Kaspersky security shakes up U.S. leadership amid geopolitical concerns

Top Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab has recently lost the leader of its North American operations and the head of a Washington-area office as it struggles to win U.S. government contracts amid rising geopolitical mistrust. Company Chief Executive Eugene Kaspersky confirmed the changes in an interview with Reuters during a visit to China

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China calls for Internet front to fight hacking, cyber ‘arms race’

By Paul Carsten WUZHEN, China (Reuters) – China's President Xi Jinping laid out his vision for the Internet on Wednesday, calling for a new status quo where Internet sovereignty rests in the hands of nations controlling the flow of information. “Each country should join hands and together curb the abuse of information technology, oppose network surveillance and hacking, and fight against a cyberspace arms race,” Xi told China's second World Internet Conference. Since Xi took China's helm in early 2013, he has presided over a centralization of domestic Internet governance and broader efforts to control, and often censor, the flow of information online, experts say.

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Australia banks agree Android Pay deal, Apple Pay still frozen out

By Swati Pandey SYDNEY (Reuters) – Big Australian banks have agreed to accept payments made on mobile devices using Google Inc's Android Pay, leaving Apple Inc's rival Apple Pay system out in the cold as the tech giant struggles to coax lenders to accept its terms. Banks including Westpac Banking Corp , ANZ Banking Group and Macquarie will accept contactless payments via Android smartphones when Google rolls out the service in first-half 2016, the tech giant said on Wednesday.

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Three years later, thousands mark Sandy Hook shooting on social media

Thousands took to social media on Monday to remember the children and teachers who were killed in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, three years ago, many of them decrying the lack of new gun control laws. Top trending hashtags included #SandyHook, #ProtectOurKids and #StopGunViolence. Twitter user Mark Bland (‏@markbland) wrote: “Not a single gun control measure has been attempted or passed since #Newtown #SandyHook.

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Alphabet mulls expanding Fiber internet service to LA, Chicago

(Reuters) – Alphabet Inc said it would consider bringing its Fiber internet service to Los Angeles and Chicago, the two biggest cities the tech giant has worked with so far for the super-fast web service.

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Irish actress Saoirse Ronan – still a tongue-twister for Hollywood

(Reuters) – Irish actress Saoirse Ronan expressed delight that no-one stumbled over her name when she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award on Wednesday. On Thursday, Ronan was also nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in Irish immigrant drama “Brooklyn” but Hollywood veteran Dennis Quaid fumbled her first name, calling her “Sheesha” while making the televised announcement. Entertainment website Moviefone.com called Quaid “the John Travolta of 2106 Golden Globe Pronounciations” likening his slip to Travolta's introduction of “Wicked” singer Idina Menzel as “Adele Dazeem” at the 2014 Oscars ceremony.

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Bitcoin’s alleged architect troubled by financial, tax issues

By Jane Wardell and Jeremy Wagstaff SYDNEY/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Australian Craig Steven Wright is the latest in a line of men alleged to be the mysterious creator of bitcoin, a digital currency that has attracted the interest of banks, speculators, criminals and regulators.

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OpenText eyeing significant acquisition driven growth: CEO

By Euan Rocha TORONTO (Reuters) – OpenText Corp , one of Canada’s most valuable technology companies, plans to roughly double its revenue and cash flows in the next few years largely through acquisitions, its Chief Executive Mark Barrenechea said on Wednesday. “When we look out over the next three to four years, we are looking to spend $3 billion in acquisitions, and we typically buy revenue at a 2 times multiple, so that would be $1.5 billion of acquired revenues,” Barrenechea said during an interview in Toronto. “If you just use the low end of our target margin range of 34 percent that $3 billion in acquisitions will double the cash flow of the company,” he said.

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