Madoff to plead guilty; bail status in air
NEW YORK, March 12 (UPI) -- Whether disgraced investor Bernard Madoff remains free on bail or goes to jail is one question under consideration at his court hearing Thursday in New York.
The second is whether U.S. District Judge Denny Chin will accept Madoff's guilty plea, The New York Times reported. The judge said he will decide whether Madoff can remain free under a $10 million bail agreement until sentencing immediately after deciding whether to accept his guilty plea.
Madoff's lawyers confirmed Tuesday that their client intended to plead guilty to the 11 federal charges filed against him. Besides financial penalties, Madoff could be sentenced to 150 years in prison.
Madoff also is expected to answer publicly questions about his elaborate, 20-year Ponzi scheme that wiped out the funds of thousands of investors, including families, charities and pension funds, as well as hedge funds and partnerships.
Victims, expected to crowd the courtroom, can only speak on the matters of bail and the plea, Chin said this week. He said he would permit broader victim comments when Madoff is sentenced.
Regarding bail, several former prosecutors told the Times the government could argue that Madoff can't be trusted to report for sentencing, even though he is under 24-hour surveillance.
'There is no reason I can think of why he should remain at liberty after he pleads guilty,' said Michael Shapiro, an ex-New York state prosecutor whose firm represents some of Madoff's clients.
'With a lifetime in prison ahead, his risk of flight increases by a factor of infinity, in my view.'
U.S. foreclosure rates rose in February
IRVINE, Calif., March 12 (UPI) -- Mortgage researcher RealtyTrac said Thursday that U.S. foreclosure activity rose 6 percent in February over January and 30 percent over February 2008.
In spite of moratoriums on foreclosures announced by several large banks, Thursday's report showed one in every 440 U.S. housing units were issued foreclosure filings in the month.
Nevada topped the list with one in every 70 housing units -- amounting to 15,783 homes -- receiving a filing in the month, a 9 percent gain over January. In Arizona, one in 147 housing units received filings. In California, one in every 165 housing units were served notices.
In total numbers, California topped the list with 80,775 housing units served.
Among cities with a population of 200,000 or more, Sun Belt cities have been hardest hit, the report said.
In Las Vegas, one in 60 housing units were served, the highest rate in the country. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., ranked second with one in every 65 housing units served. Stockton, Calif., was third on the list with one in every 67 homes receiving fillings in the month.
Nebraska, among states, had the lowest rate of foreclosure filings with one in every 60,062 housing units served, the report said.
Shoe-thrower sentenced to three years
BAGHDAD, March 12 (UPI) -- The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at U.S. President George Bush was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday in an Iraqi court.
Muntazer al-Zaidi, hailed as a hero in some areas of the Middle East, threw two shoes at Bush in December to protest the U.S. presence in Iraq. Neither shoe hit Bush and al-Zaidi was quickly subdued. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki were attending a news conference in Baghdad at the time of the incident.
In the Middle East, throwing shoes at someone is traditionally a sign of contempt.
Al-Zaidi, who faced a charge of assaulting a visiting head of state, was defended by 17 lawyers, CNN reported. Three judges in the courtroom also were in the courtroom, along with the prosecutor and family members.
N. Korea to launch satellite April 4-8
PYONGYANG, North Korea, March 12 (UPI) -- North Korea has told an international shipping safety agency it will launch a rocket with a satellite in early April, Yonhap News Agency reported Thursday.
An intelligence source told the South Korean news agency that North Korea has informed the International Maritime Organization of its plans to fire the Kwangmyongsong-2 rocket between April 4-8.
Yonhap said the communist nation also disclosed its intentions through its official news service, the Korean Central News Agency, but without providing a time frame.
The North Korean agency called the rocket's payload 'an experimental communications satellite.' It added that Pyongyang has joined the international treaty and convention on space.
'The DPRK's accession to the said treaty and convention will contribute to promoting international confidence and boosting cooperation in the scientific research into space and the satellite launch for peaceful purposes,' the KCNA said.
Thursday's announcement follows weeks of reports that North Korea is preparing to launch a long-range missile from a base on its east coast. Pyongyang partly confirmed the reports, arguing it is seeking to send a communication satellite into orbit as part of peaceful space program.
The U.S. intelligence chief said earlier this week that North Korea appears to be seeking a space rocket launch as it claims.
'The North Koreans announced that they were going to do a space launch, and I believe that that's what they intend,' National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair told a Congress committee.
Forbes list shows billionaires poorer
NEW YORK, March 11 (UPI) -- The global economy was so bad the past year there are 332 fewer billionaires in the world and those who are left are 23 percent poorer, Forbes magazine says.
They're still pretty wealth, though. Their average net worth is $3 billion and their collective worth is $2.4 trillion.
A year ago there were 1,125 billionaires. Now there are 793 -- a 30 percent drop, the business magazine reported Wednesday. It is the first time in six years there has had a net loss in the number of billionaires.
Forbes notes 373 names are gone from this year's list of the richest rich, with 355 the result of financial reversals and 18 who died. Another 38 names on this year's list are newcomers and another three are back on after rebounding.
Who's the richest of the rich? Bill Gates lost $18 billion but still reclaimed the top spot from his buddy, Warren Buffet, who fell to No. 2 after losing $25 billion, Forbes estimates.
Mexican telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim Helu also lost $25 billion and dropped one spot to No. 3.
India's Anil Ambani lost $32 billion, the biggest drop noted.
Among the 38 newcomers listed were reputed Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin Guzman Loera, Chinese electric car maker Wang Chuanfu and American shampoo maker and liquor distiller John Paul Dejoria.