Judge remands Portuguese ex-PM in custody in fraud case

A Portuguese judge on Monday (Nov 24) ordered former Socialist prime minister Jose Socrates to be remanded in custody on suspicion of tax evasion and money laundering.

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LISBON: A Portuguese judge on Monday (Nov 24) ordered former Socialist prime minister Jose Socrates to be remanded in custody on suspicion of tax evasion and money laundering.

Socrates, 57, has been held in detention since his shock arrest on Friday at Lisbon airport after arriving on a flight from Paris. After lengthy questioning on Monday in connection with the corruption probe, a judge decided that the ex-premier should be kept in preventative detention. Socrates was placed under formal investigation "for tax evasion, corruption and money laundering", according to the judge's statement read out to reporters.

The ex-premier's attorney, Joao Araujo, called the decision "deeply unjust and unjustified" and vowed to appeal. His personal chauffeur Joao Perna and businessman Carlos Santos were also held in custody. Luis Montenegro, parliamentary leader of the ruling Social Democrats (PSD) said that the country's image had been tarnished "both internally and abroad by what has gone on in recent days."

The centre-right government has remained discreet about the case. Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said on Sunday it "pertains to the law and not politics," adding "Portugal has strong institutions that work."

Socrates' arrest was the latest bombshell in Portuguese politics, coming hard on the heels of another scandal that cost interior minister Miguel Macedo his job. A series of searches have been carried out at businesses and Socrates' residence in Lisbon.

According to Portuguese media reports, state-owned bank Caixa Geral de Depositos raised the alarm. Investigators have been looking into transfers involving the former Socialist leader's account in comparison with earnings he has reported to tax authorities.

Particular attention is said to have been given to an apartment in Paris estimated at nearly €3 million (US$3.7 million). Socrates lived there in 2012 while studying philosophy in the French capital. "I have no money or accounts abroad. I have always lived off the income from my own job," Socrates assured in July, when he was questioned by the press over another money laundering case.

The case is certainly an unwelcome sideshow for Lisbon mayor Antonio Costa, a former interior minister under Socrates and the Socialist party's new secretary general. So far Costa has refused to distance himself from Socrates, saying that the Socialist party "does not adopt Stalinist practices of getting rid of photos" of former leaders.

A colourful character, Socrates announced his resignation as prime minister in March 2011, after parliament rejected an austerity budget. Shortly afterwards the country received a €78 billion bailout package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in exchange for a rigorous programme of fiscal discipline which came to an end in May. Socrates was prime minister between 2005 and 2011, with his tenure particularly marked by the financial crisis that badly hit the country. 

- AFP/nd

Portugal ex-PM Jose Socrates to be held amid corruption probe

25 November 2014 Last updated at 00:47 GMT

The decision to detain Jose Socrates sent shockwaves through Portuguese politics

Portugal's former centre-left prime minister, Jose Socrates, has been remanded in custody on preliminary charges of corruption and tax fraud.

Mr Socrates, 57, was detained on his return from Paris on Friday and has already spent three nights in jail.

The judge delivered the decision after investigators looked into suspicious money transfers and banking operations.

Mr Socrates, who denies any wrongdoing, is being investigated alongside his driver, a close friend, and a lawyer.

The former prime minister was in office from 2005 to 2011. His lawyer, Joao Araujo, told reporters on Monday that his client would appeal against the decision.

Under the Portuguese system, formal charges only come at the end of an investigation which could last up to eight months, says the BBC's Alison Roberts in Lisbon.

Portuguese politics was already reeling after the resignation of Interior Minister Miguel Macedo in the wake of a separate corruption inquiry linked to the allocation of residence permits.

Portugal in shock - by Alison Roberts, BBC News, Lisbon

Jose Socrates' detention has sent shockwaves through the political system. Reports purporting to provide details of the investigation - which is covered by judicial secrecy - have swirled since Friday night, when the news broke. They focus on Mr Socrates' supposedly lavish lifestyle in Paris, where he moved after stepping down in 2011.

In past interviews, he has denied anything untoward about his finances.

