Financial Freedom. Best business news.

Ukraine

In need of some fash cash? Get instant approval. Apply now for a payday loan or faxless cash advance.

FAIRFIELD, CONN.—Public safety officials in Connecticut say about 50 people have been hurt after two commuter trains collided outside New York City. Four of those injuries were deemed serious.

No fatalities were reported following Friday evening’s collision near Fairfield on the Metro-North Railroad.

The rail line referred to it in a news release as a “major derailment.”

A spokesman for public safety officials in nearby Bridgeport says about 250 people were on the two trains that collided after one derailed.

The railroad says a train that departed New York City’s Grand Central station en route to New Haven derailed. A westbound train on an adjacent track then struck the derailed train.

Some cars on the second train also derailed as a result of the collision.

Source

Be realistic when you ask borrow money using instant payday loans. Do not borrow more than you can afford to pay back, even if they offer you more money.

Consumer borrowing in the U.S. climbed less than projected in March as Americans reduced credit-card purchases for the first time this year.

The $7.97 billion increase followed an $18.6 billion advance the previous month that was the biggest since May 2012, Federal Reserve figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for a $15.6 billion rise. Revolving credit, which includes credit-card spending, fell, while non-revolving borrowing rose.

The tempering of credit-card use coincides with a slowdown in March consumer spending amid higher payroll taxes and limited income growth. At the same time, rising stock prices and home values are enabling households to repair finances, putting them in a position to take advantage of low borrowing costs for purchases such as new cars.

It was a surprising recall and an unlikely major-league start for Ricky Romero on Friday at the Rogers Centre. It wasn’t supposed to be this soon. The Jays’ 28-year-old lefthander remains a work in progress, with a single minor-league start under his belt on the way to his necessary rebuild. But the club decided he was ready to begin the next segment of his career. Romero’s results were mixed.

Facing the Mariners, replacing a disabled Josh Johnson, he lasted just four innings in a 4-0 loss facing the M’s ace, Felix Hernandez. After three shutout innings, looking re-energized and confident, Romero went back out and threw 37 pitches in the fourth, with two visits by a trainer — one for what may have been a blister and the other when his left arm was in the way on a hard comebacker by Jesus Montero. But the best news, the news that matters most to Romero at this point, is that he’s back.

The Jays have avoided any comparisons to the past, the Roy Halladay rebuild, for the obvious reason of not putting pressure on their current down, but not out, still improving starter. But the relationship between the reconstructing Romero and his current minor-league instructor, Dane Johnson, bears a striking similarity to that of their former star, Halladay, and his mentor, the late Mel Queen.

Nobody is suggesting that Romero will ever bounce back to match Halladay’s career numbers — the very comparison the Jays are trying to avoid — but the most important thing for the L.A.-born lefty’s rebuilt psyche is that he’s back in the majors with a new outlook and a new delivery.

The 50-year-old Johnson has been the organization’s minor-league roving instructor since 2004. On March 27, the day after Romero was given the devastating news of his demotion following another failed spring training start vs. the Pirates, Johnson, a second-round pick by the Jays in 1984, was handed the important assignment of fixing what was broken with the two-time opening day starter.

Every day in April, from 9:30 a.m. to noon, in addition to his normal duties seeing kid pitchers at the Jays’ extended spring camp, Johnson and Romero worked alone. Much has been made of several publicized Romero fixes — a more direct line to the plate and hands that never are raised above his head anymore — but there were other factors as important, many involving routine.

“Taking a step back and breaking down throwing programs,” Johnson said of the most difficult part of the rebuild. “Breaking down where the ball should come from, how he’s going to cross the T’s and dot the I’s in his throwing programs and how he was going to work around all the things that needed to be implemented in his delivery online payday loans.

“They came pretty quick, because No. 1 he’s a smart guy. No. 2 he’s a good athlete. No. 3 he’s a pro and when he realized himself that, ‘Hey, I do have to do these things to be able to be effective and throw strikes,’ it started the flow a little bit. He saw the progress. We had little victories along the way. He saw the results and took them into his games and he repeated it and he reaped the benefits of it.”

A lot of the change and the ability to convince Romero of the need for the change came in the video room, finding old video as a kid pro, comparing it to the success of 2011 and the failure of 2012.

“I went back to 2005-06,” Johnson explained. “I broke out the analog equipment. We got those tapes, not necessarily implementing them, we saw an explosive young kid at that particular time who got out over his front side and drove the ball with real great extension.

“That reminded him of a lot of things when he got into his throwing programs of what he could do, what he has to do. Again, it was more attention to detail on his throwing programs, on his (bullpen) sides, on his deliveries, paying attention to those. The focus now seems taken off the mound and going to home plate. Hopefully he has enough reps under his belt doing the things properly, technique-wise, mechanical-wise where he can worry about the hitter and what’s going on at home plate.”

Thus it was that a more confident Ricky Romero strolled with J.P. Arencibia from the bullpen to the dugout after the anthems had been played and then moments later headed out to the mound with a renewed confidence in what he could accomplish against major-league hitters — if he threw strikes.

