Oil-funded study: More drilling would add 1 million jobs (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States could create more than one million jobs by 2030 by expanding offshore drilling, limiting federal regulation of shale gas development and quickly approving a Canadian oil sands pipeline, according to a study commissioned by a major oil industry trade group.

The study's bottom line would depend on some major policy shifts by President Barack Obama and Congress, and comes just ahead of a key speech by Obama on his plan to boost U.S. employment as the nation struggles to regain its economic footing.

The study was conducted by consulting firm Wood Mackenzie, and paid for by the American Petroleum Institute, and the findings were released on Wednesday. The consultants found that 1.4 million new jobs could be created through more oil and natural gas development.

"Our new analysis is what our industry has to offer: jobs, increased federal revenue, economic and energy security. Our industry has long been a leader in these areas, but what we are here to say is we can do even more," API head Jack Gerard said on Wednesday at an event on Capitol Hill.

The urgency to address the employment situation has increased for lawmakers after a Labor Department report last week found that the economy did not create any new jobs in August.

Gearing up for upcoming budget battles in Congress, oil and gas industry advocates have argued that the fossil fuels sector could be an engine for economic growth and should not become a target for more taxes or regulations.

In addition to creating jobs, the study said that expanding oil and gas production would generate more than $800 billion in additional government revenue by 2030 from taxes and drilling leases.

But for these outcomes to be realized, some politically difficult actions would need to be taken by Congress and the Obama administration.

For example, the report assumes the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) would become open to oil drilling, a move that would likely need Congressional support and is strongly opposed by many Democrats.

The job creation cited in the report would also depend on speeding up permits for offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and quickly approving TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline, both politically sensitive issues which fall under the purview of the Obama administration.

The jobs scenario also depends on regulation of shale gas development remaining at the state level. Environmental critics of the hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" technique used to tap shale gas have called for more federal regulation of the practice.

Republicans in the House of Representatives have passed legislation aimed at increasing drilling permits in the Gulf and setting a firm deadline for making a decision on Keystone XL, which would transport Canadian oil sands crude to the U.S. Gulf coast.

But these efforts have met resistance in the Democrat-controlled Senate and it's unclear what energy bills could get passed into law with the partisan gridlock in Congress.

Doc Hastings, the Republican chairman of the House Natural Resources committee, said that he plans to propose the opening of ANWR to the so-called "super committee" in Congress, which is supposed to focus on reducing budget deficits.

While opening ANWR has been a lightning rod in Congress in the past, he said he hopes to be able to gain support from Democrats on the select committee.

"Maybe with the price of oil where it is, the price of gasoline where it is, the national security aspects, maybe some of these members will have an epiphany," Hastings told reporters after delivering a speech at the energy jobs conference.

(Editing by Bob Burgdorfer)

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Google settles pharmacy charges for $500 million: report (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Google Inc will pay $500 million to settle government charges that it showed ads for pharmacies that operate illegally, regulators are expected to announce on Wednesday, according to a report in the New York Times.

The investigation by the United States Department of Justice was revealed by Google in May, when the company disclosed in a regulatory filing that it had set aside $500 million for a potential settlement of a federal investigation into its advertising practices.

Media reports at the time said the investigation concerned ads for online pharmacies that sold counterfeit drugs or that sold drugs to buyers who didn't have prescriptions.

Google did not immediately return a request for comment.

The United States Attorney's office in Rhode Island, which has led the investigation, is expected to make the announcement at a press conference on Wednesday, according to the New York Times.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Derek Caney)

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'Apes' rise to No. 1 weekend with $54 million (AP)

LOS ANGELES – Apes have climbed to the top rung of the weekend box office.

According to studio estimates Sunday, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" took in $54 million to open as the No. 1 movie.

That was more than analysts expected for the "Apes" prequel, though well below the $68.5 million opening of Tim Burton's "Planet of the Apes" remake 10 years ago.

The family tale "The Smurfs" remained at No. 2 for the second-straight weekend with $21 million, lifting its domestic total to $76.2 million.

The sci-fi Western "Cowboys & Aliens," which debuted at No. 1 narrowly ahead of "The Smurfs" a week earlier, fell to third with $15.8 million, raising its total to $67.4 million.

The comedy "The Change-Up" opened a weak No. 4 with $13.5 million.

