Japan where futures contracts were written for rice traders. A simple futures contract says that I will agree to buy rice from you in one year’s time, at a price that we agree right now. By the 20th Century the Chicago Board of Trade was providing a marketplace for traders to deal not only in futures but in options contracts. An example of an option is a contract where we agree that I can b…
cials say. Cyprus’ central bank says 37.5% of holdings over 100,000 euros will become shares. Up to 22.5% will go into a fund attracting no interest and may be subject to further write-offs. The other 40% will attract interest – but this will not be paid unless the bank performs well. The fear is that once the unprecedented capital controls – which are in place for an indefinite time &…
World leaders meeting at a G20 summit in Mexico have urged Europe to take all necessary measures to overcome the eurozone debt crisis. They voiced unease over what one top official described as “the single biggest risk for the world economy”. But European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said “the challenges are not only European, they are global”. Sunday’s v…
…previously said that the Church has a special duty to defend the poor. “I would like a Church that is poor and is for the poor,” he said following his election as head of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics two months ago. The Pope said he had chosen the name Francis in a direct reference to St Francis of Assisi, the Italian founder of the Franciscan Order who was devoted to the po…
ged our economy into a crisis that put millions out of work, saddled us with more debt, and left innocent, hardworking Americans holding the bag. In the six months before I took office, we lost nearly 4 million jobs. And we lost another 4 million before our policies were in full effect. Those are the facts. But so are these: In the last 22 months, businesses have created more than 3 million jobs….
…y, Bashar al-Assad denied his forces had any role in the Houla massacre. In a televised address, President Bashar al-Assad told parliament the killing of more than 108 people in their homes, including 49 children, was an “ugly crime” that even “monsters” would not carry out. Witnesses have blamed pro-government militiamen for the massacre, which has triggered international…
…o have rounded up and arrested illegal money changers in the capital. Tehran’s bazaar is traditionally the biggest financial ally of the Iranian regime. The bazaar is said to have bankrolled the 1979 Islamic revolution. The political core of the bazaar is the Islamic Allied Society or Motalefeh, a political group loyal to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The protests were…
es were “of a criminal nature”. They bore “no relation whatsoever to any intelligence-gathering activities”, he told Russia’s Ria-Novosti news agency. Alexander Fishenko, 46, a naturalized US citizen and owner of Houston-based company Arc Electronics Inc, was also charged with laundering money. The US keeps strict controls on the export of cutting-edge microelectronic…
ng the alleged theft of more than $200 million. After reporting it to the authorities, he was himself detained on suspicion of aiding tax evasion, and died in custody on 16 November 2009 at the age of 37. President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a ban on Americans adopting Russian orphans US-born fund manager Bill Browder, who runs Hermitage Capital, spearheaded efforts in the US to put press…
US President Barack Obama says European leaders must make difficult decisions to steer the eurozone away from crisis. Speaking at the White House, Barack Obama said the US would support Europe implement the hard solutions needed to solve the ongoing debt crisis. He said a deep new recession in Europe would have an impact on the US economy. Greece’s future in the eurozone was a matter for th…
…US adoptive parents have made headlines in Russia. Vladimir Putin said he still needed to read the Russian bill in detail, though he backed it in principle. The rate of adoption in Russia is low. Some 3,400 Russian children were adopted by foreign families in 2011, nearly a third of them by Americans. “The State Duma’s response may be emotional, but I consider it to be appropriate,R…
lving the country’s fans at Euro 2012. Russian fans were caught on camera kicking and punching stewards inside the stadium at Wroclaw, in western Poland, after their team beat the Czech Republic 4-1 on Friday. Four stewards needed hospital treatment. Anti-racist monitors at the match said a section of the crowd racially abused the Czech Republic’s only black player, Theodor Gebre Selas…
Katia Zatuliveter, an alleged Russian spy admitted a 4-year relationship with married British Liberal Democrat MP, Mike Hancock, but denied she deliberately targeted him during yesterday hearing. Katia Zatuliveter, 26, also had a string of affairs or “flirtations” with other political figures including a Nato official and a Dutch diplomat. The alleged Russian spy is accused of trying to access se…
…inance Minister Anton Siluanov, speaking after talks with his Michael Sarris, said Russian investors were not interested in Cyprus’ offshore gas reserves. Russia gave Cyprus an emergency loan of 2.5 billion euros in 2011. Anton Siluanov said that no new Russian loan had been on the table with Michael Sarris because of limits imposed by the EU on Cypriot borrowing. However, Russian PM Dmitry…
