesses and vehicles. The deadliest episode occurred in western Attika region of central Greece.

Seasonal flooding associated with the northeast monsoon led to flood damage in at least nine provinces in southern Thailand. At least five people were killed and 161,266 homes were inundated.

Flooding rains from Cyclone Cempaka killed 11 people in Indonesia.

Additional flooding in November was recorded in Sri Lanka, Norway and India.

Mount Agung began erupting on Indonesia’s Bali Island, leading to the cancellation of hundreds of flights and prompting massive evacuations due to plumes of ash.

Source: Aon Benfield/Impact Forecasting

Topics Catastrophe USA Profit Loss Flood Aon

Output: Major storms over Vietnam caused an unprecedented VND22.1tn ($1bn) of damage to the economy last month, according to insurer Aon Benfield. Much of the costs will be absorbed by the country as "insurance penetration remains low in this part of the world", warned Adam Podlaha, global head of Impact Forecasting. The catastrophe losses illustrate the financial vulnerabilities of "an at-risk population", he added.


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Ageing insurance agents main factor in protection gap: Swiss Re
 Despite steady growth in annual underwritten premiums, the number of issued life insurance policies continues to decline across the industry hinting at a protection gap, according to Chris Behling, head of strategic partnerships and alliances at Swiss Re.

That void is currently at $20 trillion, Behling told a room of carriers, venture capitalists and insurtech startups at American Family Ventures’ InsurTech NYC event, organized in partnership with Montoux.

While acknowledging the existence of external factors as contributors to consumer underinsured levels, Behling believes a big factor within the industry is the average agent of insurance agents, currently at 59 and a half. Most are not selling online, he says, and still rely heavily on in-person pitches and paper work.

“No one wants to have an agent show up at their door or have to get in a car and drive to an office,” Behling says.

Also see: How Swiss Re tackles underinsurance with analytics

Swiss Re looks at life insurance innovation in three segments: Engage, transact and retain. This isn’t necessarily accomplished by going direct to consumer, according to the insurer. As it stands, only two percent of the life insurance market follows this model.

“I’ve heard lots of pitches on how to do it, but no ideas on how to engage,” Behling added, noting that the real answer to carriers’ troubles does not lie in a fancy new website, but in the value customers receive in exchange for data.

At Swiss Re, that benefit can be found in policyholders learning their mortality age compared to actual age through gamification. Developing products that grow with the customer from early days when a child’s college tuition is a concern up until retirement is yet another value proposition.

“Think of the data you will give someone if you get something else in return,” Behling concluded. “How do we take information and give customers back real value?”

Output: A decline in issued life insurance policies has suggested a coverage gap is emerging that could be worth as much as $20tn, according to Chris Behling, the head of strategic partnerships and alliances at Swiss Re. He pointed out that the average age of a life insurance agent is 59 and most agents don't serve clients online, relying instead on face-to-face interactions backed up by paperwork. Behling added that for businesses to move to digital distribution they need to do more than simply refresh their websites. Clients should feel they receive value back through exchanging data with insurers, he noted.


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TalkTalk Openreach drones help bring broadband to Welsh village
 Thursday, Nov 30th, 2017 (9:00 am) - Score 6,117

Sometimes getting fibre optic cable from one point to another over difficult terrain (rivers, unstable rocks etc.) can be tricky, which is partly why Openreach (BT) has today become one of the first in the world to use an aerial drone to help deploy the cable for a new FTTP network in the village of Pontfadog.

The development itself shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, not least because Openreach has previously hinted about their plans to test such an approach and BT’s mobile sibling (EE) also appears to have gained plenty of experience in the field by using similar technology to deploy 4G mobile connectivity (details). Nevertheless using a drone to carry optical fibre cables is a very different challenge.

In this example the target for Openreach’s first public test was the small rural village of Pontfadog in the rugged Ceiriog Valley (Wrexham, North Wales), which until recently would have struggled to get much more than a handful of Megabits (ADSL MAX) out of the local Glyn Ceiriog exchange.

The good news is that a new 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based “ultrafast broadband” network has now been rolled out to almost the whole village on the valley floor. Sadly around 20 premises sat further up one side of the valley (described locally as the “dark side” of the village), which made them tricky to reach.

