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Barclays to cut investment jobs in Asia to boost profits

Muvija M
Reuters
Sun, 06 Dec 2015 15:50 UTC
Barclays logo
© Reuters/Toby MelvilleThe Barclays logo is seen outside a branch of the bank in central London October 30, 2014.
Barclays Plc plans to cut more jobs in its investment banking unit, a source familiar with the matter said, as the British bank steps up efforts to slash costs and boost profit.

Most of these job cuts will be in Asia, the source said on Friday.

Bloomberg reported earlier in the day that Barclays would cut 20 percent more investment banking jobs, citing people with knowledge on the matter.

Last month, the bank had put a freeze on hiring until the start of next year.

Barclays is midway through a three-year cost-reduction plan, which involves shedding 19,000 jobs, or about 14 percent of its global workforce.

The latest round of layoffs will be in addition to the 7,000 jobs that the bank plans to cut by 2016.

Germany's Deutsche Bank announced in October that it would cut 15,000 jobs, exit 10 countries and reduce costs to lower than 22 billion euros ($23.88 billion) by 2018 after splitting its investment bank.

The same month, Switzerland's Credit Suisse announced a big restructuring plan under new CEO Tidjane Thiam.
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Bizarro Earth

Exxon seeks to be the first to explore for shale oil using fracking in Colombia

Andrew Willis
Bloomberg Business
Fri, 04 Dec 2015 15:46 UTC
frackingstein
© Desconocido
Exxon Mobil Corp. has filed for an environmental permit to explore for shale oil and natural gas in Colombia using hydraulic fracturing technology, in a bid to become the first driller to use the controversial technique in the Andean nation.

The company submitted an environmental impact assessment for fracking in the VMM-37 block to Colombia's environmental agency ANLA, Irving, Texas-based Exxon said in an e-mailed response to questions Thursday. If an agreed work program is completed, Exxon will acquire a 70 percent interest in the unconventional play, with 30 percent for Sintana Energy Inc., according to a 2012 statement.

ANLA had no requests for fracking permits, the agency said in e-mailed response to questions in February. It did not respond to a request for comment last week. Exxon's move comes amid a slump in global oil prices that has dissuaded other companies including state-controlled Ecopetrol SA from seeking permits.

Comment: One wonders what was in Exxon's environmental impact assessment, because the evidence is clear on how dangerous and toxic fracking is to the environment.

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Airplane

Light aircraft crash in Northern Italy leaves two dead


Sputnik
Sun, 06 Dec 2015 17:55 UTC
small private plane
© Flickr/Adrian Midgley
Two people died in a light aircraft crash near the town of Pordenone in northern Italy, local media reported.

The plane crashed about one kilometre (0.6 miles) from the runway of a local amateur aviation club and caught fire, Rai News 24 television reported.

Police officers arrived at the scene of the wreckage immediately after the incident which happened late on Saturday, according to the media.

Forensic experts have begun the identification of the victims, the media reported. Pordenone police have launched a probe into the crash, according to the media.

Comment: See also:

SOTT Exclusive: The sky's the limit? Aircraft crashes and accidents for June
Sott Exclusive: Mayhem and Maydays in May skies: Aircraft crashes, accidents, glitches, mishaps and near misses
SOTT Exclusive: What's going down? The latest batch of aircraft crashes, accidents, glitches and mishaps
Sott Exclusive: What's up in the air? A recent spate of aircraft accidents and mishaps

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Eye 1

Twitter suspends George Zimmerman's account after he posted harassing nude photos


Sputnik
Sun, 06 Dec 2015 17:44 UTC
George Zimmerman
© AP Photo/Joe BurbankGeorge Zimmerman, acquitted in the high-profile killing of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, listens in court, in Sanford, Fla., during his hearing on charges including aggravated assault stemming from a fight with his girlfriend.
The neighborhood watchman best known for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, has had his Twitter account suspended for posting nude photos of a woman.

George Zimmerman came to notoriety in 2012 when, as a volunteer neighborhood watchman, he followed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. After a struggle, Zimmerman's gun went off killing Martin. Following a high-profile, racially-charged trial a Florida jury found Zimmerman not guilty.

Comment: George Zimmerman once again revealing his psychopathic nature.

