Good morning,
(As always I will list original source articles at the end of the newsletter)
Pandora Papers
Some 35 current and former leaders and more than 300 public officials are featured in the files from offshore companies, dubbed the Pandora Papers.
They reveal King Abdullah of Jordan has some 100 million dollars worth of UK and US property. But was this amassed illegally as the papers suggest? King Hussein already had foreign properties including in Palm Beach before his death. His son would have had a considerable fortune left to him. But journalists are playing the off shore holdings as something shady and that will raise questions of corruption in Jordan.
The case against former British P.M. Tony Blair is even more blurry. Tony Blair and his wife saved £312,000 in stamp duty when they bought a London office. The couple bought an offshore firm that owned the building. But there is nothing illegal about buying the offshore vehicle that owns a UK property. It’s quite common in fact and many sellers insist on it. But is it ethical for a politician to avoid higher taxes? That’s a ‘pandora’s box’ for Blair.
The case against the leader of Azerbaijan is much more severe and part of revelations how prominent and wealthy people have been legally setting up companies to secretly buy property in the UK.
The documents reveal the owners of some of the 95,000 offshore firms behind the purchases. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his family, who have been accused of looting their own country as the investigation found the Aliyevs and their close associates have secretly been involved in property deals in the UK worth more than £400m.
And the documents reveal a $22 million chateau in the French Riviera purchased through offshore companies by the Czech Republic's populist prime minister, who has railed against the corruption of economic and political elites.
At least $11.3 trillion is held "offshore", according to a 2020 study by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. More to come on people named in the papers.
Georgia Elections
Georgia, the tiny neighbour of Russia, held national elections over the weekend marred in allegations of fraud and outside influence. Mikheil Saakashvili who once led the Country and who was living in Ukraine, was arrested Friday when he tried to return to the Country in an attempt to influence elections. He is being held on charges of corruption. And the ruling Georgian Dream Party is claiming victory in the vote.
Blinken To Paris
Anthony Blinken the U.S. Sec. of State will arrive in Paris this week for a meeting of the Paris based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, but he will run into the backdraft of anger from the French over the AUKUS submarine deal to Australia.
Why did President Biden and British P.M. Johnson cut the French out of conversations to supply Australia with nuclear submarines and create and schism between NATO allies?
Look, all this talk of submarines and China in the Indo Pacific is confusing multi layers stuff. But, on Back Story w/Dana Lewis podcast this weekend an interview with former British submarine commander and Ret Rear Admiral John Gower on why nuclear submarines, and does this deal promote nuclear proliferation around the world now? Yes it does in a very dangerous way.
Part 2 of Back Story also features an interview on the partial collapse of the global supply link. Huge story and get used to shortages!
Here’s the link:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/9292698
Taiwan
China has rattled Taiwan over the weekend sending more than 80 fighter/bomber aircraft across the Taiwan strait and threatening once again to use force in its quest for reunification.
The U.S. which under Trump and Biden has increased open support for an independent Taiwan warned China against provoking Taiwan, and the Taiwanese foreign minister said his Country is ready to defend itself against China.
China’s Evergrande
The missed debt interest payments, by one of the largest property companies in the World China’s Evergrande has been rattling markets with the question what if the company fails?
It now appears there will be an announcement today about a partial buyout of the company. With liabilities equal to 2% of China’s GDP, Evergrande has sparked concerns its woes could spread through the financial system and reverberate around the world.
Covid Pill
The drug maker Merck has announced a pill that will cut hospitalizations and death from Covid in half. That as deaths in the U.S. topped 700 thousand since the pandemic began and health officials continued to get unvaccinated Americans to get the jab.
The Merck Molnupiravir pills could be available by the end of this year.
Have a good Monday everyone. And please subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/10/03/georgia-opposition-alleges-election-fraud-a75194
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/oct/03/pandora-papers-biggest-ever-leak-of-offshore-data-exposes-financial-secrets-of-rich-and-powerful
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/03/us/politics/antony-blinken-france-submarine.html
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1500426/taiwan-minister-china-war-attack-australia-partnership-latest-news-ont
https://www.ft.com/content/802e9d29-9ae4-441a-871c-edb8277dc7e2