Scott Neuman

Toronto Mayor: 'I Do Not Use Crack Cocaine'

Scott Neuman — Fri, 24 May 2013 23:25:00 +0000

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford says he doesn't smoke crack cocaine and isn't an addict, in response to a video that surfaced recently purporting to show him using the illegal drug.

Last week Ford called the cellphone video obtained by The Toronto Star "ridiculous" and blamed the newspaper for "going after me."

Friday's comments from Ford were more emphatic.

"I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine," he said at a news conference.

Hedge Fund Manager Apologizes For Comments On Female Traders

Scott Neuman — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:44:00 +0000

Billionaire Paul Tudor Jones is back-peddling from remarks he made at a symposium last month that motherhood causes women to lose the necessary focus to be successful traders.

"As soon as that baby's lips touched that girl's bosom, forget it," Jones told an audience at the University of Virginia on April 26.

"Every single investment idea ... every desire to understand what is going to make this go up or go down is going to be overwhelmed by the most beautiful experience ... which a man will never share, about a mode of connection between that mother and that baby," he said.

Ex-Guatemalan President Extradited To U.S.

Scott Neuman — Fri, 24 May 2013 19:42:00 +0000

Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo has been extradited to the United States, where he faces charges of laundering tens of millions of dollars through U.S. banks.

Portillo, who served as president from 2000 to 2004, was snatched from a hospital bed in Guatemala City, where he was recovering from liver surgery. He was placed on an airplane bound for New York, according to his lawyer, Mauricio Berreondo.

The former president is accused of laundering $70 million in Guatemalan funds through U.S. banks.

News Corp. Board Approves Company Split

Scott Neuman — Fri, 24 May 2013 18:12:00 +0000

Media empire News Corp., parent of Fox and The Wall Street Journal, will be cleaved into two businesses starting June 28: a publishing arm and one for entertainment.

The plan was first announced a year ago. As we reported at the time:

"News Corp.

Boy Scouts Vote To Admit Openly Gay Members

Scott Neuman — Thu, 23 May 2013 23:02:00 +0000

The Boy Scouts of America has agreed for the first time to allow openly gay boys as members, but a vote of the organization's National Council left in place a ban on gay Scout leaders.

The Associated Press reports that of the local Scout leaders voting at their annual meeting in Texas, more than 60 percent supported the proposal. The policy change approved by the 1,400-member National Council would take effect Jan.