Новости за 18.12.2015

Macau (Reuters) - U.S. billionaire and major Republican Party donor Sheldon Adelson said on Friday he met Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump earlier this week, describing his fellow business tycoon as "very charming".

Reuters/Peter Andrews

Negative interest rates – called “punishment interest” in Germany – have morphed from sheer impossibility to solid reality in Europe. Having seen how they work, the Bank of Canada has invoked them now, and Fed Chair Janet Yellen, has put them “on the table” before a House of Representatives committee.

In Europe, after they became established as the latest method of flogging savers until their mood improves, all kinds of absurdities saw the light of the day. For example... Читать дальше...

REUTERS/Savita Kirloskar

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the Nobel laureate who dedicated her life to helping the poorest of the poor, will be made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican said on Friday.

Pope Francis has cleared the way for her sainthood by approving a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to her intercession with God.

Mother Teresa, who died in 1997 at the age of 87, was beatified in 2003 by the late Pope John Paul. Beatification... Читать дальше...

REUTERS/Eric Vidal

While the European Central Bank announced tamer-than-expected quantitative easing measures this month, it also offered a bit of reassurance to those counting on a broader QE program: bank president Mario Draghi said that the ECB was prepared, if necessary, to implement further easing. But is more easing actually likely in the coming year? Credit Suisse believes the answer is “no.”  

To understand why, it’s important to look at what might have prompted the bank to limit its latest round of easing. Читать дальше...

REUTERS/Bobby Yip

SHANGHAI — Fosun International's chairman, Guo Guangchang, has traveled to the United States, two company executives said Friday, suggesting that Chinese authorities were not restricting the movement of the billionaire.

Last Sunday, Fosun's president, Wang Qunbin, said Guo was helping the police with an investigation that mostly concerned his "personal affairs."

The investigation had sparked investor concern over Fosun, one of China's most aggressive global... Читать дальше...

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

The presidential campaign of US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) improperly accessed confidential voter information from the campaign of his Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton, according to party officials.

The Washington Post first reported the accusations by the Democratic National Committee on Thursday evening. The incident has "sparked alarm at the DNC," according to The Post, and the organization has cut off the Sanders campaign from its list of likely Democratic voters. Читать дальше...

Thomson Reuters

GENEVA (Reuters) - The number of people forcibly displaced worldwide is likely to have "far surpassed" a record 60 million this year, mainly driven by the Syrian war and other protracted conflicts, the United Nations said on Friday.

The estimated figure includes 20.2 million refugees fleeing wars and persecution, the most since 1992, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a report.

Nearly 2.5 million asylum seekers have requests pending, with Germany... Читать дальше...

REUTERS/Toru Hanai

BoJ Governor Kuroda has surprised markets in Asia today with the announcement of the expansion of the bank’s quantitative easing program to include exchange traded funds. 

The bank said it will continue to expand the money base by 80 trillion Yen per annum but in a 6-3 vote the bank said that it will increase the average maturity of the Japanese bonds (JGB’s) it buys from 7-10 years to 7-12 years from the beginning of 2016. 

The bank also said it will “purchase... Читать дальше...

TNT

A scary scene unfolded on Thursday night when LeBron James dove into the seats for a loose ball and landed on top of a woman sitting in the front row.

The incident came late in the fourth quarter and as James dove into the stands, he collided with the woman and then appeared to land on top of her.

The woman, who appears to be the wife of golfer Jason Day, was conscious and talking, but was put in a neck brace and taken out of the arena on a stretcher.

TNT

Shortly after she was taken out... Читать дальше...

AP Images

Ever since the news broke Thursday that Turing pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli had been arrested and charged with fraud, the Internet has been abuzz with the big question his arrest naturally raises: What will happen to the new Wu-Tang Clan album?

If Shkreli is ultimately found guilty, the next stop for the sole copy of the legendary hip-hop group’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is likely the Asset Forfeiture Unit of the U.S. Marshals Service – that is, assuming he hasn’t destroyed or hidden it. Читать дальше...

http://syndication.ap.org/AP.Distro.ContentBroker2/ContentBroker.aspx?contentid=40bad35c7e15c6388a0f6a70670025da&iid=787a7e8992fa4e2faa109783a7db231b&rsn=0&recordid=787a7e8992fa4e2faa109783a7db231b&filingId=feb3b2b0684d4e5d8bd0758101e1d7d8&role=Preview&reldt=2015-12-17T06:11:30&media=Photo&sz=&dest=ak&trF=WAET201&ofn=Sleepy%2bStudents.JPEG&fmt=jpg&relativeUrl=jpg/2015/201512/17/40bad35c7e15c6388a0f6a70670025da.jpg&s3Key=preview.jpg&authToken=eNoti0sOwyAMBU9EZIfYkAVSr8KvkhcNUQhqFz58q

Cook County Sheriff's Office via AP)

The Chicago police officer charged with murder after shooting a black teenager last year played a part in the alleged cover-up of another police shooting 10 years ago, according to a civil suit filed against the city this month.

The chairman of the Chicago Latino Caucus questioned on Tuesday whether police used excessive force against Emmanuel Lopez, whose shooting death in 2005 sparked a three-year grand-jury probe.

