Android offers a wide variety of advanced customization options, but that?s only scratching the surface of everything you can do with Google?s open source operating system. With root access you can get down to the system level and tweak things to your liking, even going so far as completely replacing the OS.
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PARIS (AP) ? Interpol has issued a global security alert in connection with suspected al-Qaida involvement in several recent prison escapes including those in Iraq, Libya and Pakistan.
The Lyon, France-based international police agency says that the alert follows "the escape of hundreds of terrorists and other criminals" in the past month. The alert calls on Interpol's 190 member countries to help determine whether these events are coordinated or linked, the organization said in a statement Saturday.
Interpol says it issues such alerts fairly regularly, the last one 10 days ago following jailbreaks from Iraq's infamous Abu Ghraib prison and the Taji prison near Baghdad.
The alert also comes a day after the U.S. issued an extraordinary global travel warning to Americans about a possible al-Qaida attack.
The U.S. is closing 21 of its embassies and consulates in the Muslim world this weekend, while Britain, France and Germany have announced the closures of their embassies in Yemen's capital, Sanaa.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/interpol-makes-warning-linked-prison-breaks-124650120.html
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Source: http://myfrenchcountryhome.blogspot.com/2013/08/august-giveaway-no-1-garden-birdhouse.html
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The Obama administration has lifted an import ban on some Apple iPads and older iPhone models, in a setback to rival South Korean electronics company Samsung.
US Trade Representative Michael Froman overruled a decision made in June by the US International Trade Commission, which had banned imports of the iPhone 4 and some variations of the iPad 2, ruling that the Chinese-made Apple devices violated a patent held by Samsung and thus could not be imported.
However, the ban never came into effect as the Obama administration had 60 days to decide if it would uphold the commission's decision.
President Obama does not favour import bans on the basis of the type of patent at issue in the Samsung case. The White House has recommended that Congress limit the ITC's ability to impose import bans in these cases.
Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said the company applauded the administration "for standing up for innovation". Samsung said it was ?disappointed? at the decision to veto the ban. ?The ITC's decision correctly recognized that Samsung has been negotiating in good faith and that Apple remains unwilling to take a license,? it said in a statement.
Samsung and Apple, who make up almost half of the smartphone market, have been locked a bitter legal dispute over patents. Apple argues Samsung's Android phones copy vital iPhone features and Samsung is fighting back with its own complaints.
In a letter to the commission Mr Froman expressed concerns about patent holders possessing too much leverage over competitors that use their technology under licences, stating that he shared the Obama administration's fear that the holders of standards-essential patents could get "undue leverage" over their competitors.
Companies license patented technology to competitors so the devices can communicate as part of an industry standard for mobile phones. Under the "standards-essential patent" legal theory prevailing in US courts, holders of such patents are obligated to license them to all-comers on "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory" terms.
US courts have ruled that such patents cannot be the basis for import bans. The International Trade Commission follows a different standard than the courts, but the Obama administration wants it to follow the same principles.
In 2012 a federal court ruled that Samsung owed Apple one billion dollars in damages for infringing on non-essential Apple patents. But the judge refused to impose an import ban on Samsung phones and later struck 450 million dollars from the verdict, saying the jurors miscalculated. The case is set for a rematch in the appeal court.
Samsung is the world's largest maker of smartphones. Analysts estimate it outsold Apple nearly two to one in the first three months of the year. However, Apple's smartphone business is more profitable.
The iPhone 4 was launched in 2010 and is the oldest iPhone still sold by Apple. The ITC ruling applied only to the AT&T version of the phone. Apple is likely to retire the model.
Apple launched the iPad 2 in 2011. The ruling applies only to the version equipped with a mobile modem for AT&T's network.
The ruling also applies to older iPhones, though these are no longer sold by Apple.
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AMES, Iowa (AP) ? Kicking off an August of likely intense debate over immigration, the Senate?s second-ranking Democrat traveled to Iowa Friday to rebuke House Republicans who oppose major changes embraced by the Senate.
Sen. Richard Durbin?s strategically targeted visit was a fairly small and calm foretaste of planned demonstrations by opponents and supporters of the proposed immigration changes during Congress? summer recess. The Senate measure would heighten border security and provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants living here illegally.
