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State Treasurer Phil Angelides' proposal to sell or lease idle state property and use the money for higher education has drawn fire from a taxpayers organization. A bill in the Senate Appropriations Committee would establish the California Hope Endowment, which would enact Angelides' idea of taking about $5 billion in state land and putting it in a trust. With a 6 percent return, the trust would generate $300 million for outreach, counseling, help with college preparation and scholarships, the treasurer asserted last week. "One of the biggest needs facing our state is to educate a work force who can compete...

SPOKANE, Wash. — A federal bankruptcy judge ruled today that all the parish churches, parochial schools and other property of the Catholic Diocese of Spokane can be liquidated to pay victims of sexual abuse by priests. The decision, expected to have ramifications for dioceses across the nation, was a defeat for Spokane Bishop William Skylstad, who had argued that he did not control individual parishes and thus they were not available to cover settlement costs. "It is not a violation of the First Amendment to apply federal bankruptcy law to identify and define property of the bankruptcy estate even though...

Bankruptcy judge rules parish assets available to victims The Associated Press   SPOKANE, Wash. — A federal bankruptcy judge ruled today that all the parish churches, parochial schools and other property of the Catholic Diocese of Spokane can be liquidated to pay victims of sexual abuse by priests. The decision, expected to have ramifications for dioceses across the nation, was a defeat for Spokane Bishop William Skylstad, who had argued that he did not control individual parishes and thus they were not available to cover settlement costs. "It is not a violation of the First Amendment to apply federal...

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration moved Friday to freeze the finances of Muhammad Yunis al-Ahmad, who is on a list of the most-wanted supporters of insurgent groups in Iraq. The Treasury Department's action means any bank accounts or financial assets belonging to him that are found in this country will be blocked. The government also is asking the United Nation's member countries to freeze al-Ahmad's assets. It's the latest effort by the administration to try to make it harder for insurgent groups in Iraq to get financial support. The department said al-Ahmad is currently a "financial facilitator" and "operational leader"...

Occupation authority said unable to account for $8.8 billion - The U.S. occupation authority in Iraq was unable to keep track of nearly $9 billion it transferred to government ministries, which lacked financial controls, security, communications and adequate staff, an inspector general has found. The U.S. officials relied on Iraqi audit agencies to account for the funds but those offices were not even functioning when the funds were transferred....

Chancellor Gordon Brown has ordered the Bank of England to freeze any UK assets of an alleged al Qaida supporter believed to be living in London in exile from Saudi Arabia. Mr Brown made the move against Sa'ad Al-Faqih and his Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia after he was named by the United Nations as an associate of al Qaida. The Treasury said in a statement: "The Chancellor today instructed the Bank of England, acting as HM Treasury's agent, to direct all UK financial institutions to freeze any funds held for or on behalf of the entity, the Movement...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has frozen the assets of two Saudi nationals for allegedly providing support to al Qaeda, and asked the United Nations to take similar action. The U.S. Treasury said on Tuesday it had listed the two men -- London-based dissident Saad al-Fagih and Adel Batterjee, another Saudi national -- as "specially designated global terrorists" for providing financial and material support to al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden. "The U.S. is submitting both names to the United Nations (Security Council) 1267 Committee, which will consider adding them to the consolidated list of terrorists tied...

Almost 18 years ago, Chile privatized its pension system, a move that eventually led to one of its most important cultural and economic transformations of the latter part of this century. Seven other Latin American countries have followed the Chilean example to some degree, and several others are considering such a move.

Editor's note: Readers may be interested in two related stories: "Invested in Terrorism" and "BBC: U.S. Damned if it does and damned if it doesn't". -ALJ Douglas Farah uncovered the story of al-Qaeda's involvement in West Africa's diamond smuggling while reporting on Africa for the Washington Post, which he described in Blood from Stones: The Secret Financial Network of Terror (New York: Broadway, 2004). Mr. Farah, now a consultant, freelance writer on terror finance and national security matters, and a senior fellow at the Consortium for the Study of Intelligence, addressed the Middle East Forum in New York City on...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Private equity funds are snapping up power plants and pipelines once sought by aggressive buyers like El Paso Corp. (NYSE:EP - News), Dynegy Inc. (NYSE:DYN - News) and Mirant Corp. (Other OTC:MIRKQ.PK - News) as these former industry heavyweights focus on repairing their businesses.CenterPoint Energy's (NYSE:CNP - News) sale of its Texas Genco Holdings Inc. (NYSE:TGN - News) electricity generator, announced last month, was the industry's largest deal this year. Like the more than $5 billion in other power deals this year, the buyers were financial groups that typically buy, fix up and sell assets in...

