Two BP Plc employees face criminal indictments for their part in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, and charges could be unveiled as early as Thursday, a source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
London-based BP is expected to pay a record U.S. criminal penalty and plead guilty to criminal misconduct in the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon platform in the Gulf of Mexico, which caused the worst offshore oil spill in the country’s history, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The sources told Reuters that a plea deal with the Justice Department over the 2010 disaster, in which 11 workers died, may be announced as soon as Thursday.
READ ON: BP workers face criminal charges from 2010 spill - source
Will be interesting to see if anyone goes to jail over this.
Soda bottles littered his apartment, the top floor unit of a three-story red brick building in a run-down neighborhood, what seemed typical quarters for a 24-year-old doctoral student with one critical exception: Police now believe it to be booby-trapped.
Just four miles away from his Aurora, Colorado, apartment, James Eagan Holmes became a national figure on Friday, identified by police as the gunman who opened fire in a movie theater, killing 12 people and wounding dozens more while dressed in body armor, black gloves and a gas mask.
Police say Holmes, who was taken into custody by police in a parking lot behind the cinema, booby-trapped his apartment with sophisticated explosives, creating a hazard for law-enforcement and bomb squad officers who swarmed to the scene.
The living room of the suspect’s apartment was crisscrossed with trip wires connected to what appeared to be plastic bottles containing an unknown liquid, said Chris Henderson, Aurora’s deputy fire chief.
Shooting suspect: A doctoral student with few signs of violent edge
It feels like there’s a piece to this story we’re missing, that something’s going to come out soon enough and explain what’s going on.
14 dead after shooting during ‘Dark Knight’ screening in Aurora, Colorado.
Updated at 5:35 a.m. ET: At least 14 people were killed and dozens of others wounded early Friday when at least one gunman opened fire during a shootout scene at a midnight screening of the summer blockbuster ”The Dark Knight Rises” near Denver, authorities and witnesses said.
Aurora police chief Dan Oates told reporters that 10 people died at the scene of the shooting and four others died after being taken to local hospitals. At least 50 other people were injured, Oates said.
We’ll have more about this shortly.
A security team aboard a US Navy vessel has fired on a small boat near the United Arab Emirates after it disregarded warnings, a U.S. Defense official said Monday.
The motor boat had been rapidly approaching the USNS Rappahannock and failed to respond to warnings, the official said. Watch Reuters.com for more.
The official said the boat departed after being fired upon, adding that it’s unclear if there are any injuries or deaths.
DEVELOPING: GlaxoSmithKline Plc has agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay $3 billion to settle the largest case of healthcare fraud in U.S. history, according to court filings and prosecutors.
The settlement includes $1 billion in criminal fines and $2 billion in civil fines in connection with the sale of the drug company’s Paxil, Wellbutrin and Avandia products.
READ MORE: GlaxoSmithKline settles fraud charges for $3 billion
Some more details, from Bloomberg:
In a charging document filed today, London-based Glaxo admits to illegally promoting Paxil for children and adolescents, wrongfully marketing Wellbutrin for weight loss and purposes other than those approved by U.S. regulators, and failing to report data regarding the safety of its Avandia diabetes drug to regulators. The company has agreed to admit to the charges, which are misdemeanors, according to the filings.
![reuters:
DEVELOPING: Shellie Zimmerman, the wife of Trayvon Martin shooter George Zimmerman, has been arrested on one count of perjury, a press release issued by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Department read Tuesday afternoon. [Photo: Seminole County Sheriff’s Department]
Watch Reuters.com for more on this story
Here’s the document regarding her arrest, which says she likely lied in court about her husband’s case.
UPDATE: Shellie Zimmerman is out after paying her bond. Her bond was just $1,000.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5itudXvsB1qmaoalo1_500.png)
DEVELOPING: Shellie Zimmerman, the wife of Trayvon Martin shooter George Zimmerman, has been arrested on one count of perjury, a press release issued by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Department read Tuesday afternoon. [Photo: Seminole County Sheriff’s Department]
Watch Reuters.com for more on this story
Here’s the document regarding her arrest, which says she likely lied in court about her husband’s case.
UPDATE: Shellie Zimmerman is out after paying her bond. Her bond was just $1,000.
JUST IN: Jury at John Edwards trial reaches unanimous verdict on 1 of 6 counts only. The judge sends them back for more deliberations - NBC News
Follow updates on breakingnews.com
Photo: John Edwards leaves the federal courthouse in Greensboro, N.C., on Thursday.(Chuck Burton / AP)
Our comment on this: “One of six counts. ONE! They’ve been at this for like 30 years!” The defense is apparently seeking a mistrial, too.
Finally, there is definitive proof: The presidential candidate was born in the United States, and his father was not.
