Google In Trouble with EU as the EU files antitrust charges against Google, opens Android probe

The European Union accused Google on Wednesday of cheating competitors by distorting Internet search results in favor of its Google Shopping service and also launched an antitrust probe into its Android mobile operating system. 

In a statement, Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said the US tech giant, which dominates Internet search engines globally, had been sent a Statement of Objections -- effectively a charge sheet -- to which it can respond.

"I am concerned that the company has given an unfair advantage to its own comparison shopping service, in breach of EU antitrust rules," she said. "If the investigation confirmed our concerns, Google would have to face the legal consequences and change the way it does business in Europe."

The Commission, whose control of antitrust matters across the wealthy 28-nation bloc gives it a major say in the fate of global corporations, can fine firms up to 10 percent of their annual sales -- or a penalty of over $6 billion for Google.

If it finds that companies are abusing a dominant market position, the EU regulator can also demand sweeping changes to their business practices, as it did with US software giant Microsoft in 2004 and chip-maker Intel in 2009.

Read more: Business - EU files antitrust charges against Google, opens Android probe - France 24

Islam: Muslims reporting dreams about Jesus

“I was in the desert alone, lost. As far as the horizon, there was nothing in sight but sand. I felt the sand on my bare feet. Then I saw something extraordinary. In the midst of that barrenness, an immense wooden cross emerged from the earth, rising up with sand spilling from it back to earth.”

So begins a dream narrative posted by Bosnian Muslim teenager Emina Emlonic. A dream about Jesus.

It continues: “I felt then a spectator in my own dream, and the sight of the cross gave me neither fear nor joy. But I was a curious and began moving, almost floating, towards it, the most magnificent … thing I’d ever seen or imagined, and as I came closer to the cross, I suddenly saw a man walking toward me: a broad-shouldered, long-striding man, with a dark complexion, long hair, and wearing a white robe.

“And just as suddenly I ceased to be a witness to my dream. I was in it, walking toward the man walking toward me. I knew him immediately. He was Jesus. Without knowing why, I fell to my knees. He stood over me and touched my face with his right hand.”

Posted at the Catholic Thing website, such accounts of encounters with Jesus through dreams and visions increasingly are being reported, according to Pastor Frank Costenbader, founder of Manifold Hope Ministries, publisher of the Isa Dreams website.

EU-Digest

The Netherkands - Cybercrime; Visting the Netherlands make sure you have good security on your computer

The Netherlands is the number one country in Europe and fourth in the world for cyber criminals, according to figures published on Tuesday by security company Symantec. Dutch servers process a great deal of spam, phishing, botnets and other digital threats, Symantec reports.

Globally, only the US, China and India process more malware. The Netherlands is popular with cyber criminals because its internet network works so well. The connections are fast and reliable, there are a lot of people online and Amsterdam has one of the largest internet junctions in the world.

The fact that so much cyber crime is routed through the Netherlands does not mean all the criminals are Dutch, however. 

The country is mainly used by criminals around the world as one step in an attack in order to make detection difficult, Symantec says. Globally, Symantec registered 317 million new malware programmes in 2014.

Read more: The Netherlands is popular with cyber criminals - DutchNews.nl

EU Tourism Sector: The tourism industry is 'make or break' for the EU economy - by Ana-Claudia Tapardel

Batavia Stad, Flevoland, the Netherlands

What would you do on your holiday? Would you relax of the beach of a Greek island? Perhaps you would go skiing in the French Alps, or hiking in the Carpathians? How about a cruise along the Danube delta? Or maybe a wine tour in the Douro valley? What about a shopping spree at the huge discount store complex in Batavia Stad, Flevoland Province,  in the Netherlands.

These activities are only a small portion of what Europe has to offer its domestic and international visitors. In fact, its diversity in art, landscapes, food and traditions have all helped make it the world's top tourist destination. From Bucharest to Lisbon, Europe's great variety in terms of scenery, services, cultures and people is unrivalled.

And the economic return from the tourism sector speaks for itself: prior to the accession of Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia, tourism accounted for 13 per cent of the EU's GDP. Nowadays, tourism represents 10 per cent of the European economy. The tourism sector employs approximately 5.2 per cent of the total workforce - roughly 10 million jobs - and involves almost two million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Yet while the tourism sector provides many opportunities to Europe, it is also faced with many challenges. These are mainly related to changes in global trends and increasing competition with non-European countries, particularly in Asia and North America.

For Europe to be competitive and continue attracting both EU and non EU citizens, we first need a defined strategy that will not only take into consideration new global trends, but will also bring together the main institutional actors (the parliament, the commission and the council), as well as the relevant stakeholders in the field.

In this context, I would like to point out that members of parliament's European tourism development, cultural heritage, way of St James and other European cultural routes intergroup - which I co-chair - is actively pushing for the revision and update of the commission's 2010 communication titled, 'Europe, the world's number one tourist destination'.

