Terrorism on Trial

The week saw unsettled business take center stage with the beginning of the Boston Marathon Bombing trial along with various other worrying developments around the world.

Tackling Terrorism

We begin this week with the Boston Marathon Bombing trial which began after struggling to find jury members. The trial kicked off with opening statements with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's attorney admitting his client had carried out the attacks but tried to push the blame onto his older brother. The trial continued with testimony from survivors recounting their experience on the tragic day with the trial expected to continue for weeks to come.

In other terror related news the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram released a graphic video showing the beheading of two men believed to be spies while in the US, Twitter revealed that it had suspended over 2000 accounts used by ISIS in recruiting new members resulting in ISIS threatening Twitter staff.

Political Front Lines

Politicians were on the front line this week when a man armed with a razor attacked a US ambassador slashing his face and wrist in opposition to military drills by South Korea and the US. The military drills also received attention from North Korea who fired two short range missiles into the sea as the drills began.

In Russia a new video has surfaced of the assassination of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov last week, showing the bridge as the attack takes place. On the topic of high profile leaders, Ex-CIA chief Petraeus, has pleaded guilty to mishandling classified material with his mistress.

Blood on the Streets

In the world of drugs it was revealed that the Bali 9 were executed on a secluded island ignoring pleas from the Australian government while in Mexico police and troops made progress capturing Zetas cartel leader, Omar Trevino Morales, in a wealthy suburb of Monterrey.

Images were released which the police say confirms the homeless man shot by LAPD had tried to take an officers weapon. Finally we end the week with a Justice Department investigation into the Ferguson police which shows excessive use of force and unjustified arrests.

Banks Behaving Badly

This week saw all eyes on the banking sector with investigations galore. The tech industry also saw some action this week of a less dramatic kind.

Banks

The European Central Bank's health check was a success however the report did say "Banks face a significant challenge as the sector remains chronically unprofitable".

Things only got worse from there with Barclays Bank under investigation for bribing a member of the Saudi Royal Family in order to secure a rare banking license. Deutsche Bank braced itself for a $1bn fine from US and UK regulators for it's part in the Libor and Euribor scandal.

Further afield US prosecutors may reopen investigations into several big banks that were previously probed on suspicion they may have violated agreements under which the institutions settled prior cases against them. US and European banks are also stock piling billions for potential trans-Atlantic settlement of allegations they manipulated foreign-exchange rates.

Technology

The technology sector saw action with Twitter shares taking a tumble over concerns with user growth. Samsung was hammered with profits plummeting 60% due to increased pressure from smartphone competitors.

Facebook on the other hand saw it's earnings almost double on rising ad revenue. but it wasn't all good news with it's latest Acquisition $21.8bn WhatsApp making a loss of $138million. Microsoft ended up cutting 3,000 employees as part of it's larger plan to cut 18,000 staff.

Apple was in the news after one of it's suppliers, GT Advanced Technologies, says a deal with the tech giant went sour forcing it to file for bankruptcy. However it's wasn't all gloom for Apple with it's payment system showing 1 million activations within 72 hours.

What Happened? 2013 Business News

The business world had some nervous moments with politicians getting in the way and wars at breaking point but the always innovative tech world made sure money was made.

Tech world keeps ticking

Bitcoin, the infamous decentralized virtual currency, had a bumpy year with wild swings in it's value. Unfortunately it also suffered a dramatic set back when the Chinese government banned it's use.

Twitter finally made it's debut on the stock market with it's IPO. It wasn't all smooth sailing with the stock taking a tumble after a warning it was overvalued.

Amazon had huge sales come Christmas and gained even more attention with it's crazy drone delivery plan.

Apple released the next generation of iPhones instantly invalidating all previous models having their legions of fans waiting in line to upgrade.

Government, can't live with them...

The business world held it's breath as the US edged closer to defaulting on it's obligations. Eventually the US government closed for business when Republicans refused a budget bill in an attempt to delay Obamacare resulting in nation wide shutdown.

After pumping billions into the economy during the recent recession the Fed's tapering had markets a buzz.

The earlier NSA revelations trickled down to business with telecoms giants admitting to their part in providing the government with access to phone records of millions. Even big tech companies had co-operated from Google to Yahoo and Microsoft.

Bad (for) business?

BP has been trying to cut it's losses from it's oil clean up fines requesting proof of losses which was later turned down by the courts.

Sometimes all it takes is one employee to cause headaches, case in point IAC Communications Director Justine Sacco sending a racist tweet before hoping on a plane to Africa. She was later fired.

The big banks paid for their blunders with JP Morgan paying $13billion in fines for it's toxic mortgages part.

A garment factory collapse killing 175 people in Bangladesh and a fire in a 10 story building raised questions about the west's growing desire for cheap goods.

What Happened? 2013 Technology News

The world of technology kept it's pace with more start-ups making waves with valuations in the billions.

Wares, both soft and hard 

Twitter had a busy year when it finally exercised it's exit strategy by launching it's IPO on the Nasdaq.

Snapchat, the little photo app that could turned down billions from both Facebook and Google.

The consoles wars kicked into full swing with the release of Sony's Playstation 4 and Microsoft's XBox One.

Several tech watches from the Samsung Galaxy Gear to the Pebble smartwatch were released adding to the years wearable tech fad started with Google Glass.

4K TV, also known as Ultra HD, made its appearance instantly making people groan after having splurged on 3D and HD TV's.

Apple kept it's turn around time on track launching the next incarnation of the iPhone in 2 flavors, the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C.

Governments behaving badly

The Chinese were busy hacking away at everyone from the Wall Street Journal to the US Government.
 
Edward Snowden opened the worlds eyes to the NSA's spying on both American's and foreigners through electronic systems.

Space

Astronaut, Chris Hadfield, kept the world entertained with his social space updates leaving the ISS singing the David Bowie song "Space Oddity".

The ISS (International Space Station) ran into issues when a leak was detected requiring shutting down of various elements. 3 space walks were scheduled to replace the faulty pump.

China became the third country to successfully complete a "soft landing" on the moon with Jade Rabbit.

And in an "about time" moment, the US government finally acknowledged the existence of Area 51. Space related? You decide.

The 3 Business Stories you need to read this week

Even with the US Government closed business carried on as usual, but how much longer?

Debt be damned

The US edged closer to defaulting on it debt thanks to the same guys who closed down government last week.

Somthing to tweet about

With Twitter ready to go public there's money to be made in 140 characters.

Making it rain

For those of you lucky enough there is a new $100 bill with extra security features.