Finance news

• Judge decides against fining widow who called police 'pigs'

  25-02-2017 23:42 via yahoo.com
  
  MOORE, Okla. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a request to impose a stiff fine against a widow who called police "pigs" on Facebook as she vented her frustrations over the death of her husband in a scuffle.
  
  Read more

• Democrats pick Perez to lead party against Trump

  25-02-2017 23:36 via yahoo.com
  
  U.S. Democrats elected former Labor Secretary Tom Perez as chairman on Saturday, choosing a veteran of the Obama administration to lead the daunting task of rebuilding the party and heading the opposition to Republican President Donald Trump.Members of the Democratic National Committee, the administrative and fundraising arm of the party, picked Perez on the second round of voting over U.S. Representative Keith Ellison, a liberal from Minnesota.Following one of the most crowded and competitive p
  
  Read more

• Democrats, GOP spar over Medicaid reform at govs' meeting

  25-02-2017 23:36 via yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Tensions emerged Saturday between Democratic and Republican U.S. governors over a GOP-led proposal for a major overhaul to Medicaid, with Democrats saying the changes would take away people's health coverage to finance tax cuts for the wealthy.
  
  Read more

• Gunman opens fire on car after crash, kills 8-year-old in Texas

  25-02-2017 23:28 via yahoo.com
  
  An 8-year-old girl was shot to death after surviving a car crash early Saturday morning in Houston, Texas.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Why does the race for DNC chairman matter?

  25-02-2017 23:24 via yahoo.com
  
  The Democratic Party’s 447 National Committee members elected former Obama labor secretary Tom Perez to be their new party chair on Saturday, in an unusually contentious race for what amounts to the top job for a party in transition.Mr. Perez, a favorite with the more centrist wing of the party allied with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, won 235 votes to the 200 captured by Rep. Keith Ellison (D) of Minnesota, a favorite with progressives who was leading slightly in polls coming into Sat
  
  Read more

• White House blocks reporters from a briefing, shrugging off another unwritten custom

  25-02-2017 23:24 via yahoo.com
  
  Several major news outlets, including the New York Times, CNN, and the Los Angeles Times, were blocked from an off-camera press briefing on Friday, igniting furious criticism from media organizations.The White House said it was adhering to ordinary press customs by holding an "expanded pool," but observers call the incident another sign of the troubled relationship between President Trump and the media.A restricted non-televised briefing, or "gaggle," replaced an earlier-planned full, on-ca
  
  Read more

• Top US commander for Mideast visits SDF in Syria

  25-02-2017 23:20 via yahoo.com
  
  The top US military commander for the Middle East made a secret trip to northern Syria on Friday to meet a US-backed alliance fighting the Islamic State group, officials said.General Joseph Votel, who heads US Central Command (Centcom), met with leaders from the Syrian Democratic Forces.The trip, unannounced for security reasons, was first such visit under the new US administration, but the third in a series of meetings with the SDF.
  
  Read more

• Syria attack deals fresh blow to faltering peace talks

  25-02-2017 23:11 via yahoo.com
  
  A suicide assault which killed dozens in Syria Saturday dealt a further blow to already sputtering UN efforts to launch a new round of talks to end the six-year conflict.The Damascus regime vowed retaliation for the assault in Syria's third city Homs -- and demanded a clear condemnation from opposition negotiators in Geneva, saying otherwise it would consider them "accomplices of terrorism"."What happened today will not go unnoticed and we will react to it ... The blood of Syrians is precious an
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Former Obama labor secretary Tom Perez elected DNC chair

  25-02-2017 23:10 via yahoo.com
  
  On Saturday, February 25, Tom Perez was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Perez was labor secretary under President Obama.
  
  Read more

• One dead, two injured in Germany car attack

  25-02-2017 23:00 via yahoo.com
  
  One person was killed and two injured Saturday when a man rammed a car into pedestrians in the southern German city of Heidelberg, said police, adding that it did not appear to be a terror attack.After the crash, the driver, a 35-year-old German man, fled on foot armed with a knife on a busy city centre street but was shot and wounded by police.
  
  Read more

• Neighbor: Bar attack suspect a 'drunken mess,' not political

  25-02-2017 22:45 via yahoo.com
  
  OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man accused of shooting two Indian immigrants and a third man at a bar, in what some believe was a hate crime, was always a drinker but became a "drunken mess" after his father died about 18 months ago, a longtime neighbor said Saturday.
  
