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Monday, March 7, 2016

$1.9m for the Lamborghini Centenario?

They were all sold, they were equally distributed across North America, some in Europe, the Middle East is covered and also the Asian side of this world.
Stephan Winkelmann, CEO, Lamborghini 
In honour of Ferruccio Lamborghini's 100th birthday, Lamborghini recently unveiled the limited edition supercar, the Centenario.
Despite having not started production, all 40 models of the car, which produces 770 horsepower and top speed of more than 217 mph, were sold out.
But at a cost of around $1.9m, who bought the car and why has it managed to sell so easily?
Stephan Winkelmann, the CEO of Lamborghini, joins Counting the Cost to discuss where the company and the luxury car market is heading.

Somalia-Bound Weapons Cache Worth $2m Seized


A huge cache of weapons bound for Somalia has been seized off the coast of Oman.
The Australian navy, which patrols waters around the Indian Ocean as part of an international maritime force, said it seized nearly 2,000 AK-47 rifles, 100 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 49 PKM machine guns, 39 PKM spare barrels and 20m mortar tubes from the fishing vessel.
A Western security sources told the Reuters news agency that the street value of the haul seized by the Australian Navy appeared to be more than $2m (£1.4m).
The haul included AK-47s, grenade launchers and machine guns.
"The weapons were seized under United Nations sanctions, which authorise interdiction on the high seas of illicit weapons destined for Somalia," the navy said.
The Australian Navy did not say who the intended recipient of the weapons, which were discovered under fishing nets, was.
The navy said personnel from HMAS Darwin boarded the vessel around 170 nautical miles (195 miles) off the coast of Oman to verify which flag it was sailing under and they determined that it was stateless.
The ship is in the region as part of the Combined Task Force 150, which is responsible for counter-terrorism operations and cracking down on piracy and drug smuggling.
HMAS Darwin intercepts a fishing vessel off the coast of Oman.
An arms embargo enforced by the United Nations has been in place against Somalia for decades, and the country has been mired in conflict since a civil war started in 1991.
In 2013, the UN Security Council relaxed some of the restrictions, allowing the Western-backed government to buy light weapons to help its armed forces in the battle against al Shabaab militants, who are aligned to al Qaeda.
As well as al Shabaab, some regional states in Somalia operate and equip their own militias without government approval.

Civilians killed in Tunisia clashes

At least three civilians have been killed in clashes between security forces and armed men in the Tunisian city of Ben Gardane near the border with Libya.

Assailants attacked an army barracks from several fronts with rocket-propelled grenades.

An ambulance was also stolen in the ongoing clashes on Monday morning.

A security and military campaign began last week in Ben Gardane, after Tunisian security officials said "terrorist groups" sneaked into the country.

Officials said the campaign followed raids in Libya against fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Fighters trained in Libya carried out several attacks on Tunisia last year.

Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri, reporting from Tunisia, described Ben Gardane as a strategically important town that is the "gateway to Libya".

"Tunisia has built a fence along the border with Libya but that doesn't seem to stop the movement of armed attackers coming in from Libya and targeting the army and security forces," she said.

Civilians killed in Tunisia clashes

At least three civilians have been killed in clashes between security forces and armed men in the Tunisian city of Ben Gardane near the border with Libya.

Assailants attacked an army barracks from several fronts with rocket-propelled grenades.

An ambulance was also stolen in the ongoing clashes on Monday morning.

A security and military campaign began last week in Ben Gardane, after Tunisian security officials said "terrorist groups" sneaked into the country.

Officials said the campaign followed raids in Libya against fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Fighters trained in Libya carried out several attacks on Tunisia last year.

Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri, reporting from Tunisia, described Ben Gardane as a strategically important town that is the "gateway to Libya".

"Tunisia has built a fence along the border with Libya but that doesn't seem to stop the movement of armed attackers coming in from Libya and targeting the army and security forces," she said.


Islamic State: may be plotting huge attacks' in UK

The so-called Islamic State group may be planning a "spectacular" attack in the UK, the national head of counter-terrorism policing has warned.
Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said there was evidence IS - also known as Daesh - was "trying to build bigger attacks" globally, including in the UK.
He said a large-scale attack was the "natural next step" for IS.
A number of attacks, including last year's gun and bomb attacks in Paris, are believed to be inspired by IS.
Speaking at a briefing in London, Mr Rowley revealed the number of terrorism-related arrests hit record levels last year.
There were 339 arrests in England, Wales and Scotland - the highest yearly figure.
Scotland Yard - which published the data - said there had been a 57% increase in the last three years compared with the previous three.
Although he would not be drawn on specific plans or operations, Mr Rowley said IS had expanded its ambitions from smaller-scale targets - often military personnel or police.
"In recent months we've seen a broadening of that. Much more plans to attack Western lifestyle, and obviously the Paris attacks in November.
"Going from that narrow focus on police and military as symbols of the state to something much broader," he said.
"And you see a terrorist group which has big ambitions for enormous and spectacular attacks - not just the types that we've seen foiled to date."
Mr Rowley said psychologists were being deployed to work with counter-terrorism units because of increasing concern that people with mental health problems were being radicalised.
The use of psychologists was becoming "increasingly standard" he said, adding: "Having that insight is critical."

Dead May Outnumber Living On Facebook By 2098

Facebook
Facebook could become the world's biggest virtual graveyard by the end of the century, a statistician claims.
The social network has around 1.5bn users around the world, but by 2098 the number of dead users could outnumber the living.
This is due to plateauing numbers of new users, and Facebook's policy of not automatically deleting the profiles of the dead.
The prediction was made by statistician Hachem Sadikki, from the University of Massachusetts.
Close to one million Facebook users are expected to die this year alone - up from 385,000 in 2010 when Facebook had a much smaller user base.
Facebook's current policy means that when a user dies, their page is automatically turned into a memorial.
The only way to delete the page is to have someone login using their password and delete it.
Given that most people do not share their password at all, it is unlikely that most people will be able to close the account of a dead loved one.
The problem can often be upsetting - with some dead people still appear as having birthdays in users' news feeds and alerts.
Facebook has started to ask people to appoint a 'Legacy Contact' before they die.
The contact has the power to write one last post after a person's death, as well as updating their cover and profile photo.

Women Could Boost UK Economy By £170bn

Businessmen and women in a meeting
There is a simple way to boost the UK economy: get more women into work, according to the latest research by ‘big four’ accountancy firm PwC.
The economy could benefit to the tune of £170bn - or a 9% increase in gross domestic product - if female employment in the UK rose to match Sweden’s.
Sweden is the best performing country in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) across a number of factors, according to PwC’s Women in Work Index.
The UK has improved its position, up to 16th place from 21st last year, thanks to a lower female unemployment rate, and progress narrowing the gender pay gap.
But that gap is still far higher than the average among members of the OECD, and it ranks 21st out of 33 countries.
Currently women’s average salary is 18.3% behind men’s; closing the gender pay gap would result in an £80bn boost to overall female earnings in the UK, or an average pay rise of £5,500 for every working woman.
PwC finds that the Nordic countries are leading the way, with the highest level of female board membership and female workforce participation- around 80% for most of the states.
One of the main areas for improvement highlighted by the survey is in getting mothers back into work in Britain.
Gaenor Bagley, head of people and executive board member at PwC, said: "One of the main reasons why there is a gender pay gap in the UK is due to the low number of women in senior positions.
"If we want to close the gap, businesses need to help women back into the workplace and make sure that opportunities to progress are equal for all. Businesses and the economy are still losing out due to the low number of women in full-time employment and mothers in employment."