Morning Bulletin: Dark day for O2, Facebook flit and British Google
This morning’s bulletin makes grim reading for O2 which has seen the loss of customer data. We also look at a proposed new Facebook base in San Francisco and a Russian take on Pokemon Go.
Business Insider kicks things off with reports that Facebook is considering opening an office in San Francisco to save employees from a tortuous commute to Menlo Park. Until now Mark Zuckerberg had been keen to keep employees together but is now looking for ‘hundreds of thousands of sq/ft downtown.
The BBC covers a dark day for O2 with suggestions that confidential customer data is being flogged on the ‘dark net’ after hackers used stolen passwords and usernames to attempt log-ins to O2 accounts to steal further details.
The public service outlet also notes that Ladbrokes-Gala Coral have been ordered to sell off up to 400 shops if they wish to proceed with their mega merger to assuage competition concerns.
Retail Week leads with Sir Phillip Green’s fightback against his detractors following the collapse of the BHS empire, demanding an ‘immediate apology’ from MP Frank Field following public allegations of greed levelled against him.
Campaign publishes a warning that any post-Brexit shift in global perceptions of Britain for the negative could have knock-on implications for brands which trade on their Britishness.
Returning to Business Insider, the online portal reports that the Russian capital has been taking lessons from Pokemon Go with the launch of ‘Know.Moscow. Photo’ which allows tourists and locals to capture local heroes using an augmented reality smartphone app.
Reuters also records a fresh twist on the recent leaking of Democratic party emails, which led to the resignation of chairwoman Wassermann Schultz for favouring Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. It suggests the leak may have been orchestrated by Russia to sow discord amongst the Clinton camp to assist Trump.
The Guardian meanwhile carries the findings of a Radio Times poll which names presenters Eddie Mair and Kirsty Young as women’s favourite voices, with veteran Radio 4 inquisitor John Humphrys rounding out the top three.
The paper also continues to cover a growing spat between former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie and Channel 4 with Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron now entering the fray, describing MacKenzie’s criticism of a hijab wearing presenter as ‘beyond belief’.
Finally The Times quotes Softbank, new owner of British chip manufacturer Arm holdings, which confidently predicts that its acquisition will one day be as big as the likes of Google, Facebook and Apple.