Oro

Investigaciones sobre datos judiciales y de aduana realizados en Perú revelan que los financistas de la fiebre del oro, que ha depredado miles de hectáreas de la Amazonía, son compañías de Estados Unidos, Suiza, Italia y Emiratos Árabes que están vinculadas a través de otros grupos empresariales al Londo Bullion Market Association (Lbma), gremio que determina el precio del oro a nivel mundial. Asegura el reporte del diario Ojo Público.

Puertos

Progreso, Yuc. La naviera española Pullmantur regresó a puertos mexicanos después de más de tres años de ausencia en el país. Fue cuando el Monarch, embarcación con capacidad para 2,700 pasajeros, zarpó de Progreso, Yucatán, para iniciar el primero de los 10 circuitos a través del Caribe que tiene programados para este año.

Uber

El órgano regulador antimonopolios de México, Cofece, se pronunció por no imponer restricciones a Uber y Cabify, empresas de servicio de transporte on-line debido a los beneficios que aporta a la competencia y al consumidor. La recomendación ya genera fuertes protestas de los taxitas mexicanos.

Petrobras says it's the victim as investor bribery suits mount

Petrobras faces a mounting number of US investor lawsuits that seek compensation for market losses tied to a multibillion-dollar bribery scheme. Cases against the energy giant multiplied in recent weeks to more than a dozen, as investors from Ohio to Denmark seek damages for a kickback scandal that helped knock $60 billion off its stock value. As it nears an American court hearing on the fate of those claims, the Brazilian company has posited a novel defense: It's a victim, too. Petrobras says it was hoodwinked by a few employees who helped construction firms bribe local politicians in a bid to obtain Petrobras contracts, which included the cost of the graft. Petrobras asked a US judge to throw out the suits, in part because it didn't pay bribes, didn't know contractors were overcharging it and lost much less than investors claim. “Nothing went through Petrobras,” lawyers for the company said, quoting a former refining chief convicted of helping facilitate the bribes. Petrobras blamed a "criminal cartel" of Brazil's largest construction and engineering firms.

New probe inot Germanwings crash

French prosecutors have announced a preliminary investigation into whether manslaughter charges should be brought over the Germanwings plane crash. It is not clear exactly who any possible charges would target. All 150 people on board, mostly from Spain and Germany, died in the crash in March. Marseilles prosecutor Brice Robin said there was "no doubt" that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashed the Airbus A320 in the French Alps. Both Germanwings and Lufthansa have previously said that Lubitz, 27, had passed all fitness to fly tests. Lufthansa has also acknowledged that it knew the co-pilot had suffered from severe depression in 2009 while training for his pilot's licence.

Spain passes citizenship plan for descendants of Jews exiled centuries ago

Spain's parliament has approved a law that will ease the path to citizenship for descendants of Jews who fled the country five centuries ago. It will allow those who can trace their roots to the expelled Jewish community, also known as Sephardic Jews, to apply for a Spanish passport from October. The aim is to correct what Spain's government has called a "historic mistake". Tens of thousands of Jews were expelled in 1492 during the Spanish Inquisition. Those who remained had to convert to Catholicism or risked being burnt at the stake. 'Reintegration'. “This law says much about who we were in the past and who we are today and what we want to be in the future - an open, diverse and tolerant Spain," said Spanish Justice Minister Rafael Catala. The measure will grant dual citizenship to people with Sephardic Jewish roots who have passed a test of Spanish language and culture. There will be an initial window of three years for applications from those who can prove their Spanish Jewish origins. The Spanish government estimates 90,000 people will apply for citizenship via this route.

