The $50 billion Ponzi scheme allegedly masterminded by former Nasdaq chairman Bernard Madoff punctuated a miserable year for Wall Street in the worst possible way: by underlining, yet again, that savvy market-makers can harness arcane financial instruments as weapons of mass destruction. Left in Madoff’s wake are bankrupt investors, mortified regulators and a raft of unnoticed red flags.
Tag Archives: international
U.N. Climate Change Czar Yvo de Boer
His colleagues call him the Flying Dutchman because of all the time Yvo de Boer spends in the air, traveling from one world capital to another as he tries to stitch together a global deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions — and possible save the world. As the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , de Boer is the U.N.’s point man for the ongoing global effort to plan a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. The deadline for a new treaty is coming up fast — at the U.N
Space station has close call with orbiting junk
A piece of debris zipping by at astronomical speed forced the crew of the international space station to take shelter in its escape capsule Thursday, a rare close call for the orbiting platform, NASA said. The object — about the size of a bullet, and moving 20 times as fast — passed within 3 miles (4.5 kilometers) of the station early Thursday afternoon ET, the U.S
Report: N. Korea sets satellite launch
North Korea has informed an international organization that it plans to launch a satellite April 4 to 8, South Korea’s state news agency reported Thursday, citing an unnamed intelligence official. North Korea’s official news agency reported earlier that the nation had notified the International Maritime Organization of its plans
Consumer demand slumps in China
Slumping consumer demand pushed China’s consumer and producer price indices into negative territory in February, state-run media reported Tuesday.
Defiant Sudanese president visits Darfur
Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir made his first trip to Darfur since an international tribunal ordered his arrest on war crimes charges, pledging resistance Sunday to what he called efforts to "recolonize" Africa.
It’s Not Easy Getting Green Jobs
Nathan Chan is the ideal worker for the new green economy.
Sudanese ambassador: Ousted aid groups were ‘spoiling’ country
Sudan’s ambassador to the United Nations on Friday defended his nation’s decision to expel 16 nongovernment aid organizations, charging they were "messing up everything," "spoiling," and "destabilizing" his country. Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad said the government took action because the North African nation has evidence the suspended nongovernment organizations repeatedly acted outside their humanitarian mandate and were working with the International Criminal Court in its investigation into the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan
Police seek man in death of new wife, four kids
Police in Cleveland, Ohio, were searching Thursday for a man they suspect fatally shot his new wife and four children, and shot and injured another child.
White House meets aid groups over Darfur
Officials of U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration have met with non-governmental organizations currently operating in Darfur, after the Sudanese president announced all aid groups must leave the country.