Sekadar mencari penjelasan, benar dan sahih kah surat ini? Yang dikatakan dari DR Zahid Hamidi kepada FBI berhubung kes penahanan rakyat Malaysia iaitu Phua Wei Seng aka Paul Phua yang dikatakan antara 'King Of Gambler' yang dikatakan terlibat dengan Kumpulan 14K Triad yang dikaitakan dengan jenayah perdagangan dadah, pengubahan wang haram serta perjudian haram. hasil selidikan google, ini adalah Phua Wei Seng aka Mr Paul Phua:
When FBI agents went into Villa 8882 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on the afternoon of July 9, they found Wei Seng Phua and his son watching the World Cup semifinal between the Netherlands and Argentina.
Phua, a regular at the Poker King Club inMacau where seven-figure pots are common, had flown in from the former Portuguese colony on his private jet two weeks earlier. He travels on a diplomatic passport from San Marino, hobnobs with the world’s top professional poker players, and according to the FBI, he’s a high-ranking member of a Hong Kong-based triad.
When the FBI entered their villa, the father and son and a third man had their laptops switched on to betting websites showing the live odds for the game and instant messaging windows. In two of the hotel’s adjacent villas, which rent for a minimum of $25,000 a night, investigators discovered other members of Phua’s group amid clusters of computers and monitors and three large-screen televisions showing soccer games.
During the Federal Bureau of Investigation raid, a woman working on a laptop was ordered to put her hands up. She raised one hand and continued typing on a betting website with the other, according to a criminal complaint filed by the U.S.
Photographer: Jacob Kepler/Bloomberg
Wei Seng Phua, a Malaysian citizen who also goes by Paul Phua, and his son are due… Read More
Phua, 50, a Malaysian citizen who also goes by Paul Phua, and his son are due today in federal court to answer to charges they ran an illegal gambling business out of the Caesars Palace villas. Phua and his associates, six of whom are set to be arraigned Aug. 7, were using the SBOBet and IBCBet sports betting websites, neither of which is licensed to operate in Nevada, to monitor odds and place bets, according to federal prosecutors.
Sport Betting
Those are the two biggest online sport betting commission businesses in the world, according to Chris Eaton, former head of security at soccer’s governing body FIFA. Eaton, now a director at Doha, Qatar-based International Centre for Sport Security, estimated that each company turns over about $2 billion a week.
Of more than 8,000 operators offering sports betting worldwide, most do so without obtaining authorizations required in the countries where their clients are located, making about 80 percent of all sports bets illegal, according to a May 2014 report by the Sorbonne University and International Centre for Sport Security.
David Chesnoff, Phua’s lawyer, said his client will plead not guilty “as loudly as possible.”
“He intends to vigorously defend the case,” Chesnoff said in a phone interview.
Poker Players
Phua and his 22-year-old son, Wai-kit Phua (aka: Darren Phua), are out on bail after two professional poker players posted $2.5 million in cash bonds and Phua’s $48-million Gulfstream G550 was secured as collateral. The poker players, Andrew Robl and Phil Ivey, who has won 10 World Series of Poker bracelets, are friends of Phua, Chesnoff said.
Phua’s lawyer described him as an “entrepreneur.” The Justice Department said in a court filing that he’s a high-ranking member of an Asian organized-crime group, the 14K Triad. Triads are involved in the illegal drug trade, money laundering, illegal gambling and extortion rackets.
Chesnoff denied the allegation, saying he wasn’t going “to dignify it with a response,” and said his client was a “complete gentleman.”
Phua at one point provided so-called junket services to the Macau subsidiary of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) He was the owner of Sat Ieng, a licensed operator that brought high rollers to the casino’s VIP rooms in exchange for a share of the turnover, according to a 2006 filing by Teem Foundation Group Ltd., a Hong Kong company that invested in Phua’s business.
When he was arrested last month, Phua told federal agents he was betting on the World Cup through someone in the Philippines named “Foo.” He also told them he has invested $200 million in the IBC website and that he had bet “between $200 million and $300 million in Hong Kong money” since arriving at Villa 8882 on June 23, according to the complaint. In a separate interview, Darren Phua said his father owns IBC.
