An era is coming an end. 

The CME Group just announced that it will close most of its futures trading pits in Chicago and New York by this summer. 

"As open outcry futures trading has fallen to just one percent of the company's total futures volume, CME Group today announced it will close most of its futures trading pits in Chicago and New York by July 2, 2015.  The floor-based S&P 500 futures market, which continues to provide an important venue for trading the underlying futures contract for the open outcry S&P 500 options on futures contract, will remain open on CME Group's Chicago trading floor,"the CME said in a press release.

The move is not surprising. 

Open-outcry is a form of communication on the trading floor where traders use hand signals to exchange information about buy and sell orders. This type of face-to-face trading has basically died out in recent years with the rise of electronic trading.

However, even when the exchange flipped to an electronic platform, there was still open-outcry trading in the pits. Most of the futures are traded electronically anyway. 

Here's the full release: 

As open outcry futures trading has fallen to just one percent of the company's total futures volume, CME Group today announced it will close most of its futures trading pits in Chicago and New York by July 2, 2015.  The floor-based S&P 500 futures market, which continues to provide an important venue for trading the underlying futures contract for the open outcry S&P 500 options on futures contract, will remain open on CME Group's Chicago trading floor. 

Options on futures contracts, which continue to trade actively on both the floor and the screen, will remain open on both trading floors except for the DJIA ($10) and NASDAQ-100 open outcry equity index options markets which are designed to deliver into floor-based futures contracts. 

With the exception of the S&P 500 futures and options on futures pits which will remain open, equity index futures pits and the DJIA($10) and NASDAQ-100 options pits will close following the expiration of the June 2015 contract on June 19, 2015. All other futures pits will close on July 2.  In addition, in Chicago, all options pits will be located on a single floor in the company's Financial Room by September. 

To assist floor traders with the transition going forward, the company will make every attempt to make booth space available to those who want to trade electronically following the closure of the open outcry futures pits.

CME Group will hold members' meetings in Chicago and New York to answer questions and discuss transition plans.  Only current member owners will be admitted. 

SEE ALSO: Check out nine different hand signals traders use

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We're learning more about why Google Glass failed, thanks to a report by The New York Times' Nick Bilton.

Google stopped selling Google Glass in January.

Glass was still an early prototype when Google made it available to fans and journalists in 2013.

"The team within Google X knew the product wasn’t even close to ready for prime time," a former Google employee told Bilton.

But company cofounder and Google X leader Sergey Brin wanted Glass to be released to the public so that Google could improve it with their feedback.

That strategy backfired when journalists reviewed Glass like a fully-developed consumer product.

One YouTube review called it "the worst product of all time." 

Some people were also put off by Glass invading their privacy and worried it could be used to steal their personal information.

Sergei Brin's romance with Glass marketing manager Amanda Rosenberg also reportedly contributed to Glass' downfall. Early team members left after news of the affair became public.

Google Glass isn't technically dead forever — the company is simply no longer selling the original prototype unit. Google took it out of the X Lab and handed responsibility to Tony Fadell, a former Apple exec who now runs Google's Nest unit. He's working with Ivy Ross, a veteran of the retail and art worlds.

SEE ALSO: Meet Amanda Rosenberg, The Google Employee Sergey Brin Is Reportedly Dating

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"NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams addressed his admission he made up a story about being in a helicopter that was shot down in Iraq in 2003 on his show Wednesday night. 

"I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago," Williams said, adding, "I want to apologize. I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG fire. I was instead in a following aircraft."

Williams first recanted the story in an interview with the military newspaper Stars And Stripes published Wednesday. His admission came after he repeated the tale on Friday during NBC's coverage of a New York Rangers game where a soldier who helped provide security for the grounded helicopters was honored.

Stars And Stripes also noted Williams' story has "been repeated by the network for years." You can watch him telling it on "The Late Show With David Letterman" in 2013 here.  

On his show Wednesday evening, Williams described the tale as "a bungled attempt by me to thank one special veteran." He did not address prior times he shared the story. 

After the Rangers game, crew members who were on the aircraft told Stars And Stripes Williams was "nowhere near" the helicopter "or two other Chinooks flying in the formation that took fire." Instead, they said the anchor "arrived in the area about an hour later on another helicopter."

Williams told Stars And Stripes he "made a mistake" and confused the helicopter he was in with the ones that actually came under fire.

"I don’t know what screwed up in my mind that caused me to conflate one aircraft with another," he said.

In a Facebook post, which NBC sent to Business Insider, Williams suggested the fact he arrived in the area where the helicopter went down soon after the incident may have confused him.

