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Changing the old system.

Kim Jong-un 'planning China-like reforms in North Korea'

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The Telegraph
By Mike Firn in Tokyo

8:48AM BST 06 Aug 2012

Kim Jong-il's former chef says the late North Korean leader`s son is planning reforms similar to China`s.

North Korea is building up to a nuclear test that could happen this week, the US has warned its allies in the region.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un Photo: AFP/Getty Images
 

The chef, who goes under the pseudonym Kenji Fujimoto, was invited to Pyongyang by Kim Jong-un. He met the North Korean leader and his wife, and gave them a gift of blue fin tuna from Japan, where he lives.

Fujimoto was Kim Jong-il's personal chef from 1989 to 2001 and published several books about his experiences after fleeing the Stalinist country.

Ludicrous Times Op-Ed Forgets Entire Year of Wall Street History

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Rolling Stone
Matt Taibbi
August 1, 2012

It was riotous, side-splitting comedy last week when Sanford Weill, the onetime head of Citibank, went on CNBC to announce that he thought it was time to break up the big banks.

Why this was funny: Through his ambitious (and at the time not yet legal) decision to merge Citibank, Travelers, and Salomon Brothers into one giant wrecking ball of greed, self-dealing and global irresponsibility called Citigroup, Weill more or less single-handedly created the Too-Big-To-Fail problem. You know, the one currently casting that thick, black doomlike shadow over all humanity which, if you look out your window, you can see floating over all our heads this very minute.

To read the rest of this story and see the video, visit RollingStone.com.

Europe burns as banks fiddle

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The Canberra Times

August 3, 2012
Opinion

Simon Jenkins

The euro has become a scourge that is devastating the lives and livelihoods of ordinary people.

Ian Sharpe

While Rome burned, Nero put on fancy dress, stood on a tower and played his lyre. He sang of the Sack of Ilium and roasted Christians at the stake to light up his party. The people were taxed to pay for his extravagance, but he appeased them with games of ever-increasing spectacle and sadism. He clad slaves in deerskins and had lions eat them. It was immensely popular. When Nero duly fell from grace and committed suicide, he cried: ''What an artist dies in me.'' I like the Olympics now that athletes have taken over from fatcats on centre stage, but the media coverage is disproportionate, idiotic and Orwellian. Never has the BBC in particular purveyed such nationalistic opium to the people. Is it really necessary to ignore all news of the city burning for the duration?

Nomura chief resigns following insider-trading scandal

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BBC News
July 26, 2012

The chief executive of Japan's Nomura Holdings has resigned following a damaging insider-trading scandal at the investment bank.

Kenichi Watanabe
Mr Watanabe is leaving the bank following the information leaks
 

Kenichi Watanabe will step down on 31 July, and chief operating officer Takumi Shibata will also leave his post.

It is alleged that staff leaked information on share offerings to customers before it was made public.

To read the rest of this story, visit BBC.co.uk

 

Stock Market Fiasco: Market Maker Knight Capital Plummets

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The Advocate

Posted on August 1, 2012
by TheAdvocate


In mini “flash crash” fashion, Knight Capital Group, Inc. (Symbol: KCG) plummeted multiple percentage points in a matter of seconds, with bid and ask lots swinging at wild levels, and with market participants wondering just what the hell is going on.

Knight Capital is a market maker, which means that it trades and sets the market for various securities, such as penny stocks. For penny stocks to be traded, someone has to be the market maker, and Knight Capital is one of the big ones, providing liquidity to that market.

To read the rest of this story, visit The AdvocateWeblog.com.

Where’s the gold? NY Fed undergoes first-ever audit

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RT.com
August 4, 2012

AFP Photo / Michal Cizek

A massive trove of gold kept under lock and key five stories below Manhattan at the New York Federal Reserve has been undergoing its first audit in history. It could put conspiracy theories - for example, that the gold is a sham - to sleep for good.

According to the official record, the US government keeps billions of dollars in gold stored beneath the New York Fed's Italian Renaissance fortress around the block from Wall Street.

To read the rest of this story, visit RT.com.

Rebekah Brooks charged over phone hacking allegations

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Former News International chief executive formally charged over alleged phone hacking and will appear in court next month

Rebekah Brooks

Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks has been formally charged over allegations of phone hacking. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
 

Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks was formally charged with phone hacking and will appear in court next month, Scotland Yard have said.

Brooks, 44, answered bail at Lewisham police station and will appear at Westminster magistrates court on 3 September.

Israelis hold demos against austerity measures, social injustice

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PressTV
August 5, 2012
Israelis attend a demonstration against social injustice and the high cost of living in Tel Aviv on August 4, 2012.

Israelis attend a demonstration against social injustice and the high cost of living in Tel Aviv on August 4, 2012.
 
Thousands of Israelis have held demonstrations in Tel Aviv to protest against social inequality and the government’s austerity measures.
 

Late on Saturday, protesters held demonstrations against a recent package of sweeping austerity measures that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said were necessary to reduce the budget deficit and protect the economy.

To read the rest of this story, visit PressTV.ir.

Israel’s image is deteriorating internationally: UK ambassador

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PressTV
August 4, 2012
Matthew Gould, UK

Matthew Gould, UK's first Jewish ambassador to Tel Aviv
 
The British ambassador to Tel Aviv has said that the Israeli regime is becoming isolated in the world and its image is deteriorating internationally due to illegal settlement expansion and restrictions on Gaza.

“The positive image that Israel is trying to reflect to the world is deteriorating in the light of the violent practices it carries out against Palestinian citizens in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip”, said Matthew Gould in a TV interview on Thursday 2 August.

To read the rest of this story, visit PressTV.ir.

Dramatic Health Recoveries Reported By Patients Who Took Their Doctor’s Advice and Stopped Using GMO Foods

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Vitality
Jeffrey M. Smith
July, 2012

Are genetically modified (GM) foods making you sick – I mean really sick? Up until recently, all that we could say was thank goodness you’re not a lab rat; GM feed messes them up big time. GMOs (genetically modified organisms) appear to trigger the immune systems of both mice and rats as if they were under attack. In addition, the gastrointestinal system is adversely affected, animals age more quickly, and vital organs are damaged. When fed GM foods, lab animals can also become infertile, have smaller or sterile offspring, increased infant mortality, and even hair growing in their mouths. Have I got your attention?

Biotechnology corporations such as Monsanto try to distort or deny the evidence, sometimes pointing to their own studies that supposedly show no reactions. But when scientists such as French toxicologist G.E. Seralini re-­analyzed Monsanto’s raw data, it actually showed that the rats fed GM corn suffered from clear signs of toxicity – evidence that industry scientists skillfully overlooked.

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