<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/saheli-roy-choudhury/" rel="author">Saheli Roy Choudhury</a> | <span class="twitter-url"><a href="http://twitter.com/sahelirc">@sahelirc</a></span></p>
<p>As governments create smarter cities, they need cybersecurity measures built from the ground up — or they risk costly data breaches which could compromise the privacy of their citizens.</p>
<p>In 2016 alone, cyber-crime cost the global economy more than $450 billion and over two billion personal records were stolen, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/07/cybercrime-costs-the-global-economy-450-billion-ceo.html" target="_self">according to</a> the chief executive of specialist insurer Hiscox.</p>
<p>Cities around the world are using various technologies — smart devices, apps, sensors, big data analytics and Internet of Things applications — to <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/09/how-smart-cities-are-building-the-future.html" target="_self">improve the lives of their citizens</a>. This results in massive amounts of valuable data that interest cyber-criminals.</p>
<p>Etay Maor, an executive security advisor at IBM Security told CNBC if there is a way for hackers to monetize any type of stolen data, they will attack it. Traditionally, the kinds of information that drew attention were bank credentials, personal identity information and credit card details, but Maor said anything from airline miles <a class="inline_asset" title="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/10/dark-web-is-fertile-ground-for-stolen-medical-records.html" href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/10/dark-web-is-fertile-ground-for-stolen-medical-records.html" target="_self">to medical records</a> are now targeted.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;Now we have nations that are connecting (various services to the internet),&#8221; Maor said. &#8220;It&#8217;s critical that when these things are designed, when you&#8217;re talking about smart nations, security should be a top priority.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>The digitization of critical infrastructure, such as power plants, water supply and electricity distribution also creates vulnerabilities to cyber-attacks.</p>
<p>Many governments appear to realize that slapping on a layer of security at a later stage of smart city projects is no longer an option. Singapore already has a cybersecurity agency and last year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong <a class="inline_asset" title="https://www.csa.gov.sg/news/press-releases/pm-launches-singapore-cybersecurity-strategy" href="https://www.csa.gov.sg/news/press-releases/pm-launches-singapore-cybersecurity-strategy" target="_self">outlined</a> the city-state&#8217;s comprehensive strategy to tackle online threats.</p>
<p>Jordi Puigneró, secretary for telecommunications, cybersecurity and digital society for the government of Catalonia said cybersecurity needs the same kind of emphasis as security in the physical world. If governments fail to adequately secure their smart cities, people will not trust the services, he said.</p>
<p>&#8220;If they don&#8217;t trust it, they won&#8217;t use it. If they don&#8217;t use it, we will not be competitive in this digital world,&#8221; Puigneró, who leads the Catalan government&#8217;s SmartCATalonia efforts, told CNBC last month at the sidelines of the IoT Asia 2017 conference in Singapore.</p>
<p>http://cnbc.africa/news/special-report/2017/02/14/op-ed-artificial-intelligence-is-the-key-to-outsmarting-cybercrime/</p>
<p>Catalonia is awaiting parliamentary approval for a cybersecurity agency, whose mandate will include the creation of a computer emergency response team, building up cyber-resilience, tackling cyber-crimes and developing competencies for cyber-defense, Puigneró said.</p>
<p>Cyber-criminals could theoretically hijack systems to launch powerful distributed denial of service attacks or hold an entire city for ransom in extortion attacks, according to an <a class="inline_asset" title="https://www.controlrisks.com/en/our-thinking/analysis/smart-cities-and-cyber-threats" href="https://www.controlrisks.com/en/our-thinking/analysis/smart-cities-and-cyber-threats" target="_self">analysis</a> by Nicolas Reys, a consultant for cybersecurity services at Control Risks. He noted that attacks &#8220;could be designed to encrypt and cripple an entire city&#8217;s grid, with ransom demands likely to be considerable in such a scenario.&#8221;</p>
<p>Such tactics, Reys added, could be &#8220;highly profitable for cyber-criminals and represent a natural evolution of trends that we have observed in the current cyber-criminal community.&#8221;</p>
<p>Criminals have already gone after critical infrastructure around the world: a <a class="inline_asset" title="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/27/cyber-attackers-hack-german-nuclear-plant/" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/27/cyber-attackers-hack-german-nuclear-plant/" target="_self">nuclear power plant</a> in Germany, a <a class="inline_asset" title="https://www.wsj.com/articles/iranian-hackers-infiltrated-new-york-dam-in-2013-1450662559" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/iranian-hackers-infiltrated-new-york-dam-in-2013-1450662559" target="_self">small dam in New York</a> and a <a class="inline_asset" title="https://www.wired.com/2016/03/inside-cunning-unprecedented-hack-ukraines-power-grid/" href="https://www.wired.com/2016/03/inside-cunning-unprecedented-hack-ukraines-power-grid/" target="_self">power grid</a> in Ukraine.</p>
<p>The growing complexity of cyber-attacks and the increasing number of people and devices connecting to the internet means there&#8217;s almost a near-certain possibility that hackers may be able to breach a system, experts say.</p>
<p>The consensus is that securing smart city projects from digital threats requires multi-layered strategies and should tap into fields such as machine learning, cryptography and artificial intelligence.</p>
<p>Machine learning, where a system is taught to identify anomalies within a network, is promoted by companies like U.K.-based security firm Darktrace. With every interaction, these machines learn and become better at proactively stopping threats.</p>
<p>Maor added that machines can also analyze and interpret huge volumes of internet data to help governments respond to breaches faster. Timing, he said, is critical in limiting the damage.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Others point to the potential benefits of building smart city applications using blockchain technology, particularly the Ethereum open source platform. That system can be used to deploy <a class="inline_asset" title="http://www.cnbc.com/2014/11/13/forget-currency-bitcoin-tech-could-disrupt-massively.html" href="http://www.cnbc.com/2014/11/13/forget-currency-bitcoin-tech-could-disrupt-massively.html" target="_self">decentralized applications</a>, according to John Lilic, a director at blockchain software company ConsenSys.</p>
<p>He pointed to personal identity on social networks as an example: &#8220;Your identity lives in a bunch of different boxes all over the internet, that&#8217;s why you have usernames and passwords. Because you&#8217;re logging into a database that somebody else owns.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;With Ethereum, we can flip that upside down on its head,&#8221; Lilic told CNBC.</p>
<p>Building an application on Ethereum could mean the data will not be owned by any single corporate entity and could be accessed from anywhere in the world, Lilic explained. And since blockchain uses corresponding public and private keys to access encrypted data, a breach would not reveal the information without each user&#8217;s private key.</p>
<p>A key issue that many experts talk about is the need for more cybersecurity professionals.<br />
&#8220;There&#8217;s a huge lack of people in this space. You&#8217;re talking about smart nations — one of the smart things to do is to get your colleges and universities to train people about security,&#8221; said IBM&#8217;s Maor.</p>
<p>In Barcelona, <a class="inline_asset" title="http://www.ub.edu/web/ub/en/estudis/oferta_formativa/masters_propis/fitxa/M/201511757/index.html" href="http://www.ub.edu/web/ub/en/estudis/oferta_formativa/masters_propis/fitxa/M/201511757/index.html" target="_self">some universities</a> were starting to offer a Masters&#8217; degree in cybersecurity in the hope of bringing more professionals into the industry, Pugineró said.</p>
<p>&#8220;Without professionals, it is very difficult to create a (cybersecurity) industry … for that to happen, it means that our academies need to start having degrees and masters in cybersecurity so we can produce talent,&#8221; he added.</p>


