[easyembed field=”code1″]

UK finance authorities are considering disclosing the names of super-rich individuals who use tax avoidance schemes, following a report that shows a hoard of more than $21 trillion is hidden from taxmen by the global elite.

Treasury Minister David Gauke proposed that accountants and promoters of tax avoidance schemes will be forced to disclose their client lists to HM Revenue & Customs. Moreover, if a promoter fails to comply with the rules, it will also have to provide extra information to HMRC on all of their schemes and their risks, according to Treasury paper published on Monday.

The new measures are designed “to crack down on the promoters of aggressive, contrived tax avoidance schemes” as it would make it easier for the regulator to control the firms. “We are building on the work we have already done to make life difficult for those who artificially and aggressively reduce their tax bill,” Gauke said.

The suggestion comes at the same time a report entitled The Price of Offshore Revisited and prepared by The Tax Justice Network revealed that between $21 and $32 trillion assets are stashed in offshore funds by wealthy tax avoiders. The capital flow from some developing countries since 1970 would be enough to pay off national debts, according to the research.

Read the whole story…

Are your Skype calls safe from the eyes and ears of snooping feds? Microsoft has filed a patent to allow eavesdropping over Skype and other VOIP platforms, but the Silicon Valley giants won’t say whether or not they are already implementing it.

Microsoft acquired the popular voice-over-IP program Skype in May 2011 for an astounding $8.5 billion, but the news between the world’s most popular VOIP service and the legendary Silicon Valley entity doesn’t end just there. Barely a year later, Microsoft was awarded a patent last month that allows them to roll-out undetectable eavesdropping tools to target the communications of its customers without them ever knowing.

According to the paperwork Microsoft has filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office, the ability to silently record communications between Skype users is necessary in instances where law enforcement agencies and national governments may demand to listen in on or even watch conversations in real time that are otherwise believed to be between just two parties. Their patent for “legal intercept” technology was approved last month, essentially awarding Microsoft the ability to “silently copy communication transmitted via the communication session” without asking for user authorization. Does that mean that Bill Gates’ brainchild and the feds are already using it to work hand in hand, though? Microsoft has been asked repeatedly to acknowledge whether or not that’s the case, but so far they have yet to offer either an explanation or answer.

When called on to provide reasoning for the rumored restructuring of their VOIP interface, Skype Corporate VP of Product Engineering & Operations Mike Gillet told ExtremeTech.com that adjustments with how data was transmitted through so-called “supernodes” were only an added stepto “improve the Skype user experience” and shrugged off allegations that it was being done to facilitate law enforcement requests — despite their wiretap patent being approved weeks earlier. As news of their “legal intercept” technology makes its rounds around the Web, though, critics are not ceasing their questions for Microsoft.

Read the whole story…

Officers from the Desert Hot Springs Police Department responded to the
11700 block of Upland Way on an injured male. Upon arrival, officers discovered a 49 year old male
suffering from upper body trauma.

Posted with Blogsy

NEW YORK, The New York Times (www.NYTimes.com) and Flipboard™ (flipboard.com) have collaborated to deliver the latest news and award-winning journalism from The New York Times, designed and formatted for optimal reading on Flipboard for iPad and iPhone. The New York Times on Flipboard will be available starting Thursday, June 28.

Today’s announcement marks firsts for both companies.

For The New York Times, it marks the launch of NYT Everywhere, a new strategy designed to expand its reach to users on third-party platforms. It is the first time that The Times has offered paid subscribers full access to its content off a Times platform.

For Flipboard, this is the first time readers can access premium content from a publisher within Flipboard’s critically acclaimed user experience. Flipboard designed this authentication and navigation experience specifically for The New York Times.

Following authentication by Flipboard, Times subscribers will have full access to all content including full articles, videos, photo slideshows and blogs. By tapping on The New York Times logo, readers will be able to browse stories from various New York Times sections, everything from Politics to Business to Style. As with other New York Times news applications, the Top News section of the app is free to all.

“With the launch of NYT Everywhere, with Flipboard, we are continuing our effort to extend the user-experience across a variety of platforms to reach readers where they want to access our journalism,” said Denise Warren, general manager, NYTimes.com and senior vice president and chief advertising officer, The New York Times Media Group. “We’re excited to offer our subscribers the option of Flipboard’s rich experience and also to bring our authoritative news, opinion and superior multimedia to a new audience of Flipboard users who may not yet be Times subscribers.”

“There are more and more people reading on mobile devices every day. And it’s more important than ever that great content be discoverable, beautiful and sustainable on these devices,” said Mike McCue, CEO of Flipboard. “With Flipboard we’ve tried to create a path to all three—where publishers can be found, articles and images easily paged through, advertising enjoyed and now subscriber models supported.”

About The New York Times Company

The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading global, multimedia news and information company with 2011 revenues of $2.3 billion, includes The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, NYTimes.com, BostonGlobe.com,Boston.com, About.com and related properties. The Company’s core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.

About Flipboard

Flipboard is the world’s first social magazine, a single place to see everything you care about. Inspired by the beauty and ease of print media, Flipboard is designed so you can easily flip through news from around the world or stories from right at home, helping people find the one thing that can inform, entertain or even inspire them every day. Start reading your magazine by downloading Flipboard at flipboard.com. The company is based in Palo Alto, California and backed by legendary investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byer, Index Ventures and Insight Venture Partners. You can follow us at twitter.com/flipboard.

[easyembed field=”code1″]

Aurora Police Department motorcycles escort a dump truck filled with sand and improvised explosive devices removed from James Holmes’ apartment July 21, 2012 in Aurora, Colorado (AFP Photo / Chip Somodevilla)

Bomb technicians have disposed of all explosive devices removed from the Aurora, Colorado apartment of James Holmes, the man suspected of killing 12 people and wounding 58 others at a movie screening late Thursday night.

Improvised explosive devices were placed in a sand truck and taken to a disposal site. Once there, some of the materials were detonated inside makeshift cinderblock containers while the rest was buried, then detonated once underground.

Video of the scene shows a series of coordinated blasts, after which the material burned for several minutes.

There were no official comments on the kind or quantity of explosive materials that had been detonated, but earlier police reported that they had discovered some 30 softball-sized home-made explosive devices in the suspect’s apartment.

Read the whole story…