Whistleblower in largest-ever award by US government
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revealed that it awarded a record $30m (£18m) payout to an anonymous whistleblower who lives outside the US.
It is the largest payment ever given to a whistleblower by regulators.
The SEC said the whistleblower provided crucial information that helped the agency uncover a "difficult to detect" fraud.
According to US law, the identity of the whistleblower must be kept secret.
"This award of more than $30m shows the international breadth of our whistleblower program as we effectively utilise valuable tips from anyone, anywhere to bring wrongdoers to justice," Sean McKessy, chief of the SEC's whistleblower office, said in a statement.
Whistleblowers from all over the world should feel similarly incentivised to come forward with credible information about potential violations of the US securities laws."
New powers
The whistleblower programme is a direct result of the 2010 financial reform legislation in the US known as the Dodd-Frank Act.
That law gave the SEC more powers to incentivise insiders to come forward if they have information about wrongdoing. Prior to Dodd-Frank, the SEC could only reward tipsters who came forward with information about insider trading.
The new law provides whistleblowers with financial rewards if the information they provide to the SEC leads to an enforcement action with sanctions that are above $1m - regardless of the nature of the crime.
The SEC can then award the tipster anywhere between 10% and 30% of the total award.
Prior to the award announced on Monday, the largest ever whistleblower payout was $14m in 2013.
Source- BBC
Caribbean-Mexico to See 10,848 New Hotel Rooms in 2015: Report
The Caribbean-Mexico region will see almost 10,900 new hotel rooms open in 2015, according to the latest hotel development pipeline report from STR.
The region is expected to see 58 hotels totaling 10,848 rooms debut next year.
The largest number of hotels will come from the luxury segment, with an expected total of 2,838 rooms across 10 hotels in the region, followed by the upper midscale segment, which is expected to see 2,287 rooms in 17 hotels opening next year.
The total Caribbean-Mexico hotel pipeline includes 164 hotels comprising 27,621 rooms at present, according to STR.
That represents a 17.7 percent increase in rooms under contract through August.
Through August, a total of 96 new hotels with 14,848 rooms opened their doors in the Caribbean-Mexico region.
Kurds Battle IS in Syria as Refugee Wave Tops 130,000
Kurdish fighters in northern Syria continue to defend a border town from Islamic State militants as the number of area residents fleeing to neighboring Turkey tops 130,000.
The exodus across the border began last week, when the Islamic State launched a ground campaign aimed at Kobane, also known as Ain al Arab.
One Syrian Kurd said he brought his family into Turkey for safety, but was headed back to fight the Islamic State.
"We came here and delivered our wives and children and now we are turning back. We are returning back to fight," he said. "We will fight there until the last drop of our blood. If we lose Kobane it means we lose the Rojova (Syrian Kurdistan) region."
Earlier, Turkish officials say more than 130,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Turkey since late last week in order to flee an advance by Islamic State militants.
Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Monday the government is expecting the number to rise, and is prepared for "the worst case scenario."
"We are prepared for the worst scenario, which is an influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees," Kurtulmus said on Monday in the Turkish capital, Ankara.
Officials pitched tents in the Suleyman Sah Dostluk Park in Turkey, while construction vehicles flattened the ground around the park in preparation for the arrival of more refugees.
Ebola Death Toll Rises, But Virus 'Contained' in Nigeria, Senegal
The World Health Organization says Ebola outbreaks in Nigeria and Senegal appear to have been stopped, though the regional death toll from the disease has climbed past 2,800.
A report from the WHO's Africa office said there have been no new cases of Ebola reported in Nigeria since September 8 and none in Senegal since the country's first and only case was reported on August 29.
It said the outbreaks in both countries "are pretty much contained."
A separate WHO report said Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone continued to report new cases of the disease. It said the total number of cases in West Africa has risen to 5,864 and the number of deaths has increased to 2,811.
It said an unrelated Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has infected 71 people and killed 40.
The numbers do not include 130 new Ebola cases found in Sierra Leone during a three-day nationwide lockdown that ended late Sunday.
The government had ordered the country's six million people to stay home as health workers went door-to-door trying to educate people on how to avoid spreading or contracting Ebola.
Sierra Leone's chief medical officer, Brima Kargbo, told VOA authorities asked people not to hide family members infected with Ebola or to keep corpses in their homes.
"Once we go to a home, we educate people, then they would tell us here we have a person who is ill. And that person is then asked whether he or she is linked to any Ebola-related patient, and once that has been established he or she is taken to a holding center, blood samples are taken and tested, and if they are positive they remain there in the holding center,” said Kargbo.
