Samsung Pay"s UK launch pushed back to next year

For those in the UK who are eagerly waiting for Samsung to release its Samsung Pay mobile payments service in the country, there"s bad news: the service"s launch has been pushed back to next year.
“Following successful launches of Samsung Pay around the world, we are planning to launch the service in the UK in 2017,” the South Korean tech giant said.
Samsung had earlier said that the service will be launched in the UK this year. As for the reason behind the delay, while there"s no official word on it, reports say it"s due to negotiations with banks, which is taking longer than expected.
It"s worth mentioning that similar offerings by Google and Apple have already made it to the UK – Apple Pay in July 2015 and Android Pay in May 2015.
Via

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UK tops list of most traffic-congested EU cities

Image copyright PA British roads are the most congested in Europe, a study of traffic in more than 100 EU cities suggests.
Data company Inrix monitored traffic on every road in 123 cities, including London, Cardiff, Paris and Hamburg.
It found more than 20,300 so-called “traffic hotspots” in UK cities – well over double the number in Germany and twice that of France.
The government recently pledged to spend an extra £1.3bn on targeting congestion on roads.
In Inrix"s analysis, a road becomes a “traffic hotspot” once congestion forces drivers to drop their speed by 65% for at least two minutes.
Inrix collected traffic information from car sat-navs, mobile phones and road sensors throughout September 2016.
It covered individual cities with populations of 250,000 or more, rather than whole countries, but found pinch points in:
UK: 21 cities with 20,375 traffic hotspots Germany: 27 cities with 8,517 traffic hotspots Italy: 12 cities with 5,069 traffic hotspots France: nine cities wi..

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Government starts review of "gig" economy

Image copyright Reuters A team of four experts is preparing to tour the UK to explore how the “gig” economy is affecting workers" rights.
Mathew Taylor, chief executive of the Royal Society for the Arts, was appointed last month to lead the review into the impact of “disruptive” businesses such as Uber and Deliveroo.
New technology combined with new business models has led to a rise in workers doing short-term, casual work.
Many are not eligible for the minimum wage, sickness or maternity pay.
The review will address questions of job-security, pension, holiday and parental leave rights. It will also look at “employer freedoms and obligations”.
Mr Taylor will be joined by the entrepreneur, Greg Marsh, who founded onefinestay, a company which helps upmarket home-owners let their properties to visitors, Paul Broadbent chief executive of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority and employment lawyer, Diane Nicol.
The team will be talking to businesses and workers across the UK, includi..

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RBS worst hit in Bank of England stress test

Image copyright Getty Images RBS has missed key hurdles in a Bank of England stress test, forcing it to devise new plans in case of a financial crisis.
The toughest stress test yet measured the UK"s seven biggest lenders against a global economic crash.
RBS performed the worst and was forced to draw up a new capital plan, which has been accepted.
The bank said it had “agreed a revised capital plan… to improve its stress resilience”.
It said the change came “in light of the various challenges and uncertainties facing both the bank and the wider economy highlighted by the concurrent stress testing process”.
"Action taken"RBS, which is still 73% owned by the government after its bailout in 2008, submitted the new plan to the Bank of England (BoE) after running its own internal tests and finding its balance sheet would fall short.
The bank said the test applied a hypothetical adverse scenario to the group"s balance sheet as at 31 December 2015, and that it had taken..

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Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool teenager Ben Woodburn has to be handled carefully

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits teenager Ben Woodburn has to be handled carefully after he became the club"s youngest goalscorer.
The academy graduate, at 17 years and 45 days, beat Michael Owen"s record by 98 days to write his name into Anfield history books with an emphatic 81st-minute finish in the 2..

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Footballers have surgery following plane crash

Video: Chapecoense fans mourn the loss of their heros One of the footballers who survived a plane crash in Colombia has undergone surgery to have his right leg amputated, doctors have said.
Goalkeeper Jackson Follmann is now recovering following the procedure.
Defender Helio Neto is being treated in intensive care after suffering severe trauma to his skul..

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Players have surgery following plane crash

Video: Chapecoense fans mourn the loss of their heros One of the footballers who survived a plane crash in Colombia has undergone surgery to have his right leg amputated, doctors have said.
Goalkeeper Jackson Follmann is now recovering following the procedure.
Defender Helio Neto is being treated in intensive care after suffering severe trauma to his skul..

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