"I have no desire to fictionalize my experience (we all saw it happened the first time) and no need to dramatize events as they actually happened, I think the constant viewing of the video showing us inspecting the impact area -- and the fog of memory over 12 years -- made me conflate the two, and I apologize," Williams wrote. 

Spokespeople for NBC have not responded to multiple requests for comment from Business Insider asking whether the network will take disciplinary action against Williams. 

You can read Williams' full Facebook post here. Watch Williams' on-air apology below. 

 This post was updated at 7:38 p.m. with a link to the 2013 video of Williams. 

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Apple is talking to TV programmers about offering their content directly over the web, according to Re/code's Peter Kafka.

The talks, which seem to be in early stages, would let people with an Apple TV access certain channels buy purchasing access directly through Apple rather than a cable company or other provider. 

Apple had been trying to work with cable providers, but its progress hit a wall when cable companies expressed apprehension about Apple's ambitions for the set-top box.

Apple's plans for Apple TV may also have been pushed back when Comcast decided to buy Time Warner Cable.

Now Apple is going directly to content producers instead of dealing with distributors.

The iPhone maker wouldn't be the first company to offer web TV service.

In January satellite TV company Dish announced it would offer "Sling TV," which would give users access to 10 channels for $20 a month.

Apple, which added channels like ABC News last summer, could offer a similar service.

In an interview with Charlie Rose last September, Apple CEO Tim Cook said TV was "stuck back in the 70s."

"Think about all the things that have changed … and TV almost feels like you’re rewinding the clock, the interface is terrible," said Cook. "It’s awful.”

SEE ALSO: Apple's plans to revolutionize TV have hit a wall

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On Tuesday, the European Central Bank announced that it lifted its waiver on credit requirements for assets posted as collateral by Greek financial institutions.

Following this announcement, Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis issued a statement that said, "This decision does not reflect any negative developments in the country's financial sector and comes after two days of substantial stabilization."

Varoufakis added that this announcement from the ECB puts pressure on other members of the eurozone to, "proceed rapidly to conclude a new mutually beneficial agreement between Greece and its partners."

Here's Varoufaki's full statement, translated to English from Greece:

The Governing Council of the ECB decided to refer to emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) of Eurosystem counterparties seeking to secure liquidity through deposit Greek securities as collateral. 

This decision does not reflect any negative developments in the country's financial sector and comes after two days of substantial stabilization. According to the European Central Bank (ECB), the Greek banking system remains adequately capitalized and fully protected through access to the ELA. 

The European Central Bank (ECB) decision puts pressure on the Eurogroup to proceed rapidly to conclude a new mutually beneficial agreement between Greece and its partners. 

The government daily widens its circle of consultation with partners and institutions to which they belong, remains unwavering in its goal of social salvation program approved by the vote of the Greek people, and consults with a view to drawing up European policy that will finally end the hitherto self-sustaining social crisis of the Greek economy.

The ECB's statement effectively means that Greek banks can't post Greek sovereign bonds as collateral to be used in the ECB's monetary policy operations. 

Following this news, the 'GREK' ETF that tracks the Greek market tanked, while the euro also sold off. 

On Twitter, Greek journalist Efthimia Efthimiou said that ECB president Mario Draghi told Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras the ECB's announcement doesn't effect the Greek financial system because Greek banks can still get financing through the emergency liquidity assistance program. 

SEE ALSO: GREECE CRASHED

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Tokyo (AFP) - Shares in Sony jumped almost 10 percent in early trade Thursday after the struggling electronics giant revised earnings outlooks upward.

Sony opened at 3,040.0 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, up 9.79 percent from Wednesday's close, with buying bids overwhelming sell offers.

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On Wednesday night, "NBC Nightly News"anchor Brian Williams apologized on air for his "bungled" story about getting shot down in Iraq. 

Williams said on air, "I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago ... I want to apologize. I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG fire. I was instead in a following aircraft."

Shortly before the broadcast, Mashable editor Brian Ries dug up this video of Williams recalling his story on "The Late Show with David Letterman" in 2013. 

Williams starts telling the tale at the 3:00 minute mark:

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Banker Eric Vandercar was among those who tragically died while riding a Metro North commuter train hit an SUV on the tracks on Tuesday evening in Westchester County, New York. He was 53.

The crash claimed the lives of five train passengers and the driver of the Jeep that was on the tracks. Fifteen others were injured. There were 700 passengers onboard the train. 

Vandercar spent 27 years working for Morgan Stanley where he managed the municipal funding, liquidity, credit and lending businesses. He was most recently with a senior managing director in institutional sales and trading at Mesirow Financial, according to his LinkedIn. 

