WORKERS CAPITAL

China Exposure Tumbles to 5% at Canada Pension as Geopolitical Risks Rise

Layan Odeh
Wed, May 22, 2024

(Bloomberg) -- Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s exposure to investments in yuan has fallen by half in just two years, as the money manager pulls back in the world’s second-largest economy because of higher risks.

Canada’s biggest pension fund held 5% of its assets in Chinese currency as of March 31, according to its annual report released Wednesday, down from 10% in 2022.

“Our strategy’s the same in China,” Chief Executive Officer John Graham said in an interview. “But with respect to investing, we’re always asking — how much and how do we get it? And certainly over the past few years, our appetite is probably less than it was historically, and that’s reflected in the size of the portfolio.”

The fund returned 8% in the fiscal year that ended in March, aided by a nearly 14% gain on its public stock portfolio. But Chinese equities were a drag on results, as China’s stock market “diverged from other major markets due to challenges in the real estate sector,” the annual report said.

Some of Canada’s largest institutional investors are adjusting their strategies in China, concerned about rising economic and policy risks and its deteriorating relationship with the US and other countries. Last year, a senior executive at British Columbia Investment Management Corp. told lawmakers that the fund was pausing direct investments in China, following a similar move from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

For CPPIB, Asia Pacific investments returned just 0.1% during fiscal year, partly due to foreign currency losses. The region represents 21% of the portfolio — down from 26% two years ago.

The fund eliminated about a dozen positions in its Greater China public equities team recently, representing close to 10% of its Hong Kong staff, Bloomberg News reported in March.

CPPIB, with assets of C$632 billion ($462 billion), has been active in dealmaking so far in 2024, and Graham said the drop in global deals is likely over. Central bank policy interest rates have stabilized and credit spreads have tightened in recent months.

“Over the past couple years, transaction activity has been a little bit below normal as the market tries to find a bid-ask spread,” Graham said.

“I think you’d expect to see us be more active over the next 12 months on both the buying and the selling side for most of the asset classes in the portfolio.”

Earlier this month, CPPIB agreed to buy utility owner Allete Inc. for about $3.9 billion in partnership with Global Infrastructure Partners. It also sold shares in the initial public offering of cruise operator Viking Holdings and is among the investors in health-care software company Waystar Holding Corp., which is seeking to raise as much as $1 billion in a US IPO, Bloomberg reported on May 14.

Ari Emanuel Calls for the Ouster of Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu Amid Boos and Shouts at Wiesenthal Dinner

Cynthia Littleton

VARIETY
May 22, 2024·

Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel has called for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and declared that Benjamin Netanyahu’s rule must end in order to achieve lasting peace for Israel.

Emanuel’s remarks came Wednesday night as he was honored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center with its Humanitarian Award at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The divisiveness of the Israel-Hamas war that began Oct. 7 after Hamas’ coordinated terrorist attacks was evident as a few dozen attendees booed and angrily left the ceremony as Emanuel spoke. “Stop talking!” one woman yelled as she left the ballroom.

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But Emanuel was unwavering in his message to the room full of prominent entertainment industry leaders and major figures in philanthropy and civic organizations. Emanuel tore into Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu as a narcissist who greatly compromised Israel’s security with his aggressive policies. He also criticized Netanyahu for having no plan in place for managing the Gaza region after the Hamas war is over.

“It’s a painful and crucial moment for all of us who are Jews, for all of us who love Israel,” Emanuel said. The situation calls for “a political, two-state solution that delivers peace, security and dignity to all.”

Emanuel didn’t reference Netanyahu until about halfway through his 15-minute speech. That’s when a steady stream of attendees began to walk out. At the same time, his speech was interrupted multiple times by applause from entertainment industry insiders. (On a lighter note, during Emanuel’s speech, the jaunty theme music to “Curb Your Enthusiasm” was heard in the ballroom for a few seconds, likely as a cell phone ring tone. Emanuel’s longtime client Larry David, creator and star of the HBO series, was at the event. Nobody pointed fingers, but more than one person remarked that it was the kind of funnier-than-fiction surprise that would have made it into a “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episode had the show not wrapped its 12-season run in April.)

“Israel is being led by a man who doesn’t want a peaceful solution. He only wants to secure his own power and political survival,” Emanuel said. “He is an agent of chaos, hatred, division and destruction — and enough is enough.”

Emanuel acknowledged the tragedy of civilian casualties and suffering among Palestinians in Gaza. But he squarely put the blame for the war on Hamas and the coordinated terror attacks it unleashed on Oct. 7, leaving more than 1,200 dead and more than 250 hostages kidnapped. At present, 125 hostages are still unaccounted for, according to a May 17 report by BBC News.

“The world is rightly outraged by the deaths of innocent Palestinians in this war,” he said. “There is no contradiction in saying that Israel is justified in fighting to free the hostages and destroy Hamas [and] that we should mourn the deaths of Palestinian civilians and seek to minimize casualties, that we should bring to justice settlers who commit violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, and to call for new leadership in Israel that will eliminate Hamas but also find a political solution for the region.”

Emanuel’s remarks echoed comments that he made in October at an entertainment industry conference shortly after the Oct. 7 attacks. But after eight months of war and more than 35,000 dead in Gaza, he went much further on Wednesday night in criticizing the Israeli leader.

