Category: z-Exclude

NEW YORK – Gemini Trust and GIC-backed Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group (DCG) were sued by New York’s top law-enforcement officer for allegedly defrauding customers of US$1.1 billion (S$1.5 billion), escalating legal woes for two companies hit hard by last year’s plunge in cryptocurrency markets. The lawsuit filed on Thursday by New York Attorney General Letitia James accuses Gemini, which operated a crypto exchange, and DCG’s Genesis Global Capital unit of failing to disclose to investors the risks of a…

Two investigative journalism organizations have unearthed evidence they say validates corruption claims made by a Colombian reporter who released a chilling video predicting his own death at the hands of those he exposed. “If you want to kill me, kill me. But I’ll tell you straight up: You won’t silence me.” These were the words of Rafael Moreno during a 37-minute video that was broadcast live on Facebook in July 2022, in which he condemned alleged embezzlement of public money…

Japanese electronics manufacturer Casio disclosed a data breach impacting customers from 149 countries after hackers gained to the servers of its ClassPad education platform. Casio detected the incident on Wednesday, October 11, following the failure of a ClassPad database within the company’s development environment. Evidence suggests that the attacker accessed customers’ personal information a day later, on October 12. The exposed data includes customer names, email addresses, countries of residence, service usage details, and purchase information such as payment methods,…

U.S. military forces in Iraq were targeted on Wednesday in two separate drone attacks, with one causing minor injuries to a small number of troops even though the U.S. military managed to intercept the armed drone, a U.S. official said. The official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, did not say who was suspected of the attacks on the al-Asad air base and the al-Harir air base. But Washington is on heightened alert for activity by Iran-backed groups…

STOCKHOLM – Finnish telecom gear group Nokia on Thursday said it will cut up to 14,000 jobs in a new cost reduction effort after third-quarter sales fell by a fifth, taken down by sales of next-generation 5G equipment. Nokia and rival Ericsson have grappled with slowing demand for 5G equipment in markets such as the United States and the European Union, trying to offset some of the weakness with higher sales to India, a low-margin market. Nokia is targeting savings…

BENGALURU – Grand Centrex Limited (GCL) said on Wednesday that it will list in the US by merging with a blank-cheque firm in a deal that values the Singapore-based video game distributor at US$1.2 billion (S$1.65 billion). Special purpose acquisition companies (Spacs) have largely fallen out of favour following a bumper 2020, after they drew intense scrutiny from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The poor stock performance of some companies that went public via a Spac merger have…

SINGAPORE – Keppel Corporation has raised a 1.4 billion yuan (S$262.8 million) initial investment from an undisclosed global institutional investor, capturing opportunities in China’s sustainability transition. Together with 160 million yuan of a sponsor stake by Keppel, the total 1.6 billion fund (S$306 million) marked the closing of its China-focused sustainable urban renewal programme, said the company on Thursday. About 3.9 billion yuan worth of assets are expected to be under Keppel’s management “when fully leveraged and invested”. Both parties…

NEW YORK – US stocks fell on Wednesday as underwhelming earnings and ongoing fighting in the Middle East weighed on investor optimism. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1 per cent to 33,665.08. The broad-based S&P 500 sank 1.3 per cent to 4,314.60, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.6 per cent to 13,314.30. The yield on the popular 10-year US Treasury rose above 4.9 per cent for the first time since 2007, as traders prepared for the likelihood…

Things may take a positive turn only if the US economy achieves a soft landing, boosting the outlook for manufacturing and capital expenditures, the technology cycle bottoms out, and disinflation in Asia accelerates to provide scope for easing monetary policy in 2024, the IMF said. However, medium-term prospects are uncertain due to geo-economic fragmentation, with de-risking policies of major economies creating a potentially significant impact on growth, it said. While inflation is expected to ease in 2024, IMF advised central banks to ensure that inflation remains durably at appropriate…

HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s BC Technology Group is exploring the sale of its crypto platform OSL, one of only two exchanges licensed under digital-asset rules the city introduced in June, people familiar with the matter said. BC Technology has gauged interest in OSL from possible buyers such as industry players and funds, and a HK$1 billion (S$175.13 million) valuation has been suggested, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. Shares of BC Technology slumped as…

U.S. President Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and make clear Israel has the right to defend itself, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Tuesday. Blinken said after lengthy talks with Netanyahu that Biden will reaffirm solidarity with Israel, which has widely been expected to launch a ground assault in Gaza. Israel has vowed to annihilate the Hamas movement that rules Gaza after fighters burst into Israel on Oct 7,…

BENGALURU – The global smartphone market contracted by 8 per cent to its lowest third-quarter level in a decade on subdued demand for major brands including Apple and Samsung in most developed markets, according to data from Counterpoint Research. The data, shared exclusively with Reuters, showed that the share of the top five brands, which also include Chinese firms Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo, had fallen to a three-year low. The report fans fears that the market’s ongoing slump could sap…

Last Thursday, a Danish court sentenced a 24-year old programmer from Silkeborg to 60 days probation for his role in operating the torrent tracker ShareUniversity. The sentencing is the latest in Denmark following an unprecedented crackdown on local torrent trackers that has already resulted in more than a dozen prosecutions, with more yet to come. The National Unit for Special Crime (NSK) reports that it’s happy with the conviction. In addition to serving the suspended prison sentence, the man must…

Occupied Jerusalem, SANA-More than 1,300 Israeli soldiers and settlers have been killed since the beginning of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. The enemy media admitted that the number of deaths among Israeli soldiers and settlers has risen to more than 1,300, and more than 3,000 injuries, in addition to evacuating tens of thousands of settlers from 24 settlements in Gaza vicinity. The Palestinian Resistance continues targeting the occupation’s settlements with missiles in Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Ashkelon, Haifa, and Ashdod and on the…

Occupied Jerusalem, SANA- The Israeli occupation forces committed two new massacres in Gaza Strip, killing 18 Palestinians as the occupation aircraft targeted residential buildings in Khan Yunis city, south of the besieged Gaza Strip. The occupation aircraft shelled a house in Ma’an area, causing the death of a family of seven persons, as it also targeted another house in the camp area, killing nine persons, including a woman and her infant, in addition to several serious injuries and huge damage…

Occupied Jerusalem, SANA- Three Palestinians were injured, on Thursday at dawn, as the Israeli occupation forces stormed Jenin city of the West Bank. Wafa News Agency stated the occupation forces raided Jenin city and opened fire on the Palestinians, wounding three young men while dozens suffered suffocation, in addition to arresting five others. The occupation forces also broke into Jericho city, Ain Sultan and Aqaba Jabr camps and arrested four young men, including two released prisoners. Since last Saturday, 28…