Turkish bank appeals Iran sanctions decision to US Supreme Court
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Turkey's Halkbank asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower court ruling saying it can be prosecuted for allegedly helping Iran evade American sanctions, a U.S.-based lawyer for the bank said on Monday.
The Supreme Court had given Halkbank until Monday to file a petition appealing the October 22, 2024, decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan allowing the prosecution.
In a letter to the appeals court, Halkbank's lawyer Robert Cary said the bank has filed the petition. The petition was not available on the Supreme Court's website. Cary did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Halkbank pleaded not guilty to fraud, money laundering and conspiracy charges over its alleged use of money servicers and front companies in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to evade sanctions.
U.S. prosecutors said Halkbank helped Iran secretly transfer $20 billion of restricted funds, converted oil revenue into gold and cash to benefit Iranian interests, and documented fake food shipments to justify transfers of oil proceeds.
Brought in 2019, the case has been a thorn in U.S.-Turkey relations, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan calling it an "unlawful, ugly" step.
The countries' ties have soured in the last decade, amid disagreements on Syria, Ankara's ties with Moscow and other matters.
But on Monday, Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump each said they had a very productive phone call earlier in the day, and had invited each other to their respective countries.
Halkbank's case is making a second trip to the Supreme Court.
In 2023, that court said Congress' desire to shield foreign countries and their instrumentalities from civil liability under the federal Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 did not cover criminal cases.
But in a 7-2 decision, it said the 2nd Circuit should more fully review whether common law immunity shielded Halkbank, leading to last October's ruling.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
20 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Newsom blasts Trump's arrest threat as ‘unmistakable step toward authoritarianism'
President Donald Trump on Monday endorsed the idea of arresting California Gov. Gavin Newsom over the state's resistance to federal immigration enforcement efforts in Los Angeles, intensifying a clash that has already drawn legal challenges and fierce rebukes from Democratic leaders. 'I would do it if I were Tom,' Trump said, referring to Tom Homan, his border czar, who over the weekend suggested that state and local officials, including Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, could face arrest if they interfered with immigration raids. 'I think it's great. Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing,' Trump added. Trump's remarks signal a sharp escalation in the administration's crackdown on sanctuary jurisdictions and a willingness to target political opponents in unprecedented ways. Newsom responded swiftly, calling Trump's words a chilling attack on American democratic norms. 'The President of the United States just called for the arrest of a sitting Governor,' Newsom wrote on X. 'This is a day I hoped I would never see in America. I don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican this is a line we cannot cross as a nation — this is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.' Tensions escalated sharply after Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles following days of civil unrest related to Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. The deployment marked the first time a president has federalized a state's National Guard without the governor's consent since 1965. Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced plans to sue Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, alleging the deployment was unlawful. 'Federalizing the California National Guard is an abuse of the President's authority under the law,' Bonta said at a press conference. 'There is no invasion. There is no rebellion.' Meanwhile, David Huerta, president of SEIU California, was charged with felony conspiracy to impede an officer after his arrest during the L.A. protests. Despite the furor, legal experts note that Homan lacks the authority to arrest elected officials, and his role remains advisory. Still, Trump's rhetoric has raised alarms among critics who view his comments as part of a broader pattern of undermining democratic institutions. 'This is a preview of things to come,' Newsom warned in an interview with Brian Taylor Cohen that he shared on social media. 'This isn't about L.A., per se,' the Democratic governor added. 'It's about us today, it's about you, everyone watching tomorrow. This guy is unhinged. Trump is unhinged right now, and this is just another proof point of that.' At a news conference held by lawmakers in Sacramento to discuss the protests in Los Angeles, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, said Trump's threat to arrest Newsom is a 'direct assault on democracy and an insult to every Californian.'
