Fanged free-loader pulled from girls nose

An enormous-toothed leech, pulled from the nose of a lady who was showering in a river, has only been documented in the biography PLoS ONE.   

Named Tyrannobdella rex, that equates to "tyrant free-loader king," the new class of red blood fool sports the "ferociously large teeth" in a singular jaw, but is less than 2 inches in length.

Found at remote tools of the Upper Amazon in Peru, the new class has led to a reworking of the free-loader family that feeds from the physique orifices of mammals.

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"Because of the research of morphology and DNA, we think that Tyrannobdella rex is majority closely associated to an one more free-loader that gets in to the mouths of stock in Mexico," pronounced Anna Phillips, a connoisseur tyro dependent with the American Museum of Natural History and the initial writer of the paper. "We think the free-loader could feedaquatic mammals, from their noses and mouths for example, where they could stay for weeks at a time."

  Discovery.comNew Tech Sees Dead PeopleIceland Volcano: Massive Ash PlumesDolphin Births Up Since Hurricane KatrinaYuris Night: Big Pic GalleryLife in the News  Most popular• Most viewed• Top rated• Most e-mailedEurope flights to restart in ‘caution zones’  US: Deaths of 2 al-Qaida in Iraq leaders big blowPee-ew! The thirteen misfortune perfumesTobacco ‘mints’ scored equally to poisoning in kidsPolice: Boxer Valero kills self in jailMost viewedmsnbc.comExonerated anthrax suspect: FBI tormented mePoland buries president, initial ladyMexico cartels dull limit townsSex delinquent pleads guilty to murdering 2 teensNew tech sees passed peopleMost viewedmsnbc.comSexting box raises workplace remoteness issuesPills to forestall breast cancer move trade-offsMichael Phelps of cats loves to swimEurope creates ‘zones’ to restart flightsCookbook pulped over "ground black people" typoMost viewedmsnbc.comThe find adds to the a little 700 well known class of leeches worldwide. Since they exist far and wide, the thought that these organisms had a usual forerunner that livedPangea, the outrageous antiquated land mass that pennyless up and in the future led to todays continents.

"We declared it Tyrannobdella rex since of the huge teeth," explained Mark Siddall, who additionally workedthe investigate and is a curator in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History.

Siddall added, "Besides, the beginning class in this family of these leeches no-doubt common an sourroundings with dinosaurs about 200 million years ago when a little forerunner of the T. rex might have been up that alternative T. rexs nose."

"The new T. rex joins 4 alternative class that make use of this shortened name, together with dual Miocene fossils (a snail and a scarab beetle), a vital Malaysian formicid ant, and, of course, the barbarous Cretaceous theropod dinosaur that was described in 1905 by an progressing curator of the American Museum of Natural History."

To review the full biography paper, that includes a couple of one more images, greatfully go to this PLoS ONE page.

©Discovery Channel

N.C. purple tater goes national

The North Carolina-grown purple honeyed potato might shortly be accessible in stores all over the country.

Stokes Foods, the Walnut Cove grower of the Stokes Purple, has sealed a placement agreement that will take the line of purple honeyed potatoes and purple honeyed potato products to stores nationwide.

The deal, with Georgia-based Columbus Gourmet, will assistance the association enhance the reach. For the past year, the Stokes Purple has been sole in Southeastern Whole Foods stores, together with those in the Triangle. The new understanding will concede Stokes to work with Whole Foods stores in alternative regions, as well as suggest intensity inroads with alternative retailers with that Columbus Gourmet works, together with Southeastern grocery sequence Publix.

The one more commercial operation will assistance Stokes" bottom line as well as farmers in the Stokes County area, pronounced Bill Cobb, the companys handling director. "I think the protected to contend we design to be means to stand in volumes [annually] for a little time to come," he said.

Stokes County is about 100 miles northwest of Raleigh, nearby the Virginia line.

