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| Tax fight looms large in Energy Future restructuring Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 06:21 PM PDT  By Nick Brown and Billy Cheung NEW YORK (Reuters) - As Energy Future Holdings prepares for what could be one of the largest-ever U.S. bankruptcies, some of its private-equity lenders are pushing a breakup of the company that could reap them more than $1 billion in tax savings, two people close to the matter said this week. But such an arrangement could provoke a challenge from the U.S. government, since it would result in a multi-billion-dollar capital gains tax bill that the bankrupt entity is unlikely to be able to afford. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Air Force looking to revamp, cut costs of space programs Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 04:37 PM PDT By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., March 11 - To tackle a rising demand for space-based surveillance in an era of flat budgets, the U.S. military is looking at smaller satellites, cheaper rockets and partnerships, the head of Air Force Space Command said on Tuesday. "Status quo is just not going to work for us," General William Shelton said in a speech to the National Space Club Florida Committee in Cape Canaveral. The Pentagon is requesting $496 billion for the 2015 fiscal year that begins October 1. The spending plan, which is essentially flat for the third consecutive year, cancels two Lockheed Martin Corp Advanced Extremely High Frequency Satellites, saving $2.1 billion, and defers two Lockheed next-generation Global Positioning System satellites, among other cuts. Full Story | Top |
| California drought means 30 million salmon may be trucked to sea Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 04:21 PM PDT By Laila Kearney SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's record drought has left the Sacramento River so low that wildlife officials say they may have to carry all 30 million young salmon from the state's largest man-made hatcheries to the Pacific Ocean in trucks to avoid depleting the stock. That is roughly three times the amount of salmon that are trucked out of the biggest hatcheries in a typical year, reflecting the severity of a drought that has prompted the governor to declare an emergency and warn of possible water shortages. ... Full Story | Top |
| Libyan parliament sacks PM after tanker escapes rebel-held port Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 02:47 PM PDT  By Ulf Laessing and Feras Bosalum TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's parliament voted Prime Minister Ali Zeidan out of office on Tuesday after rebels humiliated the government by loading crude on a tanker that fled from naval forces, officials said, in a sign of the worsening chaos in the OPEC member state. Libyan gunboats later chased the tanker along Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast and opened fire, damaging it, a military spokesman said. Western powers fear the vast North African state could even break apart with the government struggling to rein in armed militias and tribesmen who helped oust dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but want to grab power and oil revenues. Zeidan, who came to power in 2012 after Libya's first free parliamentary vote following four decades of quirky one-man rule by Gaddafi, had been facing opposition from Islamists and the public blaming him for Libya's anarchic transition since 2011. Full Story | Top |
| Anti-fracking activist barred from 40 percent of Pennsylvania county Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 02:32 PM PDT  By David DeKok HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - A court injunction obtained by Texas-based Cabot Oil & Gas is preventing Pennsylvania resident Vera Scroggins from going to her local grocery store, her friends' homes, schools, or even the hospital. That's because those properties sit atop the more than 200,000 acres in Susquehanna County that the energy producer owns and leases for gas extraction - land on which Scroggins, a determined anti-fracking activist, is not allowed to tread. A judge in October granted Cabot's request to bar Scroggins from the land - more than 40 percent of Susquehanna County, where she lives - after her repeated trespassing, court documents show. Her offending actions included giving a tour last year to anti-drilling celebrities Susan Sarandon, Yoko Ono, and Sean Lennon, the documents said. Full Story | Top |
| Texas regulator orders oil company to stop accepting bitcoins Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 02:02 PM PDT A state securities regulator has ordered an exploration and production company to stop accepting bitcoins as payment for investments in its Texas oil wells. Texas Securities Commissioner John Morgan entered an emergency order on Monday against tiny Balanced Energy LLC, which claimed it was the first energy company to accept the virtual currency, according to the regulator. "The price of digital currency is subject to extreme swings, which could affect the amount of money available for business operations," the regulator said in a statement. Bitcoin is a digital currency that, unlike conventional money, is bought and sold on a peer-to-peer network that lacks central control. Full Story | Top |
| Resources hit as Ukraine, China fears pull TSX lower Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 02:00 PM PDT  By John Tilak TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index slipped on Tuesday, led by declines in natural resource shares, as worries about the political crisis in Ukraine and fears of credit instability in China weighed on investor sentiment. Investors were concerned about the potential impact China's first domestic bond default might have on financing deals in the copper market. In Toronto, shares of diversified miner Teck Resources Ltd slumped 3.5 percent. Ukraine's interim leaders formed a new National Guard and appealed to the United States and Britain for assistance against what they called Russian aggression in Crimea. Full Story | Top |