Durbin, of Illinois, joined Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin at a forum in a college town represented in Congress by Republican Rep. Steve King. King is among Congress? fiercest opponents of granting citizenship to immigrants now here illegally. Republican leaders have denounced King?s most inflammatory remarks, but some Democrats depict him as a symbol of widespread GOP resistance.
Harkin said Iowans ?are compassionate, caring people and we don?t characterize people with hateful, spiteful, degrading language.?
King said in a July interview that some Hispanics brought to the country illegally as children become high school valedictorians. But for each of those, he said, ?there?s another 100 out there who weigh 130 pounds, and they?ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they?re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.?
Durbin focused on the so-called DREAM Act, which would offer eventual citizenship to some immigrants brought illegally to the U.S. as children.
?If we can fix this immigration system, we can build the American economy and we can do the right thing,? Durbin told the Ames gathering. ?To suggest these are petty criminals or drug smugglers just doesn?t square with the reality of the DREAM Act.?
The forum featured potential DREAM Act beneficiaries.
Hector Salamanca, 20, came from Mexico as a child with his parents, who stayed in the United States after their tourist visas expired. His undocumented status made him ineligible to attend a state university or receive government-sponsored grants or loans, he told the audience of about 200.
Salamanca said he earned an associate degree at a community college and will attend Drake University. He said he tells Hispanic youths, ?Don?t let your undocumented status prevent you from achieving your goals.?
Some House Republicans have expressed interest in a version of the DREAM Act, although King calls it ?backdoor amnesty.?
The Obama administration and many activist groups have said they will not settle for the DREAM Act alone. They are pressing the GOP-controlled House to embrace something similar to the Senate bill.
Many House Republicans resist the idea. They point to GOP primary voters in their districts who oppose ?amnesty? for people here illegally, and who say a Democratic administration can?t be trusted to keep promises to tighten the border with Mexico.
Durbin noted that President Barack Obama won re-election with strong backing from Hispanic and Asian-American voters. Many Republican strategists say their party must improve its relationship with these groups, and backing broad immigration changes could help.
?If Republicans in the House don?t respond honestly and in a comprehensive way, this will continue to overshadow any other political issue among certain groups of Americans,? Durbin said.
Opponents of the Senate bill say they will use the August recess to stiffen House resistance. About 100 individuals and groups, led by the Tea Party Patriots, sent a letter this week to all House members expressing opposition to any legislation ?that bears any resemblance to ... the Senate amnesty bill.?
Meanwhile the pro-immigration-reform group America?s Voice said its activists ?are on the move with hundreds of grassroots events planned from coast to coast? this summer.
Demonstrators, who support legalization for millions now here illegally, blocked a major street outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, and some were arrested.
Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said such protesters do their cause more harm than good.
?People just see it as a campaign,? Nunes said in an interview Friday. ?People get their feet set in cement when they see campaigns going on.?
King, meanwhile, said he was mourning the death of a Vietnam War hero on Friday rather than responding to Durbin?s and Harkin?s visit to his district.
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Babington reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Erica Werner in Washington contributed to this report.
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And now the UK has another ?royal? mouth to feed (with a silver spoon), and dress in silk, fill the ?royal? nursery with gold, jewels, art, antiques and servants for grooming for the good life of ?nobility?. Mum and father have much to plan; parades, glowing articles and media showing how wonderful and important the new elite are, while eating Kobe beef, lobster and truffles with their Champaign. So much to do, so much to do!
The subjects must work longer hours and pay more tax for their betters while more austerity is forced on them. Damn good thing they are now unarmed, Canada must be completely neutered now, they are watching the Americans joining the NRA and arming up in record numbers. Wish more subjects were like the Irish, it would be so much easier.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Maxkeisercom/~3/qmf1Az82MhU/
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Miley didn't do a bit of twerking in the just-released clip, and the Atlanta MC tells MTV News that's exactly how he wanted it to be.
By Emily Blake, with reporting by Nadeska Alexis
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1711761/miley-cyrus-big-sean-fire-video.jhtml
If the art world and the hip-hop world have one thing in common, it's a hearty appetite for controversy. (And before members of both camps start flaming me, yes, I realize they have more than just that in common.) So it was probably inevitable that Jay Z's decision to stage a "performance piece" at the Pace Gallery over the course of six hours would stir passions. To some in the art world, ever suspicious of celebrity incursions, it was a debasement of the form. To some in the hip-hop world, ever suspicious of crossover betrayals, it was a flagrant display of elitism.
