angelburst29
The Living Force
Wolf in sheep's clothing: Who and 'what' is Fethullah Gülen?
https://www.sott.net/article/323250-Wolf-in-sheeps-clothing-Who-and-what-is-Fethullah-Gulen
F. William Engdahl featured an excellent article on Gulen, his connections and the multi-organizations that serve the CIA/Gulen network.
Of interest, is this quote of Gulen's influence spreading as far as the Xinjiang Autonomous Province of China.
Also this quote, in reference to "news agencies" and " the many programs sponsored by the Journalists and Writers Foundation."
Since the failed Coup in Turkey, Erdogan has detained, arrested or has warrants out for a large number of Gulen followers, from News Agencies and related networks. Since that same influence has spread to parts of China, I wonder if the "timing" of China's efforts to dismantle “current-affairs news” operations - is also a plan to limit the CIA/Gulen Media influence?
China Bans Internet News Reporting as Media Crackdown Widens
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-25/china-slaps-ban-on-internet-news-reporting-as-crackdown-tightens
China’s top internet regulator ordered major online companies including Sina Corp. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. to stop original news reporting, the latest effort by the government to tighten its grip over the country’s web and information industries.
The Cyberspace Administration of China imposed the ban on several major news portals, including Sohu.com Inc. and NetEase Inc., Chinese media reported in identically worded articles citing an unidentified official from the agency’s Beijing office. The companies have “seriously violated” internet regulations by carrying plenty of news content obtained through original reporting, causing “huge negative effects,” according to a report that appeared in The Paper on Sunday.
The agency instructed the operators of mobile and online news services to dismantle “current-affairs news” operations on Friday, after earlier calling a halt to such activity at Tencent, according to people familiar with the situation. Like its peers, Asia’s largest internet company had developed a news operation and grown its team. Henceforth, they and other services can only carry reports provided by government-controlled print or online media, the people said, asking not to be identified because the issue is politically sensitive.
The sweeping ban gives authorities near-absolute control over online news and political discourse, in keeping with a broader crackdown on information increasingly distributed over the web and mobile devices.
President Xi Jinping has stressed that Chinese media must serve the interests of the ruling Communist Party.
The party has long been sensitive to the potential for negative reporting to stir up unrest, the greatest threat to its decades-old hold on power. Regulations forbidding enterprise reporting have been in place for years without consistent enforcement, but the latest ordinance suggests “they really mean business,” said Willy Lam, an adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Center for China Studies.
Xi’s ‘Crusade’ Xi is cementing his power base and silencing dissenters ahead of a twice-a-decade reshuffle at next year’s party congress. Lam said that he “is really tightening up his crusade to silence opponents in the media.”
The regulator will slap financial penalties on sites found in violation of the regulations, the Paper cited the official as saying. A representative of Sohu declined to comment on the report. Tencent, Sina and NetEase didn’t respond to messages and phone calls seeking comment. The cyberspace administration has yet to respond to a faxed request for comment.
The government is now considering ways to exert a more direct form of influence over the country’s online media institutions. In recent months, Chinese authorities have held discussions with internet providers on a pilot project intended to pave the way for the government to start taking board seats and stakes of at least 1 percent in those companies. In return, they would get a license to provide news on a daily basis.
Gray Area China’s online giants serve content, games and news to hundreds of millions of people across the country — Tencent’s QQ and WeChat alone host more than a billion users, combined. Online news services however have always operated in a regulatory gray area. They’re not authorized to provide original content and technically aren’t allowed to hire reporters or editors. Still, outlets have recently published investigative stories on official corruption cases, and covered sensitive social issues from demonstrations to human rights. For instance, NetEase ran a feature in April after the party announced an investigation into a senior Hebei provincial official, Zhang Yue. The story was later removed from the internet.
“Current-affairs news” is a broad term in China and encompasses all news and commentary related to politics, economics, military, foreign affairs and social issues, according to the draft version of China’s online information law. The amended draft of the regulation is currently seeking public feedback on the CAC’s official website.