In other words, digging trenches and erecting roadside cabinets wasn’t an option. Wireless and Satellite solutions were also been ruled out, although it’s unclear why (Openreach don’t appear to build those, so that may be the main reason).

At least they were tricky, until a group of Openreach’s engineers used a portable drone to land cabling on the isolated group of homes.

The deployment itself took place as part of the state aid support Superfast Cymru programme, which aims to make “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) services available to around 95% of Wales (currently around 92% of premises can already order “superfast” speeds of 24Mbps+). Many of those that are left to finish off under the current contract will use FTTP instead of slower hybrid fibre FTTC (VDSL2) connections.

We should point out that the Welsh Government are currently consulting on a plan to extend this roll-out so that “fast reliable broadband” (defined as 30Mbps+) can reach “every property” in Wales by 2020 (here).

Andy Whale, Openreach’s Chief Engineer, said: “It’s a bit different to connecting an apartment block in London, that’s for sure. We managed to connect up virtually the whole village in the valley floor, but getting to this group of 20 houses up one side of the valley was a bit trickier. There’s a particularly steep drop-off from these houses back down the valley, and it’s covered in dense trees and scrubland. We also had the river running along the bottom to contend with, so dragging a cable and digging it in wasn’t really an option. If we tried running the cable through woods it was also very likely we’d get it caught up in branches and other natural obstructions, so we figured the best option was to fly it in over the top of the tree canopy and then lift it up to make sure it was clear of the tree line. Had we tried to lay the cable using standard methods, even if it were possible, this process would have taken days, but in the event it took us less than an hour. We’re constantly trialing new techniques and technologies to help us take fibre broadband further and faster, and importantly to drive delivery costs down. All this means we can now deliver high-speed broadband in situations where traditionally it’s been impossible for any business or partnership to justify the work.”

At this point any buddying drone enthusiast will point out that the kit being used by Openreach is too small to lift all that cable over any kind of distance and you’d be right. Instead the drone was hooked up to a length of high strength fishing line, which was then flown around 100 meters and dropped across the top of the trees. That line was attached to a draw-rope – itself attached to a fibre cable – and the cable was then pulled over.

Openreach said they were “not aware of this technique being used anywhere in the world to deliver fixed line broadband in such a situation,” although the basic idea of using drones to carry new cabling is not a new one (e.g. they’ve already been used to help connect cables for new bridges).

The operator is now likely to conduct further trials and after that they will considers “plans to equip and train selected engineers to pilot drones in engineering teams across the UK.”

UPDATE 11:04am

For any drone enthusiasts out there, Openreach are using the DJI Mavic Pro (costs around £800-£1000). The flyer weighs 750g and has a flight time of 27 minutes per battery, with a max payload of 1.5lbs, plus collision avoidance sensors to help dodge the heads of local engineering teams and a 4K stabilised motorised camera.

Openreach also used a custom 3D printed release mechanism for the cable.

Output: Telecoms company Openreach has become the first in the world to use an aerial drone to help lay high-speed FTTP broadband cables. The drones helped carry the fibre-optic line to remote homes in Pontfadog, Wales, as part of the Superfast Cymru programme, a state-supported project designed to increase high-speed broadband availability to 95% of the country. The Welsh government is consulting on a plan to roll out connectivity to all homes by 2020. BT subsidiary EE has used drones to deliver 4G in rural areas.


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US authorities will not prosecute HSBC following lengthy saga
 HSBC has avoided the threat of prosecution in the US over allegations that its lax controls allowed Mexican drug traffickers to launder cash through the bank.

The risk of a prosecution has been hanging over Britain’s biggest bank for the past five years after it was forced to pay $1.9bn (£1.4bn) to the US authorities to settle claims it allowed “narcotics traffickers and others to launder hundreds of millions of dollars through HSBC subsidiaries and to facilitate hundreds of millions more in transactions with sanctioned countries”.

Five years to the day that the settlement was announced, HSBC said the US Department of Justice would file a motion in the district court in the eastern district of New York to dismiss the deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) that had been imposed on the bank at the time.

