Petrobras

Un juez brasileño Sergio Moro condenó al ex director internacional de la estatal Petrobras a cinco años de cárcel por lavado de dinero. Se trata del ex director, Nestor Cervero, el segundo ejecutivo de la compañía en recibir una sentencia en medio de la actual investigación por corrupción.

Arbitraje

El Centro Internacional de Arreglo de Diferencias relativas a Inversiones, CIADI, falló a favor del estado peruano y ordenó que el Consorcio Camisea, - conformado por la argentina Pluspetrol y Techint - paguen un monto de más de US$64 mlls. por regalías por embarques de gas natural efectuados a los terminales: Freeport, Sabine Pass y Cameron. El consorcio, en comunicado, dijo que cumplirá la sentencia.

Negocios

Union Oil and Gas Group (UOGG) – subsidiaria de Union Group, una compañía privada que invierte en recursos naturales e infraestructura en América Latina– ha adquirido el control del 80% de Hydrocarbon Exploration Peru Ltd.

• Brief News

US court backs hold on Obama immigration action

A US court has backed a temporary hold on President Barack Obama's plans to shield almost five million illegal immigrants from deportation. The hold was imposed after 26 states launched a legal challenge against the executive action, alleging it was unconstitutional. An appeals court has now denied a government request to overturn it. The White House said the action was essential to fix a "broken immigration system". Under the plans, announced last year, people who entered the US illegally as children and parents of children who are US citizens would be offered temporary protection from deportation.

Brazil opposition requests probe into Rousseff fiscal practices

Brazil's opposition parties asked public prosecutors to investigate President Dilma Rousseff for allegedly breaking laws governing public finance. Leaders of the PSDB, DEM, PPS and Solidarity parties filed the request with the Prosecutor General in Brasilia on Tuesday, according to his press office and that of the PSDB. The parties allege the Rousseff administration broke the law by using credit from state banks in 2013, 2014 and possibly 2015 to meet its budget targets, according to documents e-mailed by the PSDB.

Amazon's sales reporting change could raise tax bill

Amazon, the global online retailer, is changing the way it records sales in a move that could see it paying more tax. Transactions carried out in European markets were previously recorded in Luxembourg, with which Amazon had a low-tax agreement. Now sales made through subsidiaries in the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy will be registered in those countries, the retailer has said. Amazon had received heavy criticism for its tax avoidance policies. In recent years, the European Union has intensified its investigations into the tax deals negotiated by global companies with countries such as Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. It suspects that such deals amount to illegal state aid and distort competition.

Hamas accused of Gaza right abuses

Hamas forces in the Gaza Strip committed serious human rights abuses including abductions, torture and extra-judicial killings of Palestinian civilians in 2014, Amnesty International investigators found. Most of the victims were accused of collaborating with Israel, The report said no-one has been brought to account for the abuses. The report, titled Strangling Necks, says while "Israeli forces were inflicting destruction and death on the people in Gaza, Hamas forces took the opportunity to ruthlessly settle scores".

EU to announce migrant quota plan details

The European Commission is to announce details of its controversial plans to relocate tens of thousands of migrants who have reached southern Europe from Africa and the Middle East. It is being reported that 40,000 asylum seekers would be spread across the EU countries through a quota system. The British government says that it will opt out of the relocation plans. The idea of using quotas to resettle those who have made it to Europe has caused controversy in some EU states. France, Spain, Hungary, Slovakia and Estonia have all voiced concerns. The quota plan is in addition to moves announced earlier this month by the EU for a voluntary scheme to settle 20,000 people fleeing conflict who are currently living outside the EU.

Goldman new cop is FBI agent who put away Madoff, Rajaratnam

The FBI agent who oversaw the Bernard Madoff investigation and helped pioneer the use of wiretaps that yielded dozens of insider-trading convictions is now working for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Patrick Carroll, 50, joined the bank after almost a quarter century with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the latest in a line of former feds who've moved to Wall Street firms. He is a vice president in Goldman Sachs's compliance, surveillance and strategy group, part of a division overseen by Alan Cohen, global head of compliance. While Carroll's FBI career spanned bank robberies and organized crime, he's best known for being at the investigative center of securities-fraud cases ranging from Madoff and billionaire fund manager Raj Rajaratnam to a $554 million Ponzi scheme used to buy expensive teddy bears.

Ireland legalizes same-sex marriage by national referendum

On Saturday Ireland became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage by national referendum. The results showed that 62.1% of voters were in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage. The traditionally conservative Catholic country surprised the international community and moved from criminalizing homosexuality to embracing same-sex marriage rights in a little over two decades. The Constitution of Ireland will now be changed to allow same-sex couples to be legally wed. Praise for the decision came from both the Irish community and many international supporters.

Myanmar President signs restrictive population control bill into law

Myanmar President Thein Sein on Saturday signed into law a bill requiring some mothers to space the births of their children three years apart. The Population Control Health Care bill, passed by parliament last month, allows authorities the power to implement "birth-spacing" in areas with high rates of population growth. Though the bill has no punitive measures, US Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and right activists worry it will be used to repress women's rights as well as religious and ethnic minority rights.

Deutsche Bank penalised over mis-stated accounts

Deutsche Bank is paying $55m (£35.7m) to settle civil charges for allegedly mis-stating financial reports. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigated the German bank for the way it accounted for certain assets in reports filed during the financial crisis. The SEC said it over-valued some of these and did not have sufficient collateral to cover potential losses. Deutsche is settling without admitting or denying the charges. The bank said there was no reliable model at the time to value those trades, which were made in the aftermath of the credit crisis and the subsequent collapse of Lehman Brothers. The SEC said the risk for potential losses ran into billions of dollars - a risk which the SEC says was not properly reported to investors.