The change in the guidelines on original reporting also comes weeks after China replaced its chief internet regulator. Xu Lin, a former Shanghai propaganda chief who worked briefly with Xi during his half-year stint as Shanghai party boss in 2007, succeeded Lu Wei in June as head of the cyberspace administration.
The regulator has since tightened its grip on online news reports, such as by warning news or social network websites against publishing news without proper verification. In another sign that the government is exerting influence over information, the publishers of a private purchasing managers index suspended that popular gauge without explanation.
Verizon buys Yahoo for $4.83bn
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/07/25/476892/Verizon-buys-Yahoo-for-483bn
America’s largest wireless carrier Verizon says it is going to buy Yahoo Incorporation for $4.83 billion, a move which is expected to broaden the company’s digital reach.
This will be Verizon’s second biggest purchase of a tech giant after it acquired AOL in 2015 for $4.4 billion.
Yahoo will be rolled into Verizon's AOL operations but the move is already seen as an end of an era for a company that once defined the internet.
"We have enormous respect for what Yahoo has accomplished: this transaction is about unleashing Yahoo's full potential," AP has quoted AOL CEO Tim Armstrong as announcing in a statement.
AP says Yahoo is parting with its email service and still-popular websites devoted to news, finance and sports in addition to its advertising tools. The move will be taken under pressure from shareholders who are fed up with a steep downturn in the company's revenue during the past eight years, AP adds in its report.
The deal, expected to close within the first three months of next year, still needs approval from Yahoo shareholders. Yahoo's stock fell slightly at the open of trade Monday, AP reported.
AP’s report adds that the sale could potentially result in thousands of layoffs. It will also make Yahoo a holding company for its two stakes in China's e-commerce leader, Alibaba Group, and Yahoo Japan. Those investments, made more than a decade ago, are worth more than $40 billion before taxes, making them by far the most valuable pieces of Yahoo. The holding company will drop the Yahoo name and adopt a new identify after Verizon takes control of the operating business, AP has further emphasized in its report on the historic transaction.
Yahoo also still has a patent portfolio that it intends to sell, and about $7.7 billion in cash.
https://www.sott.net/article/323250-Wolf-in-sheeps-clothing-Who-and-what-is-Fethullah-Gulen
F. William Engdahl featured an excellent article on Gulen, his connections and the multi-organizations that serve the CIA/Gulen network.
Of interest, is this quote of Gulen's influence spreading as far as the Xinjiang Autonomous Province of China.
Also this quote, in reference to "news agencies" and " the many programs sponsored by the Journalists and Writers Foundation."
Since the failed Coup in Turkey, Erdogan has detained, arrested or has warrants out for a large number of Gulen followers, from News Agencies and related networks. Since that same influence has spread to parts of China, I wonder if the "timing" of China's efforts to dismantle “current-affairs news” operations - is also a plan to limit the CIA/Gulen Media influence?
China Bans Internet News Reporting as Media Crackdown Widens
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-25/china-slaps-ban-on-internet-news-reporting-as-crackdown-tightens
China’s top internet regulator ordered major online companies including Sina Corp. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. to stop original news reporting, the latest effort by the government to tighten its grip over the country’s web and information industries.
The Cyberspace Administration of China imposed the ban on several major news portals, including Sohu.com Inc. and NetEase Inc., Chinese media reported in identically worded articles citing an unidentified official from the agency’s Beijing office. The companies have “seriously violated” internet regulations by carrying plenty of news content obtained through original reporting, causing “huge negative effects,” according to a report that appeared in The Paper on Sunday.
The agency instructed the operators of mobile and online news services to dismantle “current-affairs news” operations on Friday, after earlier calling a halt to such activity at Tencent, according to people familiar with the situation. Like its peers, Asia’s largest internet company had developed a news operation and grown its team. Henceforth, they and other services can only carry reports provided by government-controlled print or online media, the people said, asking not to be identified because the issue is politically sensitive.
The sweeping ban gives authorities near-absolute control over online news and political discourse, in keeping with a broader crackdown on information increasingly distributed over the web and mobile devices.