The bank said it had “lived up to all of its commitments”under the DPA and was pleased that the DoJ had recognised its progress in strengthening its compliance with anti-money laundering rules and sanctions rules.

The lifting of the DPA is a relief for the bank, its former chairman Douglas Flint and its outgoing chief executive, Stuart Gulliver. Under Gulliver HSBC has spent $1bn on efforts to clean up its business and bolster its compliance operations. Its shares rose almost 2% to 746p on Monday.

Under the DPA, the DoJ installed a monitor, American lawyer Michael Cherkasky, in the bank’s operations and he will remain in place until July 2018, exactly five years after he began his oversight of the bank’s operations.

At the same time the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority appointed Cherkasky in a similar role on its behalf and HSBC said he would “continue in that capacity for a period of time at the FCA’s discretion”.

When the DPA was announced, the US had described it as “sword of Damocles” hanging over HSBC. According to a report by the US Congress, the bank avoided criminal charges at the time because the then chancellor, George Osborne, had warned it could lead to a financial disaster if the bank lost its licence to operate in the US.

Gulliver – who is leaving HSBC in February after nearly four decades – said the bank was now able to combat financial crime more effectively than five years ago.

“We are committed to doing our part to protect the integrity of the global financial system, and further improvements to our own capability and contributions toward the partnerships we have established with governments in this area will remain a top priority for the Bank into 2018 and beyond,” said Gulliver, who is being replaced by insider John Flint.

The monitor’s role has been mentioned in HSBC’s annual reports – which spell out any risks facing the bank – and in February it admitted he had raised concerns that had sparked an FCA investigation into to potential breaches of money laundering rules.

In recent months, the Guardian reported that the monitor had also been informed about alleged ties between the wealthy Gupta family and the South African president, Jacob Zuma. Concerns were raised by former Labour cabinet minister Peter Hain, and HSBC said it had closed bank accounts held by “front companies” associated with the Guptas.

HSBC was subject to further scrutiny of its activities after the Guardian and other publications revealed in 2015 that the bank’s Swiss operations had helped wealthy customers dodge taxes and conceal millions of dollars of assets. This followed the leak of documents of 30,000 accounts that covering the period 2005-07.

Rival bank Standard Chartered was subject to a DPA at the same time as HSBC and last month admitted it was being extended for a second time to July 2018.

Ian Gordon, an analyst at financial firm Investec, said: “It is clearly a relief that the DPA has not been extended in contrast to Standard Chartered. It will also potentially lead to an annual monitor-related cost saving of £200m but not yet as the D0J monitor remains in place until July 2018 … and this could be extended by the FCA.”

Output: Shares in HSBC, the UK's biggest bank, rose by almost 2% after the US Department of Justice said it would file papers to dismiss a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) that had been suspended for five years. The DPA was imposed following allegations that HSBC's lax controls had allowed money laundering to take place. As part of the DPA, US lawyer Michael Cherkasky monitored HSBC's activities, and will continue to do so until July 2018, while outgoing CEO Stuart Gulliver said the progress made at the bank meant it could combat fraud more effectively than five years ago.


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Flo Technologies raises $11.5m, looks to reduce home water damage
 Flo Technologies has unveiled Flo, an intelligent home water monitoring and conservation system that promises to help reduce water damage insurance claims. The startup has raised a total of $11.5 million from investors led by Crosslink Capital with participation from Anthemis Group and an affiliate of insurer USAA.

The Flo product is a water monitoring and shut-off system that senses water pressure, flow rate and temperature and uses artificial intelligence to learn homeowners’ water usage patterns. Flo proactively detects vulnerabilities or the tiniest leaks in a home and automatically shuts off the water supply in response to a pipe burst or other catastrophic event.

The product is the brainchild of Henry Halimi, a mechanical engineer with 25 years of experience who developed his invention over the last 10 years.

According to ISO/Verisk about one in 50 insured homes has a property damage claim caused by water damage or freezing each year. These claims cost insurers about $9 billion a year. The average water damage claim costs about $8,860.

