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Their messages show they knew the money paid for telecommunications equipment – despite European Union sanctions which restrict the supply of such gear to Russia's military. An EU regulation from Feb. 25, 2022 bans supplying or financing the purchase of certain goods for the Russian military. The office did not reply to a question about Schlund and Kolbasnikova helping buy gear for the Russian military. PROTEST ORGANISERSSchlund, who studied in a Russian military academy, moved to Germany in 2012. He later began a relationship with Kolbasnikova, who is originally from Ukraine and has worked in Germany as a nurse.

☆ Why buzzy cases like the $5 million Thinx settlement don't often result in customers getting much money back
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Thinx customers can now seek recoveries as part of a settlement by the period underwear brand. The news may have some customers wondering: Can I, too, recoup money spent on a product that let me down? Instead, these cases — which can take years — may recoup only a portion of customers' spending on the products in question. The Thinx settlement includes a $4 million pot to pay customers and legal fees, and as much as another $1 million for any required "valid claims," according to the settlement. Unilever agreed to the settlement while "denying wrongdoing of any nature and without admitting liability," according to the settlement agreement.

Companies Costco Wholesale Corp FollowJan 17 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday said Costco Wholesale Corp (COST.O) must face a lawsuit claiming it falsely advertises and labels its canned tuna as "dolphin safe" despite using fishing methods that harm and kill dolphins. The Issaquah, Washington-based retailer said Wright only speculated about the risk to dolphins in tuna she bought, and that it made no promises about dolphin safety beyond using a "dolphin safe" logo on labels. He said this was particularly important because consumers "overwhelmingly" prefer tuna labeled dolphin-safe when given a choice. The case is Wright v Costco Wholesale Corp, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Mehr Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ SEC Sues Crypto Firms Genesis and Gemini Over Lending Product
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Dave Michaels | Vicky Ge Huang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Under Gemini Earn, customers of crypto exchange Gemini lent their crypto assets to crypto lender Genesis in exchange for interest payments as high as 8%. WASHINGTON—The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday sued Genesis Global Capital LLC and Gemini Trust Company LLC over a $900 million crypto-lending program that allegedly violated investor-protection laws. The SEC filed its civil lawsuit in Manhattan federal court alleging that Genesis should have registered the product, which would have required providing clients with detailed financial disclosures. The companies began marketing the program to individual investors in February 2021 and raised billions of dollars’ worth of crypto assets from hundreds of thousands of investors, the SEC said.

☆ ExxonMobil's secret projections of the climate crisis were astonishingly accurate, and a legal expert says that's 'a stick of dynamite' for the oil giant's court battles
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

ExxonMobil scientists knew about the coming climate crisis in precise detail, a Harvard study found. The analysis is "dynamite" for an array of lawsuits against ExxonMobil, legal experts told Insider. A growing wave of 'unassailable' evidence suggests Exxon lied about what it knewDespite having accurate predictions about global warming, the oil giant denied it would happen. That's exactly the track global warming is on right now. Those "stranded assets" are now a real possibility, due to global climate goals outlined in the Paris Agreement.

☆ Germany's finance minister sees 2023 inflation at 7%
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Germany's finance minister expects inflation in Europe's biggest economy to drop to 7% this year and to continue falling in 2024 and beyond, but believes high energy prices will become the new normal. Pushed by spiking energy prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and falling Russian energy exports, Germany's year-on-year inflation has slowed slightly in November to 11.3% from a high of 11.6% the month prior. read moreLindner said Germany needs an "unbiased" energy policy in order to keep industry ticking, adding that domestic gas and oil fracking and nuclear energy should be considered in the energy sources mix along with renewables. Production of natural gas and oil has been declining in Germany, mainly because unconventional fracking is banned and nature protection laws make it difficult to seek permission for new drilling. Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Andrew CawthorneOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Focusing on environmental, social or governance-related issues, ESG in industry parlance, could hit returns to investors, critics said. Other states followed, with Texas accusing BlackRock and banks including Bank of America (BAC.N) of 'boycotting' fossil fuel companies in the transition to a greener economy. WHY IT MATTERSThe criticism comes at a critical time for global climate efforts. A landmark U.N. report earlier this year said time was running out to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050. With a number of investigations into finance-linked ESG activities still in train across various states, the prospect of a let-up in pressure in 2023 is slim.

