| Indian shares fall after starting 0.3 pct higher
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian shares opened 0.33 percent higher on Tuesday but slipped into the red, tracking mostly lower Asian markets on concerns about the fallout from the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis. By 9:58 a.m, the 30-share index was down 0.12 percent, or 17.98 points, at 14,999.23, with 17 components in the negative territory. The broader 50-share NSE index was down 0.15 percent at 4,366.90. .
China's Baosteel likely to bid for parent's mill
SHANGHAI, Aug 14 (Reuters) - China's Baoshan Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. is likely to bid for a majority stake in a steel mill that Baoshan's state-owned parent aims to sell for 601 million yuan ($79 million), an official of the listed company said on Tuesday. The parent, Shanghai Baosteel Group, said it was auctioning its 92.5 percent stake in a steel mill based in the eastern Chinese city of Nantong, near Shanghai, but subsidiaries of the Baosteel Group will be given priority in purchasing the stake. The mill has annual production capacity of 1 million tonnes, according to its Web site, www.baori.cn. A notice on the auction is posted on the Web site of Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange, www.suaee.com, and the initial price tag on the stake is set at 601.27 million yuan.
Judge: Fen-Phen lawyers owe $62 million
Three attorneys accused of bilking their clients in a diet drug settlement must repay at least $62.1 million in settlement funds and interest, a judge ruled Friday. Special Judge William Wehr ordered William J. Gallion, 56, Shirley A. Cunningham Jr., 52, and Melbourne Mills Jr., 76, to repay $42 million taken from the settlement and $20.1 million in interest. Wehr said the interest was 8 percent over the six years the attorneys had the funds. The attorneys are being sued by about 400 former clients who claim the lawyers took too much money as part of a $200 million fen-phen settlement. Gallion and Cunningham own a 20 percent stake in Curlin, who won the second leg of the Triple Crown in May. A federal grand jury indicted the attorneys last month, charging them with conspiring to commit wire fraud in representing more than 400 people in a lawsuit over the diet drug.
2 of 3 lawyers in fen-phen case appeal order they stay in jail
Two of three suspended lawyers accused of bilking clients out of millions in a diet-drug lawsuit settlement have appealed a federal judge's surprise decision that sent all three to jail last week. William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham Jr. filed notices of appeal yesterday in federal court in Covington. The appeal goes to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Gallion, Cunningham and Melbourne Mills Jr. were indicted in June on one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a $200 million diet-drug settlement. The indictment alleges that the three, who had practiced law in Lexington, took $64 million of the settlement that should have gone to 440 plaintiffs who sued diet-drug maker American Home Products. The plaintiffs alleged that the diet drug fen-phen damaged their hearts.
Garden Calendar
Send calendar items four weeks before the event to Northwest Gardens, P.O. Box 1909, Seattle, WA 98111-1909; fax: 206-448-8216, Attn: Northwest Gardens; e-mail: nwgardens@seattlepi.com. CLASSES AUG 19 Swansons Nursery: 9701 15th Ave. N.W. 206-782-2543; www.swansonsnursery.com. 11 a.m. -- Container Design: From pot and plant selection , to soil, fertilizer and planting tips, this is everything you need to know. SAT/SUN Wight's Home and Garden: 5026 196th St. S.W. Lynnwood. 425-775-3636; wights.com. Water in the Garden: Discover how to add the sounds and motion of water to your home and garden. SAT Windmill Gardens: 5823 160th Ave. E. Sumner. Register: 253-863-5843; windmillgarden.com. 10 a.m.
WORK BEGINS TO ENLARGE
Work on the Oneida fire station expansion began last week and is on track to be completed by year's end. That means the new 33-foot firetruck won't have to sit out in the cold when it arrives just after Christmas. "We should be in pretty good shape," Oneida Fire Chief Donald Hudson said. "They're moving along well. It's right on schedule." Workers are currently excavating the lawn on the southwest corner of City Hall. The area will be backfilled and compression tested to make sure the ground is firm enough before the structure is built. City officials decided last week to increase the length of the addition by 3 feet, because the new truck's tilted cab would require more space for maintenance. The change only increased the price tag by a few thousand dollars beyond its $750,000 estimate.
Countrywide foreclosures at multi-year high
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Foreclosures and delinquencies among home loans that Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC.N) services rose in July to their highest in at least several years, the largest U.S. mortgage lender said on Tuesday. The company also said it made 14 percent fewer home loans in July than in June after tightening lending standards, while daily mortgage applications fell 15 percent to a nine-month low. It nevertheless added more than 1,100 workers as many smaller rivals curtailed lending or folded. .
Judge jails fen-phen lawyers
Three Central Kentucky lawyers seemed taken aback Friday when U.S. District Judge William O. Bertelsman carried out his threat to revoke their bond. "Take them away," Bertelsman told U.S. marshals in the courtroom, after attorneys for the three continued to argue for a delay in their trial on criminal fraud charges. Melbourne Mills, William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham Jr. now sit in a Boone County Jail cell, there until their January trial date unless Bertelsman reinstates their bonds. Friday's hearing for Mills, 76, of Versailles, and Gallion, 56, and Cunningham, 52, both of Lexington, was set to update Bertelsman on the status of their trial, which had been set to begin in October. The three are accused of bilking 440 clients out of $64 million in a settlement over use of the diet drug combination known as fen-phen.
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