Thursday, August 2, 2012

'Richard III' goes to prisons, senior centers

'Richard III' goes to prisons, senior centers

'Richard III' goes to prisons, senior centers

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 01:10 PM PDT

This Monday, July 30, 2012 photo shows actor Ron Cephas Jones playing Richard III in a performance of the Shakespeare play at the Taconic Correctional Facility in Bedford Hills, N.Y. The Public Theater's stripped down production, performed by a nine-member cast that play some 20 roles, has made more than 15 stops across the city, from a recreation center on Staten Island to a facility for homeless adults with mental illness in Manhattan. (AP Photo/Mark Kennedy)It got a standing ovation. Then again, it was a captive audience.

Capital intact at Knight's reverse mortgage lending unit

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 01:05 PM PDT

BOSTON (Reuters) - The reverse mortgage lender owned by Knight Capital Group Inc did not suffer a hit to its capital base when a large trading loss left Knight reeling, Knight told Reuters on Thursday. Urban Financial Group, acquired by Knight in 2010 for $28 million, is a leading originator of reverse mortgages, which allow elderly homeowners to cash out the equity in their homes while living there. "Knight's loss related to an equity trading technology issue August 1 did not impact Urban Financial's capital base," Knight spokeswoman Kara Fitzsimmons said. ...

Republicans grill IRS commissioner on health care

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:56 PM PDT

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Douglas Shulman is sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, prior to testifying before the House Oversight Committee. Can the IRS police President Barack Obama's health care mandate while simultaneously collecting all the taxes for running the federal government? The question is being renewed in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision upholding most of the 2010 Affordable Care Act as a tax issue rather than one of interstate commerce. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)House Republicans on Thursday grilled the head of the Internal Revenue Service on the agency's decision to apply the health care law's tax credits in states that decide not to carry out a key provision of the statute.

Options in Knight Capital suggest some see opportunity

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:56 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Knight Capital Group was one of the busiest names in the options market on Thursday as many investors bet on more problems at the market maker, but a number of wagers also suggested a possible rebound in its shares. Technical problems at Knight caused a torrent of trades that sent dozens of stocks soaring, costing the company at least $440 million. Late on Thursday, Knight shares traded at $2.55, down $4.38, or 63 percent. ...

Obama, Romney push economic themes in Fla., Colo.

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:53 PM PDT

President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign event at Rollins College, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, in Winter Park, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)President Barack Obama is accusing Republican rival Mitt Romney of promoting "trickle-down tax cut fairy dust" that he says would take the nation in the wrong direction.

Facebook shares first time below $20

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:52 PM PDT

Pedestrians walk near the NASDAQ Marketsite at the start of the listing for Facebook in New YorkSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Shares of Facebook Inc dipped below $20 for the first time on Thursday, pummeled by ongoing doubts about its growth prospects, a string of recent executive departures, and the August 16 expiration of a lockup period on insiders' share sales. The stock hit a low of $19.82 in heavy trading on Thursday afternoon. It has now lost almost half its value since debuting at $38 in May in the largest IPO ever to emerge from Silicon Valley. "The sentiment on this thing is so negative," said Topeka Capital Markets analyst Victor Anthony. ...

Jackson says she was kept from communicating

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:47 PM PDT

FILE - In this Nov. 29, 2011 photo, Michael Jackson's mother Katherine Jackson and brother Jermaine Jackson leave after the sentencing of Conrad Murray at the Los Angeles Criminal Justice Center. Attorneys for Michael Jackson's estate on Monday, July 30, 2012 acknowledged they limited access to the home shared by the late singer's mother and children in response to a driveway disturbance last week. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)The mother of Michael Jackson said in court papers she was kept from communicating with outsiders while at a resort in Tucson and was unaware she had been reported missing.

Frustrated Annan quits as Syria peace envoy

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:46 PM PDT

U.N.-Arab League mediator Annan addresses a news conference at the United Nations in GenevaUNITED NATIONS/ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is quitting as international peace envoy for Syria, frustrated by "finger-pointing" at the United Nations while the armed rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad becomes increasingly bloody. As battles raged on Thursday in Syria's second city Aleppo between rebel fighters and government forces using war planes and artillery, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced in New York that Annan had said he would go at the end of the month. ...

