The recent split judgment of the Pakistan Supreme Court, giving the country’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif breathing space by appointing a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the Panama Papers’ claims of financial irregularities by him and his family, has changed the strategic scenario in the country. The JIT comprises members of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan […]
By Ian Simpson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. scientists will stage an unprecedented protest on Saturday, a March for Science provoked by steep cuts President Donald Trump has proposed for science and research budgets, and growing disregard for evidence-based knowledge. The march in Washington, timed to coincide with the Earth Day environmental event, will put Trump’s questioning of climate change and proposed cuts to federal science programs at […]
A lawyer pleaded guilty Friday in one of the largest Social-Security fraud schemes in recent years. Eric Conn, a 56-year-old Social Security disability lawyer, pleaded guilty in a Kentucky federal court to one count of theft of government money and one count of payment of gratuities for his role in what the government calls a […] (via WSJ)
KUALA LUMPUR: Ibrahim Mat Zin, also known as Raja Bomoh (pic), has been released on police bail. He was initially arrested at a hotel in Segamat, Johor at around 2.30am on Friday and taken to Bukit Aman here for questioning. Federal CID director Datuk Seri Mohmad Salleh said police were investigating the case under Section 298 of the Penal Code for uttering words with deliberate intent to […]
Something has aroused the interests of the American people… perhaps one too many coincidentally ‘useful’ event means government facilitators have jumped the shark? (via Google Trends) Which is perhaps why, after discovering Project Gotham Shield, SHTFplan.com’s Mac Slavo warns, a false flag watch is now active. A general alert is out for something major in the near or immediate future. Hopefully, it is just another false alarm, […]
By Angela Moon | NEW YORK NEW YORK Social media did not take kindly to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions referring to the country’s 50th state of Hawaii as just “an island in the Pacific.” Using the hashtag #IslandinthePacific, many on Twitter reminded Sessions that Hawaii is in fact part of the country, the birthplace of former President Barack Obama and home to Pearl Harbor. Sessions told […]
DETROIT A federal judge in Detroit on Friday sentenced Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) to three years’ probation and independent oversight for the German automaker’s diesel emissions scandal as part of a $4.3 billion settlement announced in January. The plea agreement called for “organization probation” in which the company would be overseen by an independent monitor. The sentencing was one of the last major hurdles to VW moving past […]
Len Blavatnik, the billionaire investor, has been cleared of fraud claims related to his $19bn buyout of Lyondell Chemical, according to a ruling from a US federal bankruptcy judge issued late on Friday. Mr Blavatnik combined Basell, his chemicals business, with Lyondell in 2007 to create LyondellBasell (LBI), funding the transaction with more than $20bn of debt. The business quickly collapsed from the combination of the financial […]
By Dan Levine and Mica Rosenberg | SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK President Donald Trump’s travel ban on citizens of six Muslim-majority nations faces its second challenge at a U.S. appeals court next month, and this time more Republican states are backing the measure, while one Democratic state attorney general dropped out of the legal fight this week. Some legal experts say the states’ realignment could […]
While geopolitical concerns and French election uncertainty are factors, The Wall Street Journal notes that many markets are flashing red on growth as investors begin to return to pre-election bets on the ol ‘new normal’ – a persistently weak economic expansion. There are clear signs that the sugar rush of Donald Trump’s victory and global-growth hopes has faded, raising doubts among some investors about whether stocks can […]
Within the US fixed income market, investors are sending a clear message about the prospect of higher interest rates. In recent weeks, investors have pushed back against a string of leveraged loan transactions, with a handful of deals pulled as money flows into the sector have shrunk. The stumbles underline a diminished appetite for richly valued, floating rate loans, seen as providing investors with some protection from […]
MOSCOW Russia’s Federal Security Service said on Friday that a gunman had burst into one of its regional offices in the far east of the country and opened fire, killing one of its employees and a visitor. The region where the incident happened is close to China. The FSB, the successor organisation to the Soviet KGB, said the attacker had been killed and that another person had […]