"Eric was not only a pillar in our industry, he was a great partner and friend to many. Losing him is a huge loss, personally and professionally. Our entire Mesirow family is hurting and our deepest sympathies are extended to his wife, Jill, and their family,"Mesirow Financial said in a statement to Bloomberg. 

He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He received his MBA with distinction from NYU, according to his bio.  

He is survived by his wife and two children. 

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Apple can be one of the most challenging places to work.

You're surrounded by the best in your industry, and given Apple's high standards there's always pressure to perform at the top of your game.

Describing it as a stressful place to work may be an understatement. 

But despite the long hours of hard work, many Apple employees seem to think the pros outweigh the cons.

Based on hundreds of reviews on Glassdoor and a few Quora posts written by former employees, it sounds like Apple treats its employees extremely well. 

Here's a look at why people love working at Apple. 

Employees feel like their work has a big impact on the world.

The biggest perk of working at Apple, at least based on the number of reviews that mentioned it, is a feeling that your work really matters and has an impact on the world. We saw this point made in dozens of reviews from current and former Apple employees from departments throughout the company.

One former Apple employee wrote that creating "innovative products" and taking part in developing new product categories were among the most rewarding things about the job.

"This is a great opportunity to work with some really fantastic, dedicated people, who genuinely want to use technology to make the world a better place," another anonymous current employee wrote.

Source: Glassdoor (1), (2)

You get to work with really, really smart people.

Steve Jobs was fond of saying he only wanted A-level people on his staff, and plenty of current and employees seemed to appreciate having the opportunity to be surrounded by really, really smart people.

Almost every review on Glassdoor mentions how amazing the company culture is at Apple. Co-workers and the excellent work environment at Apple are constantly listed in the "Pros" section of Apple employee reviews. One current employee specifically said everything at Apple is about teamwork.

Source: Glassdoor

And you're likely to make lifelong friends.

Not only do you get to work with really smart people, but a few former Apple employees gushed about the welcoming culture at the company. One former employee wrote that there's "an amazing sense of belonging and community," while another said "where ever you go you will gain a family." 

Source: Glassdoor (1), (2) 

Twitter and Google have partnered to make your tweets more searchable online, according to a Bloomberg report. 

Starting in the second half of this year, tweets will begin appearing in Google searches as soon as they are posted. The deal has been signed, but the companies have not officially announced it yet, according to Bloomberg.

The two companies reached a similar deal in 2009, but Google let that deal expire two years later after launching Google+.

Google thought its social network could provide the same real time information about what people are doing online as its deal with Twitter did. But Google+ never took off, and Google has revamped it into more of a general-purpose single sign-in platform across its services.

Twitter, meanwhile, is looking to increase usage and engagement, and having tweets show up in searches could help do that.

Twitter reports earnings on Thursday, and could announce the deal then.

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BRISBANE, Australia (Reuters) - Peter Greste, the Al Jazeera journalist freed after more than a year in an Egyptian prison, arrived back in his Australian homeland on Thursday and called for the release of two colleagues still in custody.

Greste was released on Sunday after 400 days in a Cairo jail and had been in Cyprus since. He had been sentenced to seven years on charges that included aiding a terrorist group in a case that had attracted widespread attention and criticism of Egypt's leadership and judiciary.

"I can't tell you how ecstatic I am to be here. This is a moment that I've rehearsed in my mind at least 400 times over the past well, 400 days," said Greste after embracing well-wishers on his arrival in Brisbane.

Greste's colleagues, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian national Baher Mohamed, remain in prison. They were jailed for between seven and 10 years on charges including spreading lies to help a terrorist organization - a reference to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

Egyptian security officials have said Fahmy could be released soon and deported to Canada.

"If it's right for me to be free then it's right for all of us ... I think that Egypt now has an opportunity to show that justice doesn't depend on your nationality," Greste said.

Greste said later on Thursday he would continue to campaign for the release of his two colleagues, whom he described as brothers. He also said he wanted to return to journalism after spending time with his family.

"I was really given an opportunity to look back at my life again too, look back at the screw-ups I have made, to appreciate all ... the amazing things I've done and experienced in ways that I never really understood in the past," Greste told a news conference.

Egyptian authorities accuse Qatar-based Al Jazeera of being a mouthpiece of the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement the army removed from power in 2013. Al Jazeera denies the allegations.

The journalists say they were doing their jobs when detained. Their imprisonment reinforced the view of human rights groups that the government was rolling back freedoms gained after the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

They were detained in December 2013 and charged with helping a terrorist group by broadcasting lies that harmed national security.

