THE NEWS WRAP: Expedia sells out of Chinese travel service eLong for $US671 million

Travel booking giant Expedia has sold its 62.4% stake in Chinese travel service eLong for $US671 million, GeekWire reports.

eLong is one of the leading online travel planning, hotel and flight booking site in China. Recently it’s started to face increased competition and rising costs.

One of those competitors, Ctrip, acquired 37.6% of eLong for approximately $US400 million.

Instagram starts nudging users with email

Instagram is following in the footsteps of Twitter and turned to email to re-engage its users.

The photo-sharing platform has started sending its own email called “Highlights” which features a few of the best posts from people you follow, TechCrunch reports.

Instagram has 300 million monthly users, a figure that includes even those who rarely use the platform.

Silent Circle relocates to Switzerland

Mobile encryption startup Silent Circle, founded by the inventor of PGP, the world’s most widely used email encryption system, has left the United States for Switzerland, The Guardian reports.

Silent Circle raised $US50 million in its second round of external funding. Its Silent Phone and Silent Text apps allow secret voice calls and text messages over Android and Apple handsets. It also has developed its own smartphone and has begun work on a tablet computer.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 53.72 to 18,232.02. The Australian dollar is currently trading at US78 cents.

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