As cities get smarter, hackers become more dangerous: This could stop them

<p>Google launched a fact checking tool in its search and news results on Friday, as the technology giant looks to fight back against the spread of fake news, amid mounting pressure on internet firms to tackle such content.</p>
<p>The search giant will not actually be doing the fact checking itself but instead will surface results from the likes of PolitiFact and Snopes. For example, if someone searches &#8220;27 million people enslaved&#8221;, a result showing the actual claim, who said it, and whether it is true or not, will appear.</p>
<p>In October, Google tested the feature in a handful of countries and specifically in Google News. The announcement on Friday marks the wide-scale roll out of the feature.</p>
<p>The information won&#8217;t be available for every search, Google said, and there could be instances where the same publisher checked the same claim but came to different conclusions. Google emphasized the fact that it was not checking the facts and are &#8220;presented so people can make more informed judgments.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Even though differing conclusions may be presented, we think it&#8217;s still helpful for people to understand the degree of consensus around a particular claim and have clear information on which sources agree,&#8221; Google explained in a blog post.</p>
<p>Publishers wishing to be included in the fact check feature just need to add some additional code to their websites.</p>
<p>Google&#8217;s move comes amid heightened criticism of internet companies&#8217; inability to tackle fake news and misinformation. Google has been one of the companies under fire and has been making moves to improve how it tackles such content.</p>
<p>Social networking titan <a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/technology/2016/11/19/facebook-fake-news-response/">Facebook has also taken steps to tackle fake news content</a> including its own fact checking tool which tells users who are about to post a link to an article, whether the claims in the article have been disputed. Facebook also launched an educational tool to help users spot questionable content.</p>


Google expands ‘Fact Check’ tool to flag up fake news in search results

<p>The latest iteration of rapper Jay Z&#8217;s favorite champagne goes on sale on April 18, but only 2,333 bottles will be available in the U.S., and at a price: $850.</p>
<p>Armand de Brignac, known as &#8220;Ace of Spades&#8221; because of the logo on the bottle, has launched Blanc de Noirs second assemblage – or blend – known as A2, according to a <a class="inline_asset" href="http://armanddebrignac.com/la-vie-en-or/bloomberg-pursuits-announces-usa-launch-blanc-de-noirs-assemblage-two-a2/?ref=https://t.co/wXmu7QZxdR" target="_self">statement on the company&#8217;s website</a>.</p>
<p>Jay Z, real name Shawn Carter, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2014/11/07/jay-zs-got-99-problems-but-champagne-aint-one.html" target="_self">bought the champagne from Sovereign Brands</a> for an undisclosed amount back in 2014, and previously name-checked &#8220;Ace of Spades&#8221; in his 2006 rap &#8220;Show Me What You Got.&#8221;</p>
<p>Aside from the logo, the champagne stands out for its shiny bottle and fine taste. Fine Champagne magazine named the first assemblage as the number one Blanc de Noirs in the world, with writer Mark Oldman admiring its &#8220;complexity and nuance.&#8221;</p>
<p>The A2 blend comes from Pinot Noir producing villages in France including Bouzy, Verzenay, Chigny-les-Roses and Rilly-la-Montagne, and each bottle is inscribed with a number from one to 2,333.</p>
<p>Fans will have to act fast to get their hands on a bottle, as Armand de Brignac Chief Executive Sebastien Besson says that A2 is already selling fast. &#8220;Many of the A2 bottles have already been preordered from Armand de Brignac&#8217;s top clients. We anticipate they may only be available for a few months,&#8221; he said in an online statement.</p>
<p>For those who prefer to dress up and go out for a drink, the new fizz will be available at high-end bars and clubs in New York and Los Angeles, including Jay Z&#8217;s 40/40 Club in New York, where Armand de Brignac&#8217;s champagnes retail for between $400 and $1,000 a bottle.</p>


Jay Z’s latest Ace of Spades champagne will cost $850 only 2,333 bottles available

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<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/arjun-kharpal/" rel="author">Arjun Kharpal</a> | <span class="twitter-url"><a href="http://twitter.com/ArjunKharpal">@ArjunKharpal</a></span></p>
<p>Flying taxis could be whizzing over your head as early as next year.</p>
<p>German start-up E-Volo showed off its Volocopter 2X this week and said it&#8217;s aiming to test the flying machine in taxi pilot projects in 2018.</p>
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<p>The Volocopter is an 18-rotor electric cross between a drone and helicopter. It has two seats and a joystick controlled by a pilot. The batteries in the aircraft are rechargeable and can be replaced.</p>
<div id="inline_movable_ad"> E-Volo said the Volocopter 2X has been developed for approval by German authorities and anyone with a particular license will be able to fly one. By 2018, the first Volocopter 2X models with a &#8220;special permit&#8221; are set to be used as flying taxis in pilot projects, E-Volo claimed in a press release without giving further details.</div>
<p>The company has not responded to a request for further details when contacted by CNBC.</p>
<p>E-Volo is attempting to obtain a commercial registration for its aircraft to allow the transportation of passengers. The company said that developing a 4-seater Volocopter with the hope of getting it approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority and the European Aviation Safety Agency.</p>
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<p>Last year, Pang Kin Keong, permanent secretary at Singapore&#8217;s Ministry of Transport, said the country would have flying taxis by 2030 and that it was in talks with several firms about doing this. E-Volo&#8217;s Volocopter was one of the potential solutions flagged.</p>
<p>Vehicles like the Volocopter are key because of their vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities meaning they can take to the skies and land again in a small space, which would be useful in busy cities.</p>
<p>E-Volo is not the only company developing flying VTOL taxis. China&#8217;s Ehang has developed a quadcopter that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government said would be flying around Dubai this year. <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/17/airbus-to-test-driverless-flying-taxis-in-2017.html" target="_self">Airbus is also developing a driverless flying taxi</a> that could be tested this year, while other firms such as Uber are also looking into the technology.</p>
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An 18-rotor flying taxi could take to the skies in 2018