Baher Mohamed was given an extra three years for possessing a single bullet. If the authorities decide to free him, resolving his case could be more complex because he does not possess a foreign passport.

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Donetsk (Ukraine) (AFP) - Four people were killed when a hospital in east Ukraine was shelled ahead of a visit to Kiev by US Secretary of State John Kerry that will focus on the possibility of arming Ukrainian forces.

The latest deaths came as international pressure grew for an immediate halt to surging violence that has seen hundreds of civilians killed in recent weeks as pro-Russian rebels pushed into government-held territory.

President Petro Poroshenko said the events of recent days should encourage NATO to "provide more support to Ukraine, including the provision of modern weapons to protect itself and defend itself against the aggressor".

"We need a strong army with new weapons, this will help us to defend the civilian population against attacks by terrorists," he toldGerman newspaper Die Welt.

Hours before Kerry was due to arrive in Kiev, US President Barack Obama's nominee for defense secretary said he was likely to support providing Ukraine with weapons.

Ashton Carter, expected to be confirmed soon as Pentagon chief, told a US Senate committee that "we need to support the Ukrainians in defending themselves".

However, Vice President Joe Biden seemed less hawkish, telling German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung: "We have said since the beginning that there is no military solution to this crisis."

Wednesday's violence occurred at a hospital in a western suburb of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, where an AFP journalist saw a body lying next to the crater from a mortar blast that caused extensive damage to the building.

Two more dead civilians were sprawled outside a nearby residential building, and a local resident said another elderly man was killed in his home.

Eight other civilians were killed in clashes around the region in a 24-hour period, rebel and government officials said, and the army said four soldiers died and 25 were wounded.

EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini called for an immediate ceasefire to allow civilians to escape the fighting.

"The spiral of ever-increasing violence in eastern Ukraine needs to stop," Mogherini said.

Observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe have demanded a "local temporary truce" around the battleground town of Debaltseve for the next three days.

Amnesty International said Debaltseve's population had dropped from 25,000 to 7,000 in just a few days.

The strategic railway hub between Donetsk and another rebel centre, Lugansk, has been the focus of the fiercest fighting for a week as rebels battle to encircle Ukrainian forces.

Officials say thousands of civilians have fled the beleaguered town over recent days and those remaining behind were trapped in basements without water or electricity.

"The bombardment is incessant. We are trying to bring in medication and evacuate civilians under enemy fire," Illya Kiva, an official from Ukraine's interior ministry, told AFP from Debaltseve. 

Ukraine's military said rebels had launched a fierce infantry attack on the town overnight Tuesday but been beaten back after a five-hour battle.

- 'We need modern warfare' -

Kerry will arrive in Ukraine on Thursday with hopes growing among Kiev's pro-Western leaders that long-standing demands for the US to supply weapons could be met.

President Barack Obama's administration had previously ruled out sending arms to Ukraine's government but the failure of economic sanctions to force Russia to halt Moscow's alleged military support for the separatists has prompted a second look at the option.

Washington -- fearful of becoming embroiled in a proxy war with Russia -- has so far provided non-lethal assistance to Ukraine, including flak jackets, medical supplies, radios and night-vision goggles.

Ukraine though is believed to be seeking weapons, including so-called "fire-and-forget" advanced anti-tank missiles, to counter the heavy armour it says Moscow has poured over the border. 

"What we need is exactly modern warfare, which we've been lacking all this time," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin told Western journalists in Kiev.

While Kerry is not expected to pledge any arms during his trip, Ukraine will take heart from Carter's comments.

Klimkin said he hoped for "deliverables" from the visit and from another meeting between Poroshenko and Biden in Munich.

Poroshenko said on Tuesday he had "no doubt" that the US and other NATO allies would eventually agree to start arming Ukraine.

Fears are mounting of a sharp escalation in the violence in eastern Ukraine after truce talks collapsed and rebels announced an ambitious mobilisation to start next week aimed at bolstering their forces to 100,000 fighters.

Fighting since last April has claimed more than 5,358 lives, including some 220 in just the past three weeks, according to the United Nations.

Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Moscow of sending thousands of regular army troops and weapons to support the rebels. 

Moscow has repeatedly denied the allegations but the rebels appear to be equipped with the advanced weaponry of a regular army.

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Taipei (AFP) - Taiwan rescuers scoured a river for 12 people still missing from a TransAsia plane crash Thursday as the pilot was hailed as a hero for apparently battling to avoid hitting built-up areas shortly after issuing a "mayday" call.

Hundreds of rescuers in boats, as well as divers and soldiers mounted the search in the chilly waters, as the death toll rose to 31 with more bodies located including those of the pilot and co-pilot, authorities said.