President Xi Jinping has stressed that Chinese media must serve the interests of the ruling Communist Party.
The party has long been sensitive to the potential for negative reporting to stir up unrest, the greatest threat to its decades-old hold on power. Regulations forbidding enterprise reporting have been in place for years without consistent enforcement, but the latest ordinance suggests “they really mean business,” said Willy Lam, an adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Center for China Studies.
Xi’s ‘Crusade’ Xi is cementing his power base and silencing dissenters ahead of a twice-a-decade reshuffle at next year’s party congress. Lam said that he “is really tightening up his crusade to silence opponents in the media.”
The regulator will slap financial penalties on sites found in violation of the regulations, the Paper cited the official as saying. A representative of Sohu declined to comment on the report. Tencent, Sina and NetEase didn’t respond to messages and phone calls seeking comment. The cyberspace administration has yet to respond to a faxed request for comment.
The government is now considering ways to exert a more direct form of influence over the country’s online media institutions. In recent months, Chinese authorities have held discussions with internet providers on a pilot project intended to pave the way for the government to start taking board seats and stakes of at least 1 percent in those companies. In return, they would get a license to provide news on a daily basis.
Gray Area China’s online giants serve content, games and news to hundreds of millions of people across the country — Tencent’s QQ and WeChat alone host more than a billion users, combined. Online news services however have always operated in a regulatory gray area. They’re not authorized to provide original content and technically aren’t allowed to hire reporters or editors. Still, outlets have recently published investigative stories on official corruption cases, and covered sensitive social issues from demonstrations to human rights. For instance, NetEase ran a feature in April after the party announced an investigation into a senior Hebei provincial official, Zhang Yue. The story was later removed from the internet.
“Current-affairs news” is a broad term in China and encompasses all news and commentary related to politics, economics, military, foreign affairs and social issues, according to the draft version of China’s online information law. The amended draft of the regulation is currently seeking public feedback on the CAC’s official website.
The change in the guidelines on original reporting also comes weeks after China replaced its chief internet regulator. Xu Lin, a former Shanghai propaganda chief who worked briefly with Xi during his half-year stint as Shanghai party boss in 2007, succeeded Lu Wei in June as head of the cyberspace administration.
The regulator has since tightened its grip on online news reports, such as by warning news or social network websites against publishing news without proper verification. In another sign that the government is exerting influence over information, the publishers of a private purchasing managers index suspended that popular gauge without explanation.
Verizon buys Yahoo for $4.83bn
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/07/25/476892/Verizon-buys-Yahoo-for-483bn
America’s largest wireless carrier Verizon says it is going to buy Yahoo Incorporation for $4.83 billion, a move which is expected to broaden the company’s digital reach.
This will be Verizon’s second biggest purchase of a tech giant after it acquired AOL in 2015 for $4.4 billion.
Yahoo will be rolled into Verizon's AOL operations but the move is already seen as an end of an era for a company that once defined the internet.
"We have enormous respect for what Yahoo has accomplished: this transaction is about unleashing Yahoo's full potential," AP has quoted AOL CEO Tim Armstrong as announcing in a statement.
AP says Yahoo is parting with its email service and still-popular websites devoted to news, finance and sports in addition to its advertising tools. The move will be taken under pressure from shareholders who are fed up with a steep downturn in the company's revenue during the past eight years, AP adds in its report.
The deal, expected to close within the first three months of next year, still needs approval from Yahoo shareholders. Yahoo's stock fell slightly at the open of trade Monday, AP reported.
AP’s report adds that the sale could potentially result in thousands of layoffs. It will also make Yahoo a holding company for its two stakes in China's e-commerce leader, Alibaba Group, and Yahoo Japan. Those investments, made more than a decade ago, are worth more than $40 billion before taxes, making them by far the most valuable pieces of Yahoo. The holding company will drop the Yahoo name and adopt a new identify after Verizon takes control of the operating business, AP has further emphasized in its report on the historic transaction.
Yahoo also still has a patent portfolio that it intends to sell, and about $7.7 billion in cash.
