Nintendo shares fall as investors give thumbs down to Super Mario app

Nintendo shares have tumbled after investors gave the thumbs down to its new Super Mario app.

The Japanese technology giant saw $2bn (£1.6bn) wiped off its market value as shares fell by 5% in Tokyo, after Super Mario Run was made available on the iPhone in 151 countries.

It later recovered slightly to close 4% lower.
Super Mario's release is the latest foray by Nintendo into the mobile app market after the Pokemon GO craze earlier this year.

Early signs for the Mario game were positive as it topped download rankings in Britain, Japan, Germany and Australia.

But some analysts are concerned about the $9.99 price tag - £7.99 in the UK - to access the full version of the game.

Another concern is that Android users will not be able to buy it until later.

The Mario game is free to download but only for low-level stages.

That sets it apart from successful app games such as Candy Crush Saga and Angry Birds which typically only charge for in-game items and powerups.

The release is also a risky bet because, unlike Pokemon GO, it is being developed by Nintendo itself, in partnership with mobile gaming firm DeNa.

That means it will enjoy the lion's share of any success or bear the brunt of failure.

Pokemon GO, while based on a Nintendo character, is owned by San Francisco-based Niantic.

Its release marked a change in strategy for the Japanese company, which for years had resisted developing smartphone games or licencing its characters for online play.

Pokemon GO has been downloaded more than 600 million times since July.

Its release produced revenues of $143m (£115m) in its first month but analysts expect Super Mario Run to take about half of that.

Nintendo shares have risen by more than 50% this year as the Pokemon release lifted hopes about its potential for success in the app market.

Firm accused of overcharging NHS by hiking life-saving drug price by 12,000%

Drugs firm Actavis UK overcharged the NHS by hiking the price of a life-saving drug by more than 12,000%, the competition watchdog alleges.

It said the amount charged for 10mg hydrocortisone tablets rose to £88 per pack by March 2016 from 70p when a branded version of the drug was sold by a different company prior to April 2008.

There was also a 9,500% increase for 20mg tablets, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said.

The watchdog claimed that Actavis - formerly known as Auden McKenzie - broke competition law by charging "excessive and unfair prices".

Teva, the Israeli-based company that recently acquired the company, said it "intends to defend the allegations".

The CMA's provisional findings come a week after it fined US giant Pfizer and distributor Flynn Pharma a total of nearly £90m in a separate overcharging case. Both firms dispute the CMA's conclusions.

Hydrocortisone tablets are used to treat people who suffer from conditions where their adrenal glands do not produce enough natural steroid hormones, such as Addison's disease - which is life threatening.

More than 900,000 packs of hydrocortisone tablets were dispensed in 2015 and NHS spending on these drugs had climbed to £70m - up from £522,000 prior to April 2008.

The case, like others, centres on the way drugs companies can charge more for generic or de-branded drugs because, unlike branded drugs, they are not subject to price regulation.

Andrew Groves, CMA senior responsible officer, said: "This is a lifesaving drug relied on by thousands of patients, which the NHS has no choice but to continue purchasing.

"We allege that the company has taken advantage of this situation and the removal of the drug from price regulation, leaving the NHS - and ultimately the taxpayer - footing the bill for the substantial price rises."

The CMA said its findings, after a nine-month probe, were provisional and that no conclusion should be drawn at this stage that there has in fact been any breach of competition law.

It has the power to fine firms found to have broken the rules up to 10% of annual worldwide group turnover.

Earlier this year, drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline was among firms hit with a £45m penalty after a "pay-to-delay" scandal surrounding blockbuster anti-depressant drug Seroxat.

Teva defended the role of generic drugs, saying competition from these medicines saved the NHS in England and Wales £13.5bn a year overall.

It added: "Although the pricing of the acquired Actavis product (hydrocortisone) under investigation was never under Teva's effective control, Teva believes that intervention by the CMA in prices for generic medicines raises serious policy concerns regarding the roles of both the CMA and the Department of Health."

Russian-backed Assad has never been weaker

It's not surprising that Bashar al Assad appeared a little smug when he announced victory over rebels in Aleppo.

But he is misguided. His dynasty has seldom looked weaker.

