Category: Spotlight

Earlier in the day, the Democracy Watch watchdog group said the RCMP had confirmed in a letter that it is investigating Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and some Cabinet officials over their alleged obstruction of the SNC-Lavalin probe. In 2021 and 2022, Democracy Watch said it made requests under the Access to Information Act (AITA) to access records on the proceedings…

UNITED NATIONS, June 19 (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged Israel to halt and reverse what he described as troubling and alarming decisions on settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, a U.N. spokesperson said. “The Secretary-General reiterates that settlements are a flagrant violation of international law. They are a major obstacle to the realization of a…

“It’s not news that China has been saying in recent weeks, not just to us but to many other countries, that they are not providing lethal assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine, and this is an important commitment and policy,” said the secretary. However, Blinken also expressed concern about the possibility of military aid being transferred to Russia by…

BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese judge on Monday questioned auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn in Beirut over possible links to a former French Cabinet minister charged two years ago with “passive corruption” for work she did for him, officials familiar with the case said. The Lebanese officials said Ghosn denied any dealings with France’s former Justice Minister Rachida Dati who is…

My latest Deeper Dive dug into China’s failing commercial real-estate market, as well as other global commercial real-estate markets that are collapsing, laying out the corporate zombie apocalypse that is building particularly in office real estate, but also still deepening in retail real estate. It’s happening all over the world: Unprofitable companies that survived only because of cheap credit (zombies) — and…

Russian businessman Roman Abramovich is refusing to sign off the release of £2.3 billion ($2.9 billion) made from his sale of Chelsea Football Club to Ukraine, as he apparently wants a “substantial” part of the sum transferred to Russians affected by the conflict, a UK newspaper has reported. The newspaper also cited an unnamed source close to the above-mentioned funds…

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance is being investigated by French authorities, according to media reports in France. The investigation is focused on its anti-money laundering procedures. It follows the announcement of the company’s departure from the Netherlands after it failed to obtain a licence from the Dutch central bank. In a statement Binance confirmed French authorities visited its offices…

  The U.S. government has confirmed that multiple federal agencies have fallen victim to cyberattacks exploiting a security vulnerability in a popular file transfer tool. In a statement shared with TechCrunch, CISA confirmed that “several” U.S. government agencies have experienced intrusions related to the exploitation of a vulnerability in MOVEit Transfer, an enterprise file transfer tool developed by Progress Software….

Jun 6, 2023. CIA knew of Ukraine plan to blow up Nord Stream pipeline: Report (Straits Times) Feb. 10, 2023. Report over pipeline blasts causing uproar (China Daily) Feb. 9, 2023. Moscow calls Biden a ‘terrorist’ over Nord Stream explosion Feb. 9, 2023. Kremlin Calls For Conducting Int’l Probe in Light of Journalist Hersh’s Report Feb. 9, 2023. Journalist’s investigation…

Omar Asad, 80, was detained at a temporary checkpoint in the occupied West Bank overnight in January 2022. The soldiers left him unresponsive on the ground of a construction site and said they assumed he had fallen asleep. Palestinian leaders say this case shows the near impunity of Israeli soldiers. They have called for those involved to be prosecuted in…

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to order troops to take more land in Ukraine in order to protect Russian territory, he said in remarks on Tuesday. The assertion comes as Ukraine begins a long-awaited counteroffensive in the country’s south and east, claiming small victories that have been disputed by the Russian government. Putin said Ukraine has suffered “catastrophic” losses in…

  The European Commission has signalled it could be preparing to break up Google’s adtech business. Speaking during a press conference this afternoon, EU EVP Margrethe Vestager, the bloc’s competition chief and head of digital strategy, announced it has sent a formal statement of objections to Google for suspected anti-competitive conduct in its adtech business. If the Commission confirms its…

HONG KONG – UBS will impose strict restrictions on bankers from Credit Suisse, including a ban on new clients from high-risk countries, according to a Financial Times report, with the two banks moving to close the historic takeover as soon as Monday. A list consisting of almost two dozen “red lines” will prohibit Credit Suisse staff from a range of…

FRANKFURT – The European Central Bank (ECB) will almost certainly deliver another interest rate hike on Thursday as the eurozone slides into a recession. Analysts predict that ECB policymakers will copy May’s move and again raise borrowing costs by 25 basis points, taking the closely watched deposit rate to 3.5 per cent. It would be the Frankfurt institution’s eighth consecutive hike…

Struggling to overcome recruiting shortfalls, the Army and the Air Force have bolstered their marketing to entice legal residents to enlist, putting out pamphlets, working social media and broadening their outreach, particularly in inner cities. One key element is the use of recruiters with similar backgrounds to these potential recruits. Airman 1st Class Joshua Fancisco, from the Philippines, left, Airman…

Reality Winner, the first person to be prosecuted in violation of the Espionage Act under the Trump administration, said she was “blown away” by the voluminous detail found in the 49-page indictment against the former president in the sprawling Mar-a-Lago documents scandal. The former intelligence contractor and Air Force linguist made the comments in a new interview with NBC broadcast Friday. In 2018, under the…