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AP Business NewsBrief at 12:05 p.m. EST(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Madoff son found dead in NYC in apparent suicideNEW YORK (AP) _ The eldest son of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff hanged himself by a dog leash in his apartment Saturday after two years of "unrelenting pressure" following his father's arrest in a multibillion-dollar fraud that enveloped the entire family, law enforcement officials and a family attorney said. Mark Madoff was found hanging from a ceiling pipe in the living room of his SoHo loft apartment on Saturday, the second anniversary of Madoff's arrest in a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that swindled thousands of investors of their life savings, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. His 2-year-old son was sleeping in the next bedroom, the officials said. OPEC ministers signal no change in outputQUITO, Ecuador (AP) _ OPEC oil ministers indicated as they convened Saturday that they see no reason to change output targets given the current global economic uncertainty, though they expect demand for crude will continue to grow. With prices hovering just below $90 per barrel, there was much discussion about whether it would soon broach the psychological barrier of $100. Obama: Tax cut deal not perfect, but worth passageWASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama calls his tax-cut agreement with Republicans far from perfect but a good deal overall for Americans, while acknowledging that many fellow Democrats aren't happy about what he negotiated with the GOP. Pressing for passage by year's end, he told lawmakers in his radio and Internet address Saturday that "our recovery will be strengthened or weakened based on the choice that now rests with Congress." UN climate meeting OKs Green Fund in new accordCANCUN, Mexico (AP) _ A U.N. conference on Saturday adopted a modest climate deal creating a fund to help the developing world go green, though it deferred for another year the tough work of carving out deeper reductions in carbon emissions causing Earth to steadily warm. Though the accords were limited, it was the first time in three years the 193-nation conference adopted any climate action, restoring faith in the unwieldy U.N. process after the letdown a year ago at a much-anticipated summit in Copenhagen. NY trustee seeks nearly $20B in latest actionNEW YORK (AP) _ The trustee recovering money for investors who lost billions of dollars in jailed financier Bernard Madoff's fraud on Friday filed civil racketeering charges against an Austrian banker and 55 other defendants, demanding they give up nearly $20 billion and accusing the banker of being Madoff's "criminal soul mate." Court-appointed trustee Irving Picard used tough language to portray a 23-year relationship between banker Sonja Kohn and Madoff, saying she "masterminded a vast illegal scheme" as she and others engaged in money laundering, mail and wire fraud, and financial institution fraud in support of the Madoff's scheme. He also accused her of accepting at least $62 million in secret kickbacks from Madoff for soliciting investors for the fraud. Agreement sought on Afghan-Pakistan gas pipelineASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) _ The leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan were in the capital of gas-rich Turkmenistan Saturday to push forward on ambitions to build a pipeline across their countries. The pipeline, which would terminate in India, would bring huge amounts of gas to underdeveloped regions and could earn impoverished Afghanistan hundreds of millions of dollars in transit fees. But it would cross both Taliban-intensive stretches of Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan's unruly tribal areas. Taiwan tycoon: EU should have fined Samsung tooTAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) _ The head of Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn Technology Group questioned the European Union decision to exempt Samsung Electronics Co. from price-fixing fines for makers of LCD panels, accusing his South Korean rival of being the cartel's main culprit. Terry Gou's comments came after the EU competition watchdog fined South Korea's LG Display and four Taiwanese manufacturers euro649 million ($863 million) Wednesday for fixing prices on the flat-screen panels between 2001 and 2006. Regulators close banks in Michigan, PennsylvaniaWASHINGTON (AP) _ Regulators on Friday shut down small banks in Michigan and Pennsylvania, boosting the number of U.S. banks that have failed this year to 151 as bad loans have mounted and the economy has been slow to heal. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over Paramount Bank, based in Farmington Hills, Mich., with $252.7 million in assets and $213.6 million in deposits; and Earthstar Bank, based in Southampton, Pa., with $112.6 million in assets and $104.5 million in deposits. China says inflation up 5.1 percent in NovemberBEIJING (AP) _ China's inflation surged to a 28-month high in November, officials said Saturday, despite government efforts to increase food supplies and end diesel shortages. The 5.1 percent inflation rate was driven by a 11.7 percent jump in food prices year on year. Bucking trend, Bolivia lowers retirement age to 58LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) _ Bolivia enacted a law Friday lowering the country's retirement age to 58, bucking a global trend in which countries push people to work longer to counteract the burden on national treasuries of rising life expectancy. Critics say the law, which also nationalizes the pension system and generously extends coverage to the poor, is overly ambitious and unsustainable. (c) 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |