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THE WORLD'S TODAY HOT NEWS ON MARCH 4TH, 2015.

Wednesday, March 04, 2015

IN THE NEWS TODAY ON 3-04-2015:

The recent stock surge which saw the Nasdaq surpass 5,000 is at least temporarily on hold, with the S&P 500 coming off its biggest one-day drop since January 30. A combination of record highs and two key employment reports appears to be enough to give investors pause, with futures pointing to an extension of yesterday's losses at the open.
Brent crude futures are holding above $60 a barrel after top exporter Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it would raise the official selling price for its oil shipments to Asia and the United States. Traders will be watching the Energy Information Administration's report on U.S. crude inventories due at 10:30 a.m. ET today. (Reuters)
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen criticized the culture at the nation's biggest banks on Tuesday, saying "pervasive shortcomings" in their values "might undermine their safety and soundness." In a speech in New York City, Yellen said the Fed expects banks to follow the law and act ethically. (CNBC)
Indian stocks surged to record highs after the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday unexpectedly cut rates for the second time this year. The central bank lowered its benchmark repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.5 percent, citing easing inflation and the government's commitment to fiscal discipline. (CNBC)
Target will cut several thousand jobs over the course of the next two years as part of a $2 billion restructuring. The retailer also expects digital sales to increase 40 percent this year and same-store sales between 1.5 and 2.5 percent. (CNBC)
Apple and Google said on Tuesday they have developed software updates for a security flaw that could let attackers spy on people using the companies' Internet browsers on mobile devices and Mac computers. The so-called FREAK attack flaw may have affected millions. (AP)
Sony announced it will release a virtual-reality headset called Project Morpheus for its PlayStation 4 system next year. The headset will compete with Facebook 's Oculus Rift and HTC's Vive, which will hit the market later this year, the Taiwan-based tech company said on Sunday. (CNBC)
Chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) said it will enter the streaming video game and TV space with Shield, an Android-based set-top box that costs $199. Thedevice will launch in May and is powered by a graphics processor that Nvidia claims has twice the performance power of the Xbox 360. (CNBC)
Comcast's NBCUniversal plans to introduce a subscription streaming video service focused on comedy this year, sources told the Wall Street Journal. The launch is seen as a play to reach a younger audience that is foregoing traditional cable packages for web-enabled services. NBCUniversal is CNBC's parent company. (WSJ)
Japan's transport ministry has banned Uber's month-old pilot project in the southern city of Fukuoka, saying the ride-sharing service violated regulationsby using cars registered for personal use as taxis. Uber also operates in Tokyo, but directs users to licensed taxis and drivers there. (Reuters)
DuPont rejected a request to change the way directors are elected, as disagreements escalate between the company and activist investor Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management. Peltz has been pushing for "universal proxy," which lets shareholders split votes between company-backed directors and those nominated by activists. (Reuters)
A major system is forecast to bring freezing rain to the East Coast after hitting the Rockies and northern Texas on Tuesday. A severe weather watch was issued for about 47 million Americans Wednesday as the storm threatened to dump ice and record-setting snow on Kentucky, the Ohio Valley and southern Plains. (NBC News)

• Health care law on trial.
Billions of dollars of federal subsidies are at issue in King v. Burwell, a challenge to President Obama’s health care law that will be argued today at the Supreme Court. A decision is expected in June.
If the Supreme Court rules against the administration, millions of low- and moderate-income Americans in as many as 37 states, mostly run by Republican governors, would have their subsidies cut off.
• A steeper Iran challenge.
President Obama faces a tougher task persuading lawmakers to support him after Israel’s prime minister warned Congress on Tuesday against making a deal on Iran’s nuclear program.
Secretary of State John Kerry presses ahead today with negotiations with Iran in Switzerland.
Then he heads to Saudi Arabia to assure officials of Persian Gulf countries that a deal would not lead to regional instability.
• Opening statements in Boston.
The federal death-penalty trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is charged in connection with the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings that killed three and injured over 260, begins today and is expected to last three to four months.
Ten women and eight men are on the jury hearing the case. We will have live coverage of the proceedings.
• The hidden emails.
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s use of a personal email account for government business shielded a significant amount of her correspondence from the eyes of investigators and the public.
Democratic Party officials will have to decide whether to defend what is apparently a rule violation or raise questions to show their independence.
• Defying a federal court order.
The Alabama Supreme Court on Tuesday night ordered probate judges to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
A constitutional law professor said Alabama’s probate judges could choose to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court on an emergency basis.
• Stark racial divide in Ferguson, Mo.
The Ferguson Police Department routinely violated the constitutional rights of its black residents, according to a Justice Department report to be released today.
Crime statistics compiled in the city over the past two years seemed to suggest that only blacks were breaking the law, the report shows.
• Not again.
The National Weather Service says a storm system is moving into the Northeast and mid-Atlantic today.
It will also extend into Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, southern Oklahoma and northeastern Texas.
MARKETS
• Wall Street stock futures are down. European shares are mixed, while Asian indexes ended mostly lower.
• NBCUniversal is trying to lure back its former news chief, Andrew Lack, to contain management missteps after the Brian Williams crisis.
• Toyota today promoted foreigners to senior posts, including the first female and black executives, diversifying a management team dominated by Japanese men.
NOTEWORTHY
• Heroin’s death rate.
Heroin-related deaths are up drastically in the U.S., to 8,257 in 2013 from about 3,000 in 2010, a report today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
The death rate from overdoses is highest among whites, those under 45 and those in the Midwest.
In 2000, heroin fatalities were highest among older blacks, and the West and Northeast had the biggest problems.
• A Yankee returns to the diamond.
The Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez is expected to suit up in a game today against the Philadelphia Phillies in Tampa (1 p.m. Eastern, MLB).
It would be his first game after a one-year ban from baseball, a record suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs.
• Four days for four pages.
On the 150th anniversary of its delivery, President Abraham Lincoln’s handwritten Second Inaugural Address is on display at the Library of Congress in Washington from today until Saturday.
The roughly 700-word address, considered one of his most memorable speeches, is famous for its phrase “with malice toward none, with charity for all.” He was urging leniency for the South even before the Civil War ended.
• TV around the world.
The late-night host Conan O’Brien replaces his desk today with a cafe table in Havana (11 p.m. Eastern, TBS). It’s the first late-night show to be broadcast from Cuba since Jack Paar’s in 1959.
And “CSI: Cyber,” the latest “Crime Scene Investigation” spinoff, debuts today (10 p.m. Eastern, CBS). The crimes are mostly electronic and over the Internet, of course.
• Those with mighty pens.
The Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers awards for fiction and nonfiction are announced today. The winners get a $10,000 prize, but more important, a full year of promotion by the bookseller.
And the Story Prize ($20,000 for first place) for short-story collections will go today to one of three finalists: “The Other Language” by Francesca Marciano, “Thunderstruck” by Elizabeth McCracken and “Bark” by Lorrie Moore.

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