Trial opens in collapse of Dewey & LeBoeuf firm

Accused of accounting tricks to defraud lenders, three former executives instead blamed "greedy" lawyers who took clients, hastening the firm's demise.

Time Warner Cable to be bought by Charter Communications

Charter Communications has agreed to buy media giant Time Warner Cable in a deal which values the company at $78.7bn. The proposed deal would combine the second and third largest cable operators in the US. Charter will pay about $55bn in cash and stock for Time Warner Cable, with the balance of the $78.7bn valuation coming from TWC's debts. US cable companies are facing stiff competition from online service providers such as Amazon and Netflix, as customers increasingly choose to stream films and television shows over the internet at a time of their convenience. Cable companies are responding by trying to cut costs and improve the quality of their shows.

Indonesia Court Weighs Legal Challenge to Banking Regulator

Indonesia's constitutional court is finalizing a review of a legal challenge to the role of the country's financial regulator, in a case that will decide who supervises banking in Southeast Asia's largest economy. The Financial Services Authority, known as the OJK, took over supervision of lenders from the central bank last year under a 2011 law on financial institutions. The court, whose verdict is final and can't be contested, is assessing an appeal against eight articles of the law in a challenge to the definition, authority and fees of the new regulator. The case against the OJK, created to improve supervision following banking collapses during the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, comes as levels of bad debt are rising in a slowing economy. Banks want regulation to return to the central bank.

Hackers stole data from more than 100,000 taxpayers, IRS says

The thieves used the data to file fraudulent tax returns. The IRS commissioner said less than $50 million had been successfully claimed from the agency.

British pub Ye Olde Fighting Cocks is asked to change its name

PETA says the pub's name should reflect "society's growing compassion for animals and in celebration of intelligent, sensitive chickens."

Cigarette packages must admit addictive intent, not deception

Philip Morris USA Inc. and other tobacco makers must say on cigarette packages that they're "intentionally designed" to ensure addiction, a federal appeals court said. The companies, however, don't have to say they lied about the dangers of smoking. That's the decision of a Washington-based appeals court Friday in a 15-year-old racketeering case. The US claims Altria Group Inc.'s Philip Morris USA unit and eight other cigarette manufacturers conspired to hide the health consequences and addictiveness of cigarettes. Friday's ruling by the Washington-based court came in the fifth appeal to be filed since the case was brought.

Test of '1 person, 1 vote' heads to the Supreme Court

Analysts have noted that dividing districts based on eligible voters rather than total population would tend to shift representative power to localities with fewer children and fewer immigrants.

Peru declares period of martial law in disputed mine location

The government of Peru on Saturday declared a two-month period of martial law in the southern state of Arequipa where residents are protesting the construction of a copper mine. Being under martial law allows police to enter homes without search warrants, as well as to break up protests and meetings. Southern Copper Corporation plans to build a copper mine known as Tia Maria for $1.4 billion, which residents strongly feel will contaminate the water and air in the region. Specifically, they believe that the mine will be detrimental to farming in the area by using too much water and also creating dust in a neighboring village where many crops are grown. Protests have continued for over two months and often turn violent, even after the government approved the company's environmental study last year that claimed the company could operate a clean mine.

• Daily Press Review

Hamas accused of atrocities during Gaza war
Al Jazeera, Doha, Qatar

Kahlon drops natural gas hot potato, citing conflict of interest
Haaretz, Liberal daily, Tel Aviv, Israel

Swiss arrests over Fifa 'corruption'
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England

U.S. to charge senior FIFA officials with corruption
CNN International, London, England

Lucy Watson makes her first public appearance with boyfriend James Dunmore
Daily Mail, Conservative daily, London, England

Guy Claxton says erasers should be removed from classrooms over mistake shame
Daily Mail, Conservative daily, London, England

Swiss police arrest several senior Fifa executives in a morning raid at a five-star hotel in Zurich
EuroNews, International news, Ecully Cedex, France

Swiss police arrest FIFA officials over US corruption allegations
France 24, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France

France wins big, Italy, Blanchett lose out in Cannes
Hurriyet Daily News, (Liberal, English-language), Istanbul, Turkey

Danish radio station that had baby rabbit 'Allan' killed live on air says stunt was a 'success'
Independent The, London, England

Fifa executives arrested in US corruption investigation: live
Telegraph The, Conservative daily, London, England

Grace Kelly: her amazing life in pictures
Telegraph The, Celebrity news, London, England

Ma proposes S. China Sea peace plan
China Post, English-language daily, Taipei, Taiwan

China Warns of 'Instability' on Korean Peninsula
Chosun Ilbo, Conservative daily, Seoul, South Korea

Britons not happy PM Cameron tells EU President
Hindustan Times, New Delhi, India

Food Act to cover 3.5 crore in state
India Times, Conservative daily, New Delhi, India

Lower House finally takes up contentious security bills
Japan Times, Independent centrist, Tokyo, Japan

Danish prime minister expected to call elections
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

Deutsche Boerse confirms Chinese joint venture, to market and develop chinese shares
The Economic Times, Business, Mumbai, India

FIFA soccer officials arrested in Switzerland in U.S. bribery probe
Canadian Broadcasting Centre, Toronto, Ontario

Arab forces strike Houthi-held Yemen military port
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

Pineapple Industry Leaves Costa Rican Communities High and Dry
IPS Latin America, International cooperative of journalists, Rome, Italy

Citi keeps top spot in FX trading as European banks slump: poll
Reuters, Business News, New York, U.S

U.S., South Korea, Japan seek to raise pressure on North's nuclear programme
Reuters, World News, New York, U.S

70,000 teens back to class as teacher strikes declared illegal
Toronto Star, Toronto, Ontario

Madagascar MPs vote to sack leader
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England

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