http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-01/police-raid-offices-monaco-firm-accused-bribing-worlds-oil-producers

Two days ago we brought you excerpts from a Huffington Post investigative report on Unaoil, a previously obscure Monaco company that allegedly functions as a kind of Bribery Incorporated for state actors looking to curry favor with the world’s oil exporters.

A treasure trove comprising “hundreds of thousands” of leaked e-mails and documents led Huff Post and Fairfax Media to publish an expose on the “jet-setting Ahsani clan” which apparently has links to nearly every producing country on the planet and knows just which palms to grease when Western governments need to make inroads."They rub shoulders with royalty, party in style, mock anti-corruption agencies and operate a secret network of fixers and middlemen throughout the world’s oil producing nations," Huff Post wrote, on the way to documenting the Ahsani family's connections to Bashar al-Assad, Muammar Gaddafi, and the regime in Tehran, among other governments.

Pictured below are Ata Ahsani and his two sons, Cyrus and Saman. Apparently, the family is worth more than $200 million which Huff Post reckons makes them part of the "global elite." The shady family business has been certified by anti-corruption agency Trace International which the Post rightly says "raises serious questions about the worth of such international accreditation."
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"[The company creates] political instability, turns citizens against their own governments, and fueled the rage that would erupt during the Arab Spring – and be exploited by terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL)," Huff Post claims. In other words, they do exactly what the US government does - only they don't screw it up.

Calling John Perkins...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-01/saudi-arabia-plans-2-trillion-megafund-to-dwarf-all-its-rivals

Over a five-hour conversation, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman laid out his vision for the Public Investment Fund, which will eventually control more than $2 trillion and help wean the kingdom off oil. As part of that strategy, the prince said Saudi will sell shares in Aramco’s parent company and transform the oil giant into an industrial conglomerate. The initial public offering could happen as soon as next year, with the country currently planning to sell less than 5 percent.

Buying Buffett and Gates

The sale of Aramco, or Saudi Arabian Oil Co., is planned for 2018 or even a year earlier, according to the prince. The fund will then play a major role in the economy, investing at home and abroad. It would be big enough to buy Apple Inc., Google parent Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. -- the world’s four largest publicly traded companies.

Too Late?

The question is whether the reaction to the more than halving in the price of a barrel of crude has come too late, especially given the Saudi influence over the oil market. The country will only freeze output if Iran and other major producers do so, the prince said.

An International Monetary Fund study in 2014 noted there were “many examples of failure” by countries trying to reduce reliance on energy production and few successes. Gulf Arab monarchies may have missed their best chance when oil prices were above $100 a barrel rather than about $40 now.

more

HFTs beware!

http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/us-air-force-modifies-cruise-missiles-to-carry-electromagnetic-pulse-generators--to-destroy-electronics-from-a-distance/news-story/f1898c65dd851fe23f2fca578db83b2b

THE United States Air Force wants to fry your phone. And your computer. And your car. It’s investing millions into modifying missiles into weaponised microwave ovens.

The devastating power of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) has long been associated with nuclear war.

It’s a flash of raw electromagnetic energy through the atmosphere that fuses delicate electronics into irreparable smoking scrap.
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It’s going to be named CHAMP (Counter-electronics High-power microwave Advanced Missile Project)

The idea is for the long-range cruise missile to weave its way over a predesignated flight path, blasting out up to 100 pulses of disabling electromagnetic energy.