Macau Run-In
The FBI raid in Las Vegas wasn’t the Phua’s first run-in with law enforcement over alleged World Cup betting.
He was arrested in June in Macau, together more than 20 other people, for operating an illegal sports book gambling business, U.S. prosecutors said. Phua and his associates handled “hundreds of millions of dollars” in illegal bets on World Cup games, the government said.
After his June 18 arrest, Phua posted bail in Macau and flew to Las Vegas on his private plane. He has a diplomatic passport from the Republic of San Marino, for which he is the ambassador toMontenegro, according to a July 14 court filing by his lawyer.
Phua and his associates from Malaysia, China and Hong Kong already had set up shop in Caesars Palace by then, according to U.S. prosecutors. They had rented Villas 8881, 8882 and 8888 earlier in June. The number 8 is a lucky number in Chinese culture and the tail number of Phua’s Gulfstream is N888XS, according to the complaint.
Electronic Equipment
The group aroused suspicion when they asked for an unusually large amount of electronic equipment and technical support, according to court documents. After casino electrical engineers had gone into one of the villas to set up equipment, they told security that it looked like an illegal gambling operation, with computers displaying betting odds similar to the screens at the casino’s sports book.
An undercover FBI agent went along with an IT technician to Villa 8882, the one occupied by Phua, on July 4 to set up a new laptop computer. The butler, also a hotel employee, refused to let them enter beyond the pantry, saying the guests didn’t want anyone to “see their business,” according to the criminal complaint.
The following day, two undercover FBI agents went to the villa, after an urgent request for help with the DSL connection right before the Belgium vs. Argentina game, and saw Phua clicking on the odds shown on the SBOBet site, which is licensed in Asia and Europe but not in the U.S.
In a search of his laptop after the raid, the FBI found a message from someone using name “byronchia” to Phua that said “Hi Boss.” It listed what agents calculated was a grand total of HK$2.75 billion ($357 million) in gambling for the World Cup through July 5, according to the criminal complaint.
Self-Surrender
Phua wasn’t immediately taken into custody after July 9 raid. He was arrested four days later in the lobby of the Palazzo hotel even though he had agreed to surrender, according to the July 14 filing by his lawyer.
Phua and his associates face as long as five years in prison if convicted of running an illicit gambling business and two years for unlawful transmission of wagering information, according to the U.S.
Gary Thompson, a spokesman for Caesars Entertainment Inc., declined to comment on the alleged gambling hub at the villas, which the government said was set up without the consent of the casino.
SBOBet said in a July 17 statement that neither Phua or the other defendants have any association with the ownership or management of the company. The company also said it doesn’t accept bets from the U.S. and that any alleged wagers placed by the accused on its site “could only have been made illegally.”
Representatives of Firstright Developments Ltd., a Philippine company that owns IBCBet according to its website, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on Phua’s involvement with IBCBet and his alleged use of the website in Las Vegas.
The case is U.S. v. Phua, 14-cr-00249, U.S. District Court, District of Nevada (Las Vegas). dan ini juga lagi maklumat berkaitan beliau "Free at last, free at last. Malaysian national Wei Seng ‘Paul’ Phua, the high-stakes poker player and reputed owner of Asian online gambling giant IBCbet, was (finally) released on bail late Monday. Phua, his son Darren and six other individuals had been arrested in Las Vegas earlier this month after reportedly running a FIFA World Cup online betting operation out of three high-roller villas at Caesars Palace. The indictment claims the ring handled as much as $360m in wagers – primarily from Asian bettors but at least some from US residents – before police turned off the taps.
Although Phua’s high-stakes poker buddies Phil Iveyand Andrew Robi had put up $2.5m in cash to enable Phua & Son to make bail, the accused pair was quickly re-detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials ahead of an expected deportation proceeding. Late Monday, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the Phuas had been released from ICE custody. The pair will reportedly wear GPS ankle bracelets while residing at the home of a Las Vegas doctor until there’s some kind of resolution to their legal difficulties. In addition to the $2.5m cash, the elder Phua has put up his $48m Gulfstream jet as collateral.