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Battery

Russia cuts Crimean dependence on Ukraine with Kerch Strait power bridge


RT
Sun, 06 Dec 2015 17:31 UTC
power lines
© Sergey Malgavko / Sputnik
Mainland Russia has started supplying electricity to Crimea after the first power bridge to the peninsula was completed across the Kerch Strait. Crimea has had a partial blackout since November 22, after power lines in Ukraine were sabotaged.

The energy bridge will deliver 200 MW of electricity a day from the Krasnodar region in mainland Russia starting from Thursday. Another 200 MW will be delivered by a second power cable expected to be connected by December 20.

This will cover 80-90 percent of Crimea's energy needs, according to Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak. He says another 400 MW energy bridge will be constructed by May 2016.

According to Novak, Crimean authorities will have to decide how to allocate the 200 MW between consumers. Eastern Crimea will be the first to receive electricity from Russia, mainly the cities of Kerch and Feodosia as well as 180 other settlements.

Crimea is currently facing a serious shortage of electricity as a result of bomb blasts which destroyed two pylons in Ukraine on November 22. The power lines were crucial for delivering electricity to the peninsula. The situation was complicated after anti-Russian activists, engaged in the so-called blockade of Crimea, prevented repair crews from restoring energy supplies.

The Russian Energy Minister accused Ukraine of not repairing the sabotaged power lines supplying energy to the Crimean peninsula for "political reasons". In response Moscow is considering halting coal supplies to Ukraine, he added.

Immediately after the blackout, Crimean authorities declared a state of emergency and put in place a power delivery schedule. The regional government said that the attack deprived about 1.9 million people of electricity and that the state of emergency would be lifted only after the energy supply to the peninsula has been fully restored.

Comment: Once again Russia thwarts Ukrainian dreams of manipulating Crimea back into its arms.

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Stock Up

Gazprom announces $2.32bn tender to build gas pipeline to China


RT
Sun, 06 Dec 2015 17:26 UTC
Gazprom pipe
© Aleksey Nikolskyi / Sputnik
Russia's Gazprom has offered a tender to construct an 822 kilometer section of the 3,246 kilometer Power of Siberia gas pipeline connecting Russia and China.

Gazprom's overall investment in the pipeline is expected to reach about $12 billion. Russia's gas monopoly expects to finish the 822 km in two and a half years.
Gazprom map
© gazprom.com
"The company that will win the tender is unlikely to participate in Gazprom's European projects," one of the potential bidders told Vedomosti.

"The winner will have to relocate equipment, people and other resources to build the pipeline to China. He's likely to lack time and resources to work on several fronts," the source added.
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Light Saber

Whistleblower Alabama cops leak massive coverup of planting guns, drugs on nearly 1,000 black men for years

Justin Gardner
The Free Thought Project
Wed, 02 Dec 2015 01:51 UTC
Dothan Cops
© Alabama Justice ProjectCarlton Ott, Clark Rice, Steve Hamm, Steven Parrish, David Jay, Michael Magrino, Dewayne Herring, Andy Hughes, Gary Coleman and Scott Smith.
Leaked documents reveal that an Alabama police department planted drugs and guns on innocent black men for years, and prosecutors helped cover it up

In one of the most shocking cases of badge abuse ever exposed, the Alabama Justice Project revealed that a ring of corrupt cops in the Dothan Police Department planted drugs and guns on hundreds of young black men for over a decade, in most cases resulting in their imprisonment. Their actions were aided by supervisors and covered up by the district attorney.

All of the cops were members of a racist Neoconfederate organization. Many of those involved have been promoted and now hold high positions in law enforcement, with two attending the FBI academy and one holding a position as adjunct professor at Troy University's Criminal Justice Program.

While the corrupt cops advanced their careers, the victims of their scheme were sentenced to prison and some still languish there today. It is believed that over 1,000 men were wrongfully convicted from planted drugs and weapons, while the district attorney's office raked in millions of dollars from court fees and the pre-trial diversion program.

In 1998, several honorable officers in the Dothan PD witnessed their colleagues' criminal behavior and tried to expose them, managing to initiate an internal investigation. However, the investigation was covered up by superiors and the district attorney. Since that time, awareness of police brutality and corruption has grown exponentially, and the whistleblowers believe there is now a better chance at serving justice and freeing those wrongfully imprisoned.