“For the good of Israel, he should go,” Emanuel said. “So should the extremists in his cabinet, who are inciting violence in the West Bank and have been undermining democracy in Israel.”

Emanuel detailed his famous family’s long-standing connections to Israel, which stretch back before statehood in 1948. His uncle, Emanuel Auerbach, was shot and killed in 1933 during a protest in Jerusalem. The family changed their surname to Emanuel to honor his memory. In 1967, as a youth, he recalled “sitting with my family in front of the TV watching the first early morning reports when the Six-Day War started, praying that Israel would survive.” The Emanuels visited Israel that year and went regularly in summers for six years.

Emanuel’s speech acknowledged the polarizing effect of the cultural conversation around the Israel-Hamas war in the U.S. and the proliferation of pro-Palestinian encampments on college campuses.

“Where is the outrage about the civilians being killed right now in Sudan, where earlier this month Human Rights Watch warned that an actual genocide could be unfolding? In Ukraine? Where were the campus protests when the Syrian dictator slaughtered his own people,” Emanuel said. “According to the UN Human Rights Office, over 300,00 civilians have been killed there. Where were the protests when the United States attacked ISIS in Mosul in Iraq and thousands of civilians died?”

Moreover, Emanuel asserted, Israel has no choice but to fight an adversary such as Hamas that explicitly stated that its ultimate goal is to destroy Jewish state.

“Hamas could end this war today. They could free the hostages today. We don’t know how many exactly remain in captivity or alive because Hamas refuses to even release the details,” Emanuel said. “Of course, they will not do that. Hamas started this war, and they continue to wage it, and so Israel must fight it.”

Emanuel was brutal in his assessment of Netanyahu’s motivations for taking such a hard stance on any form of compromise on Gaza and other Palestinian issues. He accused the Israeli leader of trying to cling to power to avoid legal problems, including fraud and corruption charges, that await him once he’s no longer in power.

“For two decades, he has divided Jews in Israel and around the world to stay in power as long as possible. That has been his only goal all along. As for his responsibilities to keep the people of the state of Israel and Jews across the globe safe, he has obviously failed spectacularly. But he has succeeded wildly in using division to stay in power,” Emanuel said.

“In the years leading up to the barbaric October 7th terrorist attacks, Netanyahu allowed money from Qatar to be funneled to Hamas. There are currently hundreds of millions of dollars being used to hide the murderers of October 7th,” he said. “He empowered terrorists in Gaza to undermine the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the chances of a two-state solution.”

He also blamed Netanyahu for “trashing a legacy that doesn’t belong to him” for the Jewish state with his legacy as prime minister. A war hero, Netanyahu previously served as Israel’s leader from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. He was sworn in for a sixth term in December 2022.

“As Senator Chuck Schumer said recently, ‘Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah.’ That is what Netanyahu is doing, dragging Israel into the same pariah status that he has rightly earned for himself,” Emanuel said. “It is now time to recognize that Netanyahu is ruining our reputation and doing incredible and lasting damage both to Israel and to the Jewish people around the world.”

Emanuel was introduced at the event by mega-star Tyler Perry, who has long been represented by Emanuel and Endeavor’s WME. Perry emphasized the significance of the historic alliance between Blacks and Jews during the Civil Rights era and in the early 20th century.

“There would not be an NAACP had it not been for the Jewish-Black alliance,” Perry said.

Comedian Alex Borstein emceed the event.

Ex-Citi banker says she was fired for refusing to give false data to regulator


 The Citigroup Inc logo is seen at the SIBOS banking and financial conference in Toronto·Reuters

Wed, May 22, 2024

By Saeed Azhar

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former managing director at Citigroup sued the bank and its chief operating officer on Wednesday, alleging she was fired for opposing what she said were attempts to give regulators false information.

Kathleen Martin, a former managing director Citi hired in 2021 to help with data issues, said in a lawsuit filed in a New York district federal court that her supervisor COO Anand Selva wanted her to hide "critical information" from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) about the bank’s data governance metrics.

Speaking for the bank and Selva, a Citigroup spokesperson said in a statement "this lawsuit is without merit and we will vigorously defend against it."

OCC did not immediately provide comment.

The lawsuit alleges that Selva wanted to hide information because it would make the bank "look bad."

Selva urged Martin to falsely tell the regulator that Citi had achieved particular goals when it had not, the lawsuit alleged.

Martin was fired in Sept. 25, 2023, in retaliation for her complaints, it said.

The data governance work was related to a 2020 OCC consent order, according to the lawsuit.

OCC and the Federal Reserve in 2020 directed the bank to fix longstanding and widespread deficiencies in its risk management, data governance and internal controls.

Martin's attorney, Valdi Licul from law firm Wigdor LLP,said in a statement that her client "at all times acted to protect Citi's interests."

She is urging the court to reinstate her with the same seniority status and is seeking back pay, including bonuses.

The case is Martin v. Citibank NA et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 24-03949.

(Reporting by Saeed Azhar; Editing by Josie Kao)

UK employees are doing an extra 5.5 hours of unpaid work every month


Marie-Claire Dorking
·Contributor
23 May 2024·


87% of employees are doing an extra 5.5 hours of unpaid work every month. (Getty Images)


It's 5.30pm and though that officially marks the end of your working day you know you've got at least an hour's graft before you can even think of switching off your laptop.

