Cyber attacks hit Twitter and New York Times

NEW YORK CITY, August 28, 2013 (AFP) - Twitter and The New York Times were hit with cyber attacks on Tuesday, with credit quickly claimed by a group backing embattled Syrian strongman Bashar Al-Assad.

The Syrian Electronic Army, ironically, used Twitter to tout its efforts to take down the globally popular one-to-many messaging service and the Times news website."Media is going down," a message at the SEA Twitter account proclaimed. "Twitter, are you ready?"

Bangladesh holds Fonterra milk products over scare

DHAKA, August 27, 2013 (AFP) - Bangladesh authorities have restricted imports of powdered milk mostly from New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra following a contamination scare that has seen global recalls, officials said Tuesday.

Customs officials are holding more than 600 tonnes of powdered milk mostly from Fonterra until mandatory chemical tests showed they were safe, a senior official in the port city of Chittagong said."Samples have been sent for chemical tests, we will release them when reports confirm they are not containing any harmful bacteria," joint secretary of the city's customs office, Mahmudul Hasan, told AFP.

Gold fall dims prospects for pawning warns S&P

The recent fall in gold prices exposes Sri Lanka’s banking industry to the risk of a rise in nonperforming loans (NPLs) in the pawning (or gold-backed) loans segment. That’s according to a report, titled ‘Gold’s losing lustre reveals the cracks in Sri Lanka’s pawning segment’ that Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services published yesterday.
“We expect defaults in pawning loans to increase over the next 12 months unless gold prices stabilise,” said Standard & Poor’s Credit Analyst Geeta Chugh.

Mobitel pioneers SIM-based NFC technology in Sri Lanka

Launching SIM-based NFC technology recently, Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel earned itself yet another first in the industry.
Opting to pay by tapping one’s phone which has been installed with a NFC-enabled SIM card is gaining popularity across the world. This option is one that is fast and secure, where payments done in a retail environment are 100% contactless.
NFC or Near Field Technology is now available for a multitude of applications via Mobitel’s suite of Business Solutions.

Fonterra under fire over milk scare; more product recalls

(Reuters): Fonterra, the world’s largest dairy exporter, came under fire from the New Zealand Government, farmers and financial regulators for its handling of a food contamination scare that has triggered product recalls and spooked parents from China to Saudi Arabia.
The Government sent officials to Fonterra premises to ensure a clearer message and to regain international confidence after New Zealand’s biggest company was criticised for dragging its feet in saying it sold whey protein products that contained a bacteria that could cause botulism – a potentially fatal food poisoning.