Mediaboss Marketing

Today's most viewed articles Buy This Photo

Portsmouth police Officer Dana Cummings at the scene of the investigation at the entrance to Peirce Island Friday night in Portsmouth. (Ioanna Raptis photo)

PORTSMOUTH A police source said an investigation Friday night at Peirce Island, which includes help from the Coast Guard, is related to the disappearance this week of University of New Hampshire student Elizabeth Marriott.

The investigation is being led by the state attorney general's office, state police and the Dover Police Department, according to Portsmouth Police Chief Steve DuBois.

Petty Officer Thomas Barossi of the U.S. Coast Guard station in Portsmouth, said Portsmouth police called for assistance to provide both light in the water and on Peirce Island.

We're just taking orders from the authorities, he said. We don't really know what we're searching for.

Marriott's aunt Rebecca Tyning, who was at the scene, said she heard about the investigation at Pierce Island from a reporter and heard speculation that authorities may have either found Marriott's body or vehicle.

However, Tyning said authorities have not been able to tell her anything concrete and said they may not be able to do so until the morning.

"For all we know there may be nothing down there," she said.

Tyning said Marriott's parents are home in Massachusetts and do not know about the current situation in Portsmouth.

Continued here:
Missing UNH student's aunt: No word yet as police, Coast Guard search at Peirce Island

LONDON (Reuters) - The main financial regulator will decide what activities the country's retail banks are able to carry out under a new reform aimed at shielding taxpayers from having to bail out the industry again.

The draft Banking Reform Bill issued on Friday includes the requirement for banks to separate their domestic retail business form other bank operations, but it said it will leave much of the detail on the scope of this so-called ring-fencing to secondary legislation.

That effectively allows the successor to the current Financial Services Authority to decide what banking activities can be undertaken within the UK retail banking operations. There remains uncertainty on what the ring-fenced business can and cannot offer, such as providing derivatives services to customers.

The reform bill, which also gives savers higher priority in the event lenders hit trouble, is aimed at implementing many proposals made by an independent committee earlier this year. Legislation will be enacted by 2015 and reforms in place by 2019, the government said.

"The draft Bill appears to leave a lot of detail to be determined in secondary legislation. We will press vigorously to find out what that is going to contain," said Andrew Tyrie, the chairman of a Commission on Banking Standards that will study the proposals.

The government said the regulator is best placed to oversee, monitor and update rules and "respond flexibly" as banking practices evolve.

Tyrie's Commission will report by December 18, and a bill will be introduced in Parliament early next year.

Britain, which used to pride itself on its light-touch regulation, is pushing harder on reforms than many countries after being one of the nations hardest hit by the 2008 financial crisis, but has said it is keen for consistency across Europe.

It said the UK ring-fencing model was compatible with proposals put forward this month by an EU advisory group that wants banks to separate their trading activities from retail deposit-taking.

A report by the Independent Commission on Banking, chaired by Oxford University academic John Vickers, formed the basis for Britain's reforms, although some of the ICB's proposals will come into force through European or global regulations so are not included in the Reform Bill.

See the original post:
FSA to have last word in retail bank reform

Series note: The Storm conducted exit interviews on Oct. 4, giving me the opportunity to ask players everything from views on their season to fashion and hair tips. I'll post conversations from each in the upcoming days. Centers Ewelina Kobryn (Poland) and Ann Wauters (Belgium) won't be featured due to their quick return home. Here's a conversation with forward Svetlana Abrosimova. A member of the 2010 Storm championship team, Abrosimova was re-signed in June after being cut from her Russian national team. She had a smaller role as a reserve in 2012, which decreased further after spraining her wrist toward the end of the regular-season. She averaged 4.6 points and 2.9 rebounds in 19 games this season. During the playoff series against Minnesota, she averaged 3.5 minutes.

Q: You went to the Madonna concert (Oct. 3)? Abrosimova: Yeah, it's a good thing they know me here (KeyArena). My ticket didn't (scan correctly). But security recognized me and let me in.

Q: Are you a big fan of hers? Abrosimova: Not a big fan, but in Russia, growing up you listen to Madonna and Michael Jackson. I kept missing her concerts. She had one in my hometown (St. Petersburg), it was an open-air concert, and I missed it. And I almost missed last night.

Q: You've done year-round play, how are you physically? Abrosimova: I don't do year-round anymore. I'm great. Whenever I get my wrist back to normal, I'll be good to go. I have two months before I have to report (to Dynamo Moscow). I didn't play much in the playoffs, so I'm not as banged up as the other girls, obviously. So, I actually feel good.

Q: You had a weird year even before joining the Storm, how do you look back on everything that's happened? Abrosimova: Obviously the whole thing with the Olympics, when it started, it was extremely tough. It was probably the lowest point of my career because of how I felt; you feel like people don't respect you anymore, people don't want you anymore and they took away your dream. I was hurting a lot and obviously I was happy (Storm coach) Brian (Agler) started talking to me. Coming here, it made me work through things instead of sitting at home and thinking about it or feeling sorry for myself or any other thoughts. You never know how the process works. It was good to be here (during the Olympic break) training camp with no games, working hard while the other girls were doing the Olympic thing. It definitely helped me as a person, as a player.

Q: Really? Abrosimova: Just to keep doing what you love. It doesn't matter what other people take away from you, you can still get better and I was in a good situation with players who wanted to get better and work hard. When the (WNBA) games started, unfortunately players were getting hurt, so I was getting more (playing) time. I did feel like I was back in the game and feeling normal game after game, getting my timing back. Obviously two years ago we won a championship and everything was great. This year was a completely different story. A lot of missed shots at the end. A lot of injuries. It makes you appreciate the other year more. But at the same time, by going through tough things here, you get closer to the team. Seattle means more now because it wasn't just that easy. (My) first year, you kind of got lucky. People say it was just one of those seasons. So, yeah, I was there only one year but now it's the second year and we fought through a lot of things. You see how an organization works when it's tough. It makes me feel like I'm even more part of the team. You know what I mean?