<p>Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos said on Wednesday he is selling about $1 billion worth of the internet retailer&#8217;s stock annually to fund his Blue Origin rocket company, which aims to launch paying passengers on 11-minute space rides starting next year.</p>
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<p>Blue Origin had hoped to begin test flights with company pilots and engineers in 2017, but that probably will not happen until next year, Bezos told reporters at the annual U.S. Space Symposium in Colorado Springs.</p>
<p>&#8220;My business model right now … for Blue Origin is I sell about $1 billion of Amazon stock a year and I use it to invest in Blue Origin,&#8221; said Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon.com and also the owner of The Washington Post newspaper.</p>
<div id="inline_movable_ad"> Ultimately, the plan is for Blue Origin to become a profitable, self-sustaining enterprise, with a long-term goal to cut the cost of space flight so that millions of people can live and work off Earth, Bezos said.</div>
<p>Bezos is Amazon&#8217;s largest shareholder, with 80.9 million shares, according to Thomson Reuters data. At Wednesday&#8217;s closing share price of $909.28, Bezos would have to sell 1,099,771 shares to meet his pledge of selling $1 billion worth of Amazon stock. Bezos&#8217; total Amazon holdings, representing a 16.95 percent stake in the company, are worth $73.54 billion at Wednesday&#8217;s closing price.</p>
<p>Read: <a class="yoast-link-suggestion__value" href="http://cnbc.africa/news/2017/03/31/jeff-bezos-became-second-richest-man-planet/" target="_blank">This is how Jeff Bezos became the second richest man on the planet</a></p>
<p>For now, Kent, Washington-based Blue Origin is working toward far shorter hops — 11 minute space rides that are not fast enough to put a spaceship into orbit around Earth.</p>
<p>Blue Origin has not started selling tickets or set prices to ride aboard its six-passenger, gumdrop-shaped capsule, known as New Shepard.</p>
<p>The reusable rocket and capsule are designed to carry passengers to an altitude of more than 100 miles (62 km) above the planet so they can experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of Earth set against the blackness of space. Unmanned test flights have been underway since 2015.</p>
<div style="width: 540px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2016/04/12/103541484-IMG_0310.530x298.JPG?v=1460481043" alt="Blue Origin engine surrounded by ULA rockets in Colorado Springs on April 12, 2016." width="530" height="298" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Jodi Gralnick | CNBC | Blue Origin engine surrounded by ULA rockets in Colorado Springs on April 12, 2016.</p></div>
<p>At the symposium, Bezos showed off a mockup of the passenger capsule, which sports six reclined seats, each with its own large window. Also on display was a scorched New Shepard booster rocket that was retired in October after five flights.</p>
<p>Like fellow tech entrepreneur <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/elon-musk/" target="_self">Elon Musk</a>, founder and chief executive of SpaceX, Bezos says that reusability is the key to cutting the cost of space flight. Last week, SpaceX re-launched a rocket for an unprecedented second mission to put a spacecraft into orbit.</p>
<p>&#8220;The engineering approach is a little different, but we&#8217;re very like-minded,&#8221; Bezos said of Musk.</p>
<p>Blue Origin is developing a second launch system to carry satellites, and eventually people, into orbit, similar to SpaceX&#8217;s Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule.</p>
<p>Development costs for that system, known as New Glenn, will be about $2.5 billion.</p>
<p>There is no estimate yet for how much Bezos will invest overall on Blue Origin. But Bezos has indicated he will spend what it takes.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a long road to get there and I&#8217;m happy to invest in it,&#8221; Bezos said.</p>
<p>According to Forbes magazine, Bezos has a net worth of $78 billion.</p>


Bezos is selling $1 billion of Amazon stock a year to fund rocket venture

<p>Germany&#8217;s Cabinet on Wednesday approved a new bill that punishes social networking sites if they fail to swiftly remove illegal content such as hate speech or defamatory fake news.</p>
<p>Chancellor Angela Merkel&#8217;s Cabinet agreed on rules that would impose fines of up to 50 million euros ($53.4 million) on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms.</p>
<p>German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said that the companies offering such online platforms are responsible for removing hateful content. He said the new bill would not restrict the freedom of expression, but intervene only when criminal hatred or intentionally false news are posted.</p>
<p>Germany poses a particular problem for U.S.-owned social networking sites accustomed to American standards of free speech. Due to its Nazi past, Germany bans public Holocaust denial and any overt promotion of racism. The issue has come to the fore amid the recent influx of migrants to Germany, which has sparked a backlash among some Germans including a rise in online vitriol.</p>
<p>Social networks need to ensure that obviously criminal content — as defined by German law — will be deleted within 24 hours and other illegal content after seven days.</p>
<p>&#8220;Just like on the streets, there is also no room for criminal incitement on social networks,&#8221; Maas said.</p>
<p>&#8220;The internet affects the culture of debate and the atmosphere in our society. Verbal radicalization is often a preliminary stage to physical violence,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p>The minister pointed out that social networks don&#8217;t delete enough punishable content, citing research that he said showed Twitter deletes just 1 percent of illegal content flagged by users, while Facebook deletes 39 percent.</p>
<p>Maas also said that measures to combat hate speech and so-called fake news will ultimately have to be taken at the European level to be effective.</p>
<p>The bill still needs parliamentary approval.</p>