Business Upturn
21 minutes ago
- Business Upturn
PensionBee Survey Reveals Nearly Half of Americans Have Less Than One Year of Retirement Savings
NEW YORK, June 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Nearly one in three Americans (30%) couldn't survive more than six months on their retirement savings if they had to stop working tomorrow, while 42% have less than one year of savings total, according to new data from PensionBee's Q2 Happy Retirement Report. Just one in ten Americans believes they can live off their savings for 10 years or more. These findings reveal more than a retirement problem—they expose a survival crisis hiding in plain sight. With traditional pensions declining and Social Security facing potential cuts, Americans across all generations are more dependent on personal savings than ever before. Yet most are lacking basic financial resilience. 'Low saving levels among older workers are particularly troubling,' said Romi Savova, CEO of PensionBee. 'In an economy where companies are cutting costs and older workers often face the longest unemployment periods, inadequate savings isn't just about retirement, it's about basic survival. Too many people are one layoff away from being forced into a retirement they can't afford. With AI poised to reshape entire industries, this financial vulnerability becomes an existential threat for millions of American families.' The Actions Behind the Numbers But here's what separates financial confidence from financial fantasy: specific, measurable actions. The survey reveals that confidence isn't built on hope—it's built on behavior. Among respondents who feel 'very positive' about retirement, 61% have structured retirement plans, half with professional guidance, and 25% have consolidated multiple accounts. In stark contrast, just 9% of Americans who feel 'very negative' about retirement have any structured retirement planning in place. Americans who felt 'very negative' about their retirement were also twice as likely (41%) to have delayed saving until age 30, compared to just 20% of those who reported a 'very positive' outlook. The data reveals the specific actions that separate confident savers from worried ones: starting early, maximizing employer benefits, consolidating old retirement accounts, and, when it makes sense, working with financial advisors. These aren't just nice-to-haves—they're the foundation of financial security in an uncertain economy. Retirement Preparedness Across Generations Gen Z: Building Financial Foundation Despite Early Challenges At 43%, Gen Z reports the second-highest retirement optimism, yet their behavior suggests financial vulnerability. Nearly one in five (19%) have already taken hardship withdrawals from retirement accounts—a concerning trend for a generation just starting their careers. However, they're also the most proactive: 25% plan to seek financial advice this year, and 29% are embracing online planning tools. Their challenge isn't awareness—it's building financial resilience while navigating an increasingly expensive economy. Millennials: Navigating Multiple Financial Priorities Millennials show clear signs of economic pressure from competing priorities. They report the lowest retirement confidence (41%) and are most likely to be managing student debt, aging parents, and childcare. Nearly one in four (22%) cash out their 401(k)s when changing jobs, compared to just 14% of Baby Boomers. Having entered the job market during the Great Recession, many developed financial habits that prioritize immediate needs over long-term wealth building. At 29%, they're most likely to delay starting retirement savings, missing crucial years of compound growth. Gen X: Managing Time Constraints and Competing Demands Gen X faces significant time pressure: 36% have less than one year of savings with fewer than 10 years until retirement age. Supporting both aging parents and college-bound children, they're working to build adequate retirement funds within a compressed timeframe. Further, only 23% consistently contribute enough to receive full employer matching funds, representing missed opportunities that could meaningfully improve their retirement outlook. Baby Boomers: Confident Outlook with Limited Savings Baby Boomers report the highest optimism (51%), though this confidence may not fully align with current retirement trends showing later retirement ages and continued reliance on part-time work. Despite being around retirement age, nearly half (49%) of Baby Boomers reported having five years or less of savings. This generation's optimism reflects a different economic era—one with pensions, affordable healthcare, and more predictable career paths. What Comes Next Despite these challenges, the survey reveals reason for optimism: half of Americans plan to increase contributions this year, suggesting growing awareness of the problem. 41% of Americans reported a positive retirement outlook in Q2—down over 10% from Q1's survey . This declining confidence seems to reflect not only the market volatility but perhaps a growing awareness that individual effort alone cannot solve a systemic problem. 'The widespread lack of retirement preparedness we're seeing isn't something workers can solve alone,' added Savova. 'Employers have a critical role beyond just offering a 401(k). When workers are cashing out accounts during job changes and missing employer matches, that's a clear signal that current benefit structures aren't working. We need to reform our system and take active steps: automatic enrollment, better education, and support systems that help departing employees preserve their savings rather than lose them.' About PensionBee PensionBee is a leading online retirement provider, helping people easily consolidate, manage, and grow their retirement savings. The company manages approximately $8 billion in assets and serves over 275,000 customers globally, with a focus on simplicity, transparency, and accessibility. Survey Methodology* Participation Details: The survey data was gathered and sent out by Attest between May 9, 2025 and May 13, 2025 to a total of 1,000 Americans across the 18 – 100 age groups. Voluntary Participation: Participation in the survey was voluntary. Respondents were free to decline participation or skip any questions they chose not to answer. Your investment can go down as well as up. This survey is provided solely for informational and educational purposes and should not be relied upon as sole decision-making tools. Nothing presented here constitutes tax, legal, financial or investment advice. This information does not take into account the specific financial, legal or tax situation, objectives, risk tolerance, or investment needs of any individual investor. All information provided is based on publicly available data and research at the time of posting. This information, and any associated customer testimonial or third party endorsement, does not constitute an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell any securities or investments. Your investment is at risk. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Media Contact: Adela McVicarSR PR Manager [email protected]