  Read more

• One dead after man drives into crowd in Germany, no sign of terrorism: authorities

  25-02-2017 22:42 via yahoo.com
  
  By Andreas BurgerHEIDELBERG, Germany (Reuters) - A man died and two other people were injured after a 35-year-old German man drove into a crowd standing near a bakery in the southwestern town of Heidelberg on Saturday, but the authorities said there were no indications that it was a terrorist attack.The two other people injured, a 32-year-old Austrian man and a 29-year-old woman from Bosnia and Herzegovina, also received hospital treatment but were then discharged, police and prosecutors said in
  
  Read more

• Deadly insurgent attack in Homs weighs on UN-led Syria talks

  25-02-2017 22:36 via yahoo.com
  
  GENEVA (AP) — A deadly terrorist attack in central Syria on Saturday threatened to thwart efforts to wrest a political solution at peace talks in Geneva, with the U.N. mediator decrying "spoilers" who try to derail the efforts to end the country's disastrous six-year war.
  
  Read more

• The Latest: Obama congratulates Perez as new DNC leader

  25-02-2017 22:31 via yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the selection of a new national leader of the Democratic Party (all times local):
  
  Read more

• Gigi Hadid takes the pussyhat to the runway at Milan Fashion Week

  25-02-2017 22:17 via yahoo.com
  
  Guess the pink yarn shortage is over: Missoni models—including Gigi Hadid—brought the now-iconic pussyhat to the runway Saturday at Milan Fashion Week. It wasn't just the models making a statement. Staffers and attendees also received hats of their own, making the whole program a wonderland of pink ears and solidarity. And, of course, a fair amount of selfie-taking. SEE ALSO: Activist heroically flies over barricade to seize Confederate flagEven the designer, Angela Missoni, kep
  
  Read more

• French legal probe ratchets up pressure on Fillon election bid

  25-02-2017 22:16 via yahoo.com
  
  A French prosecutors' decision to launch a full judicial inquiry into claims that presidential candidate Francois Fillon paid his family for fake jobs leaves him facing a fraught two months before elections, media commentators said Saturday.Rightwing standardbearer Fillon, who was previously leading the race, will be investigated over allegations of embezzlement for putting his wife Penelope on the public payroll, prosecutors said Friday.The Paris daily Le Parisien said the decision unleashed a
  
  Read more

• Trump Administration Seeks to Loosen Hiring Requirements to Beef Up Border Patrol

  25-02-2017 22:09 via yahoo.com
  
  According to an internal memo, laxer standards are needed to expand the number of Border Patrol agents, but that could come at a cost in security.
  
  Read more

• Aggressive cuts to Obama-era green rules to start soon: EPA head

  25-02-2017 22:05 via yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's administration will begin rolling back Obama-era environmental regulations in an "aggressive way" as soon as next week, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency said on Saturday - adding he understood why some Americans want to see his agency eliminated completely.Pruitt added the EPA's focus on combating climate change under former President Barack Obama had cost jobs and prevented economic growth, leading many Americans to want to see the EPA el
  
  Read more

• Germany: Man hits 3 with car and flees, is shot by police

  25-02-2017 22:00 via yahoo.com
  
  BERLIN (AP) — A man drove a car into pedestrians in a central square in the German city of Heidelberg on Saturday, injuring three people, then fled and was shot after being tracked down by officers, police said. One of the victims later died.
  
  Read more

• Buffett tackles Trump in defending value of immigrants

  25-02-2017 21:59 via yahoo.com
  
  Billionaire investor Warren Buffett used his annual letter Saturday to laud immigrants and their contribution to the growth of the US economy amid President Donald Trump's anti-immigrant stance."Americans have combined human ingenuity, a market system, a tide of talented and ambitious immigrants, and the rule of law to deliver abundance beyond any dreams of our forefathers," he wrote in the letter to shareholders of his massive Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate.Buffett steered clear of any mention
  
  Read more

• Teams seal off scene of Kim killing, sweep Malaysia terminal

  25-02-2017 21:58 via yahoo.com
  
  Civil defence personnel in hazmat suits sealed off the scene of the airport assassination of Kim Jong-Nam early Sunday to sweep the site for toxins -- almost two weeks after he was killed with a lethal nerve agent.The half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un was assassinated on February 13 at the airport, with Malaysia revealing on Friday that the lethal VX nerve agent -- manufactured for chemical warfare and listed by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction -- was used to kill him.Large s
  