Antonio Costa, elected Socialist leader on Saturday, said everyone was in shock over Mr Socrates' detention

His detention - on arrival at Lisbon airport, rather than at his flat, and with photographers present - prompted some prominent Socialists to argue it was to divert attention from suspicions of corruption in the right-of-centre government's "golden visa" programme, which fast-tracks residence for foreign investors.

The Socialists' newly elected leader, Antonio Costa, a minister under Mr Socrates, was until now expected to sweep to victory in next year's general election following years of austerity. He is conscious of the perils of the situation.

Portugal's ex-PM Jose Socrates

Because the case surrounding Mr Socrates comes under judicial secrecy, few details have been confirmed.

It is unclear whether the inquiry relates to his time in office. However, Portuguese media has reported allegations that his driver Joao Perna made a number of trips transporting cash to Paris, where Mr Socrates has been working in a new role at a pharmaceutical company.

Current Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho gave his backing to the country's "strong institutions"

One of Mr Socrates' long-time friends, Carlos Santos Silva, is being questioned along with lawyer Goncalo Trindade Ferreira.

Two of the suspects are also being held on remand, while a fourth has been barred from foreign travel.

Centre-right Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said the case involved law rather than politics, adding that "Portugal has strong institutions that work".

But the investigation has rocked Mr Socrates' Socialists, now led by Lisbon Mayor Antonio Costa who was elected as secretary-general of the party on Saturday.

Mr Socrates resigned in 2011 in the midst of Portugal's mounting debt crisis. The Socialists are currently leading in opinion polls and Mr Costa said on Saturday that "we mustn't let personal feelings of solidarity and friendship impede the political action of the (party)".

The European Parliament might endorse the breakup of Google

Updated by Timothy B. Lee on November 24, 2014, 2:40 p.m. ET 

PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP/Getty Images

• On Friday, the Financial Times reported that the European Parliament is on the verge of voting on a resolution that could call for legal against action Google for anticompetitive behavior.
• In a vote expected to occur on Thursday, the European Parliament may endorse forcing Google to spin off its lucrative search engine into a separate company.
• However, the European Parliament doesn't have the power to directly break up companies, and one legal scholar tells me that Google is in no danger of actually being broken up.

Why are European officials investigating Google?

Google has been under scrutiny from European regulators since at least 2010. That's when the European Commission announced it was launching an investigation of the search giant's business practices.

To prove that a company has broken competition laws, European regulators must prove that a company has a dominant position in the market, and that it has abused its dominance. Mark Patterson, an antitrust expert at Fordham University, says that Google clearly has a dominant position in the search business. The question is whether the company has abused that dominance.

European officials are scrutinizing two specific aspects of Google's business to see if the company has crossed any legal lines. One is the company's search results. If Google was deliberately downranking sites it viewed as a competitive threat from search results, that could run afoul of the law.

Second, European regulators are examining Google's business practices in the advertising market. They want to see if Google imposed exclusivity obligations on its advertising partners that would make it difficult for smaller advertising networks to gain traction.

Google CEO Larry Page (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Will Google CEO Larry Page be losing sleep over Thursday's vote by the European Parliament?

Not really.

According to the FT, "executives at the company are understood to be furious at the political nature of the motion and only became aware of the document in the past couple of days." However, the reality is that the European Parliament doesn't have the power to order companies broken up. Rather, a vote in favor of the resolution would merely put pressure on the European Commission — the supranational organization's executive branch — to take a hard line in its ongoing negotiations with Google.

For Google to actually get broken up, the EC would first need to take Google to court alleging violation of European competition laws. The EC would then have to win the case and convince the courts that a breakup was the appropriate remedy.

"I can't believe that would happen," Patterson told me on Monday. "I don't think there have been cases of anyone being broken up in years."

Patterson says that "there's never been a smoking gun" showing that Google has abused its dominance in the search or advertising markets to harm competitors. He notes that the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces antitrust law in the United States, closed a similar investigation last year. The FTC concluded that Google had offered plausible pro-competitive and pro-consumer explanations for its business decisions.