Syria's president and the cabal that surrounds him are now entirely dependent on foreigners for their survival.

The revolution against his rule is far from over, which means he will continue to rely on unreliable allies.

Top of the list is Russia.

Vladimir Putin intervened in Syria to protect his warm water port in Tartus but also to send a signal to other autocrats, especially in Asia, that if you're a Russian friend now Moscow won't abandon you in the face of democratic uprising.

Russia's air power has proved devastating to the rebellion.

Combined with a profligate disregard for civilian casualties in cities like Idlib and Aleppo, the rebels have been driven back into two separate main areas in the north and far south of the country.

On the ground Syrian government forces have weakened and evaporated.

Even the famed Shabiha (ghost) militia has faded away. So infantry and artillery have poured in from Hezbollah in south Lebanon, Iraqi Hezbollah, Shia fighters (often press ganged) from Iran alongside the Revolutionary Guards and even volunteers from Afghanistan.

Without them, the so-called "liberation" of Aleppo would have been impossible.

On top of that, even Assad's supporters must acknowledge that he simply does not have support from most Syrians.

Thousands evacuate Aleppo amid 'war crimes evidence'

The operation to evacuate the 50,000 civilians and rebels left in the war-torn city of Aleppo could take days, the Red Cross has said.

Thousands left the besieged city on Thursday under a deal that will allow Syria's regime to take full control of Aleppo after years of fighting.

The Russian Defence Ministry said nine convoys carrying 6,400 people had left the city in the first 24 hours of the evacuation, including 3,000 rebels and 301 wounded.

All buses and ambulances were escorted by the Russian Centre for Reconciliation and members of the Red Cross, the ministry added.

Turkey put the figure of evacuees at 8,000.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said about 50,000 people were still trapped, including 40,000 civilians.

The withdrawal began about a month after President Bashar al Assad's forces launched a major Russian-backed offensive to retake all of Aleppo.

In a video message, President Assad said the "liberation" of Aleppo was "history in the making".

US Secretary of State John Kerry said what had already happened in the city was "unconscionable", but warned over the fate of "tens of thousands of lives that are now concentrated into a very small area of Aleppo".

Four Syrian organisations have sent a UN commission a list of 304 attacks in Aleppo where they say Russia bears a "high likelihood" of responsibility for violating international humanitarian law.

:: PM pledges another £20m for Syria

Their letter to the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, obtained by the Associated Press news agency, said the attacks led to 1,207 civilian deaths, including 380 children.

It said "evidence clearly indicates that Russia has committed or been complicit in war crimes in Syria".

The evacuations were announced on Thursday, after an initial plan for civilians and fighters to leave rebel-held areas collapsed the previous day amid renewed clashes.

The UN Security Council will meet on Friday evening to discuss the crisis in response to a request by France, which is calling for international observers to be sent to monitor the situation and ensure aid deliveries.

European Union leaders also tried to put pressure on Russia, urging the Kremlin to protect civilians, but EU President Donald Tusk acknowledged the bloc was largely powerless.

"We know we are not effective enough. Unfortunately I know who is effective enough, not in humanitarian assistance but in bombing," Mr Tusk said.

Prime Minister Theresa May pledges another £20m in aid for Syria

The UK will provide another £20m of aid for Syria, as the Prime Minister condemned Bashar al Assad and his Russian and Iranian backers.

Theresa May said the Syrian government must let the United Nations ensure the safe evacuation of civilians from Aleppo.

President Assad has claimed victory in the city, which had been held by rebel fighters for more than four years.

Speaking as she left the European Council summit in Brussels, Mrs May said the UK would provide extra funding for the most vulnerable people in Syria.

The PM said: "We have discussed a number of issues here today at this European Council meeting, including how to deal with migration issues, also strengthening Europe's security.

"But perhaps the most important issue we discussed was the appalling situation in Syria.

"We heard from the mayor of eastern Aleppo, he had one plea for us: to allow the safe evacuation of the people in the city.

"President Assad and his backers, Russia and Iran, bear responsibility for the tragedy in Aleppo. They must now allow the United Nations to ensure the safe evacuation of the civilians who are left there.

"The UK is going to provide a further £20m of practical support for those who are most vulnerable.

