Further, sales of diesel vehicles which may have had doped software have been suspended in Canada and the US.
"Volkswagen Canada has issued a stop-sale order to our dealers for all of the affected vehicles pending resolution of this matter," company spokesman Thomas Tetzlaff" - CBC News The affected vehicles that may be affected are as old as 2009 models. The 2015 models are also affected. Included are VW models Jetta, Golf, Beetle, Passat and Sportswagon. About one fifth of VWs sales in Canada are diesels. Both environmental protection agencies in Canada and the US have stressed that the vehicles in question are not unsafe to drive, but they are emitting unsafe levels of pollutants. One of diesel’s exhaust emissions is benzene, a carcinogen. Criminal investigations have begun. The troubles for VW continue as law firms in both countries have already begun organizing class action suits. The Guardian has reported that the whistleblower who broke the scandal has intimated that more firms may have been involved with spoofing the EPA results and that it’s time that they are also looked at critically. [Wednesday update - Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn resigns] Sources: Al Jazeera CBC News The Guardian
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There have been other brushes with judicial systems. The French have found Karpeles guilty of hacking and imposed in absentia a one year jail term. The US Justice Department has expressed interest in the non-traceable money exchanges. In its prosecution of the black market Silk Road a US$10 million fine was slapped onto Mt. Gox. It has been reported that a US federal prosecutor vacationed in Tokyo shortly before the former mogul was arrested and then was seen shortly afterwards also vacationing in Slovenia, the home of BitStamp.
People who lost money, virtual or real, on the Mt. Gox fiasco are claiming a total of $22 billionUDS in losses. Three investors are claiming a total of $21 billion in losses. Governments are generally wary of the growth of virtual money because it allows anonymous exchanges. It becomes impossible to check transactions for taxable transactions and money laundering. During the initial flush of excitement over bitcoins, there was speculation that criminals and terrorists could use the system to finance covert operations. Sources: Japan Today Crypto Coin News He had a tempestuous relationship with a Beijing woman who also had one of his babies. Xuan Yang gave birth to a girl in Los Angeles two months before Gang’s death. She is seeking to claim the whole of the estate left. She petitioned the courts for a DNA sample from the deceased. This was granted and the results were released in late August.
Gang’s brother who resides in China has engaged a lawyer in Canada to untangle the estate. He expressed surprise that the mother of the youngest infant would claim that her child is the only heir as at least four other children have been confirmed as his offspring. Each proven offspring would share equally in the estate. Sources: CTV News National Post
Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo, has just witnessed the massacre of 19 men in the space of three hours. Ten of the men were in a bar when masked men entered and asked who had criminal records. Those that replied with a yes were shot to death. Within the next few hours nine more men were shot dead. While the head of Sao Paulo’s police surmised that it may have been the activity of drug gangs, others are pointing towards the police themselves.
Recently two policemen in Sao Paulo were killed in the line of duty. This blood-letting may have been a reprisal action. Amnesty International is calling the incident a massacre and pointing out that it is not as unusual as it should be. “ Roque, who heads the organization's Brazil branch, said "unfortunately massacres like this one in Sao Paulo have become part of the routine of violence in our cities."ABC News The problem of violent crime is not confined to Sao Paulo. The World Health Organization places Brazil in the top 20 for intentional killings. The drug trade and alcoholism is blamed as motives for many homicides. Other criminal activities are common in Brazil’s cities. Carjacking, pickpockets, bag snatching and kidnapping in order to make the victim access an ATM are all common in the cities. Of lesser interest to tourists is the rate of corruption. Brazil is rated at 43 in the listings, tied with Bulgaria and Greece. That is unless you are required to pay a fine that is exactly the same amount as your daily limit at an ATM machine. Sources: Al Jazeera ABC News Wikipedia Rough Guides Government of Canada
The newly elected Mexican president, Enrique Pena Nieto, refused saying that they were capable of holding Guzman.
Nieto is under pressure to clean up the judicial and political systems in Mexico. He failed to act quickly or to find the bodies of the missing education students who were “disappeared” by police. His wife has come under criticism for her purchase of a mansion from a government contractor. His effort to recapture Guzman by placing road blocks and patrolling bus and trains stations appears to be window dressing. It is known that a helicopter landed near the building where the tunnel ended around the time of Guzman’s disappearance. The Sinaloa chief could retire and disappear if he so chose. He is reputed to have a personal fortune of over one billion dollars. Further reading at: CBC Wikipedia Reuters |
Barbara McPherson
Blogger, gardener, farmer. Working toward food security and a 30 foot
diet. Addicted to reading. Love this planet, especially my little corner
on Vancouver Island, Canada Archives
October 2016
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