Germany approves bill curbing online hate crime, fake news

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<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/karen-gilchrist/" rel="author">Karen Gilchrist</a> | <span class="twitter-url"><a href="http://twitter.com/_karengilchrist">@_karengilchrist</a></span></p>
<p>The billionaire founder of <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/EBAY" target="_self" data-gdsid="15829" data-inline-quote-symbol="EBAY">eBay</a> is to donate $100 million to support investigative journalism and counter the rise of &#8220;fake news&#8221;.</p>
<p>In his latest philanthropic venture, Pierre Omidyar has set his sights on fighting misinformation and hate speech which he says have led to a &#8220;global trust deficit&#8221; and increased division between governments and society.</p>
<p>The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the group behind the uncovering of the <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/04/panama-papers-a-massive-document-leak-reveals-a-global-web-of-corruption-and-tax-avoidance.html" target="_self">Panama Papers</a> last year, will be among the independent and investigative media outlets to receive funding over the next three years.</p>
<div id="inline_movable_ad"> The ICIJ will receive up to $4.5 million to expand its investigative reporting. Alianza Latinoamericana para la Tecnologia Civica (ALTEC), a project designed to promote civic engagement and transparency in Latin America, and The Anti-Defamation Legue (ADL), the world&#8217;s leading anti-Semitism organization, are among others so far announced to receive funding.</div>
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<div class="attribution">Pierre Omidyar and Pamela Omidyar attend the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy 10th Anniversary Award ceremony at The New York Public Library</div>
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<p>The funds will be provided through the Omidyar Network, the philanthropic investment firm founded by Omidyar and his wife in 2004. It has so far committed more than $1 billion to good causes, including $220 million towards a Government &amp; Citizen Engagement initiative which aims to drive accountability and transparency within government.</p>
<p>&#8220;Across the world, we see a worrying resurgence of authoritarian politics that is undermining progress towards a more open and inclusive society,&#8221; stated Omidyar Network Managing Partner Matt Bannick.</p>
<p>&#8220;A lack of government responsiveness and a growing distrust in institutions, especially the media, are eroding trust. Increasingly, facts are being devalued, misinformation spread, accountability ignored, and channels that give citizens a voice withdrawn.</p>
<p>&#8220;These trends cannot become the norm, and we must protect the principles of openness, participation, and accountability. These are the foundations of a healthy democratic society.&#8221;</p>
<p>The recent emergence of corruption scandals within governments from Brazil to France and accusation and growing accusations against mainstream media outlets by governing bodies have led to growing mistrust within the public. The 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer suggests that citizens living within two thirds of the world&#8217;s major economies have trust levels of less than 50 percent in their country&#8217;s mainstream institutions.</p>
<p>&#8220;At a time when autocrats, demagogues, criminals, dodgy businessmen, and other shady characters are seeking to enrich and empower themselves at the expense of society, it is more important than ever that journalists can remain the world&#8217;s independent eyes and ears, and root out corruption and wrongdoing,&#8221; said Gerard Ryle, director of the ICIJ.</p>
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EBay founder pledges $100 million to fight ‘fake news’

<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/lucy-handley/" rel="author">Lucy Handley</a></p>
<p>An advert for <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/PEP" target="_self" data-gdsid="28263" data-inline-quote-symbol="PEP">Pepsi</a> featuring model Kendall Jenner handing a can of soda to a police officer at a peace protest has sparked a backlash online.</p>
<p>In the ad, Jenner is seen posing in a blonde wig at a photo shoot, while a peace protest marches by. She then ditches the wig, grabs a can of Pepsi and joins the protest. Jenner gets to the front and hands the can to a police officer, who drinks as the crowd cheers.</p>
<p>The description below the ad on Pepsi&#8217;s Global YouTube channel states: &#8220;A short film about the moments when we decide to let go, choose to act, follow our passion and nothing holds us back.&#8221;</p>
<p>https://youtu.be/DSSCjj8uCFg</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">The Kendall Jenner Pepsi fiasco is a perfect example of what happens when there&#8217;s no black people in the room when decisions are being made.</p>
<p>— Travon Free (@Travon) <a href="https://twitter.com/Travon/status/849409230754983936">April 4, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>People took to Twitter to comment, with comedian Travon Free saying: &#8220;The Kendall Jenner Pepsi fiasco is a perfect example of what happens when there&#8217;s no black people in the room when decisions are being made,&#8221; which has been retweeted more than 3,000 times.</p>
<p>https://twitter.com/Kelsiekinss/status/849382343508987905</p>
<p>Another tweeter wrote: &#8220;Can&#8217;t believe Kendall Jenner just solved institutionalized racism and oppression by giving a cop a Pepsi. Groundbreaking.&#8221;</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Could you be any more blatant with the disrespect and appropriation of a movement, <a href="https://twitter.com/pepsi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@pepsi</a>? Is this a sick joke?! <a href="https://t.co/8NS8ynJUdj">pic.twitter.com/8NS8ynJUdj</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Taryn Finley (@_TARYNitUP) <a href="https://twitter.com/_TARYNitUP/status/849383788455100416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>The ad has also been compared with the image of Ieshia Evans who was arrested by police at a protest in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 2016. Taryn Finley wrote: &#8220;Could you be any more blatant with the disrespect and appropriation of a movement, @Pepsi? Is this a sick joke?!&#8221;</p>
<p>A Pepsi spokesperson said in an emailed statement: &#8220;This is a global ad that reflects people from different walks of life coming together in a spirit of harmony, and we think that&#8217;s an important message to convey.&#8221;</p>


Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi ad causes Twitter backlash, labeled disrespectful and a ‘sick joke’