Staff contributor Sue Stock

Halliburton agrees to buy Boots & Coots

NEW YORK Fri April 9, 2010 9:29pm EDT Related News Constellation Brands ends partnership talksWed, April 7 2010UPDATE 1-Constellation Brands ends partnership talksWed, April 7 2010Constellation Brands ends talks with Australian VintageWed, April 7 2010RealD plans IPO of up to $1 bln-FTTue, April 6 2010Valmont sees $365 mln Q1 revenueMon, April 5 2010 Stocks & &

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Halliburton (HAL.N) pronounced on Friday it concluded to buy Boots Coots (WEL.A), a association that provides vigour carry out services for oil and gas wells, in a batch and money understanding value about $240 million.

Deals

Halliburton pronounced Boots Coots shareholders will embrace about $3 for each share of Boots Coots they hold. That $3 consists of $1.73 in money and $1.27 in Halliburton stock, according to the matter from Halliburton.

Shares in Boots Coots sealed at $2.35, down about 1.3 percent. Halliburton shares sealed at $31.57, down 9 cents or about 0.3 percent.

The understanding will be accretive in the initial full year of operation, Halliburton said.

The second largest oilfield services association will emanate a new product use line mixing the existent coiled tubing and hydraulic workover operations with Boots Coots" involvement services and the vigour carry out business.

(Reporting by Elinor Comlay; modifying about Carol Bishopric)

Deals

Victory for West Bromwich secures graduation to the Premier League Football

John Aizlewood & ,}

That it was so predictable, that it was for the fourth time this century and that on Grand National day they stumbled rather than sped past the winning post frequency done it less sweet. Once again, West Bromwich Albion are a Premier League club.

They rode their fitness opposite a Championship group who fool around the diversion roughly as lambently as themselves. Indeed, had Rovers been some-more ruthless, the gratification of the robust travelling 3,200 would have been deferred. Weve been some-more interesting than Id similar to as a manager, smiled Albions mananger, Roberto Di Matteo. But Ive never doubted us.

They have right away scored 102 goals in all competitions, have frequency looked expected to do anything but rise and their 2010 selected see a some-more stout proposition than the windmill-tilting category of 2008 led by Tony Mowbray. Even so, one bookie has already done them 5-4 to be relegated subsequent season.

A extreme Graham Dorrans free-kick and Chris Brunts tap-in after James Chambers slipped put Albion dual up by half-time. Though Doncaster rallied when Arsenal loanee Jay Emmanuel-Thomas outfoxed the exhausted Slovak Marek Cech and, late in the game, when an unchallenged James Hayter headed home, Roman Bednar had already done graduation secure for Albion when he swept home Brunts cross.

Related LinksSmith: should he stay or go?Barnsley in limboChampionship Focus: Cardiff close in on playoffs MultimediaAll Saturday"s scores and scorers

You know when youve a baby, you have to sense to walk? asked Di Matteo. Thats us. Only subsequent deteriorate we have to sense to run.

Star man: Chris Brunt (West Brom) Yellow cards: Doncaster: Martis West Brom: S. Reid Referee: J Linington Attendance: 12,708 Doncaster: Sullivan 6, Chambers 5(Lockwood 79min), Martis 5, OConnor 6, Roberts 5, Oster 5, Hayter 6. Wilson 6, Mutch 6 (Shiels 79min), Emmanuel-Thomas 8, Heffernan 6(Fairhurst 79min) West Brom: Carson 7, S Reid 5, Tamas 7, Olsson 6, Cech 5, Mulumbu 5, Koren 6, Cox 6(Barnes 64min), Dorrans 7, Brunt 8, Bednar 7(Miller 77min)

Sir Fred Goodwins landowner Matthew Greenburgh quits the City

By Philip Aldrick, Banking Editor 744PM GMT twenty-six March 2010

RBS clears out Sir Freds bankers Emails leave electronic route to the heart of the monetary crisis Depressed landowner blank with dual shotguns RBS to outlay hundreds of thousands on Wimbledon hospitality

Despite operative on hundreds of deals in his 28-year City career, Mr Greenburgh will be majority remembered for the dual that went wrong. As well as advising Sir Fred on the ABN takeover, he was the landowner to Lloyds on the merger of HBOS.