Comment: Dothan is just one small city in the the state. According to the Sentencing Project, from 1998 to the present, the Alabama prison population grew by about 10,000. These wrongfully convicted men would represent 10% of the increase, not to mention the profits their lives gave to corporations. It's jaw-dropping that these civil and human rights abuses are allowed to go on and on and on... for money.


America: Enter the biggest prison system in history

See also:

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Pistol

2015 sees criminal charges against killer cops triple

Joshua Scott Hotchkin
Cop Block
Sat, 05 Dec 2015 00:00 UTC
filming cops police
According to a new report from ABC News the number of law enforcement officers who were charged with murder or manslaughter for actions that happened while on duty has tripled this year. While the average nationwide number of killer cops who are actually charged with their crime has remained pretty consistent at around five per year, so far in 2015 there have been fifteen sets of charges against cops who killed while on the job. The most likely reason being given for this is the number of cases being caught on videotape.

However, I do not think this is completely accurate. The surveillance state and private security systems have been in regular use for quite some time now, meaning that many of the killings by police were likely caught on video in recent years, but just never released to the public. The difference now is that citizens are starting to record these deadly encounters and are releasing the videos before police have a chance to confiscate the evidence to cover up their crimes. And so it is individuals and not private businesses or government agencies who are making a difference. Our trust in those institutions to work against their own best interests to insure justice is diminishing enough that people are standing up and taking responsibility to spread the truth, and the results are just starting to pour in. And it is this new cultural attitude, not the video footage itself, that is making all of the difference.
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Cow

Turks fling 'cow dung' at President Erdogan and mull life without Russian gas


RT
Sun, 06 Dec 2015 18:11 UTC
Turkish protesters
© Umit Bektas / Reuters
The Turkish opposition has given the country's leader a cold shower, telling President Erdogan to heat his palace with dung instead of gas after he stated that Turkish people are used to suffering and can do without Russian supplies.

Answering a question about Russia possibly stopping supplies of natural gas to Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turks "are accustomed to suffering."

The current crisis in Russian-Turkish relations is a result of a Turkish F-16 fighter jet shooting down a Russian Su-24M bomber in Syrian airspace, which prompted Moscow to introduce harsh economic sanctions against Ankara.

"As you know, we have not lived with natural gas our whole lives. We all know how long it has been since we began using natural gas. ... Moreover we will not be doomed if we cannot acquire Russian gas," Turkish daily Today's Zaman cited Erdogan as saying while returning home on December 1 from a climate conference in Paris.

Comment: Turkey is in a world of hurt. Will Erdogan be able to hold on to power much longer?

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Stormtrooper

Israeli soldier drops knife, forces Palestinian girl to pick it up prior to her arrest

Ali Abunimah
Electronic Intifada
Wed, 02 Dec 2015 02:58 UTC
Israeli soldier forces knife on Palestinian girl
© Electronic Intifada
A video has emerged apparently showing an Israeli soldier dropping a knife on the ground and forcing a terrified Palestinian girl to pick it up before she is arrested.

The video was circulated widely in Palestinian media and on social networks on Tuesday, the same day that two more Palestinian teenagers were shot dead by Israeli occupation forces, who claimed that the youths had attempted to carry out stabbings. Israel further escalated violence on Wednesday by carrying out a revenge demolition of a Palestinian home in Jerusalem.

Forced to pick up knife

The Palestinian news outlet Donia Al-Watan said the video was recorded by a Palestinian who witnessed the incident at an Israeli military checkpoint south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday. Several outlets identified the girl in the video as 14-year-old Sabreen Mujahid Sanad. The 3-minute video appears to have been filmed from a vehicle stopped at the checkpoint. At the beginning, a man in civilian clothes can be seen speaking to the girl next to a white truck. Israeli soldiers are standing nearby and giving orders to others.


The girl is not restrained by the soldiers and walks toward the cab of the white truck. At 1:30, one of the soldiers throws what appears to be a knife onto the ground.

The girl, with her arms raised near her chest, trembles. The soldier then appears to order her to bend down and pick up the knife. She kneels down and picks it up, and then appears to talk to the soldier as she holds it. As she kneels, a second soldier aims his weapon at her. A third soldier then approaches and leads her away with her hands behind her back.

Comment: How utterly terrifying for this young girl and all of the victims of Israel's violent occupation. And the world just sits back, does nothing, condoning the genocide of Palestinian people.

Psychopathic Israel: Relentlessly brutalizing millions of Palestinians for decades

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