Russian shot in UK was due to give evidence

 Russian banker shot five times close to London's financial district had been days away from giving evidence to an investigation into the attempted murder of a former business associate, his lawyer has said. German Gorbuntsov, who at the height of his business empire owned four Russian banks, was walking towards his apartment block near the Canary Wharf banking district when a gunman opened fire on Tuesday evening, leaving him badly injured. London police said on Saturday they were keeping an open mind about the motive of the attack. Gorbuntsov's...

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Could abolishing tax havens solve Africa's financing needs?

 The past month, the spotlight has been on James Ibori, the governor of Nigeria's Delta state from 1999 to 2007, who pleaded guilty at in a London court to 10 counts relating to conspiracy to launder funds from the state he governed. Ibori was accused of siphoning off an estimated $250m and laundering it in London through a number of offshore companies and financial intermediaries to fund his extravagant lifestyle of lavish mansions, expensive cars and private jets. This mode of illicit capital flight is by no means restricted to one rogue...

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20-STRONG ‘dog squad’ is taking on disobedient dog owners in Marbella.

 The pet owners are being targeted in a crack down on those breaking strict bylaws with 440 summonses being issued in just 30 days. The most common offence involved dogs not being kept on leads, while others included owners not clearing up after their animal and dogs not being muzzled. Fines ranged from 75 to 3,000 euros depending on the offence. The most serious breach of the law involved 24 summonses for owning potentially dangerous breeds that weren’t registered or did not have the necessary paperwo...

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Michael Jackson's entire back catalogue, including previously unreleased material from his sessions for 'Bad', 'Off The Wall' and 'Thriller', has apparently been stolen by computer hackers.

 Michael Jackson's entire back catalogue, including previously unreleased material from his sessions for 'Bad', 'Off The Wall' and 'Thriller', has apparently been stolen by computer hackers. Sony Music paid the late singer's estate over $250 million (£158 million) for the back catalogue in 2010 and released the first swathe of tracks from it at the end of that year with the posthumous album 'Michael'. According to The Sunday Times, the tracks stolen include duets with Black Eyed Peas mainman will.i.am and Queen's late frontman Freddie...

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Australian facing drug death penalty in Malaysia

 AN AUSTRALIAN man is facing the death penalty after being arrested in Malaysia for allegedly trying to sell methamphetamine. Malaysian police have confirmed a West Australian man ''tentatively charged'' with trying to sell 225g of methamphetamine could be executed. Malaysian Police Narcotics Supt Nafisah Adam said today that a former Perth man, 32, was being held in custody, along with three local men. They were all arrested on Thursday over a string of alleged drug offences. Supt Nafisah said the Australian man had been caught with a...

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