Lloyds shares have collapsed due to HBOSs bad lending, causing the bank to write off tens of billions of pounds. Treasury sources say, though, that the understanding probably discovered the countrys largest debt lender from full nationalisation. RBS is right away 84pc owned by the taxpayer and Lloyds 41pc after 65.5bn of state bail-outs.

Mr Greenburgh, 49, shot to inflection advising Sir Fred on RBSs takeover of Natwest in 2000. The understanding hermetic both their reputations and was deliberate one of the majority appropriate of the decade. Mr Greenburgh subsequently became Sir Freds majority devoted confidant on a fibre of alternative deals culminating in the ABN difficulty in 2007.

He after became close to Eric Daniels, Lloyds arch executive. The dual memorably went on a dove-shooting outing to Argentina together last year.

At his peak, Mr Greenburgh was one of the City kingmakers rising to authority of the monetary institutions organisation at BoA Merrill Lynch and receiving home annual bonuses in additional of 10m. He polarised perspective in the City, with as most objecting to his audacity as reputable his achievements.

He reported to Andrea Orcel, the $30m-a-year landowner who heads up BoA Merrill Lynchs tellurian promissory note & markets practice. Mr Orcel and Henrietta Baldock, European head of the monetary institutions organisation at BoA Merrill Lynch, will take over Mr Greenburghs superfluous clients, that embody Lloyds, Royal & Sun Alliance and Standard Life.

Among his alternative deals was the counterclaim of the London Stock Exchange opposite mixed bids, and the flotations of Standard Life and Friends Provident.

Wall St. ends reduce on emperor debt concerns

Ryan Vlastelica NEW YORK Wed Mar 24, 2010 5:02pm EDT Related News Financial remodel tops Obama bulletin post-healthcareWed, Mar twenty-four 2010 Stocks & & Related Video Business Update: Health rally Mon, Mar twenty-two 2010

A merchant functions on the building of the New York Stock Exchange, Mar 22, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Brendan McDermid

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Wednesday as Portugal"s credit rating hillside and a diseased Treasury note auction influenced concerns about emperor debt.

Major indexes eased a day after attack 18-month highs, with waste opposite majority sectors on light volume. Worries centered on countries" capability to compensate their debt, bolstering the dollar and spiteful commodity-related stocks.

Portugal"s rating was lowered by one nick to AA-minus, compounding problems in the euro zone, where diplomats have still not concluded on a reserve net for heavily gladdened Greece.

"This raises serve concerns about alternative countries in the area and the markets are condemned by the miss of distinctness on how Europe will understanding with the issues," pronounced Todger Anderson, boss of Westcore Funds in Denver, Colorado.

Sentiment additionally soured after a diseased auction of five-year U.S. Treasury notes, the second muted debt sale after Tuesday"s temperate auction of two-year notes.

The Dow Jones industrial normal .DJI fell 52.68 points, or 0.48 percent, to close at 10,836.15. The Standard Poor"s 500 Index .SPX slipped 6.45 points, or 0.55 percent, to finish at 1,167.72. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC forsaken 16.48 points, or 0.68 percent, to close at 2,398.76.

CHEVRON SLIPS, GENZYME SLIDES

The Portugal credit rating hillside gathering the dollar up opposite the euro, that in spin pushed down prices of line denominated in the greenback. U.S. wanton oil futures for May lost 1.6 percent, or $1.30, to solve at $80.61 per barrel.

Chevron Corp (CVX.N) was one of the tip drags on the Dow, off 1.1 percent at $73.93.

Oil prices additionally declined after interpretation showed U.S. wanton inventories rose scarcely five times some-more than approaching last week, a bearish pointer for demand.