The TransAsia ATR 72-600 crashed shortly after take-off from Songshan airport in northern Taipei Wednesday, hitting an elevated road as it banked sidelong towards the Keelung River, leaving a trail of debris including a smashed taxi.

The pilot was applauded by aviation experts for apparently steering the plane away from populated areas and high-rise buildings to avoid causing more damage with the aircraft which had 53 passengers and five crew on board.

"Based on the flight path, the pilot deviated and tried to avoid obstacles. The pilot apparently made a conscious effort to avoid further and unnecessary casualties by ditching in the river. It was a very courageous move," Hong Kong-based aviation analyst Daniel Tsang told AFP.  

Emotional citizens posted their praise and condolences on social media sites. 

"I believe the pilot managed to steer the plane away from high-rise buildings, he is a hero," Gin Oy, a writer and actress, said on her Facebook page.

- Toddler's escape -

Tales of miracle escapes emerged, as television footage showed a father cuddling his toddler son as they were taken to shore by boat after being rescued Wednesday. 

Together with the child's mother, the family had switched seats on the plane "out of a hunch" that saved their lives, the United Daily News said.

"The family originally sat in the heavily damaged left side but Lin Ming-wei felt uneasy after he heard noises before taking-off and requested to switch seats," the report quoted Dai Bi-chin, a friend of the family, as saying after visiting them in hospital.

Their new seats put them next to a crack in the plane after it crashed, and the newspaper said Lin was able to pull his wife to safety and then revive his son after spotting him in the water, blue and unresponsive.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration has grounded a total of 22 ATR planes from two Taiwanese airlines for safety checks after the accident on a domestic route to the island of Kinmen -- the second fatal crash for TransAsia after 48 people were killed in July.

"This morning we have some 60 divers going underwater to search" in addition to 20 boats scouring the river, said Liu Yung-chou, an official from the national fire agency which is coordinating the rescue operation.

Desperate crew shouted "Mayday! Mayday! Engine flameout!" as the plane plunged out of the sky, according to a recording thought to be the final message from the cockpit to the control tower played on local television.

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Washington (AFP) - US news anchor Brian Williams admitted that a story he has often repeated on air about coming under fire in a helicopter in Iraq in 2003 was not true.

Williams, who anchors "NBC Nightly News," said that he was not in the aircraft that fell prey to an attack, but arrived at the scene later in a different helicopter.

"I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago," Williams said on the broadcast.

"I want to apologize. I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG fire. I was instead in a following aircraft."

As recently as Friday, Williams had repeated the story, recounting the series of events on television in a tribute to a retired soldier who helped provide ground security for the grounded aircraft and crew.

But crew members of the Chinook helicopter and Williams' aircraft told Stars and Stripes, a US publication that covers the armed forces, that the anchor had been nowhere near the fired upon helicopter or other Chinooks in its formation.

He instead arrived an hour later in a separate helicopter, which landed due to an oncoming sandstorm.

Lance Reynolds, the flight engineer on the helicopter that was hit, told Stars and Stripes "it was something personal for us that was kind of life-changing for me. I know how lucky I was to survive it."

"It felt like a personal experience that someone else wanted to participate in and didn't deserve to participate in."

Williams said the story was "a bungled attempt by me to thank one special veteran and by extension our brave military men and women, veterans everywhere, those who have served while I did not." 

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Los Angeles (AFP) - Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp has married actress Amber Heard in secret at their home in Los Angeles, US media said, ahead of a larger bash at the weekend.

Depp, 51, and Heard, 28, got engaged in 2012 and plan a bigger wedding this weekend on Depp's private island in the Bahamas, People magazine reported, citing a source.

Depp, a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild winner, was married previously to Lori Anne Allison and has dated a string of glamorous and famous women including Winona Ryder, his co-star in "Edward Scissorhands," British model Kate Moss and French actress and singer Vanessa Paradis.

Depp has two children with Paradis.

He and Heard, who tied the knot on Tuesday, met on the set of the film "The Rum Diary" in 2011.

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Paris (AFP) - Maxence Hamard never used to spend much time thinking about French society, but all that changed dramatically one month ago when Islamist attackers wrought terror in Paris over three, long days.

"Now, I change my mind all the time on all sorts of issues," the 23-year-old student says in a cafe near the site of the first attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, where flowers, cartoons and messages form a makeshift shrine.

"I'm a little lost."

He's not alone. Stunned, the country has done much soul-searching as to how three Frenchmen could kill 17 of their countrymen and women.

Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, crippling inequalities, "apartheid-like" suburbs, education... Suddenly long-neglected societal problems are on everyone's lips.

