Polls due to open in Alderney by-election
Nominations opened on 14 February and closed at 16:00 on 21 February.Nigel Vooght, formerly the island's most senior politician, resigned in December and States member Bruce Woodhead quit in January.
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Reuters
4 hours ago
- Reuters
Growing trend: State AGs making investigations public
August 20, 2025 - State Attorneys General wield considerable influence through their bully pulpits, which they utilize in various ways to impact policy and corporate behavior. This article delves into a recent trend of State AGs publicizing when they initiate an investigation. As State AGs shift from traditional confidential inquiries to public disclosures, companies must adapt to mitigate potential repercussions. Traditionally, State AGs kept confidential their investigations into private companies and only publicized the existence of an investigation when the issues involved a substantial emergency or when a lawsuit had been filed or a settlement had been reached. In fact, many states have codified this custom by rendering subpoena responses exempt from open records laws, despite the presumption that records should generally be made available to the public. State AGs have recently voiced frustration with this traditional process. Keeping investigations confidential may result in companies not taking the investigations seriously and may limit the State AGs' ability to share with constituents (i.e., voters) the actions being taken to protect them. Conversely, many State AGs believe that attention from publicizing an investigation incentivizes companies to respond and to prioritize a quick settlement. Revealing a State AG's accusations can increase a company's public relations exposure, thereby forcing a company to choose between cooperation or the risk that accusations of bad corporate behavior become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Such incentivized cooperation has led to prompt settlements in several cases. For example, the Texas AG publicly announced its investigation, opens new tab into General Mills for allegedly misrepresenting certain products were "healthy," and it quickly resulted in a settlement, opens new tab just one month after the announcement. Publicizing an investigation typically occurs via a press release and perhaps an accompanying press conference. Texas and Montana are among the states that have recently followed this strategy. In fact, their releases include a link to the subpoenas and timelines by which the investigated party must respond. Publicizing an investigation is not always a winning strategy. State AGs can only publicize an investigation once, and publicizing right away means they lose the leverage to publicize (or threaten to publicize) later. Further, if a State AG announces an investigation, a company may presume that the state has already reached a conclusion about its actions, which may disincentivize a company's cooperation. The increasing trend of publicizing investigations highlights the political nature of State AG offices. State AGs are powerful figures, but they routinely leverage their positions as stepping stones to higher office. Consequently, so long as State AGs remain political figures, we expect them to use every tool available, including publicizing investigations, to advance their causes. Parties on the receiving end of this tactic must move quickly to minimize the fallout. Below are a few recommendations for managing such crises. Before taking any action, a company must understand why a State AG believed that it was appropriate and necessary to publicize an investigation. With this information, a company can better strategize its response, ensuring that it is responsive to the office's actual concerns. For instance, a company's responses differ if an investigation is prompted by a more policy-oriented issue as compared to an investigation driven by an increase in consumer complaints. The source of the concern can also allow a company to assess the regulator's goals. Therefore, the company can determine whether such concerns are limited to that state (e.g., a hospital merger), whether the concerns will be prioritized by other regulators of the same political party (e.g., ESG), or whether the concerns are a nationwide issue (e.g., consumer protection). Companies should assess whether similar issues have attracted attention from other State AGs, federal agencies, or international regulators. Additionally, analyzing recent trends in enforcement actions and settlements in the industry can provide insights into how regulators are likely to respond. By gaining a comprehensive view of the regulatory environment, companies can better anticipate challenges and opportunities, allowing them to craft a defense strategy that minimizes risks and aligns with broader compliance goals. When a state announces that it has opened an investigation, third parties, such as plaintiff's counsel, are likely to issue public records requests seeking the contents of the investigation — both during the investigation and after a resolution is reached. Accordingly, investigated companies must proactively determine the confidentiality protections that state law affords them. Numerous state statutes guarantee the confidentiality of subpoena responses, but the strength of those protections vary. For instance, some state laws require a State AG to keep subpoena responses confidential, while others provide the State AG with discretion to share the responses. In many states, the confidentiality protections afforded to a company's responses during the course of an investigation do not exist after the investigation concludes. This is why negotiating confidentiality agreements, prior to the production of responsive documents, is so important. Insisting on a confidentiality agreement provides an opportunity to negotiate an array of confidentiality issues, including who can view the responsive documents, with whom those documents may be shared, and what notice the company receives before any information is shared. Confidentiality agreements also provide the company an opportunity to tease out whether other investigations are occurring under the surface. When negotiating a confidentiality agreement, companies should consider the possibility that this information may be shared with other regulators and, in turn, used to facilitate additional investigations without the company's knowledge. Even if a company negotiates an airtight confidentiality agreement, a state's publication of an investigation means additional scrutiny from federal, state, and local regulators. It also means private lawsuits, where applicable, are likely to follow. Companies benefit by proactively establishing a plan to defend against lawsuits and investigations on multiple fronts, mindful that responses to one action may impact the outcome in others. Companies may find it more difficult to reach a resolution when a State AG publicizes an investigation and additional scrutiny follows. This is because if a company agrees to make changes or reach a resolution, other regulators and the plaintiff's bar may interpret that concession as proof that the investigation has merit and/or that the company is not inclined to vigorously litigate the issue. If a resolution is contemplated, the foremost goal is to assess the likelihood that such resolution will make it more or less likely that the company is able to achieve global peace. As a result, when entering into a settlement, a company should prepare a risk matrix of all regulators and private plaintiffs that could take subsequent action. This risk matrix should analyze the relevant statutes of limitation and historical instances where that regulator has entered into a settlement that post-dates an initial settlement from another regulatory body.