But what was Jay Z himself trying to achieve? According to Mark Romanek, who conceptualized the event and directed the resulting half-hour documentary (set to air on HBO this Friday at 11 pm), the inspiration was simple. Romanek had seen the 2012 film "Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present," which documented the Serbian-born artist's marathon series of one-on-one interactions with visitors at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and become fascinated by the intimacy she achieved. "What I pitched to Jay was: 'You regularly perform to 60 or 80,000 people at a time. What if you performed for one person at a time? What if it was like Marina's piece?"" Romanek says.
That helps explain why Romanek insists on calling the "Picasso Baby" session a piece of performance art, rather than a music video. And it helps explain why Jay Z rapped the lyrics live instead of lip syncing -- despite what you may have read in Gawker or The New Yorker. "They're both dead wrong," Romanek says. "At no point during the day did he lip sync. He did live vocals for six hours. The finished piece was always intended to be live vocals. I mean, that was the whole point of it. Otherwise, it would turn into a music video."
Romanek has directed some of the most memorable music videos of the past 20 years, including Johnny Cash's "Hurt," Fiona Apple's "Criminal" and Jay Z's "99 Problems," but he's mostly focused on features these days. His 2002 film "One Hour Photo," with Robin Williams in the lead, grossed $31 million domestically, and in 2010 he followed it up with "Never Let Me Go," starring Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield. So when Jay Z called and proposed a collaboration, Romanek had to ask himself if he wanted to do another music video. "And the answer was no," he says. "But do I want to work with Jay Z on this amazing album? The answer was absolutely, so how do we invent a new thing that we would both be excited by?"
I chanced into an invitation to the "Picasso Baby" shoot (event? happening? I don't know what to call it anymore), and thought it was pretty cool. Earlier this week, I asked Romanek how it all went down. Here are some highlights from our conversation.
How did the idea for all this come about?
About three months ago, Jay invited me to his office to hear the album. I was really impressed. I thought it was his most mature album and I thought it was a real leap for him, and we both expressed a dissatisfaction with the way things are done and a desire to do something different. He name-checks a lot of artists, so it immediately put me to mind of the whole fine-art world, and since he's a performer I started thinking about a performance-art piece involving Jay's music. And every time we tried to think of something that was radically different from Marina [Abramovic]'s piece, it never seemed as good. So we said, what if we do something very much like that? But it was important to me that we weren't just ripping her off, that we had her blessing, so we reached out to her and she loved the idea and said she'd be happy to bless the event with her presence. The phrase "music video" got tossed around a little bit at the beginning, and both of us were like, "We don't want to do a music video. That's from another era. We need to do something that's more genuine, more spontaneous and more alive."
So you do reject the term "music video" for this project?
Yeah. I mean, I don't think that's what it is. I think it's a document of an art happening in the old-school sense of an art happening. We had no idea how it was going to go. It could have flopped. It could have been a dud. It wasn't. It was really fun and exciting. Jeanne Greenberg Rohaytn helped us assemble a guest list of people from the art world that we hoped would have a lot of variety. We set it up as much as we could as if it were an art event -- the invitations and the posters and the text on the wall. And then we sort of flipped the "on" switch and filmed what happened. I was not really controlling anything. All I was trying to do was control it as a filmmaker by monitoring the cameras and making suggestions about how to cover it.
So you had Jay on a platform, one notable person watching him, then a whole group of people around the perimeter of the room. How did you come up with that basic setup?
The initial thing, what I pitched to Jay was, you regularly perform to 60 or 80,000 people at a time. What if you performed for one person at a time? What if it was like Marina's piece? And it evolved from there in terms of how to build it, and he got very excited by that. I mean, halfway through me pitching it to him, he said, "Wait, wait, I got chills. That's exactly what we should be doing." In terms of notable people, obviously we wanted it to have an art-world slant, but it's a somewhat democratic range of people. There were bands that were invited that are just Jay Z's fans, there were people that are just New York people, they're actors and musicians and other New York people. We wanted it to be a mix.
Whose idea was it to invite the larger group to crowd around toward the end of the song?
