EU set to agree new data privacy law with stiff penalties

By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A sweeping reform of fragmented laws governing the uses of personal data set to be agreed by the European Union on Tuesday will force companies to report privacy breaches to authorities or face stiff sanctions. EU governments and members of the European Parliament are expected to agree the new data protection law, which would replace a patchwork of 28 different laws and give regulators greater enforcement powers

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Iran arrests cartoonist as crackdown on free expression goes on

Iranian authorities have arrested a cartoonist and sent him to prison to complete a suspended jail sentence, his lawyer said on Tuesday, joining a growing list of journalists, artists and activists detained on security charges. Hadi Heidari, a cartoonist at the Shahrvand newspaper, was arrested on Monday and sent to Tehran’s Evin prison, his lawyer told Reuters in a telephone interview from Tehran. The authorities had a different interpretation of his cartoons than he had,” the lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht, said.

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Google unveils latest Nexus phones, tablet

(Reuters) – Google Inc unveiled its new Nexus phones on Tuesday in its latest attempt to take a bite out of Apple's dominant share of the smartphone market. The launch of the phones, the Nexus 6P and the Nexus 5X, comes a day after Apple Inc reported record first-weekend sales of its new iPhones.

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Under fire from rivals, BT vows to improve broadband network

By Paul Sandle LONDON (Reuters) – Facing a sustained attack from rivals, Britain's BT pledged to improve the speed and quality of the country's broadband network on Tuesday in a bid to ward off calls for it to be broken up. Setting out plans to improve coverage in rural areas where services can be slow, Chief Executive Gavin Patterson said the firm would provide new minimum speeds of 5-10 megabits per second (Mbps) and expand its fiber coverage. The networks division Openreach is managed at arm's length, but critics say the structure allows BT to abuse its market position and has hampered investment

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U.S., European authorities investigate possible new leaker: sources

By Mark Hosenball LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. and European security authorities are investigating whether a previously unknown leaker provided sensitive intelligence documents to WikiLeaks about alleged U.S. spying on French politicians, according to sources familiar with the matter.

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Computer error a possible cause of Poland airline outage: prosecutors

Polish prosecutors are looking into whether the outage which grounded dozens of jets operated by Polish airline Lot at Warsaw’s main airport on Sunday may have been caused by a computer system error, a spokesman for the Warsaw prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday. The prosecutor’s spokesman said computer error was one of the versions being examined

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Irish broadcaster allowed to report speech accusing billionaire

By Padraic Halpin DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland's state broadcaster aired a lawmaker’s speech accusing a billionaire of obtaining sweetheart bank loans, after a court ruled on Tuesday that the right to report on parliament trumped a court order to muzzle potentially libelous allegations. Billionaire press baron Denis O'Brien says accusations of financial wrongdoing against him contain falsehoods. RTE appealed on Tuesday for the right to report Murphy's speech, and won the backing of Judge Donald Binchy

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