Judge: No mistrial in Drew Peterson murder case

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:41 PM PDT

FILE - In this May 7, 2009 file booking photo provided by the Will County Sheriff's office in Joliet, Ill., former Bolingbrook, Ill., police officer Drew Peterson is shown. Peterson is charged with first-degree murder in the 2004 drowning death of his former wife Kathleen Savio. Opening statements in his trial are scheduled to begin Tuesday, July 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Will County Sheriff's Office, File)A judge decided against declaring a mistrial in Drew Peterson's murder case Thursday, criticizing prosecutors for entering inadmissible evidence but concluding the former police officer still can get a fair trial.

IRS missing billions in ID theft

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:40 PM PDT

The Internal Revenue Service may have delivered more than $5 billion in refund checks to identity thieves who filed fraudulent tax returns for 2011, Treasury Department investigators said Thursday. They estimate another $21 billion could make its way to ID thieves' pockets over the next five years.

Ohio teenager accused in high school drug ring

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:34 PM PDT

In a Tuesday, July 31 2012 photo, Warren County Juvenile Court Judge Mike Powell warns 17-year-old Ohio high school student Tyler Pagenstecher, right, of the consequences of admitting guilt at his first hearing in Lebanon, Ohio. Pagenstecher pleaded guilty to drug-trafficking charges in juvenile court. Police say he played a major role in a drug ring that sold as much as $20,000 worth of high-grade marijuana a month to fellow students at two high schools. He could be ordered held until he turns 21.(AP Photo/Amanda Lee Myers)One of the biggest drug dealers in the Cincinnati area was led into court this week. He looked more like the president of the math club — skinny, pale, bespectacled, dressed in a blue buttoned-down shirt and khakis, and just 17 years old.

NPR gets $1.5 million for race, ethnicity coverage

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:33 PM PDT

National Public Radio, criticized in recent years over diversity of its staff and coverage, is using a $1.5 million grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to put together a six-person team to report stories on race, ethnicity and culture.

Senate panel revives dozens of tax breaks

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:33 PM PDT

The Senate's tax-writing panel is moving to revive dozens of tax breaks for businesses like biodiesel and wind energy producers, even as the GOP-controlled House trumpets symbolic legislation to erase them and create a new tax code with lower rates and fewer special interest tax breaks.

Widow of slain Ga. businessman charged in killing

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:29 PM PDT

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — The widow of a businessman gunned down outside a suburban Atlanta preschool is accused of helping orchestrate his death by conspiring with the gunman.

Obama, Romney push economic themes in key states

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:27 PM PDT

President Barack Obama walks from Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012, after returning from campaigning in Ohio. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)President Barack Obama is accusing Republican rival Mitt Romney of promoting "trickle-down tax cut fairy dust" that he says would take the nation in the wrong direction.

E*Trade says assessing Knight situation on a daily basis

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:22 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Online brokerage E*Trade Financial Corp said on Thursday it is not currently routing trades to Knight Capital, which suffered a trading glitch a day earlier that roiled markets and wiped out $440 million of Knight's capital. E*Trade said it would be assessing the situation on a daily basis." Knight said in a statement earlier that it is "actively pursuing its strategic and financing alternatives." (Reporting By John McCrank; editing by Carol Bishopric)

Annan quits Syria role, blasts UN Security Council

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:19 PM PDT

FILE - In this Saturday, June 30, 2012 file photo, Kofi Annan, Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League for Syria speaks during a news conference at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. On Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, Annan said he is quitting as special envoy to Syria, effective Aug. 31. (AP Photo/Martial Trezzini, Keystone, File)Frustrated by Syria's escalating civil war, Kofi Annan announced Thursday that he will quit his high-profile role as special envoy to the country at the end of the month, giving reasons that amounted to scathing criticism of world powers' failure to unite to stop the chaos in the Arab state.

Uneasy partners Paes and Mirza shrug off row

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:13 PM PDT

Leander Paes of IndiaLeander Paes and Sania Mirza insisted the controversy surrounding their Olympics mixed doubles partnership hasn't damaged their medal hopes.

