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| Extra funds help float Noah's Ark replica in Kentucky Friday, Feb 28, 2014 04:09 PM PST A Christian ministry that plans to build a Noah's Ark replica in Kentucky has raised enough money to go ahead with the $150 million project - and is thanking an adversary for boosting its support. Creation Museum founder Ken Ham announced this week that a municipal bond offering has brought in enough money to begin the long-delayed "Ark Encounter," a theme park featuring a 510-foot-long model of Noah's Ark near the Kentucky-Ohio border. Ham credited the funding bump to Bill Nye "the Science Guy," a popular commentator on science issues who faced off against him in a widely publicized February 4 debate over evolution. Full Story | Top |
| Citigroup reports fraud in Mexico unit, lowers 2013 results Friday, Feb 28, 2014 03:47 PM PST  By David Henry and Elinor Comlay NEW YORK/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc said on Friday that it has discovered at least $400 million in fraudulent loans in its Mexico subsidiary and said employees may have been in on the crime. Citigroup's 2013 profit fell by $235 million to $13.67 billion after the write-down. Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat called the incident a "despicable crime" and said the bank believes it was an isolated episode. The bad loans were made to Mexican oil services company Oceanografia , a contractor for Mexican state-owned oil company Pemex . Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine's U.N. envoy: 'We are strong enough to defend ourselves' Friday, Feb 28, 2014 03:20 PM PST By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Ukraine's U.N. ambassador on Friday accused Russia of illegally sending military planes and attack helicopters across the border of the former Soviet republic and declared that his country was strong enough to defend itself. Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev was speaking to reporters after briefing the U.N. Security Council in a closed-door session on the escalating crisis in Ukraine. Armed men took control of two airports in Ukraine's autonomous Crimea region earlier on Friday in what the country's leadership described as an invasion and occupation by Russian forces. Russia denied involvement in the airport seizures. Full Story | Top |
| Buffett letter could show Berkshire winning streak over Friday, Feb 28, 2014 03:07 PM PST  By Luciana Lopez NEW YORK (Reuters) - A five-year bull market may have finally outdueled one of the U.S. stock market's biggest bulls, and Warren Buffett will probably tell investors on Saturday that his 43-year run of beating the Street has come to an end. By his own benchmark for performance, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc almost certainly lagged a red-hot stock market in 2013 and probably also fell short over the previous five years, his favored timeframe for measuring the firm's return for its investors. Using the gain in Berkshire's book value per share after taxes, which Buffett traditionally contrasts with the pre-tax total return, including dividends, on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, Berkshire will be hard pressed to match the S&P's 128.2 percent gain in the five years ended December 31, 2013. The whopping 32 percent total return on the S&P last year only makes it more likely that Berkshire's book value did not match the index's five-year performance. Full Story | Top |
| FBI monitoring Citi Mexican loan losses for possible crime: source Friday, Feb 28, 2014 02:51 PM PST  The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is aware of Citigroup's loan losses due to fraud by a Mexican company and is monitoring the situation for possible criminal activity, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday. The source said it was too early to determine whether an investigation was merited, but the FBI was continuing to look at new developments in the case before making a decision. Citigroup said on Friday it is restating its 2013 earnings to reflect writedowns of $400 million in loans it discovered to be fraudulent. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. utilities need industry group focused on cyber defense: report Friday, Feb 28, 2014 02:09 PM PST By Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. utilities would benefit from an independent group to set industry-wide guidelines on combating cyber threats, according to a think-tank report released on Friday that was co-authored by a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The report, from the Bipartisan Policy Center, said a new independent organization could bring together the disparate interests in the sector to help manage cybersecurity for the nation's electric grid, and help to deal with threats such as new malware that could be targeted at plants' information technology systems. "We don't have one group looking at this holistically to see what the answers are," said Curt Hebert, a co-author of the report who is a former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency which oversees aspects of the nation's elecric grid. The other authors of the report were Michael Hayden, director of the CIA under President George W. Bush, and Susan Tierney, former assistant secretary at the Energy Department under President Bill Clinton. Full Story | Top |
| Son of Ukraine's ex-president says Swiss bank freeze will hit coal exports Friday, Feb 28, 2014 01:39 PM PST By Stephen Grey KIEV (Reuters) - Switzerland's freezing of bank accounts linked to the family of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich could reduce coal exports from Ukraine, a company owned by his son warned on Friday. In a statement to Reuters, a Ukrainian conglomerate, the Mako Group, based in Yanukovich's political stronghold Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, confirmed it was 100 percent owned by Oleksander Yanukovich, a son of the former president. His and Oleksander's foreign assets were frozen by Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein earlier in the day. Mako said that its Swiss arm - the Mako Trading Company (Switzerland) - "carries out legal trading activity (coal exports) from Ukraine to more than 20 countries". Full Story | Top |
| TSX steady after economic data, records monthly gain Friday, Feb 28, 2014 01:35 PM PST  By John Tilak TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index was little changed on Friday as data showing economic growth in North America helped drive gains in the energy sector, while gold-mining shares were dragged down by a weaker gold price. The TSX, nevertheless, recorded its strongest monthly gain since October, rising 3.8 percent in February. The Toronto market has outperformed the S&P 500 so far this year, rising about 4.3 percent, following a selloff in January triggered by concerns about emerging market growth. ... Full Story | Top |