  Read more

• White House restrictions on media trigger outcry

  25-02-2017 21:53 via yahoo.com
  
  On the campaign trail and in office, Donald Trump has made attacking the press one of his political trademarks.The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, CNN, Politico -- a string of major US media were denied access Friday to the daily White House briefing, while smaller outlets that have provided favorable coverage of the Trump administration, such as Breitbart and One America News, received a green light to attend.For once, the event was not held on-camera in the main White House briefing roo
  
  Read more

• In a blow, twin attacks on Syrian security kill at least 32

  25-02-2017 21:36 via yahoo.com
  
  BEIRUT (AP) — In synchronized attacks, insurgents stormed into heavily guarded security offices in Syria's central Homs city, clashed with troops and then blew themselves up, killing a senior officer and at least 31 others, state media and officials reported.
  
  Read more

• Large sewage spill in Tijuana, Mexico, flows north of border

  25-02-2017 21:31 via yahoo.com
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Officials in Southern California are crying foul after more than 140 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Tijuana River in Mexico and flowed north of the border for more than two weeks, according to a report.
  
  Read more

• More Egypt Copts flee jihadists in Sinai

  25-02-2017 21:30 via yahoo.com
  
  Egyptian Coptic Christians fled the Sinai for a second day Saturday following a string of apparent jihadist attacks, as President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi instructed his government to help shelter them.A church official said more families arrived in the Suez canal city of Ismailiya, a day after about 250 Copts sought shelter in one church alone there.Three Christians have been shot dead over the past week in the city of El-Arish in the Sinai Peninsula, where Islamic State group jihadists are waging
  
  Read more

• Former Obama official Tom Perez elected DNC chair

  25-02-2017 21:22 via yahoo.com
  
  ATLANTA — Tom Perez was elected the next chair of the Democratic National Committee on Saturday afternoon, putting an end to a contentious four-month election that divided the battered party’s liberal and centrist wings along similar lines as last year’s presidential primary race.Perez, seen as the more establishment choice, immediately tapped his chief rival, Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., as his deputy.After Perez’s win was announced, a handful of hardcore Ellis
  
  Read more

• Police work to bring back murder suspect who fled state

  25-02-2017 20:55 via yahoo.com
  
  BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut police worked Saturday to secure the return of a man they say fled the state with his 6-year-old daughter after killing the girl's mother.
  
  Read more

• Photos of the day - February 25, 2017

  25-02-2017 20:45 via yahoo.com
  
  Iraqi security forces transfer displaced Iraqis who fled their homes during fighting between Iraqi special forces and Islamic State militants, on the western side of Mosul, Iraq; Supporters of the ruling AK Party wave Turkish flags during a campaign meeting for the April 16 constitutional referendum, in Ankara, Turkey; and, Jacqueline Loelling of Germany competes in the third run of the IBSF World Championships Bob & Skeleton 2017 at Deutsche Post Eisarena Koenigssee in Koenigssee, Germany.
  
  Read more

• Buffett scorns tricky Wall Street accounting, but defends buybacks

  25-02-2017 20:45
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Warren Buffett on Saturday attacked what he saw as tricks used by U.S. companies to boost earnings and stock prices, but he defended one oft-criticized...
  
  Read more

• The Latest: Some candidates quit race for Democratic leader

  25-02-2017 20:40 via yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the selection of a new national leader of the Democratic Party (all times local):
  
  Read more

• Kuwait could pay up to $60,000 for party at Trump Hotel in Washington

  25-02-2017 20:29 via yahoo.com
  
  By Julia HarteWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Kuwaiti government could pay up to $60,000 to President Donald Trump's hotel in Washington for a party on Saturday that will be an early test of Trump's promise to turn over profits from such events to the U.S. Treasury.The Kuwait Embassy is hosting an event to mark their National Day.Similar National Day celebrations at the Trump International Hotel for a crowd of several hundred can run from $40,000 to $60,000, according to cost estimates from the hotel
  
  Read more

• Obama for president – of France?

