Every Wednesday you will find links and top-line summaries to current events around the globe.
Ousted Leader Returns To Honduras [New York Times]
- Three months after he was expelled in a dawn coup, the deposed president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, sneaked back into his country on Monday
- Since the coup, he has tried to return to Honduras at least twice. A week after the coup, he tried to fly into the Tegucigalpa airport, but soldiers massed on the tarmac and blocked his plane from landing
- At the time of his removal, Zelaya was planning a nonbinding referendum that his opponents said would have been the first step toward allowing him to run for another term in office, which is forbidden under the Honduran Constitution. Zelaya has denied any attempt to run for re-election. No country has recognized the de facto government
Santander, Verisk, and Omeros May Make $9 Billion IPO Week [Reuters]
- What could be the biggest U.S. IPO week in 18 months and is expected to raise up to $9.1 billion, took shape on Monday after Spanish bank Santander (SAN.MC), insurance risk specialist Verisk Analytics Inc (VRSK.O) and biotech Omeros Corp (OMER.O) set terms of initial public offerings next month
- Santander said the IPO for its Brazilian unit, Banco Santander (Brasil) SA, could raise up to $7.3 billion when it prices on October 6, the same date as the Verisk deal. It is set to list on the New York Stock Exchange and in Sao Paulo
- The last time a US.-listed IPO raised that much in one week was in March 2008 when credit card operator Visa Inc (V.N) went public in a $19.6 billion IPO. This week, eight IPOs — the most since December 2007 — are expected to raise $3.5 billion, the highest amount so far this year
Angola President Marks 30 Years In Power In Silence [Reuters]
- This week marks mark Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos’ three decades in power. The 67-year-old ruler, who never won an election, is set to default once again on a promise to hold a presidential vote this year. His party signaled this month that the election could take place only in 2012
- This came as a relief to investors in the oil and diamond producing nation, who credit dos Santos with presiding over peace, stability and double-digit economic growth ever since Angola’s brutal 27-year civil war ended in 2002
- Angola rivals Nigeria as Africa’s biggest oil producer and is the world’s fifth biggest diamond exporter. But two-thirds of Angolans live in poverty. He narrowly won the first round of Angola’s last — and only — presidential vote in 1992 but the controversial poll re-ignited the civil war that lasted until 2002
Dell To Acquire Perot for $3.9 Billion [BBC]
- Computer giant Dell is buying IT services provider and fellow Texan firm Perot Systems for $3.9bn. Dell said the takeover, which it hopes to conclude between November and January, will help it provide a wider range of services to its customers.
- The all-cash deal will see Perot shareholders receive $30 per share, a 68% premium on the company’s closing share price on Friday. Perot is owned by billionaire Ross Perot who twice ran for US president
- Perot specializes in IT support for the likes of hospitals, government departments, and banks, Dell is best known for its personal computers
45 Los Angeles Gang Members Rounded Up In Sweep [New York Times]
- More than a thousand police officers and federal agents, many in full body armor, swept through dozens of homes north of downtown Los Angeles before dawn on Tuesday, seeking members of one of the city’s largest and most violent street gangs known as ‘The Avenues’
- Officers arrested 45 of the 88 people named in a federal racketeering indictment detailing more than a decade of crimes that gang members are said to have committed, including murder, drug dealing and home invasion robberies. Thirty-three others were already in custody on unrelated charges, and 10 are still being sought
- One advantage of pursuing federal charges in the case, Deputy Chief Beck said, is that those convicted can be sent to prisons out of state, disrupting ties between the Avenues and the other Hispanic gangs that are a powerful presence in California prisons
Mexico Cartels Kidnap, Kill Migrants Headed to U.S. [Reuters]
- Traffickers armed with automatic weapons are snatching weary Mexican and Central American migrants on both sides of the border and holding them in cramped houses with little water or food until families pay ransoms of up to $12,000. The Mexican army and U.S. border officials say that those who cannot pay are killed, stripped and dumped in shallow graves in remote stretches of the desert frontier
- Tightened U.S. border security has boosted smuggling fees, and even without kidnap ransoms, immigrant smuggling generates $2 billion a year just in Arizona, U.S. officials say. As rival gangs wage a lethal war over drug routes into the United States, cartels are kidnapping each others’ immigrants or turning on their own clients, using them to smuggle drugs
- Many migrants are kidnapped on the Mexican side. Some make it to safe houses in U.S. cities such as Phoenix but are then prevented from leaving until they drum up more money. Others are abducted by rival gangs who storm the houses
Renault Handed Suspended F1 Ban [BBC]
- Renault have been given a two-year suspended ban from Formula 1 for their role in fixing last year’s Singapore Grand Prix. Former team boss Flavio Briatore has been banned from FIA-sanctioned events for an unlimited period
- During last year’s Singapore night race Piquet crashed on lap 14, two laps after Alonso had stopped for fuel and tires, and a safety car was deployed to control the field while the debris from the accident was removed from the track. Having already pitted in the race, the timing of the safety car – necessary while Piquet’s wrecked car was removed from the track – was critical to Alonso’s victory in Singapore
- Two major car manufacturers have pulled out of F1 in the last nine months, with Honda quitting last December and BMW announcing in July they would stop at the end of the year
- Who Runs The Global Economy? [BBC]
- Big Jump In South African Sex Offenses [BBC]
- Obama Calls For Mid-East Urgency [BBC]
- South Korea Says North Must Seize Diplomatic Chance [Reuters]
- Once Slave to Luxury, Japan Catches Thrift Bug [New York Times]
- First Woman Ascends To Top Drill Sergeant Spot [New York Times]
Source: The Economist
PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR ALL PREVIOUS HUMP DAY HEADLINES