Reuters
6 hours ago
- Reuters
Early findings show military drone fell in Poland, prosecutor says
OSINY, Poland, Aug 20 (Reuters) - An object that hit and scorched a corn field in eastern Poland was a military drone, according to the preliminary findings of an investigation, a Polish prosecutor said on Wednesday. Poland has been on high alert for objects entering its airspace since a stray Ukrainian missile struck the southern Polish village of Przewodow in 2022, killing two people. "Examination of the explosion indicates that the ... object is most likely a military drone," Lublin regional prosecutor Grzegorz Trusiewicz told reporters. He said it was probably damaged by explosives. Police had earlier announced that an unidentified object had fallen in a field in the village of Osiny in the eastern Lublin province, just over 100 km (62 miles) from the Ukrainian border and around 90 km from Belarus. State news agency PAP cited a person close to the defence ministry as saying that the drone had no warhead, contained only a small amount of explosives, and was most likely a decoy. Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, who serves as defence minister, said the incident bore similarities to cases in which Russian drones flew into Lithuania and Romania, and that there could be a link to efforts to end the war in Ukraine. "In this analysis we should not rule out a connection between the ongoing peace talks in the United States, inspired by President Trump, and the provocative actions of the Russian Federation," he said. The Russian embassy in Warsaw did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. U.S. President Donald Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and a group of European allies in the White House on Monday, following his meeting on Friday in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The blast shattered windows in several homes, but nobody was injured, PAP reported. Police said they found burnt metal and plastic debris at the site and that corn had been burnt in an area of 8-10 m (26-33 ft) diameter around the spot where the object fell. "I was sitting in my room at night, around midnight, maybe, and I heard something just bang," local resident Pawel Sudowski told local news website "It exploded so loudly that the whole house simply shook." Air raid sirens rang out for about an hour over the border in Ukraine's Volyn and Lviv regions from around midnight local time (2100 GMT), according to messages from its military posted on Telegram. There were no reports of air attacks in those regions, their governors said.
Reuters
8 hours ago
- Reuters
Gold gains on softer dollar ahead of Fed minutes, Jackson Hole summit
Aug 20 (Reuters) - Gold rose on Wednesday, buoyed by a softer U.S. dollar, as investors looked towards the minutes of the Federal Reserve's July meeting and the Jackson Hole symposium of central bankers this week for cues on further rate cuts. Spot gold was up 0.8% at $3,341.89 per ounce, as of 1300 GMT, after touching its lowest level since August 1. U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 0.8% to $3,385.80. The U.S. dollar index (.DXY), opens new tab was down 0.1% after it hit a more than one-week high earlier in the session. "Gold could see a slight lift prior to Jackson Hole, should the FOMC minutes show that the dissenting voices at the previous Fed policy meeting were louder than envisioned," said Han Tan, chief market analyst at investment trading platform Fed chair Jerome Powell is due to speak at the central bank's annual research conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday. Minutes of the Fed's July meeting, due later on Wednesday, were anticipated to offer further insights into the central bank's economic outlook. Gold typically performs well when interest rates are low and during times of economic and geopolitical uncertainty. "Precious metals should remain supported by lingering concerns over geopolitical risks and global economic concerns stemming from slowing trade," Tan added. On the international front, U.S. President Donald Trumpruled out deploying ground troops to Ukraine on Tuesday but suggested air support could be part of a deal to end Russia's war against its neighbour. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this week's White House talks were a "major step forward" towards ending the conflict and setting up a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump. Elsewhere, spot silver rose 0.6% to $37.61 per ounce, while platinum gained 1.9% to $1,331.05. Palladium was up 0.7% at $1,122.93 after falling to its lowest level in six weeks earlier in the session.
