The U.S. State Department said Thursday it placed a leader of the Nusra Front under sanctions.
Muhammad al-Jawlani is considered the leader of the Nusra Front, the State Department said in a statement. He’s spoken in videos about his ultimate goal, which is the overthrow of the Syrian regime and the institution of Islamist sharia law throughout the country.
The Nusra Front is believed to be the most effective group fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which is locked in a bitter civil war with opposition groups. U.S. policy also calls for the end of Assad’s regime, but the Nusra Front has complicated Washington’s support for the rebels.
The Web according to Samuel Rubenfeld, a journalist published in The Wall Street Journal, WSJ.com, Dow Jones Newswires, Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle, Midland (Texas) Reporter-Telegram, The Hill, Village Voice, Newsday, Times of Middle Country and my alma mater's campus newspaper, The Hofstra Chronicle.
I write the Corruption Currents blog, which is hosted on the Wall Street Journal's website.
I'm 26 and I live in Astoria, Queens. I listen to a ton of music and read a lot about politics, public policy, the news media and the future of journalism. I also am a big fan of the Knicks, Jets and Mets. Expect a heavy dose of things to read. • Ask me anything
Samuel Rubenfeld's Tumblr
I write the Corruption Currents blog, which is hosted on the Wall Street Journal's website.
I'm 26 and I live in Astoria, Queens. I listen to a ton of music and read a lot about politics, public policy, the news media and the future of journalism. I also am a big fan of the Knicks, Jets and Mets. Expect a heavy dose of things to read. • Ask me anything
Samuel Rubenfeld's Tumblr
State Department Names Nusra Front Leader as Terrorist - Risk & Compliance - WSJ
“Who in the newsroom will speak up the next time there’s a story that produces that much racial heat—the one black or brown person in an otherwise white newsroom? Who will speak up when working-class Americans are portrayed in patronizing and simplistic ways—the unpaid cub reporter/intern?”
— Farai Chideya, “How to Fix Journalism’s Class and Color Crisis” (via thenationmagazine)
Cilins Pleads Not Guilty to Obstructing FCPA Probe - Risk & Compliance - WSJ
Frederic Cilins, a French man charged with obstructing a grand jury probe into possible foreign bribery, pleaded not guilty Wednesday before a Manhattan federal court.
Mr. Cilins is charged in a five-count indictment filed in April in the Southern District of New York of agreeing to pay an individual to provide him documents so he could destroy them before they were produced for a grand jury. The indictment alleges he directed an individual to make false statements to the FBI by providing the person with an affidavit and agreeing to pay them to sign the document.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Frank Maas read the contents of the indictment to Mr Cilins, who requires the use of an interpreter. Asked to confirm his lawyer’s statement that he pleaded not guilty, Mr. Cilins nodded his head and said “oui.”
Judge Maas set bond at $15 million for Mr. Cilins, and required he get five co-signers. Should he be able to make bond, Mr. Cilins would be subject to 24-hour monitoring by a security firm approved by the court.
Suddenly, It’s Woodson’s Fault - NY Times
Woodson has indisputably been a net positive for the Knicks, corralling a locker room of volatile characters and disparate talents and presiding over the franchise’s best season in more than a decade. His failures in this series threaten to overshadow it all. …
“Blame it on me,” Woodson said. As if the city needs any encouragement.
Joseph Heller’s handwritten timeline/character chart for Catch-22. Click through for the full image.
(from Flavorwire)
Still my favorite book.
Mine too
Treasury Sanctions UAE-Based Evaders - Risk & Compliance - WSJ
The U.S. Treasury Department said Wednesday it placed sanctions on two United Arab Emirates-based entities for helping Iran evade sanctions.
Al Hilal Exchange and Al Fida International General Trading, both based in Dubai, were targeted for their role in providing financial services to Bank Mellat, which is itself under U.S. sanctions for being involved in Iran’s nuclear program, Treasury said.
Both the exchange house and the trading company helped Iran maintain access to foreign currency exchange, Treasury said in a statement.
Index Finds Top Resource Countries Fail at Governance - Risk & Compliance - WSJ
An index studying the quality of governance in the oil, gas and mineral sectors of 58 countries found that more than half don’t even meet basic standards.
The Resource Governance Index, produced by Revenue Watch Institute, examined the 58 countries based on 173-item questionnaires completed by in-country researchers with expertise in the extractive industries. The findings were peer reviewed, and then reviewed by Revenue Watch staff.
“It’s a very sobering picture,” said Daniel Kaufmann, president of the Revenue Watch Institute, in an interview. “The challenge before us is enormous.”
The 2013 index, which the report said aims to help how countries govern oil, gas and minerals, evaluated four components of resource governance in each country: institutional and legal setting; reporting practices; safeguards and quality controls; and enabling environment.
(Source: Spotify)
“Reuters reviewed a product catalogue from one large contractor, which was made available on condition the vendor not be named. Scores of programs were listed. Among them was a means to turn any iPhone into a room-wide eavesdropping device. Another was a system for installing spyware on a printer or other device and moving that malware to a nearby computer via radio waves, even when the machines aren’t connected to anything. There were tools for getting access to computers or phones, tools for grabbing different categories of data, and tools for smuggling the information out again. There were versions of each for Windows, Apple and Linux machines. Most of the programs cost more than $100,000, and a solid operation would need several components that work together. The vast majority of the programs rely on zero-day exploits.”
— Special Report: U.S. cyberwar strategy stokes fear of blowback | Reuters
“Detective Scarcella’s name surfaced in March after a judge freed David Ranta, who had spent 23 years in prison after being convicted of murdering a rabbi. Prosecutors determined that Mr. Ranta’s conviction resulted in large part from flawed police work by Mr. Scarcella and a partner, including failing to pursue a more logical suspect. An investigation found they removed violent criminals from jail to let them smoke crack cocaine and visit prostitutes in exchange for incriminating Mr. Ranta. A witness also said Mr. Scarcella told him who to choose in a lineup.”
— Review of 50 Brooklyn Murder Cases Ordered - NYTimes.com (via brooklynmutt)