Q: Yes. You're also a free agent. You say you feel closer, so is there that want to come back here? Abrosimova: I'm still emotional. I felt like I could have done more to help the team, especially since people were playing with injuries. So, I can't say I'm overly happy with my personal season, how I played. But it is my team. I love my team. I love the girls. I just need time to think. And I'm sure what coach's...they're not offering me a contract tomorrow. They have to think about direction -- new players, younger players -- but it is a possibility.

Q: Is it like it was after the 2010 title? If you do come to the conclusion that you want to play, it would only be in Seattle? Abrosimova: I don't know. I can't be that sure.

Q: Since you were here before, how have you seen Camille Little grow? Abrosimova: She was the only player this year who was always there in every practice. She didn't get hurt. She was that cornerstone of the team. There's Sue (Bird) and Lauren (Jackson), obviously, but Camille? The way she played and she was undersized than most players was like, 'Wow, she's really good.' Her defense is amazing. That's all the things that everybody knows. I'm not telling you anything new. But to have at least one person who was there the whole time and being in every drill and every practice. Because sometimes it's hard when coach is trying to save players or let them heal their injuries. They're on the team, but they're not practicing because they can't. So, it's tough to work in practice and then go on the court and all of a sudden you have different players coming in. But Camille was always there so you felt comfortable.

Q: Do you think the league knows enough about Camille? Abrosimova: I don't think so. I don't think (the WNBA) appreciates her as much as they should. It's like the league chooses these players and they follow them all the way through their career and it's hard to get in that mix, to bring in somebody from the outside of that. Same with Tanisha (Wright). It's one of those things, it's life. You can be a great person or be extremely smart but never get a good job and never get paid. What are you going to do? You play hard, you work hard, you win championships. That's how you prove you're the best or you're one of the best people. All that outside stuff, it doesn't matter.

Read more:
Storm Exit Interviews: The word from Svetlana Abrosimova

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's main financial regulator will decide what activities the country's retail banks are able to carry out under a new reform aimed at shielding taxpayers from having to bail out the industry again.

The draft Banking Reform Bill issued on Friday includes the requirement for banks to separate their domestic retail business form other bank operations, but it said it will leave much of the detail on the scope of this so-called ring-fencing to secondary legislation.

That effectively allows the successor to the current Financial Services Authority to decide what banking activities can be undertaken within the UK retail banking operations. There remains uncertainty on what the ring-fenced business can and cannot offer, such as providing derivatives services to customers.

The reform bill, which also gives savers higher priority in the event lenders hit trouble, is aimed at implementing many proposals made by an independent committee earlier this year. Legislation will be enacted by 2015 and reforms in place by 2019, the government said.

"The draft Bill appears to leave a lot of detail to be determined in secondary legislation. We will press vigorously to find out what that is going to contain," said Andrew Tyrie, the chairman of a Commission on Banking Standards that will study the proposals.

The government said the regulator is best placed to oversee, monitor and update rules and "respond flexibly" as banking practices evolve.

Tyrie's Commission will report by December 18, and a bill will be introduced in Parliament early next year.

Britain, which used to pride itself on its light-touch regulation, is pushing harder on reforms than many countries after being one of the nations hardest hit by the 2008 financial crisis, but has said it is keen for consistency across Europe.

It said the UK ring-fencing model was compatible with proposals put forward this month by an EU advisory group that wants banks to separate their trading activities from retail deposit-taking.

A report by the Independent Commission on Banking, chaired by Oxford University academic John Vickers, formed the basis for Britain's reforms, although some of the ICB's proposals will come into force through European or global regulations so are not included in the Reform Bill.

Excerpt from:
UK regulator to have last word in retail bank reform

8:21 PM As attention and ad dollars go elsewhere, groups use networking and speeches to push for bond passage.

By GLENN ADAMS The Associated Press

AUGUSTA - With a U.S. Senate race, a same-sex marriage question and other high-profile contests dominating Maine's fall campaign, advocates for the four bond proposals on the Nov. 6 ballot are working quietly to get voters' support.

"There isn't a lot of money going around to go into the bond campaign side because it's all going to the candidate side," said Dana Connors, president of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, which is supporting all four borrowing proposals.

So groups like the chamber, which represents 5,000 businesses, are relying on the Web, networking with like-minded groups and taking traditional approaches such as public speaking engagements to get their views across to voters.

The $76 million in bonds, in the order in which they will appear on the ballot, call for $11.3 million for capital improvements for the University of Maine System, community college system and Maine Maritime Academy; $5 million to buy land and conservation easements; $51.5 million for highways, bridges and other transportation projects; and $7.9 million for public drinking-water systems and wastewater treatment facilities.

"It is a modest package," said Connors. "The majority part of it is for infrastructure needs, which strengthen the economy."

The Mid Maine Chamber of Commerce, however, is opposing the improvements for higher education systems and for water and sewer upgrades, saying passage "would place Maine further into debt at a time when Maine taxpayers are least able to bear the additional burden." The Waterville-based chamber is supporting the transportation bond.

Also supporting the ballot's largest bond proposal is the Maine Better Transportation Association, which has a website (www.keepmainemoving.org) and a coalition of about 15 groups that will use their own information networks to advocate for passage.

The 14,000-member Sportsman's Alliance of Maine is supporting the land conservation bond, said Executive Director David Trahan.

Continued here:
Maine bond backers spread word on their own