Category: Corruption

The Israeli parliament on Monday approved a bill granting top ministers the power to prohibit the broadcasting of Al Jazeera news channel in Israel—a move Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to pursue. The law, passed by a vote of 70 to 10, enables the ban of foreign channel broadcasts and permits the closure of their offices within Israel. The…

KAZAN: A Russian court on Monday extended until June 5 the pre-trial detention of US-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who faces 15 years in prison on charges of spreading “false information,” according to her employer. In court in the central city of Kazan on Monday, Kurmasheva smiled but complained about the poor conditions in which she was being held. “This cell…

Israeli strikes on the northern Syrian city of Aleppo early on Friday killed 38 people, including five members of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, two security sources said, the deadliest attacks so far in an intensified Israeli campaign against Iran’s allies in Syria. Israel has ramped up its airstrikes on both Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria since…

LONDON – Just as they first ventured to do over a century ago, the world’s largest oil companies are staking claims far from home – this time to swallow, rather than spew, planet-warming industrial emissions. Carbon dioxide (CO2) storage is emerging as a potential multi-billion-dollar revenue stream for companies like ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron, which are under global pressure to…

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon said Wednesday it is pouring an additional $2.75 billion into Anthropic, bringing its total investment in the artificial intelligence startup to $4 billion. Amazon will maintain a minority stake in San Francisco-based Anthropic, a rival of ChatGPT maker OpenAI. “Generative AI is poised to be the most transformational technology of our time, and we believe…

Attorneys for Hunter Biden are expected in court Wednesday in Los Angeles, where he is accused in what prosecutors call a four-year scheme to avoid paying $1.4 million in taxes while living an extravagant lifestyle. President Joe Biden’s son has pleaded not guilty to the nine felony and misdemeanor tax offenses. He’s asking the judge to toss out the case,…

  MONTREAL – Boeing’s board has begun the search for a big hitter to take the helm of the troubled plane maker following the turbulent tenure of chief executive Dave Calhoun, with many industry executives and analysts predicting it will seek an outside remedy. Facing mounting pressure from airlines, regulators and investors, Boeing on March 25 announced a broader than…

  NEW YORK – Wall Street stocks retreated March 25 as a market rally showed signs of fatigue and tech heavyweights faced stepped-up regulatory scrutiny in Europe. Maris Ogg of Fiduciary Trust said the reticent start was unsurprising given the relatively light schedule this week as far as economic news. “It certainly wouldn’t be unusual” to have some kind of…

LONDON (AP) — Farmers drove dozens of tractors in a slow-motion convoy towards Britain’s Parliament on Monday to protest post- Brexit rules and trade deals that they say are endangering livelihoods and food security. Supporters of the campaign groups Save British Farming and Fairness for Farmers of Kent drove from southeast England and through southern districts of the capital, bound…

NEW YORK – Boeing announced on March 25 that CEO Dave Calhoun will leave his post as the aviation giant faces increased scrutiny after a series of safety incidents and manufacturing issues. The company has been hit by problems including a near-catastrophic incident in January when a fuselage panel on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 Alaska Airlines jet blew off…

SINGAPORE – Digital content production house Vividthree Holdings in an announcement on March 24 noted the arrest of its board chairman and independent director Ho Choon Hou by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) in relation to alleged breaches-of-disclosure obligations by private cord blood bank Cordlife Group. Dr Ho was arrested by the CAD in relation to an offence under the…

SHANGHAI – The Chinese authorities are examining the role of PricewaterhouseCoopers in China Evergrande Group’s accounting practices after the developer was accused of a US$78 billion (S$105 billion) fraud, ramping up pressure on the global accounting giant that audited a slew of developers before the sector’s meltdown. The country’s securities regulator this week accused Evergrande’s main onshore subsidiary Hengda Real…

SINGAPORE – Mr Mikkel Larsen, chief executive officer of Singapore’s Climate Impact X (CIX), a carbon credit exchange and marketplace, has announced his resignation, CIX said in a statement on March 21. Mr Larsen, 49, will remain in his role until a new or interim CEO is appointed. He will continue to serve as a member of CIX’s board thereafter,…

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — In a decision hailed by an environmental group as a historic victory, an Amsterdam court ruled Wednesday that Dutch national airline KLM misled consumers in statements about sustainable aviation in a case that accused the carrier of “greenwashing.” Amsterdam District Court said in a statement that in some advertisements, that are no longer in use,…

The US Department of State announced the designation of former North Macedonia Special Chief Prosecutor, Katica Janeva; current mayor of Karpos, North Macedonia, Stevco Jakimovski; and former mayor of Kacanik, Kosovo, Xhabir Zharku, for their actions undermining the rule of law and the public’s faith in their respective governments’ democratic institutions and public processes. Janeva was found to be involved in corrupt acts,…

For too long, Americans have suffered from a convoluted property system that condemned them to pay some of the world’s highest commissions, up to 6 per cent on residential sales. The real estate agents’ lock on online listings drove up costs and combined with a shortage of affordable homes to shut all but the most affluent buyers out of the…