Thousands Rally in Haiti on Coup Anniversary
Thousands of people rallied in Port-au-Prince on Monday to mark the 22nd anniversary of the first U.S.-backed ouster of then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti’s first democratically elected leader. Monday’s protest doubled as a rally against Haitian President Michel Martelly, who is facing pressure to call long-delayed senate and municipal elections.
U.K. School Withdraws Investment in Drone Firm
A British university is pulling its more than $1 million investment in a military firm that makes parts for armed U.S. drones. The University of Edinburgh announced its divestment from the company Ultra Electronics following a campaign from students and human rights activists. Ultra supplies air navigation systems for the U.S. fleet of Predator and Reaper pilotless drones.
Former JPMorgan Employees Charged for Hiding “London Whale” Losses
New York prosecutors have unveiled charges against two former employees of the banking giant JPMorgan Chase for the so-called “London Whale” trades that cost the bank more than $6 billion and derailed financial markets worldwide. A Senate probe earlier this year accused JPMorgan Chase of misleading the public, manipulating documents and ignoring warnings from within its own ranks as the losses piled up. On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announced the first charges to stem from the case.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara: “The defendants deliberately and repeatedly lied about the fair value of billions of dollars in assets on JPMorgan’s books in order to cover up massive losses that mounted month after month at the beginning of 2012. Those lies misled investors, regulators and the public, and they constituted federal crimes. As has already been conceded, this was not a tempest in a teapot, but rather a perfect storm of individual misconduct and inadequate internal controls.”