THE LOCAL

How would you like your pizza to be delivered to you in a self-driving car? In the next few weeks the idea is going to be tested on some of Domino's customers in the US city of Ann Arbor in Michigan. The aim is not to test if self-driving cars work, but to see if customers are happy to go out of their homes to collect the pizza from an empty car. The research is being carried out with Ford, which plans to start making self-driving vehicles in 2021. Russell Weiner, the president of Domino's USA, which is based just outside Ann Arbor, said the firm wanted to ensure the delivery of its pizzas this way would be "clear and simple" for customers. "We're interested to learn what people think about this type of delivery," he said. "The majority of our questions are about the last 50 feet of the delivery experience. For instance, how will customers react to coming outside to get their food? "We need to understand if a customer's exper...

The billionaire heir to the Samsung empire has been sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of offering bribes to South Korea's former president. Lee Jae-yong was also found guilty by a panel of three judges of embezzlement, hiding assets overseas, concealing profits from criminal acts and perjury. The court in Seoul found Lee hoped that bribes to then-president Park Geun-hye and a close friend would secure support for a merger that strengthened his control over the Samsung empire and its flagship Samsung Electronics business. It marks the downfall for the scion of South Korea's richest family, which controls one of the world's largest consumer electronics companies. Lee, 49, was accused of offering $38m in bribes to four entities controlled by Choi Soon-sil, a friend of Park. Payments were said to include $6.4m in supporting the equestrian career of Choi's daughter. But Lee, vice-chairman at Samsung Electronics and the Samsung founder's...

Capital Gains Tax was first introduced in Kenya in 1975 under the Eighth Schedule to the Income Tax Act. At the time, it was payable at the rate of 10%. On 13 th June 1985, the said provisions were suspended thus discontinuing the charge of Capital Gains Tax in Kenya. In 2006, there was an attempt to re-introduce Capital Gains Tax through the Finance B ill (2006) but the motion to pass the Bill was defeated in Parliament. The Bill sought to charge Capital Gains Tax at the rate of 10%. Parliament was largely of the view that the tax would increase the cost of land and make housing less affordable to Kenyans.  Ultimately, in the wake of Kenya’s growing budgetary constraints, Parliament finally approved the Finance Bill 2014 which re-introduced Capital Gains Tax in Kenya. Capital Gains Tax became operational on 1 st January 2015 upon the commencement of relevant sections of the Finance Act 2014. SCOPE OF CAPITAL GAINS TAX Under the Finance Act 2014, Capital Gains ...

After two months of discussions, Uber has finally found its next chief executive in current Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. The 48-year-old Iranian businessman was the third choice on the short list of Uber’s board, alongside former GE CEO Jeff Immelt and Hewlett Packard Enterprises CEO Meg Whitman.  On Sunday evening, Uber’s board voted largely in favor of Khosrowshahi, although it’s unclear at this point whether he will accept the board’s offer, recode first reported. Uber did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication, and Khosrowshahi has yet to formally accept the offer. Khosrowshahi has served as CEO of Expedia since 2005 where he helped expand the company to more than 60 countries. Prior to Expedia, the Brown University graduate served as chief financial officer of IAC (IAC), which also owns the popular dating site Match.com. An Iranian immigrant, Khosrowshahi was one of the first tech leaders to file a legal challenge to Preside...