If all that sounds achingly familiar, you're certainly not alone as new figures have thrown a light on the extent of the UK's overworking with employees clocking up (or should we say clocking on?) a whopping 19 million extra days of unpaid overtime each and every month.

Research of 2,000 employees found that 87% work an average of five and a half hours more every month than their contracted agreement.


Of course for most this over time is totally unpaid and tots up to UK workers putting in 153 cumulative hours of work each month for absolutely nothing.

When it comes to why we're feeling obliged to stay at our desk, more than a quarter (26%) end up working more because they haven’t completed their to-do list for the day, and a fifth say they have "unrealistic" workloads for their contracted hours.

As a result, 29% want their manager to take some of their work off them, while 27% want it to be more evenly distributed between the team.

Interestingly, only 6% of workers say they aren’t very productive during their working day, while 3% admit to being bad at managing their time effectively.

UK employees are struggling with their workloads. (Getty Images)

However, distraction (56%), lack of focus (48%) and spending too much time on unimportant tasks (46%) contributed to the extra work and were cited as the main causes of flawed time management.

As well as working extra hours, the average worker isn't using all their holiday either, with 25% not taking the full number of days they are entitled to due to the amount of work they had to do.

But for 35% all this overwork is having a negative impact on wellbeing for 35%, with 53% suffering with increased stress and anxiety and 41% feeling tired and burnt out.

The research, carried out via OnePoll, also found 42% have given up their hobbies due to work taking over, and 36% have missed important events like birthdays or a child’s nativity play thanks to a busy workload..

Commenting on the findings, Simon Garrity, UK country manager for ProTime, which commissioned the research and has compiled it into a report, The True cost of Overtime: How overwork impacts employee performance, says: “The UK’s widespread culture of overwork is a ticking time bomb that is a bad deal for both bosses and workers.

“Excessive workloads and unrealistic expectations are burning employees out, killing motivation and productivity, and driving away top talent from organisations.

“Workers then get stuck in negative cycle, as a lack of support from managers causes overwork, which in turn harms their well-being, willingness to stay on in the job and how effectively they do their work.

“It’s important for bosses to understand unpaid work and missed holidays aren’t a sign of dedication, they are symptoms of a system which has to work better.

“Companies need to find ways to give their people fair amounts of work and make sure they have time for their families and hobbies. This will help everyone feel happier and work better.”

Dr Mansoor Soomro, future of work lead at Teesside University International Business School, adds: “Unrealistic workloads and overtime culture is a productivity killer.

"There is a clear negative and diminishing impact on productivity after a certain number of hours. Beyond that, mental fatigue sets in, leading to errors, decreased focus, and slower work.

“Exhausted employees become less efficient, negating the gains from extra hours."

Overworking is taking a toll on employees' wellbeing. (Getty Images)

Dr Soomro added that overtime effectively reduces innovation.

“Creativity thrives in a well-rested and balanced mind," he explains.

“Overworked employees have less mental energy for brainstorming new ideas or problem-solving creatively.

“This stifles innovation and the company's ability to adapt and grow.”

Garrity says he is "concerned" about the high percentage of adults working unpaid overtime, often due to unrealistic workloads or uncompleted tasks.

“Employers should prioritise workload management and ensure that employees' time is valued and respected," he adds.
Top 10 reasons employed adults are working overtime

1. To complete their to-do list for the day

2. The amount of work they are delegated is unrealistic for their contracted hours

3. There is a culture of working unpaid overtime at their workplace

4. They have to fix mistakes they have made

5. They feel pressured by my manager

6. They have to fix a mistake one of their colleagues has made

7. They feel pressured by colleagues

8. They struggle to manage their time effectively

9. They’re hoping it will help them get promoted

10. They have nothing else to do

Additional reporting SWNS.

How wildfire smoke impacts pets: Expert advice on keeping your furry friends safe as Canada faces air quality alerts

A Canadian vet is advising pet owners to "use common sense" when it comes to wildfire smoke.

Karla Renic
·Lifestyle Editor
May 23, 2024·

We talked to an expert on how to keep your pets safe as Environment Canada issues air quality statements due to wildfire smoke. (Getty)


After several Canadian provinces found themselves under low air quality alerts over the past two weeks due to wildfires raging, health and safety are top-of-mind for those impacted by smoke. We've heard from experts people are advised to stay indoors and those who are at-risk of respiratory conditions to consider N95 masks. But what about pets?

In May, dozens of fires were burning in B.C. and Alberta, displacing residents in communities like Fort Nelson that were closer to the burning. Alberta has even declared an "early start" to wildfire season this year.

As Canadian families gear up for another few months of intense wildfires, it's important to ensure the safety of all members — even the furry ones, like our dogs and cats. Read on for everything you need to know.

Wildfires in Western Canada prompted thousands to flee their homes, while 66,000 were on standby to evacuate as a fast-moving blaze threatened another community. (Cheyenne Berreault/Anadolu via Getty)
How does wildfire smoke impact pets?

Dr. Louis Kwantes, former president of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, told Yahoo Canada, "the danger mirrors the danger to people" for pets exposed to wildfire smoke. That's especially true for pets who go outside.