Many observers have wondered why Phua, who was among those arrested in June in Macau for what authorities called the biggest sports betting bust in the SAR’s history, chose to immediately fly to the United States (of all places) in order to continue his activities. The tantalizing suggestion has since emerged that Phua might have been relying on diplomatic immunity to ward off any fallout from his sports betting escapades.
On Tuesday, the South China Morning Post reported that Phua had been serving as the Republic of San Marino’s non-resident ambassador to Montenegro since February 1, 2011, an appointment that allowed him to hold a diplomatic passport. In June 2011, San Marino’s foreign minister told online news portal Libertas that Phua’s gaming ties would help bring about construction of a luxury hotel project in the Italian city-state, although no hotel was ever built.
It seems Phua’s diplomatic undoing came about because his status was never formalized, as Phua apparently never submitted his credentials to the appropriate authorities in Montenegro for approval. That ship has now sailed following Phua’s arrest in Macau, which prompted San Marino to rescind the nomination and ask Phua to return his passport.
Meanwhile, Ivey has reportedly pledged between $500k and $1m to bail out another suspect in the case. Court filings say Ivey is going to bat for 22-year-old Malaysian poker player Wai Kin Yong, whose 56-year-old father is also among those charged. Seng Chen ‘Richard’ Yong, who placed eighth in the inaugural Big One For One Drop super-high-roller tourney, is also a junket operator in Macau and is willing to post his own bail, provided the authorities allow him access to the $2m he reportedly has stashed in a Caesars Palace safe. US Magistrate Judge Bill Hoffman is expected to issue a decision on the Yongs’ incarceration later this week.
sumber: http://www.thewhistleblowers.org/
Admin sengaja mempaparkan cerita asal dalam Bahasa Inggeris bagi memastikan maklumat asal tidak disalah tafsirkan tentang maklumat yang didapati.
Cuma kemusykilan adalah, jika surat di atas adalah SAHIH, apa sebenarnya motif pembelaan Kerajaan Malaysia terhadap Mr Phua ini jika benar latar belakangnya adalah perjudian.
Tentu ada hubungan yang penting di antara orang penting kerajaan dengan Mr Phua ini.
US law firm says misappropriated ‘family money’ backed ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’
A Los Angeles-based law firm is charging that embezzled or misappropriated funds from a foreign nation – apparently Malaysia – were used to fund the Hollywood movie production and financing company Red Granite, which made the Oscar-nominated movie “The Wolf of Wall Street,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese.
The charge, by the law firm of Freedman & Taitelman, alleges that “family money” from Riza Aziz, the son of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s wife Rosmah Mansor, was used to create Red Granite. The company was founded in 2009 by Riza, whose full name is Shahriz bin Abdul Aziz, and Christopher "Joey" McFarland.
Riza Aziz is listed on Red Granite’s website as the company’s co-founder, chairman, and CEO.
The allegations follow on the heels of another story that appears to confirm that funds from a Malaysian sovereign fund, 1 Malaysia Development Bhd, better known as 1MDB, backed a vain 2011 attempt by flamboyant tycoon Jho Low, a close friend of Rosmah’s, to buy three prestigious London hotels including the iconic Claridge’s.
Penang-born Jho Low, 32, was also part of the entourage around “The Wolf of Wall Street,” even receiving an on-screen credit and “special thanks” from the movie’s producers.
“The Wolf of Wall Street” cost roughly US$100 million to make and is expected to gross as much as US$315 million from domestic and overseas sales, meaning that if the prime minister’s wife did front the money, she stands to make a healthy return.
Beyond charging that money from Malaysia funded Red Granite, the lawsuit is short on details. It doesn’t say who embezzled or misappropriated the funds, or how they were transferred from Malaysia to the US.
Brian Freedman, the lawyer leading the case, refused comment when Asia Sentinel contacted him by telephone.
It should be noted that Hollywood lawsuits often start out delivering spectacular charges and end up being settled quietly. Producer Alexandra Milchan also filed suit in 2010 against Red Granite, alleging she had been cut out of the deal to produce Wolf. Red Granite countersued and the two ended up settling, with Milchan getting an executive producer credit on the movie.
Rosmah married Najib in 1987 after she divorced her previous husband, Abul Aziz Nong Chik, with whom she had two children, one of them Riza Aziz.