  25-02-2017 20:21 via yahoo.com
  
  Apparently American Democrats are not the only ones missing Barack Obama.Some citizens of France have launched a new grassroots campaign called "Obama17" that is seeking 1 million signatures in the next three weeks, to convince the former US President to run for president in France.Amid a presidential election marked by scandals and surprises, the organizers hope the campaign, though not serious, could be a voice for the people calling for change – just as many other campaigns have do
  
  Read more

• Interview: Secret messaging app Confide wins new fans in the Trump era

  25-02-2017 20:15 via yahoo.com
  
  It started with an email, which led to a swapping of voicemails, which led to several days of back and forth until the two professionals trying to connect with each other finally decided -- this is taking too long; it shouldn’t have to be this hard to communicate.
  So they did what any technology-minded executive with means would do in that scenario. They launched an app. It was back in 2013, and the result was Confide, a secret messaging app -- Snapchat for professionals, as they like to c
  
  Read more

• Warren Buffett rails against fee-hungry Wall Street managers

  25-02-2017 20:12
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire Warren Buffett, whose stock picks over several decades have enriched generations of Berkshire Hathaway Incshareholders, delivered a black eye to the investment...
  
  Read more

• Car ploughs into pedestrians in Germany, three hurt: police

  25-02-2017 20:04 via yahoo.com
  
  Three people were hurt Saturday when a car ploughed into pedestrians in the southern German city of Heidelberg, said police, who shot and wounded the driver.After the crash, which injured one person seriously, the driver escaped on foot armed with a knife on a busy city centre street.
  
  Read more

• Israel army disperses Lebanese protesters at border

  25-02-2017 20:03 via yahoo.com
  
  Israel's army dispersed dozens of Lebanese demonstrators Saturday after they crossed the border protesting against the alleged installation of spying equipment in their village, the Israeli army and media said."Dozens of people gathered at the border between Lebanon and Israel," a military spokeswoman said."Upon the group crossing of the international border, IDF forces fired dispersal means in order to disperse the gathering and prevent further infiltration into Israeli territory," she said, ad
  
  Read more

• Mike Pence's pro-Israel tweets really couldn't have gone worse

  25-02-2017 19:48 via yahoo.com
  
  Mike Pence is here to support Israel, so he's...throwing up that Nicaraguan flag? As the veep began his speech for the Republican Jewish Coalition on Friday, the @VP social media team decided to reiterate his pro-Israel stance by tweeting out its flag. Unfortunately, they tweeted the Nicaraguan flag instead: not once, but twice.SEE ALSO: J.K. Rowling slams Mike Pence with 1 biblical tweet Someone please tell the Pence social media team that's the flag of Nicaragua, not Israel pic.twitter.com/6Kp
  
  Read more

• British FM Johnson, Egypt's Sisi finalise loan deal

  25-02-2017 19:36 via yahoo.com
  
  British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday finalised a $150 million loan guarantee agreement tied to crucial IMF financing for Egypt.In Johnson's first visit as foreign secretary to Egypt, he also discussed boosting trade, with UK company investments having reached $30 billion in 2016, according to Britain's Foreign Office.Johnson and Sisi "finalised a joint declaration agreement on a $150 million loan guarantee to Egypt," the British embassy
  
  Read more

• This tiny laptop charger is the accessory all MacBooks need

  25-02-2017 19:00 via yahoo.com
  
  The MacBook charger is an iconic design that is, by all accounts, a good piece of work. It's a little more elegant and refined than the ugly black bricks most laptops ship with, and a reason why people are willing to repeatedly spend $80 to replace it every time the cable craps out.
  But as it turns out, the advent of USB-C is causing a shift. For the first time in forever, it's feasible to make a third-party laptop charger, because more and more new laptops charge off the USB-C standard, rather
  
  Read more

• FCC chair to block stricter broadband data privacy rules

  25-02-2017 18:52 via yahoo.com
  By David ShepardsonWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission will block some Obama administration rules that subject broadband providers to stricter scrutiny than websites, a spokesman said on Friday, in a victory for internet providers such as AT&T Inc, Comcast Corp and Verizon Communications Inc.The rules approved by the FCC in October in a 3-2 vote were aimed at protecting sensitive personal consumer data.Ajit Pai, the FCC chairman appointed by President Donald Tru
  
  Read more

• 12 Quotes From White Supremacist Richard Spencer

  25-02-2017 18:50 via yahoo.com
  
  The director of the National Policy Institute, a vocal supporter of Trump, said he dreams of a white "ethno-state."
  