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U.S. withholds $800 million in aid to Pakistan: White House (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is withholding some $800 million in military assistance to Pakistan in a show of displeasure over its cutback on U.S. trainers, limits on visas for U.S. personnel and other bilateral irritants, the Obama administration said on Sunday.

Pakistani authorities have "taken some steps that have given us reason to pause on some of the aid which we're giving to the military," White House Chief of Staff William Daley said on ABC television's "This Week with Christiane Amanpour."

As a result, "We'll hold back some of the money that the American taxpayers have committed to give," he said, adding this amounted to about $800 million, or more than a third of the $2 billion given to Pakistan for security assistance.

The U.S. Defense Department said Pakistan's army had requested a "significant cutback" of U.S. military trainers and limited the ability of U.S. personnel to obtain visas.

"While the Pakistani military leadership tells us this is a temporary step, the reduced presence of our trainers and other personnel means we can't deliver the assistance that requires training and support to be effective," the department said in a written response to questions.

Bilateral ties have been under mounting strain as the United States has pushed one of its key counterterrorism partners to boost efforts against Taliban and other militants fighting western forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

Pakistan also is smarting from the surprise U.S. raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on May 2 in a Pakistani garrison town, as well as U.S. drone attacks and night raids that have killed civilians as well as militants.

The New York Times, which reported the aid curtailment in its Sunday editions, said Pakistan has shut down a U.S. program that had been training paramilitary forces, sending home more than 100 U.S. trainers in recent weeks, and has threatened to close the base the CIA has been using for pilotless plane attacks on militant targets.

The U.S.-Pakistan relationship also was damaged last year after a CIA contractor in Lahore killed two Pakistanis he said were trying to rob him.

The Defense Department in its reply said a series of events over the last eight months "have affected our bilateral relations."

"We remain committed to helping Pakistan build it's capabilities, but we have communicated to Pakistani officials on numerous occasions that we require certain support in order to provide certain assistance," the Pentagon said.

"Working together, allowing an appropriate presence for U.S. military personnel, providing necessary visas, and affording appropriate access are among the things that would allow us to effectively provide assistance," it added.

The State Department added: "We are taking a very clear-eyed approach to our relationship with Pakistan - weighing both the importance of a continued long-term relationship and the importance of near-term action on key issues.

The United States will continue to work with Pakistani leaders "to affirm the importance of cooperating toward our shared national security objectives," the department added in a written reply to a query.

(with additional reporting by John Crawley, editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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More Syria deaths as half a million flood Hama (AFP)

DAMASCUS (AFP) – Syrian security forces opened fire on anti-regime protests on Friday, killing at least 13 people, two of them in the capital Damascus, activists said.

The continuing crackdown on opponents of Bashar al-Assad came as the president's regime accused US Ambassador Robert Ford, who had visited the city, of inciting violence.

Opposition activists speaking to AFP separately by telephone reported five deaths in the central city of Homs, two in the capital's commercial neighbourhood Medan and six in the area of Dmeir, east of Damascus.

In Homs, "at least five people were killed in the Al-Khalidya neighbourhood by security forces who opened fire against demonstrators," said Abdel Karim Rihawi, who heads the Syrian League for Human Rights.

"Security forces shot dead two demonstrators in the neighbourhood of Medan in Damascus," east of the capital," he added.

London-based Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said six people were killed in the area of Dmeir and that at least 24 people had been injured in Homs, some of them gravely.

Rahman said at least 450,000 Syrians rallied after Friday prayers in Hama under the banner "No to dialogue" with Assad's regime.

The Hama demonstrators reiterated their "refusal to dialogue with the regime and called for its fall," he said.

Both US envoy Ford and French Ambassador Eric Chevallier visited Hama on Thursday.

On Friday, the regime accused Ford of meeting "saboteurs" there and inciting anti-Assad protests.

"The US ambassador met with saboteurs in Hama ... who erected checkpoints, cut traffic and prevented citizens from going to work," an interior ministry statement said.

"The ambassador incited these saboteurs to violence, to demonstrate and to refuse dialogue" with the government, it added.

The foreign ministry called Ford's presence in Hama "obvious proof of the implication of the United States in the ongoing events, and of their attempts to increase (tensions), which damage Syria's security and stability."

In Paris, foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said Chevallier went to Hama "to show France's engagement with the victims, the civilian population."

