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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Imprisoned Saudi blogger on hunger strike, wife says

By Allison Lampert MONTREAL (Reuters) – Imprisoned Saudi blogger Raif Badawi has been on a hunger strike since Tuesday after being transferred to a “new isolated” prison, his wife, Ensaf Haidar, said on Thursday. Haidar, who lives in Canada where she and their three children were granted political asylum, confirmed the news by phone after tweeting it. Colette Lelievre, a Montreal-based campaign organizer with Amnesty International, said Thursday the group had been told Badawi was transferred to a different prison for “administrative reasons.” Amnesty had not yet independently confirmed he started a hunger strike.

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EU can suspend new data transfer pact with U.S. if worried about privacy: Official

By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A new data transfer pact between the European Union and Washington will give the EU the right to pull the plug on the deal if it fears the United States is not safeguarding privacy enough, the EU Justice Commissioner said on Thursday. A previous transatlantic data transfer framework, Safe Harbour, was struck down on Oct. 6 by the European Union's top court because of worries about mass U.S.

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Facebook service aimed at professionals to launch in coming months

Facebook at Work, Facebook Inc's professional version of its social network, is expected to launch in the coming months, after spending a year in tests, a company executive said. The new service, geared towards workplace collaboration, is nearly identical to its ubiquitous social network, with a scrolling news “feed”, “likes” and a chat service. “I would say 95 percent of what we developed for Facebook is also adopted for Facebook at Work,” Julien Codorniou, director of global platform partnerships at Facebook, told Reuters.

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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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Facebook’s Zuckerberg speaks out in support of Muslims

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday said he supported Muslims in his community and around the world. Muslims in the United States and abroad have been criticized in the wake of attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California. “As a Jew, my parents taught me that we must stand up against attacks on all communities

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Countering extremists online remains elusive in Congress

By Dustin Volz WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fighting violent extremism online will be the focus of private briefings this week for members of the U.S. Congress from law enforcement officials and Silicon Valley executives, as Washington struggles to formulate a coherent strategy. The classified briefings, scheduled weeks ago, come as Washington policymakers grow increasingly alarmed at how the Islamic State militant group uses technology to recruit online and evade surveillance detection

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Apple releases first Arabic version of Siri

By Julia Love SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc on Tuesday released a version of its virtual personal assistant Siri for Arabic speakers in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, potentially making its iPhones more attractive in a largely affluent market of more than 30 million people. The move, part of Apple's latest software updates, means people in those countries will be able to use Siri in their native tongue on iPhones, iPads and the Apple Watch.

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