How Flo Works

Flo is a Wi-Fi connected device that is installed on the main water supply line to the home and includes as an app that provides control over a range of conservation and security settings. Its makers say Flo is sensitive enough to detect “micro-leaks as small as a single drop of water a minute, and intelligently learns a home’s water usage pattern,” which helps avoid catastrophic failures.

Flo is a system-wide service than can detect both visible leaks (such as running toilets that could waste over 3,000 gallons of water a day) and invisible leaks (like drips behind walls or under floors).

Flo does not detect water coming in from outside the home as in the case of leak in a roof.

Its temperature sensors provide early warnings when pipes are about to freeze.

Using the app, users can control how the system will alert them and respond to potential issues.

Flo, which will sell at retail for $699 starting in the first quarter of 2018, is being made available at a discounted rate of $399 for those willing to participate in an early adopter program and allow their experience to help the company refine its product.

Related:

Topics InsurTech

Output: Home monitoring system Flo Technologies has raised $11.5m in a financing round including from an affiliate of insurer USAA. The firm has introduced a home water monitoring system called Flo which can track water pressure and temperature along with water usage patterns. Flo aims to proactively detect faults in a home's water supply and can shut it off in the event of a significant vulnerability. The system will retail at $699, but is available for $399 if customers sign up for an early-adopter programme.


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Financial crisis starting in China twice as likely: Deutsche Bank
 Deutsche Bank argues that China is almost twice as likely as any other major economy to experience a financial crisis in the coming years.

The bank points to the country's notoriously high levels of debt as the reason for this.

Chief economist for Asia Pacific Michael Spencer does note however, that the risks are low compared to "some countries prior to the peripheral European debt crisis or the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s."

LONDON – The probability of a financial crisis starting in China is almost twice as high as in any other major global economy, according to new research from analysts at Deutsche Bank.

Writing in a note titled "How much risk in China?" — Deutsche Bank's chief economist for the Asia Pacific region, Dr Michael Spencer, warned that the probability of a crisis in the world's second largest economy was as much as 13%.

That, Spencer said, is "nearly twice the probability of a crisis in the next riskiest country and nearly three times the probability of a crisis in any random country at any random point in time."

Like the majority of discussions around a potential financial crisis in China, Deutsche Bank's concerns centre around the huge levels of indebtedness in the country, which have soared in conjunction with the rapid expansion of the Chinese economy in the last few decades.

"Since 2008, the level of debt owed by Chinese non-financial corporations, households and governments has risen by more than 100% of GDP. As the debt burden has grown, so has concern about financial stability," Spencer wrote.

"The stock of debt owed by all non-financial borrowers rose by 36% of GDP in 2009 alone. An easy monetary policy stance since 2013 has seen indebtedness rise steadily, with total nonfinancial sector borrowing reaching 255% of GDP at the end of last year. And with each step higher in the credit/GDP ratio, investor concerns have risen," he continued.

Now, China may be the major economy at the greatest threat of a financial crisis, but Spencer noted that the likelihood of a crisis "is well below the probabilities calculated for some countries prior to the peripheral European debt crisis or the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s."

Deutsche Bank

That's largely down to the significant current account surplus China's government continues to run, which provides a large amount of protection against any crisis.

"The current account surplus does, according to our estimates, play an important role in reducing the risk of a crisis in China," Spencer wrote.

"Had the current account been a deficit of 2% of GDP last year rather than a surplus of nearly 2%, the probability of a crisis would have been 7% higher."

While he is relatively sanguine about China, Spencer's warnings do echo the thoughts of the International Monetary Fund, which has warned on numerous occassions about the threats China's ballooning debt poses not only to its own economy, but also the global financial system.

Last week, for example, an IMF report warned of the global financial stability risks created by the situation in China right now.

The report, released after the fund's annual fact-finding mission to the world's second largest economy, noted that while China's political classes have taken steps to try and prevent debt levels getting out of control and improve overall financial stability in recent years, more still must be done.

"The system’s increasing complexity has sown financial stability risks," the IMF’s assessment said.

"Credit growth has outpaced GDP growth, leading to a large credit overhang. The credit-to-GDP ratio is now about 25% above the long-term trend, very high by international standards and consistent with a high probability of financial distress.