The song is unique in that it's sort of broken into two parts. The first half of it is one kind of track, and then it doesn't just slightly change, it completely changes. So Jay and I did discuss, well, what are we going to do visually to highlight that big shift in the song? And I suggested, what if you invite people to break that barrier and just invite them in? So we tried it, and it did create a new energy for that second part of the track.
One of the defining features was the social-media sharing inside that room. My feelings about it went from, I can't believe they're letting me take pictures, to, Oh, of course, this is exactly what they want. But was it what you wanted, or did that just kind of occur?
Well, from the very beginning, part of the basic pitch was, we'll let people do social media, we'll let people Tweet about it, we'll let people take pictures. That was definitely part of the DNA of the thing, and part of what we thought would feel very of-the-moment about it. What we wanted to do was control it a little bit so that maybe it was going to be people waiting outside, you know, peeking in. And then, a la Abramovic, we put up all these signs saying NO PHOTOGRAPHY INSIDE THE GALLERY. And that became a joke after about three seconds. There are 250 people in the room and 249 of them had a camera out, so we had a choice to make at that point. We could either become sort of fascist about it and say, "Oh, put your cameras away," or just go with it. And instantly everyone said let's just go with it. And I think it turned out great. When you see the finished piece, I think you'll see that it didn't really spoil anything, because frankly the finished piece is more polished and more beautiful.
When I was there, he was rapping, and yet Gawker and Sasha Frere-Jones of The New Yorker have reported that he was lip syncing. Did he lip synch at all during the performance?
They're both dead wrong. It was never meant to be lip synced. At no point during the day did he lip sync. He did live vocals for six hours. The finished piece was always intended to be live vocals. I mean, that was the whole point of it. Otherwise, it would turn into a music video. He had a lavalier microphone on his chest that captured a beautiful vocal. It's completely obvious when you see the piece that it's not lip synced. Because every inflection and emotion that he performed on that day is different than anything like what's on the album. He's laughing. And one woman in her 60s showed up who was so elegant that he literally became speechless. He said, "You're making me lose my flow, but I'm gonna get it back in a minute." So we kept that in the video. He stopped singing at times and just talked to people, he kissed people. What you'll see is that it's like a tsunami of joyfulness. It's sort of the opposite of the tough-guy street-rapper clich?. Everyone is having such a good time and none of it is feigned. There's not a single fake moment in it. It's just a document of people having a really good time, Jay included.
I thought the live performance was key to that. To stand there and watch Jay lip sync would be one thing, but to be in a gallery space with him and listen to him rap with no in-room amplification -- everybody in there had to realize they were witnessing something special.
That was the whole point. For him to lip sync would be completely foundationally short-circuiting the whole point. I think that those people, Jones and Gawker, seem to have an axe to grind about the whole thing. You know, people are critiquing it based on a teaser and some other press. It's come to the point where people make reviews of trailers rather than waiting for the actual piece.
While we're on the topic of that New Yorker piece, Sasha Frere-Jones also writes that, in the wake of the Trayvon Martin verdict, Jay's album feels irrelevant, especially compared with Kanye West's angrier "Yeezus." What's your take on where Jay-Z is as an artist right now and how that relates to the moment we're experiencing?
You know, it's not my job to have a take on it publicly. I think it's his best album. I think it's extremely mature. It's not an album filled with catchy pop hits. It's a much more mature expression of where he's at right now. I listen to it constantly. I listen to the Kanye record, too. I think they're both very good records. They're obviously both very different. But my opinion is that it's Jay's best album. If Mr. Jones disagrees, that's his decision.
You and Jay collaborated on the "99 Problems" video nine years ago. How different was the collaboration this time around?
Well, it was the same in the sense that it was an excellent professional experience. He's not a micromanager. He likes to work with talented people and he'll be very firm about certain foundational aspects to it, but then after that he'll be very trusting and allow you to do what he's asked you to do on his behalf as a collaboration. But we're both nine years more mature. We're both parents now and we weren't before, and we both have different interests. And in a lot of ways I think, as different as our upbringings were, we seem to have affinities for the same ideas.
You've directed some of the coolest music videos ever. Do you really think the era of music videos is over?
Well, I haven't been thinking about music videos, I've been thinking about features. So when he said, "Would you like to do something?," that's when I said, "Oh, do I want to do a music video?" And the answer was no. But do I want to work with Jay Z on this amazing album? The answer was absolutely, so how do we invent a new thing that we would both be excited by? I guess in this day and age it just seems that, to come up with a concept and then artificially execute it and then have it be this finished, hermetically sealed thing is really irrelevant to what's going on in the world.