<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/matt-clinch/" rel="author">Matt Clinch</a> | <span class="twitter-url"><a href="http://twitter.com/mattclinch81">@mattclinch81</a> </span></p>
<p><strong>Streaming Music</strong></p>
<p>The late, great David Bowie got it spot on back in 2002. Telling the <a class="inline_asset" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/09/arts/david-bowie-21st-century-entrepreneur.html" target="_self">New York Times</a> that music is going to become like &#8220;running water or electricity,&#8221; the &#8220;Starman&#8221; singer predicted the meteoric rise of the streaming subscription that last week confirmed its place in the upper echelons of the industry.</p>
<p>The fragile U.S. music industry saw retail revenues from recorded music grow 11.4 percent in 2016 to $7.7 billion, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). This was thanks, in no small part, to a doubling of paid streaming music subscriptions which helped the American music business experience its biggest gain since 1998.</p>
<p>&#8220;For the first time ever, streaming music platforms generated the majority of the U.S. music industry&#8217;s revenues &#8230; Streaming grew from just 9 percent of the market in 2011 to 51 percent of total industry revenues in 2016.&#8221; The RIAA confirmed, namechecking such services as Spotify, TIDAL and <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/AAPL" target="_self" data-gdsid="8016" data-inline-quote-symbol="AAPL">Apple</a> Music.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s an impressive rise but the new technology has yet to truly capture any of my cash. I&#8217;ve dabbled in the &#8220;freemium&#8221; models for some services and I&#8217;ve purchased a few weeks&#8217; worth of access to one particular streaming subscription. But that&#8217;s it. I&#8217;ve so far resisted, clinging on desperately to my vinyl collection and any CDs I still have from the 1990s that aren&#8217;t scratched beyond playability. That is, until now.</p>
<p>With the upcoming launch of <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/GOOGL" target="_self" data-gdsid="19004" data-inline-quote-symbol="GOOGL">Google</a> Home in the U.K. and the advertising onslaught that <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/AMZN" target="_self" data-gdsid="9399" data-inline-quote-symbol="AMZN">Amazon</a> is currently undertaking with its own smart assistant Alexa, it won&#8217;t be long before there&#8217;s a talking robot nestled between the books on my dining room shelf.</p>
<p>And there lies the major selling point for me. Call me lazy, but who wouldn&#8217;t want to shout &#8220;play Roy Orbison&#8217;s &#8216;Crying'&#8221; at a voice-controlled speaker when you&#8217;re about to embark on the chopping of an onion?</p>
<p>http://cnbc.africa/news/technology/2017/01/04/amazon-is-selling-tvs-that-you-can-talk-to/</p>
<p>The British Phonographic Industry is already notably excited at the prospect, highlighting in a report that these assistants &#8220;are likely to evolve into our de facto musical concierges around the home and in the car.&#8221;</p>
<p>And it&#8217;s the list of smart commands that&#8217;s a real deal breaker. Amazon&#8217;s official list of voice commands for Alexa include some very vague human interactions that are likely to get some very interesting results. Think of how much fun you could have after demanding it to &#8220;play the top rock songs from 1988?&#8221;. Or maybe even: &#8220;Play that song with the lyrics &#8220;De do do do de da da da, is all I want to say to you.&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;ll be a party gimmick, the excitement will wear off after a few weeks &#8211; but ultimately it&#8217;s an enabler and will help me listen to even more music. Mr. Bowie would have approved.</p>


Streaming has now taken over the music industry and A.I. will push it into the stratosphere

<p>Shares in Imagination Tech crashed 69 percent on Monday after its biggest customer <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/AAPL" target="_self" data-gdsid="8016" data-inline-quote-symbol="AAPL">Apple</a> said it would stop using the British firm&#8217;s graphics technology in the iPhone and other products in up to two years&#8217; time.</p>
<p>Shares in Imagination, in which Apple holds an 8 percent stake, plunged to a seven and a half-year low.</p>
<p>Imagination said Apple, its biggest customer, was developing its own independent graphics processing chips, which would reduce its reliance on the company.</p>
<p>The technology group licenses its processing designs to Apple and receives a small royalty on every graphics chip used in a iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.</p>
<p>Imagination, however, said it doubted that Apple could go it alone without violating Imagination&#8217; patents, intellectual property and confidential information.</p>
<p>http://cnbc.africa/news/technology/2017/03/08/apple-iphone8/</p>
<p>&#8220;This evidence has been requested by Imagination but Apple has declined to provide it,&#8221; it said on Monday.</p>
<p>It said that Apple&#8217;s notification had triggered talks on alternative commercial arrangements for the current license and royalty agreement.</p>
<p>Apple paid Imagination license fees and royalties totaling 60.7 million pounds for the year to end-April 2016, half of its total revenue, and is expected to pay about 65 million pounds for this year, Imagination said.</p>


Imagination Tech shares plunge 69 percent as Apple abandons British firm

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<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/south-africa/" target="_self">South Africa</a> has 11 official languages, so there are plenty of ways to characterize the recent moves with the country&#8217;s currency. However you say it, though, things look bad for the rand — at least on the surface.</p>
<p>Last week was <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/ZAR%3D" target="_self" data-gdsid="610789" data-inline-quote-symbol="ZAR=">ZAR&#8217;s</a> worst since 2015, with the rand weakening several percent against the dollar in the same month that it hit its best level versus the greenback in 20 months. All of this <a class="inline_asset" title="http://www.cnbc.com/id/104380257" href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/104380257" target="_self">in the wake</a> of President Jacob Zuma&#8217;s decision to fire his highly-respected finance minister, Pravin Gordhan. The ruling African National Congress is divided. Demonstrations are planned all week, culminating in a large protest in Johannesburg on Friday. And the speaker of South Africa&#8217;s parliament is considering an opposition request to hold a no-confidence vote on Zuma. Sure, it&#8217;s a real mess, but what does it mean for the rand?</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;I would say, potentially, there could be some more weakening in the rand in the short term,&#8221; said Saktiandi Supaat, Global FX Strategy at Maybank. &#8220;Maybe another 5, 10, 20 percent potentially. It could actually move further than that if developments start to worsen.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>The political upheaval in South Africa is getting in the way of a strong recovery for the rand. It hit a high against the dollar in 2011, but then slowly started falling, hitting record lows at the end of 2015 and beginning of 2016 as commodity price weakness and market turbulence in China weighed. But investors shouldn&#8217;t abandon the rand, according to Jim Rickards, co-founder and chief global strategist at Meraglim.</p>
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<p>&#8220;I think most of the most of the bad news is out,&#8221; he said in an <a href="http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000606823">interview</a> with CNBC&#8217;s &#8220;Street Signs.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;The rand is right in the middle of a five-year trading range. It&#8217;s gone as high as 8 (vs. the dollar) and as low as 17,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p>Rickards indicated that global capital flows, the price of gold and the U.S. Federal Reserve policy have a stronger influence on the South African currency than what he called &#8220;short-term stories.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;How much worse can this get? [Zuma] already did the reshuffling. He fired a fairly competent finance minister. It looks like he&#8217;ll survive the no-confidence vote,&#8221; said Rickards. &#8220;But if he doesn&#8217;t survive and you get better leadership, then that&#8217;s actually very bullish for the rand. It looks like a bottom, it looks like a good entry point.&#8221;</p>
<p>Maybank&#8217;s Saktiandi Supaat agreed.</p>
<p>&#8220;My sense is I think once it stabilizes, it&#8217;s actually a good opportunity to get back on the rand again.&#8221;</p>
<p>[bc_video video_id=&#8221;5383233871001&#8243; account_id=&#8221;1571595826001&#8243; player_id=&#8221;default&#8221;]</p>