☆ From recovery to regulation: How China's tech giants could fare in 2023 after a bruising year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

But investors are starting to feel slightly more optimistic toward Chinese tech giants in 2023. Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesIt's been another rough year for China's tech stocks. Xin Sun King's College LondonHow the exit from zero-Covid is handled could ultimately determine the extent of the rebound for China tech. Since the start of 2021, the Hang Seng tech index in Hong Kong, which includes most of China's tech giants, has fallen more than 50%. Firstly, Chinese tech firms have been cutting costs and exiting non-core businesses in order to boost profitability.

☆ Australian regulator sues comparison site over crypto product
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Australia's corporate regulator sued the country's biggest comparison website on Thursday in relation to a cryptocurrency product, accusing it of conducting unlicensed financial services and breaching consumer protection laws. ASIC Chairman Joe Longo said in parliament this month that the regulator wants to test in court whether crypto assets count as financial products under the law. As of September, Finder Wallet owed A$20.8 million ($14.2 million) to consumers in the absence of legal protections, the cour filing added. A Finder.com spokesperson told Reuters the company did "not share ASIC's view that Finder Earn can be regarded as a debenture" and said all customer money was returned when the product was closed in November. ($1 = 1.4646 Australian dollars)Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Kim Kardashian and other celebrities beat crypto investors’ lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The lawsuit filed in January claims EthereumMax executives schemed with celebrity promoters to induce investors to buy the EMax token, driving up its price and allowing them to sell their own tokens at a profit. US District Judge Michael Fitzgerald in Los Angeles said that the investors may amend and refile their proposed class action. In Wednesday’s ruling, Fitzgerald said that investors had failed to show that the executives and promoters schemed to mislead investors, rather than acting in their own self-interest. The investors’ fraud claims failed because they had not stated whether or when they saw the promotions, the judge wrote. Kardashian agreed in October to pay the SEC $1.26 million to settle claims that she failed to disclose she was paid to promote EthereumMax tokens.

☆ EMax crypto investors’ lawsuit against Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather Jr., other celebrities dismissed
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

The lawsuit filed in January claims EthereumMax executives schemed with celebrity promoters to induce investors to buy the EMax token, driving up its price and allowing them to sell their own tokens at a profit. U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald in Los Angeles said that the investors may amend and refile their proposed class action. In Wednesday’s ruling, Fitzgerald said that investors had failed to show that the executives and promoters schemed to mislead investors, rather than acting in their own self-interest. The investors’ fraud claims failed because they had not stated whether or when they saw the promotions, the judge wrote. While the investors may revise those claims, Fitzgerald permanently dismissed their claim under California’s consumer protection law, which he said applies to tangible goods and services, not “intangible goods” such as cryptocurrency.

WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Indiana sued Chinese-owned short-video sharing app TikTok on Wednesday over allegations that it is deceiving users about China's access to their data and exposing children to mature content. The complaint added that inappropriate sexual and substance-related content can easily be found and are pushed by the company to children using TikTok. A spokesperson for the video sharing app said it did not have a comment on the pending litigation. TikTok has said the concerns prompting state bans were largely fueled by misinformation. President Joe Biden in June 2021 withdrew Trump's executive orders that sought to ban the downloads and directed the Commerce Department to conduct a review of security concerns posed by the apps.