Hopes fade for new U.S. cybersecurity law in 2012

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:11 PM PDT

A computer keyboard is seen in BucharestWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite growing concerns of the threat of cyber attacks, chances of a new U.S. cybersecurity law passing this year faded Thursday as Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would let the government and companies share information about attacks on computer networks. The measure had been viewed as one of the few that might draw enough bipartisan support to get through the largely deadlocked Congress. Experts say there is an urgent need to address vulnerabilities of government and private systems controlling everything from highway traffic to financial services. ...

RIM to launch new PlayBook line next week

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:09 PM PDT

A logo of the Blackberry maker's Research in Motion is seen on a building at RIM Technology Park in WaterlooTORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's Research In Motion has chosen its home country to launch a PlayBook tablet with built-in support for cellular networks, a crucial feature missing from its poor-selling initial models. The BlackBerry maker said on Thursday it would launch the new tablets in Canada next week and roll them out in coming months in the United States, Europe, South Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. ...

Knight's future in balance after trading disaster

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:53 AM PDT

A trader works at the Knight Capital kiosk on the floor of the New York Stock ExchangeNEW YORK (Reuters) - Knight Capital Group Inc was fighting for its survival on Thursday after a trading glitch that had roiled markets wiped out $440 million of the firm's capital, forcing it to seek new funding as its shares plunged more than 70 percent in two days. Some of the company's biggest customers, including TD Ameritrade, the No. 1 U.S. retail brokerage by trading volume, and Fidelity Investments are not routing orders through Knight. Smaller customers also were taking business elsewhere. The company, one of the largest U.S. ...

Osborne will stay as Chancellor - Cameron

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:51 AM PDT

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne speaks at the Global Investment Conference 2012 in LondonLONDON (Reuters) - George Osborne will still be Britain's Chancellor by the next general election in 2015, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday, in response to speculation that he would be replaced in a cabinet reshuffle. "George Osborne is doing an excellent job in very difficult circumstances and he has my full support in going on and doing that job," he said on Sky television. Asked whether he would still be chancellor at the next election, Cameron replied: "He's not going anywhere." Asked the same question again, Cameron replied "yes. ...

San Bernardino files for Chapter 9 bankruptcy

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:47 AM PDT

Officials in San Bernardino, Calif., which is facing an expected $45.8 million budget deficit this year, have formally filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, a move that city leaders approved last month.

Iraq seeking Russian air defense gear: official

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:47 AM PDT

Iraqi Army personnel are deployed at the Rabia border crossing, the main border post between Iraq and SyriaBAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's acting defense minister is in Russia negotiating the purchase of air surveillance equipment to help Iraq rebuild its crippled military defenses, a lawmaker said on Thursday. American troops pulled out of Iraq in December, leaving the war-battered country to defend its own borders and airspace for the first time since it was occupied in 2003. Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq's air force was one of the largest in the region with hundreds of mainly Soviet-designed jets. But its military was disbanded after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 deposed of Saddam. ...

Ultra Petroleum posts $1.2B loss on write-down

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:45 AM PDT

Natural gas producer Ultra Petroleum Corp. reported a second-quarter loss of $1.19 billion due to a large write-down to account for lower gas prices and amid disappointing revenue.

Gas rupture around site of '10 blast in San Bruno

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:43 AM PDT

A 2-inch plastic gas pipe has ruptured in the same San Francisco suburb where a pipeline explosion killed eight people in 2010.

Russia's Putin says regrets Annan's departure

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:38 AM PDT

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he regretted Kofi Annan was leaving his role as international peace envoy for Syria and called the situation there "a tragedy", Russian news agencies reported. Annan said on Thursday he would quit, frustrated by "finger-pointing" and a stalemate at the U.N. Security Council while the armed rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad was becoming increasingly bloody. "Kofi Annan is a very respectable person, a brilliant diplomat and a very decent man, so it's really a shame," Putin said in London, according to Interfax. ...

Douglas sizzles to claim women's gymnastics title

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:36 AM PDT

Gabrielle Douglas boldly triumphed in the women's individual gymnastics final on Thursday to give the United States their third consecutive Olympic female champion.

