The Humane Society of Greater Dayton confiscated the 15-year-old gator from its owner on Sunday in the southwestern Ohio home where it was being kept after a video was posted on Facebook showing the reptile being taunted.

The video shows a young man laughing as he throws beer on top of the alligator, which jerks back in surprise and bites the small, hard plastic tub where he was kept in the basement.

Sheila Marquis, cruelty investigator of the Humane Society of Greater Dayton, said the alligator's owner and young men in the video may face charges of animal cruelty in the next couple days as she wraps up her investigation.

Rumors had been coming in for at least two years about the alligator in the basement. But, authorities could not enter the home and investigate without probable cause to believe it was being subjected to cruelty, which came in the form of the Facebook post of the video, said Tim Harrison, director of Dayton-based Outreach For Animals, which specializes in rescuing wild and exotic animals throughout Ohio.

Harrison, who helped get the malnourished gator out of the home and to a veterinarian, said the reptile's owner had been keeping his back door open and allowing high schoolers to come in and see the alligator, even if he wasn't there.

The man wasn't there when the Facebook video was taken, Harrison said.

The video may not appear to show the alligator being directly harmed physically, but Harrison said the concrete wall next to its tub is covered in teeth marks, showing that it repeatedly had jerked its head from previous taunts, knocking out its own teeth or weakening them.

The alligator is missing many teeth, while other teeth in its mouth were broken or infected.

Harrison said the alligator is just under 7 feet long, but should be more like 10 feet long. He said it showed other signs of malnourishment and lack of vitamin D from being kept in a basement for 15 years without sunlight.

"When we brought him out in to the sun, he actually just closed his eyes for a long time. It was really sad," he said.

The alligator, now being allowed out in the sun in Columbus, will be moved to a refuge in Florida this week, where he'll get special care, and be kept in a swampy, outdoor area, Harrison said, adding that an alligator's average life span is about 75 years old in captivity.

"He's going to be an alligator the best he can be," he said.

___

Follow Amanda Lee Myers on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AmandaLeeAP .

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former Goldman Sachs Group IncVice President Fabrice Tourre lost a bid to limit a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil fraud case against him over a transaction that led to a $550 million settlement by the Wall Street bank.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan on Tuesday rejected Tourre's argument that a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting the reach of U.S. securities laws required the SEC to narrow its case.

The decision is a victory for the SEC and gives it "a stronger tool to go after people who offer securities in the United States, regardless of where the recipient of the offer was located at the time," according to Angelo Savino, a partner at Cozen O'Connor who leads its professional liability practice.

The SEC had accused Goldman and Tourre in a 2010 lawsuit of failing to tell investors that Paulson & Co, the hedge fund run by billionaire John Paulson, helped choose and then bet against risky mortgage-backed securities underlying a collateralized debt obligation they marketed and sold, Abacus 2007-AC1.

Goldman in 2010 agreed to pay $550 million to settle its part of the case, without admitting wrongdoing. Tourre, now a graduate student in economics at the University of Chicago, chose to fight the charges, with Goldman paying his legal fees.

Tourre had argued that fraud allegations concerning the offering of parts of Abacus to two non-U.S. purchasers, IKB Deutsche Industriebank AGand ABN AMRO Bank NV, were not governed by U.S. securities laws.

His argument was rooted in a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd , limiting the non-U.S. reach of a key fraud law.

But Forrest said that while Morrison also applied to a law that bans fraud "in the offer or sale of any securities," she said a "domestic offer" could give rise to a fraud claim "regardless of whether it results in a sale."

She said the SEC could pursue this claim against Tourre because a reasonable jury could find that he had conducted a domestic offer, having worked in New York at all relevant times, including when he communicated with IKB and ABN.

Forrest also ruled in favor of the SEC on other parts of the case, including the sale of credit protection by third-party ACA LLC on $909 million of Abacus securities, while denying other parts of its request for partial summary judgment.

A trial is scheduled for July 15.

FABULOUS FAB

Pamela Chepiga, a lawyer for Tourre, said in a statement: "The central point in today's ruling is that the SEC's attempt to win the case without a trial has failed. We look forward to a trial on the merits that will vindicate Mr. Tourre."

SEC spokesman Kevin Callahan said the regulator is pleased with the decision and looks forward to a trial.

Goldman spokesman Michael DuVally declined to comment. The bank is not a defendant in the case.

Tourre had gained notoriety in the case for having referred to himself in an email as "fabulous Fab."

