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BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - A Chinese court has frozen the personal assets of two journalists at the China Business News after Apple iPod contract manufacturer Foxconn sued the two following a report on work conditions at its factory, the Shanghai Daily reported. The paper said that Foxconn's subsidiary in Shenzhen petitioned the city's Intermediate People's Court in early July to freeze the property of China Business News reporter Wang You and editor Weng Bao. The locked-up assets include apartments, a car and bank accounts, according to the report. Foxconn has also filed a lawsuit against the journalists, seeking 20 mln yuan...

WASHINGTON: The Bush administration has indicated it is prepared to form an independent coalition to freeze Iranian assets and restrict trade if the United Nations Security Council fails to penalise Tehran for its nuclear enrichment programme, The Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday. A Security Council resolution gives Iran until Aug.31 to stop uranium enrichment, which could provide fuel to produce electricity or possibly atomic weapons, or face penalties. US Ambassador John Bolton said in an interview late this week that the United States planned to introduce a resolution imposing penalties such as a travel ban and asset freeze for...

SHANGHAI, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Fuyao Group Glass Industries Co. Ltd. (600660.SS: Quote, Profile, Research), China's biggest auto glass maker, is set to bid for North American glass making assets of Ford Motor Co. (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research), two sources familar with the matter said. Automotive Component Holdings LLC, a parts subsidiary of Ford, is discussing the sale of glass manufacturing operations and other assets as part of the U.S. auto maker's restructuring. Fuyao has held two rounds of talks with Ford and has been selected to submit a final bid for the glass assets, a source told Reuters. The...

This is the pension squeeze companies aren't talking about: Even as many reduce, freeze or eliminate pensions for workers -- complaining of the costs -- their executives are building up ever-bigger pensions, causing the companies' financial obligations for them to balloon. Companies disclose little about any of this. But a Wall Street Journal analysis of corporate filings reveals that executive benefits are playing a large and hidden role in the declining health of America's pensions. Among the findings: • Boosted by surging pay and rich formulas, executive pension obligations exceed $1 billion at some companies. Besides GM, they include General...

US blocks Hariri suspects' assets A massive car bomb targeted Mr Hariri's motorcade in Beirut US President George W Bush has ordered a freeze on the assets of anyone linked to the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri. The order called for the assets to be blocked of anyone linked to the Hariri killing - or to "terrorist acts" in Lebanon in which Syria is implicated. Mr Bush said the order was based on UN findings against Lebanon and Syria. A UN probe has implicated top Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies in the February 2005 attack on...

New York - The Forbes 2000 is not only a comprehensive list of the world's largest, and most powerful, public companies. It is also unique in its way of measuring corporate size. Our logic for using sales, profits, assets and market value in a composite ranking: a list based on a single metric provides a lopsided view of which companies are most important to the world's economy.

U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris continued her attempt to take her campaign to national television and to add religious overtones to her quest for a U.S. Senate seat with an appearance on ABC News "Nightline" Tuesday. Harris told John Donvan, of "Nightline," that she intends to sell all her personal assets to fund the race. "My husband has real estate, but I will not own anything." Since making a pledge last week to put $10 million of her money into the race, Harris has made the phrase "putting everything on the line" a new campaign theme. "I am willing to take...

Confusion over Iran 'assets move' Iran has broken the seals on three nuclear facilities There is confusion over whether Iran is moving foreign exchange reserves from Europe to avoid possible sanctions, after conflicting remarks by officials. The deputy head of Iran's central bank has said that Iran has no plans at the moment to shift its money. But Iranian news agencies reported on Friday that the bank head had said the state had started to withdraw assets, amid a row over its nuclear programme. Iran denies US and European claims that it is seeking to build nuclear weapons. The UN's...

The Massachusetts Department of Revenue began notifying 48,000 taxpayers yesterday that they owe capital gains taxes on the sale of assets that occurred nearly four years ago, outraging consumer advocates and business leaders who called the retroactive taxation plan unfair.

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...