Dems reject GOP move to force layoff notices

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:34 AM PDT

Senate Democrats rejected a Republican effort to force defense contractors to send out notices of possible job layoffs four days before the election, calling the move politically driven and purely speculative based on looming spending cuts.

Senator ends hold on Air Force chief nomination

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:28 AM PDT

A Republican senator has ended his hold on the White House pick for Air Force chief of staff over the service's response to a widening sex scandal at a Texas base.

Egypt president swears in new cabinet

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:26 AM PDT

Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil at a press conference announces the new cabinetEgyptian President Mohamed Morsi swore in a new cabinet on Thursday that retained military chief Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi as defence minister while giving the Islamists and their allies several portfolios.

La Toya Jackson to get a reality show on OWN

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:23 AM PDT

FILE - This May 18, 2012 file photo shows singer La Toya Jackson arriving at the 19th Annual Race to Erase MS Gala in Los Angeles, Calif. Jackson to star in her own reality show on her TV network, OWN. Oprah Winfrey has tapped La Toya Jackson to star in her own reality show.

FAA: 3 jets near DC were never on collision course

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:20 AM PDT

None of the three commuter jets that flew too close together near Washington was ever on course to collide head-on with the others, federal officials said Thursday.

Egan-Jones cuts Knight Capital to CCC

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:17 AM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rating agency Egan-Jones downgraded Knight Capital Group for a third time in two days on Thursday after the market-maker reported pre-tax loss of about $440 million due to an erroneous trade position on August 1. Egan-Jones lowered Knight's credit rating to CCC on Thursday, having already cut the company to B-minus earlier in the day. In statements accompanying the cuts, Egan-Jones described the Knight Capital loss as "debilitating." It also cautioned about "secondary losses related to the loss of confidence. ...

Immigrants prove big business for prison companies

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:15 AM PDT

FILE- A Feb. 9, 2007 file photo provided by the Department of Homeland Security shows family detainees walking down the hall at the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, Texas. The U.S. is locking up more illegal immigrants than ever before, generating a lucrative business for the nation's largest prison companies. (AP Photo/Department of Homeland Security, Charles Reed, HO, File)The U.S. is locking up more illegal immigrants than ever, generating lucrative profits for the nation's largest prison companies, and an Associated Press review shows the businesses have spent tens of millions of dollars lobbying lawmakers and contributing to campaigns.

Australia rejects proposal to base US carrier

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:10 AM PDT

Australia on Thursday rejected a proposal by a Washington-based think tank to base a nuclear aircraft carrier strike group on Australia's west coast as part of a shift of U.S. military might to the Asia-Pacific region.

Knight Capital in talks with Virtu Financial: WSJ

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:05 AM PDT

(Reuters) - Knight Capital Group Inc is in talks with Silver Lake Partners-backed trading firm Virtu Financial LLC about a possible deal or capital infusion, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Thursday. Knight Capital said on Thursday that is being forced to raise money after an erroneous trading position wiped out $440 million of its capital. Knight wasn't immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Paritosh Bansal in New York; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

EYES ON LONDON: Gabby, and a S. Africa milestone

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:05 AM PDT

Around the 2012 Olympics and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of the games to you:

Crop-withering drought intensifies in Plains

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 11:00 AM PDT

This photo from July 31, 2012 shows a beached air boat as bathers walk in the nearly dry Platte River near Yutan, Neb., Tuesday, July 31, 2012. The latest U.S. Drought Monitor survey shows an increase in extreme drought conditions in four Plains states but a slight decrease in the overall area of the lower 48 states experiencing some form of drought. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)Drought conditions have worsened in several parched Plains states, further punishing withering corn and soybean crops and devastating the pastureland that ranchers depend on, according to the latest U.S. drought map.

U.S. pins Annan's resignation on Syria diplomacy failures

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 10:54 AM PDT

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - Kofi Annan's resignation on Thursday as international peace envoy for Syria underscores Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's refusal to abide by a U.N.-backed peace plan and the failure of Russia and China to hold Assad accountable at the U.N. Security Council, the White House said. ...
Posted by Harshad at 1:23 PM

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