Europe

Teslagrad is a puzzle platformer with action elements, where magnetism and other electromagnetic powers are the key to go throughout the game, and thereby discover the secrets kept in the long abandoned Tesla Tower. Gain new habilities to explore a non-linear world with more than 100 beautiful hand-drawn environments, in a steampunk-inspired vision of old Europe. You play as a young boy who suddenly finds himself embroiled in a long-forgotten conspiracy, involving the despotic king who has ruled the nation with an iron fist for several years. Jump into an outstanding adventure told through voiceless storytelling, writing your own part. Armed with ancient Teslamancer technology and your own ingenuity and creativity, your path lies through the decrepit Tesla Tower and beyond.

Following Apple's testimony before the US Senate, Ireland's finance minister Michael Noonan declared that neither he nor his country would be the "whipping boy" for US tax loopholes. The US-led investigation demonstrated that Apple had paid two percent of $74 billion in international income, assisted by Irish tax law -- in particular, one holding company including Apple's retail effort throughout Europe had paid zero tax in five years....

RT @stevesilberman: German software giant to hire hundreds of people w/autism to drive innovation.

Julia Holter has a busy summer ahead of her. On August 20, the Los Angeles singer-songwriter will release Loud City Song, her third album in as many years. But before Domino Records issues the upcoming full-length, Holter will begin an international tour that will take her across North America and Europe...

Following Apple's testimony before the US Senate, Ireland's finance minister Michael Noonan declared that neither he nor his country would be the "whipping boy" for US tax loopholes. The US-led investigation demonstrated that Apple had paid two percent of $74 billion in international income, assisted by Irish tax law -- in particular, one holding company including Apple's retail effort throughout Europe had paid zero tax in five years....

Rolls-Royce isn’t the kind of name that regularly appears on these pages; it’s not particularly relevant to any of us and there are some pretty galling nouveau-riche connotations. There is still a strong whiff of Grey Poupon whenever the flying lady comes into conversation.That said, looking at our most recent instalment of R.A-S.H, in which the brochure for the ’82 Silver Spirit was filleted and digested, an awful lot has changed in Crewe since the early ’80s, not least the fact that Rolls-Royce Motor Cars aren’t built there any more. There have been an awful lot of column inches frittered away on the Phantom over the last ten years, and now I’m afraid I’m going to add to them. The mantle of “best car in the world” is harder to assume now than ever before; the Range Rover, the Jaguar XJ and the forthcoming Mercedes S-Class arguably have some claim to the title. But the Rolls-Royce name must still bear consideration.I’m obsessed, I admit it. But should this post be taken as a cry for help, or are any of you similarly afflicted?The Rolls-Royce Phantom has become a familiar sight in the media world, disgorging “flavour of the month” celebrities at red-carpet events, or shuttling faceless but influential heads of industry from one faceless but influential conference to the next. With the bling-obsessed, status-hungry nature of today, The Phantom is undeniably the right product for Rolls-Royce to be producing right now. And that things should have worked out so well wasn’t always guaranteed.BMW wholly took the reigns of the venerable marque in 2003, after a stint with VW on the saddle. Rover had suffered badly from their BMW experience, but the story has been rather different for Rolls-Royce. Truth is it would have been inconceivable that such a significant name would be treated with anything but the utmost care and consideration and, fortunately, that’s exactly what seems to have happened, though we could be forgiven for having worried. The Germans don’t seem to always get it right when it comes to matters of ultimate prestige.There was the Maybach, of course; Mercedes reinterpretation of the Zeppelin albeit eighty years later. Coming accross as the obese brother of the W220 S-Class, the Maybach presented luxury as the Germans understood it at the time; more of everything and biggest is best. Available in two available lengths; 5.7 or 6.2 metres, the Maybach was filled with masses of indulgent technology; from rear-seat Wi-Fi setups through to electrochromatic glazed roof panels. The German car was basically a massive boast on wheels. It was damned effective; a sort of road-navigable Learjet, adept at traversing the high-speed roads of Europe at a 150mph cruise, where possible. A staggering technological achievement.Unfortunately, it was also ghastly. The stacked headlamps were reptilian, the “M” badge meaningless to all but historians, and the lines derivative. Granted, this is all my opinion but, side-on, a guillotined and lengthened Rover 75 would do a passable impression of the Maybach. The Maybach was the most expensive, most advanced disposable consumer white-goods car in living memory.The Rolls-Royce Phantom, which competed at a comparable price point, was cut of rather different cloth. At its conception the Rolls-Royce name had been sitting almost dormant, with only the Seraph trickling along in production until 2002. That car, though, was strangely lacking in identity; somehow not enjoying the pomp and circumstance of the similar Bentley Arnarge, and encumbered by a BMW V12 that wasn’t really in keeping with the spirit of things. Nice car, but not enough to change the world.When the Phantom arrived in ’03, it was to stunned silence. Big and unmistakable, it was certainly no shrinking violet and physically forced the world to take notice. It took a little while for the shock to be fully absorbed; for FAB1 Thun

The Near-Earth Object Coordination Center will serve as a hub for Europe's efforts.

A mule of the 2014 Audi Q7 has been grabbed on camera somewhere in southern Europe by our spy photographers.

My afternoon train reading: • Bernanke Says Premature Tightening Would Endanger Recover (Bloomberg) see also Bernanke to Congress: Seriously, guys, what are you doing? (Wonkblog) • Five lessons Europe can learn from Abenomics (MarketWatch) • Big Hedge Funds Suddenly Bullish (Barron’s) see also The Hubris of the Bulls (Alhambra Investment Partners) • Public Spending Per Student Drops (Real Time Economics) • How the Rich Play the Market (WSJ) but see Stop ‘playing’ the stock market (MarketWatch) • Marketwatch Gold 2-fer: …..-Don’t be fooled: Gold is no currency (MarketWatch) …..-Gold will not make a comeback (MarketWatch) • How Congress Quietly Overhauled Its Insider-Trading Law (npr) • Oklahoma Buildings Don’t Have Safe Rooms Because “Regulation Rankles” (HuffPo) • The Best Commencement Speeches of 2013 (Atlantic Wire) • 2013 Automobile Magazine All-Stars (Automobile Magazine) What are you reading? All major market rallies of the last 112 years Source: Chart of the Day

Taking a leak