The hunt for the Islamic State killers of British and American hostages has been hampered by Edward Snowden’s leaks about western spycraft according to claims reported in The Times on September 6. The Times report says intelligence officials, MPs and academics said revelations about the ability of GCHQ, the government’s eavesdropping centre, and America’s National Security Agency to intercept emails, …

The auditor of failed lender OPI Pacific Finance has cut a $6.25 million deal with the firm’s receiver after losing a bid to strike out parts of the case earlier this year. ASX-listed Crowe Horwath, which acquired Lower Hutt-based Sherwin Chan & Walshe as a member firm, settled the claim by OPI receiver Colin McLoy of PwC, it said in a statement …

Wall Street advanced, as did the US dollar, after Federal Reserve policy makers kept their pledge to maintain interest rates near zero for a “considerable time” after the end of its monthly bond-buying program. “‘Considerable time’ sounds like it is a calendar concept, but it is highly conditional and it is linked to the committee’s assessment of the economy,” Fed …