Tag: All Regions

Whistleblowers allege FCA didn’t respect their anonymity: Senior independent director review

In August 2024, a former employee who left the FCA some years ago made an allegation publicly that, in the course of whistleblowing, their identity was not kept confidential by the chair of the FCA, Ashley Alder. Following the first public allegation, a second former employee of the FCA, who also left some years ago, came forward with a similar allegation as to the handling of their whistleblowing communication to the chair. In line with the corporate governance of the…

Malaysian police rescue 187 more children as sex abuse probe of Islamic group deepens

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian police said Monday they have rescued 187 more children and raided locations nationwide linked to an Islamic business group that is being investigated for alleged sexual assault of children. National police chief Razarudin Husain said the children and young people, including 59 under age 5, were rescued from welfare homes linked to Global Ikhwan Services and Business, or GISB Holdings. They included a boy who was seen being caned and another child who was…

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to hear appeal on Karen Read murder case

MANSFIELD — The full state Supreme Judicial Court will hear arguments in November on whether to dismiss two of the three charges against Karen Read, including second-degree murder, for the January 2022 death of her police officer boyfriend. Lawyers for Read, 44, of Mansfield, filed a petition to the state’s highest court on Sept. 11 asking it to overturn a superior court ruling denying their motion to dismiss the murder charge and one of leaving the scene of an accident…

Israeli forces raid and shut down Al Jazeera bureau in occupied West Bank

Israeli soldiers have raided the Al Jazeera office in the occupied West Bank and ordered the bureau to shut down amid a widening campaign targeting the Doha-based broadcaster. Al Jazeera aired footage of Israeli troops storming its bureau in Ramallah on Sunday and ordering the office to be shut for 45 days. This follows an order issued in May that saw Israeli police raid Al Jazeera’s premises in occupied East Jerusalem, seizing equipment, preventing its broadcasts in Israel and blocking…

France’s Macron appoints new government weeks after divisive election

French President Emmanuel Macron has named a new government, hoping to put an end 11 weeks of political uncertainty after an inconclusive parliamentary election delivered a hung parliament. Conservative Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Saturday put together the government whose first major task will be to submit a 2025 budget plan addressing France’s financial situation, which the prime minister this week called “very serious”. The 38-member Cabinet includes ministers from Macron’s centrist alliance and the conservative Republicans (LR) party. The difficult…

Russia and China start naval exercises in Sea of Japan, Reuters reports

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia and China started naval exercises in the Sea of Japan on Saturday, Russian news agencies cited Russia’s Pacific Fleet as saying. “A joint detachment of warships of the Pacific Fleet and Chinese Navy set out from Vladivostok to conduct the joint Russian-Chinese “Beibu/Interaction – 2024″ naval exercise,” the RIA news agency quoted the Pacific Fleet as saying. The exercises will include anti-aircraft and anti-submarine weapons, RIA reported. Russia and China practised missile and artillery firing this…

US Secret Service probe finds lack of diligence ahead of Trump rally shooting

WASHINGTON – A US Secret Service probe found communication gaps and a lack of diligence ahead of the July attempted assassination of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a Butler, Pennsylvania rally. “There was complacency on the part of” some agents “that led to a breach of security protocols,” acting Secret Service director Ronald Rowe told reporters on Sept 20, adding that agency employees will be held accountable. The assassination attempt against Trump at the July 13 rally led to…

Federal authorities subpoena NYC mayor’s director of asylum seeker operations

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed the director overseeing New York City’s office for asylum seekers, the latest [in an] investigation into the administration of Mayor Eric Adams. Molly Schaeffer, who leads the city’s Office of Asylum Seeker Operations, received the information sharing request from federal authorities Friday morning, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the subpoena. It…

Mystery Profile Linked to Hungarian Firm Implicated in Exploding Pagers

Dozens of people were killed and thousands more injured after two consecutive days of explosions across Lebanon this week that the Shia militant group Hezbollah has blamed on Israel. Pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously on Tuesday afternoon, leaving at least 12 people dead, including two children. On Wednesday, another wave of coordinated explosions affecting handheld radios killed at least 25 people. Almost 3,000 people were wounded in the attacks, Lebanon’s health ministry said. Israel has not commented on…

Israel challenges ICC’s request for arrest warrants for its PM, defense minister

The following article is from a Russian news source, Tass, which is controlled by the Russian Government. TEL AVIV, September 20. /TASS/. Israel has challenged International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan’s request for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as ICC’s jurisdiction over this case, Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Oren Marmotstein said. According to the spokesperson, Israel has presented “two separate legal documents.” One states that the ICC has no…

French mayor sorry for ‘no one died’ remark over mass rape trial

MAZAN, France (AP) — The mayor of a French town making headlines for the trial of dozens of men accused of rapes that occurred there over almost a decade has apologized for comments that appeared to downplay the case. “I have been criticized for minimizing the seriousness of the heinous crimes of which the defendants are accused,” Louis Bonnet, the mayor of Mazan in southern France, said in a statement Thursday. “I understand that these remarks are shocking and I…

European Commission to announce loan of 35 bln euro for Ukraine

The following article is from a Russian news source, Tass, which is controlled by the Russian Government. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will announce the provision of a loan of 35 bln euro to Ukraine, the Financial Times reported with reference to sources. According to the report, this initiative is part of the G7 plan to allocate $50 bln to Kiev using profits from frozen Russian assets. The amount of 35 bln euro is a compromise…

US arms supplies to Taiwan violate one-China principle -Chinese Defense Ministry

The following article is from a Russian news source, Tass, which is controlled by the Russian Government. Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesman Zhang Xiaogang stated: “The US arms deliveries to Taiwan, one of China’s provinces, seriously violate the one-China principle and three joint communiques. This significantly infringes on China’s sovereignty and security interests, and severely undermines peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” the official said on the Chinese Defense Ministry’s WeChat account. The spokesman emphasized that Beijing expresses strong dissatisfaction…

Israeli Soldiers Filmed Throwing Bodies of Palestinians Off Rooftops in West Bank

Israeli soldiers were filmed throwing the bodies of Palestinians off rooftops in the West Bank on Thursday. Videos circulating on social media show Israeli soldiers throwing the bodies of three Palestinians, killed in the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya, off a rooftop on Thursday morning. The footage shows three Israeli soldiers standing on the roof of a building, throwing the… pic.twitter.com/j2b8fMyDKt — Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) September 19, 2024 The war crime happened during an assault on the town…

No criminal charges for US billionaire Carl Icahn, who used company funds to secure personal loans worth billions

US settles with billionaire Carl Icahn for using company to secure personal loans worth billions Billionaire Carl Icahn and his company were charged by U.S. regulators with failing to disclose personal loans worth billions of dollars that were secured using securities of Icahn Enterprises as collateral. Icahn Enterprises and Icahn have agreed to pay $1.5 million and $500,000 in civil penalties, respectively, to settle the charges, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday. The agency said that from at least…

District attorney appoints special prosecutor to handle Karen Read’s second trial

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts district attorney on Wednesday appointed a special prosecutor, who has represented James “Whitey” Bulger and other prominent clients in the past, to take on the Karen Read murder case. Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said in a statement that Hank Brennan will lead the state’s retrial in January. A former prosecutor and defense attorney, Morrissey said Brennan has worked for 25 years in state and federal courts and and has experience “with complex law enforcement…