☆ DC attorney general sues Amazon for allegedly misusing driver tips
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Washington CNN Business —Amazon faces a new lawsuit from the attorney general of Washington, D.C. that alleges the e-commerce giant used customer tips meant for delivery drivers to reduce what it owed in driver wages. The lawsuit by Attorney General Karl Racine further claims that Amazon covered up the practice, which allegedly began in 2016. According to the FTC, and now Racine, Amazon in 2016 changed its payment model without notifying drivers or customers. In a statement responding to Racine’s suit, Amazon spokesperson Maria Boschetti said the company revised its payment model for delivery drivers in 2019. In its earlier allegations, the FTC said Amazon only changed its payment model after the company learned that federal regulators were investigating the practice.

☆ More Crypto Exchanges Verify Reserves, But Questions About Assets Remain
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Most crypto exchanges are privately held, meaning they don’t have to file financial statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission or get them audited. He added that customers of crypto exchanges should “look for as rigorous of that as you can look for regulatory reporting.”FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried sat down with The Wall Street Journal to discuss what happened to the billions of dollars deposited by the exchange’s customers. Photo: Kenny Wassus/The Wall Street JournalSuch a third-party verification represents a step toward more transparency around crypto exchanges, but there are significant shortcomings, some academics said. Coinbase Global Inc. last month reported $95.11 billion in both customer crypto assets and liabilities for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from $88.45 billion the previous quarter, filings show. Still, the PCAOB encourages investors to review reports on the work those companies’ auditors have done, Chair Erica Williams said at a conference Tuesday.

☆ Google, iHeartMedia settle charges of deceptive Pixel 4 ads with FTC, U.S. states
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Kanishka Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A woman takes a look on the new Google Pixel 4 smartphone displayed during a Google launch event in New York City, New York, U.S., October 15, 2019. "Google and iHeartMedia paid influencers to promote products they never used, showing a blatant disrespect for truth-in-advertising rules," FTC official Samuel Levine said. In 2019, Google hired iHeartMedia and 11 other radio networks in 10 major markets to have on-air personalities record and broadcast endorsements of the Pixel 4 phone, according to the FTC. The seven states to join the FTC were New York, Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts and Texas. The ads ran in English and Spanish and allegedly violated consumer protection laws, the FTC and the seven states said.

☆ Rio Tinto reaches historic agreement with Juukan Gorge group
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Courtesy Gabrielle Timmins/Kimberley Land Council/Handout via REUTERS/File PhotoMELBOURNE, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Global miner Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO.AX) has reached a restitution agreement with an Aboriginal group whose rock shelters in Western Australia it destroyed two years ago for an iron ore mine, the groups said on Monday. "Nothing can compensate for or replace the loss suffered at Juukan Gorge, so this is an outcome orientated legacy to ensure something positive will come from it for years to come," PKKP Aboriginal Corp Chairperson Burchell Hayes said. The two groups are in advanced talks about a co-management of mining agreement, the PKKP added. "We fell far short of our values as a company and breached the trust placed in us by the PKKP people by allowing the destruction of the Juukan Gorge rock shelters," Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm said. As well as the legacy foundation, remedy discussions have centred on ongoing rehabilitation of the rock shelters and their surrounds at Juukan Gorge, Rio said.

☆ Olaplex is hit with a new lawsuit as the hair care brand faces mounting scrutiny
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Alex Bitter | Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Hair care brand Olaplex is facing a lawsuit over its stock price drop since its 2021 IPO. Olaplex gained popularity on TikTok and other social media as a hair care routine product. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyLast fall, hair care brand Olaplex was riding high. It is seeking to represent a potential class of as many as "thousands" of investors who bought Olaplex stock after it went public, according to the complaint. The Olaplex spokesperson said that No.

☆ Crypto exchanges enabled online child sex-abuse profiteer
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +22 min

These sites often included links for users to pay via crypto exchanges, the IWF told Reuters, declining to name companies. “For those people looking to make money from child sexual abuse, crypto has lowered the barrier,” said Dan Sexton, the IWF’s chief technology officer. The Dark Scandals website, owned by Michael Mohammad, instructs users to send tokens to a Dark Scandals digital wallet to purchase content. While banks and payment platforms demanded more details from online merchants, many crypto exchanges for years requested little or no information from clients. The IWF received more reports last year of websites selling child abuse imagery for crypto than any year prior.