“The first inning is going to be huge, the first hitter is going to be huge,” Johnson predicted. “Hopefully those go well and we’ll roll from there and I think you’ll see, if that continues to roll, I think you’ll see the guy getting back on the mound and working with good tempo and repeat his pitches.”

Romero’s first was a confidence boost. He retired Canadian leadoff man Michael Saunders on a 3-1 grounder to second base, allowed a line drive single to Kyle Seager, then had Kendrys Morales roll over on a grounder to short for an inning-ending double play. In his mind, he was back.

Source

A Muslim woman has been ordered to remove her niqab when she testifies at the preliminary hearing for two men she alleges sexually assaulted her years ago.

“Permitting her to wear her niqab while testifying in court does … create a serious risk to trial fairness,” Ontario Court Justice Norris Weisman wrote in his nine-page decision. “Her credibility is very much in issue and unfortunately, no accommodation of the parties conflicting Charter rights is possible.”

It is the second time Weisman has ruled N.S. – known in court by her initials – should remove the face covering when testifying in court.

He released his written ruling Wednesday.

The woman’s lawyer, David Butt, said his client is “disappointed” and he will be asking a Superior Court judge to quash the decision obliging her to remove the face covering.

The judge should have considered expert testimony about the “substantial body of evidence” that says facial expressions are not helpful in judging whether a person is telling the truth, Butt said. Butt said he will promptly file the papers seeking the review, which will put next week’s preliminary hearing on hold again.

In 2008, Weisman ruled she should be required to testify with her face bare after finding her “religious belief is not that strong.”

That decision was appealed to two higher courts before landing in the Supreme Court, which sent the case back to him last December payday loans for bad credit.

His latest decision says he is satisifed her wish to wear her niqab is based “on a religious belief that is both sincere and strong.” However, Weisman said he is concerned that her “overwhelming negative emotions in having her face exposed to public …will adversely affect her ability to tell the truth as she sees it, resulting in a wrongful acquittal of the accused and consequent loss of public confidence in the administration of justice.

“I am even more concerned, however, that her niqab will impair accurate assessment of her demeanour and credibility, resulting in wrongful convictions, loss of freedom for the accused, and loss of public respect for the justice system.”

The complainant, now 37, alleges she was sexually abused as a child by an uncle and another man over a five year period from 1982 to 1987.

Last week, lawyers revisited the veil issue. The Supreme Court said a judge’s decision on whether to allow the face-covering must be made on a case-by-case basis.

The court said judges should consider four questions before making a decision, including whether permitting a witness to wear a niqab would create a serious risk to trial fairness.

More from thestar.com:

Toronto judge in niqab case ‘fair in his treatment of everybody’

Source

New York Federal Reserve Bank President William C. Dudley said European economic weakness and U.S. budget woes mean

The company said in a release Tuesday that it now expects that same-store sales growth will be flat, because seasonal and weather-sensitive sales were softer than anticipated.

, Fortune 500) said it expects first-quarter earnings per share to come in slightly below the low end of its previous guidance of $1.10 to $1.20 when it reports earnings on May 22. It did not change its full-year guidance.

The prolonged winter weather has held shoppers back from their usual spring purchases across the board so far this year. Last week, the Census Bureau reported that retail sales fell 0.4% in March, as much of the U.S. suffered through cooler-than-average temperatures.

Shares of the company were down slightly in early trading.

Source

BOSTON—Boston law enforcement officials say the city’s downtown core will continue to be processed as a crime scene for at least several more days, with 30 explosives expert either on scene or en route to the city Tuesday morning.

On mobile? Click here to read our live blogOn mobile? Click here to read our live blog

Speaking to reporters alongside representatives from the FBI, the Department of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, the fire department and other agencies, Timothy Alben, superintendent of Massachusetts State Police, said there were 176 confirmed casualties injured when two bombs exploded during the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Three people have died, including an 8-year-old boy, and others remain in critical condition.

A person briefed on the investigation says the explosives were in 6-litre pressure cookers and placed in black duffel bags.

The person says the explosives were placed on the ground and contained shards of metal, nails and ball bearings. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.

The person says law enforcement officials have some of the bomb components but did not yet know what was used to set off the explosives.

President Barack Obama said Tuesday morning the explosions were being investigated as an “act of terror,” although authorities still did not know who is responsible.

He called the bombing “a heinous and cowardly act” used to target innocent civilians.

Obama spoke to reporters at the White House after a briefing by his national security team.

Rick Deslauriers, who heads the FBI office in Boston, said his agents are following up tips and other leads, and interviewing a number of witnesses.

He refused to say whether police have anyone in custody or are guarding a patient at a local hospital, as was reported Monday by several local news stations.

“This is a worldwide investigation,” said Deslauriers. “We will go to the ends of the Earth.”

Police are analyzing closed circuit camera footage taken near the scene and have repeatedly asked the public to hand over video footage and photos taken around the time of the explosion near the crime scene.

It’s unclear how a perpetrator could have planted the bombs, which one official said were not hidden in trash bins. Alben said police conducted a sweep of the finish-line about an hour before the race started.

Meanwhile, downtown Boston was a ghost town Tuesday morning. Streets remained cordoned off, while military humvees were parked on street corners, and soldiers and police patrolled streets and alleys.