"Dogs love to go outside, but they can also be negatively affected by the smoke — they are," Kwantes said. "I'm thinking about cats with asthma, they can be significantly affected, even indoors too."

The impact of smoke is very similar to that on humans. "If they're really close to the fire, there's things like toxic gases and so forth. But most of it, is particulate matter that will actually get down into the lungs," the Alberta-based vet explained. That particulate matter is known as PM 2.5 particles.


The vet said pets are impacted by smoke in a similar way to humans. (Getty)

"The function of a dog's lungs or cat's lungs is very, very similar to human lungs... Birds' lungs are different, but they also definitely can be affected... we recommend keep them inside if they can," he added. "So the damage that it can do to lung parenchyma, or lung tissue, is very similar between our pets and ourselves."
What to do to keep your pet safe from wildfire smoke? Keep them inside: expert

Though N95 masks are advised for high-risk people, according to Kwantes, masks for dogs are not the most effective safety measure. "They don't fit properly, and so if you have leakages, whether it's a homemade masks or another one, that's a problem. And also, [dogs] usually don't tolerate them very much," he explained.

"What we suggest is where the air quality is very poor, that we keep the pets inside."

For those with active dogs involved in outdoor activities, Kwantes added, it's best to limit those activities. "The more they're heavy breathing, it's going to impact the lung function more seriously when the air quality is poor."

Dr. Louis Kwantes recommends keeping cats indoors anyways, but especially in low air quality. (Getty)

For cats — which he recommends keeping indoors anyways — he suggests HEPA filters for some rooms. "If we're in an area of the country where the air quality is particularly poor outside, and we're able to go to set up a HEPA filter for even a small part of the house, then both for pets and for ourselves, that's a better place to be when necessary."
'Prevention is better than cure': Expert

Kwantes said owners shouldn't "push boundaries" with the dangers of wildfire smoke, and they should look out for symptoms. "If a person does take their dog out and be quite active... and they come back coughing or have significant problems, that's a real issue," the animal doctor said. "I would suggest that pet owners keep a close eye for the signs of problems with poor air quality."

These are generally respiratory problems, he said, including: runny nose, coughing, sneezing, runny eyes. "If you see those type of things, then you know that you're already in the danger zone," Kwantes said.

A runny nose in your pets could be a sign of a respiratory problem due to smoke. (Getty)

Mild signs, such as slight heavy breathing, should be a first warning sign to get your pets inside. But any escalation would be good enough of a reason for a visit to the vet. "Use your common sense," he advised.

Keep your pet out from areas of danger — that means keep them inside.

For animals with history of health problems, even mild symptoms could lead to serious consequences. "You don't want them to end up with chronic bronchitis or lung consolidation or other issues," he claimed. "I generally say, if you're concerned, that's enough of a concern to go to the veterinarian."

Even if the pet isn't showing signs of irritation, use yourself as measure, Kwantes added. "If we're healthy, and we can sense that the smoke is kind of irritating, you can be sure that it will be irritating your pet."

Two-thirds in US fear violence could follow election, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds


Combination picture of Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. President Joe Biden

By Jason Lange and Andy Sullivan

May 23, 2024·

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two out of three Americans say they are concerned that political violence could follow the Nov. 5 election rematch between Democratic President Joe Biden and his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

The survey of 3,934 U.S. adults found widespread worries that the U.S. could see a repeat of the unrest that followed Trump's 2020 election defeat, when the then-president's false claim that his loss was the result of fraud prompted thousands of followers to storm the U.S. Capitol.

Trump is once again laying the groundwork to contest the results should he lose to Biden a second time.

Some 68% percent of respondents to the online poll - including 83% of Democrats and 65% of Republicans - said they agreed with a statement that they were concerned that extremists will resort to violence if they are unhappy with the election outcome.

Overall, 15% of respondents disagreed and 16% were unsure.

In recent interviews, Trump has refused to commit to accepting the election results and at campaign rallies has portrayed Democrats as cheaters.

Outside the New York courtroom where his criminal hush money trial is taking place, fellow Republican officeholders have repeated the falsehood that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

The poll, conducted May 7-14, found that Republicans harbor more distrust in the fairness of U.S. elections than Democrats. Only 47% said they were confident that the results of the November election will be accurate and legitimate, compared with 87% of Democrats who expressed confidence.

The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Trump's refusal to concede defeat to Biden in 2020 came at the end of a turbulent year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread racial justice protests.

Though dozens of court cases rejected Trump's claims of fraud, the president and his allies launched a wide-ranging effort to prevent Congress from certifying the results, culminating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Some 140 police officers were injured, one died the next day and four later died by suicide.

More than 1,400 people have been arrested for their involvement in the attack and more than 500 of those have been sentenced to prison, according to the U.S. Justice Department. They include leaders of the extremist Oath Keepers and Proud Boys groups. Trump has characterized those behind bars as "hostages" and has said he may pardon some of them if he returns to the White House.

Trump himself faces criminal charges in Washington and Georgia for allegedly working to overturn his defeat, though those cases are not likely to go to trial before the election. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases and denies wrongdoing.

Recent Reuters reporting has shown that election workers, judges and other public officials have faced a wave of threats and harassment since 2020.

The poll is broadly in line with a similar survey conducted in October 2022, shortly before the midterm congressional elections, which found that 64% of Americans were concerned about extremist violence.