Rosmah, once dubbed “the first lady of shopping” by the Sydney Morning Herald, has long been suspected in Malaysia of amassing a vast fortune under the table. In January 2013, a Kuala Lumpur-based carpet dealer named Deepak Jaikishan alleged that he had conducted US$985 million worth of quiet business dealings for the 61-year-old prime minister’s wife, although he didn’t say over what period, or deliver details for most of the transactions. He also published an e-book at that time that was mainly taken up with US$4 million worth of receipts for purchases he allegedly conducted for her through Hong Kong jewelers.
In the lawsuit, filed on behalf of movie producers Brad Krevoy and Steve Stabler, the law firm alleges that “Red Granite is funded with monies that include proceeds from offenses against a foreign nation that include bribery of public officials, or misappropriation, theft, or embezzlement of public funds by a public official.”
The plaintiffs, according to the lawsuit, “are informed and believe that public officials in Asia and the Middle East have taken bribes and/or misappropriated, stolen or embezzled funds, and that those ill-gotten funds have then been invested in Red Granite.”
Red Granite, the suit alleges, has “engaged in multiple financial transactions within the United States – including financing of ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ and then separately financing ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ with knowledge that the property involved represented the proceeds of illegal activity and with knowledge that the transactions were designed to conceal the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of the proceeds of the illegal activity,” all in violation of the US statute governing money laundering.
The defendants, according to the suit, “have used and invested the proceeds of their pattern of racketeering activity in the operation of Red Granite, in violation of the so-called RICO statute, which makes it illegal for any person who has received any income derived, directly or indirectly, from a pattern of racketeering activity.”
Despite citing the two provisions of federal law, there is no indication that Freedman & Taitelman has taken the allegations to US authorities.
Krevoy and Stabler, the producers of the original “Dumb and Dumber” movie starring Jim Carey and directed by the Farrelly Brothers, allege that Red Granite was seeking to squeeze them out of the production rights for “Dumb and Dumber To,” which was followed by “Dumb and Dumberer.”
In the pleading, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on March 25, the plaintiffs charge that “Red Granite has established a pattern of using Shahriz Bin Abdul Aziz's [Riza Aziz] family money to buy motion picture franchises from the studios that developed them and purporting to assume the studios' obligations relating to the franchises, but then reneging on contractual obligations.”
Krevoy and Stabler allege they had a written agreement with the original production company, New Line Cinema, that gave them right of first negotiation to produce sequels and/or remakes on terms at least as favorable as on the original, entitling them to the same compensation on a sequel as they were paid for the original.
The success of the original Dumber film generated huge overseas demand for a sequel, according to the complaint, as long it would star Carey and co-star Jeff Daniels, be directed by the Farrelly Brothers and produced by Krevoy, Stabler, and Charles Wessler.
But, the complaint alleges, despite an understanding that Krevoy and Stabler would be hired to produce the sequel, Red Granite made an attractive financial proposal to acquire the rights, which New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. accepted.
“Despite Plaintiff's substantial contribution to the Original and to the initial development of the Sequel, McFarland and Shahriz Bin Abdul Aziz caused New Line Cinema to wash its hands of Plaintiffs' agreement and Red Granite to renege on the obligations to Plaintiffs that it purported to assume from New Line Cinema and Warner Bros.”
The suit accuses Red Granite, McFarland and Riza Aziz of having “maliciously created this scheme to deprive plaintiffs of their contractual right to payment from New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. in connection with the sequel.”
The plaintiffs charge they are entitled to a minimum of $400,000 in compensation plus additional damages.
Kali ini admin ingin berkongsi gambar-gambar keslapan kejuruteraan yang memang melucukan dan lawak. Walau sehebat mana kita manusia, tidak pernah terlepas daripada kesilapan walaupun ia memang tidak patut berlaku.
When the all-new 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray arrives in September, there will be no shortage of buyers who will want to be among the first to get their hands on this latest iteration of the classic American sports car.
There’s a lot to be excited about with this ’Vette—thanks to an all-aluminum chassis (replacing the steel that makes up part of the structure of the current car), the car is able to accommodate new technology and safety features without adding to its weight. It also has a striking, contemporary look and will again be offered in both coupe and convertible body styles.