So there's a good chance the European Commission will decide not to formally charge Google with violating competition laws. And even if the EC does decide to bring a case, it's far from certain the agency will win.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (RONNY HARTMANN/AFP/Getty Images)

What's driving anti-Google sentiment in the European Parliament?

While this week's vote is officially about violations of antitrust law, there are several factors that have led European legislators to be more skeptical about Google.

One factor is privacy. European privacy law is stricter than the laws that prevail in the United States. And because Google amasses more information about people than almost anyone else, the company has often been a target of European privacy advocates.

For example, earlier this year Google was forced to comply with European regulations governing the "right to be forgotten." These regulations give European citizens the right to demand, under certain circumstances, that old and potentially embarrassing information about them be removed from Google's search results.

Some Europeans also object to the way Google uses copyrighted material. For example, Google News displays "snippets" of content from European news organizations. While this kind of use is generally believed to be permitted under the American doctrine of fair use, the practice is more controversial in the Old World. Some European countries have tried to force Google to pay for the inclusion of snippets in its news search results.

Finally, some have pointed to American surveillance policy as a source of trans-Atlantic friction. One writer notes that the current campaign against Google is supported by Germans who are allied with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Merkel was furious last year when she learned that the US government had been tapping her phone. While that controversy isn't directly relevant to the EC's current investigation, it certainly may have colored the views of European politicians who see Google as excessively close to the American government.

If Google doesn't get broken up, how else could the EC's investigation end?

Negotiations between Google and the European Commission have been going on for several years. Indeed, the company has already made settlement offers to the commission three times. In Google's most recent offer, announced in February, Google would have reserved space in its search results to prominently feature competitors' offerings.

But the commission rejected that offer in September, sending the two sides back to the negotiating table.

At this point, the case could end in one of three ways. Theoretically the EC could simply decide to drop the case. But Patterson says that's unlikely because it would be too embarrassing to concede defeat after four years of high-profile negotiations.

It's also possible that the EC will decide that Google isn't being reasonable and will start a formal case against the company. That could lead to Google's breakup, but it could also lead to lesser punishments such as paying a fine and being required to change business practices.

Finally, Google could make a fourth settlement offer, on terms the EC was willing to accept.

If the European Parliament endorses action against Google, it will increase pressure on European regulators to take the company to court. But going to court is a big gamble, since the EC could lose and get no concessions at all. So even if the European Parliament endorses a tough stance against Google, there's no guarantee the EC will follow its recommendations.

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Portuguese ex-PM returns before judge in tax fraud case

AFP

November 23, 2014, 8:05 pm

Portuguese ex-PM returns before judge in tax fraud case

Lisbon (AFP) - Portugal's former Socialist prime minister Jose Socrates returned before a magistrate on Sunday after spending a second night in custody following his shock arrest as part of an inquiry into tax fraud, corruption and money laundering.

Socrates, 57, who has been held since his arrest Friday as he arrived at Lisbon airport on a flight from Paris, made a first appearance in court on Saturday to answer questions about suspicious money transfers and banking operations.

The arrest was the latest bombshell in Portuguese politics, coming hard on the heels of another scandal that cost Interior Minister Miguel Macedo his job.

Macedo resigned on November 16 after several senior government officials were arrested as part of a probe into money laundering and influence-peddling around so-called "golden visas".

"It's a sad day for Portugal and the Portuguese," commented conservative former prime minister Pedro Santana Lopes on Saturday, expressing the wish that "justice will be done" if wrongdoing is proven.

The investigation netting Socrates has also implicated three others who appeared before a judge on Friday, according to the prosecutor.

More than 60 police, customs officers and justice officials carried out raids at several unspecified locations ahead of the arrests.

Socrates' arrest came at a bad time for Lisbon Mayor Antonio Costa, a close ally who was named late Saturday as the main opposition party's secretary general following a ballot in which he was the only candidate.

Costa said in a message to party stalwarts before his election: "We are all certainly in shock over the news (but) we mustn't let personal feelings of solidarity and friendship impede the political action of the (party)."

