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Continue reading …Investigators accuse Bill Lowther of paying for son of Vietnamese bank governor to attend Durham University Anti-bribery investigators are prosecuting a British businessman for allegedly conspiring to corruptly pay for the son of a top-ranking foreign official to be educated at Durham University in a clandestine deal to land a profitable contract. The Serious Fraud Office has charged 71-year-old Cumbrian businessman Bill Lowther as part of a growing bribery investigation that has already seen a string of prosecutions, arrests and raids across three continents over suspected multi-million pound payments spanning a decade. The SFO, along with police in Australia and Asia, has been investigating alleged corrupt conduct by a banknote printing firm which is half-owned by a company based in a small Cumbrian market town. The SFO confirmed that Lowther was charged on 8 September with taking part in a conspiracy to help secure a university place for the son of the then governor of Vietnam’s state-owned bank and paying his fees and accommodation costs. Lowther is due to appear at City of Westminster magistrates court in London on Tuesday 20 September. The move comes after seven senior executives from the banknote printing firm , Securency, were charged over the summer by Australian police for allegedly funnelling bribes to officials in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. The SFO’s prosecution is being mounted at a time when the British government has stepped up its attempts to crack down on corporate corruption. A stronger law aimed at prosecuting executives who pay backhanders to foreign politicians and officials to win big contracts overseas came into force in July. It was introduced after Britain endured constant criticism for managing to prosecute only a paltry number of firms for the offence. The SFO and Australian police allege that the Securency executives bribed Le Duc Thuy, the then bank governor, to induce him to award the firm a contract to print Vietnam’s currency in 2003. His son, Le Duc Minh, completed a postgraduate course at the university’s business school in 2003-4. This summer the Guardian tracked down the son, in Hanoi. He denied his education was funded through corrupt payments and said both the fees for his studying and his living costs while at Durham, totalling more than £10,000, were paid by his family. He said : “I believe that none of my school friends or lecturers at Durham ever thought that I looked like a rich boy at school.” Lowther is the first to be charged by the SFO during its investigation into Securency. The investigation came out into the open last October when the SFO arrested and later bailed Lowther and four other individuals , and raided eight homes across the UK and an office. Lowther, a former Securency director, has been awarded a OBE and CBE during his business career as well as an honorary knighthood from the king of Belgium, according to a local press report. After his arrest he resigned as deputy chairman of Innovia Films , a specialist manufacturer in Wigton, Cumbria which owns half of Securency. Both Innovia and the Australian central bank which owns the other half of Securency have been trying to sell their stakes in the firm since last November. Securency, which prints special durable currency used in 31 countries, was reportedly in line to win a contract to print the £5 banknote , but the Bank of England recently cancelled the deal. In another strand of its inquiries into Securency, the SFO has been scrutinising suspected bribes to Nigerian officials. Richard Alderman, the director of the SFO, told MPs in July that his agency was investigating “about 26″ cases of bribery. Serious Fraud Office Vietnam Australia Banking Durham University Higher education Rob Evans John Burn-Murdoch Paul Lewis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …European and US stocks surge on news that world banks will flood markets with dollars in coming months Fears of a deepening of Europe’s debt crisis have prompted the world’s leading central banks to pump US dollars into the financial system, in a co-ordinated action designed to boost market confidence. The Bank of England joined the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Swiss National Bank and the Bank of Japan on Thursday to announce that they would flood money markets with dollars over the coming months. The move, on the third anniversary of the collapse of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers, sent shares soaring in banks heavily exposed to debt default by Greece and the other struggling members of the 17-nation eurozone. Under the terms of the deal, banks will be able to bid for unlimited amounts of US dollars at fixed interest rates in three separate auctions. The first of these will be on 12 October. Nick Parsons, head of strategy at National Australia Bank, said the decision to provide unlimited to liquidity well into 2012 was a big show of support to the global banking system. But he added: “If Greece were to default, an announcement that there would be unlimited liquidity available from central banks is one of the things you would want to have in place beforehand.” In London, the FTSE 100 index jumped 125 points to 5352, up 2.5%. