Image source, AT&T

US mobile operator AT&T has pledged to stop selling customers' location data to third party companies, following a damning report by technology site Motherboard, external, which found that bounty hunters were gaining access to the data and using it to track down people.

“Last year, we stopped most location aggregation services while maintaining some that protect our customers, such as roadside assistance and fraud prevention,” Jim Greer, a spokesman for Dallas-based AT&T, said.

“In light of recent reports about the misuse of location services, we have decided to eliminate all location aggregation services - even those with clear consumer benefits.”

Welcome to the Philippines, where homeless people in Manila survive by running an unofficial rail service on a live line...

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More details on those arrests in Poland, which include an employee from Huawei, the Chinese telecoms equipment maker.

A spokesman for Polish special services told Reuters that two men - the other is a Polish national - were arrested on Tuesday and are suspected of having "worked for Chinese services and to the detriment of Poland".

He said both their apartments and workplaces had been searched.

The Polish suspect has worked for "several state institutions", according to the special services spokesman.

Local media has reported that he used to work for Poland's ABW counter-intelligence service and is now employed by French telecoms firm Orange.

A spokesman for Orange Polska told APF: "ABW officials carried out items belonging to one of our employees on Tuesday.

"We have no information as to whether this is at all related to his work duties."

Image source, Apple

The Wall Street Journal, external is reporting that Apple is planning to launch three new iPhone models this year with LCD screens that will come with new camera features.

The iPhones are meant to succeed the iPhone XR, which has seen sluggish demand.

In early January, Apple blamed slowing sales in China as the reason it cut its sales forecast.

Image source, AFP

Facebook has employed a UK fact-checking service to help it deal with the spread of fake news.

Full Fact, a charity founded in 2010, will review stories, images and videos and rate them based on accuracy.

It said that it will focus on misinformation that could damage people's health or safety or undermine democratic processes.

Facebook said it was working "continuously" to reduce the spread of misinformation.

Read more here.

Image source, IMDB

IMDB has launched a free movie and TV streaming service called Freedive, but sadly it's only available in the US.

According to Gizmodo, external, Freedive can be watched from its website using desktop computers or on Amazon devices, including the Fire TV stick. IMDB also plans to launch a mobile app for the service soon.

It is free to view all the content on the service, which is supported by ads.

The idea is to help IMDB to promote its own original video content, external, which includes interviews with movie stars, as well as viral social content relating to entertainment trivia.

Image source, Getty Images

A Chinese businessman who is reported to work for the Chinese telecoms company Huawei has been arrested in Poland on allegations of spying.

A Polish man, who used to work for the country's security services was also arrested.

A spokesman for Poland's security services said the pair were arrested on Tuesday following a lengthy investigation.

Both men have been placed under arrest for three months and face up to ten years in prison if found guilty.

In a statement Huawei said it was aware of the situation but had no further comment.

The company has always denied allegations it has close links to China's intelligence services.

Image source, Getty Images

Thousands of overseas sellers have been evicted from online marketplaces in the UK such as Amazon and eBay owing to a tax crackdown.

Businesses, mostly from China, sold items including British flags, phones and fake eyelashes but evaded VAT.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) sends notices to seven different online sales sites if it discovers businesses failing to pay the correct VAT.

It said that 4,600 sellers have been "red-flagged" in this way.

Image source, Horizon Nuclear

The company behind a new UK nuclear power station says "no formal decision" has been made over its future, following a report construction would be halted.

The Nikkei Asian Review reported Hitachi's board would be likely to decide to suspend all work on the Wylfa Newydd plant on Anglesey next week.

In December, the firm said it would do its utmost to ensure the £20bn nuclear power facility went ahead.

A statement from the Welsh Government described the report as "worrying".

It was a brief rise, and now the pound has settled back down again.

Sterling is now 0.3% up against the dollar at $1.2787, and 0.03% ahead against the euro at €1.1089.

The FT's capital editor Katie Martin offers an explanation...

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Sterling has risen sharply on the Brexit delay announcement.

The pound is now up 0.58% against the dollar at $1.2823.

Sterling has risen 0.28% against the euro at €1.1117.

The Evening Standard is reporting, external that it is looking increasingly likely that Brexit will be delayed beyond the 29 March deadline.