What's your favorite music video ever?
That's a tough one. I mean, the one that pops into my mind is one Spike Jonze made for the band Wax. The song is called "California," and it's that man running down the street in slow motion on fire. And it's all a single take. To me that's truly a piece of short film art that works perfectly as a music video. It's perfect and brilliant and human.
"Picasso Baby: A Performance Art Film" debuts on HBO on August 2 at 11 pm ET.
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/01/mark-romanek-picasso-baby_n_3683437.html
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URBANA, Ill. (AP) ? Afraid there may be peanuts or other allergens hiding in that cookie? Thanks to a cradle and app that turn your smartphone into a handheld biosensor, you may soon be able to run on-the-spot tests for food safety, environmental toxins, medical diagnostics and more.
The handheld biosensor was developed by researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. A series of lenses and filters in the cradle mirror those found in larger, more expensive laboratory devices. Together, the cradle and app transform a smartphone into a tool that can detect toxins and bacteria, spot water contamination and identify allergens in food.
Kenny Long, a graduate researcher at the university, says the team was able to make the smartphone even smarter with modifications to the cellphone camera.
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See the video here: http://bit.ly/18TEsfJ
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/smartphone-cradle-app-detect-toxins-bacteria-070216903.html
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Source: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/341/6145/445.full?rss=1
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Xiangya Medical School at Central South University
Flinders University will set up a new general practice (GP) research and training centre in China, providing a platform for medical graduates to become China?s first wave of GPs.
In a landmark deal, Flinders has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Central South University (CSU) in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, to establish the China-Australia General Practitioner Education, Training and Research Centre at the 3rd Xiangya Hospital of CSU.
CSU set up a postgraduate GP training program in August 2012, with about 40 graduate medical practitioners having now completed the first year of the three-year course to become qualified GPs.
As part of the MoU, Flinders will help Central South design and implement the next two years of the program, which includes a rural clinical placement.
Flinders Associate Professor Lucie Walters, the co-director of the China-Australia General Practitioner Education, Training and Research Centre, said the partnership will help China to reach its goal of 400,000 qualified GPs by 2020.
?China doesn?t have a well-established GP system ? most people in China guess which specialist they need to see or go straight to hospital,? Associate Professor Walters said.
?The problem with that model is that you get the worried well using up resources that aren?t needed while those who do need treatment either don?t get it, or don?t see the right specialist,? she said.
?The Chinese Government is now trying to significantly increase the number of GPs in China so that eventually GPs become the primary gatekeepers of healthcare.
?Flinders role in this will be to not only train medical practitioners to become GPs but also to train the trainers who will be teaching the first wave of GPs.?
Associate Professor Walters, who specialises in rural medical education, said a key focus of the Australia-China partnership is to train GPs for rural and remote regions.
?In China, the further away you are from the city the harder it is to access healthcare, which is why the Chinese Government wants to train a large proportion of GPs to work in rural areas,? she said.
?Flinders is internationally-renowned for its rural and remote medical program, and has been able to demonstrate that people who train in rural and remote regions also choose to work in these areas.?
Flinders University Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor David Day, said the partnership will provide significant opportunities for Flinders staff and students.
?CSU will bring specialists out to Australia to learn about rural and remote general practice, which is a key strength for Flinders, and in return we?ll be sending our students over to China for various study exchanges,? Professor Day said.
?The partnership will also lead to a wealth of opportunities for staff, particularly in terms of professional development and clinical research collaborations.?
In addition to the GP program, Flinders is also working with CSU to develop and deliver dementia care education to Chinese clinicians.
As part of the collaboration, the two universities are currently developing guidelines, care models, tools and case studies to help trainers deliver dementia care education to trainee health professionals in community health centres.
Tags: Associate Professor Lucie Walters, Central South University, Changsha, China, China-Australia General Practitioner Education Training and Research Centre, CSU, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), general practice, GP, Hunan, MOU, Professor David Day, rural and remote, Xiangya, Xiangya Hospital
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By Joshua Schneyer and Brian Grow
NEW YORK/ATLANTA (Reuters) - Billionaire Russian businessman Gennady Timchenko, a long-time associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, plans to seek U.S. government-backed funding to buy luxury aircraft, Reuters has learned.
