Two charged in New York with administration secret ‘police station’ for China
Two US citizens were apprehended in New York on Monday for allegedly running an illegal “police station” in Manhattan at Beijing’s behest, as part of a widespread crackdown on what US prosecutors narrate as the Chinese government’s “transnational repression” schemes.
“Harry” Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, who apparently unfasten and ran the office in lower Manhattan’s Chinatown until late last year, were charged with a scheme to act as agents of China’s government and erase the evidence. They will appear in a Brooklyn court behind on Monday afternoon.
EY to cut 3,000 jobs in US to remove ‘overcapacity’
EY has told staff it will cut 3,000 jobs in the US to eliminate “overcapacity”, with the axe falling mainly on the ask side of the firm.
The redundancies account for around 5 percent of the US workforce, although the percentage reductions will be higher in the affected businesses.
The cuts were reported less than a week after the subside of a plan to spin off EY’s global ask business into a new company, codenamed Project Everest.
Apple and Goldman offer US reduction account with 4.15% annual interest
Apple and Goldman Sachs are looking to lure US investors to a new savings account by offering to pay interest at more than 10 times the national median rate.
The California tech giant and Wall Street bank on Monday float a new reduction account yielding 4.15 percent a year, having first announced the product in October.
This is well ahead of the median US savings account rate of 0.37 percent, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. It also outstrips contestants such as American Express which is offering 3.75 percent and Goldman’s standalone reduction account which operates under the Marcus brand, which offers 3.9 percent.
Appeals court upholds conviction of Derek Chauvin for Floyd murder
The Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, whose death three years ago set off worldwide protests against racial injustice.
In an opinion released today, the appeals judge Peter Reyes rejected arguments that Chauvin did not receive a fair trial and that a police officer cannot be convicted of second-degree murder, if the officer uses unreasonable force.
“Police officers doubtless have a challenging, difficult, and sometimes dangerous job,” Reyes wrote. “However, no one is above the law.”
US ambassador visits reporter Gershkovich in a Russian prison
The US ambassador to Moscow overtake jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on Monday, the first time Russia had granted diplomats consular access to the journalist since his arrest on espionage charges in late March.
Lynne Tracy said Gershkovich “is in good health and remains strong” after their befall at Lefortovo prison, the highly secretive facility where he is being held by the FSB, Russia’s main security service.
The Wall Street Journal and the US have vigorously denied the charges, which Russia has provided no evidence for despite asserting the FSB caught Gershkovich “red-handed”.
Gershkovich, who faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, is the first US reporter to be arrested for supposed espionage in Russia since the Cold War and the latest in a string of US citizens detained there in recent years.
Global corporate defaults surged in March amid regional bank strain
Corporate defaults around the world extend their most elevated level since December 2020 last month, jerked higher by the subside of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
Fifteen Moody’s-rated commercial borrowers defaulted on their debt obligations in March, up from 12 in February and six in January, the agency said in a new report. That uptick took global defaults for the first quarter of 2023 to 33, the largest figure since the final three months of 2020.
The increase in defaults came after SVB and Signature failed last month, with SVB’s parent company also included in Moody’s updated total.
“The stress experienced by some mid-sized US regional banks serves as a reminder that a turn in the rate cycle can trigger otherwise latent risks,” the rating agency said. It expects the global speculative-grade default rate to rise to 4.9 percent in the next 12 months – above the long-term average of 4.1 percent.
US three-month Treasury bills sell at highest yield since 2001
The US sold $57bn of three-month Treasury bills at the highest yield since 2001 on Monday, as concerns about the debt ceiling crisis have tainted bonds that mature around the time Washington is expected to run out of money.
The bills were sold at a yield of 5.1 percent, the highest since January 2001. It follows weak demand at the three-month bill auction last week.
During debt ceiling fights, investors typically avoid bills maturing around the so-called “x date” — the point at which the US would default on its debt if the borrowing limit isn’t raised. While the US is not expected to default, the increased risk is nevertheless reflected in the price.
