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Berlin wants to get rid of the dilapidated former country house of Joseph Goebbels. The state is offering the villa on Lake Constance for free to those who want to cover the sky-high maintenance and security costs. Otherwise, the building will be demolished, Berlin Finance Minister Stefan Evers said in the state parliament this week.
Goebbels, Hitler's Propaganda Minister, had the villa built in 1939 on a 17-hectare plot of land, about forty kilometers north of Berlin. He had received the land as a gift from the city in 1936. He used the villa for extramarital affairs and entertained Nazi leaders there. The villa has been empty since the beginning of this century. Berlin repeatedly tried to transfer the building to the federal government or the state of Brandenburg, where it is located, but they were not interested in that either. In 2016, commercial sales were abandoned for fear that the place would end up in the wrong hands and develop into a place of pilgrimage for the extreme right. This week, Minister Evers called for new proposals for the building that do justice to its versatile history. That history is not limited to Nazism. After Goebbels and his wife committed suicide in Berlin in 1945, the villa fell into the hands of the Red Army, which handed it over to the East German communist youth movement. After expansion with various buildings in Stalinist style, the complex was used as a training center for many years. The former villa served as a supermarket for students and as a daycare center. After the fall of the wall in 1989, the building housed a training center for social workers, a conference center for the Berlin police and catering establishments, until it finally became vacant. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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China’s gold Markets under Strain4/17/2024 April has been a busy month for the Hualin International Jewelry Market in Guangzhou. A scrum of eager buyers has descended upon the venue, looking to join a new gold rush as prices soar and the precious metal takes on new life as a vehicle for investment.
Standing out as one of the few bets considered safe in China at present – with stocks, property and banking having lost their lustre in an environment of heightened uncertainty – gold has not only attracted new buyers, but also provided opportunities for the country’s middle class and youth tocash out. The Guangzhou market, originally known for its bustling jade and jewellery trade, has been “flooded” with newly opened gold stores, with dozens emerging according to a store owner earlier this week. “The number of customers is also increasing day by day,” said the owner, who asked not to be identified by name. “Sometimes it feels like a crowded wet market.” Rapid price changes have made for a mercurial scene. “From the beginning of the year until now, there have been customers buying gold bars for tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of yuan,” he said. “But since the current price is extremely high, consumers are becoming cautious. Most of the new customers are buying products with lower grams.” “Today’s buy-back price is 554 yuan (US$77) per gram,” the merchant said. “Just now, a lady who got married last year sold me the gifts she received at her wedding, including necklaces, pendants and bracelets.” The retail price for gold from major brands, including Chow Tai Fook and Chow Sang Sang, had risen to over 730 yuan per gram as of Friday, a multi-year high. Previous monthly peaks were observed at around 630 yuan per gram in January and 600 yuan per gram in December. The People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, bought 160,000 ounces of bullion in March to bring its total reserves to 72.74 million ounces – its 17th consecutive monthly purchase according to official data – as the nation seeks to diversify its holdings away from US bonds amid frayed bilateral ties. China is also intensifying its search for more stockpiles of the valuable substance. China News Service reported on April 7 that a large deposit was discovered in the Qaidam Basin in the north-western province of Qinghai, providing a trove of 43.2 tons valued at over 20 billion yuan (US$2.8 billion). A weekly curated round-up of social, political and economic stories from China and how they impact the world. By submitting, you consent to receiving marketing emails from SCMP. Data from the Ministry of Commerce showed that during this year’s Lunar New Year holiday period sales of gold and silver jewellery – mainly gold – increased by 24 per cent year on year. Gold prices have been hitting historic highs in markets around the world. In New York, the price of gold futures contracts for delivery in June hit an all-time high of US$2,384.5 per ounce on Tuesday. Some owners of gold or its derivatives are following the market closely, prepared to cash out at any moment. “I started buying paper gold at around 300 yuan per gram and have been holding it until now,” said Li Yue, a Guangzhou-based investor. “People started to hoard gold out of concerns over a lack of access to manage their wealth and an excess in money supply.” Paper gold is an instrument for investors who are interested in buying and selling the metal under pre-set contractual terms. It does not involve physical delivery of the metal itself. Wariness over the timing of interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve is a factor in the erratic price swings, Li said, and financial regulators have repeatedly warned of price volatilities in the domestic gold market The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan has been sentenced to death for Vietnam's biggest ever fraud case. State media report this.
According to the court, 67-year-old Lan is guilty of embezzlement, bribery and fraud worth 304 trillion dong, almost 12 billion euros. That is about 3 percent of Vietnam's national income. According to the judge, Lan had pocketed billions from the Saigon Commercial Bank. She used the bank to provide loans to thousands of fake companies in Vietnam and abroad. Friendly business associates also received loans from the bank. The method led to a loss of billions for the bank. She also bribed government officials and violated banking regulations. In addition to the death penalty, she was also sentenced to twenty years in prison twice. According to her lawyer, she will appeal against the sentence. According to the Vietnamese judge, Lan's actions not only led to violations of the property rights of Vietnamese people, but "also undermined Vietnam's confidence in the leadership of the Communist Party and the state." The party has had anti-corruption as a spearhead for years. The trial required 2,400 people to testify. Local media write that co-suspects have also been punished. The sentences range from a short suspended prison sentence to life in prison. Lan owned a 91.5% stake in Saigon Commercial Bank and, over the course of 10 years, ordered bank officials to approve more than 2,500 loans to shell companies she controlled, causing the bank to lose the equivalent of US$27 billion. Lan ordered subordinates to bribe auditors at the State Bank of Vietnam to cover her tracks. Head banking inspector Do Thi Nhan received $5.2 million in bribes, while deputy chief inspector Nguyen Van Hung received $300,000, state media said. Lan's fraud case led to an economic blow to Vietnam. After the arrest, account holders of the Saigon Commercial Bank withdrew their money en masse, fearing that the money would disappear. This led to the bank having to be nationalized. Vietnamese companies also lost billions of euros in market value in a short time due to unrest among investors. They wondered whether similar practices were happening at other Vietnamese companies. Lan's company developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping centers, among other things. The Vietnamese pawnbroker was arrested in 2022. In Vietnam, the usual method of execution is lethal injection. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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