Output: A significant financial crisis beginning in China is almost twice as likely to happen than in any other major global economy, say analysts at Deutsche Bank. The banks chief economist Dr Michael Spencer adds that the probability is as much as 13%, due to concerns over China's huge debt levels which have surged, and coincided with the rapid expansion of the country's economy: "Since 2008, the level of debt owed by Chinese non-financial corporations, households and governments has risen by more than 100% of GDP. As the debt burden has grown, so has concern about financial stability," says Spencer.


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UK inflation rises to 3.1% as wage growth remains muted
 2. Things you need to know about this release

The Bank of England were granted exceptional pre-release access to an estimate of the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) at 9.00am on Monday, 11 December 2017 so that the data were available for the Monetary Policy Committee meeting held on that day. Correspondence with the Bank of England is available.

On Tuesday, 19 December we will be publishing our first set of preliminary estimates of the Household Costs Indices (HCIs). The HCIs are a set of experimental measures, currently in development, that aim to reflect UK households’ experience of changing prices and costs. Estimates will be produced for retired and non-retired households, low- and high-income households, and households with and without children.

The National Statistics status of the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) was reinstated on 31 July 2017. A letter 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 with preliminary estimates published for the first time on 19 December) 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 (2013) 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 14 November 2017.

Output: UK inflation measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose to an almost six-year high of 3.1% in November, up from 3% in October, the Office for National Statistics said. The Bank of England Governor is obliged to write a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer explaining any rise above 3% and outlining how it plans to return the rate to 2%. The most recent data shows that average weekly wages are growing at just 2.2%. Richard Lim, chief executive at Retail Economics said the rise in inflation had come "at precisely the wrong time for retailers".


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Chinese tourists spend record $7.75bn in Australia
 Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-12 15:28:02|Editor: Yurou

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CANBERRA, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Spending by Chinese tourists in Australia has hit an all-time high, a major tourism study said on Tuesday.

The International Visitor Survey (IVS) revealed that Chinese tourists spent 7.75 billion U.S. dollars in Australia in the 12 months to the end of September 2017.

China was the second biggest source of international visitors to Australia with 1.33 million people, trailing only New Zealand with 1.35 million.

In total, more than eight million tourists visited Australia in the 12-month period, staying a total of 268 million nights in the country and spending a record 31 billion U.S. dollars.

Steve Ciobo, Australia's Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, said that much of the growth in Australia's tourism sector was being driven by visitors from Asia, including China, India and other countries and regions.

"The Turnbull Coalition Government is working to maximise the potential of China -- Australia's fastest growing and most valuable inbound tourism market -- to create new Australian jobs," Ciobo said.

Chinese and Australian officials announced that 2017 is the China-Australia Year of Tourism. An open capacity aviation agreement between Australia and China and significant visa reform have contributed to the 13 percent growth in spend by Chinese visitors. Eight new aviation routes between the two countries are expected to be opened within the next 12 months.

"Another market that has seen consistent growth is the United States, with visitors and spending both growing by 40 percent over the last three years," Ciobo said.

"Youth travellers to Australia are also growing strongly with a 10 percent increase in spend in the year ending September 2017," he added.

New South Wales benefited most from international tourism with 7.85 billion U.S. dollars spent in the state, a 12 percent increase on the previous year.

Output: Spending by Chinese visitors in Australia reached a record $7.75bn in the 12 months to the end of September, according to the latest International Visitor Survey by Tourism Research Australia. China was the second-largest source of overseas visitors to Australia at 1.33 million, behind New Zealand's 1.35 million. Australia's Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Steve Ciobo said growth in Australian tourism was being driven by visitors from Asian countries.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Meat giant Tyson beefs up stake in vegan burger maker Beyond Meat
 America’s biggest meat producer, Tyson Foods, increased its stake in Beyond Meat, a maker of plant-based protein food products, during the startups most recent round of fundraising, the Springdale, AR company announced in a Dec. 7 press release.

“Global demand for all protein remains high and we’re passionate about meeting that demand sustainably,” Justin Whitmore, executive vice president of corporate strategy and chief sustainability officer at Tyson, said in a statement. “Our investment in Beyond Meat provides another fantastic alternative for consumers as we strive to sustainably feed the world.”