They stand with the rand: Why some say South Africa’s currency will weather the storm

<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/robert-ferris/" rel="author">Robert Ferris</a> | <span class="twitter-url"><a href="http://twitter.com/RobertoFerris">@RobertoFerris</a></span></p>
<p>SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is pleased, but not satisfied.</p>
<p>California-based SpaceX achieved an unprecedented milestone Thursday night, by successfully launching a previously used portion of its Falcon 9 rocket, and then once again reclaiming it.</p>
<p>The rocket carried a satellite for communications provider SES into geosynchronous orbit, before landing on a drone ship called &#8220;Of Course I love You.&#8221; SpaceX has been launching satellites for Luxembourg-based SES for years, and SES reportedly received a discount on the launch for being the first client to launch with a reused rocket.</p>
<p>The launch &#8220;shows you can fly and re-fly an orbit-class booster, which is the most expensive part of the rocket,&#8221; Musk said on a SpaceX webcast during the flight. &#8220;This is ultimately a huge revolution in spaceflight.&#8221;</p>
<p>Musk congratulated his team via Twitter after the launch, and then immediately issued another challenge: reduce turnaround time between future launches to 24 hours.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Incredibly proud of the SpaceX team for achieving this milestone in space! Next goal is reflight within 24 hours.</p>
<p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/847594208219336705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>SpaceX has said reusing rockets could lower launch costs by 30 percent of the $62 million starting price the company currently charges, which is already a discount over competitors&#8217; prices.</p>
<p>Slashing turnaround times could be another valuable goal for the company, particularly as launch costs continue to fall.</p>
<p>SpaceX still has a backlog of launches it has to get through, and if costs fall further, there could very well be more private and public sector clients knocking at its door, or seeking out its competitors.</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="http://player.cnbc.com/p/gZWlPC/cnbc_global?playertype=synd&#038;byGuid=3000601907&#038;size=600_360" frameborder="0" border="0" width="600" height="360" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" bgcolor="#131313"></iframe></p>
<p>Apart from its cost-saving benefits, recycling rocket components would spare SpaceX the time needed to manufacture new parts, which could reduce its turnaround time.</p>
<p>In addition to commercial customers, many of which are satellite companies, SpaceX launches rockets for U.S. government clients, including NASA.</p>
<p>http://cnbc.africa/news/2017/03/22/elon-musk-slams-donald-trumps-nasa-bill-saying-nothing-help-mission-mars/</p>


SpaceX chief Musk sets new bar on reusable rocket engine

<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/marguerite-ward/" rel="author">Marguerite Ward</a> | <span class="twitter-url"><a href="http://twitter.com/forwardist">@forwardist</a></span></p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="http://player.cnbc.com/p/gZWlPC/cnbc_global?playertype=synd&amp;byGuid=3000606096" width="600" height="360" frameborder="0" border="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, is now the second richest person on the planet.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, his personal fortune jumped to <a class="inline_asset" title="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-29/bezos-rises-to-become-world-s-second-richest-with-amazon-surge" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-29/bezos-rises-to-become-world-s-second-richest-with-amazon-surge" target="_self">$75.6 billion</a> following a rise in Amazon&#8217;s stock. He eclipsed legendary investor <a class="inline_asset" title="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/30/warren-buffetts-best-advice-for-young-people.html" href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/30/warren-buffetts-best-advice-for-young-people.html" target="_self">Warren Buffett</a> and now stands just below Microsoft co-founder <a class="inline_asset" title="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/08/why-bill-gates-and-warren-buffett-say-your-friends-are-crucial-to-your-career.html" href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/08/why-bill-gates-and-warren-buffett-say-your-friends-are-crucial-to-your-career.html" target="_self">Bill Gates</a>.</p>
<p>While there&#8217;s no playbook for becoming one of the world&#8217;s richest individuals, Bezos&#8217; career has been marked by risk-taking and learning from failure, and sheds light on what it takes to be incredibly successful.</p>
<p>http://cnbc.africa/news/technology/2017/01/04/amazon-is-selling-tvs-that-you-can-talk-to/<br />
After graduating from Princeton University, Bezos joined a startup and then worked on Wall Street before he quit and, against advice from his family and colleagues, ditched his stable job to dive into what was then a little-known gambit called the internet.<br />
In the years that followed, Bezos launched Amazon, the source of his incredible wealth.<br />
 This infographic, created by Funders and Founders designer <a class="inline_asset" href="http://fundersandfounders.com/how-elon-musk-started/" target="_self">Anna Vital</a>, explores his climb to the top.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" src="http://sc.cnbcfm.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/files/2017/03/30/how-jeff-bezos-started-infographic.png" /></p>
<p>In addition to leading Amazon, Bezos plays key roles in some of the most cutting edge companies in space travel, AI, cloud computing and other emerging sectors.</p>


