Mainstream News

Criminal defense lawyers demand access to secret DEA evidence

"Criminal defense lawyers are challenging a U.S. government practice of hiding the tips that led to some drug investigations, information that the lawyers say is essential to fair trials in U.S. courts. The practice of creating an alternate investigative trail to hide how a case began – what federal agents call 'parallel construction' – has never been thoroughly tested in court. Defense lawyers said that by hiding the existence of the information, the government is violating a defendant’s constitutional right to view potentially exculpatory evidence that suggests witness bias, entrapment or innocence." Continue reading →

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SpaceX to launch radar satellite network for Germany

"Privately owned Space Exploration Technologies won a two-flight contract to launch a radar satellite network for Germany, the company announced on Thursday. SpaceX will launch a trio of spacecraft that comprise a radar reconnaissance network for Germany’s defense department. The company’s Falcon 9 rocket so far has flown five times – all successfully – including three missions to launch cargo capsules to the International Space Station for NASA. The privately owned firm, founded and operated by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, also is competing to provide flight services for NASA astronauts to and from the station." Continue reading →

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Facing pressure from U.S., encrypted email service Lavabit shuts down

"An encrypted email service believed to have been used by US leaker Edward Snowden shut down on Thursday apparently as a result of pressure from US authorities. Lavabit owner Ladar Levison posted a message at the website telling users that the he was pulling the plug on the secure email service launched in Texas nearly a decade ago. Levison lamented that he was barred from sharing details of what prompted Lavabit’s demise. US law allows national security officials to make requests to companies that come with the caveat they must be kept secret." Continue reading →

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Fears of NSA surveillance hurting the U.S. cloud computing industry

"American technology businesses fear they could lose between $21.5bn and $35bn in cloud computing contracts worldwide over the next three years, as part of the fallout from the NSA revelations. Some US companies said they have already lost business, while UK rivals said that UK and European businesses are increasingly wary of trusting their data to American organisations, which might have to turn it over secretly to the National Security Agency. The ITIF survey found that of those outside the US, 10% had cancelled a project with a US-based cloud computing provider, and 56% would be 'less likely' to use a US-based cloud computing service." Continue reading →

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Myanmar Foreign Investment Reaches $42 Billion From 32 Countries; $423 Million In June

"Foreign investment in Myanmar has now reached more than $42 billion from 32 countries. In June alone, the up-and-coming investment hotspot received $423 million in foreign investment. June’s investment went into production and hotel sectors, according to the Myanmar Directorate of Investment and Companies Administration (Dica). With the lifting of Western sanctions against the country, international giants such as Coca-Cola and Unilever have opened manufacturing operations in Myanmar, with other companies establishing sales outlets in the country, all with an eye on targeting the native Myanmar market." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMyanmar Foreign Investment Reaches $42 Billion From 32 Countries; $423 Million In June

Myanmar Stock Exchange Launch Moved Up To 2013 After Security Exchange Law Passed

"Myanmar will have its own stock exchange soon, according to the country’s deputy minister for finance and revenue, Maung Maung Thein. Preparations and implementations for the market are already underway. To establish the stock exchange, the Central Bank of Myanmar is cooperating with the Daiwa Institute of Research Group, a leading Japanese think tank with expertise in economics and financial capital markets, and Japan’s Tokyo Stock Exchange. Later this month, there will be a demonstration of the operation of the stock exchange with the help of a Myanmar information technology company, Thein said." Continue reading →

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Mongolian Stock Exchange reforms unlock potential of 45 billion USD

"The Mongolian Revised Securities Market Law will come into effect on January 1, 2014 and legal organizations are currently working to reform related laws and regulations before its arrival. The law’s initiators stress that the Mongolian stock exchange market, valued at 1.4 trillion MNT as of July 2, will be able to grow, as well as its convertibility, by introducing reformed and revised regulations in Mongolia’s securities market. Representative of the Mongolian Stock Exchange thus stressed that Mongolia’s stock market range, which tripled in the last four years, will be able to expand up to 30 times." Continue reading →

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Mining the Gobi: The Battle for Mongolia’s Resources

"The country, whose economy has been growing faster than almost any other, is almost entirely dependent on the export of raw materials. Mongolia has things everyone wants -- coal, copper, gold, uranium, rare earth minerals -- and that potential wealth is reflected in the high-ranking visitors it draws. Donald Rumsfeld has been to Ulan Bator, as have Angela Merkel and several Japanese prime ministers. Beijing especially is making an effort to reach out to its northern neighbor. This July the first flat-bed trucks set out from Oyu Tolgoi to China, each bearing 36 tons of a brown, cement-like powder, from which copper and gold would be extracted." Continue reading →

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Marine who urinated on dead Taliban fighters in 2011 receives reduced rank as punishment

"Sergeant Robert Richards was the last of eight Marines to be punished in connection with the incident, which took place on July 27, 2011, during a counterinsurgency operation in Helmand Province in Afghanistan. The videotape showed four Marines wearing camouflage combat uniforms urinating on three corpses as one of the Marines joked, 'Have a nice day buddy.' The video became public in early 2012 and was one of a series of offensive incidents at the time that roused Afghan ire and led to heightened tensions between Washington and Kabul." Continue reading →

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Anti-government protest rallies thousands in Tunisia

"Tens of thousands of protesters marched peacefully in the Tunisian capital on Tuesday evening demanding the resignation of the Islamist-led coalition government as the political crisis in the north African country grew. Around 40,000 people took to the streets of Tunis, according to police, while opposition leaders put the protest figures between 100,000 and 200,000. They waved Tunisian flags and chanted slogans against the moderate Islamist movement Ennahda that heads a three-part government coalition. The protesters were largely middle-class Tunisians from the capital, according to the Sunday Times." Continue reading →

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