In October 2016, Tyson acquired a 5% stake in Beyond Meat, pledging to assist the plant-based protein maker in expanding its product offerings and distribution, Powder & Bulk Solids reported. Charles “Chuck” J. Muth, a former Coca-Cola executive was appointed as the new Chief Growth Officer of Beyond Meat in May 2017.

Tyson’s most recent investment “slightly increases” its stake beyond the initial 5%, the release said. Beyond Meat’s latest round of investments will be used to boost production, support the firm’s R&D efforts, and further sales and distribution. The faux meat maker raised $55 million in this latest round, the Wall Street Journal’s coverage said.

“This investment reinforces our focus on protein and enables us to support Beyond Meat’s efforts to produce new, leading edge products. What we’re most excited about is that we can do all of this while continuing to provide the great tasting, high quality food that is the hallmark of our company,” said Whitmore.

For more news headlines, articles, and equipment reviews, visit our Equipment Zones

Output: Vegan food start-up Beyond Meat raised $55m in its latest funding round, as America's largest meat producer Tyson Food increased its stake in the company. "Our investment in Beyond Meat provides another fantastic alternative for consumers as we strive to sustainably feed the world," said Tyson's Justin Whitmore. Beyond Meat has formed partnerships with major grocers including Safeway, Kroger and Sysco over the past year and from January TGI Fridays will serve its meatless burgers. As we highlighted this week, the Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return Initiative believes meat will be taxed within the decade.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Bitcoin ban in China sees local crypto surge 80-fold in 40 days
 China’s cryptocurrency enthusiasts have been left out of bitcoin’s historic rally in recent months, thanks to the Chinese government banning initial coin offerings in September and then shutting down all major domestic exchanges. But it didn’t take long for them to find something new to pour their money into.

That turned out to be OneCoin, designed by Chinese tech company Xunlei. Since its launch in mid-October, OneCoin’s value has jumped dramatically in secondary markets—at one point more than 80-fold, according to numerous reports (link in Chinese). That’s despite OneCoin not being available for trade in any major marketplace. Its crazy ride has helped Xunlei become the best-performing stock on Nasdaq for most of the past two months.

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Xunlei’s share price plunged in recent days after OneCoin drew public scrutiny. That came after a disenchanted business partner accused OneCoin of being an initial coin offering—a hard-to-regulate way to raise funds based on an offering of cryptocurrency rather than shares.

Will Beijing eventually intervene to ban OneCoin? How long can the OneCoin frenzy last? These are among the key questions now being pondered by cryptocurrency fans and speculative investors alike.

What the heck is OneCoin?

Let’s first talk about Xunlei for a bit. Founded in 2003, the Shenzhen-based company started out as a torrent downloader, a sort of Chinese answer to Pirate Bay. Later Xunlei transformed itself into a video-streaming platform with mostly licensed content, even as peer-to-peer downloading remained a key offering. In 2014, Xunlei went public on Nasdaq, after a first attempt failed due partly to concerns over the pirated materials on its platforms. In late August, the company announced that it would become a blockchain company—a big shift in its business strategy. It also released a blockchain-based hardware product called OneCloud.

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In essence, OneCloud is a network-attached storage device that lets multiple users share online storage remotely. On top of that, it’s a “mining machine” that allows users to share their idle bandwidth with Xunlei’s content delivery networks (CDNs)—and earn some OneCoin as a reward.

OneCoin, also known as Wankebi, can then be used to purchase value-added services provided by Xunlei—for example, extra storage on its cloud service, or faster download speeds for its torrent downloader software.

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OneCoin is designed in a similar way to bitcoin. Currently, there are over 1.6 million OneCoin up for grabs every 24 hours. The reward will cut in half annually, and OneCoin’s total number will be capped at around 1.5 billion.

Xunlei hasn’t published the code for OneCoin, whereas major cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum are open-sourced. The company runs a wallet app for OneCoin that supports peer-to-peer transactions but not centralized exchange services. As shown by the app’s installation files, OneCoin runs on a private blockchain based on the ethereum network, according to Xiao Lei, a Beijing-based bitcoin analyst.