After nine years, hedge fund portfolios are up 22 percent on average, compared to 85.4 percent for  Warren Buffett's  Vanguard Admiral Shares S&P 500 Index Fund pick . Three of the five hedge funds have average annualized returns of less than 1 percent. Buffett's charity beneficiary looks set to get account funds come Dec. 31, 2017, as the Oracle of Omaha's bet outperforms Protege Partners' five undisclosed hedge funds. ·           Nearly 10 years ago Berkshire Hathaway CEO (and arguably one of the best investors on Earth), Warren Buffet , issued a challenge to the hedge fund industry — a $1 million bet that they could not put together a portfolio of hedge funds that would outperform an  S&P 500 Index fund  over a 10-year period. Buffett was convinced the combination of active stock-picking and high costs would result in lagging market performance, and he was willing to put his money where his mout...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Hyundai Motor Co. said it resumed production at factories in China on Wednesday following a shutdown that stemmed from a dispute between Beijing and Seoul over a U.S. missile defense system. The shutdown, started last week when Hyundai did not pay a parts supplier that refused to provide fuel tanks in response, was the latest in series of challenges that have beset South Korea's largest automaker in the key market, since a diplomatic row erupted in spring over South Korea's decision to deploy a U.S. missile defense system. The supplier resumed providing fuel tanks Wednesday, Hyundai spokesman Sohn Yong said, allowing its China plants to return to production gradually. The company is still in talks with the supplier to resolve the payment issue. Beijing Hyundai Motor Co., the South Korean company's joint venture with BAIC Motor Corp., has three plants in Beijing and one in Changzhou.  Assembly lines at the four plants were forced t...

Investors are fleeing U.S. stocks in a way they haven't since 2004. For 10 straight weeks a total of $30 billion has left U.S. stocks, marking the longest streak of outflows since 2004, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a Thursday report, citing EPFR Global data. Investors turned instead to emerging markets and European and Japanese stocks, which saw $36 billion in inflows over the last 10 weeks, the report said. Streaks of consecutive weekly US stock fund outflows BofAML's breakdown of last week's fund flows pointed to more aversion to risk among investors, and could add to some analysts' worries about deteriorating market internals. The 10-week outflow from U.S. stocks comes despite the S&P 500's nearly 1 percent gain this quarter and a record high on Aug. 8. The report also pointed out the turn away from U.S. stocks coincided with the  late June surge in the euro against the U.S. dollar   to its strongest in nearly a year, after comments from...

A group of engineering students in Cairo have built a machine that produces alternative fuel from vehicle tyres. The university students came across the idea when they were looking for a graduation project and learnt about the technology from a professor at their university. “The project consists of the container in which we put the shredded tyres. We place a fire under the container which heats the tyres which will begin to evaporate.  We put the vapour into a condenser which condenses the vapour, and the product is diesel oil. It is very similar in properties to pure diesel and the carbon or black coal is just left inside the container,” engineering student, Mostafa, Saeed Ali said. It took the team three months to design the device and another seven months to build it. Tyres are non-bio degradable and can be difficult to dispose of. Another student Mostafa Saeed says their project helps reduce waste. “The two benefits gained from this process are environmental an...

HANOI (Reuters) - "This isn't like China," says Vietnamese activist 'Anh Chi' at a noisy bar off one of the narrow streets of Hanoi's Old Quarter. "They can't shut Facebook down here." His 40,000 Facebook followers make him one of Vietnam's better-known critics, but by no means the biggest in a Communist state whose attempts to crackdown on dissidents have collided with the rapidly expanding reach of foreign-owned social media. Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang this month called for unspecified tougher internet controls in the face of "hostile forces" that he said threatened not only cybersecurity but also "undermined the prestige of the leaders of the party and the state". But taming the internet in a young, fast-growing country is not easy, especially when the companies providing the platform are global. China, in contrast, allows only local internet companies operating under strict rules. Vietnam...

(Reuters) - Oil prices dipped on Wednesday but gasoline spiked to its highest since mid-2015 as flooding in the wake of Hurricane Harvey knocked out almost a quarter of U.S. refineries, crimping demand for crude but raising fears of fuel shortages. Harvey, which has been downgraded to a storm, has caused massive floods across coastal Texas, including in Houston. It is now moving into Louisiana, where more floods are expected. "Catastrophic and life-threatening flooding continues in southeastern Texas and portions of southwestern Louisiana," the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest note. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $46.35 per barrel at 0644 GMT, down 9 cents from their last close. Brent crude futures were down 6 cents, at $51.94 a barrel. In the refined product market, price movements have been more dramatic. U.S. gasoline prices were over 3 percent higher at $1.8380 per gallon. Prices earlier climbed to the most si...