Corruption Ledger

The company now expects 2024 operating profit of $6.2 billion to $6.6 billion, compared with its earlier forecast of $6 billion to $6.5 billion. Adjusted earnings for the year are estimated at $3.80-$4.05 per share, compared with $2.95 per share in 2023. Shares of the aerospace giant were up 4% in trading before the bell. Earlier this month, GE completed its breakup into three companies focused on aviation, energy and healthcare. Wall Street analysts have been bullish on the prospects…

BERLIN (AP) — A man who works for a German lawmaker in the European Parliament has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China, German prosecutors said Tuesday. The suspect, identified only as Jian G. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested Monday in Dresden, federal prosecutors said in a statement. They said that he has worked for a German lawmaker in the European Union’s legislature since 2019. The statement didn’t specify which lawmaker employed him, but German public…

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Tech billionaire Elon Musk accused Australia of censorship after an Australian judge ruled that his social media platform X must block users worldwide from accessing video of a bishop being stabbed in a Sydney church. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded Tuesday by describing Musk as an “arrogant billionaire” who considered himself above the law and was out of touch with the public. X Corp., the tech company rebranded in 2023 by Musk after he bought Twitter,…

Attorneys representing quadruple murder suspect Bryan C. Kohberger claim one expert’s testimony may prove the defendant was nowhere near the scene of the crime. On Wednesday, April 17, 2024, Public Defender Anne C. Taylor filed a legal notice in Latah County, Idaho, stating the defense’s intent to call Sy Ray, an expert in cell site location information (C.S.L.I.), to the stand, according to court records reviewed by Oxygen.com. The defense maintains Kohberger’s cell phone data proves he was “out driving,”…

A court in Vietnam on Thursday ordered the death penalty for a real estate tycoon found guilty in a financial fraud case totalling more than $12 billion US. Vietnamese state media called it the country’s largest-ever case of financial fraud. The conviction of Truong My Lan came amid a government anti-corruption crackdown by Communist Party general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Lan started off selling cosmetics in a market stall with her mother in Ho Chi Minh City. When Vietnam liberalized…

NEW DELHI: In a harrowing turn of events, Danielle Cherakiyah Johnson, identified as an astrologer and influencer known as “Ayoka,” allegedly perpetrated a series of violent acts that resulted in the death of her infant daughter. Authorities disclosed that Johnson, 34, fatally stabbed her partner, Jaelen Allen Chaney, before throwing her two children from a moving SUV onto a Los Angeles freeway. Police revealed that Johnson’s online posts, including references to an impending solar eclipse as “the epitome of spiritual…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department has greenlighted an emergency $138 million in foreign military sales for Ukraine to provide critical repairs and spare parts for Kyiv’s Hawk missile systems. The U.S. announced the move Tuesday saying that Ukraine has an urgent need for the maintenance support to keep the missile system running. The announcement follows a similar, small-sized round of $300 million in munitions support the Pentagon announced last month after it was able to convert contract savings to…

Venezuela’s former oil minister Tareck El Aissami, once a powerful confidante of authoritarian president Nicolás Maduro, has been arrested on allegations of corruption, the socialist government announced on Tuesday. Former finance minister Simón Zerpa and Sarmark López, a businessman and associate of El Aissami, were also arrested as part of the probe into alleged corruption at state oil major Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), a critical source of government revenue. Tarek William Saab, Venezuela’s attorney-general, said in a press conference on…

Canada’s domestic spy agency has determined that China interfered in the last two elections, according to testimony in an official probe on Monday, providing the strongest evidence to date of suspected Chinese involvement in Canadian politics. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party emerged victorious in both the 2019 and 2021 elections. Under pressure from opposition legislators concerned about media reports regarding China’s potential involvement, Trudeau established a commission to investigate foreign interference. The commission was presented on Monday with…

Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement related to a fiery train derailment in February 2023 in eastern Ohio. The company said Tuesday that the agreement, if approved by the court, will resolve all class action claims within a 20-mile radius from the derailment and, for those residents who choose to participate, personal injury claims within a 10-mile radius from the derailment. Norfolk Southern added that individuals and businesses will be able to use…

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Tuesday in favour of a group of elderly Swiss women who had argued that their government’s inadequate efforts to combat climate change put them at risk of dying during heatwaves. The European court’s decision on the case, brought by more than 2,000 women, could have a ripple effect across Europe and beyond, setting a precedent for how some courts deal with the rising tide of climate litigation argued on the basis…

Serbia is close to signing a deal on the purchase of 12 French Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets, the Serbian president announced Tuesday, in what would mark a shift from its traditional military supplier Russia. President Aleksandar Vucic spoke during his two-day visit to Paris and talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as well as French defense officials including Rafale manufacturer Dassault Aviation. Vucic said that he had a very good conversation with Macron on Monday night, which lasted more than…

ISTANBUL: Turkey said it would impose trade restrictions on Israel starting Tuesday over the war in Gaza, covering a range of products including cement and steel and iron construction materials. The new measures come a day after Turkey said Israel had blocked its attempt to airdrop aid to Gaza. “This decision will remain in place until Israel declares a ceasefire immediately and allows adequate and uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” the trade ministry announced on social media. It…

Chinese anti-corruption authorities are investigating a senior executive at one of the country’s top military equipment suppliers, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, in a new sign of turmoil in the country’s defence establishment. The probe into He Wenzhong, deputy general manager of CETC, a company subject to US sanctions, follows a shake-up of the armed forces last year, when the two generals in command of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force were replaced. The force controls China’s land-based nuclear missiles….

  LONDON – Blackstone is nearing a deal to take L’Occitane International private, according to people familiar with the matter, potentially ending the global cosmetics and skincare giant’s 14-year run on Hong Kong’s stock exchange. The private equity firm may team up with L’Occitane’s billionaire owner Reinold Geiger for the buyout, said one of the people. An announcement could come as soon as in the coming days, the people said. Trading of L’Occitane was suspended before the Hong Kong stock…

  The trial of 27 people opened Monday in Panama from charges stemming from the Panama Papers, a cache of millions of financial documents that exposed money laundering and worldwide tax evasion networks. Among those on trial are the owners of the Mossack-Fonseca law firm, the company that was central to the 2016 massive document leak, which detailed how the world’s richest people hide their assets. Jurgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca Mora, the founders of the now-defunct law firm, are…