- Fears of Islamophobia -

At the foot of a barricade near the white building where the Kouachi brothers burst into Charlie Hebdo's offices on January 7 and shot 11 people, including famous cartoonists, a red pinwheel flutters in the breeze, the words "la vida" ("life") stuck in the centre.

Not far away, a mound of flowers marks the spot where one of the brothers killed Ahmed Merabet, a policeman who tried to stop them.

"I am Arab, I am Muslim, I am a victim, I am Charlie," reads one sign pinned onto a fence that overlooks the pavement where he fell, a reminder that Islam should not be blamed for the jihadist killings.

But in the 25 days after the attack, 147 anti-Muslim incidents had been reported to authorities in France, not including Paris and its surrounding region -- more than for the whole of 2014.

"Our state of mind is one of fear, and also of anger," says Fateh Kimouche, the creator of Al-Kanz, an influential blog for Muslims.

"I'm a Frenchie but I feel like I am in hostile territory," he adds.

Back at the Charlie Hebdo offices, where armed policemen keep guard -- part of some 15,000 security forces deployed around sensitive sites nationwide -- Nathalie Mehessen, from the eastern Alsace region, has come to pay her respects.

She runs a creche attended by children from different origins and religions, and feels kids have to be taught to live together in harmony from an early age.

The government has announced measures to rally children who feel excluded on religious and ethnic grounds around the French values of "liberty, equality, fraternity" and secularity.

But Prune Hebert, a teacher at Camille Jenatzy high school in Paris, feels the government should focus more on social inequalities.

Many of her students are born in France to immigrant families, and still cannot read well or write a basic letter by the time they reach high school, she says.

"The social ladder is completely blocked at the bottom. If we get it working again, if we give fundamental skills to these students, then all those values have meaning. And not the other way round," she says.

- 'Apartheid', ghettos -

Much has also been said about the difficult upbringing of the Kouachi brothers and their accomplice Amedy Coulibaly, who shot dead a policewoman on January 8 and held up a Jewish supermarket the next day, killing four shoppers.

Coulibaly grew up on a notoriously violent estate in the Paris suburb of Grigny.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls sparked a furore by denouncing the "territorial, social and ethnic apartheid" in parts of the country.

But for Mehdi Bigaderne, who grew up in Clichy-sous-Bois where violent riots erupted in 2005, Valls is spot on.

"When I was a kid, we would have fun giving names to estates, the Bamako tower, the Istanbul tower," says Bigaderne, founding member of a co-operative representing working-class areas.

"It reflected reality, because there was a concentration of people of the same origin, and it's still true today.

"If you leave an entire fringe of the population together with the same problems (poverty, unemployment), it doesn't make for great chemistry."

- Creeping anti-Semitism -

By targeting a kosher supermarket, Coulibaly added to the growing insecurity among France's Jews, and a knife attack on three soldiers outside a Jewish centre on the French Riviera this week compounded these fears.

President Francois Hollande announced he would unveil a plan this month to fight anti-Semitism and racism.

Already on January 11, millions of people took to the streets of Paris and other cities with the message that France would not be divided by fear or religious differences.

One month on, the Place de la Republique where the Paris rally began is still full of flowers and messages, a statue representing Liberty now decked out with a big, mock pencil to symbolise free speech.

But for some, this very freedom is now being eroded as scores have been jailed for Facebook posts or comments deemed to condone terrorism.

Beatrice Delaunay, an arts student who has come to read the messages of support at the base of the statue, says she feels people can no longer express themselves too freely.

"We're in a paranoid world."

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Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) (AFP) - Gabon referee Eric Otogo will be in the spotlight Thursday as Africa Cup of Nations hosts Equatorial Guinea and Ghana meet in a semi-final after disgraceful scenes in a weekend match involving the hosts.

On Saturday, a dubious penalty decision in the dying minutes by Mauritian referee Rajindraparsad Seechurn turned the tide in favour of Equatorial Guinea against Tunisia.

Javier Balboa converted the harshly awarded spot-kick and he scored again in extra-time to give the host nation a shock 2-1 victory.

After the game, riot police had to protect the match officials from furious Tunisian players.

Otogo, 38, who has officiated two matches at this tournament, will be expected to redeem the organisers’ credibility with his performance in Malabo.

Ghana coach Avram Grant admitted there have been a couple of bad refereeing calls at the tournament, but preferred to focus on preparing his team.

"If the referee will do two, three (mistakes), I cannot control (it). I can control only our performance," said the former Chelsea manager.

"I think the referees until now -- except (for) one or two games -- have been good.

