Elizabeth Warren pitches new constraints on private equity

WASHINGTON – White House hopeful Elizabeth Warren is proposing new regulations on the private equity industry, pitching constraints designed to end what she decries as “legalized looting” by investment firms that take over troubled companies. The proposal by Warren, D-mass., would hold private equity firms liable for debts and pension promises made by the companies they buy up. It would restrict the firms’ ability to pay dividends as well as high fees that shift money out of acquired companies.

NEW YORK – A federal appeals court upheld the securities fraud conviction against former drug company CEO Martin Shkreli on Thursday, along with a $7.3 million forfeiture of assets. A judge sentenced Shkreli to seven years in prison last year for his conviction on charges he looted a drug company he founded, Retrophin, of $11 million in stock and cash to pay back investors in two failed hedge funds he ran. Earlier, Shkreli was best known for buying the rights to a lifesaving drug and raising the price from $13.50 to $750 per pill.

WASHINGTON – Actress Sally Field and the long-running children’s TV show “Sesame Street” are in the latest class of Kennedy Center Honors recipients. Others chosen to receive the award for lifetime achievement in the arts include singer Linda Ronstadt, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and the musical group Earth, Wind and Fire. The recipients announced Thursday will be honored during a gala ceremony in early December. President Donald Trump has skipped the past two celebrations, once after threats of a boycott if he attended.

GOMA, Congo – Congolese soldiers and police will enforce hand-washing and fever checks now that the deadly Ebola outbreak has been declared an international health emergency, authorities said Thursday. Soldiers and police will “force” people who resist taking the key steps to help contain the disease that has killed more than 1,600 people in the past year, said Dr. Aruna Abedi, the outbreak response coordinator at Congo’s health ministry. Abedi spoke in Goma, where the first new Ebola case was announced this week.