The lawyer who invented a way to take cash from accident victims

George Rawlings’ job to track these injured people down and collect money from them. "Finding personal injury claims is really hard to do," he says about his trade. "We invented a way to identify them." The Kentucky lawyer is the father of a little-known but burgeoning industry that helped insurers like Aetna Inc. and Kaiser Permanente recover at least $3.5 billion in 2014 alone from policyholders hurt by someone else's negligence. A growing body of law, including a 2013 US Supreme Court decision, gives health insurers power to recoup expenses for medical treatment. Critics say people end up being victimized twice, with Rawlings Co., and the competitors that its success has spawned, essentially acting as bounty hunters. Even though they paid their premiums, people often must reimburse insurers out of whatever compensation they receive for their injuries, sometimes leaving them with only a pittance. A whole cottage industry has grown up around these health insurance rights, and they're going after reimbursement recoveries on the backs of the injury victims themselves. To Rawlings, insurers only hire him when their plans spell out that members must repay medical costs. If an insurer didn't meet its financial responsibilities, he says, "people would be screaming bloody murder. The insured has obligations in that contract. Are you going to honor the contract or not?" Rawlings Co., owned by Rawlings and his wife, is typically paid about 20 percent of whatever it collects.

Zimbabwe phasing out inflation-battered local currency

Zimbabwe is phasing out its local currency, the central bank says, formalizing a multi-currency system introduced during hyper-inflation. As inflation hit six years ago, foreign currencies like the US dollar and South African Rand came into use. From Monday, Zimbabweans can exchange bank accounts of up to 175 quadrillion (175,000,000,000,000,000) Zimbabwean dollars for five US dollars. Higher balances will be exchanged at a rate of Z$35 quadrillion to US$1. "We cannot have two legal currency systems. We need therefore to safeguard the integrity of the multiple-currency system or dollarization in Zimbabwe," central bank Governor John Mangudya said.

Brazil overturns 'ban' on unauthorized biographies

Brazil's Supreme Court has voted unanimously to overturn a law which allowed the subjects of unauthorised biographies to block publication. The court said that the controversial law, which critics argued amounted to censorship, was unconstitutional. It was mainly used by celebrities to prevent publication of critical books or have them pulled from the shelves. Critics said that many publishers simply refused to put out books without the subject's explicit consent. The court's decision was "in line with the fundamental rights of freedom of thought and expression, artistic creation and scientific output.;" But the decision prompted protests from some of the biggest names in Brazilian music, including Roberto Carlos and Gilberto Gil, citing an interpretation of Brazil's civil code, which allows a person to prohibit publication of writings or pictures that they believe violate their honor.

Vatican establishes tribunal to investigate Bishops in abuse cases

Pope Francis sets up a tribunal to hear cases against senior clergy accused of not protecting children who were abused by priests. A victims' group says the Vatican isn't going far enough.

Ryanair told to sell Aer Lingus stake

Low-cost airline Ryanair has been ordered by the competition watchdog to sell most of its shares in Irish rival Aer Lingus. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said Ryanair must cut its stake in Aer Lingus from 29.8% to 5%. Ryanair said the decision was "manifestly wrong". It comes after the Irish government agreed to sell its 25% stake in Aer Lingus to British Airways owner International Airlines Group (IAG). The sale of Ryanair's Aer Lingus shares has an important bearing on the deal.

Jawbone, the wearable fitness tracker, in legal row with rival

The wearable fitness firm Jawbone has filed a second legal complaint against its rival Fitbit. In a California court, Jawbone accused Fitbit of infringing three of its patents, just a few weeks after alleging the company had poached staff and stolen commercially sensitive data. Fitbit said it would "vigorously defend" itself against the allegations. It is preparing to list on the New York Stock Exchange later this month, hoping to raise $358m from the share sale. A Jawbone spokesperson said: "An extensive review revealed that Fitbit's wearables infringed on our patents. "In order to protect our investment in products and technology, we felt we had no choice but to take this action."

Canada top court lifts ban on alternative forms of medical marijuana

The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled Thursday that a law restricting the medical use of marijuana to smoking the dried plant was unconstitutional. Under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, smoking marijuana for medical purposes was permitted, but uses of the plant's extracts in other forms such as in topical applications or food were not. The court held that using alternative forms of marijuana may be "medically reasonable" and that limiting use to smoking would pose an arbitrary risk to users. For both reasons, the court found the restriction to violate Section 7 of the country's constitution.