Chevrolet promises that this is the most powerful standard Corvette ever. It wrings out 460 hp and 465 ft lbs of torque from its 6.2-liter direct-injected V-8 and will be good for 0–60 mph acceleration in less than 4 seconds. The new engine has variable cam timing and cylinder deactivation that help improve on the current car’s EPA highway number of 26 mpg. This also means that the Corvette will again escape the gas-guzzler tax.
The Corvette has been an unqualified hit on the auto-show circuit; it was first shown as a coupe at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and then most recently as the convertible at the Geneva Motor Show. The roadster version features an automatic top that can be remotely raised and lowered via the key fob or while the car is in motion at speeds up to 30 mph.
So what’s the dilemma? Chevy says this is the most powerful standard Corvette ever, but it’s not the most powerful Corvette you can buy. That’s the 638 hp, $112,600 2013 ZR1 model, which is equipped with a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8. Or if that’s too rich, you can still buy a normally aspirated 7.0-liter 2013 Z06, which is good for 505 hp and starts at $75,600. Both those models have ceased production and will go away once the new car is launched. Do you wait for the new car that offers less performance but has features like a new 7-speed manual transmission? And how much will the premium on those cars, which will likely sell at or above the current starting price of $51,995 coupe for the coupe and $56,995 for the convertible? Maybe there’s a case for finding a Z06 or ZR1 on a dealer’s lot and doing a bit of hard bargaining. Decisions, decisions.
It sounds like an expensive cigar, but Diego Garcia is actually a United States military base that we technically rent from the United Kingdom. At 967 nautical miles south-southwest from the southern tip of India, it is more or less midway between Indonesia and the African continent. The US Navy operates its Naval Support Facility (NSF) there, which is a naval ship and submarine support base, military air base, as well as a communications and space-tracking facility.
It also includes a base of operations for the CIA. You’ll note there is no question mark at the end of this article’s title.
Why so few have postulated that this facility may have played a part in the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 may or may not seem odd at first blush given the circumstances: I mean, it’s not a secret base, though clandestine activities conducted there certainly would be. At any rate, I am told Diego Garcia is the location to which Flight 370 was diverted. My source has actually been to Diego Garcia, and assures me that you can land a Lockheed C-5 Galaxy there. Those are the military transport planes they load tanks aboard, and they’re just about the size of a Boeing 777.
At Diego Garcia, some 20 civilian technical personnel were removed from the aircraft for interrogation. On March 8, Reuters reported that 20 employees of U.S. chipmaker Freescale Semiconductor were passengers
Numbers suggest that the budget Android handset is going to be a big hit.
Officially launched at the Mobile World Congress in February, Nokia's Nokia X phones use a ‘forked' version of the Android operating system rather than the Windows Phone operating system of its new owner, Microsoft.
However, rather than plugging into Google's cloud services, such as the Google Play app store and Google search, the operating system instead points users to Nokia Here Maps and Microsoft's Bing search engine as well as a special Nokia developed app store.
Using Android was seen as a very controversial choice but Android allows Nokia to use cheaper hardware components to build the phone which in turn means a more affordable handset. The cheapest Nokia X phone is just €89.
And, according to Nokia's Weibo account, the gamble is paying off. The company has already received 1 million pre-orders for the handset in China, 11 days before it officially goes on sale.
Designed to win customers in emerging markets over to the Windows ecosystem, the handset is already on sale in Malaysia and will officially hit the shelves in India on Saturday. However, Nokia hasn't provided any details about pre-orders or demand for either country.
The search for a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner expanded today to cover a swathe of Southeast Asia, from the South China Sea to India's territorial waters, with authorities no closer to explaining what happened to the plane or the 239 people on board.
Vietnam briefly scaled down search operations in waters off its southern coast, saying it was receiving scanty and confusing information from Malaysia over where the aircraft may have headed after it lost contact with air traffic control.
Hanoi later said the search - now in its fifth day - was back on in full force and was even extending on to land. China also said its air force would sweep areas in the sea, clarifying, however, that no searches over land were planned.
The seas off India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands are also being combed for traces of the lost jet.