(Reporting by Jason Lange and Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis)

Cornel West joins DC reparations protest against Wells Fargo Bank

Charles Creitz

FOX NEWS
May 22, 2024·


EXCLUSIVE: Unaffiliated presidential candidate Cornel West joined a group of protesters picketing in front of Wells Fargo Bank in downtown Washington, D.C., on Tuesday afternoon – bolstering their demands for reparations.

West, who was initially running under the People's Party banner before electing to run as an Independent, spoke to Fox News Digital after stopping by to offer support for the protesters.

West's interaction with the assembled demonstrators suggested he joined the protest on a short deadline, as he said he planned to travel to Harlem, New York, for another event in the afternoon.

West said reparations are a fundamental piece of his lifelong "quest for truth and justice."

CORNEL WEST CALLS OUT BIDEN'S PAST CONNECTIONS TO SEGREGATIONISTS, SAYS TRUMP IS ‘FLAWED’ ON RACIAL ISSUES

Professor Cornel West, an Independent presidential candidate, calls for reparations at Wells Fargo in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, May 21, 2024.

"It's been that way for 40 years, and we've had to keep track of all the financial institutions that played a role in terms of benefiting from that unbelievable, barbaric injustice," he said of slavery.

"So it's a question of truth; a condition of truth, as to who was allowed to suffer," West said, adding that demonstrations like the one on Capitol Hill are a "matter of making sure that people are responsible for their actions."

"This is a way of putting pressure on any institution that benefited from that barbaric institution of slavery – and I'm blessed to be here with my precious brothers."

West, a longtime professor of philosophy and other disciplines at Harvard and Princeton universities, alleged banks like Wells Fargo also benefited from post-Jim Crow injustices. He mentioned the bank's takeover of Wachovia Bank in 2008 just before he was whisked away by security staff.

The bank – founded by Henry Wells and William Fargo in 1852 as an expediter of transactions in the New West during the California Gold Rush – has since grown nationwide and taken over other large firms like Wachovia and CoreStates.

DR. CORNEL WEST SAYS HE ‘HATES’ BIDEN'S HYPOCRISY, NEOLIBERALISM AND VOWS TO CAMPAIGN IN PRO-TRUMP AREAS

Wachovia, which integrated into Wells Fargo in 2008, found via a 2005 research project that two of its predecessor institutions owned slaves. Then-chairman Ken Thompson said Wachovia was "deeply saddened" by findings reported by NBC News at the time which indicted South Carolina's defunct Bank of Charleston and the Georgia Railroad & Banking Company.

When approached, several of the protesters declined to speak with Fox News Digital, but activist Truth Bey did take a moment to discuss why she joined the picketing.

"We are trying to hold the banks accountable for being part of chattel slavery – to be point-blank, all of them were involved in chattel slavery," Bey said.

Bey went on to claim African Americans are the only racial or ethnic group that faced injustice and have yet to receive reparatory compensation in some form. She cited Holocaust survivors and their kin in Germany, as well as Japanese internment camp prisoners in the U.S. as two groups to whom governments have attempted to make amends.

In 1942, Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order that led to the internment of more than 100,000 Japanese Americans.

The Japanese Claims Act of 1948 later offered loss-of-property compensation – and in 1988, a 10-year-tenured office was established within the Justice Department to handle claims for what was a tax-free, $20,000 restitution payment, according to the U.S. National Archives.

At the protest, other demonstrators who took the bullhorn said the remnants of big banks' alleged cooperation with or involvement in the slave trade remain "parallel to our very lives today."

Several held signs reading, "We're coming to get our check." Eyewitnesses who declined to be identified claimed to have spotted someone waving a Black nationalist flag throughout the crowd of demonstrators.

In 2012, the Obama Justice Department reached a $184.3 million fair-lending settlement with the San Francisco-based banking behemoth, over findings that African American and Hispanic borrowers were charged higher fees or wrongfully entered into subprime loans.

Requests for comment from the Washington, D.C., branch and Wells Fargo's corporate office were not returned by press time.

Fox News Digital's Aubrie Spady and Andrew Murray contributed to this report.

Has India’s first family finally lost its grip on power?

Namita Singh
Sun, June 2, 2024 
INDEPENDENT UK

Left to right: Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi at an election campaign rally in Rae Bareli (Reuters)


A ripple of excitement spreads through the crowd waiting outside in the 40C midday heat in this corner of Uttar Pradesh, northern India – an island in a sea of constituencies supporting Narendra Modi’s BJP.

“Rahul-ji’s helicopter has come!”, announces an audience member, not long before campaign songs start to blare from speakers and Rahul Gandhi, India’s second-most recognisable politician, steps onto the stage.

This was the scene just a couple of weeks ago in one of the last bastions of fervent support for the Gandhi-Nehru family, one of the world’s great political dynasties whose members include three Indian prime ministers. Among them is Rahul Gandhi’s great-grandfather, the first and longest-serving leader of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru.

Yet India has changed dramatically since the time when Nehru led the Congress party, with Saturday’s exit polls indicating that Mr Modi’s Hindu nationalist alliance will take more than 350 parliamentary seats when the full results of the country’s general election are announced on Tuesday.