| Profit-taking drags Wall Street lower Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 01:54 PM PDT  By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, with selling picking up late in the session, as investors cashed in some of the recent market gains, but the S&P 500 finished less than 1 percent away from a record high set last week. Indexes had swung between gains and losses in the first half of the session, as the lack of major corporate earnings or market-affecting data kept trading directionless, but they closed near the day's lows. Shares of retailers American Eagle and Urban Outfitters fell sharply after disappointing outlooks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Oxigene Inc says drug meets main goal of ovarian cancer trial Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 01:36 PM PDT (Reuters) - Oxigene Inc said on Tuesday that its experimental drug Zybrestat combined with Roche's big selling cancer drug Avastin significantly slowed progression of recurrent ovarian cancer better than Avastin alone in a midstage clinical trial. Shares of tiny Oxigene, which had been halted prior to announcement of the trial results, more than doubled in extended trading. The drugs, which use different mechanisms to deprive tumors of blood supply and oxygen needed to grow, met the primary goal of the study by demonstrating a statistically significant increase in progression-free survival (PFS), or the time it takes before the cancer begins to worsen. "This promising combination warrants further evaluation particularly given the significant need for new treatment options in relapsed ovarian cancer," Dr. Bradley Monk, lead investigator of the study, said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles flow abroad from Libya: U.N. Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 11:49 AM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles have been trafficked out of Libya to Chad, Mali, Tunisia, Lebanon and likely Central African Republic, with attempts made to send them to Syrian opposition groups, according to a U.N. report on Tuesday. An independent panel of experts monitoring U.N. sanctions on Libya, that include an arms embargo imposed at the start of the 2011 uprising that ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi, reported that the weapons, known as MANPADs, that were found in Mali and Tunisia "were clearly part of terrorist groups' arsenals." "Despite efforts by Libya and other countries to account for and secure MANPADs in Libya, Panel sources state that thousands of MANPADs were still available in arsenals controlled by a wide array of non-state actors with tenuous or non-existent links to Libyan national authorities," the experts said in their final report to the U.N. Security Council. Full Story | Top |
| Libyan defense minister gives oath to become acting PM Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 11:12 AM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyan defense minister Abdallah al-Thinni gave his oath in parliament on Tuesday to become acting prime minister after deputies voted Ali Zeidan out of office amid worsening disorder in the oil-producing North African state. Parliament will support Thinni and not obstruct his work, its head Nuri Ali Abu Sahmain told the assembly during a session broadcast by state television. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Mark Heinrich) Full Story | Top |
| Bomb wounds two policemen in Bahraini Shi'ite village Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 11:11 AM PDT A homemade bomb exploded in a Shi'ite Muslim village in Bahrain on Tuesday, wounding two policemen, the interior ministry said, nine days after another blast in the Gulf Arab kingdom killed three police officers. Bahrain has been grappling with unrest by majority Shi'ites over the past three years demanding political reform and an end to perceived discrimination in the Sunni Muslim-ruled country. Bahrain denies any discrimination against Shi'ites. Bomb attacks have increased since last year, raising concern about further instability in the Western-allied kingdom where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based as a bulwark against Shi'ite giant Iran across the Gulf. Full Story | Top |
| NSA nominee backs protection for companies in any cyber law Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 11:10 AM PDT  President Barack Obama's nominee to head the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command said on Tuesday liability protection for corporations that share information with intelligence agencies is crucial in any new U.S. cybersecurity legislation. "My sense is it's a critical element in any legislation," the nominee, Vice Admiral Michael Rogers, said at his confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. "I believe to be successful, we ultimately have to provide the corporate partners that we would share information with some level of liability protection," he said. Rogers said companies would be "much less inclined" to share information with the intelligence community without blanket liability protection. Full Story | Top |
| Social media tools maker Jive trying to sell itself: tech blog Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 10:34 AM PDT (Reuters) - Shares in Jive Software Inc, a maker of social media tools for companies, rose 7 percent after a technology blog reported that the company has been seeking a buyer for months. Jive has hired Qatalyst Partners, the investment bank led by Silicon Valley dealmaker Frank Quattrone, to find a buyer, the blog Re/Code reported, citing sources. Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Chile's incoming president Bachelet and her policies Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 09:49 AM PDT Michelle Bachelet, who takes over the presidency of Chile for the second time on Tuesday, plans to spend $15 billion on ambitious reforms aimed at redressing steep income inequality. Center-left Bachelet, who governed as Chile's first female president from 2006 to 2010, won an easy victory in December's election and takes over from the conservative Sebastian Pinera. A moderate socialist, Bachelet has moved further to the left since the end of her first term, a shift that has coincided with massive protests for free and improved education in Chile over the past two years. Bachelet is promising to hike corporate taxes to fund an education overhaul. Full Story | Top |
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