Officer Jason Van Dyke ... Читать дальше...

KFAR SABA, Israel (AP) — Under the bright lights, a call of "set, hike" echoes out, followed by the clatter of helmets smashing against pads at a high school football game. But these aren't American teenagers hoping to play college ball — they are Israelis with an eye on joining elite military combat units.

U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. James L. Harper Jr.

Days after it unveiled a $3 billion road map to bolster its beleaguered drone fleet, the US Air Force announced it will give the fleet’s pilots $125,000 bonuses to keep flying for a few more years.

Pilots who have six years' flying experience following their undergraduate remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) training — at which point their service obligation expires — would receive five annual installments of $25,000 if they stay in the service... Читать дальше...

Social media image (left) and California Department of Motor Vehicles via AP.

REUTERS/Siegfried Modola

From civil war and urban gang violence to drought, some humanitarian crises around the world receive less media attention and donor funding than others and are less visible.

Below are the top five humanitarian crises of 2015, in no particular order, which aid agencies say deserve more attention on the world stage:

Central America's hidden displacement

Rampant gang violence, poverty and the lack of jobs push hundreds of people a month to leave the 'Northern Triangle' nations of El Salvador... Читать дальше...

Apple/Screenshot

Apple is teaming up with China UnionPay to bring its payment platform to China next year, “as soon as” it has been cleared by Chinese regulators.

China UnionPay operates China’s national inter-bank clearing and settlement system. As a credit card issuer in China, it claims 5 billion cards in circulation and 6 million merchants across the country. 

UnionPay processed $US 1.9 trillion in payments in the first three months of 2015.

China is seen as a key battleground for payments... Читать дальше...

Reuters/Ahmad Masood

The Saudi Arabia-led oil cartel, OPEC, decided to maintain production earlier this month, but remained divided over its production ceiling and failed to reach an agreement.

And that could mean dark times ahead for about half of the cartel's members.

But Saudi Arabia is also looking at its own set of problems, as budget pressures continue to worsen and rumors of internal political divisions continue to proliferate.

As such, it's worth taking a closer look at the economic... Читать дальше...

Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images

Sri Lanka has a fascinating history with one of the first written references to the island made in the ancient Indian epic Ramayana, which mentions how Lanka was created by the divine sculptor for the Lord of Wealth.

The first recorded kingdom, the Anuradhapura Kingdom, was established in 380 BC. Buddhism arrived in the country around 250 BC and continues to be the dominant religion, affecting many areas of life in Sri Lanka today.

I recently visited the country again and... Читать дальше...

Social media photo

A friend of one of the San Bernardino shooters allegedly discussed being involved in terrorist plots on Facebook before the shooting occurred, according to an FBI affidavit released on Thursday.

The friend reportedly stated on Facebook that he leads "multiple lives" and had been wondering when it was "all going to collapse" on him, according to the affidavit.

Enrique Marquez Jr., 24, has been charged with conspiring to provide material support or resources to terrorists. Читать дальше...

Stefan Hendricks, Alfred Wegener Institute

Last month was easily the warmest November on record, according to new NASA figures.

The global average temperature that month was 1.05 degrees Celsius hotter than the 1951 to 1980 average, as NASA’s Land-Ocean Temperature Index shows.

It is also the second consecutive month that the Earth’s temperature exceeded the average by at least 1C. It happened for the first time in October, when the global temperature was 1.06C above the average. Читать дальше...

REUTERS/Carlos Barria

The $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill headed for approval in the House on Friday contains yet another GOP blow to the Affordable Care Act. This one blocks administration efforts to bolster a special fund created under the law to compensate insurance companies for excessive losses due to a disproportionate share of very sick or elderly enrollees.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) led a group of Senate and House Republicans have sought to prevent additional billions in funding for the so-called risk corridor program.

China Foto Press/Getty Images

The Chinese railway system has changed dramatically since I last visited the Asian nation. I can remember taking the high-speed train from Shanghai to Beijing during a visit in 2011; at the time it was a fresh, dedicated line covering 819 miles in a little less than five hours.

In December of last year I wrote about China’s announcement for a proposed $230 billion high-speed rail system linking Beijing to Moscow.

Its estimated distance was 4,350... Читать дальше...

Family photo

The distraught parents of a teenager believed to be on the brink of being beheaded by Saudi Arabia have launched a last-ditch appeal to the world for help. Abdullah al-Zaher was arrested after taking part in a protest in the country's restive Shia eastern province with other young Saudis in March 2012, when he was just 15.

Zaher was detained just shy of his 16th birthday, after participating in protests in Qatif, Saudi Arabia's eastern Shia-dominated province. He was charged with harbouring protesters... Читать дальше...

Screenshot/Cards Against Humanity

Cards Against Humanity, the so-called "party game for horrible people," has shown that the people who make it aren't actually so bad themselves. 

This year, Cards Against Humanity ran a holiday promotion called "Eight Sensible Gifts for Hannukah," where 150,000 devotees of the fan-favorite card game paid up front for eight small, mystery gifts, delivered one day at a time.

The first three days, everybody got socks. After that, the gifts were... Читать дальше...