  Read more

• Barack Obama and Malia had an awesome night out in NYC and looked awesome doing it

  25-02-2017 18:49 via yahoo.com
  
  After a nice Italian dinner on Thursday and a rock star's welcome from the public Friday afternoon, Barack Obama continued his post-vacation jaunt around NYC—and he took cool teen Malia along for the ride. On Friday night, the two were spotted at a performance of the current Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's playThe Price. The show stars Danny DeVito and Mark Ruffalo, which made for a pretty decent photo op afterward — one of those rare ones where all parties involved are excited t
  
  Read more

• Conditions deteriorate in west Mosul as Iraqi advances slow

  25-02-2017 18:28 via yahoo.com
  
  MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — The Iraqi advance into Mosul's western half slowed Saturday as combat turned to urban warfare and Iraqi forces met stiff resistance from the Islamic State group. Hundreds of civilians poured out of Mosul on foot following the advances, but the vast majority of 750,000 estimated to still be in the city's west remain trapped, and describe deteriorating humanitarian and security conditions.
  
  Read more

• Highlights: The Trump presidency on Feb. 24 at 12:35 a.m. EST/17:35 GMT

  25-02-2017 18:23 via yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Friday:MILITARY BUILDUPTrump says he will make a massive budget request for one of the "greatest military buildups in American history" in a feisty, campaign-style speech extolling robust nationalism to eager conservative activists.REGULATIONTrump signs an executive order aimed at repealing or simplifying federal regulations.TRUMP AND FBITrump criticizes the FBI for failing to stop leaks of national security in
  
  Read more

• Vietnam says Kim murder suspect thought it was a prank

  25-02-2017 18:09 via yahoo.com
  
  The Vietnamese woman arrested as a suspect in killing the half-brother of North Korea's leader thought she was taking part in a prank video, Vietnam's foreign ministry said on Saturday.Hanoi had not previously confirmed that Doan Thi Huong was Vietnamese, saying only that it was in touch with authorities in Malaysia, where Kim Jong Nam was murdered on Feb. 13.Vietnamese embassy officials met her on Saturday.
  
  Read more

• Philippine leader's opponents turn historic event into protest march

  25-02-2017 18:06 via yahoo.com
  
  By Manuel MogatoMANILA (Reuters) - Supporters and opponents of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte turned a traditional celebration of the 1986 "People Power" uprising into demonstrations for and against his bloody war on drugs.Former president Benigno Aquino, the only son of Corazon Aquino, the icon of democracy, led about 3,000 protesters gathered at Manila's historic highway, site of the popular uprising that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos three decades ago.Later the president's supporter
  
  Read more

• Buffett mulls change to canny Bank of America stake if dividend rises

  25-02-2017 17:42 via yahoo.com
  
  Warren Buffett said on Saturday he plans to stick with the shrewd bet that his Berkshire Hathaway Incmade on Bank of America Corp , but might eventually swap the preferred stock that Berkshire owns into common stock.Berkshire bought $5 billion of Bank of America preferred stock carrying a 6 percent dividend, or $300 million annually, in August 2011, when many investors worried about the second-largest U.S. bank's capital needs.More importantly, Buffett also received warrants to buy 700 million B
  
  Read more

• French candidate Macron to meet Germany's Merkel on March 16: source

  25-02-2017 17:09 via yahoo.com
  
  French independent candidate and presidential election frontrunner Emmanuel Macron will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on March 16, a source close to the former economy minister said on Saturday.A meeting with Merkel, the leader of Europe's biggest economy, could further bolster the image of the 39 year-old Macron following his meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May in London on Tuesday.Opinion polls show that Macron is favorite to win in the second round of the presidential election, eit
  
  Read more

• Survivors denounce Vatican handling of Peru abuse case

  25-02-2017 17:07 via yahoo.com
  
  LIMA, Peru (AP) — Victims of Latin America's latest charismatic Catholic leader-turned-sexual predator are denouncing the Vatican's handling of the case, saying the six-year delay and final resolution are anything but satisfactory for survivors of his sexual, psychological and physical violence.
  
  Read more

• Hiram Revels: The first African-American congressman

  25-02-2017 17:00 via yahoo.com
  
  On this day in 1870, an African-American politician was seated in the United States Senate for the first time, but only after Republican leaders rebuffed a challenge based on the infamous Dred Scott decision.
  
  Read more

Follow @FinanceUSA_News on Twitter!