Tag: Region Americas

Jury Convicts Former Aequitas CEO and Company Executives for Roles in $300 Million Fraud Conspiracy

PORTLAND, Ore.—After a six-week trial in Portland, a federal jury found three former executives of Aequitas Management, LLC, and associated companies, guilty today for their roles in a vast fraud conspiracy. Evidence at trial showed the conspirators raised nearly $300 million from defrauded investors. Robert J. Jesenik, 63, former chief executive officer of Aequitas and resident of Lake Oswego, Oregon;…

Russian Air Defenses Destroy Kiev’s UK-Supplied Storm Shadow Cruise Missiles

While Ukrainian forces tend to treat each new addition to their arsenal supplied by the West as a game changer, their jubilation tends to be short-lived as Russian forces swiftly learn how to deal with these threats. A Storm Shadow cruise missile Kiev recently got from the UK proved to be no exception.Yesterday, Russian air defense units operating in the Ukrainian conflict zone shot down two Storm Shadow missiles, as well as several other airborne threats.Also, some 12 UAVs operated by Kiev forces were shot down by Russian air defense units in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic, Donetsk People’s Republic and Zaporozhye region.The United States and its allies have supplied billions of dollars worth of weapons and military hardware – including small arms, artillery, multiple launch rocket systems and air defense systems – to Ukraine, fanning the flames of the ongoing conflict in the country and effectively helping prolong the fighting and the suffering of the Ukrainian civilians.

Bill Gates’ alleged lover linked to Russian ‘spy’ – Daily Mail

Mila Antonova – a bridge player who multiple media reports this week claim had an affair with Gates starting in 2009 – was captured in a newly unearthed photograph walking alongside Chapman in New York City. The picture, which is believed to have been taken in 2009 or 2010, around the same time as Gates’ alleged trysts with the decades-younger…

Trilateral Commissioner Henry Kissinger Turns 100, Still Not Held Accountable

Kissinger was a founding member of the Trilateral Commission, a confidant and key operative of the Rockefeller dynasty and a serial meddler in foreign affairs that resulted in the deaths of millions. It was Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski who originally called for a Constitutional Convention to re-write America’s future. Praised by Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton alike, he consistently superseded…

Investigators find new evidence in Nord Stream sabotage – Der Spiegel

In March, Der Spiegel claimed a yacht called ‘Andromeda’ had allegedly been used by a team of divers to sabotage the Nord Stream pipelines. The publication cited the discovery of traces of explosives in the cabin of the vessel and fake identification documents that were used in the hiring of the boat.  The outlet’s most recent report indicates that metadata…

JPMorgan Faces Reckoning for Long Ties With Jeffrey Epstein

Jeffrey Epstein was many things: a sexual predator, a friend to the rich and powerful and, for many years, a lucrative customer of the nation’s largest bank. Now the bank, JPMorgan Chase, faces a reckoning for its nearly 15-year relationship with the disgraced financier, one that could cost it a big payout in two civil lawsuits that claim the bank…

PwC faces its Enron moment: Confidentiality breaches, possible conspiracy to defraud

When then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull called for heads to roll after the 2016 census was pulled offline – amid fears IBM’s data servers hosting the survey had been infiltrated – the American enterprise technology giant made an important decision. IBM ran most of the big mainframe systems that had powered core government functions for several decades, earning it billions of…

US authorities seize more domains linked to prolific DDoS-for-hire websites

U.S. authorities have seized 13 more domains linked to some of the world’s most popular DDoS-for-hire websites. These websites, also described as “booter” or “stressor” services, are marketed as legitimate security testing tools that allow admins to stress-test websites. In reality, the services are used for launching denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks designed to overwhelm websites and networks and force them offline….

EU wants to send profits from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine – FT

European Union officials are considering whether to send Ukraine profits generated from Russian assets frozen within the bloc, the Financial Times has reported, citing people familiar with the discussions. EU member states and European Commission officials convened on Wednesday to examine how they might move funds held at Euroclear, the world’s largest settlement house, over to Ukraine, as Russian-owned assets there…

Court Allows Gamers’ Amended Suit To Block Microsoft, Activision Deal

While we’ve talked a great deal now about Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, most of the focus has been on how three major regulatory bodies are handling approving, or not, the purchase. But those regulatory bodies are not the only ones challenging the purchase. A small group of gamers filed their own private suit to block the acquisition, arguing…

US approves $385m sale of surface-to-air missile defence system to Ukraine

WASHINGTON – The United States on Wednesday announced the approval of a US$285 million (S$385 million) sale of a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (“NASAMS”) air defence system and related equipment to Ukraine as Kyiv seeks to boost protection against Russian strikes. “Ukraine has an urgent need to increase its capabilities to defend against Russian missile strikes and aircraft,” the…

Chinese hackers breach US critical infrastructure in stealthy attacks -NSA, FBI, NSA, CISA

Microsoft says a Chinese cyberespionage group it tracks as Volt Typhoon has been targeting critical infrastructure organizations across the United States, including Guam, since at least mid-2021. Their victims span a wide range of critical sectors, including government, maritime, communications, manufacturing, information technology, utilities, transportation, construction, and education. “Microsoft assesses with moderate confidence that this Volt Typhoon campaign is pursuing…

Arizona judge overturns restraining order against journalist who dared to knock on a politician’s door

For a brief moment of time, a judge in Arizona conspired with a vindictive politician to pretend the First Amendment didn’t exist. Senator Wendy Rogers — who was censured by the state senate last year for stating her political opponents should be hanged — took litigious offense at the methods deployed by journalist Camryn Sanchez, who covers the state senate…

China’s Micron chip ban spurs demands for action From US lawmakers

(Bloomberg) — US lawmakers are urging Washington to strike back against China for its decision to bar Micron Technology Inc.’s memory chips, threatening to further inflame tensions between the two countries. Representative Mike Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican who leads a China-focused congressional committee, wants Changxin Memory Technologies Inc. placed on a blacklist that effectively bars dealings with American firms. That’s…

GAO blasts T-7 delays, cites ‘tenuous’ Air Force-Boeing relationship

WASHINGTON — Boeing’s effort to build a new trainer aircraft for the Air Force is plagued by safety problems, schedule and testing delays, and the risk the T-7A Red Hawk could fall even further behind schedule, the Government Accountability Office said in a scathing report. Boeing’s relationship with the Air Force has also been strained by the T-7′s issues, GAO…

Facebook owner Meta starts final round of lay-offs

NEW YORK – Meta Platforms Inc started carrying out the last batch of a three-part round of lay-offs on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the matter, as part of a plan announced in March to eliminate 10,000 roles. Meta earlier this year became the first Big Tech company to announce a second round of mass layoffs, after showing…