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The Obama administration is unlikely to make a decision on the Canada-to-Nebraska Keystone XL pipeline until late this year as it painstakingly weighs the project's impact on the environment and on energy security, a U.S. official and analysts said on Friday. The decision may not be made until November, December or even early 2014, said a U.S. official, as President Barack Obama will not rush the process, which still has a number of stages to work through. One of those stages has not even begun yet and will run for months. "The president has to be able to show that the administration looked under every stone to ensure it knew as much as it possibly could about the impact of Keystone," said the official, who did not want to be named given the sensitive nature of the project. Analysts agreed that a decision would not be made by this summer as the State Department had suggested when it issued an environmental review on the pipeline on March 1. The State Department is

SoftBank Corp is playing it rough in its attempt to keep Dish Network Corp from breaking up its $20.1 billion deal to take control of Sprint Nextel Corp. The Japanese telecom company, which owns 33 percent of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, has told banks that their financing of Dish's $25.5 billion rival offer for Sprint could hurt their chances of landing a role in a highly anticipated public offering of the Chinese e-commerce giant, two sources familiar with the situation said. SoftBank, Dish and Sprint declined to comment. A source close to Alibaba said on Friday that while SoftBank is a major investor, it does not make decisions for Alibaba's management. Alibaba has no timetable for an IPO yet and has not hired underwriters. Softbank's unusual move is the latest sign that the battle for the control of Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier, is fast turning into a no-holds-barred brawl between Softbank founder Masayoshi Son and Dish's Charlie Ergen. SoftBank agre

A lawsuit filed on Friday alleged that laboratory equipment maker Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc ( id="symbol_TMO.N_0"> TMO.N ) sold a Mexican plant last year without revealing that a drug cartel was operating there, the Wall Street Journal reported. _0"> The Reynosa, Mexico-based manufacturing facility, part of a larger deal between Opengate Capital Group LLC and Thermo Fisher, was occupied by gangsters from the Gulf Cartel, the Journal reported Saturday. The private equity firm filed the lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles. The report said the lawsuit alleged that Thermo Fisher acted in bad faith by withholding documents and directing employees to conceal the drug gang's presence at the facility. Opengate alleged gangsters brandished weapons at employees and parked their cars and "tractor-trailers filled with unknown cargo" at the facility, the newspaper reported. The firm did not specify damages sought, it said. The suit said that the co

China's foreign exchange regulator will this month simplify the rules governing foreign direct investment (FDI), the latest step towards deregulation and market reform under China's new leadership. _0"> The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) will abolish 24 regulations regarding foreign exchange registration, account openings, remittance, and conversions, the agency said in an announcement posted to its website on Saturday. The move inches China closer to making its currency, the yuan, convertible under the capital account, and follows a previous round of FDI-related deregulation by SAFE in November last year. The new rules take effect on May 13. Premier Li Keqiang told a meeting of the State Council, China's cabinet, that the government would produce a detailed "operational plan" to achieve capital account convertibility this year, though he did not offer a timeline for convertibility. Li also called on agencies across the government

With the Dow and the S&P 500 setting another string of record closing highs this week, the old Wall Street adage "Sell in May and Go Away" is starting to look weak. Closing out the second week of May, the Standard & Poor's 500 index is up 2.3 percent for the month. For the year, the benchmark S&P 500 is up a stunning 14.6 percent. Some analysts say that when the market starts off this strong, it tends to keep the upward momentum going until the end of the year. "Instead of 'Sell in May and Go Away,' we may be setting up for a surprise May rally," said Ryan Detrick, senior technical analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati, Ohio. "What's encouraging is that small-cap stocks have been outperforming the market recently. It's a sign that the market is going for even the riskiest sectors." Both the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 topped major milestones for the first time in early May, with the D

Major central banks did not face calls to do more to boost the world economy when Group of Seven finance officials met on Saturday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said. Before the meeting Britain's finance minister, George Osborne, said ministers would "consider what more monetary activism can do to support the recovery" - something that he is keen for the Bank of England to do. But Draghi said the ECB, which cut interest rates to a record low last week, did not come under pressure to take further steps. "There wasn't any call to do more," he told reporters after the meeting. "It is quite clear that all central banks have done a lot, each one within its own mandate. So (the meeting) was just taking note of this ... All of us have really been active." The ECB is also looking at whether it can do more to promote small business lending in the euro zone via asset-backed securities (ABS), but Draghi said the central bank was bette