| New U.S. rail rules will not revamp old oil tank fleet Friday, Feb 28, 2014 01:31 PM PST  By Edward McAllister and Nia Williams NEW YORK/CALGARY (Reuters) - New U.S. rules to toughen classification standards for oil-train shipments will affect less than 3 percent of the tank cars now hauling crude across the country, leaving older, flawed models on the tracks, officials and industry sources say. The emergency order released on Tuesday, a day ahead of a Senate hearing on oil train safety, may affect some bitumen cargoes from Canada, but will do nothing to curb the use of older DOT-111 cars many hold responsible for a string of recent fiery accidents, they said. A train filled with crude oil from the Bakken region in North Dakota exploded in the middle of the Canadian town of Lac Megantic last July, killing 47. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) order said that oil carried by rail could no longer be classified as the least hazardous type of flammable liquid, known as Packing Group 3, a measure it said would improve emergency response and "require the use of a more robust tank car." Under the new U.S. order, all crude oil shipments must now be labeled in Packing Group 1 or 2, the DOT said. Full Story | Top |
| NY starts inspecting rail yards handling Bakken crude: Governor Friday, Feb 28, 2014 12:49 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday officials have launched inspections at state rail yards to protect people from potential accidents involving shipments of volatile crude oil from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota. Federal and state officials inspected two rail yards on Thursday, one in Albany owned by Canadian Pacific Railroad, and the other in Buffalo owned by CSX, Cuomo's office said. Rail cars laden with Bakken crude have been involved in a slew of recent fiery derailments. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by David Gregorio) Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council to hold emergency meeting on Ukraine crisis Friday, Feb 28, 2014 11:33 AM PST By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council will hold a closed-door emergency session on the escalating crisis in Ukraine on Friday at the request of the new Kiev government, which warned that the situation in Crimea threatened Ukraine's territorial integrity. Armed men took control of two airports in Ukraine's autonomous Crimea region earlier on Friday in what the country's leadership described as an invasion and occupation by Russian forces. Russia denied involvement in the airport seizures. "Due to the deterioration of the situation in the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea, Ukraine, which threatens territorial integrity of Ukraine ... I have the honor to request an urgent meeting of the Security Council in accordance with Articles 34 and 35 of the U.N. Charter," Ukraine's U.N. Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev wrote to Lithuanian Ambassador Raimonda Murmokaite. Full Story | Top |
| No rail shutdowns in North Dakota's Bakken oil fields: U.S. agency Friday, Feb 28, 2014 10:52 AM PST No rail terminals have been shut down in the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota as a result of inspections, an official at the U.S. agency that oversees transportation of hazardous materials said on Friday. Oil prices briefly spiked earlier on Friday on rumors that several Bakken oil terminals may have been shut down following new federal rules requiring shippers to test all crude before it is carried by train. Inspections in North Dakota by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration "have not resulted in any rail terminal shutdowns," said the official at the federal agency. It was not clear what the inspections involved or why they were conducted. Full Story | Top |
| Mexico seizes company linked to loans at Citigroup unit Friday, Feb 28, 2014 09:30 AM PST Mexico's attorney general's office said on Friday it had seized the assets of an oil services company to which Citigroup's Mexican unit had made loans. Mexican Attorney General Jesus Murillo said authorities had taken the step against Oceanografia shortly after Citigroup said it had discovered fraudulent loans which would reduce the bank's 2013 net income by $235 million. "The decision was made to seize the company immediately," Murillo told a news conference in Mexico City. Full Story | Top |
| Bakken oil rail slows; regulator denies terminal closures Friday, Feb 28, 2014 09:24 AM PST NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Oil shipments by rail from the booming Bakken oil fields in North Dakota have slowed over the past two days, data showed on Friday, but a U.S. regulator knocked down rumors that some terminals have been shut down due to new rules. Oil traders are on edge over concerns that an emergency order from the U.S. Department of Transportation this week requiring shippers to test all crude before it is carried by train could cut into deliveries of Bakken crude. U.S. crude oil futures prices briefly spiked as much as 60 cents per barrel, or nearly 1 percent, earlier on Friday amid an apparent rumor that two terminals may have been shut down for non-compliance. The U.S. Federal Railroad Administration said talk of shutdowns was "a rumor." A spokesman for the U.S. hazardous materials regulator said he was unaware of any shutdown. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: North Dakota January oil output flat as winter chills drilling - data Friday, Feb 28, 2014 09:22 AM PST  By Selam Gebrekidan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil production in North Dakota's Bakken shale stayed flat in January after falling sharply the month before, according to independent data that illustrate how this winter's bitter cold put a freeze on the world's fastest-growing oil patches. Although December's extraordinary chill gave way to relatively warmer weather last month, Bakken output hovered just below 860,000 barrels-per-day, according to calculations by LCI Energy Insight, a Texas-based energy intelligence firm. In December, Bakken oil production fell by nearly 50,000 bpd from a record just over 910,000 bpd in November, the largest drop since state records began, according to North Dakota Industrial Commission data this month. The LCI figures, based on historical well production data and natural gas pipeline flows in North Dakota and Montana, are the first to show the full impact of winter weather on oil output, a trend that brought new seasonal uncertainty to oil markets in recent years. Full Story | Top |
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