Limiting the Dow"s decrease was Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), the index"s tip commission gainer after it pronounced it plans to suggest about $3 billion in loan redemption to about 45,000 uneasy homeowners. The move is an bid to forestall foreclosures when home values dump neatly next the volume owed. The batch of Bank of America, the largest U.S. bank with somewhat some-more than $2 trillion in assets, rose 2.6 percent to $17.57 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The greatest draw towards on the Nasdaq was Genzyme Corp (GENZ.O), that fell 6.4 percent to $55.33 after it pronounced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will take coercion movement following problems at one of the plants. Genzyme creates drug to provide singular and ongoing diseases.

On the gain front, General Mills (GIS.N) reported third-quarter gain that kick expectations, but gave a full-year distinction perspective that was next consensus, promulgation the batch down 1.9 percent to $72.18.

Homebuilder Lennar Corp (LEN.N) gained 3.7 percent to $17.69 after stating a first-quarter loss that was most narrower than expected.

Data expelled progressing in the day sent churned signals about the economy, with new home sales suddenly descending to a jot down low in February, but new orders for permanent made products rose for a third true month in February.

"This is only a delay of the diseased direction we"ve seen," Anderson said. "It isn"t surprising, but it did supplement to the sell-off that proposed with Portugal."

The session"s declines follow the market"s pull to 18-month highs on Tuesday, with the Dow racking up a 10th day of gains out of the past eleven sessions.

For the month so far, the SP 500 is up about 6 percent.

About 8.48 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, next last year"s estimated each day normal of 9.65 billion.

Decliners outnumbered advancers by a comparative measure of 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, whilst on the Nasdaq, some-more than 9 bonds fell for each 4 that rose.

(Editing by January Paschal)

for acne crude associations between acne and high intake of chocolate and chips and low intake of vegetables

Rooney keeps United in the hunt

Just when the story seemed to be about Wayne Rooney and dual some-more expertly navigated headers replicas of San Siro, each one a spook resurfaced last night that threatens to show up Fabio Capello right by to his Jun date in South Africa.

Sir Alex Ferguson forsaken the headlines of the ultimate regularity of Rio Ferdinands at the at the back of difficulty innocuously, at the finish of a post-match talk in that he disclosed that the new England captain will be blank from Sundays Carling Cup last conflicting Aston Villa. He got a pang in his at the at the back of this sunrise in training, the physical education instructor murmured. He"d been precision great with no mishaps at all but you get these twinges and you cant take a chance. He wouldnt be ready for Sunday. Unfortunately he"ll miss a integrate of games.

Unfortunate doesnt proceed to discuss it it, where England are concerned. Ferdinand becomes presumably the initial England captain to give approach the armband prior to he has even taken it up. It is usually eighteen days given Capello, approaching at the at the back of from a coaching conference in Sun City, South Africa today, nominated the 31-year-old as the inheritor to John Terry. But he right away seems doubtful to have him for Englands last pre-World Cup accessible conflicting Egypt subsequent Wednesday and questions sojourn about possibly Ferdinands at the at the back of pain, that has additionally influenced his calf when he plays by it, will bear the rigours of a tournament. On usually dual occasions this deteriorate has Ferdinand played unbroken games for United. There have been usually eleven appearances in all.

With Ashley Coles World Cup in serious disbelief given of his damaged ankle, Glen Johnsons knee difficulty keeping him out of Liverpool precision until subsequent month, Joleon Lescott usually usually at the at the back of from knee surgery and Phil Jagielkas programmed reconstruction deferred when Evertons haven compare was called off last night, Englands counterclaim looks threadbare. Steven Gerrard, the clamp captain, does not crop up to be entirely fit, and afterwards there is the goalkeeping issue. Ben Foster, postulated his initial possibility last night given Besiktas won here in November, had a little bold moments to go with dual great second-half saves as his physical education instructor acknowledged.