Group of Seven finance officials agreed on Saturday to redouble efforts to deal with failing banks and gave a green light to Japan's drive to galvanize its economy. British finance minister George Osborne said the finance ministers and central bankers meeting 40 miles outside London focused on unfinished bank reforms, with signs that plans for a euro zone banking union are fraying. "It is important to complete swiftly our work to ensure that no banks are too big to fail," Osborne told reporters after hosting a two-day meeting in a stately home set in rolling countryside. "We must put regimes in place ... to deal with failing banks and to protect taxpayers and to do so in a globally consistent manner," he said. The emergency rescue of Cyprus after a near meltdown in March served as a reminder of the need to finish an overhaul of the banking sector, five years after the world financial crisis began. Germany has come under pressure to give more support t

Chrysler Group LLC is recalling about 469,000 SUVs worldwide to update software after some vehicles' circuit boards were found to be transmitting signals that trigger inadvertent gear shifts to neutral, the No. 3 U.S. automaker said Saturday. _0"> Included are 2006- to 2010-model-year Jeep Commanders and 2005 to 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokees, of which about 295,000 are in the United States, 28,500 are in Canada and 4,200 are in Mexico. The remaining 141,000 are outside of North America. Chrysler was aware of 26 accidents and 2 injuries related to the gearshift problem but no fatalities, a company spokesman said. It was Chrysler's largest recall since more than 900,000 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty SUVs were recalled worldwide in November to fix a part that could cause airbags to deploy inadvertently. Chrysler, an affiliate of Italy's Fiat SpA ( id="symbol_FIA.MI_0"> FIA.MI ), also said it is recalling 532 2013-model-year Ram 1500 pickup trucks in t

After reports that users of the company's financial terminals were investigating potential leaks of confidential information, Bloomberg LP CEO Daniel Doctoroff said that the company had made a "mistake" by giving journalists access to data on clients' terminal usage. The financial information and news company sought to assure its customers that Bloomberg News journalists will no longer have any information about what users of its terminals are accessing. Bloomberg, whose financial data terminals are widely used on Wall Street, had allowed journalists to see some information, including when customers had last logged in, and how often they used messaging or looked up data on broad categories - such as equities or bonds. Doctoroff said in a statement on Friday that reporters, however, could not see which particular news stories clients read, or the specific securities they viewed. Goldman Sachs flagged the matter to Bloomberg in April after a Bloomberg reporter in

A record was set for French artist Chaim Soutine on Wednesday at Christie's auction of Impressionist and modern art, which met expectations with a total of just under $160 million. The tightly edited sale of 47 works exceeded Christie's auction a year ago by more than $40 million, but the earlier evening featured only 31 lots. Still, an impressive 94 percent of the works on offer found buyers which officials said was its best sell-through rate since 2006. "We saw high demand for blue-chip names such as Picasso and Monet," said Brooke Lampley, Christie's New York head of Impressionist and modern art.   "But we also saw an educated marketplace for rarities like the Soutine and Chagall," she added, referring to the evening's two top-priced works. Officials also pointed to global presence, saying more than 30 countries participated in the auction which totaled $158.5 million, near the middle of expectations of about $130 million to $190 million.

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, the star of the new film "The Great Gatsby," and his foundation have teamed up with Christie's for a charity auction next week to benefit environmental causes. Thirty-three works, many created for and donated to the auction by some of the world's top artists, will go under the hammer on Monday in New York at The 11th Hour Auction, which aims to raise as much as $18 million to protect the last wild places on Earth and their endangered species.   "A lot of the works of this quality have never been at auction. We have what we believe are conservative estimates," Loic Gouzer, international specialist at Christie's and the head of the sale, said in an interview. "It is going to be the biggest one-time environmental fundraiser ever," he added. Zeng Fanzhi's "The Tiger," an oil on canvas, Bharti Kher's "The Skin Speaks a Language Not Its Own," a work on fiberglass, and Mark Grotjahn's &qu

