Author: BBC

A jury in New York has found the Wall Street investor, Sung Kook ‘Bill’ Hwang, guilty of fraud and market manipulation.It comes three years after the failure of his investment fund Archegos Capital Management, which caused billions of dollars in losses for several major banks.Prosecutors accused Hwang of lying to lenders as he secretly amassed large bets on several companies.When Archegos was unable to repay the banks, it prompted a mass sell-off of stocks and the fund collapsed.Hwang’s deputy at Archegos and co-defendant, Patrick Halligan, was also found guilty on the three counts he faced.Sentencing has been scheduled for 28…

France’s former first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, has been charged over an election funding scandal dating back to 2007 involving cash from the then Libyan dictator, Col Muammar Gaddafi.According to French media, Ms Bruni-Sarkozy, 56, was charged with hiding evidence and associating with wrongdoers to commit fraud.She was placed under judicial control and barred from being in contact with all those accused except her husband, Nicolas Sarkozy. Ms Bruni-Sarkozy is also suspected of concealment of witness tampering and involvement in an attempt to bribe Lebanese judicial personnel, among other violations.Her lawyers told AFP that Ms Bruni-Sarkozy was determined to assert her…

Rising levels of worklessness are “unacceptable” and require “immediate action”, the new Labour government’s jobs minister has said.Liz Kendall is proposing several measures including a new national jobs and careers service to tackle record youth unemployment and rising numbers of those out of work due to long-term sickness.On her first ministerial tour as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Ms Kendall will also announce a more localised approach to upskill those out of work and tackle the root causes of unemployment.But the Conservative party said the government must “wake up” to the “huge cost” the reforms will cost the…

1 hour agoBy Christal Hayes, Samantha Granville and Emma Vardy, BBC News Rust trial jury hears opening statementsAlec Baldwin’s trial opened in New Mexico on Wednesday with the prosecution and defence painting starkly different pictures of the events leading up to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Mr Baldwin, known for roles on the sitcom 30 Rock and portraying Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live, is facing up to 18 years in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter.Ms Hutchins, 42, died after a gun Mr Baldwin was rehearsing with went off. It was found that the film’s armourer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, accidentally mixed…

The Young V&A, which describes itself as the most joyful museum in the world, has won the 2024 Museum of the Year award.The east London venue, which is aimed at children and young people, will receive a £120,000 prize.It was named the winner by the Art Fund charity at a ceremony in the capital on Tuesday.The Young V&A, a branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum, reopened in July 2023 after being closed for a three-year £13m redevelopment. It was formerly called the V&A Museum of Childhood.Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the Young V&A had created “a unique space dedicated…

A court in the United Arab Emirates has handed life sentences to 43 activists after finding them guilty of terror offences. State media said the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal convicted the defendants of “creating a terrorist organisation”. United Nations experts and human rights groups have severely criticised the mass trial.Human Rights Watch (HRW) said more than 80 human rights defenders and political dissidents – known as the “UAE 84” – were put on trial.Last January, the UAE’s prosecutor general referred the defendants to the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal on charges of “establishing another clandestine organisation for…

A US judge has dismissed a case brought by former Twitter staff, who had accused billionaire Elon Musk of unlawfully denying roughly $500m in severance payments owed to workers fired after his takeover of the company.Judge Trina Thompson said the employees had not proven that their claims were protected by federal law. The ruling is a win for Mr Musk, who purchased Twitter in 2022 and immediately set about making changes, including sacking thousands of staff.The moves sparked multiple lawsuits from former staff and vendors, accusing the company of withholding payments that had been promised.This complaint was filed in 2023…

George Clooney has issued a damning call for Joe Biden to quit the US presidential race, hours after senior Democrat Nancy Pelosi swerved questions about whether he should continue.The Hollywood actor and prominent Democratic Party fundraiser said that the president had won many battles in his career, “but the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time”.His comments came hours after Ms Pelosi, the former House Speaker, joined growing disquiet in the party, saying that time was “running short” for Mr Biden to decide whether to stay in the race against Donald Trump after a disastrous debate late…

Getty ImagesThe judgement against British Airways could affect thousands of airline compensation claims annuallyThe Supreme Court has ruled a flight being cancelled because of a pilot becoming ill before work did not count as an “extraordinary circumstance”, meaning passengers were entitled to compensation.It said the decision “has the potential to affect tens of thousands of claims which are made annually” under the relevant law.Kenneth and Linda Lipton took BA Cityflyer, an arm of British Airways, to court after their claim was rejected.Five Supreme Court judges dismissed the airline’s appeal against an earlier Court of Appeal ruling.The Liptons, from Kent, were…

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