Day: December 19, 2016

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked Credit Suisse to pay between $5 billion and $7 billion to settle a probe over its sale of toxic mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, a source with knowledge of the matter said, but the bank has resisted settling for that amount. The size of the suggested settlement indicates that the cost to the bank may be higher than analysts had expected and explains why Credit Suisse management has been pushing for a smaller penalty. “Credit Suisse is confident of…

Composed by a refugee who fled Syria, ‘Safar na Ala Europa’ tells a common story. One afternoon in August, a group of 12 schoolchildren gathered for a music lesson in a converted shipping container in an abandoned paper-towel factory on the outskirts of Thessaloniki, Greece. Most were from Syria. The girls sat on one side of the narrow aisle running down the length of the classroom, the boys on the other. They ranged in age from about six to 13. They took turns coming up to the front of the…

  Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has shied away from aggressively regulating the spate of fake news on his network, putting more emphasis on getting users to flag it instead. Now the German government has its own idea for reining in Facebook’s fake news problem, by making it pay 500,000 euros ($522,000) per fake news post. The German government is planning a law that will levy fines on Facebook, and it comes amid fears that viral fake news stories could affect national elections there in 2017. “If after the relevant checks Facebook does not immediately, within 24 hours, delete the offending…

Last week the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa adopted a €37 million package to increase the protection of migrants and boost effective migration management in North Africa. The package specifically targets Libya, Tunisia and Morocco. In Libya, this new EU funding will help protect and assist the most vulnerable migrants, such as the persons rescued at sea and disembarked in Libya, which will also include help for their host communities. In Tunisia, the program will address the root causes of migration by strengthening the creation of economic opportunities and,…