Xunlei didn’t reply to a request for comment for this story.

What’s the hype about OneCoin?

Xunlei has said that OneCoin miners should be focused on the idea of shared computing rather than making money on speculation. But apparently people are flocking to OneCoin for the wrong reason, as far as its creator is concerned.

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According to a report from the Beijing News (link in Chinese), by the end of last month OneCoin traded at around 8 yuan ($1.21) in numerous chat groups on QQ, a popular social network. That means it had increased in value more than 80-fold in 40 days since its launch. What’s more, the OneCloud device—that storage-cum-mining tool—was reportedly being sold online for around 2,000 yuan by enterprising types, more than five times its original price tag. Meanwhile over 24 million people have pre-ordered the device on the website of Xunlei, which has struggled to meet demand.

The rally of both Xunlei’s shares and OneCoin’s price halted at the end of last month, after Xunlei fell into a dispute with a partner called Shenzhen Xunlei Big Data Information Services Company, which runs online services selling wealth-management products. Xunlei had originally given Big Data the right to use Xunlei branding (unrelated to OneCoin) for its data and financial services, but it later retracted that, saying the arrangement wasn’t fair. In retaliation, Big Data accused Xunlei of conducting an illegal ICO through the OneCoin project—an allegation Xunlei denied. Later, the two sides issued a joint statement saying they had settled their “misunderstanding” and reached new partnership deals, without offering more details.

During the dispute, state broadcaster CCTV aired a short segment (link in Chinese) endorsing the technology innovation behind OneCoin. State-backed financial experts interviewed by the program dismissed the idea that OneCoin is an ICO, noting Xunlei didn’t raise a penny through the project.

So will OneCoin be banned?

OneCoin seems to be on path to having a legal status similar to that of bitcoin in China. Bitcoin itself is legal in the country, but trading it is largely restricted.

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Over the weekend, Xunlei announced that (link in Chinese) it has renamed OneCoin “Lianke” and the OneCoin wallet app to “Lianke Pocket.” The company now requires all users of the new wallet app to register with their real names by Dec. 14; otherwise, they’ll be unable to use the app’s transaction function. Last but not least, Xunlei said it would work with authorities to crack down on illegal trading platforms for Lianke.

In the wake of Xunlei’s announcement, OneCoin’s price plummeted in intraday trading to 4.3 yuan today (Dec. 11) on buywkb.com, a small cryptocurrency trading venue based in Hong Kong.

Xiao, the bitcoin analyst, said OneCoin has put Xunlei in a “very awkward position.” For one thing, he explained, OneCoin’s limited supply makes it highly speculative by nature, whether Xunlei likes it or not. Although Xunlei didn’t raise money through OneCoin, he noted, if OneCoin trading becomes popular on third-party exchanges, then the company essentially launched a securitized asset without government approval. “It’s playing around in the gray area,” he said.

Output: With China left out of the bitcoin surge due to Beijing's ban in September on initial coin offerings, its cryptocurrency enthusiasts have turned to OneCoin, designed by Chinese tech firm Xunlei. Its value surged more than 80-fold within 40 days of launch despite not being traded on any major exchange, according to reports. OneCoin has been the best-performing stock on Nasdaq over much of the past eight weeks. It remains to be seen how long the cryptocurrency's rally lasts and whether the Chinese government will ban it.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
EU commits $10bn to fighting climate change at Paris summit
 The European commission has announced funding of €9bn (£8bn) for action on climate change, one of a flurry of measures from governments, businesses and investors aimed at achieving the goals of the 2015 Paris agreement.

The EU funds will form part of the bloc’s External Investment Plan, and will be focused on sustainable cities, clean energy and sustainable agriculture. The announcement was made at the One Planet Summit in Paris on Tuesday, held to mark the second anniversary of the landmark 2015 pact.

French president Emmanuel Macron hailed the progress made at the event and said it was possible to create alternatives to the fossil-fuel driven economy, but that more effort was needed globally.