All told, sufficient headaches to have Rooneys grant here roughly a footnote, though with 6 headed goals in 7 games and nineteen goals in as most games, the England physical education instructor contingency be pulled this approach and that with frigid conflicting emotions. Hes patently got my video, Ferguson joked last night after examination his budding striker take his seasons total to 27. West Ham physical education instructor Gianfranco Zola described Rooney as King Midas and he is as most the heartbeat of United as was an additional former No 10 who happens to be 70 currently Denis Law. Law would probably contend Rooney is the some-more finish player.

But to go with the strikers dual expertly navigated headers on 38 and 55 mins was justification last night of a new entrance man at Old Trafford, who set them both up. Antonio Valencia combined Rooneys idea in Milan last Tuesday, and the same immaculately totalled supply-line supposing twice again here.

Two great blocks had usually about kept the Ecuadorean at the at the back of the doorway prior to the decisive, smooth-flowing move that non-stop the scoring. Park Ji-Sung, on for Anderson, and Dimitar Berbatov processed the round from left to right where Jonathan Spector authorised Valencia the space to bombardment the cranky that Rooney deposited but encumbrance with his head. Rooney landed a shot on the roof tiles of the net and surrogate Park slammed an additional Valencia cranky conflicting the bar, a notation possibly side of the interval, though the eventuality was staid ten mins after the restart, when Valencia exchanged passes with Berbatov and squeezed in between Matthew Upson and Spector to boyant a second cranky for Rooney to curtsy in.

Mido competence have brought West Ham at the at the back of in to the diversion had he continuous with Valon Behramis cranky but an additional mild night for West Ham was hermetic when Michael Owen stole in at the at the back of Julian Faubert to container home Paul Scholes" round 9 mins from time: his initial joining idea given the Manchester derby on twenty Sep and an additional one Capello wasnt benefaction to observe.

Ferguson, who will be but Nani and Ryan Giggs at Wembley, was additionally ruing the loss of Anderson seventeen mins in to the match, the Brazilian carrying disfigured his knee in the march of his grant to an early bony move. Its not seeking great, Ferguson declared. It was the story of the night.

Manchester United (4-4-2) Foster; Neville, Brown, Vidic, Evra; Valencia, Gibson, Scholes, Anderson (Park, 19); Berbatov (Owen, 78), Rooney (Diouf, 78). Substitutes not used: Rafael, Evans, Fletcher, Kuszczak (gk).

West Ham United (4-4-2) Green; Faubert, Tomkins, Upson, Spector; Behrami (Collison 63), Noble, Kovac, Diamanti (Dyer, 75); Franco (Mido, h-t), Cole. Substitutes not used: Ilan, Da Costa, Stech (gk), Daprela.

Referee: A Wiley (Staffordshire).

Man of the match: Rooney.

Attendance: 73,797.

Obesity compared with basin and clamp versa

Both basin and plumpness are at large widespread problems with vital open health implications, the authors write as credentials report in the article. Because of the high superiority of both basin and obesity, and the actuality that they both lift an increasing risk for cardiovascular disease, a intensity organisation in in in in in in in in between basin and plumpness has been reputed and regularly been examined. Understanding the attribute in in in in in in in in between the dual conditions over time could assistance urge impediment and involvement strategies.

Floriana S. Luppino, M.D., of Leiden University Medical Center and GGZ Rivierduinen, Leiden, the Netherlands, and colleagues analyzed the formula of fifteen formerly published studies involving 58,745 participants that carefully thought about the longitudinal (over time) attribute in in in in in in in in between basin and overweight or obesity.

We found bidirectional associations in in in in in in in in between basin and obesity: portly persons had a 55 percent increasing risk of building basin over time, since vexed persons had a 58 percent increasing risk of apropos obese, the authors write. The organisation in in in in in in in in between basin and plumpness was stronger than the organisation in in in in in in in in between basin and overweight, that reflects a dose-response gradient.

Sub-analyses demonstrated that the organisation in in in in in in in in between plumpness and after basin was some-more conspicuous in between Americans than in between Europeans, and stronger for diagnosed depressive commotion compared with depressive symptoms.