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, the star of the new film "The Great Gatsby," and his foundation have teamed up with Christie's for a charity auction next week to benefit environmental causes. Thirty-three works, many created for and donated to the auction by some of the world's top artists, will go under the hammer on Monday in New York at The 11th Hour Auction, which aims to raise as much as $18 million to protect the last wild places on Earth and their endangered species.   "A lot of the works of this quality have never been at auction. We have what we believe are conservative estimates," Loic Gouzer, international specialist at Christie's and the head of the sale, said in an interview. "It is going to be the biggest one-time environmental fundraiser ever," he added. Zeng Fanzhi's "The Tiger," an oil on canvas, Bharti Kher's "The Skin Speaks a Language Not Its Own," a work on fiberglass, and Mark Grotjahn's &qu

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, the star of the new film "The Great Gatsby," and his foundation have teamed up with Christie's for a charity auction next week to benefit environmental causes. Thirty-three works, many created for and donated to the auction by some of the world's top artists, will go under the hammer on Monday in New York at The 11th Hour Auction, which aims to raise as much as $18 million to protect the last wild places on Earth and their endangered species.   "A lot of the works of this quality have never been at auction. We have what we believe are conservative estimates," Loic Gouzer, international specialist at Christie's and the head of the sale, said in an interview. "It is going to be the biggest one-time environmental fundraiser ever," he added. Zeng Fanzhi's "The Tiger," an oil on canvas, Bharti Kher's "The Skin Speaks a Language Not Its Own," a work on fiberglass, and Mark Grotjahn's &qu

The grandson of civil rights activist Malcolm X, Malcolm Shabazz, died in a Mexico City hospital after suffering an apparent beating, police told CNN. Prosecutors are investigating the death as a homicide, police spokesman Octavio Campos said. Police were called to the scene of an injured man at 3:30 a.m. Thursday one block south of Plaza Garibaldi, a rough but famous patch of Mexico City known for its mariachis. Shabazz appeared to have been beaten, but had no wounds from other weapons, Campos said. The 29-year-old was transported to Mexico City's Balbuena General Hospital, where he died later Thursday morning because of his injuries, he said. The prosecutor's office said in a statement that Shabazz had been at "a place of recreation" and had been drinking beers that night. "To all who knew him, he offered kindness, encouragement and hope for a better tomorrow," the Shabazz family said in a statement Friday. "Although his bright light and boundless po

Bearing the loss of a child is unimaginable to most. What's even more unimaginable for the Johnsons of Valdosta, Georgia, is how their 17-year-old son died: by suffocating after falling headfirst into a rolled-up gym mat at his high school on January 11. "It felt unreal. You know I sent my child to school for an education and he did go to school one way and came back dead," his mother, Jacquelyn Johnson said. How could Kendrick Johnson, a three-sport athlete, fall into an upright mat while reaching for his shoe and not get out, as investigators said? It was an accident, police said, as there were no bruises on the body and no signs of foul play. But the bizarre circumstances didn't sit right with the family, even though they're not sure what happened to their son. The teen's parents, Kenneth and Jacquelyn, allege the local sheriff department did not follow protocol on the case, moving the body and mishandling evidence. They also believe the sheriff was too qu

The body of one of the two men accused of pulling off the Boston Marathon attack has been buried in rural Virginia -- a development that local officials said caught them totally "off guard." Tamerlan Tsarnaev's remains were accepted "by an interfaith coalition in that community -- they responded to our calls," his uncle Ruslan Tsarni, of Maryland, told CNN. The body was buried in an unmarked grave in a Muslim cemetery in Doswell, Virginia, according to Tsarni. "My tradition was that of a Muslim, and I have that tradition of burial, and people helped me with that," he said in a phone interview. The death certificate released by Massachusetts authorities indicates that Tsarnaev, whose cause of death was listed as gunshot wounds and "blunt trauma to (his) head and torso," was interred at Al-Barzakh Muslim Cemetery in Doswell, which is about 25 minutes north of Richmond in a rural county of about 30,000 people. While the news came out Friday, Bu

