Report blasts US banks’ physical commodities operations

FINANCIAL TIMES: Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley exposed themselves to catastrophic financial risks, environmental disasters and potential market manipulation by investing in oil, metals and power plant businesses, according to a Senate report. The findings of the two-year probe by the Senate permanent subcommittee on investigations said the banks’ involvement in physical commodities put […]

Comet landing: Organic molecules detected by Philae

BBC: Carbon-containing “organics” are the basis of life on Earth and may give clues to chemical ingredients delivered to our planet early in its history. The compounds were picked up by a German-built instrument designed to “sniff” the comet’s thin atmosphere. Other analyses suggest the comet’s surface is largely water-ice covered with a thin dust […]

Street battles rage after Jerusalem attack

ALJAZEERA: Pitched street battles are being fought in Jerusalem in the aftermath of a deadly attack on a synagogue that killed five Israelis, with Palestinian youths facing off Israeli security forces across the tense city. In the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Jabal al-Mukaber – the hometown of the two Palestinians who carried out the attack […]

Keystone pipeline vote fails in US Senate

FINANCIAL TIMES: A cross-party push for the $7bn Keystone XL oil pipeline failed on Tuesday as lawmakers seeking to press President Barack Obama into approving it could not muster enough votes in the US Senate. The planned pipeline would carry oil from Canada to the US and has become a proxy for a bigger political […]

North Korea Acts to Stop U.N. Resolution on Rights

NEW YORK TIMES: Worried about a looming United Nations vote on human rights that could possibly lead to criminal charges — or at least acute humiliation — North Korea has countered in recent weeks with an unusually robust mix of diplomacy, denials and threats. Over the past four weeks, the North has released all three […]