This is how Jeff Bezos became the second richest man on the planet

<p><em>Decision to dismiss Minister and Deputy Minister of Finance has severe consequences for economy </em></p>
<ul>
<li><em>Setback to work done by government, labour and business to avoid a downgrade </em></li>
<li><em>Progress towards inclusive economic growth potentially undermined </em></li>
<li><em>Lack of investor confidence in South Africa will hurt the poor the most</em></li>
<li><em>Question whether vacuum of leadership created by cabinet reshuffle is in country’s best interest</em></li>
</ul>
<p>The CEO Initiative is gravely concerned and disappointed by the ill-timed and irrational dismissal of a trusted and well-respected Minister of Finance and Deputy Finance Minister. This decision, and the manner in which it was taken, is likely to cause severe damage to an economy that is in dire need of growth and jobs. The rationale for the removal of other ministers in key departments at a time when the country is beginning to make progress on a number of fronts is also questionable.</p>
<p>The speculation relating to the fate of the Minister of Finance that has reigned since the start of this week – and this morning&#8217;s announcement – have created unnecessary instability at one of our country’s key institutions and caused immense uncertainty among international investors. South Africa is an emerging economy in a global community, in need of capital from all corners of the world.</p>
<p>If investors lose faith and trust in our economy, all citizens – not just big business – pay the price for this, in the form of higher inflation, decreased buying power as well as decimated savings, pensions and investments. A lack of investment also means that growth – and much-needed job-creation – will be stifled.</p>
<p>More than a year ago – at the request of President Jacob Zuma, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and the South African government as a whole – representatives from government, labour and business started working together with unprecedented urgency. Their goal was to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth, for the benefit of all who live in South Africa.</p>
<p>We maintain this is the most responsible and sustainable way of achieving true economic transformation. The dismissal of Pravin Gordhan as Minister of Finance and his deputy creates a high risk of derailing any progress that has been achieved in this regard and will deal a serious blow to the economy at a time when the country can ill afford this.</p>
<p>Commitment to fiscal discipline is of the utmost importance if we are to protect the economy from outside shocks and maintain an investment grade credit rating.</p>
<p>The role that the National Treasury plays in maintaining investor confidence in South Africa should not be underestimated. Pravin Gordhan and Mcebisi Jonas have always acted with the utmost integrity in their relations with business, while continuously challenging our approach to economic transformation and inclusive growth, in a manner that was entirely consistent with the Constitution and policies of the ruling party.</p>
<p>The combined efforts from government, labour and business have resulted in a vastly improved outlook for the economy compared to a year ago.</p>
<p>Firstly: the risk of a downgrade to sub-investment grade has significantly reduced. A healthy and stable credit rating forms the basis of creating an environment in which growth can thrive, as it attracts investors and ensures the country can borrow at an affordable rate.</p>
<p>Secondly: government, labour and business have made progress on various initiatives to support growth in the economy. This includes the establishment of a R1.5bn SME Fund to invest in small and medium-sized businesses; a Youth Unemployment Scheme aimed at providing employment opportunities to one million young people over a period of three years; as well as various investment initiatives underway in sectors such as agriculture, tourism, manufacturing and healthcare.</p>
<p>All three major rating agencies have acknowledged the combined efforts from government, labour and business in their year-end assessments in 2016, as South Africa maintained its investment grade sovereign ratings. However, the country still has to implement a significant number of reforms in order to create inclusive and sustainable growth that is necessary for true economic transformation.</p>
<p>The Treasury has shown great courage in taking difficult decisions to safeguard the credibility of the country’s finances, while paying heed to social challenges including the university funding crisis and welfare spending. Rating agencies and global investors have lauded South Africa’s efforts in this regard and the importance of continued rigour cannot be emphasised enough.</p>
<p>South Africa is well on its way to fulfilling its developmental mandate and creating a more equitable distribution of income by working towards the goals of the National Development Plan, but this has to be done in a disciplined and responsible manner – not by spending excessively on the short term with little regard for the future.</p>
<p>It is of the utmost importance to all South Africans that the integrity and capacity of the National Treasury be maintained.</p>
<p>We call on the new Minister, the government as a whole, and the ruling party to ensure that this great national institution is not further harmed by capricious executive decisions and that South Africa’s fiscal management remains as strong as ever in support of the South African competitive national advantage.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


CEO Initiative responds to the dismissal of Minister of Finance

<p>The price of ivory on Chinese markets has slumped by two-thirds since 2014 as Beijing rolls out a ban on trade in elephant tusks, but illegal markets in neighbouring countries are expanding, researchers said.</p>
<p>The research, published on Wednesday by conservation group Save the Elephants, comes a day before China closes the last of its legal ivory factories.</p>
<p>Authorities there will also shutter all retail outlets by year-end in a bid to stem demand for a commodity that has expanded along with China&#8217;s economy and decimated elephant populations across much of Africa over the past decade.</p>
<p>&#8220;I believe that the future of the African elephants is in the hands of China,&#8221; said Ian Douglas-Hamilton, the group&#8217;s founder and president.</p>
<p>Environmentalists have long said that China&#8217;s licensed ivory trade offered opportunities to disguise the trafficking of poached tusks.</p>
<p>Esmond Martin, one of the report&#8217;s authors, said some Chinese buyers were getting around the domestic ban by visiting markets across the border in Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, which have expanded in recent years.</p>
<p>&#8220;There has been a boom in the illegal trade,&#8221; he said. &#8220;What needs to be done is to close (this) down &#8230;in neighbouring countries.&#8221;</p>
<p>Research by Save the Elephants in eight Chinese cities found licensed sellers were winding down stocks ahead of the retail ban.</p>
<p>Meanwhile the average price of raw ivory on illegal markets in China &#8211; $2,100 per kilogramme in early 2014 &#8211; had slipped to $1,100 by late 2015 and was now around $730, the research showed.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>The Chinese government does not reveal the prices it sells ivory to authorised factories but researchers said illegal ivory prices tracked the official ones at a slightly lower rate.</p>
<p>Save the Elephants said some ivory outlets they visited had started replacing elephant ivory with that of mammoths, dug out of the tundra in Russia and shipped to China.</p>
<p>While the ban has helped, Save the Elephants said China&#8217;s slowing economy and a crackdown on corruption, including on the tradition of using ivory to bribe government officials, had also contributed to the slump in prices.</p>
<p>But the long-term success of efforts to protect elephants rested with the ability to make clear to those buying ivory that they were responsible for the eradication of a species.</p>
<p>Douglas-Hamilton said interaction with Chinese leaders and celebrities had resulted in change, with more people now associating ivory with dead elephants.</p>
<p>&#8220;Awareness has to be the long-term key for the future,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Simply by the arithmetic (of China&#8217;s population) &#8230;if there is a substantial proportion buying ivory, that would be the end of the elephants.&#8221;</p>
<p>(editing by John Stonestreet)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