Evidence of a biological couple in in in in in in in in between overweight, plumpness and basin stays capricious and complex, but multiform theories have been proposed, the authors note. Obesity might be deliberate an inflammatory state, and inflammation is compared with the risk of depression. Because thinness is deliberate a beauty preferred in both the United States and Europe, being overweight or portly might minister to physique restlessness and low self-respect that places people at risk for depression. Conversely, basin might enlarge weight over time by division with the endocrine complement or the inauspicious goods of calmative medication.

The commentary are critical for clinical practice, the authors note. Because weight benefit appears to be a late effect of depression, caring providers should be wakeful that inside of depressive patients weight should be monitored. In overweight or portly patients, mood should be monitored. This recognition could lead to prevention, early showing and co-treatment for the ones at risk, that could in conclusion revoke the weight of both conditions, they conclude.

James Cameron Says 3-D Coming to Mobile Devices No Glasses Required

Las Vegas 3-D will come to mobile faster than any one hasanticipated, and but the need for ungainly glasses, Avatar directorJames Cameron told an assembly currently at the CTIA Wireless conference.

When the shade is small as on mobile phones, viewers wouldnt need theglasses any some-more to get 3-D. "Its the disproportion in in in between a multipleuser shade and one for a singular user. When the shade is small enough,you dont need the glasses," Cameron explained. "The ... shade [on acell phone] is oriented to you and you get undiluted 3-D."

Cameron done it receptive to advice simple. "What you wish to do is move the HDpictures around, cut it in half and mix it to have 3-D," he said.

Cameron pronounced he was astounded by this years recover of 3-D TVs. Heexpected a passing from one to another duration when 3-D calm would be promote intheaters, but 3-D TV manufacturers together with Panasonic, Samsung andSony "jumped that hurdle" and brought 3-D TVs to sell beginninglast month.

He pronounced he will not blink how fast 3-D record takeshold and has a start-up association underway to furnish branded 3-D contentfor television. The association will yield a finish resolution for 3-Dentertainment, together with on condition that the required apparatus and training.

Despite the accessibility of 3-D TVs, there is still a calm gap, according to Cameron.

He predicts "the not as big innovators will dip the big studios" toclose the gap, and sent a transparent summary to app developers in theaudience to proceed growth of 3-D apps for mobile.

Cameron additionally remarkable during his speak that Avatar was the majority pirated movie in history, but says this is great news.

It proves that people distinguish in in in between saying a movie in atheater and owning a movie and examination it at home, he said.� "Theresthe merger experience and the amicable experience of the theater. Ithink they can co-exist. People wish both."

In a confidant move, Cameron has shortened the time in in in between theatricalrelease and the recover of the Avatar on DVD. "Lets only move out theDVD whilst the in theaters and see what happens," he said.

The 2-D version of Avatar will be accessible on iTunes in May.

How Hollywood Converts 2-D Silver Into 3-D Gold How to Shop For a New 3-D HDTV Top 10 Disruptive Technologies

FOREX-Dollar small altered vs majors in flighty traffic

Thu Mar 11, 2010 4:12pm EST

* U.S. trade gap narrows, claims higher than forecast

Currencies

* SNB says would act "decisively" on Swiss franc

* New Zealand dollar falls after RBNZ holds rates (Updates prices, adds comment)

By Wanfeng Zhou

NEW YORK, March 11 (Reuters) - The dollar traded littlechanged versus major currencies on Thursday after mixed data onU.S. trade and jobless claims failed to give investorsdirection.

The U.S. trade gap narrowed unexpectedly in January as oilimports fell while the number of U.S. workers filing newapplications for unemployment insurance was slightly higherthan expected last week, hinting at a slow labor marketrecovery. For details, see [ID:nN11203719]

"The data released this morning was unable to move themarket and especially against the euro, we"ve seen the dollarin a very tight range over the course of the week," said JohnDoyle, foreign-exchange strategist at Tempus Consulting inWashington.