Portuguese ex-PM Socrates arrested in corruption probe

Portugal's Socialist Party candidate and caretaker Prime Minister Jose Socrates reacts during the general election in Lisbon June 5, 2011.

CREDIT: REUTERS/HUGO CORREIA

(Reuters) - Portuguese police have arrested former Socialist prime minister Jose Socrates and three other people in an investigation of suspected tax fraud, corruption and money-laundering, the Prosecutor General's office said on Saturday.

The detention, the first involving a former premier in Portugalunder democracy, follows arrests of other high-ranking officials or prominent people in separate inquiries in the past few months as prosecutors intensify a fight against corruption in a country notorious for its slow justice system.

Socrates was brought before a criminal judge for questioning on Saturday afternoon after his apartment was searched. The prosecutor's office said the questioning and search were part of an investigation of suspicious banking operations and money transfers, but would not reveal more details.

It was not clear if the investigation was linked to Socrates' time as prime minister between 2005 and 2011.

Police arrested Socrates, 57, at Lisbon airport late on Friday as he arrived from Paris. He spent the night in a police station, according to a police official. The other three arrested individuals are linked to Socrates.

Socrates resigned as prime minister in the middle of his second four-year term in 2011 as an escalating debt crisis forced him to request an international bailout, which imposed painful austerity on Portugal.

His center-left Socialist party leads in opinion polls ahead of next year's general election.

Socialist leader Antonio Costa told party militants in a message that "we are all certainly shocked" with the detention, but added that "feelings of solidarity and personal friendship" should not influence the party's policy or interfere in any way with the independence of the investigation.

"The party has to focus on mobilizing Portugal in affirming an alternative to this government and its policy," he wrote.

A snap election in 2011 brought to power the current center-right ruling coalition, which introduced the unpopular austerity measures such as tax hikes and cuts in wages and pensions.

After stepping down, Socrates left for Paris, where he attended a university course. He returned in 2013 to become a regular commentator on RTP state television.

During his premiership, Socrates weathered several investigations, including allegations that he misused his position as environment minister in 2002 to allow the construction of a shopping mall. He denied wrongdoing and faced no formal charges.

Prosecutors have detained and are investigating several prominent people in separate corruption and fraud cases.

Last week, the head of Portugal's immigration service, Manuel Palos, was arrested along with several other officials on suspicions of corruption linked to the issuing of so-called "golden visas" to wealthy foreign investors. The inquiry also forced Interior Minister Miguel Macedo to resign.

(Editing by Stephen Powell)

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WORLDhttp://www.reuters.com/news/world

The Incredible Story Of How Google Glass Helped A Blind 13-Year-Old Get His Vision Back

WMMT-TV

Google Glass has already proven itself useful when it comes to the medical industry. Some doctors, for example, have been using Glass in the operating room to assist with surgery. Now, Google's wearable display is being used to help a teenager losing his vision see the world around him.

Michigan teenager Ben Yonnatan was diagnosed with a disorder called retinal dystrophy, which slowly deteriorates one's vision over time.

In an interview with local Michigan news station WWMT Newschannel 3 (via 9to5Google), Yonnatan described how Google Glass has helped him expand his field of view.

It only took about four months for Yonnatan's field of view to become heavily restricted. In fact, his field of view became so confined that it was like looking through a straw, his mother Erin Brown Conroy told WWMT.

Google Glass' tiny screen is small enough to fit in this small window. With the device's camera Yonnatan is actually able to see more than he normally would since Google Glass's camera can capture a larger field of view than Yonnatan's eyes currently can.

Doctors charted Yonnatan's vision both with and without Google Glass, and you can see the difference is extraordinary:

WMMT-TV

"The first time I put it on, I was like, 'Whoa, whoa whoa!'" Yonnatan said to the Michigan news channel. "I could see seven people! I took it off and I could only see one person with one eye."

Check out the full video at WWMT-TV's website here.

