–Bloomberg reports, that the world’s biggest banks are working with one another and police to gather intelligence as protesters try to rejuvenate the Occupy Wall Street movement with May demonstrations. Among 99 protest targets in midtown Manhattan on May 1st are JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America offices. Events are scheduled for more than 115 cities, including an effort to shut down the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, where Wells Fargo investors relied on police to get past protests at their annual meeting this week. “Our goal is to kick off the spring offensive and go directly to where the financial elite play and plan,” said a May Day organizer. Banks are preparing for Occupy demonstrations at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Chicago summit by sharing information from video surveillance, robots and building officers. Deutsche Bank is closing the public atrium of its U.S. headquarters at 60 Wall St., which protesters have previously used for meetings. Starting in 2010, JPMorgan gave the New York City Police Foundation $4.6 million, the largest donation in the group’s history. Goldman Sachs, News Corp. and Barclays were among 16 donors who gave at least $100,000 throughout the year. Dozens of others contributed as well, with banks having a history of coordinating security with city authorities including giving the Police department “access to hundreds of private- security cameras.”
–Reuters reports, that Syria received regular shipments of Russian gasoil and diesel over the winter and, despite Moscow’s diplomatic support for demands that the government stop its attacks and pull back its forces, Russia sent another delivery this month. The shipments appear to be legal, as neither Russia nor Iran has signed up to Western sanctions barring such trade, and Moscow has blocked U.N. Security Council sanctions that would apply to all countries. But following the convoluted paper trail of the shipments shows how difficult it is for the West to enforce sanctions designed to restrict Syria’s military capability, as long as Moscow prevents U.N. action.
–Reuters also reports that, A United Nations-backed court convicted former Liberian president Charles Taylor of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity, the first time a head of state has been found guilty by an international tribunal since the Nazi trials at Nuremberg. Taylor had been charged with 11 counts of murder, rape, conscripting child soldiers and sexual slavery during intertwined wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, during which more than 50,000 people were killed. The first African leader to stand trial for war crimes, Taylor was accused of directing Revolutionary United Front rebels in a campaign of terror to plunder Sierra Leone’s diamond mines for profit and weapons trading. Taylor was found guilty of providing weapons, food, medical supplies, fuel and equipment to forces in Sierra Leone which committed atrocities, but not of having ordered or planned the crimes.
–Bloomberg reports, that the world’s biggest banks are working with one another and police to gather intelligence as protesters try to rejuvenate the Occupy Wall Street movement with May demonstrations. Among 99 protest targets in midtown Manhattan on May 1st are JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America offices. Events are scheduled for more than 115 cities, including an effort to shut down the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, where Wells Fargo investors relied on police to get past protests at their annual meeting this week. “Our goal is to kick off the spring offensive and go directly to where the financial elite play and plan,” said a May Day organizer. Banks are preparing for Occupy demonstrations at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Chicago summit by sharing information from video surveillance, robots and building officers. Deutsche Bank is closing the public atrium of its U.S. headquarters at 60 Wall St., which protesters have previously used for meetings. Starting in 2010, JPMorgan gave the New York City Police Foundation $4.6 million, the largest donation in the group’s history. Goldman Sachs, News Corp. and Barclays were among 16 donors who gave at least $100,000 throughout the year. Dozens of others contributed as well, with banks having a history of coordinating security with city authorities including giving the Police department “access to hundreds of private- security cameras.”
–Reuters reports, that Syria received regular shipments of Russian gasoil and diesel over the winter and, despite Moscow’s diplomatic support for demands that the government stop its attacks and pull back its forces, Russia sent another delivery this month. The shipments appear to be legal, as neither Russia nor Iran has signed up to Western sanctions barring such trade, and Moscow has blocked U.N. Security Council sanctions that would apply to all countries. But following the convoluted paper trail of the shipments shows how difficult it is for the West to enforce sanctions designed to restrict Syria’s military capability, as long as Moscow prevents U.N. action.
–Reuters also reports that, A United Nations-backed court convicted former Liberian president Charles Taylor of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity, the first time a head of state has been found guilty by an international tribunal since the Nazi trials at Nuremberg. Taylor had been charged with 11 counts of murder, rape, conscripting child soldiers and sexual slavery during intertwined wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, during which more than 50,000 people were killed. The first African leader to stand trial for war crimes, Taylor was accused of directing Revolutionary United Front rebels in a campaign of terror to plunder Sierra Leone’s diamond mines for profit and weapons trading. Taylor was found guilty of providing weapons, food, medical supplies, fuel and equipment to forces in Sierra Leone which committed atrocities, but not of having ordered or planned the crimes.