World

“Not unusual nor improper”: Pandora Papers, leaders deny wrongdoing

Published

3 weeks ago

October 5, 2021

ticker NEWS

Following the release of 12 million files exposing the dealings of the world’s elite, several world leaders say they’ve got nothing to hide.

Reports are calling the Pandora Papers the biggest leak in history with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Jordan’s King are among 35 current and former leaders who have links to the papers.

Jordan’s palace says it is “not unusual nor improper” that the nation’s King owns property abroad.

The papers state that the royal spent more than 100 million US dollars on building his property empire abroad throughout Britain and America.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin has questioned the validity of the leaked information with a spokesperson calling it “unsubstantiated” information.

“For now it is just not clear what this information is and what it is about… the Kremlin didn’t see any hidden wealth of Putin’s inner circle in there”.

Further to this, India officials said they will launch a formal investigation into the “data dump”, with Pakistani Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin along with several other leaders named in the documents to be investigated.

The Panama Papers successor

The Pandora Papers were released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) who are based in Washington DC in association with 140 media organisations.

As part of their investigation, more than 11.9 million records were acquired equating to around 2.94 terabytes of data.

Six hundred journalists were involved in the investigation.

It comes five years following the leak of the Panama Papers which exposed wealthy individuals hiding large sums of money from law enforcement.

ICIJ journalist, Scilla Alecci joined ticker earlier, saying the secretive nature of offshore accounts is dangerous, especially when used by politicians.

Scilla alecci, Journalist ICIJ

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World

Fears of a coup as military force arrests Sudanese leaders

Published

54 mins ago

October 25, 2021

Costa Haritos

Unidentified Sudanese military forces have reportedly arrested four cabinet ministers and one civilian

#BREAKING: Unidentified Sudanese military forces have reportedly arrested four cabinet ministers and one civilian pic.twitter.com/volZieFL3F
— ticker NEWS (@tickerNEWSco) October 25, 2021

There are also reports that the military have surrounded the house of the country’s Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, as the leader remains in house arrest.

It comes as the PM warns that Sudan is facing the “worst crisis” of its transition to civilian rule following the removal of its long-time ruler more than two years ago.

The remarks on Friday come as the country reels from deep divisions among the civilian and military political factions that have been leading its transition under an August 2019 power-sharing deal with the aim of leading the country towards free and fair elections.

Sport

Michael Jordan’s sneakers sell for record $1.47m at auction

Published

2 hours ago

October 25, 2021

James Kleeman

A pair of basketball shoes worn by US basketball star Michael Jordan have sold for a record price at a Las Vegas auction

Jordan wore the pair of Nike Air Ships during his rookie season with the Chicago Bulls in 1984.

The shoes were what founded the iconic partnership between Jordan and Nike – now a signature global brand.

The sale also marks the highest price ever paid for game-worn footwear of any sport, easily beating out the previous record of $615,000 paid for a pair of Nike Air Jordan’s in 2020.

#AuctionUpdate The most valuable sneakers ever offered at auction—Michael Jordan's regular season game-worn Nike Air Ships from 1984—have just sold at $1,472,000 in our luxury sale in Las Vegas. #SothebysxMGM pic.twitter.com/OlxvZ1ETML
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) October 24, 2021

The price still falls short of the most expensive sneakers ever sold.

Recent sales are just the beginning of rare shoe market that’s beginning to soar.

In April, rapper Kanye West’s Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototypes sold for $1.8 million at a private sale.

The record price for sneakers has broken several times in recent years, and the market is now considered much more niche than ever before, attractive interest from leading collectors as well as the general public.

World

Ship spews toxic gas off Canada’s coast

Published

3 hours ago

October 25, 2021

James Kleeman

Sixteen people have been evacuated as fire rages onboard the Zim Kingston container ship off the coast of Canada

The vessel was en route to Vancouver when it caught fire on Saturday, and has since been expelling toxic gas which officials say is not a risk to people on land.

The coast guard reported the ship was carrying more than 52,000 kg of chemicals located in two of the ten containers that caught fire.

“The ship is on fire and expelling toxic gas,” the Canadian coast guard said. It added that 10 containers had been affected by the fire.

“Currently there is no safety risk to people on shore, however the situation will continue to be monitored,” it said.

#CCGLive: CCGS Cape Calvert and CCGS Cape Naden have evacuated 16 people from the container ship M/V #ZimKingston near Victoria, #BritishColumbia after a fire broke out in ten containers earlier today. pic.twitter.com/uiKSrmgpv8
— Canadian Coast Guard (@CoastGuardCAN) October 24, 2021