Manchester United Boss, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Will Get Financial Backing, Says Ed Woodward

Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, will get the financial backing to bring success back to the club, says executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

United finished sixth in the Premier League this season.

"The strength of our business means we have the financial resources to continue to provide backing for the manager and creating success on the pitch," said Woodward.

"This as ever remains our number one goal."

Solskjaer took over as caretaker United boss in December following the sacking of Jose Mourinho and the club went on a run of 11 games without defeat, of which they won 10.

However, after the Norwegian was appointed on a permanent basis in March, his side's form collapsed and they finished five points off the top four having won only two of their last nine games.

Solskjaer, whose side were 32 points adrift of champions Manchester City, has said it will "take a long time" for Manchester United to challenge for the Premier League title again.

The Old Trafford club last won the title in 2012-13, in Sir Alex Ferguson's last season in charge, while it is now two seasons without a trophy after the Europa League and League Cup triumphs in 2016-17.

"While the last few weeks were disappointing, we are delighted to have confirmed the appointment of Ole as our manager on a three-year contract," said Woodward.

"Everyone at the club - the board, the manager, the squad and all the staff are resolute in our desire to get United back to the top of English football, we continually look to improve staff on and off the pitch to achieve this."

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California Bill To Expand Privacy Protections Fails

California’s senate blocked a bill on Thursday that would have expanded the ability consumers to sue companies over their handling of personal data, a win for tech industry groups concerned about wide-ranging privacy lawsuits.

Under California’s data privacy law, which is set to take effect next year, consumers may file complaints to the state attorney general over alleged violations of privacy rules, but can sue over a data breach.

The new bill, introduced in February and endorsed by the attorney general, would have strengthened that law to enable consumers to sue over any alleged violations.

Adam Schwartz, a senior staff attorney at the San Francisco-based privacy group the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the bill’s failure marked “a sad day for consumer data privacy.”

“The act last year was a start, and it puts in place good rules. But a law is only as good as its enforcement,” he said.

California’s law, the toughest in the United States, enables fines of up to $7,500 for intentional failure to disclose data collection or selling others’ data without permission.

As other states have begun drafting bills, Facebook Inc’s Mark Zuckerberg and other tech leaders have called for federal privacy legislation to set industry-wide guidelines for how personal data should be collected and used.

But tech lobbying groups have also said they would fight any legislative proposals that could open the door to a flurry of consumer lawsuits.



Source: Reuters

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Small Plane Crashes Near Dubai Airport, Killing Four People

A small plane involved in upgrading a runway at Dubai International Airport crashed Thursday night, atleast four people dies and halting traffic at the world's busiest airport for international travel for nearly an hour.

The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority said all four people on board, three British citizens and one South African, were killed in the crash that took place 3 miles (5 kilometers) south of the airport.

The aircraft is owned by the US tech giant Honeywell. A statement released after the crash stated that the aircraft was on a mission to calibrate terrestrial navigation systems at the airport.

A spokesman said: "All operations at the Dubai airport are running smoothly after a slight delay and diversion of some flights as a precautionary measure to ensure security."

The city-state’s last major aircraft incident happened on Aug. 3, 2016. An Emirates Boeing 777-300 coming from Thiruvananthapuram, India, crash landed, but no lives were lost among its 300 passengers and crew. A firefighter was killed in a subsequent explosion of Flight EK521.

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