Sierra Leone's Health Ministry reported it reached 75 percent of its target of visiting 1.5 million homes during the lockdown. Officials said the outreach would continue in communities that have been identified as hot spots across the country.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military said about 60 personnel have arrived in West Africa as part of the U.S. effort to combat Ebola. A spokesman said Monday that another 30 to 40 would arrive on Tuesday.
The United States has committed $175 million to help combat the outbreak and is sending 3,000 troops to the region to build field hospitals and provide logistical aid.
On Monday, the WHO's Ebola emergency committee called for an end to flight cancellations and travel restrictions to the Ebola zone. It said these measures hampered international relief efforts and hurt the countries' economies.
Digicel, SportsMax marriage promises mega benefits to viewers
TELECOMMUNICATIONS giant Digicel is a step closer to its ambition of becoming the top communications company in the region with the acquisition of the Caribbean sports cable network SportsMax.
Digicel Jamaica CEO Barry O’Brien, who was speaking at a press briefing at the Usain Bolt-owned Tracks and Records yesterday, told the Jamaica Observer the feedback to the announcement of the merger has been most positive.
“It's a truly great merger. We were brought together for the love of sports.
Digicel is the number one mobile company and our ambition is to become the number one communications company,” said O'Brien.
Digicel has acquired majority ownership and control of St Lucia-based International Media Content Ltd, the parent company of regional sports broadcaster, SportsMax, and North American broadcaster CEENTV, for an undisclosed sum.
Under the terms of the deal, the founder and a number of the lead principals, will continue to have an ownership stake and will be involved in the day-to-day running of the IMC operation.
“The feedback has been very positive. Most people when they see Digicel coming into things know it's going to be bigger and better and we are not going to do it halfway,” said O'Brien, before relaxing to watch the Manchester City/Chelsea English Premier League clash at the upscale sports bar.
“We are going to grow SportsMax. Our vision is everybody with a tablet or a mobile (phone) will be able to watch sports wherever they want to go and they will have the best in class, high definition sports and local content as well,” he added. SportsMax, which was formed in 2002, is a sports channel that is transmitted regionally to 23 countries through cable operators in the Caribbean.
It had brought to viewers over the years, the Barclays Premier League, the FIFA World Cup, The UEFA Champions League, World Cup Qualifiers, COPA America, West Indies away tours, the Indian Premier League, The Australian Big Bash, The ASHES as well as all international cricket from Australia, India, New Zealand, and England.
They have also had scheduled broadcasts of select IAAF Grand Prix meets featuring the Caribbean and the world's best athletes each season. Oliver McIntosh, SportsMax’s president and CEO, noted that it will be business as usual despite this being the beginning of a new phase for both companies.
“It all came together very rapidly between the two teams. What it means for viewers in the Caribbean who love sports, having two sports loving companies coming together, means more content in more ways,” said McIntosh. “For us it's an exciting period. It allows the SportsMax team more opportunities because we all have the same objectives,” he added.
Only recently, Digicel announced the acquisition of Telstar Cable Limited, having received the required approvals from the Broadcasting Commission.
Telstar Cable Limited is a leading provider of cable TV, broadband and fixed telephony services in Jamaica. With the deal completed, Digicel will progress its plans to invest significantly in the network to increase coverage and further expand the products, services and content available to cable customers in Jamaica.
“It's a very important component of our strategy to become this full communications company and it ties very nicely into the subscriber television business we are actually entering into. So what we will have is subscriber television and we will have content as well.
Then we are enabling this with ultra quick fibre roll out along with fix lines so you will be able to get an entire solution here,” noted O'Brien.
SOURCE- JAMAICA OBSERVER
FIFA ethics judge hesitates on World Cup
For Qatar or Russia to be stripped of the World Cup, a key person in the legal chain needs to make use of the powers available to him.
Events of recent days, however, suggest FIFA's independent ethics judge Joachim Eckert will interpret the rules more cautiously and have added to the pessimism of critics who want the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting awards overturned.
Eckert is a middle man in the process — between Michael Garcia, the ethics prosecutor who must provide the evidence, and FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who heads the 27-member executive committee and Congress of 209 national associations.
It may fall to Eckert — in the toughness of his verdicts and language of his final report — to raise public pressure on FIFA to take the highest-risk, highest-reward options in a case that will define the reputation of football's world governing body.
"That is not our job," Eckert said at FIFA last Friday, when giving his most detailed insight yet on the investigation. "We will not make any recommendations."
