Category: All News

A Marine veteran held hostage in Iran for more than four years has filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Justice after FBI allegations reversed a decision that had awarded him $20 million from a fund for victims of state-sponsored terrorism. Attorneys for Amir Hekmati filed the federal civil lawsuit on Dec. 19. They claimed that Hekmati has been…

Court documents related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein are expected to be released soon with many names that were previously redacted, and prominent figures on the right are holding up the impending disclosures as evidence of wrongdoing by Democrats despite a lack of concrete information about what they will show. Most of the names being made public – currently cited…

HONG KONG – ByteDance’s TikTok aims to grow the size of its US e-commerce business tenfold to as much as US$17.5 billion (S$23.3 billion) in 2024, according to people familiar with the matter, posing a bigger threat to Amazon.com. The 2024 merchandise volume goal for the US version of TikTok Shop – which melds online entertainment with impulse buying –…

Adult media giant Aylo has blocked access to many of its websites, including PornHub, to visitors from Montana and North Caroline as new age verifications laws go into effect. This move also impacts other adult sites owned by the company, including Tube8, RedTube, and Brazzers. As of January 1st, new age verification laws went into effect in Montana and North…

NEW YORK – Mr Nikesh Arora has repeatedly succeeded in winning big pay cheques. At Google, he became the firm’s highest-paid executive after getting a compensation package worth about US$51 million in 2012, and collected stock awards worth at least US$200 million by the time he left. Poached in 2014 by SoftBank Group’s Mr Masayoshi Son – and touted as…

The United Kingdom (“UK”) introduced new sanctions against Russia on December 14, 2023 with the European Union (“EU”) also adopting its 12th package of sanctions against Russia on December 18, 2023. The latest UK restrictions include: Import and related restrictions on further categories of iron and steel goods, as well a wide range of additional metals such as aluminium. New…

Attorneys for the Securities and Exchange Commission apologized to a judge on Thursday for misrepresenting facts used to secure a restraining order and asset freeze against a crypto firm. In a filing submitted to the U.S. District Court of Utah, in response to the judge’s order to show cause for its misstep, the SEC attorneys wrote that the commission “deeply…

NEW YORK – The US dollar is poised for its worst year since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic as Wall Street bets the Federal Reserve is set to lower interest-rates after safely reining in prices. After being whipsawed by false starts calling for the end of the Fed’s rate hiking regime, a Bloomberg gauge of the greenback is down…

In a significant development for US military space operations, the secretive X-37B robot spaceplane was launched from Florida on Thursday night. This marks its seventh mission and the first to be launched atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, potentially reaching higher orbits than ever before. Driving the news The Falcon Heavy, the most powerful operational rocket in the world, lifted…

NEW YORK – Terraform Labs and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will head to trial in January, with Jump Trading swept up in the mix, after a judge ruled that the SEC’s fraud case against Terraform must be tried by a jury. US District Judge Jed S. Rakoff ruled in favour of the regulator on Dec 28, agreeing…

Five years since the legalization of cannabis in Canada, the industry finds itself grappling with significant challenges. Despite making economic contributions on par with the dairy sector and marking its presence on the global stage, primarily in the medical cannabis export market, this promising industry is hindered by financial strains, murky advocacy, and unyielding regulations. Excise Tax: A Thorn in…

Record-Breaking Cash Withdrawals in the UK Reflect Enduring Relevance of Physical Currency December 22, 2023, saw a record-breaking spree in the United Kingdom when more than £62 million was withdrawn from Post Offices, surpassing the previous year’s high of £51.5 million. This surge was attributed to last-minute Christmas shopping and preparation for cash gifts. The magnified reliance on cash during…

The new year will likely prove to be one of significant force structure changes for the Army, according to its senior leaders. Although the service has maintained for years that embracing multidomain operations will require it to “transform” its force structure into one leaders believe is suited to tomorrow’s battlefield, back-to-back recruiting shortfalls led top officials to admit by mid-to-late…

WASHINGTON: The US will provide up to $250 million in arms and equipment to Ukraine in the final package of aid this year to help Kyiv in its war with Russia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. President Joe Biden has asked Congress to provide another $61 billion in aid to Ukraine, but Republicans are refusing to approve…

SINGAPORE – The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has imposed a $3.9 million civil penalty on Credit Suisse for its failure to prevent or detect misconduct by relationship managers (RMs) in its Singapore branch. Credit Suisse paid the penalty to the regulator immediately after it was imposed, and as part of the settlement, also separately compensated its affected clients, said…

The U.S. on Wednesday announced what officials say could be the final package of military aid to Ukraine unless Congress approves supplemental funding legislation that is stalled on Capitol Hill. The weapons, worth up to $250 million, include an array of air munitions and other missiles, artillery, anti-armor systems, ammunition, demolition and medical equipment and parts. The aid, provided through the Presidential Drawdown Authority,…