European Union adopts blacklist of 17 tax havens

European Union finance ministers adopted on Tuesday a blacklist of tax havens which includes 17 extra-EU jurisdictions seen as not cooperative on tax matters, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.

American Samoa, Bahrain, Barbados, Grenada, Guam, South Korea, Macau, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Namibia, Palau, Panama, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and United Arab Emirates are the countries listed, officials said.

Le Maire said that other 47 jurisdictions are included in a public "grey" list of countries that are currently not compliant with EU standards but have committed to change their tax rules.

Following multiple disclosures of offshore tax avoidance schemes by companies and wealthy individuals, EU states launched a process in February to list tax havens in a bid to discourage setting up shell structures abroad which are themselves in many cases legal but could hide illicit activities.

Blacklisted countries could lose access to EU funds. Other possible countermeasures will be decided in coming weeks, Le Maire said.

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Guam receives nasty jolt as radio stations mistakenly issue emergency alert

Guam residents received a nasty jolt on Tuesday after two radio stations accidentally issued emergency warnings to indicate an imminent threat or attack, at a time when the US territory is already on edge over North Korean threats to fire missiles into nearby waters.

Several concerned listeners were reported to have called police after the stations triggered the Emergency Alert Broadcast System, issuing "a civil danger" warning at 12:25 am that was later confirmed to be a mistake.

North Korea had said it would finalise plans by mid- August on whether to fire missiles at Guam in response to "fire and fury" threats from US President Donald Trump.

But Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Tuesday reported that Kim had examined the plans but made no move towards an immediate strike.

"Residents and visitors are reminded to remain calm," said Guam's homeland security adviser George Charfauros.
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Japan sets up missile defence over North Korea threat to Guam

Japan is deploying its Patriot missile defence system after North Korea threatened to fire ballistic missiles over the country towards the US Pacific territory of Guam, reports said on Saturday.

Regional tensions are mounting as Washington and Pyongyang ratchet up their war of words, with President Donald Trump warning Pyongyang would "truly regret" any hostile action against the US.

The defence ministry started deploying the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) system in Shimane, Hiroshima and Kochi in western Japan, which Pyongyang warned could be along its missiles' flight path, public broadcaster NHK said.

It was also to deploy the anti-missile system in neighbouring Ehime, NHK said.

Television footage showed military vehicles carrying launchers and other equipment for the surface-to-air system entering a Japanese base in Kochi before dawn.
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North Korea threatens missile strike near US territory Guam: Reports

North Korea on Wednesday said that it is considering strikes near US strategic military installations in Guam with its intermediate range ballistic missiles, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

The threat comes days after the US Security Council levied new sanctions on North Korea over its growing nuclear arsenal.

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