"The mayor of east Aleppo said to us that we can't bring back those who are lost but we can save those who remain and that is what we must now do."

International Development Secretary Priti Patel said the UK was urgently sending blankets, medical kits, clean water and food for civilians from Aleppo.

She said the aid would "mean the difference between life and death for those fleeing Aleppo and those caught in freezing conditions in the city after being systematically bombed from their homes by the Syrian regime and its Russian allies".

Ms Patel added: "Protecting innocent civilians must be an absolute priority.

"It is paramount that aid agencies now get the unfettered, secure access they need to save lives inside east Aleppo."

US Secretary of State John Kerry has accused President Assad's regime of carrying out "nothing short of a massacre" in Aleppo.

It comes as thousands of civilians started to leave the east of the city, headed for rebel-held areas outside Aleppo as part of a ceasefire deal.

President Putin 'personally involved in US election hacking'

Barack Obama has said the US will take action against Russia after the White House accused Vladimir Putin of direct involvement in cyberattacks designed to influence the outcome of the US election.

President Obama said America would respond at a "time and place of our choosing", some of which might be publicised and some not.

Whenever a foreign government tried to interfere in US elections, the nation must take action - "and we will", Mr Obama told NPR News.

"Some of it may be explicit and publicised, some of it may not be," he said. "But Mr Putin is well aware of my feelings about this, because I spoke to him directly about it."

On Thursday the Obama administration suggested President Putin personally authorised the hacking of Democratic officials' email accounts in the run-up to the election and said it was "fact" that such actions helped Donald Trump's campaign.

The information on Mr Putin's alleged involvement reportedly came from spies and diplomatic sources.

Russia has denied state-sponsored hacking to tip the balance towards Mr Trump, who is seen as more pro-Russia than Hillary Clinton.

Mr Putin's spokesman dismissed the latest claims as "laughable nonsense".

In October, the US government formally accused Russia of cyberattacks and President Obama last week ordered a review by intelligence agencies, set to be completed before he leaves office on 20 January.

The Washington Post reported that the CIA believes individuals linked to Moscow fed WikiLeaks emails from Mrs Clinton's campaign chief and the Democratic National Committee.

Those emails were steadily released in the months before the election and damaged Mrs Clinton's campaign.

Mr Trump has called the claims "ridiculous" but Obama spokesman Josh Earnest said it was "obvious" Mr Trump knew he was being helped by the Russians.

Top Obama adviser Ben Rhodes also waded in, telling MSNBC: "I don't think things happen in the Russian government of this consequence without Vladimir Putin knowing about it.

"Everything we know about how Russia operates and how Putin controls that government would suggest that, again, when you're talking about a significant cyber intrusion like this, we're talking about the highest levels of government."

It is the first time officials have publicly pointed the finger at Mr Putin and it will only ramp up tensions between the Russians and President Obama's outgoing administration.

Jihadist Humza Ali went paintballing to train to join IS in Syria

An apprentice bricklayer convicted of trying to join Islamic State fighters in Syria trained for battle at a paintballing centre, a court heard.

Humza Ali, 20, posed for photos at a paintballing centre in Solihull in the West Midlands alongside three other men linked to the extremist group.

A three-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard that Ali wanted to "fight until I die" in Syria.

In an undercover recording he told a fifth IS sympathiser that his mother had confiscated his passport.

Ali, of Ward End, Birmingham, denied dissemination of terrorist material and trying to travel to Syria for terrorist purposes.

He will be sentenced in January.

Anne Whyte QC, prosecuting, said: "They were able to use the occasion to take a sort of promotional photo sealing their common sense of identity.

"It was a bonding act of preparation between men of like mind and like intent. They were doing what passed, in their limited circumstances, for training."

Mohammed Ali Ahmed, Gabriel Rasmus and Abdelatif Gaini also featured in the photographs found on Ali's phone.

Ahmed, 27, was jailed for eight years for his part in passing £3,000 to the "man in the hat", Brussels bombing suspect Mohamed Abrini.

Rasmus, 29, of Lozells in Birmingham, was jailed for four years at the Old Bailey last month after being arrested in April last year while en route to Syria to engage in terrorism.

Gaini, 41, seen near a military vehicle in one of the pictures, is now thought to be in Syria.