"We are expanding to the east of the expected route of the flight and on land," Lieutenant General Vo Van Tuan, Vietnam's deputy army chief of staff and spokesman for its search and rescue committee, told reporters.
The confusion over where to look is adding to one of the most baffling mysteries in modern aviation history, and prolonging the agonising wait for hundreds of relatives of the missing.
Flight MH370 dropped out of sight an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing early on Saturday, under clear night skies and with no suspicion of any mechanical problems.
Dozens of planes and ships have already searched tens of thousands of square miles of Malaysia and off both its coasts without finding a trace of the Boeing 777.
Adding to the frustration and uncertainty, Malaysia's military has said the plane could have turned around from its planned flight path, but there were conflicting statements and reports about how far and in which direction it could have flown after communication was lost.
Off course?
Malaysia's air force chief, General Rodzali Daud, denied saying military radar had tracked MH370 flying over the Strait of Malacca off the country's west coast, about 500km from the point, roughly midway between the east coast town of Kota Baru and Vietnam, where it was last seen by air traffic control.
Malaysia's Berita Harian newspaper on Tuesday quoted Rodzali as saying the plane was last detected at the northern end of the Strait of Malacca at 2.40am on Saturday, more than an hour after it lost contact.
"It would not be appropriate for the Royal Malaysian Air Force to issue any official conclusions as to the aircraft's flight path until a high amount of certainty and verification is achieved," Rodzali said in a statement on Wednesday.
"However all ongoing search operations are at the moment being conducted to cover all possible areas where the aircraft could have gone down in order to ensure no possibility is overlooked."
Indonesia and Thailand, which lie on either side of the northern part of the Malacca Strait, have said their militaries detected no sign of any unusual aircraft in their airspace.
The massive search operation involving ships and aircraft from 10 countries is spread out over the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea, which lie betweenMalaysia and Vietnam, and in the Strait of Malacca extending into the Andaman Sea.
An Indian foreign ministry official said Malaysia has sought its help in the search. India has a large military command in its Andaman and Nicobar islands and itsnavy patrols in the Malacca Strait.
One of several theories
A senior military officer who had been briefed on the investigation told Reuters on Tuesday that the missing aircraft had made a detour to the west after communications with civilian authorities ended.
"It changed course after Kota Baru and took a lower altitude. It made it into the Malacca Strait," the officer said.
After the comments from the officer, a non-military source familiar with the investigations said the reported detour was one of several theories and was being checked.
If the plane had made such a detour it would undermine the theory that it suffered a sudden, catastrophic mechanical failure, as it would mean it flew at least 500kmd after its last contact with air traffic control.
In the absence of any concrete evidence to explain the plane's disappearance, authorities have not ruled out anything. Police have said they were investigating whether any passengers or crew on the plane had personal or psychological problems that might shed light on the mystery, along with the possibility of a hijacking, sabotage or mechanical failure.
The airline said it was taking seriously a report by a South African woman who said the co-pilot of the missing plane had invited her and a female companion to sit in the cockpit during a flight two years ago, in an apparent breach of security.
"Malaysia Airlines has become aware of the allegations being made against First Officer Fariq Ab Hamid which we take very seriously. We are shocked by these allegations. We have not been able to confirm the validity of the pictures and videos of the alleged incident," the airline said in a statement.
The woman, Jonti Roos, told Reuters that she and her friend were invited to fly in the cockpit by Fariq and the pilot between Phuket, Thailand, and Kuala Lumpur in December 2011.
"I thought that they were highly skilled and highly competent and since they were doing it that it was allowed," Roos said. "I want to make it clear, at no point did I feel we were in danger or that they were acting irresponsibly."
Hugh Dunleavy, the commercial director of Malaysia Airlines, told Reuters there was no reason to blame the crew.
"We have no reason to believe that there was anything, any actions, internally by the crew that caused the disappearance of this aircraft," he said.
The Boeing 777 has one of the best safety records of any commercial aircraft in service. Its only previous fatal crash came on July 6 last year when Asiana Airlines Flight 214 struck a seawall on landing in San Francisco, killing three people.
US planemaker Boeing has declined to comment beyond a brief statement saying it was monitoring the situation. – Reuters, March 12, 2014.