Paulson's firm made about $1 billion from Abacus, which the SEC said cost other investors more than $1 billion.

Forrest has yet to rule on other parts of the case, including the extent to which the SEC may refer at trial to the 2008 financial crisis and to Goldman's $550 million settlement.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones, who had overseen the case before leaving the bench, in 2011 cited the Morrison decision in dismissing some claims against Tourre over IKB and ABN Amro.

The case is SEC v. Tourre, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 10-03229.

(Reporting by Bernard Vaughan and Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Dan Grebler and Leslie Adler)

LONDON, June 4 (Reuters) - While the first two Champions Trophies were intended to raise the profile of cricket in host nations Bangladesh and Kenya, the seventh and last edition starting in England on Thursday will be a straight shootout between the sport's eight heavyweight nations.

The hosts, holders Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka will do battle in Group A while India, Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies compete for semi-final places in Group B as the game's 50-over format gets a rare moment in the spotlight.

With test cricket still the pinnacle, and the increasing popularity of the Twenty20 format, 50 overs matches have often become dull with formulaic batting and defensive bowling dominating for large chunks of the games.

But with attacking batsmen of the quality of West Indian Chris Gayle and New Zealand's Brendon McCullum and bowlers such as South African paceman Dale Steyn and Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal there could be fireworks in the 18-day tournament.

Picking a winner is difficult and every team look to have genuine hopes of lifting the trophy at Edgbaston in Birmingham on June 23. British bookmaker Ladbrokes make South Africa favourites at odds of 4/1 with New Zealand the outsiders at just 12/1.

England, who have never won a major 50 overs tournament, were hoping that home conditions would work in their favour but they were mauled by New Zealand in the first two games of the current one-day series.

They also have injury doubts over Stuart Broad and Steve Finn and, if the two tall fast bowlers fail to recover in time, captain Alastair Cook looks short of quality options with the ball.

PURPLE PATCH

New Zealand opener Martin Guptill is enjoying a purple patch with two unbeaten centuries against England, including a brilliant 189 not out in the last game in Southampton.

With their classiest batsman Ross Taylor also returning to form and a well-balanced bowling attack, the Black Caps will fancy their chances of going one better than in 2009 when they lost in the final to Australia. New Zealand beat India to win the trophy in Kenya in 2002.

The Australians are no longer the dominant force in one-day international cricket but they have fast bowlers in Mitchell Starc and Clint McKay who should thrive in English conditions.

South Africa, who play India in the tournament's opening match, enter a new era without great all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who is unavailable for personal reasons, but captain AB de Villiers has the best fast bowling attack at his disposal led by Steyn.

If De Villiers can lead by example with the bat, the South Africans will be confident of giving their departing coach Gary Kirsten the perfect send-off.

West Indian cricket is on a high after their shock win in last year's Twenty20 World Cup.

The imposing Gayle is the most destructive batsman in the world on his day as he showed six weeks ago in his astonishing record-breaking innings of 175 from 66 balls in the Indian Premier League.

The team from the Caribbean will be led by all-rounder Dwayne Bravo and they did win the Champions Trophy in 2004, the last time it was played in England.

India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will ensure a strong Asian challenge.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni led India to the 2011 World Cup and, with batsmen of the calibre of Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and the captain himself, run-scoring should not be a problem.

Pakistan are the most wildly inconsistent team in world cricket.

But they have come together well as a unit under the captaincy of Misbah-ul-Haq and Ajmal's guile is a game-changing weapon.

"He's always special for us," Misbah said. "Everybody knows that he's at the moment one of the best spinners in the world. He always has something special to offer to this team. These kind of bowlers always love these sort of occasions."

Sri Lanka have a formidable top order with the experience of Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan and a devastating pace bowler in Lasith Malinga. (Editing by Justin Palmer)

"I think it's harder, there's no doubt about it," Obama told reporters on Tuesday. "It puts more of a burden on us."

The state-based exchanges, created under the 2010 healthcare law, were designed to offer individuals a centralized place to buy health insurance policies for 2014. But a number of mostly Republican-led states have opted out, pushing individuals to the back-up federally run exchange.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; editing by Jackie Frank)

(This story was refiled to add dropped words to quote in the second paragraph.)

BRESCIA, Italy (Reuters) - Italian Vincenzo Nibali followed up his victory in the 2010 Tour of Spain by winning the Giro d'Italia in Brescia on Sunday to claim victory in cycling's second biggest Grand Tour.