Law Firm a Casualty of a Takeover Battle

Mylan's defensive fight against its unwanted suitor, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, has claimed an unusual casualty: a big corporate law firm that has advised both drug makers. Teva has switched legal advisers in its pursuit of Mylan, dropping Kirkland & Ellis after a Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge recommended that the firm be stripped of its role because it previously counseled Mylan on other matters. The judge's comments, made in Mylan's lawsuit against the firm, are an unusual blow against a deal adviser for the not-uncommon practice of having worked for both sides in a dispute. It also represents a potentially big twist in the dust-up between Mylan and Teva, since Mylan is not only fighting off the takeover bid, but is also pursuing its own unsolicited takeover of the drug maker Perrigo. Banks and law firms routinely work for multiple companies in an industry and maintain committees to clear conflicts when they appear to arise. A number of advisers have been criticized by courts for improperly working both sides of a deal, such as advising the seller while also providing financing to the buyer.

UN report finds sexual abuse by peacekeepers consistently goes unreported

According to an unreleased report obtained by the Associated Press, some members of a UN peacekeeping mission engaged in sexual exploitation with more than 200 Haitian women, telling them that they had to in order to obtain necessary food and medication. Many see this as a sign that sexual exploitation consistently goes unreported during such missions. The draft of the report, authored by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) and expected to be released next month, examines how these UN peacekeeping missions deal with the constant problem of sexual exploitation. The report states, among other findings, that about a third of alleged abuse involves minors under the age of 18, assistance to victims is severely deficient, and there is a widespread confusion of the difference between consent and exploitation. Investigators from the OIOS interviewed more than 230 Haitian women last year who stated that they had engaged in "transactional sex" with UN peacekeepers for necessary items or services. "In cases of non-payment, some women withheld the badges of peacekeepers and threatened to reveal their infidelity via social media," the report says.

Ethanol groups say EPA proposal crushing industry growth

An Obama administration proposal last month to cut quotas for renewable fuels led to a rout in ethanol credits and handcuffed the industry's growth, biofuel groups said. The EPA proposed that refiners blend 13.4 billion gallons of ethanol with gasoline this year and 14 billion next year, less than the 15 billion called for under a 2007 energy law. That's led to a 43 percent plunge in the value of credits used to track refiner compliance with the mandate. Refiners get one credit, known as a Renewable Identification Number, or RIN, for each gallon of ethanol they mix with gasoline. EPA's proposal reduced the amount of ethanol needed to comply, even as a memo from the agency shows that prices for the RINs don't raise retail gasoline costs, according to executives from the biofuels lobby.

In Brazil, investors pay a premium for tradition

Brazilians rely on their banks, which dominate the asset-management business and charge mutual fund fees that would shock American investors. Money-market funds with no minimum investment charge an average annual fee of 3.14 percent, according to the Brazilian Financial and Capital Markets Association. Stock market mutual funds sold to retail investors charge an average of 2.13 percent. That is more than triple the 0.7 percent average fee that stock market mutual funds charge in the United States. Financial professionals in Brazil say that customers are accustomed to working through their banks and that the three biggest banks have a stranglehold on the largest part of the asset-management business. The banks contend that regulation adds to the cost of doing business.