Illegal ivory markets abroad boom despite China ban

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<p>By Gemma Action</p>
<p>The formal two-year process governing <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/brexit/" target="_self">Britain&#8217;s departure from the European Union (EU)</a> began when Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon, which became law in 2009, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/29/brexit-article-50-trigger-letter-negotiations.html" target="_self">was triggered on Wednesday.</a></p>
<p>Here, CNBC breaks down all the issues as the Brexit negotiations begin.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="group-container ">
<h4 class="subtitle">What happens when Article 50 has been triggered?</h4>
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<p>A handwritten letter notifying the EU of the U.K.&#8217;s intention to leave was delivered to Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, by Tim Barrow, the U.K.&#8217;s ambassador to the EU, at 1:30 p.m. Brussels time.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/29/heres-the-brexit-letter-britain-sent-to-the-eu.html" target="_self"><strong><em>Click here to read the full letter that Theresa May sent to the EU</em></strong></a></p>
<p>The multi-page letter traveled to Brussels overnight, accompanied by a civil servant and a guard. Specifics surrounding exactly how and where Barrow met Tusk, as well as his planned route for getting to the preordained meeting point, were reportedly kept quiet for fear of impassioned Remain campaigners possibly attempting to intercept the letter and disrupt the timing of the agreed plan for this historic event.</p>
<p>Tusk has previously said the EU is ready to respond within 48 hours of obtaining the notification.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Article 50 letter. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Brexit?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Brexit</a> <a href="https://t.co/SO5R5BTvhw">pic.twitter.com/SO5R5BTvhw</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Charles Michel (@eucopresident) <a href="https://twitter.com/eucopresident/status/847048551792291840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>The two-year time limit can be extended with the unanimous consent of both the U.K. government and the European Council, which consists of the leader of each of the 27 member states remaining within the EU post-Brexit.</p>
<p>The deal will also be put forth for approval in each member state&#8217;s respective national parliament, which could potentially slow down the process should certain lawmakers object to particular conditions. Any deal must be approved by a &#8220;qualified majority&#8221; of EU member states and the European Parliament retains the right to a veto.</p>
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<h4 class="subtitle">What will the Article 50 achieve once completed?</h4>
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<p>Article 50 simply provides a path for the process by which the U.K. will exit the EU. Once the withdrawal agreement – enacted within the U.K. by the Great Repeal Bill which will end the primacy of EU law within the country &#8211; comes into force, the EU treaties will no longer apply to the U.K. Following that, all of the permanent new terms governing the relationship going forward between the two sides will have to be negotiated and agreed. During this time, the government will decide which parts to retain, modify or cut. Some estimate this could take several more years.</p>
</div>
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<h4 class="subtitle">What if there is &#8216;no deal&#8217; agreed with the EU within the two-year exit process?</h4>
<div class="group">
<p>The &#8220;deal&#8221; refers to the terms governing the new post-<a href="http://www.cnbc.com/brexit/" target="_self">Brexit</a> relationship between the EU and U.K. of which a trade agreement is the critical centerpiece. If no new deal is agreed before the U.K. leaves the EU, trading terms will default to the World Trade Organization (WTO) standards which are significantly less beneficial for both sides.</p>
</div>
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<h4 class="subtitle">What powers does the UK Parliament have during the Brexit process?</h4>
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<p>The U.K. Parliament will have the right to veto the final deal but not to suggest amendments to it, effectively leaving politicians with a &#8220;take-it-or-leave-it&#8221; option.</p>
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<h4 class="subtitle">When are official talks between the UK and EU expected to begin?</h4>
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<p>Some believe that official Brexit talks could begin on April 29 at the next planned summit bringing together the leaders of the 27 remaining EU member states in Brussels.</p>
</div>
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<h4 class="subtitle">What are the biggest issues on the table?</h4>
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<p>The key topics are set to be the exit bill the U.K. is required to pay to the EU for the price of leaving, rights for EU citizens to remain within the U.K. following Brexit and vice-versa, the future freedom of movement for, above all, people and goods and the complicated political situation between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.</p>
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<h4 class="subtitle">How does the timeline fit into the UK general election cycle?</h4>
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<p>The next general election in the U.K. is scheduled for May 7, 2020. Should the U.K. successfully exit the EU within the designated two years from the triggering of Article 50, the process should be completed by April 2019, leaving around a year for campaigning ahead of the next election.</p>
<h4 class="subtitle">How did markets react ahead of the trigger?</h4>
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<p>Strong chatter anticipating that U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May would trigger Article 50 on March 29 emerged on the weekend of March 11/12. When markets opened on Monday March 13, both sterling and the U.K.&#8217;s FTSE 100 equity index rallied, with commentators suggesting that there was relief among investors that the process – now largely viewed as inevitable despite continued calls from certain high profile figures for the decision to be reversed – was finally getting underway. The FTSE 100 and the mid-cap FTSE 250 index both closed higher on Tuesday March 28, prior to the trigger being pulled on Wednesday while the British currency finished lower against the U.S. dollar.</p>
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All you need to know about Article 50 and the Brexit process

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<p>By <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/annie-pei/">Annie Pei</a></p>
<p><a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/AAPL" target="_self" data-gdsid="8016" data-inline-quote-symbol="AAPL">Apple</a> shares are at all-time highs, but if you missed out on the rally there might be a way to play the mega-cap tech name for less.</p>
<p>On <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/fast-money/" target="_self">CNBC&#8217;s &#8220;Fast Money&#8221;</a> on Tuesday, Dan Nathan of RiskReversal.com offered a stock replacement strategy on the stock. &#8220;You may want to consider a defined risk strategy, and that&#8217;s buying a call. Options prices are relatively cheap in Apple right now,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>In other words, Nathan is suggesting that investors may not want to buy the stock outright, but turn to buying options calls instead that would take them through Apple&#8217;s earnings and define their risk.</p>
<p>One trade Nathan said investors can do is buy the May 145-strike call for a total of $3.75, expiring May 19. The trade&#8217;s breakeven point is at $148.75, meaning that if Apple were to close over 3 percent from Wednesday&#8217;s levels, the trade would see a profit.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-115690" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Apple-CNBC.png" alt="" width="960" height="549" /></p>
<p>&#8220;This is a stock that on earnings over the last few years has moved about 5 percent in either direction,&#8221; added Nathan. &#8220;So this is one way to continue to play the momentum, define your risk to the downside.&#8221;</p>
<p>Apple has rallied about 24 percent year to date.</p>
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