In order for us to achieve our goals, we must ensure that the European tourism sector and its actors receive the attention they deserve. In my opinion, one way to give the sector the boost it needs is by designating a 'European year for tourism'.

Read more: The tourism industry is 'make or break' for the EU economy | The Parliament Magazine

EU-US trade pact to miss 2015 deadline - "Europe should not sell its soul to the devil" - by Benjamin Fox

A 2015 deadline to agree a landmark trade deal with the United States is likely to be missed, EU trade officials have conceded.

"We cannot exclude that it may take longer," Latvian foreign minister Edgars Rinkevics, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, told reporters following a meeting of EU trade ministers on Wednesday (25 March).

“We have to do our best to get an agreement but we don’t want to reach an agreement just for the sake of it,” he added. “The political will is there but there is an acceptance that it may take longer”.

“We are aiming to conclude this under the Obama administration … but I cannot give you a date,” said EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, who added that ratification of TTIP could get caught up in the next US presidential election cycle.

The race to replace Barack Obama will begin in earnest in autumn, when the Democratic and Republican parties begin their nomination process ahead of the presidential election in November 2016.

Trade negotiators have now concluded eight rounds of talks with a view to agreeing a transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP), but were given a provisional deadline of December 2015 by EU leaders to agree a draft text.

The most thorny issue for ministers remains the investor protection mechanism known as ISDS, which allows firms to take governments to court if they discriminate against them or introduce new laws which threaten their investments.

“ISDS is a hot potato,” conceded Rinkevics. He said there are “differences in opinion” amongst ministers, but added there is no indication that member states want to open up the EU-Canada trade agreement, which includes the controversial regime.

Note EU-Digest: A European Parliamentarian when asked about the TTIP and the ISDS controversy said. "The EU must not sell  its soul to the devil by agreeing to the non-transparent TTIP - regardless of the 'fantastic' stories we hear about the economic benefits of the TTIP, we only need to look at the results achieved following the NAFTA agreement between Canada, Mexico,  and the US."

 "That  agreement, which has now been in effect 20 years, still shows little improvement in the overall economic conditions of ordinary citizens in the participating countries." 

"NAFTA has, however, certainly been a bonanza for the free-wheeling, uncontrolled, multi-national corporations - we must not repeat that in these negotiations with the US."

Read more: EU-US trade pact to miss 2015 deadline

UN cancer agency sees a cancer risk in Roundup and other pesticides

The UN's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said Friday that three pesticides, including the popular weedkiller Roundup, were "probably" carcinogenic and two others, which have already been outlawed or restricted, were "possibly" so. IARC classified the herbicide glyphosate -- the active ingredient in Roundup -- and the insecticides malathion and diazinon as "probably carcinogenic" on the basis of "limited evidence" of cancer among humans.

The insecticides tetrachlorvinphos and parathion were classified as "possibly carcinogenic" in the light of "convincing evidence" from lab animals, it said.

The classification, made by an expert panel, is not binding, said IARC, an agency based in Lyon, southeastern France, that comes under the aegis of the World Health Organization (WHO). "It remains the responsibility of individual governments and other international organisations to recommend regulations, legislation or public health intervention," it said.

Glyphosate -- introduced in the 1970s under the brand Roundup but now manufactured generically -- is the most-produced weedkiller in the world, the IARC said.

Agricultural use of it has surged since the introduction of crops genetically modified to be resistant to the chemical, enabling farmers to douse a field in one go to kill weeds.

"The general population is exposed (to glyphosate) primarily through residence near sprayed areas, home use and diet, and the level that has been observed is generally low," the IARC statement said.

The evaluation of glyphosate saw "limited evidence" of a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin lymphoma, as seen in studies in the United States, Sweden and Canada conducted among farm workers since 2001.

In 1985, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classified glyphosate as "possibly carcinogenic for humans" on the basis of experiments on lab mice.

UN cancer agency sees a risk in Roundup and other pesticides - Yahoo News

TTIP: German economy minister plays down boost from EU-U.S. trade deal: magazine

Germany's economy minister warned on Saturday against overblowi expectations for an economic boost from a trade deal between the United States and European Union but said the pact was needed to set high common standards for consumers.

The European Commission is trying to finalize a deal on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which some experts say could generate $100 billion a year in additional economic output on both sides of the Atlantic.

It would eliminate all tariff barriers between the United States and EU members, which together account for almost half the global economy.

"I don't believe in the wondrous calculations for economic growth from (the trade deal) TTIP," said Sigmar Gabriel, also chairman of Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) which shares power with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives.

"All the estimates about its impact ... give an impression of voodoo economics," Gabriel told Focus weekly

 Read more: German economy minister plays down boost from EU-U.S. trade deal: magazine | Reuters