Miguel Arias Cañete, commissioner for climate action and energy for the EU, said the Paris agreement was already resulting in more investment flowing to moves to combat global warming. He said: “These kinds of investments are of critical importance if we are to move from aspirations to action. The EU’s plan will scale up much-needed investments across Africa and the EU neighbourhood region.”

He said new jobs would be created, and the knock-on effects would include poverty reduction, improved health and better access to technology in poorer regions.

Neven Mimica, commissioner for international cooperation and development, added that the aims included supporting the digitalisation of small and medium-sized companies, essential for sustainable development and reducing poverty.

The EU and its member states are the world’s biggest providers of climate finance, with a total of more than €20bn provided to developing countries last year.

Other measures unveiled at the conference included large companies, such as the French insurer Axa and the ING bank, partially divesting from fossil fuels, and local governments from across the world signing up to improved goals on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Theresa May, the UK prime minister, said developed countries had a responsibility to help the world’s poor adapt to the expected ravages of climate change, and pledged £140m to poor countries to help them do so.

However, the Liberal Democrats attacked her participation, arguing that the government had failed to put the UK on track to achieve its goals on emissions reduction, for instance by withdrawing support for clean energy and selling off the Green Investment Bank, a move which was criticised by the government watchdog. Lynne Featherstone, the Lib Dem spokeswoman on energy and climate, said: “I don’t know how Theresa May has the front to show her face [at the international conference]. Her record on the environment is a disgrace – she has failed to take the ambitious steps needed to decarbonise our economy and protect our planet.”

The World Bank vowed to phase out most of its finance for oil and gas by 2019, and publish more data on the impacts of its investments on climate change. The group, which has been criticised by environmental campaigners for failing to take action on its fossil fuel investments in the past, also formed a partnership with the Global Covenant of Mayors aimed at providing $4.5bn for cities to adapt to the effects of climate change.

Bill Gates, one of the world’s richest men, also joined the pledges, vowing that his philanthropic foundation would devote $300m (£225m) to helping the world’s poorest farmers adapt to the effects of climate change.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will spend the sum over the next three years, providing smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia with the means to protect their farms from the droughts, heatwaves and floods that are expected to be the result of a changing climate. The money will be spent through governments and direct grants.

Nick Austin, director of agricultural development at the foundation, told the Guardian he expected poor farmers to bear the brunt of climatic changes, at a time when the world’s burgeoning population is putting ever greater pressure on food supplies.

Adaptation to the effects of climate change, also termed resilience, has become a greater focus for environmentalists as scientists have warned that some changes to the climate are becoming inevitable, even if the world succeeds in limiting global temperature rises to 2C.

Austin said: “We recognise that adaptation has been a vastly under-invested opportunity . [There is] an upside in economic opportunities for resilience to climate change. Agriculture will benefit, but there is still a long way to go.”

In a separate move, Microsoft will spend $50m on artificial intelligence technology aimed at protecting the planet against climate change, the company said on Tuesday.

Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, told the Guardian the investment would spur technological change that would help deliver clean energy and cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions.

He gave the example of using artificial intelligence to create “smart” buildings, that would use less energy by responding to and anticipating their occupants’ behaviour. It could also be used in agriculture to increase crop yields in the face of the effects of global warming, which is expected to cause droughts, floods and heatwaves across the globe.

However, not everyone was impressed by the deals emerging from the One Planet summit. Brandon Wu, director of policy and at ActionAid USA, said the poor were still being short-changed by rich countries.

“Despite the hype, the One Planet summit delivering little for the world’s people who are most vulnerable to climate change,” he said. “People in poor countries already living with increasingly severe hurricanes, floods and other disasters made worse by the climate crisis, need commitments for real money from rich countries.”

Output: The European commission has pledged €9bn ($10.6bn) to counter climate change as part of the European Union’s External Investment Plan. The commitment was announced on Tuesday at the One Planet Summit in Paris, which marked the second anniversary of the 2015 Paris Climate Accord. The funds will primarily be directed towards clean energy, and sustainable agriculture and cities. At the conference several companies, including French insurer Axa and Dutch bank ING, announced partial divestments from fossil fuels. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also pledged $300m to help poor farmers adapt to climate change.