Ever since a 22-man FIFA executive committee chose Russia and Qatar in December 2010, critics have sought reasons to justify change.
Source-AP
US Sprinter Wallace Spearmon Suspended For 3 Months
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has slapped American sprinter Wallace Spearmon with a three-month suspension after the US Olympian failed a drug test in July.
The 29-year-old Spearmon tested positive for Methylprednisolone during an international track meet on July 6 in Edmonton, Canada.
Spearmon claimed the anti-inflammatory drug was in a prescription he was taking and that he didn’t know that it was on USADA’s and the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list.
Spearmon could have asked for a therapeutic exemption to continue taking the drug but failed to do so.
“After a thorough review of the case, including Spearmon’s medical records, USADA has accepted Spearmon’s explanation that the Methylprednisolone was not being used in an effort to enhance his performance,” USADA said.
His suspension began August 27 meaning he will be eligible to compete again in just nine weeks.
Spearmon took fourth place in the 200 metres final at the 2012 Olympics in London.
He reached the semi-finals of the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. His personal best for 200m is 19.65sec.
Johnny Depp’s fiancée Amber Heard latest victim of hacked explicit photos
Pervy hackers struck again Sunday, this time leaking a cache of X-rated photos and video of Johnny Depp’s fiancée.
More than 50 explicit images stolen from model Amber Heard popped up on the Internet sites 4Chan and Reddit.
The pilfered videos show the 28-year-old blond Texan, whose mother is an Internet researcher, participating in an apparent threesome and smoking what looks like a bong.
In one topless photo, Heard holds a sign reading “Tonto” — apparently referring Depp, 51, who played the character in “The Lone Ranger” last year, according to TMZ.
The pictures also include shots of Heard and Depp performing a sexy bedroom scene in the 2011 film “The Rum Diary.”
The images were leaked a day after mysterious hackers dropped racy pictures of reality star Kim Kardashian and actress Venessa Hudgens online.
There was no immediate word from Heard, but newlywed actress Gabrielle Union, 41, and Miami Heat hoops star Dwayne Wade spoke out about the invasion of privacy by “vultures.”
“For anyone out there also being affected by these and other hacking and hate crimes — we send out love, support and prayers,” the couple said. “We have done nothing wrong.”
The massive hacking scandal began over Labor Day weekend, when dozens of photos of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence in the nude — and 100 other celebs in compromising positions — were stolen from private accounts and put on the Internet.
The FBI has launched an investigation, but no suspects have been named.
Meagan Good responds to leaked nude photos
Meagan Good is speaking out after having her private photos stolen and posted online.
The "Think Like A Man" actress, 33, confirmed the authenticity of photos stolen from her smartphone and posted to share sites Reddit and 4chan.com in an apparently targeted hacking over the weekend.
"I'm definitely in shock (and) saddened for everyone who is experiencing this," she wrote in an Instagram post Sunday. "At the end of the day, we all know these pictures were for my husband."
Good married Sony/Columbia movie executive DeVon Franklin in 2012. Her husband is also a Christian preacher and author.
"Oh, yeah — and for everyone who's reposting the leaked nudes? You should be ashamed of yourself."
Good's "Think Like A Man" costar Gabrielle Union was also targeted in the recent photo hacking, and released a statement with her husband Dwyane Wade condemning the crime.
"It has come to our attention that our private moments, that were shared and deleted solely between my husband and myself, have been leaked by some vultures," the newlywed couple said in a statement, obtained by TMZ.
The second celebrity photo hacking incident comes three weeks after the massive leak that targeted over 100 stars — including Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney.
Gabrielle Union Confirms Nude Leaked Photos
American Actress Gabrielle Union has confirmed that topless and nude photos she sent to her basketball star husband Dwayne Wade have somehow been leaked onto the internet – and now her legal team will be contacting the FBI.
She and Wade released a statement saying, “it has come to our attention that our private moments, that were shared and deleted solely between my husband and myself, have been leaked by some vultures.”
They continued, “I can’t help but to be reminded that since the dawn of time women and children, specifically women of color, have been victimized, and the power over their own bodies taken from them. These atrocities against women and children continue worldwide.”
Union was not the only celeb to have her privacy breached. Topless photos of what appears to be model Emily Ratajkowski and Jenny McCarthy were also leaked online along with nude photos of what appears to be Kate Bosworth and Lake Bell.
The couple added, “For anyone out there also being affected by these and other hacking and hate crimes – We send our love, support and prayers. We have done nothing wrong.”