The Team Astana rider's triumph came ahead of Colombian Rigoberto Uran with Australia's Cadel Evans third.

Following the withdrawal of Giro pre-race favorite and 2012 Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins due to illness, Nibali began to build toward victory. stretching his competitors to breaking point in the stage 18 time trial at Polsa.

On Saturday's final mountain top stage finish at Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Nibali launched one last attack to stamp his authority and claimed his second stage victory of the race.

"I came here with a team that wanted to win the Giro, that was united with me from beginning to end and which really supported me all the way through," Nibali said after hoisting his trophy.

"And I knew from stage eight that I could win the Giro this year. And I have.

"My only serious difficulty came in the stage seven finish at Pescara, when I crashed twice on the descent, and I didn't know if I was going to recover from that."

Uran's runners-up spot is the best position for a Colombian rider in the Giro's history.

"I couldn't be happier, I came here with one job, which was to work for (leader and team mate) Bradley Wiggins, but when he had to abandon the team regrouped around me and I've got on the podium," Uran told reporters.

"If I can, I'm going to come back here and win the Giro next year."

Evans, at 36 years three months, is the oldest rider to make it onto a Giro podium since 1928.

"I came to this Giro with few reference points from earlier in the season and little by little I've come through," Evans told reporters.

"But I'll be back at the Tour, which is my team's biggest target of the season."

The 21st and final stage of the race, from Riese Pio X to Brescia, went to Briton Mark Cavendish in a bunch sprint that handed him the red points leader's jersey.

After losing by a single point in last year's Giro, Cavendish becomes the fifth rider to claim the points jersey on all three Grand Tours.

"I lost it by so little last time and there was no way I was going home without it this year," a jubilant Cavendish told reporters.

(Editing by Mark Pangallo)

The fear that rules this terrain, where residents are mostly Xinca Indians, recalls the bad old days of the country's three-decade-long civil war, which killed as many as 200,000 people. But what's brought in the troops this time are protests over plans by Vancouver-based Tahoe Resources Inc. to tap what the company says is one of the five largest silver deposits in the world.

Protesters say the project, called El Escobal, will drain or pollute the local water supply, and hundreds of people have blocked roads and burned buildings to stop it from going forward. That's tested President Otto Perez Molina, who sent in hundreds of troops and suspended the right to hold public gatherings in four townships near the mine in early May. It was the second time during his 16 months in office that he has declared a state of siege in response to protests against a foreign-run mining project.

With violence rising, the mine protests have now emerged not only as a threat to Perez Molina's young administration but also a warning to other foreign companies seeking to invest in the region. The residents of San Rafael, however, say they're been left with no choice but to fight. They also accuse the government of favoring foreign investors over communities.

"This is affecting us, we feel intimidated," said 18-year-old Miriam Munoz, whose nervous parents didn't want her to go to school because of all the soldiers and police outside. "The situation isn't going to change until the president comes to deal with it."

The company and its supporters deny the town's accusations, saying the mine will instead bring jobs and tens of millions of dollars to local governments and communities.

Andres Davila, the mine's coordinator of corporate communications, said the metal will be extracted through a flotation process in which the ore is passed through water. The process involves the chemical reagent zinc cyanide, which Davila said "is not discharged into rivers because it is reused at the same site."

"Half of the (mine's) employees are from San Rafael and 95 percent are Guatemalans," Davila said. "For every dollar, 35 cents will stay in Guatemala for taxes, royalties and voluntary contributions."

Claudia Samayoa, director of Guatemala's Human Rights Defense Unit, said the political damage has already been done.

"One interesting thing we have been finding in San Rafael Las Flores and the communities affected by the state of siege is that people who supported the president are telling us they no longer back him," Samayoa said.

A new poll by CID Gallup shows approval of Perez Molina's presidency nationwide falling 20 percentage points over the past year, from 68 percent in May 2012 to 48 percent this May. The poll, which was conducted between May 2-9 and had a margin for error of 3 percentage points, cites street violence and a lack of jobs for the fall.

Such conflicts are breaking out all over Latin America, where local resistance to foreign-driven mining projects have paralyzed whole regions and claimed dozens of casualties. At the same time, such projects have become ever more popular as world prices for copper, iron ore and other metals have boomed, driven in large part by growing demand from China.