SEE ALSO:  Here's What I Learned About Google Glass After Hanging Out With A Bunch Of Early Adopters

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-glass-helps-blind-teenager-2014-11#ixzz3JdSGcYUT

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-glass-helps-blind-teenager-2014-11#ixzz3JdRWR2xj

Watch This Mesmerizing Time-Lapse Of All The Flights Across The North Atlantic In 24 Hours

This amazing visualization shows Transatlantic traffic over a 24-hour period taken from a day in August last year and shows 2,524 flights crossing the North Atlantic.

Produced by Devan Joseph. Video courtesy of NATS.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/air-flight-traffic-planes-north-atlantic-2014-11#ixzz3JdO5pT9U

A Japanese Construction Company Wants To Build Colonies Spiraled Into The Ocean

© Shimuzu Corporation/AFP Shimuzu Corporation

Shimizu Corporation says about 5,000 people could live and work in a modern-day Atlantis.

Forget colonies in space, one Japanese construction company says in the future human beings could live in huge complexes that corkscrew deep into the ocean.

Blue sky thinkers say about 5,000 people could live and work in a modern-day Atlantis, a sphere 500 meters (1,500 feet) in diameter that houses hotels, residential spaces, and commercial complexes.

The vast globe would float at the surface of the sea but could be submerged in bad weather, down the center of a gigantic spiral structure that plunges to depths of up to 4,000 meters.

The spiral would form a 15 kilometer (nine mile) path to a building on the ocean floor, which could serve as a resource development factory that could collect rare metals and rare earths.

Visionaries at Shimizu, a construction company, even think they could use micro organisms called "methanogens" to convert carbon dioxide captured at the surface into methane.

The sci-fi concept is the work of several organizations, including Tokyo University and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.

It envisages using the wide difference in water temperatures between the top and the bottom of the ocean for generating power.

Shimizu says the Ocean Spiral would cost three trillion yen ($25 billion), and all the technology could be in place by 2030.

It is the third such project unveiled by the company after a floating metropolis and solar power ring around the moon.

"The company in cooperation with many organizations has spent two years to design the project working with technologies we think will be plausible in the future," a Shimizu spokesman said.

In 2012, another Japanese construction firm, Obayashi Corp., said it could execute an out-of-this-world plan to put tourists in space within 40 years by building an elevator that stretches a quarter of the way to the moon.

Obayashi said it could use carbon nanotube technology, which is more than 20 times stronger than steel, to build a lift shaft 96,000 kilometers (roughly 60,000 miles) above the Earth.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-japan-sees-modern-atlantis-spiral-deep-into-ocean-2014-11#ixzz3JdMrvqT5

MUNSTER: Apple's iPhone 6 Sales Are Going Be Stronger For Even Longer Than People Are Expecting

REUTERS/Yuya Shino

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has raised his price target on Apple to $135, up from $120. 

Apple is trading at $114.67, up 43% year-to-date.

Munster is the just latest analyst to up his price target. This week Walter Piecyk at BTIG raised his price target, Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty raised her target, and the Apple analyst at Oppenheimer raised the price target. 

Munster is raising his target because he believes the two latest iPhone models will sell in large numbers for longer than people expect. 

He says Apple still can't meet demand for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. He estimates that 58% of iPhone 6/6 Plus models are in stock at US Apple stores. That's up from 6% a month ago, but it still means that Apple is missing 42% of the iPhone 6/6 Plus models in its stores.

Anecdotally, employees at Business Insider have tried to order the iPhone 6 Plus and experienced difficulty finding it in stock in the mid-range, 64GB tier. This could be limiting sales as people wait to get the exact model they want.  

Munster also says that online orders are stable but experiencing delays. An iPhone 6 will ship seven to 10 days after being ordered. An iPhone 6 Plus will ship three to four weeks after being ordered online. 

These supply problems will not hurt this quarter's numbers, Munster says. He doesn't think Apple would have forecast the revenue it did if it thought it couldn't make enough iPhones. Apple is expecting $63.5 billion to $66.5 billion this quarter. Because of the supply issues, Munster doesn't think Apple is going to demolish its numbers; rather it will either hit them or just barely beat them.