Congress and its allies are forecast to win barely a third of that number, making it a third election in a row where India’s grand old party has desperately underperformed. They say the BJP’s widespread abuse of government investigative agencies to harass opposition leaders and parties, including a total freeze on Congress’s bank accounts, mean this election has been neither free nor fair.

But it is also significant that cracks were already starting to show even in Rae Bareli and Amethi, two neighbouring constituencies in Uttar Pradesh that were once the safest of seats for Congress, when The Independent visited last month. For years the Rae Bareli seat was represented by Sonia Gandhi, former Congress president and wife of the assassinated former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. She has stepped aside for a seat in India’s upper house of parliament, leaving her son Rahul to take over the constituency, and poor exit poll numbers aside, he is still expected to win here.

Rahul Gandhi waves to supporters during an election campaign public meeting in Rae Bareli (AFP)

While support for the Gandhis still seemed strong in Rae Bareli, voters in Amethi told The Independent they were questioning what Congress has to offer them given its weakened status across the country, and whether five years with a Congress MP would really make for positive change in a relatively rural and impoverished region. It gets to the heart of a question that will be picked over in the weeks to come – did Congress run an effective and positive campaign, or focus too much energy on trying to paint Modi as India’s bogeyman? And what does yet another election loss say about the future of a family that has ruled India for more than half of the last 77 years?

When Mr Gandhi does take to the stage, he is quick to go on the attack. “This election is the strangest one in the history of independent India,” he begins. “Because the BJP and [its ideological parent organisation] RSS are fighting the elections to obliterate the constitution. Their leaders have clearly said they will change the constitution of India once voted to power.”

Mr Gandhi is referencing concerns that Mr Modi, emboldened in a third term, will try to remove references from the constitution to India being a secular nation, and instead declare it a country for Hindus. Mr Modi has said he has no plans to do this, but it’s a talking point for many die-hard BJP supporters and such fears have hardly been assuaged by an aggressive election campaign full of anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Congress party supporters in Rae Bareli (Reuters)

The Independent spoke with Mr Gandhi’s sister, Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra, who is herself a top party strategist and star campaigner. Asked what Congress had to offer voters at this election, she said: “Our pitch is very simple. Mr Modi’s policies have been extremely, they’ve actually been harmful for the poor of this country, for the farmers, for labourers [and] even for the middle class. Frankly, he has not done anything to strengthen them.

“We are saying that his policies have all been skewed towards three or four of his oligarch friends to whom he seems to be handing everything, even the nation’s assets,” she says, an apparent reference to Mr Modi’s close ties with billionaire industrialists like Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, the country’s two richest men.

“And we are saying that we want to put in place a government that is focused on solving your problems and focused on strengthening you so that you can face all these problems that have multiplied under Modi’s rule.”

Narendra Modi with Yogi Adityanath, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, waves to the crowd in Varanasi last month (AFP)

While most would agree that this election has been far from fair for Congress and its allies, the party is also facing criticism for an apparent inability to recover from the landslide losses of 2014 and 2019 and provide a viable alternative to Mr Modi. Sugata Srinivasaraju, journalist and author of a book on Rahul Gandhi, Strange Burdens, suggests the Gandhis have spent too much of the election preparing to defend their own roles in the party in the event that they lose.

“They are creating a ground already to say that the elections may not be so credible after all. That it is possible they are stolen. They are planting doubts with regard to the electoral processes,” he tells The Independent.

“My question is when you spent so much energy on a negative campaign, on berating Modi, you could have spent a part of that energy to positively approach your own party. What have you done concretely to reorganise your party?”

Children riding a bicycle wear masks portraying Narendra Modi in Varanasi (AFP)

Facing relentless criticism from the government benches that Congress exists as a party only to further the ambitions of one family, in 2022 the party held an election to appoint a president from outside the party’s ranks. Among those running were Shashi Tharoor, a former high-ranking UN official and author popular with Indian liberals and young people. In the end the party chose Mallikarjun Kharge, a Gandhi loyalist who Mr Srinivasaraju describes as no more than a “rubber stamp” for the family.

“Why didn’t you, in the last 10 years, focus [on rebuilding the party] after your first loss in 2014?” he asks the Gandhis. “Why didn’t you spend that energy building the infrastructure and network for your party? You did not focus on that, you just placed it on one side. You thought you will come back by default again.”

Congress party leader Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra at an election rally in Dhubri district in lower Assam (AP)

There are a host of reasons given by voters in Amethi for why they are turning their backs on the Gandhis, and these range from the local to the religious.

Several cite Mr Modi’s inauguration of a temple to Lord Ram in Ayodhya, also in Uttar Pradesh, as a moment of pride for them as Hindus. With the Ram Temple’s first phase hastily built in time for Mr Modi to declare it open just before the election, it was another moment of history in the country’s lurch towards Hindu nationalism, with the prime minister acting as high priest at a grand monument to Hinduism’s most important deity – on the site of an illegally demolished mosque.

Awadh Prasad Patel, who sings holy songs at religious gatherings, vows to vote for Mr Modi, saying members of his caste support the party. “Only Muslims and a few Dalits [formerly Untouchables] might vote for Congress,” he says. “I am a farmer and a follower of deity Lord Ram. And Modi put an end to the issue of Ram temple. So we would be voting for them.”