To smooth the path for financial backing from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and allay possible U.S. government concerns about him, Timchenko hired lobbyists from powerhouse Washington law firm Patton Boggs, according to emails and documents viewed by Reuters.
Timchenko plans to ask Ex-Im Bank for a loan guarantee to buy as many as 11 aircraft from Gulfstream Aerospace of Savannah, Georgia, according to one U.S. official who spoke to his lobbyists - though the scope of the potential deal remains unclear.
Timchenko is one of Russia's richest oligarchs, the billionaire business barons who emerged following the fall of the Soviet Union, some of whom enjoy close ties to Putin. The plane order would bolster the fleet of Timchenko's Finland-based luxury jet charterer, Airfix Aviation Oy, whose aircraft have reportedly transported Kremlin-linked businessmen and Russian government officials.
Patton Boggs acknowledged its work on Timchenko's behalf. It told Reuters it has held preliminary talks with Ex-Im Bank, officials from two Senate offices and a U.S. congressional policy advisor, without naming the officials. The firm said the talks with Ex-Im Bank involved a loan guarantee for a single jet that Airfix has already ordered.
"These discussions were preliminary," said Patton Boggs partner Joseph Brand in an email.
The quest for U.S. government-backed funding is perfectly legal, but comes as subsidiaries of Timchenko's flagship firm, global commodities trader Gunvor Group, are under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. Gunvor said in May the investigation relates to oil trading activities but has not provided further details. The Department of Justice would not comment.
A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Patton Boggs partners told him in May that Airfix would seek Ex-Im Bank backing to buy 11 Gulfstream jets. An order of that size could carry a list value of anywhere between $173 million and $710 million, based on the catalogue prices of Gulfstream planes. The jets range from $15.7 million to $64.5 million apiece.
Any future Ex-Im Bank deal for Timchenko or his firms would require him to pass a detailed vetting process the bank carries out on potential customers, which can include sharing information with several U.S. government agencies.
"We represent one of Gennady Timchenko's companies, Airfix Aviation," Patton Boggs partner Laurence Harris wrote in a May email, seen by Reuters, in which he requested a meeting with the U.S. government official. "We know you have concerns about Gennady. We'd like to talk to you about this."
Patton Boggs later met with the U.S. official, and the lobbyists sought to address what they said were "unfounded allegations" about Timchenko, including that he was part of a cadre of businessmen who potentially benefit from close ties to Putin.
Ex-Im Bank spokesman Phil Cogan said the bank hasn't yet received a formal application from Timchenko and can't comment on talks with potential borrowers. Gulfstream, a unit of General Dynamics, declined to comment.
Anton Kurevin, a spokesman for Timchenko's Moscow-based holding company Volga Resources, confirmed to Reuters that Timchenko plans to seek a loan guarantee from Ex-Im Bank.
Timchenko, who owns 44 percent of Gunvor, has seen his wealth multiply over the past decade after Gunvor captured deals to market crude exports from state-run Russian energy firms. He now has a fortune estimated by Forbes at $14.1 billion.
The Russian billionaire declined to be interviewed for this story, but has consistently denied claims that his relationship with Putin has led to any benefits for his businesses.
"To connect my success to the fact that I know (Putin) is nonsense," Timchenko told Swiss newspaper Neue Zurcher Zeitung in April.
Timchenko has known Putin since at least 1990, he told the paper. The two belong to the same judo club and geographic society, and share an interest in hockey, occasionally playing together, Timchenko added in the newspaper interview, which Volga Resources reprinted on its website.
UP IN THE AIR
Helsinki-based Airfix lists a fleet of 14 aircraft for charter, including five French-made Dassault Falcon aircraft.
Airfix also operates Gulfstreams, including a top-of-the-line G650. That eight-passenger jet is billed as the world's fastest civilian aircraft and boasts a 7,000-mile range. On its web site, the firm offers "carefree premium travel" on jets stocked with "fine wines." In 2011, Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that top Russian officials and state-run companies have used its services.