CNET
22 minutes ago
- CNET
CNET's Tariff Price Tracker: What I've Found Watching 11 Key Products for Changes
A trade court has ruled Trump's tariff barrage illegal, but the possibility that prices could climb remains real. James Martin/CNET I've been keeping tabs on several popular products on a daily basis for CNET's tariff impact tracker, watching for price hikes amid President Donald Trump's import tax agenda. Most prices I've been looking at have remained stable so far, aside from notable increases for the Xbox Series X and a budget-friendly 4K TV, and the occasional discounts during big sale periods, which is currently the case for some popular earbuds and an affordable soundbar. With all that said, the broader impacts of these import taxes are still on the horizon, unless a trade court ruling against them gets to stay in place. The Trump administration has, unsurprisingly, decried this ruling -- which said Trump had no authority to set tariffs as he has been -- and moved swiftly to request that the Supreme Court strike it down. We'll see how that ultimately plays out but, for now, the possibility that the president's tariff policies will lead to price hikes remains likely. That's why I'm continuing to monitor several key products you might want or need to buy soon, to keep track of the potential tariff impacts. CNET Tariff Tracker Index Above, you can check out a chart with the average price of the 11 products included in this piece over the course of 2025. This will help give you a sense of the overall price changes and fluctuations going on. Further down, you'll be able to check out charts for each individual product being tracked. We'll be updating this article regularly as prices change. It's all in the name of helping you make sense of things so be sure to check back every so often. For more, check out CNET's guide to whether you should wait to make big purchases or buy them now and get expert tips about how to prepare for a recession. Now Playing: Should You Buy Now or Wait? Our Experts Weigh In on Tariffs 09:42 Methodology We're checking prices daily and will update the article and the relevant charts right away to reflect any changes. The following charts show a single bullet point for each month, with the most recent one labeled "Now" and showing the current price. For the past months, we've gone with what was the most common price for each item in the given month. In most cases, the price stats used in these graphs were pulled from Amazon using the historical price-tracker tool Keepa. For the iPhones, the prices come from Apple's official materials and are based on the 128-gigabyte base model of the latest offering for each year: the iPhone 14, iPhone 15 and iPhone 16. For the Xbox Series X, the prices were sourced from Best Buy using the tool PriceTracker. If any of these products happen to be on sale at a given time, we'll be sure to let you know and explain how those price drops differ from longer-term pricing trends that tariffs can cause. The 11 products we're tracking Mostly what we're tracking in this article are electronic devices and digital items that CNET covers in depth, like iPhones and affordable 4K TVs -- along with a typical bag of coffee, a more humble product that isn't produced in the US to any significant degree. The products featured were chosen for a few reasons: Some of them are popular and/or affordable representatives for major consumer tech categories, like smartphones, TVs and game consoles. Others are meant to represent things that consumers might buy more frequently, like printer ink or coffee beans. Some products were chosen over others because they are likely more susceptible to tariffs. Some of these products have been reviewed by CNET or have been featured in some of our best lists. Below, we'll get into more about each individual product, and stick around till the end for a rundown of some other products worth noting. iPhone 16 The iPhone is the most popular smartphone brand in the US, so this was a clear priority for price tracking. The iPhone has also emerged as a major focal point for conversations about tariffs, given its popularity and its susceptibility to import taxes because of its overseas production, largely in China. Trump has reportedly been fixated on the idea that the iPhone can and should be manufactured in the US, an idea that experts have dismissed as a fantasy. Estimates have also suggested that a US-made iPhone would cost as much as $3,500. Something to note about this graph: The price listed is the one you'll see if you buy your phone through a major carrier. If you, say, buy direct from Apple or Best Buy without a carrier involved, you'll be charged an extra $30, so in some places, you might see the list price of the standard iPhone 16 listed as $830. Apple's been taking a few steps to protect its prices in the face of these tariffs, flying in bulk shipments of product before they took effect and planning to move production for the US market from China to India. This latter move drew the anger of Trump again, threatening the company with a 25% tariff if they didn't move production to the US, an idea CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly shot down in the past. This came after Trump gave a tariff exemption to electronic devices including smartphones, so the future of that move seems in doubt now. Apple's flagship device is still the top-selling smartphone globally, as of Q1 of this year, although new research from the firm Counterpoint suggests that tariff uncertainty will cause the brand's growth to stall a bit throughout the rest of 2025. Duracell AA batteries A lot of the