How do companies quietly raise prices? They do this

When spice maker McCormick & Co. started shipping 25% less pepper earlier this year in the same packaging at about the same price, it was engaging in an age-old means of getting frugal consumers to pay more for less. Consumer-products makers have used similar tactics as a way of pushing through effective price increases for everything from laundry detergent and tissues to yogurt and candy bars. In the food industry, it's called "weight-out," or putting less cereal or potato chips into a package. In toilet paper, the term is "de-sheeting," when the number of tissues in a box or sheets on a toilet-paper roll are reduced. The regulatory term of art for putting less in a package than meets the eye is "nonfunctional slack fill." That probably isn't the term that came to mind for anyone who's ever opened a bag of chips to find barely a handful inside. But with companies squeezed between thrifty shoppers and—in some cases—rising costs, it's one that could become more familiar. Earlier this year, McCormick reduced the amount of pepper in its signature red-and-white aluminum tins. What once had eight ounces of pepper now has six. A medium container with four ounces has only three, and a two-ounce tin contains 1.5 ounces. The revised volumes were marked in the "net quantity of contents" label as mandated by federal regulation on the front of the tins. Chief Executive Alan Wilson said in January that pepper costs had risen sharply over the past five years and that the company had little room to raise prices any further.

• Daily Press Review

Millions of children hard at work in India
Al Jazeera, Doha, Qatar

Wary of civil war, IDF won't go into Syria to help Druze mortally threatened by ISIS
Haaretz, Liberal daily, Tel Aviv, Israel

No probe into miners' strike clash
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England

Dogs picked up killers' scent at gas station
CNN International, London, England

Lucy Mecklenburgh wows in a pretty floral dress with boyfriend Louis Smith
Daily Mail, Conservative daily, London, England

Patients shun seven-days-a-week GP trial
Daily Mail, Conservative daily, London, England

French court to rule on former IMF boss Strauss-Kahn, who is accused of sex crimes
EuroNews, International news, Ecully Cedex, France

France's Strauss-Kahn awaits verdict in pimping trial
France 24, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France

The Jews and Anatolia: 2,500 years of history
Hurriyet Daily News, (Liberal, English-language), Istanbul, Turkey

Germanwings prosecutors could bring manslaughter charges as criminal investigation opens
Independent The, London, England

Major Ukrainian TV provider drops Russian channels
Moscow News The, Independent, Moscow, Russia

Australian rugby star breaks arm on live TV arm wrestling match
Telegraph The, Conservative daily, London, England

Culture stars who died in 2015
Telegraph The, Celebrity news, London, England

Ko threatened with lawsuit by ex-mayor
China Post, English-language daily, Taipei, Taiwan

Bobby Kim Fined for Molesting Flight Attendant
Chosun Ilbo, Conservative daily, Seoul, South Korea

Strauss-Kahn set to avoid conviction in French pimping trial
Hindustan Times, New Delhi, India

Deadline today to clear track squatters
India Times, Conservative daily, New Delhi, India

Residents near Futenma base in Okinawa win ¥754 million in damages over noise
Japan Times, Independent centrist, Tokyo, Japan

Head of Japan stock exchanges 'ashamed ' over Toshiba woes
New Zealand Herald, Conservative daily, Auckland, New Zealand

Ukraine President cancels trip over protests in eastern Ukraine
Straits Times, Pro-government, Singapore

Beat the post holiday blues
Sydney Morning Herald, Centrist daily, Sydney, Australia

Honda says expanded air bag recalls to cost $360 mn, no change in guidance
The Economic Times, Business, Mumbai, India

Japan delays nuclear fuel removal for Fukushima plant
Canadian Broadcasting Centre, Toronto, Ontario

Malaysia Airlines plane makes emergency landing after possible engine fire
Globe and Mail The, Centrist daily, Toronto, Canada

Liberty Reserve Brought Down By 'Joe Bogus': How The Feds Arrested Arthur Budovsky
International Business Times, Business news organization, New York, U.S

A Regional Foodbasket Plans for the Worst
IPS Latin America, International cooperative of journalists, Rome, Italy

Despite IMF walkout, Greece hopes for deal on June 18
Reuters, Business News, New York, U.S

Spain's King strips title of duchess from his sister
Reuters, World News, New York, U.S

Pearson workers fear good jobs in peril over contract-flipping
Toronto Star, Toronto, Ontario

Nigeria to lead Boko Haram force
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England

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