Still, Munster sees the supply problem as a positive. If someone wants an iPhone but it's not in stock immediately, that person is not going to buy an Android phone; that person will just wait until it's in stock. As a result, Munster believes the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will continue to sell very well into the first three months of next year as people continue to buy the phone.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/analyst-raises-price-target-2014-11#ixzz3JdLGy7go

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Miss Honduras Found Dead After Vanishing Days Before The Miss World Competition

Newly crowned Miss Honduras Maria Jose Alvarado disappeared on Thursday.

Police found the bodies of the reigning Miss Honduras and her sister dumped beside a river Wednesday, and they said they were holding the sister's boyfriend on suspicion of killing them.

Maria Jose Alvarado, who had planned to fly to London on Wednesday to compete in the Miss World contest, disappeared with her sister Sofia Trinidad in northwestern Honduras last Thursday after a party, sparking an exhaustive search.

Chief detective Leandro Osorio said the bodies of the 19-year-old beauty queen and her sister had been found partially buried along the banks of the Aguagual River in the town of Arada.

"We are 100 percent sure that it's them," he said.

Police have detained Trinidad's boyfriend, arrested Tuesday in connection with the sisters' kidnapping, on suspicion of killing them, Osorio said.

"We are holding the author of this horrific act, Mr Plutarco Ruiz. We have found the murder weapon and the vehicle used to transport them," he said.

Police are investigating additional suspects who they believe played a role in trying to cover up the crime, Osorio added.

Organizers of the Miss World pageant issued a statement Wednesday expressing their condolences and announcing a tribute this weekend in honor of the slain sisters.

"We are devastated by this terrible loss of two young women, who were so full of life. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Maria Jose Alvarado & Sofia Trinidad at this time of grief," the London-based organizers said.

"We are receiving messages of condolences and support from our Miss World family across the world, who all share our sadness at such a tragedy," the statement added.

World Homicide Capital

"We will be holding a special service with all of the Miss World contestants on Sunday, where we will be honoring the lives of Maria Jose Alvarado and Sofia Trinidad, and say prayers for them and their family."

The pageant organizers said they also planned donate money to a children's home in Honduras in the two women's memory.

Alvarado and Trinidad disappeared outside the northwestern city of Santa Barbara after attending a birthday party for Ruiz at a local resort.

Osorio said forensics investigators had not yet examined the bodies but that evidence indicated the women were killed the same night.

Police arrested Ruiz on Tuesday, seizing a Colt-45 pistol and two vehicles.

"Investigators have been working tirelessly to get to the bottom of these atrocious acts, which have caused mourning in Santa Barbara and across Honduras," Osorio said.

The sisters were last seen leaving the party in a Champagne-colored car.

Their mother, Teresa Munoz, says the same vehicle arrived at her home earlier that day to pick up Maria Jose, who had just arrived from the capital Tegucigalpa, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) away.

Sofia was supposedly inside the car at the time, but Munoz said she did not see her.

"It seemed strange to me that Sofia didn't get out of the car. I asked Maria Jose why and she said they were in a hurry, and left," she said.

Alvarado had been set to fly to London on Wednesday to compete in Miss World, which begins Saturday and wraps up Dec. 14.

She was also known in Honduras for her work as a model on a popular TV game show called "X-0."

Her family had made a tearful plea for the sisters' safe return after their disappearance.

Residents of Santa Barbara held a demonstration demanding their release Tuesday, when hope still lingered that they were alive. Wearing white T-shirts with the girls' pictures on them, they marched with a banner reading "May God protect them."

Honduras, a poor Central American country of 8 million people, has the world's highest homicide rate: 90.4 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The United Nations' special rapporteur on violence against women, Rashida Manjoo, warned in July that violence against women was on the rise in Honduras, with a 263.4 percent increase in the number of women killed violently between 2005 and 2013.

Read more:http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-honduras-police-recover-bodies-of-beauty-queen-sister-2014-11#ixzz3JaM2afir