Bomb squad and tactical response SUVs were the only vehicles navigating the streets, sirens blaring and lights flashing.

Discarded drinking cups and litter were left in place, waiting to be analyzed at what had become a 13 square block crime scene. A three-and-a-half mile no fly zone remained in place over Boston for aircraft flying under 3,000 feet.

Michael Butcher was 15 metres away from Monday’s bomb blasts.

“I had a hard time breathing, I could really feel it in my chest,” said Butcher, whose wife Kelly was competing. “After the first one, a few people actually started moving toward the blast to help the injured. Then the second one happened and everyone was realizing we have to get out of here.”

It took the Atlanta couple about an hour to find one another.

“I didn’t know where she was, or if she was okay,” Butcher said. “My kids were at home freaking out. Then we just found each other wandering in the street.”

“After running 25 miles I had marathon brain, fuzzy thinking,” Kelly Butcher said. “I didn’t really know what had happened until my husband told me.”

Federal investigators said Tuesday morning that no one had claimed responsibility for the bombings one of the city’s most famous civic holidays, Patriots Day, according to The Associated Press. But the blasts among the throngs of spectators raised fears of a terrorist attack.

More from thestar.com:

Victim, 8, ‘beloved’ in the community

Toronto runners caught in Boston Marathon tragedy

PHOTOS: Explosions at Boston Marathon

Massachusetts State Police investigating the marathon bombing searched an apartment just outside Boston, in Revere. Officers were seen leaving with bags full of material. There’s no word of any suspects or motive in the attack. (April 16, 2013)

‘We don’t yet have all the answers,’ Obama says after Boston explosions

Kelly: Boston Marathon attack fundamentally alters sporting landscape

Boston Marathon explosions put world’s cities on alert

Massachusetts Gov personal loans for bad credit. Deval Patrick said Tuesday that no unexploded bombs had been found at the Boston Marathon. He said the only explosives were the ones that went off Monday.

FBI agents searched a suburban Boston apartment overnight and appealed to the public for amateur video and photos that might yield clues to who carried out the Boston Marathon bombing, while a doctor treating the wounded said one of the victims was maimed by what looked like ball bearings or BBs, according to The Associated Press.

President Barack Obama was careful not to use the words “terror” or “terrorism” as he spoke at the White House on Monday, but an administration official said the bombings were being treated as an act of terrorism.

“We will find out who did this. We’ll find out why they did this,” the president said. “Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups, will feel the full weight of justice.”

Across the U.S., from Washington to Los Angeles, police tightened security, monitoring landmarks, government buildings, transit hubs and sporting events.

Your browser does not support the iframe HTML tag. Try viewing this in a modern browser like Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer 9 or later.

The FBI took charge of the investigation, converging on a home in the suburb of Revere on Monday night and appealing for any video, audio and photos taken by marathon spectators. Authorities gave no details on the search. Investigators were seen leaving a building there early Tuesday carrying brown paper bags, plastic trash bags and a duffel bag, according to The Associated Press.

Investigators refused to give any specifics on the bombs and say, for example, where they might have been hidden or whether they were packed with shrapnel for maximum carnage, as is often the case in terror bombings overseas.

But Dr. Stephen Epstein of the emergency medicine department at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center told The Associated Press he saw an X-ray of one victim’s leg that had “what appears to be small, uniform, round objects throughout it — similar in the appearance to BBs.” He said it remained to be determined what exactly the objects were.

A European security official said Tuesday initial evidence indicates that the attacks were not the work of suicide bombers.

“So far, investigators believe it was not the work of suicide bombers, but it is still too early to rule it out completely,” said the official, who spoke to The Associated Press from the United States on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the U.S. investigation.

The Pakistani Taliban, which has threatened attacks in the United States because of its support for the Pakistani government, on Tuesday denied any role in the bombings.

The fiery explosions took place about 10 seconds and about 100 yards apart, knocking spectators and at least one runner off their feet, shattering windows and sending columns of smoke rising over the street. Victims lost limbs and suffered broken bones, shrapnel wounds and ruptured eardrums.

As many as two unexploded bombs were found near the end of the 26.2-mile course as part of what appeared to be a well-co-ordinated attack, but they were safely disarmed, according to a senior U.S. intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the continuing investigation.

Martin Richard, 8, was among the dead, according to a person who talked to a friend of the family and spoke on condition of anonymity. The person said the boy’s mother and sister were also injured as they waited for the race to finish.

Hospitals reported at least 144 people injured, at least 17 of them critically. At least eight children were being treated at hospitals.

The Boston Marathon is one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious races and about 23,000 runners participated. Most of them had crossed the finish line by the time the bombs exploded, but thousands more were still completing the course.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis said authorities had received “no specific intelligence that anything was going to happen” at the race.

“We still don’t know who did this or why,” Obama said at the White House, adding, “Make no mistake: We will get to the bottom of this.”

Source

The euro fell versus all but two of its 16 major peers amid concern that the region

Service industries in the U.S. expanded in March at the slowest pace in seven months as new orders and employment cooled.

The Institute for Supply Management