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Gucci became the first fashion house to release custom Animoji today, made specially for Lunar New Year. Unlike standard Apple-made Animoji, Gucci’s can be accessed within its mobile app, which also houses all the Gucci content, from fashion show footage and wallpapers to a photo booth that lets you stick   chic   stickers onto your photos. The pair of Animoji dogs are based on Gucci Creative Director Alessandro Michele’s own Boston terriers, Bosco and Orso. The app explains that the Animoji are inspired by artworks by Unskilled Worker, a Gucci collaborator. To be clear, I’m calling the Animoji “horrifying”, not the Boston terriers — I’m sure they’re lovely dogs. For one, these Animoji can’t even smile, or look anything other than intimidating and annoyed! In comparison, I much prefer   Apple’s own Animoji dog , or even this   Animoji Karaoke   squad doing a passionate rendition of “Gucci Gang”:

That’s 70 percent more than 2016’s removals  Google’s numerous safeguards designed to prevent malicious apps from reaching Android users led to the removal of over 700,000 apps from the Google Play Store in 2017,   the company said today. That’s a 70 percent increase over the total removals in 2016. “Not only did we remove more bad apps, we were able to identify and action against them earlier,” Google Play product manager Andrew Ahn wrote in a blog post. “99 percent of apps with abusive contents were identified and rejected before anyone could install them.” Google attributes this success to its improved ability to detect abuse “through new machine learning models and techniques.” Copycat apps designed to resemble popular mainstays remain a popular method of trying to deceive users, according to Ahn. Google removed over a quarter of a million of these impersonating apps last year. The company also says it kept “tens of thousands” of apps with inappropriate content (por...

Apple is facing scrutiny from the U.S. government for deliberately slowing down older phones. The Department of Justice has asked   Apple   ( AAPL )   for information related to its disclosure that it used software updates to slow the performance of older iPhones, according to a source familiar with the matter. The investigation is said to be in an early stage. Bloomberg   reported   earlier Tuesday that the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are now probing Apple over possible violations of securities laws. Reps for the DOJ and the SEC declined to comment. In a statement Wednesday, Apple confirmed receiving government inquiries, but did not specify from which agencies. "We have received questions from some government agencies and we are responding to them," Apple said in a statement provided to CNNMoney. Apple   admitted last month   that it used software updates to limit the performance of older iPhone models, in...

German World Cup winner Mesut Ozil gave Arsenal a big boost on Wednesday by finally agreeing a new contract which will see him become the highest paid player in the club’s history, according to the BBC. The broadcaster reports that the 29-year-old playmaker — who has been with the Gunners since joining from Real Madrid for a then-record club fee of £42.4million ($60million, 48.2million euros) in 2013 — signed a three-and-a-half year contract and will earn around £350,000 a week. Speculation over both Ozil and Chilean Alexis Sanchez’s futures have plagued the club for almost a year, as both their contracts were up at the end of the present campaign. However, whilst Sanchez left for Manchester United, where he has become the highest paid player in the Premier League at a pre-tax weekly wage of £500,000, Ozil has committed himself to Arsenal until 2021. According to the BBC both parties reached an agreement last weekend, and Ozil signed the new contract at Arsenal’s training grou...

Brazil winger Lucas Moura challenged his new Tottenham Hotspur team-mates to win the Champions League after arriving from Paris Saint-Germain on a contract that will keep him with the Premier League club until 2023. No fee has been disclosed by Spurs following Wednesday’s transfer deadline day deal, but reports in the British press this week said the London club had made a bid of £25 million ($35.4m, 28.5m euros) for Lucas. “It’s a chapter in my life, a new challenge for me. I am so happy,” Lucas, desperate for first-team action, said in a video posted on Tottenham’s Twitter feed. The 25-year-old — capped 34 times — expressed his sadness to French sports daily L’Equipe earlier this week at being frozen out by PSG, with his compatriot Neymar’s arrival from Barcelona earlier this season and the form of Kylian Mbappe having seen him fall down the pecking order in Paris. “I will give my best for this club because I think we have a lot of quality and we can win big things,” said Luc...

The minister of state for petroleum resources, Dr. Ibe Kacikwu, has renewed Federal Government’s commitment to end gas flaring by 2020. The Minister, who gave this assurance in the monthly bulletin of Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said Nigeria’s desire is to end gas flaring 10 years ahead of the 2030 United Nations deadline on flare out. According to him, Nigeria is about 70 per cent compliant on gas flare exit, and hopes to take away the other 30 per cent within the 2020 deadline. Speaking on the gas policy, he said: “we are going to try and change our dynamics from being an oil producing country to being a gas producing country, because that is really what we are. Now we need to move from policies to directives.” He reiterated that it was vital that “we get people back; we will define what the oil policy is, define what gas policy is, and people can have some predictability in terms of the business they are doing, and you begin to see a lot of the...

The FBI warned Wednesday is has “grave concerns” over the accuracy of a potentially explosive memo prepared by a Republican congressman that could paint the agency as politically biased. The four-page memo, written by Republican lawmaker Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, remains secret but the White House has hinted it could permit its release, despite concerns it could divulge top-secret information. Media reports, citing lawmakers who have seen the document, say it suggests the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation abused their power in opening surveillance of a member of President Donald Trump’s election campaign in late 2016 involving his contacts with Russians. It alleges in part that to obtain the warrant they submitted as evidence the contentious and unproven “Russia dossier” — compiled by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele and financed in part by Democrat Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. But the FBI...

