21.04.2011
U.S. allows 2 of 3 shuttered poker sites to reopen
U.S. authorities seized the companies' domain names on Friday, effectively shutting the sites down, and charged 11 people with tricking regulators and banks into processing illegal gambling proceeds.
Under the agreements announced on Wednesday, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker can reopen their websites so players can withdraw funds from their accounts and to allow people outside the United States to play poker for money. The companies specifically agreed not to allow poker play in the United States for money or anything of value.
The agreements also require the appointment of an independent monitor to ensure that the companies are complying with the agreement.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said the same agreement is available to Absolute Poker, the third company named in last week's indictment.
The charges, which were unsealed on April 15 in federal court in Manhattan, are part of a crackdown on Internet gambling in the United States, where it has been illegal since 2006.
(Reporting by Caroline Humer, editing by Matthew Lewis)
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In most states, job markets show signs of life
Unemployment rates fell in 34 states in March from February. Only seven states saw rates rise, while rates in nine states and the District of Columbia were unchanged, a Labor Department report showed.
Compared with a year ago, jobless rates fell in 44 states and the District of Columbia.
Nevada again notched the highest rate, marking at least 10 months in a row when it has registered the worst unemployment conditions. But it continued to back off its record 14.5 percent jobless rate hit in December, dropping to 13.2 percent in March.
California, with an unemployment rate of 12 percent, and Florida, at 11.1 percent, followed, though those March rates also showed declines.
Michigan, which stood out during most of the 2007-2009 recession with the country's highest jobless rate as the automotive industry cratered, has started to show signs of a revival.
In March, its jobless rate showed the biggest decline from a year earlier, falling by 1/10th of a percentage point to 10.3 percent. In March 2009, the rate stood at 13.3 percent.
Total employment in Michigan increased by 11,000 in March, while unemployment declined by 7,000, said Rick Waclawek, director of Michigan's Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives. "Michigan's labor market indicators have shown steady improvement in the first three months of 2011," said Waclawek in a statement. "Compared to this time last year, the state's jobless rate has fallen significantly while private sector payroll jobs have increased by 98,000 or 3.1 percent."
The recession only spared a few states, but the recovery has been uneven. Many states that were hardest-hit by the housing collapse have taken the longest to come back.
For Georgia, the March jobs numbers show that economic recovery may have taken root, with the jobless rate in March down to 10 percent.
"The drop in the unemployment rate is encouraging, but I'm more pleased that we've now had two consecutive months of job growth, coupled with fewer layoffs," said State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler in a statement. "It appears that employers are growing more confident that our economy is improving."
Commodities rich states, which were last to enter the recession and first out, remained standouts. North Dakota held the lowest jobless rate in March, at 3.6 percent, followed by Nebraska, at 4.2 percent, and South Dakota, at 4.9 percent.
"North Dakota's unemployment rate continues to post at less than half the nation," said Michael Ziesch, research analyst for the state's job service. "Labor market gains are spread out amongst almost all sectors of the state's economy, and led by strength in agriculture and energy."
The U.S. unemployment rate was 8.8 percent in March, and the Labor Department said 22 states "posted jobless rates significantly lower than that."
The number of jobs also rose in many places. Altogether, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 38 states and decreased in 12 states and the District of Columbia in March. Texas added the most jobs, 37,000, followed by Missouri with 24,300.
(Additional reporting by Karen Pierog in Chicago and Michael Connor in Miami; editing by Leslie Adler)
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Libya rebels report fierce fighting in Misrata
Libya's third-largest city, the insurgents' last major stronghold in the west of the country, has been under siege for more than seven weeks.
Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed in the city of 300,000, where aid groups say the humanitarian situation is worsening with a lack of food and medical supplies. Thousands of stranded foreign migrant workers are awaiting rescue in the city's port area.
"Fierce fighting is taking place now on Nakl el Thequeel road which leads to the port. Gaddafi forces have been trying to control this road to isolate the city," Abdelsalam, a rebel spokesman, said.
"NATO warplanes are flying over Misrata but I do not know if there are strikes," he said by phone from the city. "NATO has been inefficient in Misrata. NATO has completely failed to change things on the ground."
He said "violent fighting" had also erupted on Tripoli Street, a main thoroughfare and another key battleground, in the morning.
"I'm hearing explosions now. A large number of snipers are positioned there," Abdelsalam said. "Civilians can not come out for fear of being shot dead."
Libyan officials say they are fighting militia with ties to al Qaeda bent on destroying the country, and deny government troops are shelling Misrata and its civilians.
MIGRANTS EVACUATED
Rebel claims of gains on the ground in recent days -- despite heavy shelling by government forces at times -- have not been verified independently.
The rebels "are now controlling 50 percent of the street. The other 50 percent is controlled by Gaddafi soldiers and snipers," another rebel spokesman, Reda, said, referring to Tripoli Street. Like Abdelsalam, he only gave his first name.
Reda said the area near the city's port -- a rebel-held zone that is a lifeline for trapped civilians and for badly needed food and medical supplies -- was calm on Wednesday morning and ships were able to dock.
"A Turkish ship carrying humanitarian aid arrived there about 30 minutes ago. Two Qatari ships were in yesterday. They evacuated around 1,500 Africans," Reda said, referring to migrant workers desperately trying to flee Misrata.
A said a ship bringing humanitarian aid to Misrata arrived in the port on Wednesday aiming to evacuate more stranded migrants, estimated to number around 5,000 in the port area.
"We don't know whether we will be able to reach them, however," said Jeremy Haslam of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in a statement. "If they are not close to the port, then it will be extremely hard to access them given the security conditions in the city."
The Geneva-based aid agency -- which said it had evacuated 2,100 people from Misrata in two earlier such missions -- said the Ionian Spirit ship carried 500 tones of food, medical supplies, and other aid as well as a team of 13 doctors.
(Additional reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers; Writing by Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Giles Elgood)
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