"In particular, he went to one of the main hospitals in the city where he met medical teams, the wounded and their families.

"France repeats its concern over the fate of the inhabitants of the city of Hama, and its condemnation of the violence being carried out by Syrian authorities against the protesters and the civilian population."

Elsewhere, security forces used live rounds against protesters in the coastal city of Banias.

"Protesters left the mosques in the southern districts of the city and dozens were arrested," Abdel Rahman said.

Further north on the coast, in Latakia, more than 1,000 protesters were dispersed as they left Al-Rahman mosque, an activist there told AFP.

"Armed security services came in more than 20 cars, dispersed the protesters and arrested some of them," the activist said.

In Aleppo, a regime stronghold, "thousands of people rallied at Seif al-Dawla and Salheddine. They were attacked by security forces and a pro-regime militia," a witness told AFP.

Protests also took place in Saqba and Jdeidet Artuz, while 7,000 protesters filed through Qatana north of Damascus, activists said.

In the northern town of Raqqa, "security forces fired live rounds and tear gas to disperse protesters, at least one of whom was hurt," said an activist who requested anonymity.

Thousands also marched in Syria's Kurdish regions.

Between 4,000-5,000 took to the streets of Qamlishi, as did thousands more in Amuda, expressing solidarity with Hama and calling for the fall of the regime, rights activist Radif Mustapha said.

Before Friday's protests, the Facebook group Syrian Revolution 2011 had urged "No to dialogue: What dialogue (is possible) when blood has been spilled, while the towns are besieged? The people want the fall of the regime."

It added: "No to dialogue with the assassins, the still-warm blood of the martyrs is calling us. We are legitimacy... dialogue with the regime is useless."

Residents of Hama and Homs staged a general strike ahead of Friday's protests, according to Abdel Rahman, while Syrian Revolution 2011 called for the boycotting of businesses that trade with Assad's regime.

"Don't pay for the bullets that are being used to kill us", the group urged its online followers, also calling on activists to march on the Turkish border on July 16 in support of "the refugees, exiles and victims" of the unrest.

Rights groups say that more than 1,300 civilians have been killed and 10,000 people arrested by security forces since mid-March when the anti-government protests erupted.

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JPMorgan settles muni bid-rigging case for $211 million (Reuters)

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co said it agreed to pay $211 million to settle federal and state charges that its employees rigged bids for derivatives sold to at least 48 cities and not-for-profit organizations.

Bank employees allegedly submitted false, or sham bids, and communicated with competitors to fix prices, between 1999 and 2005, according to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Along the with the OCC, actions were brought against the bank by the Internal Revenue Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and 25 state attorneys general.

"This fraudulent conduct completely manipulated the playing field and left public entities like governments and nonprofits at a serious disadvantage," New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement.

JPMorgan said in its own statement that "the firm's policies -- both now and during the period in question -- expressly prohibit the conduct that gave rise to these proceedings."

The bank said it has tightened its supervision and set up new surveillance programs to ensure compliance with the law. It dissolved its municipal derivatives desk in 2008.

At least eight people from various banks, including JPMorgan, have pleaded guilty to criminal charges brought earlier in the cases.

(Reporting by Karey Wutkowski and David Pelofsky in Washington and David Henry and Joan Gralla in New York, editing by Matthew Lewis)

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Ex-Citigroup VP accused of stealing $19 million (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A former vice president at Citigroup Inc was charged with bank fraud on Monday for allegedly embezzling more than $19 million from the company's accounts.

Gary Foster, 35, was arrested Sunday at John F. Kennedy International Airport on a flight arriving from Bangkok, prosecutors said. He is scheduled to make his initial appearance Monday afternoon in Brooklyn federal court, where he will plead not guilty to the charges, according to his attorney, Isabelle Kirshner.

Between May 2009 and December 2010, Foster allegedly transferred $19.2 million from Citigroup accounts to his own personal bank account at Chase.

Foster put fake contract and deal account numbers in the wire-transfer instructions to make them seem like they were supporting an existing contract, before diverting them to his own accounts, prosecutors alleged.

"The defendant allegedly used his knowledge of bank operations to commit the ultimate inside job," said U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch.

A representative for Citigroup did not immediately return a request for comment.

(Reporting by Jessica Dye; editing by Gunna Dickson)

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