…sets. The bank will not be closed but will be hugely reduced in size. The source said a 20% levy would be imposed on deposits over 100,000 euros in Bank of Cyprus in exchange for shares in the bank. A 4% levy would then be imposed on deposits of more than 100,000 euros in other banks. This would need to be approved by parliament but enough MPs have already given their backing to ensure it would pa…
ntury BC, whose phrase “There is nothing new under the sun” is repeated more than 20 times. If you look at the picture at top of the story, the young man with a laptop on a Greek vase from 470 BC (in fact, a writing-tablet) seems to prove the proposition. In the early 6th Century BC, the people of Athens were burdened with debt, social division and inequality, with poor farmers prepar…
…nal interference was “hindering efforts for Syrians themselves to resolve this problem”. Russia and China have opposed intervention in Syria since anti-government protests erupted in March 2011. They have vetoed three Security Council resolutions seeking to press President Bashar al-Assad to end the violence. On Monday, Barack Obama warned Syria’s government at a news conference…
The UN-Arab League envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, has had talks in Turkey amid rising tensions between Ankara and Damascus. Lakhdar Brahimi met Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to hear Turkey’s perspective on the crisis. Several days of cross-border firing followed the killing of five Turkish civilians by Syrian shelling last week. Earlier this week, Turkey intercepted a Syria-bound plan…
King Juan Carlos of Spain has come under fire for hunting elephants in Botswana as his country is being sucked back into the eurozone’s financial crisis and one in two youngsters are jobless. Spanish media have slammed King Juan Carlos, 74, for the reported 32,000 Euros ($43,000) cost of the trip – and have published angry editorials alongside pictures of a previous “Big Game” hunting…
ay after being closed for more than a week, Cyprus’s central bank says. The Cypriot government suggested that account holders with deposits of more than 100,000 euros should expect to lose about 30% of their balances. The UK’s FTSE 100 index ended the day down 0.2%, while Germany’s Dax gave up 0.5%, and France’s Cac lost 1.1%. In New York, the Dow Jones was 0.5% lower. In M…
t risk of deposits outflow, with possible outcome the collapse of the credit institutions” as the reasons for the restrictions. Depositors in Cypriot banks with more than 100,000 euros could see 40% of their funds converted into bank shares, while those with less than 100,000 euros will not lose any funds – but face limits on what funds they can access. Speaking to the Financial Times,…
ight industries. Right now Richard is awaiting his appeal to the High Court against the decision of a judge in a lower court to allow his extradition to go ahead. That appeal is scheduled for December 4 at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Speaking with TorrentFreak, Julia O’Dwyer says the appeal will take place on a number of issues but mainly against the lower court judge’s decision. “In or…
bank deposits of up to 10%, were seen queuing to withdraw cash. The parliament is due to meet later on Sunday to vote on the measure. Nicos Anastasiades’ Democratic Rally party – which has 20 seats in the 56-member assembly – needs support from other factions to ratify the bailout. The deal – reached with eurozone partners and also the IMF in Brussels late on Friday –…
Celebrities including Beyonce and Jay-Z have had private details of their finances posted online. Hackers have also put up information, but not credit reports, about US Vice-President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Los Angeles police say they are investigating how a police chief’s private details, including his address and a credit report, ended up online. Police C…
Cyprus banks are to reopen on Tuesday, March 26, although the two at the centre of the crisis, Bank of Cyprus and Laiki, will remain shut until Thursday, March 28. President Nicos Anastasiades has said temporary limits will be placed on financial transactions after a bailout deal imposing a tax on bank deposits. He said “very temporary restrictions” would be put on capital flows, but…
Obama administration knew IRS was targeting conservative groups since June 2012Obama administration knew since June 2012 about an investigation into complaints from conservative tea party groups that they were being harassed by IRS, and the probe was…
Zahra Shahid Hussain shot dead in KarachiSenior Pakistani politician Zahra Shahid Hussain has been shot dead in the southern port city of Karachi. Zahra Shahid Hussain was the senior vice-president of Pakistan's…
Rome: Thousands rally to oppose Italy's austerity measuresThousands of protesters, led by trade unionists, have rallied in Rome against the policies of Italy’s new coalition government. Wielding red flags and placards, they urged…
Pope Francis condemns money cult in his first major speech on financial crisisIn his first major speech on the financial crisis, Pope Francis has called on world leaders to end the "cult of money" and to do more for the poor. Free market economics had…
Steven T. Miller: Acting IRS commissioner resigns over targeting conservative groups for special scrutinyActing head of the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Steven T. Miller has quit after it emerged his staff singled out conservative groups for extra scrutiny, President…
France enters its second recession in four years France has entered its second recession in four years after the economy shrank by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2013, according to official figures. The country’s economy…
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