The National staff ABU DHABI // A delegation from the Federal National Council’s parliamentary division is participating in a two-day meeting which began on Friday in Cairo. The Arab Parliament’s four permanent committee’s meetings are being held at the headquarters of General Secretariat of the Arab League ahead of Monday’s session. Jassim Abdullah Al Naqbi, a member of the FNC’s legislative, legal and human rights committee, said […]
WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russia’s involvement in the 2016 U.S. election, said on Friday it had invited the directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency to appear at a closed hearing on May 2. Apparently ending a dispute between Democrats and Republicans over who would testify as it investigates possible links between President Donald Trump’s campaign […]
The Federal Reserve appears to believe that the size of its balance sheet matters, but not that bigger is better. The question is, why not? As the Fed pushes ahead with plans to shrink its stock of about $2.5tn of Treasuries and $1.8tn of mortgage-backed securities to “normal”, it is puzzling that officials haven’t provided a compelling case for why the move is either necessary or desirable. […]
Good morning. Program changes are same old The swashbuckling Murdochs now look as milquetoast as old media rivals whom they upended and disdain. With the belated firing of Bill O’Reilly, the monarchical lords of 21st Century Fox turned 1990s with their initial programming decisions. Yes, you can easily make dumb decisions when you’re king of any media hill and a financial juggernaut. But the initial post-O’Reilly programming […]
Kimberly Hively vs. Ivy Tech Community College was the title of the gay rights case decided Tuesday by the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. But it could also have been called Judge Posner vs. Justice Scalia. As The Wall Street Journal’s Joe Palazzolo reports, the federal appeals court ruled that gay employees should be […] (via WSJ)
By Mica Rosenberg and Yeganeh Torbati | NEW YORK/WASHINGTON NEW YORK/WASHINGTON When Raj, a Sri Lankan fisherman, sought refuge in the United States in 2005, he had precisely the kind of fear of returning home that U.S. asylum laws require. In 2004, he was kidnapped by the separatist rebel group the Tamil Tigers and had to pay $500 to secure his release, according to Raj, his lawyer […]
Friday 08:30 BST What you need to know ● European and Asian stock markets firm after Wall Street rally● Euro holds above $1.07 in cautious trading ahead of French election● Bund yields up 1bp to 0.25 per cent despite political tensions● Global steelmakers shrug off Trump tariff threat● Oil prices gain but gold pulls back——————- Hot topic Investor attention is turning to eurozone assets ahead of Sunday’s […]
FRANKFURT German police arrested a man on Friday who is suspected of planting explosives targeting the bus of soccer team Borussia Dortmund last week, the office of the German federal chief prosecutor said. The 28-year old man, a dual German and Russian national identified as Sergei V., had bought options on Borussia Dortmund’s stock before the attack, hoping to make a profit, it said in a statement. […]
A federal appeals court ruling Friday has the potential to raise copyright liability risks for online platforms that allow users to moderate content post by other users. The case decided by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concerns the “safe harbor” protections of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, the law that insulates sites […] (via WSJ)
MELBOURNE Chevron Corp lost an appeal on Friday against the Australian tax office in a landmark case in which the U.S. energy giant contested a tax bill of A$340 million ($260 million), including penalties and interest. The full bench of the Federal Court dismissed the appeal against an earlier ruling that Chevron underpaid taxes by setting up a A$2.5 billion intercompany credit facility with an abnormally high […]
The Federal Trade Commission has sent warnings to Instagram celebrities, prompting them to clearly state which of their posts are sponsored. When following celebrities on Instagram, it can get tough at times to distinguish which of their posts are regular and which are paid ads. This could change soon enough, if the FTC has its way. Instagram Celebrities, The FTC Is Watching The FTC has sent more […]
DUBAI // The UAE’s youth have the will, knowledge and culture to carry the vision of the country’s leadership into the future, said Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. Addressing Emirati youth at an open dialogue session to encourage political participation, held at Etihad Museum, Dr Gargash answered questions on the challenges facing the country and the running of the Federal National Council. “Young […]
