Mainstream News

Julius Bär bank clients now targeted in US tax probe

"American clients of private bank Julius Bär were told recently that they are the focus of a US tax evasion probe, a Zurich-based daily reported on Tuesday. US tax authorities had requested administrative assistance from their Swiss counterparts to investigate a number of US citizens suspected of having undeclared funds at the Zurich-based bank. The United States has launched investigations into the dealings of around a dozen Swiss banks, including Julius Bär, prompting Switzerland to try to reach an overarching settlement with Washington to provide legal closure for its financial sector." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJulius Bär bank clients now targeted in US tax probe

Google wants blimps to bring wifi access to sub-Saharan Africa

"Google is planning to develop high-speed wireless networks in sub-Saharan Africa with the help of high-altitude balloons that can transmit signals across hundreds of square miles. The internet search giant wants to connect one billion more people to the internet in emerging markets such as Africa and south-east Asia, and is ready to team up with telecoms firms and equipment providers to build networks that will improve speeds in cities and bring the internet to rural areas. Google is considering a mix of technologies, broadcasting signals from masts, satellites and even remote-controlled balloons known as blimps." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGoogle wants blimps to bring wifi access to sub-Saharan Africa

Cuba plans to expand public Internet access

"Cuba will expand limited public access to the Internet next month by opening up another 118 places where people on this communist-run island can surf the Web for a fee, authorities said Tuesday. Set to start June 4, the extension takes advantage of an undersea fiber-optic cable from Venezuela and will gradually be rolled out further — but not to homes, according to a Communications Ministry resolution published in the Official Gazette and local media. There are now more than 200 public Internet rooms in hotels on the island that sell connection cards that cost between $7 and $10. Post offices also provide access to email." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCuba plans to expand public Internet access

Paris retailers complain street crime is chasing off cash-flush Chinese tourists

"A leading association that counts Chanel and Dior as members urged the authorities to take action on the climate of insecurity which it said could keep cash-flush tourists away. France’s luxury industry makes a large portion of its profits from tourism, particularly from the newly rich from emerging countries such as China, where a rising middle class likes to splash out when travelling abroad. The Chinese embassy recently reported an increase in the number of complaints regarding muggings and other thefts on their nationals, who are known for carrying big sums of cash, making them prime targets for criminals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingParis retailers complain street crime is chasing off cash-flush Chinese tourists

Parents patrol immigrant suburbs to deter Stockholm youth from rioting

"Parents and volunteers have been patrolling the streets of Stockholm’s immigrant-heavy suburbs to help quell riots that have raged for almost a week, serving as a successful deterrent to troublemakers and winning praise from police. 'They have helped a lot in reducing the unrest,' Stockholm police spokeswoman Karin Solberg told Swedish news agency TT. Sweden has since the 1980s had a network of volunteers called 'Nightwalkers', usually made up of parents who walk the streets of their own suburbs in groups on weekend nights, talking to youngsters and simply making their presence known." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingParents patrol immigrant suburbs to deter Stockholm youth from rioting

Parking Tickets Issued on Wrecks while Stockholm Burns

"While the Stockholm riots keep spreading and intensifying, Swedish police have adopted a tactic of non-interference. 'Our ambition is really to do as little as possible,' Stockholm Chief of Police Mats Löfving explained to the Swedish newspaper Expressen on Tuesday. Swedish parking laws, however, continue to be rigidly enforced despite the increasingly chaotic situation. Early Wednesday, while documenting the destruction after a night of rioting in the Stockholm suburb of Alby, a reporter from Fria Tider observed a parking enforcement officer writing a ticket for a burnt-out Ford." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingParking Tickets Issued on Wrecks while Stockholm Burns

Eleven people across UK arrested for making ‘racist or anti-religious’ comments on Facebook

"The murder of soldier Lee Rigby has provoked a backlash of anger across the UK, including the attacking of mosques, racial abuse and comments made on social media. Eleven people have been arrested around Britain for making 'racist or anti-religious' comments on Twitter following the brutal killing in Woolwich on Wednesday. The incident has also prompted a huge increase in anti-Muslim incidents, according to the organisation Faith Matters, which works to reduce extremism. Before the attack about four to eight cases a day were reported to its helpline. But the group said about 150 incidents had been reported in the last few days, including attacks on mosques." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEleven people across UK arrested for making ‘racist or anti-religious’ comments on Facebook

Woolwich murder suspect ‘was offered job with MI5 six months ago’

"Abu Nusaybah told the BBC's Newsnight programme that his friend, who has arrested after the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby, rejected the request after he was approached. He also claimed that Adebolajo had been detained by security forces during a trip to Kenya last year. He alleged that Adebolajo had been tortured and sexually assaulted by troops at the time. None of the claims he made could be verified. But as soon as the interview was finished, three members of Special Branch arrived at the BBC's London studios and arrested him." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWoolwich murder suspect ‘was offered job with MI5 six months ago’

Merkel, the Red footsoldier: Photos of German chancellor’s Communist uniform released

"She denies she was close to the Communist rulers in East Germany, where she grew up. So this 1972 photo of her in military-style uniform has left German Chancellor Angela Merkel ‘not amused’. Then called Angela Kasner and aged 17, she is shown happily involved in a civil defence exercise under the gaze of an East German officer. Drills included first aid and preparing for nuclear attack. Mrs Merkel is also alleged to have been a propaganda secretary for the youth movement, the FDJ. The photo was found by an old schoolfriend, Sonja Felssberg, 58, and handed to a German newspaper." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMerkel, the Red footsoldier: Photos of German chancellor’s Communist uniform released

Churchill and Stalin made ‘merry’ until early hours

"Wartime talks between Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin were proving awkward until a drinking session lasting until 3am, newly released files show. In a Foreign Office account of the 1942 Moscow visit, an official recalls finding the men enjoying 'food of all kinds... and innumerable bottles'. The mood was 'merry as a marriage-bell' although Churchill was 'complaining of a slight headache' by 1am. The letter adds: 'The two great men really made contact and got on terms.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChurchill and Stalin made ‘merry’ until early hours