Image source, Getty Images

Volkswagen says it delivered 10.83 million vehicles worldwide last year, a rise of 0.9% compared to 2017 and a fresh record.

South America recorded the biggest growth in new Volkswagen vehicles of 13.1% where strong demand in Brazil offset a fall in Argentina.

In North America, while deliveries to the US and Canada rose, they declined in Mexico resulting in a 2% drop for the region.

Deliveries to the Asia-Pacific region grew 0.9% "despite the negative effect of the Chinese market, where the overall economic situation became more sluggish in the second half of the year as a result of the trade dispute with the USA", the company said.

Image source, Getty Images

China's stock markets have finished the week on a high note.

The Shanghai Composite index closed up 0.7% at 2,553.83 points, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.6% to end at 26,667.27 points.

Image source, Reuters

Geely Group, an automobile manufacturer owned by Chinese billionaire Li Shufu, has cut its 9.7% stake in German carmaker Daimler by more than half, sources have told Bloomberg, external.

In February 2018, Geely Group made a $9bn investment into Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler - the biggest ever overseas acquisition by a Chinese carmaker.

Geely Group already owns Swedish carmaker Volvo and black cab maker London Taxi Company.

At the time, Germany said it would not block the investment, but it warned that the deal should not be used as a "gateway" for Chinese industrial policy interests.

Image source, Getty Images

Two of the biggest donors to the campaign for the UK to Leave the European Union now expect that the Government will abandon Brexit.

Billionaire Peter Hargreaves, who was the second biggest donor to the 2016 leave campaign, and hedge fund manager Crispin Odey tell Reuters they believe the UK will stay in the EU.

Mr Hargreaves says: "I have totally given up. I am totally in despair, I don't think Brexit will happen at all.

"They (pro-Europeans) are banking on the fact that people are so fed up with it that will just say 'sod it we will stay'. I do see that attitude. The problem is when something doesn't happen for so long you feel less angry about it."

Odey Asset Management is now expecting the pound to rise.

Dharshini David
Economics Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The concern that Brexit uncertainty may be weighing on sentiment and spending has become all too familiar.

But these GDP numbers suggest there’s more to the cooling down of growth toward the end of last year - and worryingly so.

They suggest demand from our trading partners is faltering.

Industry suffered its most widespread fall in output since 2012, with a drop in car production leading the charge.

Separate data showed that, once erratic items like aircraft orders were stripped out, the gulf between imports and exports, the trade deficit, widened to £9.5bn in the three months to November.

And we're not alone in feeling the pinch.

Germany, France and Spain have released manufacturing figures this week that were unexpectedly grim. From Apple to Jaguar Land Rover, some of the biggest global brands have been blaming faltering overseas demand, particularly from China for their woes.

They may have a point.

Growth across our major trading partners is tailing off.

It's a timely reminder that, whatever arrangements are in place come the end of March, we may not be able to rely on our economic allies overseas to keep our factories and workshops thriving.

Image source, AFP

The UK economy slowed in the three months to November, as factory output fell for the fifth month in a row. This also marked the manufacturing sector’s longest losing run since the financial crisis in 2008.

According to Hargreaves Lansdown, there are two reasons for this.

"The global economy looks to be stuttering, with the ‘Chimerica’ trade war rumbling on, and Chinese consumer spending on a downward trend. UK companies are also dealing with a significant Brexit headwind, with heightened levels of uncertainty putting business off investment and damaging consumer confidence," said Ben Brettell, a senior economist with Hargreaves Lansdown.

"Meanwhile the US Federal Reserve’s rhetoric has become increasingly dovish over the past few weeks.

"Markets had been expecting further interest rate rises over the coming year, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell hinted yesterday the central bank could press pause on further rate rises for now. In my view the next move for US interest rates could even be downwards."

Image source, Getty Images

Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, says it is not surprising that manufacturing is the area that slowed in the three months to November "given that industry is arguably more exposed to the influences of Brexit".

He says that overall, the figures are in line with Capital Economics' estimate that fourth quarter GDP growth will slow to 0.3%.

"It is possible that growth will slow further in the first quarter as that is presumably when the Brexit uncertainty will be greatest. What happens next depends on Brexit. But at some point the pent up investment and consumption demand will be released."