tech products in your home might boast a rechargeable energy source but individual batteries are still an everyday essential and I can tell you from experience that as soon as you forget about them, you'll be needing to restock. The Duracell AAs we're tracking are some of the bestselling batteries on Amazon. Samsung DU7200 TV Alongside smartphones, televisions are some of the most popular tech products out there, even if they're an infrequent purchase. This particular product is a popular entry-level 4K TV and was CNET's pick for best overall budget TV for 2025. Unlike a lot of tech products that have key supply lines in China, Samsung is a South Korean company so it might have some measure of tariff resistance. Xbox Series X Video game software and hardware are a market segment expected to be hit hard by the Trump tariffs. Microsoft's Xbox is the first console brand to see price hikes -- the company cited "market conditions" along with the rising cost of development. Most notably, this included an increase in the price of the flagship Xbox Series X, up from $500 to $600. Numerous Xbox accessories also were affected and the company also said that "certain" games will eventually see a price hike from $70 to $80. Initially, we were tracking the price of the much more popular Nintendo Switch as a representative of the gaming market. Nintendo has not yet hiked the price of its handheld-console hybrid and stressed that the $450 price tag of the upcoming Switch 2 has not yet been inflated because of tariffs. Sony, meanwhile, has so far only increased prices on its PlayStation hardware in markets outside the US. AirPods Pro 2 The latest iteration of Apple's wildly popular true-wireless earbuds are here to represent the headphone market. Much to the chagrin of the audiophiles out there, a quick look at sales charts on Amazon shows you just how much the brand dominates all headphone sales. Earlier in the year, they tended to hover around $199 on the site, a notable discount from its $249 list price, but the price is currently the much more enticing $169, so move fast if you want an affordable pair. (Or maybe just wait for the rumored AirPods Pro 3.) HP 962 CMY printer ink This HP printer ink includes cyan, magenta and yellow all in one product and recently saw its price jump from around $72 -- where it stayed for most of 2025 -- to $80, which is around its highest price over the last five years. We will be keeping tabs to see if this is a long-term change or a brief uptick. This product replaced Overture PLA Filament for 3D printers in this piece, but we're still tracking that item. Anker 10,000-mAh, 30-watt power bank Anker's accessories are perennially popular in the tech space and the company has already announced that some of its products will get more expensive as a direct result of tariffs. This specific product has also been featured in some of CNET's lists of the best portable chargers. While the price has remained steady throughout the year, it is currently on sale for $13, or 50% off, for a limited time. Bose TV speaker Soundbars have become important purchases, given the often iffy quality of the speakers built into TVs. While not the biggest or the best offering in the space, the Bose TV Speaker is one of the more affordable soundbar options out there, especially hailing from a brand as popular as Bose. This product has been one of the steadiest on this list in terms of price throughout the year, but it's currently on sale for $199, potentially as part of Amazon's Memorial Day sale. So, if you're looking for an affordable, tariff-free TV speaker, now might be the time. Oral-B Pro 1000 electric toothbrush They might be a lot more expensive than their traditional counterparts but electric toothbrushes remain a popular choice for consumers because of how well they get the job done. I know my dentist won't let up on how much I need one. This particular Oral-B offering was CNET's overall choice for the best electric toothbrush for 2025. Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Lenovo is notable among the big laptop manufacturers for being a Chinese company making its products especially susceptible to Trump's tariffs. Starbucks Ground Coffee (28-ounce bag) Coffee is included in this tracker because of its ubiquity -- I'm certainly drinking too much of it these days -- and because it's uniquely susceptible to Trump's tariff agenda. Famously, coffee beans can only be grown within a certain distance from Earth's equator, a tropical span largely outside the US and known as the "Coffee Belt." Hawaii is the only part of the US that can produce coffee beans, with data from USAFacts showing that 11.5 million pounds were harvested there in the 2022-23 season -- little more than a drop in the mug, as the US consumed 282 times that amount of coffee during that period. Making matters worse, Hawaiian coffee production has declined in the past few years. All that to say: Americans get almost all of their coffee from overseas, making it one of the most likely products to see price hikes from tariffs. Other products As mentioned before, we occasionally swap out products with different ones that undergo notable price shifts. Here are some things no longer featured above, but that we're still keeping an eye on: Nintendo Switch: The baseline handheld-console hybrid has held steady around $299 most places -- including Amazon impending release of the Switch 2 remains to be seen. This product was replaced above with the Xbox Series X. impending release of the Switch 2 remains to be seen. This product was replaced above with the Xbox Series X. Overture PLA 3D printer filament: This is a popular choice on Amazon Here are some products we also wanted to single out that haven't been featured with a graph yet: Razer Blade 18 (2025), 5070 Ti edition: The latest revision of Razer's largest gaming laptop saw a $300 price bump recently, with the base model featured an RTX 5070 Ti graphics card now priced at $3,500 ahead of launch, compared to the $3,200 price announced in February. While Razer has stayed mum about the reasoning, it did previously suspend direct sales to the US as Trump's tariff plans were ramping up in April. Asus ROG Ally X: The premium version of Asus's Steam Deck competitor handheld gaming PC recently saw a price hike from $799 to $899, coinciding with the announcement of the company's upcoming Xbox-branded Ally handhelds.