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones index gained 1.2% to 11385. French bank stocks jumped, with BNP Paribas gaining 12%. The euro also jumped more than one cent against the dollar to $1.3886. European debt crisis European banks European Central Bank Europe Bank of England Lehman Brothers FTSE Dow Jones Dollar Stock markets Greece Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …I’m not seeing a lot of buzz about this, but there should be. The Congressional Progressive Caucus has unveiled their framework for jobs, which augments and expands upon the President’s American Jobs Act. The CPC’s Rebuild The American Dream Framework has six parts to it. Specific policy proposals will be forthcoming, but here is the high level overview: Make it in America Again – focus on bolstering U.S. manufacturing Rebuild America – focus on infrastructure as a larger part of the jobs policy than the White House proposal Lead the Green Industrial Revolution – blending the first two elements into a focus on green industries and products Jobs for the Next Generation – Job training and education for young people Not Just Jobs – Good Jobs – Reinforcing Americans’ right and access to collective bargaining, promoting jobs that provide wages, benefits and security that will preserve the middle class Fair Taxes – Shared Sacrifice – Pay for the program by taxing the wealthy in this country At a time when poverty in this country has risen to one in six Americans, where joblessness among young people is at its highest level since the Great Depression, and jobs are the single biggest issue on the table, this framework is most welcome. It’s the product of discussions caucus members had during the summer as they toured the country and spoke to people about what most concerned them. While I haven’t heard all of the specifics yet, I think there are some cues to be taken from progressives’ budget proposal released earlier this year, which proposed a 45 percent tax rate on the wealthiest earners in this country, ending the wars, and preserving the social safety net for generations to come. It’s important to recognize that progressives are not trying to compete with the American Jobs Act, but instead have offered proposals which dovetail and augment his. I interpret that message as one of support not just for his plan, but for a larger vision of what can be done with the support of the American people. It’s that support part that’s a challenge. Progressives’ voices seem to be a focus in the mainstream media only when they are opposing the President, not when they’re stepping up alongside and strengthening what has been proposed. I would love to see a movement to get behind every one of their proposals with full-throated force, in the hopes of widening the benefits of whatever jobs package ultimately squeaks through this crazy Congress. Most importantly, the CPC proposal reflects what the majority of people in this country not only want, but need. It reflects a value system that doesn’t applaud dead uninsured people, but seeks to put an end to a situation where people die from lack of access to health care. It reflects a value system where every citizen of this country is given the same opportunity to succeed and improve their lot in life. It reflects the greater good a government should be doing for the governed. Reality may dictate that this Congress offers no hope for getting any of these proposals through. But we have an opportunity to rally around it anyway, and begin to change the narrative away from the right-wing cynical, selfish world view to one that’s centered around real people and real struggles. My hat is off to the CPC, and I’m looking forward to writing more about their specific bills as they emerge.
Continue reading …Liberals are on their high horses about a single audience member at CNN's Republican debate whom they believe wanted a hypothetical man without health insurance in a hypothetical coma to die — hypothetically. (Democrats want people in comas to die only when they are not hypothetical but real, like Terri Schiavo.) I concur with the audience member who shouted “Yes!” This has nothing to do with any actual people in comas — the people Democrats want to kill — it's just a big “screw you” to the moderator. Following up on Brian Williams' showboating questions at last week's Republican debate about the execution of the innocent and starving children with distended stomachs, this week, CNN's Wolf Blitzer launched his question about an imaginary comatose man without health insurance. As Rep. Ron Paul began to discuss the pitfalls of collectivism, Blitzer kept interrupting him, concluding with, “But Congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die?” That's when an audience member yelled out “Yes!” — allowing liberals to luxuriate in self-righteousness, the likes of which we have not seen since the Jersey Girls demanded a Homeland Security Department be created because their husbands died. Normal people are sick of liberals' emotional stories that play to soccer moms, but always seem to pave the way for disastrous social policies that benefit only left-wing special-interest groups. Whenever liberals start loftily insisting on our obligation to our fellow man with these tear-jerkers, you know some heinous public policy is coming. As soon as the dust settles, you won't see any innocent victims being helped, only trial lawyers, government employees and other Democratic constituencies. Obama campaigned for his national health care bill with a sad story about a campaign supporter who died of breast cancer soon after his election because — he said — she couldn't afford health insurance, so she didn't get a breast cancer scan in time to stop the disease. He somberly told embarrassed audiences: “She insisted she is going to be buried in an Obama T-shirt.” (As it looks like we all will, unless we get a new president next year.) Apart from the fact that free breast cancer screening was available right in his supporter's hometown of St. Louis, she undoubtedly would have been able to afford excellent health insurance … except the government outlawed affordable health insurance. Thanks to accumulated government mandates on insurance companies at that time, imposed by both the state and federal government, Obama's Missouri supporter was allowed to buy health insurance only provided it covered: chiropractors, speech therapists, hearing therapists, psychologists, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists (Missouri), as well as mental health benefits, unlimited hospital stays for newborns and mothers, and reconstructive surgery after mastectomy (federal). When starting her own business and struggling to make ends meet, the Obama supporter might have been better served by a cheaper policy that covered