"The dollar is really struggling to find direction and Ithink investors are likely to shift their focus to tomorrow"sretail sales number."

The Commerce Department is slated to release U.S. retailsales for February on Friday, with economists polled by Reuterslooking for a decline of 0.2 percent.

In late New York trading, the euro was up 0.1 percent at$1.3673 EUR=. The euro peaked intraday at $1.3687 with a lowof $1.3620, according to Reuters data.

The euro briefly came under pressure after GermanChancellor Angela Merkel said the first priority for Greece wasto win back the confidence of financial markets and thedebt-stricken country"s first steps were a positive start.[nAAT010127]

"There"s a perception that the Greek austerity plan is onlya temporary pause on sovereign debt risk, and there"s concernthat there could be problems in Portugal, Spain, Ireland," saidMichael Malpede, market analyst at Easy Forex in Chicago. "Ifanything, traders appear to have a preference to sell the euroon rallies."

The dollar JPY= was little changed at 90.53 yen, aftertouching a two-week high on Wednesday.

SWISS NATIONAL BANK EYED

The Swiss franc earlier fell after the Swiss National Banksaid it would act "decisively" to counter any excessive rise inthe Swiss currency.

The Swiss central bank"s announcement came as it leftinterest rates on hold and said signs of an economic recoverywere becoming more tangible. [ID:nZUX010014] [ID:nWEB5195]

The euro hit a session high of 1.4630 Swiss francsEURCHF= and was last flat at 1.4617 francs. The dollar CHF=fell 0.1 percent to 1.0688 francs.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For a graphic on moves in euro/Swiss franc on previousintervention rumors see:here ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Sterling rose 0.5 percent to $1.5057 after a slight uptickin inflation expectations, though analysts expected economicand political concerns to keep the pound under pressure aheadof an upcoming general election. [ID:nLDE62A1YO]

The Australian dollar AUD= last traded little changed atUS$0.9149, swinging between gains and losses after strongChinese data and a smaller-than-expected rise in Australianemployment.

Chinese inflation rose to a 16-month high and other datashowed broad-based strength, fueling expectations Beijing mayfurther tighten monetary policy. [ID:nBJL002012]

The New Zealand dollar fell 0.2 percent to $0.7004 afterthe central bank said there was no urgency to lift interestrates off their current record lows. [ID:nSGE62702P] (Additional reporting by Nick Olivari; editing by DianeCraft)

Currencies

Trustee sues ex-Thornburg Mortgage execs for burglary

Emily Chasan NEW YORK Thu Mar 4, 2010 2:51pm EST Related News UPDATE 1-Adfitech expects to exit bankruptcy in 2 weeksWed, Mar 3 2010UPDATE 1-Select Portfolio wins Thornburg"s $11 bln portfolioFri, Feb 5 2010

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Four top executives of Thornburg Mortgage improperly paid themselves handsome bonuses just before the mortgage lender filed for bankruptcy last year, and stole money and ideas from Thornburg to secretly launch a new firm, the bankruptcy trustee in charge of liquidating the lender alleged in a lawsuit.

In an 82-page complaint filed on Tuesday in U.S. bankruptcy court in Baltimore, the trustee, Joel Sher, said the four executives and their outside lawyer and law firm conspired to launch a new company, called SAF Financial, using a strategy created by Thornburg to try to save itself.

The trustee alleged that former Chief Executive Larry Goldstone, former Chief Financial Officer Clarence Simmons, and former Vice Presidents Deborah Burns and Amy Pell began planning for the new company in the months and days ahead of Thornburg"s bankruptcy. The plan was to purchase a small thrift that would give the company access to deposits and Federal Home Loan Bank funds for issuing mortgages, according to the lawsuit.

The trustee is seeking to recover at least $12 million in misappropriated funds and millions from other claims, including thousands of dollars worth of bonuses he contends the executives secretly paid themselves ahead of the bankruptcy.