Russia withheld details from U.S. officials about suspicions of Boston Marathon bombings suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2011, information that could have altered the course authorities followed, a U.S. law enforcement official told CNN. The Wall Street Journal first reported Friday that while Russia did alert U.S. authorities about Tsarnaev's possible extremism, it kept out some facts, namely text messages referencing his desire to join a militant group. However, sources told the paper that the United States also likely would have withheld such details for fear of divulging intelligence sources and methods. In the texts, Tsarnaev wrote to his mother about his interest in joining the militant movement carrying out attacks against Russia in the Caucasus region, the law enforcement source told CNN. The Russians did not pass these texts on to American officials when they passed the original intelligence about Tsarnaev, the source said. The source was not clear on when those texts were e

A gunman who had barricaded himself and three children in a home in Trenton, New Jersey, on Friday was communicating with police, but the standoff continued into the night, authorities said. "We have state police on the scene, a SWAT team and a hostage negotiator present," said Lt. Mark Kieffer of the Trenton police department. "We evacuated the surrounding blocks. And we're talking to him now." The situation began in the afternoon, police said, but it was not immediately clear how it started or how old the children are, or their relationship to the man.

To erase some of the emotional scars left behind from the December shooting massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, an advisory board wants the building torn down and replaced. The Sandy Hook Task Force voted unanimously late Friday to recommend to the Newtown, Connecticut, board of education to build a new school on the site of the existing building. Adam Lanza burst into the Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012 armed with a semiautomatic Bushmaster .223 caliber rifle and two handguns. He opened fire killing 26 people, 20 of them children, before taking his own life. He had previously shot his mother, Nancy Lanza, to death in their home, police said. She was a gun enthusiast, who kept a collection of guns, including assault rifles, in a lock box in her basement. Adam Lanza had a gun safe in his room, an investigation revealed. The shooting reignited a national debate on gun control and the possibility of legal restrictions on assault rifles. Students from Sandy Hoo

In some ways, it's just a number, but it's a big number with enormous implications. For the first time, scientists measured an average concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide of 400 parts per million in Mauna Loa, Hawaii, where the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration observatory is located, on Thursday. "Most experts that really study CO2 amounts estimate that we haven't seen that amount of CO2 in our atmosphere in about 3 million years," said J. Marshall Shepherd, climate change expert and professor at the University of Georgia. In other words, modern humans have never seen carbon dioxide in these proportions before. Scientists say it's apparent that human activity -- namely burning coal, oil and natural gas -- has been driving a rapid rise of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide changes climate and drives acidification of the ocean. "Once emitted, it remains for the ocean atmosphere system for thousands of years, warm

By Michael Pearson , CNN updated 10:07 PM EDT, Fri May 10, 2013   (CNN) -- DNA tests confirm that Ariel Castro is the father of a 6-year-old girl born to one of the three women he is accused of keeping in captivity for more than a decade, the Ohio attorney general's office said Friday. Castro's DNA did not match that from any other open Ohio cases, according to Dan Tierney, a spokesman for the attorney general's office. National results are pending through the FBI, he said. Amanda Berry's 6-year-old daughter was among those rescued Monday when Berry escaped from the home where police say she had been held since Castro allegedly lured her into his car on April 21, 2003. Also freed: Michelle Knight, who disappeared in 2002, and Georgina "Gina" DeJesus, who vanished in 2004. Castro's mother: My son is sick Ohio victims detail life in captivity The man accused of abducting them spent Friday in a 9-by-9-foot northern Ohio

Despite a bloody campaign marred by Taliban attacks, Pakistan was holding historic elections Saturday pitting a former cricket star against a two-time prime minister once exiled by the army and an incumbent blamed for power blackouts and inflation. Polls opened Saturday morning across the nation in what is a closely watched race to determine the fate of this nuclear-armed country crucial to stability in the region. The vote marks the first time in Pakistan's 65-year history that a civilian government has completed its full term and handed over power in democratic elections. Previous governments have been toppled by military coups or sacked by presidents allied with the powerful army. Deadly violence struck again Friday, with a pair of bombings against election offices in northwest Pakistan that killed three people and a shooting that killed a candidate in the southern city of Karachi. More than 130 people have been killed in the run-up to the vote, mostly secular pa