"And I am sure everyone will be watching this and everybody who needs to take care of this will do their job."

This will be Ghana's fifth consecutive semi-final, while the Nzalang Nacional (national thunder) are in the last four for the first time.

If the host nation's passage to the semi-final was controversial, the Black Stars' qualification was most convincing as they dumped Guinea 3-0. 

Four-time winners Ghana have improved since an opening-match 2-1 loss to Senegal by beating Algeria, South Africa and Guinea.

However, they are sweating on the fitness of inspirational skipper Asamoah Gyan, who is nursing a hip injury after a collision with Guinea goalkeeper Naby Yattara.

England-based striker Kwesi Appiah, who scored against Guinea, could replace Gyan.

Equatorial Guinea are unhappy having to move to Malabo for the game from their fortress in Bata, where they have not lost an international game.

Three years ago, it was in Malabo that they were thumped 3-0 by the Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals.

Javier Balboa will again be the source of inspiration for the team. He has stood out with his maturity and class.

Goalkeeper Felipe Ovono, who features in the semi-professional Equatoguinean league, has also caught the eye and is one of the reasons his country are still in this tournament.

"It will be difficult to win the Cup of Nations, but I pray to still win it," said Argentine coach Esteban Becker, who led Equatorial Guinea to the 2012 African women's title.

"We like the challenge, we are hungry to win.

"We are a young team, a team for the future. We have at least 10 top young players, but we want to take it one step at a time.

"All the same, I'm very happy for a small country like Equatorial Guinea, even though we lined up many young players who are playing their football in the lower leagues in Europe.

"It's incredible, I'm proud of what we have so far achieved."

In the other semi-final, already played on Wednesday in Bata, Ivory Coast defeated Democratic Republic of Congo 3-1.

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Berlin (AFP) - Greece's new finance minister will meet his German counterpart Thursday, a day after the European Central Bank piled fresh pressure on Athens by cutting off Greek banks' access to a key source of much-needed cash.

Yanis Varoufakis will hold his first talks with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, whose country is seen as the strongest opponent of any easing in the terms of the massive debts Greece has built up, in Berlin.

The ECB's decision to no longer allow Greek banks to use government debt, which has a junk rating, as collateral for loans will likely feature heavily in their talks.

The announcement rattled financial markets, sending the euro tumbling by more than one percent against the dollar, and prompting the Greek finance ministry to insist that the country's banking system "remains adequately capitalised and fully protected".

The ECB statement came just hours after Varoufakis held his first talks with ECB chief Mario Draghi as part of his push to renegotiate his country's 240-billion-euro ($270 billion) EU-IMF bailout.

Both Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Varoufakis -- whose left-wing Syriza party stormed to victory in elections on January 25 -- have been touring Europe in recent days to build support for a new debt agreement with creditors.

Elected on a pledge to end austerity policies imposed on Greece as part of its bailout, Tsipras faces the delicate task of persuading his European partners to reverse course while ensuring Athens still gets the aid required to avoid a default.

In Brussels, Tsipras struck an upbeat note after talks with European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker and EU president Donald Tusk, saying he was optimistic of a "viable and mutually acceptable solution".

A Greek government source said Tsipras and Juncker discussed plans to jointly create a four-year reform plan for Greece, as well as a bridging deal to give Athens time to draw up plans for reforms including on corruption and tax evasion.

But Tusk acknowledged that resolving the showdown over Greece's debt was likely to be "difficult" and needed "cooperation and dialogue as well as determined efforts by Greece".

- 'Fruitful' ECB talks -

Ahead of the ECB talks in Frankfurt, Varoufakis told the German weekly Die Zeit that the ECB "should support our banks so that we can stay afloat", acknowledging that Greece was "a bankrupt country".

The former economics professor later described his talks with Draghi as "very fruitful".

But after a meeting of its policy-setting governing council late Wednesday, the ECB said it was ending a special lending waiver for Greece because "it is currently not possible to assume a successful conclusion of the programme review".

The ECB waiver, which will end on February 11, had allowed banks to pledge their Greek bonds as collateral, even though the securities did not meet standards for a minimum credit rating.

Separately, a Financial Times report suggested that Draghi might block a key element of Athens' plan.

According to the FT, which cited officials involved in the deliberations, the ECB is refusing to raise an agreed cap on the amount of short-term treasury bills that Athens can issue from 15 billion to 25 billion euros.

Greece faces key payments on its debt at the end of February and again at the end of May.

The International Monetary Fund -- the third part of the so-called "troika" that oversees Greece's bailouts along with the European Commission and ECB -- said meanwhile it was not in debt talks with the Greek government.

