The People Controlling the World's Money

This week we see nations and businesses busying themselves as the world around them changed.

Nations at Odds

We begin this week in Greece with the continuing drama over debt with the IMF raising a red flag initially but later saying they expect Greece to make the $1.7 billion payment by 30 June as Athens continues to negotiate with creditors. Greece, however, wasn't the only country arguing over public funds this week as anti austerity marches took place in London with celebrities joining the masses. Russia didn't have a great week either with Europe extending economic sanctions by 6 months due to the crises in the Ukraine.

Outside of financial crises we saw Australia reveal this week that it would join the China lead infrastructure bank as a founding member while in the States SCOTUS upheld Obamacare after another legal battle over the wording in the law. But while disputes and economic quandaries were fought it was revealed that the NSA had been targeting the business world with security companies in particular in order to create malware that could bypass their defenses.

The Business World

The business world would be rocked further with WikiLeaks releasing more Sony emails and documents showing a deal made with Apple and settlements made. Controversy didn't end there with businessman Donald Trump entering the race to be US President and making surprising progress even after controversial statements about immigrants resulting in Univision dropping Trumps Miss USA pageant. But while some controversies boiled over others were dealt with head on as many large retailers stopped selling confederate flag related items after the tragic events in Charleston last week.

Finally we end the week with the digital world of business, in particular the new streaming music industry where new comer Tidal lost it's interim CEO just months after losing a previous CEO but it's wasn't all bad news when Apple was confronted by pop princess Taylor Swift in an open letter condemning their plans to not pay artists resulting in a turn around where Apple agreed to pay artists during the 3 month trial period.

What Happened? 2014 Entertainment News

2014 was the year we celebrated achievements in the arts but also saw a darker side with threats and hacking into celebrities private lives.

Events

The movie world delivered the goods ready for when award season swung round with the Golden Globes hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler while Ellen took to the stage again to host the The Oscars and set the record for the most re-tweeted selfie. The Cannes film festival had it's moments including some on the red carpet and the best of British was celebrated at the BAFTA's.

In the world of music MTV brought outrageous celebrity moments with the MTV Movie Award's and the MTV VMA's while the Emmys and Billboard Music Award's celebrated musical skill and talent.

Actors

Celebrities stood up for a cause this year including Emma Watson and her UN speech along with celebrities who supported the protests in Ferguson while the ALS ice bucket challenge saw celebrities getting wet for a good cause.

The world said good bye to many entertainers this year but it was the tragic loss of beloved icons that brought things back to reality with Robin Williams shocking the world when he took his own life and Philip Seymour Hoffman who died of an overdose. While some made news for their stellar work and activism others made news for all the wrong reasons with Bill Cosby being accused of rape by multiple women and Woody Allen being accused of child molestation by his daughter, Dylan.

Under Attack

Hollywood came to a screeching halt after numerous celebrities had their iCloud devices hacked and the private intimate photo's released onto the web. The hack affected many big names including Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and Rhianna with Jennifer breaking her silence calling the attack a "sex crime".

Sony Entertainment was brought to it's knees when it was hacked and sensitive information was leaked to the media revealing the dirty side of business in Hollywood. The attack was believed to have been carried out by North Korea who were infuriated by "The Interview" which depicted the assignation of it's leader Kim Jong-un. After threats were made the movie was pulled from release but later reinstated after an uproar from the public for giving in to terrorist threats.

Santa's Naughty Spreadsheet

It was a short week in the business world with Christmas bringing Santa and his naughty list to town.

As the price of oil drops there has been a major impact on many of the large oil producers including Saudi Arabia which saw an increase in the budget deficit. But it was Russia which took the biggest knock thanks to the oil price and the impact of sanctions with it's currency the Rouble suffering initially only to stabilize and see inflation rise dramatically.

On the tax front Israel's Bank Leumi settled it's US tax charges and paid $400million along with handing over the details of it's clients but it was the Mississippi physician who was sentenced to 6 years after trying to scam the IRS by funneling his earning through a church that gets the biggest lump of coal.

After recent hacks there is the possibility of a sale of Sony studios along with it's Music Publishing Division and, speaking of dirty laundry, Uber has now been charged by South Korea for violating transportation law, just add that to the list of other legal action it's facing.

Finally, Target is facing a lawsuit from angry customers after the hacking incident last year while TripAdvisor has been fined $600,000 for false reviews by Italy's antitrust authority.