Now, the firm wants to renew its fleet. "On the instruction of our client, Patton Boggs has held preliminary discussions with the Export-Import Bank to provide assistance in financing Airfix's purchase of U.S.-made Gulfstream aircraft to replace Airfix's existing inventory of French-made aircraft," Joseph Brand, a Patton Boggs partner, said in an email response to questions earlier this month.
So far, Brand said last week, Patton Boggs has only held preliminary talks with Ex-Im Bank about a credit guarantee to help Airfix buy a single Gulfstream scheduled for delivery in 2016. Timchenko would secure a private bank loan and then apply for guarantees of the repayment from Ex-Im Bank for a fee, according to Brand.
Additional emails show that the lobbyists' work on behalf of Timchenko dates to at least August 2011 and predates the talks with Ex-Im Bank.
In April of 2011, prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York issued subpoenas to employees at two Gunvor subsidiaries - U.S.-based Castor Americas, and Swiss-based Gunvor SA - "related to oil trading activities," according to a Gunvor bond prospectus earlier this year.
"Gunvor has cooperated with (the Department of Justice) in the investigation through our voluntary production of documents and other information," said Seth Pietras, a Geneva-based company spokesman. Patton Boggs has not worked for Gunvor itself, Pietras said.
A spokesman for the Eastern District of New York declined to comment on the case.
Ex-Im Bank carries out what it describes as in-depth due diligence on foreign buyers. The process can include working with U.S. law enforcement to conduct a background check and analysis of commercial or legal concerns.
James Harmon, a former Ex-Im Bank chairman, said the bank probably wouldn't have a problem funding "a Russian oligarch with ties to Putin," as long as he was creditworthy. But a U.S. investigation into Timchenko-linked companies that implicated Timchenko might complicate matters, he said. "Ex-Im would consider any findings by the (Justice Department)," Harmon said.
If Timchenko's company passed Ex-Im Bank's vetting, it would enable the oligarch to point to a form of U.S. government approval. The bank, a federal credit agency, promotes exports by backing foreign buyers with "the full faith and credit of the U.S. government," according to its website. It loaned or guaranteed funding of around $38.5 billion in 2012, including $600 million for business jets and helicopters.
Ex-Im Bank costs taxpayers nothing, spokesman Cogan said, and has paid dividends to the U.S. Treasury of $1.6 billion since 2008. Nonetheless, several Republican members of the U.S. Congress have sought to dissolve the bank, and have said its activities constitute "corporate welfare."
RAPID RISE
Timchenko formed Gunvor with a Swedish partner in 1999. The firm is now the world's fourth largest oil trader.
An information sheet the lobbying firm prepared describes him as "a global investor, who seeks to further invest in the United States - investments that could increase U.S. exports and U.S. jobs."
Gunvor ships oil and fuels to U.S. customers, trades on U.S. commodity exchanges, and owns coal-mining interests in Montana.
In the information sheet, the lobbyists added: "Mr. Timchenko has found himself at the receiving end of unfounded allegations that have triggered caution on his part in further investments in the United States."
Timchenko hired Patton Boggs through Ivanyan & Partners, a law firm in Moscow that represents the billionaire, said Brand in an email. Ivanyan & Partners paid Patton Boggs $50,000 last quarter for lobbying in the U.S. Senate, according to a July 21 record submitted to Congress.
Emails and meeting notes viewed by reporters show at least three top Patton Boggs partners and registered lobbyists - Laurence Harris, Nick Allard and Joseph Brand - worked to promote Timchenko's businesses. Harris and Allard did not respond to requests for comment.
Spokesman Pietras said Gunvor is striving to show transparency, citing the firm's 359-page prospectus for its first-ever corporate-bond sale as an example. In May, Gunvor sold bonds worth $500 million amid robust demand from private banks. This week, Gunvor announced a 225 million-euro ($299 million) financing deal with GE Capital.
(Corrects which company reproduced report on website in paragraph 18)
(Reporting by Joshua Schneyer in New York and Brian Grow in Atlanta; Editing by Simon Robinson, Richard Woods and Michael Williams)
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Unfortunately, we were remiss in wishing our French readers a happy Bastille Day. July 14th is their day of national independence and France was instrumental in our fight for independence. Each year the French celebrate with a large parade in Paris. Enjoy this year?s parade.
Once again, we apologize for missing Bastille Day. Vive La France!
Tags: France
Source: http://soldiersystems.net/2013/07/31/bastille-day-parade/
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