The new government has blamed its fiscal problems mainly on the austerity shackles fixed by Germany, and Varoufakis could face a testing time when he meets Schaeuble. 

Athens says these restrictions have choked growth in an economy that has shrunk by a quarter, failed to cut unemployment that stands at over 25 percent, and made it impossible to service a mountain of debt worth 1.75 times its annual economic output.

But German Chancellor Angela Merkel tried to squash talk that Syriza could play on divisions within Europe, insisting that there were no substantial differences between major eurozone nations.

"I don't think that the positions of the member states of the eurozone with regard to Greece differ, at least in terms of substance," she said.

In a bid to quell Western worries over the new Greek government's closeness to Russia at a time of Cold War-style tensions, Varoufakis said meanwhile that Athens would "never" seek loans from Moscow.

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It's official, 24-year-old model Hannah Davis (aka Derek Jeter's girlfriend) landed the highly coveted cover of this year's Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Edition.

Davis posted the good news (and risqué cover) to her Instagram account with the caption: "Thank you to my @si_swimsuit and@imgmodels family! I am honored to be your 2015 cover girl! Wow!!"

The annual issue's cover girl was revealed late Wednesday on "The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon."

"I told my mom there was no way I'd get the cover," a surprised Davis told Sports Illustrated after the big reveal. "I told her 'They do beaches for covers and I'm on a farm. There's no way. It's not possible.'" 

"I've always enjoyed the whole Swimsuit experience, and said that anything extra—a little square on the cover or anything like that—was a bonus," adds Davis. "But still, this was my dream."

Watch the Sports Illustrated team reveal the cover to a shocked Davis below:

For Sports Illustrated's 50th anniversary last year, the magazine chose a cover with three models. Chrissy Teigen, Nina Agdal, and Lilly Aldridge all made the cover.

Teigen tweeted late Wednesday after the Davis announcement:

SEE ALSO: The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue will feature its first-ever plus-size model — in an ad

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Newly released photos of Lance Armstrong's crashed GMC Yukon, sent to Business Insider on Thursday by Aspen police, show the extent of the damage to the vehicle registered to the fallen sports icon after he allegedly crashed into two parked cars the night of Dec. 29.

His girlfriend, Anna Hansen, initially tried to take the blame for the accident in order to keep Armstrong out of national headlines, she told police.

You can see the photos of Armstrong's smashed-up SUV below:

Hansen was initially cited by Aspen police for failing to report the accident and exceeding safe speed for conditions before those tickets were transferred to Armstrong on Jan. 12.

The couple had attended a party at the St. Regis Aspen Resort on the evening of Dec. 29, the police report showed. Hansen initially told police that she had lost control of the GMC Yukon that she and Armstrong were driving home in and struck two parked cars in the West End neighborhood.

The Aspen Daily News first reported the story, saying that Hansen also allegedly lied about whether Armstrong had been drinking.

In the police report, an Aspen police officer wrote:

I asked Hansen if Armstrong asked her to take the blame for the accident once they got home. She replied, "No, that was a joint decision and um, you know we've had our family name smeared over every paper in the world in the last couple of years and honestly, I've got teenagers, I just wanted to protect my family because I thought, 'Gosh, Anna Hansen hit some cars, it's not going to show up in the papers, but Lance Armstrong hit some cars, it's going to be a national story.'"

...

Below are the two rental vehicles that Armstrong allegedly struck:

The US Anti-Doping Agency, or USADA, stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles in October 2012, and he confessed to Oprah Winfrey to having used banned substances in January 2013.

In its "Reasoned Decision," USADA said that evidence against Armstrong showed beyond any doubt that the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team, with Armstrong as its leader, "ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen."

In a BBC interview that aired last week, Armstrong was asked, "When it comes to the doping, would you do it again?"

"If you take me back to 1995, when it was completely and totally pervasive, I'd probably do it again," Armstrong said.

Armstrong is due in court March 17.

He has hired Pamela Mackey as his attorney. She also represented Kobe Bryant. 

Mackey has not responded to a request for comment from Business Insider. Mark Higgins, Armstrong's publicist, also has not responded to a request for comment.

On Wednesday, Armstrong posted to his Strava account, writing, in part, "Still can't drive in the snow." He also retweeted a Deadspin tweet that read, "Most people can't drive in the snow for shit; don't be like most people." 

Read more here >> 

SEE ALSO: Lance Armstrong allegedly crashed into 2 vehicles and left the scene, and his girlfriend tried to take the blame

SEE ALSO: Lance Armstrong invoked Steve Jobs when asked if he'd ever be reunited with Livestrong

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