Day: April 23, 2015

Ex-general, CIA chief Petraeus gets probation, $100,000 fine in leak case

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Former CIA director David Petraeus arrives at the Federal Courthouse in CharlotteBy Colleen Jenkins CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Reuters) – Former U.S. military commander and CIA director David Petraeus was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay a$100,000 fine but was spared prison time on Thursday after pleading guilty to mishandling classified information. He agreed under a plea deal to a misdemeanor charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material. U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler raised the fine from the $40,000 that had been recommended to the maximum possible financial penalty for that charge, noting it needed to be higher to be punitive and reflect the gravity of the offense. He resigned from the CIA in 2012 after it was revealed that he was having an affair with the biographer, Army Reserve officer Paula Broadwell.

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Minnesota declares state of emergency over bird flu in poultry

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U.S. President Barack Obama is greeted by Minnesota Governor Dayton in MinneapolisBy P.J. Huffstutter CHICAGO (Reuters) – Minnesota declared a state of emergency on Thursday over a fast-spreading strain of avian flu that has led to the extermination of more than 7.3 million birds in the country. It followed Wisconsin's action on Monday. The highly pathogenic H5N2 strain of bird flu has been identified on 46 Minnesota farms in 16 counties and affected more than 2.6 million birds in the state. State health officials said they were expediting prescriptions for the antiviral drug Tamiflu for farm workers and others who have been in direct contact with infected flocks.

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Factbox: U.S. bird flu outbreak in poultry

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(Reuters) – Minnesota has joined Wisconsin in declaring a state of emergency over an outbreak of bird flu in poultry that has led to the deaths of more than 7 million birds this year. Minnesota is also speeding up prescriptions of antiviral drug Tamiflu for farm workers and others who have been in direct contact with infected flocks. No infections have been reported in humans. …

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Ex-NY Assembly speaker faces new charges, including over investment

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Former New York Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver arrives for his arraignment hearing, at the U.S. Federal Courthouse in the Manhattan borough of New YorkBy Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors unveiled new charges against former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on Thursday, accusing him of taking official actions on behalf of an investor who provided access to a high-return, low-risk investment vehicle. A revised indictment issued by a Manhattan federal grand jury added four new counts to three earlier ones facing the Democratic politician, who was first hit with public corruption charges in January. Beyond charges of honest services mail and wire fraud and extortion, the indictment says Silver engaged in monetary transactions involving crime proceeds by investing money from the scheme in a private investment vehicle. His lawyers, Joel Cohen and Steven Molo, said in a joint statement that the filing was "an attempt by the government to address defects in the indictment that we raised in our motion to dismiss." Silver, 71, was previously accused of using his position at a law firm to conceal more than $3 million earned referring asbestos sufferers to the firm from a doctor whose research received secret benefits, including $500,000 in state grants.

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