Yes, Republican Mitt Romney appears eligible to be president, according to a copy of Romney’s birth certificate released to Reuters by his campaign. Willard Mitt Romney, the certificate says, was born in Detroit on March 12, 1947.
His mother, Lenore, was born in Utah and his father, former Michigan governor and one-time Republican presidential candidate George Romney, was born in Mexico.
READ MORE: Romney’s birth certificate evokes father’s controversy
We’ll just leave this here.
WASHINGTON — In a nod to a dramatic shift in public opinion, Barack Obama on Wednesday became the first sitting president to announce his support for same-sex marriage.
In a sit-down interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts, Obama completed what has been a markedly long and oft-mocked evolution on the matter.
The statement constitutes an act of political bravery on the president’s behalf, as well as a major victory for the gay rights community, which has been pushing him to declare his support for marriage equality for several years. With the issue back in the news this week, the pressure intensified.
Big deal, guys.
The U.S. State Department says a blind activist has fellowship at a U.S. university and it expects China to quickly handle the travel procedures for him.
Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Friday that the agreement included allowing Chen’s wife and two children to also leave so he can accept the fellowship.
Chen’s weeklong saga has put strain on the United States’ relationship with China, so this may possibly be the best thing to happen in that whole situation. We’ll see.
I’m moving back to New York in a few days. Unlike past...
OMG. I got so...
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
![reuters:
DEVELOPING:
U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker upon his arrival at Bagram Air Base in Kabul, Afghanistan May 1, 2012. [REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque]
READ MORE: Obama lands in Afghanistan on OBL death anniversary
He knows how to show up at just the right time, doesn’t he?](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3czvvVZ9r1qmaoalo1_500.jpg)
DEVELOPING:
U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker upon his arrival at Bagram Air Base in Kabul, Afghanistan May 1, 2012. [REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque]
READ MORE: Obama lands in Afghanistan on OBL death anniversary
He knows how to show up at just the right time, doesn’t he?
Breaking: A federal judge just denied a Freedom of Information Act request for photos and video of Osama Bin Laden’s death. Here’s the document, above.
![thedailywhat:
Breaking News of the Day: Zimmerman Takes the Stand at Bond Hearing: The family of George Zimmerman, charged with second-degree murder in the February 26 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, asked a Florida judge this morning to grant bail while he awaits trial. Family members — testifying by phone because they say they have been threatened — argued that Zimmerman is neither a flight risk nor a threat to the community.
“He is absolutely not a violent person,” said his wife, Shellie Zimmerman.
Defense attorney Mark O’Mara would prefer that Zimmerman be allowed to leave the area, if he is granted bond, because of concerns about his safety. “Normally, the conditions are that you stay local. I think that is going to be difficult,” he said. “I think nobody would deny the fact that if George Zimmerman were walking down the street today, he would be at risk. That is a reality.”
George Zimmerman took the stand to make a statement.
“I wanted to say I am sorry for the loss of your son. I did not know how old he was, I thought he was a little bit younger than I am and I did not know if he was armed or not.”
[lat]
That Zimmerman statement hits a raw nerve. Let’s hope that as this trial commences, a much broader picture comes out. In related news, ABC News acquired a witness photo, allegedly of ZImmerman minutes after the shooting, that shows blood on the back of his head. However, the prosecutor in the case says they were aware of the photo but it did not affect the decision to charge Zimmerman with second-degree murder.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2sa9hRyK11qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
Breaking News of the Day: Zimmerman Takes the Stand at Bond Hearing: The family of George Zimmerman, charged with second-degree murder in the February 26 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, asked a Florida judge this morning to grant bail while he awaits trial. Family members — testifying by phone because they say they have been threatened — argued that Zimmerman is neither a flight risk nor a threat to the community.
“He is absolutely not a violent person,” said his wife, Shellie Zimmerman.
Defense attorney Mark O’Mara would prefer that Zimmerman be allowed to leave the area, if he is granted bond, because of concerns about his safety. “Normally, the conditions are that you stay local. I think that is going to be difficult,” he said. “I think nobody would deny the fact that if George Zimmerman were walking down the street today, he would be at risk. That is a reality.”
George Zimmerman took the stand to make a statement.
“I wanted to say I am sorry for the loss of your son. I did not know how old he was, I thought he was a little bit younger than I am and I did not know if he was armed or not.”
[lat]
That Zimmerman statement hits a raw nerve. Let’s hope that as this trial commences, a much broader picture comes out. In related news, ABC News acquired a witness photo, allegedly of ZImmerman minutes after the shooting, that shows blood on the back of his head. However, the prosecutor in the case says they were aware of the photo but it did not affect the decision to charge Zimmerman with second-degree murder.
Edit: Early reports suggest that Bhoja Airline flight # B4-213, a Boeing 737 carrying 127 passengers, from Karachi to Islamabad crashed just before its scheduled touchdown at 6:40pm. (h/t @BreakingNews)
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