Markets stumble…Ireland ending austerity…Money laundering case

TOKYO (AP) — International stock markets lost ground today following Wall Street’s dismal performance the day before. Futures point to a possible Wall Street rebound at this morning’s opening. The dollar slipped against the yen and gained against the euro. Benchmark U.S. crude fell to just above $85 a barrel. U.S. earnings reports are due today from JPMorgan, Johnson & Johnson, Citigroup and Wells Fargo before the opening. CSX releases its report after the market closes.

DUBLIN (AP) — The age of austerity is ending in Ireland after six years of grueling tax hikes and spending cuts. Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin are unveiling a 2015 budget expected to contain around 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in income tax breaks and spending increases, ending a seven-budget run that slashed 30 billion euros from the economy. The move follows Ireland’s 2013 exit from an international bailout.

NEW YORK (AP) — A man accused of creating an online, underworld bank that helped launder $6 billion for drug dealers, child pornographers, identity thieves and other criminals was facing his first court appearance today in Manhattan. Arthur Budovsky the Costa Rican founder of currency transfer and payment processing company Liberty Reserve, is scheduled to appear in federal court. He was extradited from Spain to the U.S. on Friday.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Jury selection is set to begin today for the trial of a former top executive at Swiss bank UBS AG on charges of helping thousands of wealthy Americans conceal some $20 billion in assets from the Internal Revenue Service. Raoul Weil faces up to five years in prison if convicted of fraud conspiracy.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — After an avalanche of embarrassing data breaches, including the country’s president, South Korea’s national identity card system has been raided so thoroughly that the government says it might have to issue new ID numbers to every citizen over 17 at a possible cost of billions of dollars. The admission is an embarrassment for a society that prides itself on its high-tech skills and has some of the fastest Internet access. Some 20 million people were victims of the data theft.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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