"Faced with an impending bankruptcy, two of the Debtor"s (Thornberg"s) senior officers, together with one of the Debtor"s most trusted attorneys, embarked upon a multi-faceted conspiracy in which they converted substantial amounts of the Debtor"s cash, proprietary and confidential information and used the Debtor"s personnel and fixed assets to start up a secret new business venture," the trustee said in the complaint.

The suit alleges the Thornburg executives caused the company to switch bankruptcy lawyers so they could execute their secret plan, improperly caused thousands of dollars to be paid to vendors and employees from Thornburg"s funds for the benefit of their new venture, and hid, lied and covered up all that they were doing from the company"s creditors and directors.

"Over a thirty-day period, in an unchecked frenzy of self-dealing and wanton and reckless breach of fiduciary duty and loyalty, Messrs. Goldstone and Simmons caused TMST (Thornburg) to make payments to themselves and their cohorts in the aggregate amount of $842,000.00," the trustee wrote in the lawsuit.

"The complaint is obviously a one-sided story that"s been told by the trustee, and when the other side is told it will be obvious that the claims are without merit," said Mark Salzberg, an attorney at Patton Boggs in Washington representing Goldstone, Simmons, and SAF Financial. Burns declined to comment on the lawsuit and Pell did not immediately return a message left at her home.

The trustee"s lawsuit also named attorney Karen Dempsey of the San Francisco law firm of Orrick, Herrington Sutcliffe and the firm itself as part of the alleged conspiracy.

Pamela Phillips, a San Francisco attorney at Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk Rabkin representing Orrick and Dempsey, said the trustee"s allegations were "outrageous" and that the trustee had not reached out to the law firm prior to filing the lawsuit.

"We believe that Ms. Dempsey provided valuable advice to the debtors both before and after they went into bankruptcy and that her advice was extremely helpful to the company," Phillips said. "We think the bankruptcy trustee is looking for a deep pocket rather than addressing the actual facts at hand."

Sher was appointed as the trustee in charge of liquidating Thornburg in October, after a whistle-blower letter to the company"s creditors brought the accusations against the executives to light and Goldstone and Simmons resigned.

Thornburg, once one of the leading providers of "jumbo" residential mortgages, filed for bankruptcy protection last May with $24.4 billion in assets, making it one of the largest bankruptcies of 2009.

The company, which changed its name to TMST Inc, represents one of the largest failures of the subprime mortgage crisis and is now mostly liquidating. The trustee recently agreed to sell its prized $11 billion mortgage servicing portfolio, and its former ADFITECH mortgage industry services unit is reorganizing on its own.

(Reporting by Emily Chasan; editing by John Wallace)

Large hydro CO2 offsets incompetent for ECX traffic

LONDON Wed Mar 24, 2010 11:15am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Carbon emission offsets generated by large hydroelectric dams will not be eligible to trade on London"s European Climate Exchange, the exchange said on Wednesday.

The exchange said after consulting its members it decided to continue excluding those carbon offsets, called Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs), generated by hydro dams larger than 20 megawatts in capacity, from being eligible to trade through its futures and spot contracts.

Under the Kyoto Protocol"s Clean Development Mechanism, companies can invest in clean energy projects, like hydro dams, in emerging economies, and in return receive CERs which they can use under the European Union"s Emissions Trading Scheme.

In an effort to clarify recommendations from the World Commission on Dams, EU nations last year voluntarily harmonized their rules on the eligibility of large hydro CERs, though this is still considered a grey area by market players.

According to UN data, there are 208 large hydro dams registered under the CDM, 158 of which are in China.

These projects have generated 10.6 million CERs to date and are expected to generate a total of 153 million by 2012.

The European Climate Exchange, owned by Climate Exchange plc, is the world"s largest marketplace for greenhouse gas emissions credits.

Its benchmark CER futures contract for delivery in December were trading down 5 cents at 11.30 euros on Wednesday afternoon.

(Reporting by Michael Szabo; editing by James Jukwey)