Teresa Heinz Kerry, through a network of investments in blue-chip corporations, venture capital funds and municipal bonds, controls a family fortune worth an estimated $1 billion, an analysis of public records shows. The $1 billion figure is double the estimates of her wealth that are widely cited in news stories about her husband, Sen. John F. Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. The couple would rank as the wealthiest to occupy the White House, far surpassing such storied presidential fortunes as the Kennedys'. Their assets are so vast and far-reaching that they mirror the U.S. economy and will probably...

WASHINGTON, Dec 24: The United States and Saudi Arabia have jointly moved to freeze the assets of two European offshoots of Muslim groups suspected of raising money for the Al Qaeda network, officials said on Wednesday. They designated the two groups as financiers of terrorism and asked for international sanctions against one of their managers. US and Saudi officials said the Bosnia-based Vazir and the Liechtenstein-based Hochburg AG have been fronting for entities already sanctioned by the international community. The ban on them has been imposed under a UN Security Council resolution that allows nations to act jointly to slap...

JAKARTA: Indonesia has frozen accounts of dozens of suspected Muslim militants and will comply with a new U.N. request to freeze assets of 20 people thought to be members of the Jemaah Islamiah network, officials said on Friday. The U.N. call to all members was requested by the United States, which put the same 20 names on its own asset freeze list last week. Most are Malaysian and Indonesian citizens. Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said Indonesian authorities had been ordered to investigate those on the list to find out if they had assets in the country. "First, they need...

WASHINGTON -- The United States announced on Friday it had ordered a freeze on the financial assets of 10 alleged members of the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) group. 'This designation is yet another important step in the ongoing effort by the international community to shut down JI terrorist opportunities in South-east Asia,' Treasury Secretary John Snow said. 'Today's action identifies 10 individuals at the heart of the network,' he said in a statement released here before giving a news conference on the action at an Asia-Pacific economic gathering in Phuket, Thailand. JI is blamed for a string of attacks...

GENEVA: Switzerland answered a U.S. request and ordered a freeze on any assets belonging to former Iraqi officials Wednesday, even though some Swiss officials complained that President George W. Bush is using the fight against terror to strengthen U.S. global "hegemony." The government said banks and financial institutions must report any funds linked to 55 Iraqi officials named on the U.S. most-wanted list, including former President Saddam Hussein and his two sons. The list was approved by the U.N. Sanctions Committee earlier this week. Switzerland had already ordered a precautionary freeze on Iraqi assets as a result of earlier U.N....

Mugabe gives nation's oil assets to Libya to secure fuel By Basildon Peta, Southern Africa Correspondent 27 June 2003 The President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, has mortgaged strategic oil assets to Libya in a desperate attempt to obtain fuel and overcome unprecedented shortages in his embattled country. The Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, has reportedly long wanted Zimbabwe's oil facilities as part of his plans to set up his own "imperial economic empire" in Africa. The assets, consisting of an oil pipeline that runs from Mozambique's port of Beira to Zimbabwe's eastern city of Mutare, and world-class oil blending and...

GENEVA - The global search for Saddam Hussein's riches is turning up Iraqi assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars in European and Middle Eastern banks, but little if anything has his name on it. "There's no way Saddam Hussein would have opened an account in his own name," said James Nason of the Swiss Bankers Association, whose members are required to report any suspicious accounts to the government of Switzerland. Lebanon, Britain and Switzerland have each found about half a billion dollars in Iraqi assets, but it is not clear to whom the money belongs beyond official Iraqi government...

August 22, 1998 Clinton's Letter to Congress on Freezing of bin Ladin Assets Text of letter from President Clinton to the leaders of Congress explaining why he ordered the freezing of all assets controlled by or affiliated with terrorist chieftain Usama bin Ladin. THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts) Dear Mr. Speaker: On January 23, 1995, in light of the threat posed by grave acts of violence committed by foreign terrorists that disrupt the Middle East peace process, using my authority under, inter alia, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.),...

WASHINGTON - The Treasury Department moved Friday to block the financial assets of Abdelghani Mzoudi, a suspected member of the al-Qaida cell in Germany that is believed to have planned the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Mzoudi is among the 17 new people — all foreigners — that the government added to its list of entities suspected of helping to bankroll Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network. The action by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control means that U.S. banks must block any assets found in the United States that belong to these people. Treasury said the 17 names have...

British Chancellor (Treasury Secretary) Gordon Brown Thursday instructed UK financial institutions to freeze all assets belonging to the Al-Aqsa Foundation, after intelligence reports linked the organization with "terrorist activity," the British prime ministry said. The action has been taken after consultations with the United States and other international allies, it added. Commenting on the issue, Brown said: "Recent terrorist atrocities in Saudi Arabia and Morocco show that we must remain constantly vigilant and bear down strongly on terrorism and the people who fund it. Today's action, taken in coordination with our international allies, will ensure that no UK funds belonging...