Beyoncé is on a roll. The music legend shut down the Grammys tonight when she arrived midway, joining husband Jay-Z in the audience, and given her gown, it was easy to see why. Dressed in all black by Nicolas Jebran and accented by a single white rose, the star smartly capped off a week filled with great looks chosen with her stylist, Marni Senofonte. Though the visual appeal of her latest look is instantly clear, the story behind it may come as a surprise. According to Jebran, the inspiration for the dress was rooted in the traditions of social justice. “The idea was to create a moment, a memorable design with meaning because it’s more than just a gown,” shared the designer via email from Paris. After he was contacted by Senofonte to create a custom piece for the event, Jebran sought to innovate. Though he’s worked with Beyoncé and her team in the past, creating one of a kind looks for appearances at the Video Music Awards and other events, the 2018 Grammys required s...

Blue Ivy Carter, 6, seated between parents Beyoncé and Jay-Z, was captured on camera apparently shushing her famous folks as they applauded singer Camila Cabello. Not many people get to tell Bey and Jay what to do, but their oldest child definitely holds that privilege. Twitter users were quick to share the image

Traders have thoroughly beaten up on the  U.S. dollar (USD)  for the last six weeks. In the past week, the selling accelerated again in the wake of commentary from U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin that the U.S. welcomes a weak currency because of its positive impact on U.S. exports. The British pound (Guggenheim CurrencyShares British Pound Sterling (NYSE: FXB )) is one of currency pairs feeling a large impact of the dollar’s relentless weakness. In the wake of Mnuchin,  GBP/USD  went parabolic as it surged well above its upper-Bollinger Ban® (BB) and capped off two weeks of near relentless gains. The move was so strong that U.K. Treasury chief Philip Hammond felt compelled at Davos to “thank” Mnuchin for sending GBP/USD to a 19-month high. Buyers in GBP/USD have so far dried up right after Mnuchin helped send the currency pair into parabolic motion. As the Trump administration scrambled to reverse the damage from Mnuchin’s declar...

Janice Gruss of Benton Harbor has spent 18 years crafting and clowning around.  Gruss is craft leader for the Countrysiders 4-H Club, where she puts on programs like arts and crafts, clowning, leathercraft and cake decorating. Her volunteerism includes helping with 4-H Spring Achievement, the 4-H Talent Show and the 4-H Booth at the Berrien County Youth Fair.  In November she was named one of the two 2017 Berrien County Outstanding 4-H Leaders. The award recognizes 4-H leaders for their volunteer service and leadership within their 4-H clubs as well as their leadership on county programs, committees, and activities that benefit the more than 400 families with children enrolled in Berrien County 4-H. Gruss grew up in Benton Harbor and graduated from Benton Harbor High School. She is semi-retired from American Greetings. She lives with her husband, and has a son, a daughter, and a granddaughter who is almost 16.  Hera...

Hard to argue with over four decades of truck know-how. The Ford F-150 is already the best-selling pickup truck in America. Has been for 41 years. But how does it rank among America’s active and retired military service members? An analysis done by using the United Services Automobile Association’s car buying service reveals the F-150 is also their preferred truck choice. USAA, a financial services group, further added the F-150 was the number one purchase choice for all branches of the US military in 2017. “We are proud and humbled that those who protect and defend our country choose Ford F-Series,” said Todd Eckert, Ford truck group marketing manager. “F-150’s high-strength, military-grade, aluminum-alloy body is designed to serve customers who are used to performing in the harshest of environments and who rely on the capability, durability, and functionality delivered consistently by Built Ford Tough.” For 2018, the F-150 received a number of upgrades inside and out. For exam...

Continued interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve could spark a U-turn for the weakening US dollar, ending the fund flows that have turbocharged emerging markets   Since the start of this year, the equity markets of developing economies have shot up nearly 10 per cent, according to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, a leading gauge of stocks in emerging economies. This brings the index’s gains since its post-financial crisis low in January 2016 to a whopping 72 per cent. What is more, emerging market bonds have withstood the recent sell-off in global debt markets, convincing investors to keep pouring money into the asset class. According to JPMorgan, emerging market bond funds have attracted US$9.3 billion in inflows since the beginning of this year, having already enjoyed record inflows of US$113 billion in 2017. The rally in emerging markets is being turbocharged by the plunge in the US dollar which is having its worst start to the year since 1987, exacerbated by contr...

SEATTLE — The other week, 218 cities and states lost in the sweepstakes to be the home of Amazon’s second headquarters, failing to make the list of 20 finalists. But Amazon thanks them for playing. That is because the hundreds of applications gave Amazon a hidden benefit: free research that the company can mine when picking spots for future warehouses and satellite offices. Amazon asked every city and state applying for its second headquarters for details about local resources, like available talent and transit options. Local officials were also prodded for tips on local education programs and tax incentives. The answers — most of which have not been released publicly — essentially do Amazon’s homework for it, providing valuable information that the company otherwise would have needed to dig up on its own or obtain through one-on-one negotiations. The application from the Kansas City, Mo., region detailed a program for teaching technical skills to preschoolers through 12th g...