“For the longest time, there was no road here. Just potholes,” Chotey Lal Sahu, a 65-year-old from Berara, a village in the Amethi constituency, tells The Independent. “It was filled with water (during the rainy season). But now there is a road. Its construction has eased things for us,” he says.

“Under this government, we are getting ration, we are getting pension. This is the first time the country has a vegetarian prime minister, as well as a vegetarian chief minister,” he added, referring to the firebrand local BJP leader in the state, chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

A Congress party rally in Dhubri district (AP)

Ram Shankar, from Tiloi in Amethi, vociferously backs the BJP. “Rahul gave us a lot. But Thakurs [upper caste men] have taken everything. From land to grazing area to pond. There is nothing left.

“I raised a complaint about waste pipe leaking but the police came and beat me. They also beat my father,” he says. “I will vote for the BJP. At least they give money to farmers and have waived off some of my loans.

“I do not care what Rahul Gandhi or his family did, as I was not there. We will only vote for those who will fight for our rights. There is no road, it is just mud. People s*** on the roadside. And our head of village never visits us.”

Modi at a rally in New Delhi (Reuters)

Issues relating to caste and religious politics are powerful tools to sway voters here in Uttar Pradesh, and Congress has been seen as largely reactive in its response to the way Hindutva [Hindu-first] policies have won waves of support for Mr Modi’s party. For a time Congress was accused of doing “soft Hindutva”, showing Gandhi touring Hindu temples as a way of saying the party could still appeal to the religious group that makes up around 80 per cent of the population.

But more recently the party has realised it will never win back the die-hard Hindu nationalists that make up the BJP’s base, Mr Srinivasaraju says, and it is instead “trying to present the Congress as a complete opposite to the philosophy of the BJP”.

“[Gandhi] started speaking about federalism and balkanised caste politics, which was in contrast to the centralised and pan-Indian imagination the Congress was known for not so long ago. He started saying that India was a union of states and not exactly a nation,” he says. “I think Rahul Gandhi is trying to occupy a kind of high moral ground because there is nothing else left.”

Many will question whether Congress picked the right strategies for this election if the results on Tuesday go in line with what the exit polls are saying. But whatever reckoning is due, it seems certain that the party’s first response will be to publicly question the fairness of the world’s largest election.

Rahul Gandhi greets his supporters as he arrives at Fursatganj airport in Amethi last month (AFP)

“It’s the first, possibly the first election in the history of India, where chief ministers from opposition parties have been imprisoned during election time,” says Ms Gandhi-Vadra, as she highlights the challenges faced by the opposition. “There has been a massive attack on opposition leaders in India. Not just opposition leaders, but on free and fair media. So there’s hardly any journalists now who will take an independent stand. The ones who did have either been imprisoned or cases have been put against them.

“On every front, whether it’s activists, journalists, political parties or movie stars who have raised their voices. On every front, the government has attacked them.” The harsh reality for the Gandhi family and its party is that it has had no real defence against the onslaught it has faced from the man now set to become the first after Nehru to win three terms as India’s prime minister.

The Mystery of Indira Gandhi's assassination by her own bodyguards

Breana Scheckwitz
Updated May 23, 2024

The Mystery of Indira Gandhi's assassination by her own bodyguards

Indira Gandhi, a prominent Indian politician and the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's inaugural prime minister, was tragically assassinated by her own bodyguards on Oct. 31, 1984.

Born Nov. 19, 1917, she emerged as a central figure in her country's political landscape, eventually becoming prime minister in her father's footsteps.

The trust she placed in her favorite Sikh security guard, following Operation Blue Star, ultimately proved to be a fatal mistake. In exploring the narrative of Gandhi's assassination, it is crucial to examine the backgrounds and motivations of her assailants, shedding light on the reasons that led to their fatal decision.


Prior to her time in office, Indira Gandhi studied at prominent institutions, including Somerville College, Oxford and the Visva-Bharati University in West Bengal.


Gandhi served as her country's third and only female prime minister starting in 1966 to 1977, and then served another term from 1980 until she died in 1984.

As a central figure of the Indian National Congress, she was admired for her leadership and criticized for her authoritarian approach. She played a significant role in Indian politics and is often cited as a trailblazer for women throughout the country.

Gandhi was a key player in Indian politics for 17 years, whether in office or out of it. She played an active role in the Independence movement and closely worked with her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, a pivotal figure in the establishment of contemporary India, serving as his assistant when he was prime minister. In 1959, she also held the position of president of the Indian National Congress.

Indira Gandhi's tenure has been characterized by significant economic and social changes, but also by allegations of authoritarianism.

Gandhi rose to power suddenly after Lal Bahadur Shastri died in 1966. At the outset of her leadership, India struggled with significant economic hardships, including high inflation and food shortages. The country's agricultural sector was vulnerable due to its dependence on the monsoon seasons and aid from the U.S.

She also faced substantial political challenges and dedicated much of her tenure to overcoming these issues, the same issues Nehru attempted to resolve. She fought to direct India toward self-reliance and economic resilience. By 1980, India had become self-reliant and even became a nation of grain surplus, alongside notable industrial progress — achievements attributed to her governance.

Indira Gandhi's involvement in politics began at an early age, often accompanying her father on his political campaigns.

Acknowledged milestones during her leadership include the triumph in the 1971 War with Pakistan, the formation of Bangladesh and the cementing of India's status as a potential nuclear power. All of these developments strengthened India's self-esteem.

