Zuckerberg's data spat with Apple's Tim Cook is a distraction

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The public dust up between the Silicon Valley heavyweights is entertaining but will do nothing towards solving Facebook's existential crisis
Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker weren't the only pugilists in action over the Easter break: Facebook founder and boss Mark Zuckerberg decided he fancied a turn in the ring too.
His opponent? None other than Tim Cook, another Silicon Valley heavyweight, and his neighbour over at Apple.
Mr Cook had landed the first blow in an interview when the subject of Facebook’s data scandal was raised.
Read more Why Facebook's business model is incompatible with human rights Mark Zuckerberg hits back at Tim Cook’s criticism of Facebook Corbyn deletes personal Facebook account amid antisemitism row Declaring the use of users’ information by third party operators to be “an invasion of privacy” he piously declared “I wouldn’t be in this situation”.
Of course he wouldn’t. Apple makes most of its money through the sale of goods and servic..

India Backs Down From Threat to Penalize Journalists Over ‘Fake News’

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India Backs Down From Threat to Penalize Journalists Over ‘Fake News’ Photo Newspapers for sale in New Delhi. The government’s “fake news” rule would have affected print and broadcast media, but not digital outlets. Credit Money Sharma/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images NEW DELHI — Facing strong criticism, the Indian government on Tuesday withdrew new rules under which journalists found to have written or broadcast “fake news” would lose their official accreditation, in some cases permanently.
The retraction came less than a day after the rules were announced on Monday evening. Rajat Sharma, the president of the News Broadcasters Association, which would have handled complaints against television journalists, confirmed the retraction and said the decision came from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office.
The government provided no official explanation for why the amendment setting out the new rules was withdrawn.
Many in the Indian news media saw the new rules as an attack on the press..

British passport contract decision postponed after De La Rue appeal

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The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue, the prime minister’s spokesperson has said.
The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rue’s contract ends in July.
The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process.
Read more De La Rue will appeal decision to give blue passport contract De La Rue said on Tuesday that it would appeal the decision.
A spokesperson for the company said: “We confirm that we are taking the first steps towards initiating appeal proceedings against the provisional decision to award the British passport contract to a part state-owned Franco-Dutch company. Based on our knowledge of the market, it’s our view that ours was the highest quality and technical..

FlyBe takes £4m hit to revenues after Beast from the East grounds 1,000 flights

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Severe cold weather in February and March saw many people’s travel plans disrupted as snow, ice and strong winds wreaked havoc across the UK
The Beast from the East wiped £4m off of Flybe’s revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airline’s estimates.
Severe cold weather in February and March saw many people’s travel plans disrupted as snow, ice and strong winds wreaked havoc across the UK. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.
In its latest trading update on Tuesday, the struggling Exeter-based carrier said its turnaround plans were starting to yield positive results.
Read more Airline competition has benefited passengers, but there are limits Revenue per seat – a closely watched measure of an airline’s financial performance – was up 9 per cent to £50.84, behind rivals such as easyJet which reported £55.99 on the same measure in January.
“Load factor”..

Sky: Now Fox offers 'legal separation' of Sky News as Murdochs battle for deal

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News channel's future must be secred even with Disney waiting in the wings
Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox is back with some fresh proposals in an attempt to find a way through the regulatory logjam that has stymied its long held ambition to acquire the part of broadcaster Sky that it doesn’t own.
Touted as further strengthening the editorial independence of Sky News, the loss making channel that represents a tiny part of the overall business but has left the deal stuck in the mud, they were accepted by Sky this morning. The plan would be for its news channel to be set up as a legally separate entity within the group with a five to seven strong board of directors, chaired by an “independent expert” with experience of journalism. Three Sky independent directors would also serve.
Clever, because the set up looks quite similar to the deal communications watchdog OfCom agreed that allowed BT to keep hold of its broadband infrastructure arm OpenReach in the face of demands ..