only, say, actual medical problems. But the government didn't permit her that option. Obama's poster-child for government-run health insurance was a victim of government-micromanaged health insurance. It would be as if the government prohibited us from buying cars unless they were Lexus SUVs, fully loaded with every possible option. Then, when most Americans couldn't afford to buy a car, the Democrats could demand we pass “ObamaCar.” Wolf could have asked: “A healthy 30-year-old young man decides, 'I'm not going to spend $100,000 or $200,000 for a car because, you know, I don't need it.' But something terrible happens, all of a sudden he needs it. Who's going to pay if he needs a car to escape a hurricane, for example? Who pays for that?” Why are the only two options always a behemoth government program or the guy dies? The subject is a baby kitten, but the real beneficiaries are the people with great government jobs, fantastic pensions, long vacations, and self-paced and self-evaluated working environments. As for Brian Williams' grandstandy question to Gov. Rick Perry about Texas' execution rate (“Have you struggled to sleep at night with the idea that any one of those might have been innocent?”): There is no credible evidence that a single innocent person has been executed in this country since at least 1950. There is, however, a lot of evidence that innocent people have been killed when murderers were not executed. Indeed, one of the most infamous cases of a former death row inmate being released and then killing again comes from Texas. Kenneth McDuff had been given three death sentences for kidnapping and murdering three teenagers, repeatedly raping one. But he was sprung from prison after the Supreme Court invalidated the death penalty in 1972 and then Texas began releasing inmates to relieve prison overcrowding. McDuff went on to kill more than a dozen people, provably eight more. He was finally executed by Gov. George Bush in 1998, two decades after his post-death row rape and murder spree began. Someone ought to calculate the carnage liberals foisted on this country beginning in the late-'60s with their “compassionate” approach to rapists and serial killers like McDuff — consequences that liberals were fully immunized from in their safe, ivory tower neighborhoods. Let's ask Michael Dukakis to run the numbers. Regarding Williams' baby seal question about starving children in Texas with distended stomachs: No one is starving in this country. The only bloated stomach problem affecting America's poor is a medical condition known as “obesity.” According to the General Accounting Office, in 2008, the federal government had 18 separate food programs that spent $62.5 billion each year to feed the poor. And that was before the Food Stamp President assumed office. I would venture to guess that the only children in America who have ever suffered from kwashiorkor, the condition that causes distended bellies, were victims of child abuse — at the hands of the sort of monsters Williams is so opposed to executing. People aren't buying the left's emotional appeals about imaginary victims anymore. The audience member's “Yes!” was a way of laughing in the moderators' faces for trying to pull that crap.
Continue reading …A rogue trader at UBS has lost around $2 billion, the Swiss banking giant says. The unauthorized trades by a trader in its investment banking unit “could lead UBS to report a loss for the third quarter of 2011,” but “no client positions were affected,” the bank said in a…
Continue reading …Conjoined Twins Separated in Tennessee DaAiTV_DaAiHeadlines_20110914 Two Conjoined Twins Departed form_ask says: Do you have any idea about conjoined twins ? http://t.co/qNSOoN4c
Continue reading …Today, we’ve got a pair of Canon point-and-shoots to show you. The S100 is the successor to the highly regarded S95 , while the SX40 HS takes on the super-zoom market with its 35x lens. Both cameras use the company’s new DIGIC 5 image processor, which brings high-speed burst shooting and 1080p video to the party. The S100 features improved low-light performance thanks to its f/2.0 lens and new, larger 12.1 megapixel CMOS censor (gone is the CCD of yore). It also has a GPS receiver for embedding location data in your photos. The SX40, more or less, slaps the new processor and sensor into last year’s somewhat disappointing SX30 IS . Hopefully, those internal upgrades will solve some of the SX line’s problems with image quality and noise. Both cameras will cost $430, with the S100 set to ship in early November and the SX 40 HS in late September. Check out the gallery below as well as the PR after the break. Gallery: Canon PowerShot S100 and SX40 Continue reading Canon unveils PowerShot S100 and SX40 HS high-end point-and-shoots Canon unveils PowerShot S100 and SX40 HS high-end point-and-shoots originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 09:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Type: CE Title: Sennheiser HD201 Lightweight Over-Ear Binaural Headphones See all customer reviews Product Description: The Sennheiser HD201 Stereo Headphones prove to be a low priced alternative to high-end studio headphones. Clarity and Power, the Sennheiser HD201 headphones are the ideal entry into the world of powerful stereo sound. These excellent headphones also boast great attenuation of ambient noise and outstanding comfort at an affordable price. Sennheiser HD201 Features Powerful stereo sound Rich, crisp bass response Lightweight and comfortable to wear Good attenuation of ambient noise Extremely rugged High-quality leatherette ear pads 1/4 inch (6.3 mm) gold-plated adaptor 2-year warranty Features: Lightweight and comfortable economical headphones Features smooth silver design and leatherette ear pads Delivers powerful, bass-driven sound Comes with manufacturer’s 2-year warranty See the details
Continue reading …cyelsiwie says: Mila Kunis ’ Phone Hacked And Sexy Pics Of Justin Timberlake Reportedly Found On It! OMG! http://t.co/35JUEkPG
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