Her tenure ended with her assassination, leaving behind a legacy of achievements and unresolved tensions.

Indian society was divided about her; some called her "Mother Indira," and others viewed her as authoritarian. However, it is widely accepted that her leadership shaped India and set the course for its future.

Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguards on Oct. 31, 1984, following the events of Operation Blue Star.

Gandhi's time as prime minister was impaired by increasing tensions with Sikh separatists, culminating in Operation Blue Star. This was the Indian army's response in June 1984 to remove militant Sikh leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers, who had hidden themselves within the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The militants' substantial armaments led to a heavy-handed military response, which included the use of artillery.

The conflict ended on June 10 with the army seizing control of the temple. However, the operation, which coincided with a significant Sikh religious event, resulted in numerous civilian deaths who were present at the time. This resulted in widespread condemnation from Sikhs globally. They interpreted it as an attack on their religious community.

Indira Gandhi served as prime minister of India for three consecutive terms (1966-77) and a fourth term from 1980 until her assassination in 1984.

The repercussions of Operation Blue Star severely damaged Gandhi's standing with Sikhs, which eventually led to her assassination.

Gandhi's assassination on Oct. 31, 1984, was committed by her bodyguards, notably Beant Singh, who was considered a favorite. The assassination was a consequence of the tensions from Operation Blue Star and led to a planned reassignment of Sikh bodyguards, including Singh. Gandhi canceled the transfer, worried about increasing her anti-Sikh persona.

Indira Gandi married Feroze Gandhi in 1942, and together had two sons, Rajiv Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi.

On the morning of her assassination, despite being advised to wear a bulletproof vest, Gandhi was not wearing it.

As she walked through a gate headed to an interview, Singh shot her three times in the abdomen with his .38 revolver. Satwant Singh, another bodyguard, fired 30 rounds from his submachine gun. Following the assault, Beant was located and killed by Border Police, and Satwant was tried and executed in 1989.

Indira Gandhi’s son, Rajiv Gandhi, succeeded her as prime minister of India.

Wreck of WWII 'Hit 'Em Harder' submarine, which sank with 79 crew on board, discovered in South China Sea

Tom Metcalfe
Sat, June 1, 2024 

A photo of a rusty submarine underwater with an octopus crawling on it.


Shipwreck hunters have discovered the remains of a famous American submarine that sank with 79 crew on board while fighting a Japanese warship near the Philippines in 1944.

According to the New York-based Lost 52 Project, which made the discovery, the wreck of USS Harder now lies on its keel on the bottom of the South China Sea near the northern Philippine island of Luzon at a depth of around 3,750 feet (1,140 meters).

Naval reports of the sub's final mission say the Harder — a Gato-class sub named after a type of fish (the harder mullet) and nicknamed the "Hit 'Em Harder" — sank with all crew on Aug. 24, 1944 after it was heavily damaged by depth charges in a battle with a Japanese destroyer.

The Harder was one of the most famous American submarines of World War II. U.S. Navy records report that it torpedoed and sank five Japanese destroyers and several other enemy ships during six successful patrols in the Pacific war theater.

"This is one of the most celebrated WWII submarines and an historic naval discovery," Tim Taylor, the founder of the Lost 52 Project, told Live Science in an email.


A photo of the underwater submarine, with equipment covered in urchins and shrimp

A 3d computer recreation of the submarine


The bow of the ship covered in sea creature growths

War grave

Taylor is the CEO of a company called Tiburon Subsea, which uses autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and other technologies to collect data at underwater sites. He also leads the Lost 52 Project, which aims to locate the wrecks of the 52 American submarines lost at sea during World War II and four lost during the Cold War.

The group has already located the wrecks of eight vessels, making the wreck of USS Harder their ninth discovery, Taylor said. Each of the underwater wrecks is also a war grave for the crewmembers who died when it sank, and the missing crew of the Harder were remembered for their service when the wreck was found.

"We have a protocol that, when we locate a submarine, we memorialize the crew," Taylor said. "We observe a minute of silence, ring the bell for every member of the crew and have a prayer service led by a deacon who is part of our expedition team."

The team located the wreck by studying reports of its final battle and then searching suitable areas with shipboard sonar, which can reveal objects on the seafloor, and AUVs, which can go much deeper than human divers.

But even after they take steps to make the search patterns as efficient as possible, "It is a long and arduous process, like looking for a needle in a haystack," Taylor said.

A black and white photo of the submarine sailing on top of the water

Sunken sub

The extreme depth of the wreck meant that AUV searches were essential, although a period of relatively good weather in recent weeks made the search easier.

The Harder wreck is too deep to be visited by divers, and the U.S. Navy has designated the wreck as a protected site. "The wreck represents the final resting place of sailors that gave their life in defense of the nation and should be respected by all parties as a war grave," the Navy said in a statement.

Taylor added that the AUV images show that the vessel appears to be in good condition. "The submarine is relatively intact, minus the damage done by the depth charges," he said.

And now, after 80 years under the waves, the wreck seems to be a thriving home for sea life, including an octopus that Taylor saw in the AUV images.

"It is a protected gravesite for 79 US WWII sailors, but there is a lot of life on the submarine," he said. "It's quite extraordinary."