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Companies based outside the European Union must meet Europe's data protection rules, ministers agreed on Friday, although governments remain divided over how to enforce them on companies operating across the bloc. The agreement to force Internet companies such as Google ( id="symbol_GOOGL.O_0"> GOOGL.O ) and class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Facebook ( id="symbol_FB.O_1"> FB.O ) to abide by EU-wide rules is a first step in a wider reform package to tighten privacy laws - an issue that has gained prominence following revelations of U.S. spying in Europe. Vodafone's ( id="symbol_VOD.L_2"> VOD.L ) disclosure on Friday of the extent of telephone call surveillance in European countries showed the practice is not limited to the United States. The world's second-largest mobile phone company, Vodafone is headquartered in the United Kingdom. "All companies operating on European soil have to apply the rules," EU Justice Co

Mexican telecommunications company iFone said on Friday, after winning a trademark ruling, it aims to seek damages from three local cellphone providers for using the Apple brand iPhone to sell services. _0"> The Mexican Institute for Industrial Property (IMPI), Mexico's trademark body, on Thursday said it had ruled against class="mandelbrot_refrag"> America Movil , Telefonica and Iusacell. It upheld a complaint by iFone SA de C.V. that their use of the "iPhone" name to market smartphone plans infringed the Mexican company's rights. Iusacell is jointly owned by Televisa and TV Azteca, which dominate the television market. That decision opened the door to a civil suit against the three cellphone providers, which iFone lawyer Eduardo Gallastegui said the company would pursue. "So as to claim the damages the law gives us a right to due to the infringement," he said. According to the law, Gallastegui said, iFone could expect to claim

The CIA, which has long trolled social media to try to uncover global trends and track evil-doers, officially joined Twitter and class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Facebook on Friday. _0"> The spy agency cast the move as an effort to better get out its message and engage directly with the public, but its first Twitter message, sent out shortly before 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), did not indicate there would be major revelations. It said simply: "We can neither confirm nor deny that this is our first tweet." The lack of content did not dampen interest: in less than 90 minutes, the CIA account had nearly 84,000 followers, and that number was climbing fast. The Central Intelligence Agency has long had a public website, and maintains official accounts on YouTube and Flickr, the photo-sharing site. "By expanding to these platforms ( class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Facebook and Twitter), CIA will be able to more directly engage with the public and prov

Uber Inc has raised $1.2 billion from mutual funds and other investors in a funding round valuing the fast-growing rides-on-demand service at $18.2 billion, one of the highest valuations ever for a Silicon Valley startup. Uber Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick announced the funding round on Uber's blog Friday. The funding, eclipsed only by the likes of class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Facebook Inc before it went public, is a vote of confidence by investors in four-year-old Uber's growth potential. "Uber is one of the most rapidly growing companies ever, and we believe there are opportunities for continued tremendous growth," Joan Miller, a spokeswoman for Summit Partners, an investor in the funding round, said by telephone. Investors hope the company, which allows users to summon a ride on their smartphones, can expand globally and diversify into logistics. The investors in the round valued Uber "pre-money" at $17 billion, the blog post

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it approved class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Biogen Idec Inc's long-lasting hemophilia A drug, Eloctate, adding another product to the company's nascent portfolio of drugs for non-malignant blood disorders. Hemophilia A is a rare, inherited blood-clotting disorder that can lead to prolonged bleeding, bruising and joint and tissue damage. It is caused by deficient levels in the body of factor VIII, a protein needed to clot the blood.   true       The FDA's ruling followed its approval in March of Biogen's hemophilia B treatment, Alprolix. Biogen developed both drugs with Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB, or Sobi, and expects the products to form the basis of a new non-malignant blood disorder portfolio. "We see Alprolix and Eloctate as the anchor tenants in a growing franchise," said Douglas Williams, Biogen's head of research and development. "We're in this space to stay." Biogen&

Sureview Capital, a small hedge fund which received starting capital from one of the industry's most powerful investors, Blackstone Group, shut down last month, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. The fund was founded by John Wu with seed money from Blackstone Alternative Asset Management in 2011 and last reported assets of $427 million on a regulatory filing. At the end of the first quarter Sureview, which specialized in picking class="mandelbrot_refrag"> stocks , listed class="mandelbrot_refrag"> CBS Corp as its biggest position and said it owned shares in class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Yahoo Inc and class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Facebook Inc, all of which suffered losses in March and early April. Sureview, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.   true       The industry sources requested anonymity because class="mandelbrot_refrag"> hedge funds are private