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Standoff after eviction notice shooting; 2 dead - (www.sfgate.com) The suspect in the killing of a sheriff's deputy and locksmith during an eviction had a gas mask and was armed with several weapons, including a high-powered assault rifle, and other weapons when his body was found in the burnt ruins of an apartment building, police reported Saturday. "Investigators also found that the man was wearing a ballistic vest which strongly suggests that the man barricaded himself in the apartment and was preparing himself for an armed confrontation with police," said Modesto police spokesman Sgt. Brian Findlen. The shooting led to a day-long standoff that ended Thursday night when the four-unit apartment building caught fire. On Friday, authorities recovered a badly burned body that has not been positively identified. But they said the male is the suspect in the slayings.
Soros warns euro crisis could destroy the EU - (www.reuters.com) Billionaire George Soros warned on Monday that the euro crisis is growing deeper, tearing at the fabric of European Union cohesion, because policymakers are prescribing the wrong remedies. "I'm afraid that the euro crisis is getting worse. It's not over yet, and it is going in the wrong direction," Soros said in discussion with Denmark's economics minister hosted by the daily newspaper Politiken. "The euro is undermining the political cohesion of the European Union, and if it continues like that could even destroy the European Union," Soros said. "That is due to a misunderstanding of what the problem is."
Central bankers snub euro assets - (www.ft.com) Central bank reserve managers responsible for trillions of dollars of investments are shunning euro assets and questioning the currency’s haven status because of the region’s sovereign debt crisis, research has found. Among the most conservative of investors, central bankers keep much of their reserves in high quality euro and dollar denominated assets, such as government bonds. Although dollar assets, notably US Treasuries, have traditionally dominated their portfolios, eurozone government bonds had become more popular. However, a survey of reserve managers at 54 central banks responsible for portfolios worth $6tn, almost half the world’s total, signals that the sovereign debt crisis has sparked a reversal of that trend.
Spain Vows Argentina Trade War as Repsol Seeks $10.5 Billion - (www.bloomberg.com) Spain vowed to retaliate against Argentina’s exporters and energy supplies as Repsol YPF SA (REP) demanded $10.5 billion in compensation after the South American nation seized its YPF SA (YPFD) unit. Repsol Chairman Antonio Brufau said today he will use all legal means to win full payment for losing the oil producer. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner deliberately deceived investors, executives and her own people with moves that distract voters from her nation’s economic problems, Brufau said. Repsol’s shares fell the most in seven months. “They are going to lead the country into chaos,” Brufau said at a press conference in Madrid. “A responsible country should plan based on reality and not how they would like things to be.”
More Help for the Wealthy - (www.nytimes.com) Taxes are never popular, especially in April of an election year. But the Republicans’ latest effort to tilt the tax code in favor of the wealthy, and starve the government of needed revenue, is particularly cynical. This week, the House Republican leadership is expected to bring up the “Small Business Tax Cut Act,” a bill to let most business owners deduct up to 20 percent of their business income in 2012 — a $46 billion tax cut. Despite the Mom-and-Pop label, it is designed so that nearly half of the tax cut would go to people with annual income over $1 million, and more than four-fifths would go to those making over $200,000, according to the Tax Policy Center.
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