☆ Australia approves national plan to safeguard Aboriginal heritage
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The government had accepted all but one recommendation out of the eight from last year's parliamentary inquiry into the destruction of the historically and culturally significant site at Juukan Gorge in Western Australia, Plibersek told parliament. The recommendation of whether the final responsibility for heritage protection should sit with the Indigenous affairs minister or the environment minister is still being assessed, Plibersek said. What's clear from this report is that our system is not working," Plibersek said, adding the destruction of the sacred sites were legal under current laws. The traditional owners said they were angry and disappointed that they had not been consulted about the government's response. "We have tasted the devastation and we know what needs to be done," it said, without elaborating.

The U.S. Justice Department, in a report this September, said many crypto exchanges still "make little or no effort to comply" with know-your-customer requirements. These sites often included links for users to pay via crypto exchanges, the IWF told Reuters, declining to name companies. While banks and payment platforms demanded more details from online merchants, many crypto exchanges for years requested little or no information from clients. Asked at his trial for his opinion of crypto, Mohammad noted, "Privacy is something that a lot of users value." The IWF received more reports last year of websites selling child abuse imagery for crypto than any year prior.

☆ Tennessee AG investigating Ticketmaster after Taylor Swift ticket chaos
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | Chantal Da Silva Is A Breaking News Editor For Nbc News Digital Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

"Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is concerned about consumer complaints related to @Ticketmaster. He and his Consumer Protection team will use every available tool to ensure that no consumer protection laws were violated," Skrmetti's office said in a tweet Wednesday. “If it’s a consumer protection violation and we can find exactly where the problems are, we can get a court order that makes the company do better. The attorney general said he also had concerns about Ticketmaster profiting twice off ticket sales, with the website also facilitating ticket resales. “There is an incentive there for the company to profit twice off the sale of these ticket,” he said, according to WSMV.

☆ U.K. Government Seeks Further Easing of Data Protection Rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Catherine Stupp | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

If U.K. data protection law strays too far from the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, however, an existing legal deal known as an adequacy agreement between the two jurisdictions could be jeopardized, privacy experts say. Relaxing some data rules could save the U.K. an estimated £12 billion, equivalent to $14 billion, each year, Mr. Rowland said. The U.K. has had two changes of government since data laws were proposed this summer. The EU officials who oversee the arrangement have said they could suspend the system if British data protection laws change too dramatically. The draft data protection legislation would loosen some aspects of the GDPR such as requirements for companies to obtain permission from individuals for their data to be tracked online.

"It is more complicated than your plain vanilla crypto exchange story," she said. FTX filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11 and is facing scrutiny from U.S. authorities. The lawsuit filed on Tuesday did not name FTX as a defendant but instead targeted individuals. New lawsuits may also target celebrity promoters of FTX crypto products. Future investor lawsuits over the FTX meltdown are likely to allege claims beyond securities registration and consumer protection violations, plaintiffs' attorneys said.

☆ Tennessee AG says he's probing the Taylor Swift Eras presale meltdown amid customer complaints about Ticketmaster
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti said he's looking into the Taylor Swift Eras presale meltdown. On Tuesday, Swift fans complained of long wait times and outages on Ticketmaster. "You would think Ticketmaster would be prepared," Skrmetti said. At a news conference, Skrmetti said he's investigating consumer complaints about the presale and said antitrust violations "could be an issue," per Bloomberg. He added: "As an industry player, you would think Ticketmaster would be prepared.

☆ 40 states settle Google location-tracking charges for $392M
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Location tracking can help tech companies sell digital ads to marketers looking to connect with consumers within their vicinity. Even a small amount of location data can reveal a person’s identity and routines, they said. Google uses the location information to target consumers with ads by its customers, the state officials said. The attorneys general said Google misled users about its location tracking practices since at least 2014, violating state consumer protection laws. As part of the settlement, Google also agreed to make those practices more transparent to users.

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