Four police officers and suspect killed
OAKLAND, Calif., March 21 (UPI) -- Four Oakland, Calif., police officers and one suspect were shot and killed Saturday in two shooting incidents near a police substation, police sources said.
The Oakland (Calif.) Tribune, citing law enforcement sources, reported that the four officers had died. CBS 5 TV in Oakland also reported the officers were dead, and that the first shooting incident occurred during a traffic stop.
Early reports said police were searching for other suspects but the newspaper said the suspect who was shot and killed was the only suspect in the two shootings.
Two motorcycle officers were shot just after 1 p.m. PDT under circumstances that were not immediately clear. Two other officers were shot about 3:20 p.m. during an exchange of gunfire as they apprehended the suspect who was fatally wounded.
Police from Oakland, as well as officers from the California Highway Patrol and Alameda County sheriff deputies were involved in the investigation, including the earlier search for other possible suspects, the Tribune reported.
A barber shop employee who did not want his name publicized told the newspaper he heard gunshots and went outside and down the street.
'I went over to one officer and saw he was bleeding from his helmet pretty bad,' the witness said. 'The other officer was laying motionless.'
The man said he administered CPR to one of the officers until police arrived.
Obama to propose regulatory overhaul
WASHINGTON, March 21 (UPI) -- The Obama administration will propose financial regulation reform providing more oversight of executive pay at U.S. financial institutions, officials say.
In a report on its Web site Saturday, The New York Times said parts of the proposal will be made public during the coming week in advance of President Barack Obama's visit to the G20 summit in Britain next month.
Officials told the Times the plan will call for the Federal Reserve to exercise more oversight of large financial companies, including major hedge funds, and for tighter regulation and more transparency for many of the complicated financial instruments that helped bring about the financial crisis.
One proposal under consideration would require boards of directors to make executive compensation more dependent on corporate performance and more closely aligned with a company's financial interest, the Times reported.
The proposal will also call for tighter federal standards for mortgage lenders and tougher enforcement of mortgage regulations, the newspaper said.
Details of the proposal were still under discussion within the White House. Officials were considering efforts to bring about reform through regulations rather than legislation.
AIG bonuses larger than first reported
HARTFORD, Conn., March 21 (UPI) -- American International Group Inc. employees were paid $218 million in bonuses, not $165 million, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Saturday.
News of a $165 million payout of so-called retention payouts at the distressed global insurance giant provoked public outrage in the United States. Blumenthal's office said Saturday the $218 million total was calculated by his office based on documents provided Friday by AIG, the Hartford (Conn.) Courant reported.
The new figure includes bonuses paid in December, the newspaper said.
'We're asking the company to explain,' Blumenthal said. 'So far, their answers raise more questions than they answer. Were there any other additional bonuses that have not been explained?'
AIG spokesman Joseph Norton told the Courant that AIG Chairman Edward Liddy has already explained the payments to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
'Mr. Liddy said in his correspondence to Mr. Geithner that a payment under the retention program was made in December before this latest March payment,' Norton said. 'At this point, not having seen what Mr. Blumenthal said, we believe that's what he is referring to. The March payments were $165 million, not $218 million.'
Blumenthal said the documentation provided by AIG shows total payment of $218 million.
'Some of that total is from earlier bonuses, but the main point is all of it seems to be out of taxpayer funds. ... Whether the payments were made in December or March seems to be beside the point. The total that was disclosed so far was $165 million.'
8 killed in 2 bombings in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan, March 21 (UPI) -- Insurgents detonated two bombs in Afghanistan Saturday -- the country's new year -- killing at least eight people and wounding several more, authorities said.
NATO military officials said a suicide car bomber targeting a police checkpoint killed five civilians and a police officer, CNN reported. The blast, which also left five civilians injured, occurred at an Afghan National Police checkpoint near Jalalabad City in Nangarhar province.
The second bombing, near a shrine in Khost, killed at least two people among a crowd celebrating the new year, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai called it a 'terrorist action on a day that Afghans celebrate new year in peace.'
The blasts came one day after a NATO solider was killed in southern Afghanistan, while four Canadian soldiers died and eight were wounded in separate bomb attacks near Kandahar, CNN said.