In Peru, such protests have presented a major challenge to President Ollanta Humala, while similar outrage over foreign exploitation of local resources helped defeat presidents in Bolivia.

Activists say problems at the Guatemala mine began in 2007, when the owner at the time, Canada's Goldcorp Inc., came to San Rafael with an exploration license. In 2010, the mine was sold to Tahoe Resources.

"Since then the problems have aggravated," said Oscar Morales, president of the Community Development Council, which serves as a link between locals and political authorities. He spoke with the AP from a secret location where he has been in hiding since authorities raided his and family members' homes searching for arms. He said nothing turned up in the searches.

Morales said eight community consultations of 4,222 adults found that nearly all of them opposed the mine. He said he wants to hold another legally binding community consultation about the mine, but municipal governments have refused.

Yet the violence only grows more destructive the longer the dispute remains unresolved.

On Sept. 17, 2012, mine workers transporting tubes for electrical cables on the main highway in the region were stopped and held by townspeople opposed to the mine. The following day, unknown attackers set fire to mine warehouses and a patrol car. About two months later, enraged townspeople burned a hotel and stole dynamite belonging to the mine when authorities blocked a community meeting about the project in the nearby town of Mataquescuintla.

The deadliest clash occurred on Jan. 11, when a shootout between protesters and mine security guards left one farmer and two guards dead. Then, on March 17, unidentified gunmen abducted four members of the Xinca parliament in confusing circumstances. One ended up dead.

Faced with the growing violence, the national government announced the creation of a mediation commission, and on April 3, the government granted a 25-year exploitation license to the San Rafael mine "after it fulfilled all the requisites set by law," according to Davila. The mine has the necessary permits but is not yet operating.

After another protest left a policeman dead and six locals wounded, Perez Molina declared a 30-day state of siege that banned public gatherings and other civil liberties in four townships around the mine in Jalapa and Santa Rosa states. Some 500 police officers and 2,000 soldiers were sent to the area. The president later lowered the alert to a state of prevention, saying troops could no longer detain or arrest people without justification.

"It is not only because of problems at the mine, but also because of organized crime" that the emergency was decreed, said Perez Molina, but human rights organizations called the move a "criminalization of the legitimate demands of the population opposed to the mine."

Tahoe Resources vigorously defends the San Rafael project, which it expects to start operating before the end of the year. It says it has reached out to 2,000 locals to explain the benefits the mine brings.

Some people in the region laud the jobs it offers.

"My father and my brother work in the mine. I have received a scholarship from the mine. I think it is bringing development to San Rafael," said 17-year-old student Paola.

Many, however, are skeptical. They say the mine has already transformed the region, if only with all the troops and checkpoints that remain.

"What matters least is the money," said Vicente Morales, who lives 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) from the mine. "What we don't want is that in a few years our lands no longer produce, that the environment is damaged, that the river is polluted."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday pushed his plan to tie federal student loan interest rates to the market, and criticized a Republican plan passed by the House of Representatives that he said would cost borrowers more.

The mounting burden of student loan debt, now pegged at more than $1 trillion, with an average borrower owing $27,000, is seen as a drag on the economy and a barrier to people getting educations needed for better jobs.

Currently students pay the same fixed rate for federal student loans, set by the government at 3.4 percent, regardless of changes in other interest rates in the economy. If Congress does nothing, those rates are scheduled to rise to 6.8 percent on July 1.

"Higher education cannot be a luxury for a privileged few. It is an economic necessity that every family should be able to afford, every young person with dreams and ambitions should be able to access," Obama, flanked by college students, said at an event in the White House Rose Garden.

In Obama's plan, rates for subsidized federal student loans would be set every year based on the market plus 0.93 percent, but remain fixed for the life of the loan. His plan, for instance, would lock in rates for next year's borrowers at 2.9 percent for the life of the loan.

He also would fully fund the Pell Grant program that helps low-income students, expand work-study programs and include an income-based repayment option.

Students who take out private student loans face more stringent repayment terms, making government-backed options a more attractive alternative.

But Obama's plan eliminates a cap on interest rates, which critics say puts students at risk of paying higher rates on government student loans in the future.

The Republican plan, passed by the House last week, requires rates for subsidized and unsubsidized loans, known as Stafford loans, to be recalculated every year and pegged to 10-year Treasury notes, plus 2.5 percentage points. The plan caps interest rates for the loans at 8.5 percent.

VETO THREAT

Under that plan, a student who borrows the maximum amount of subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans over five years would pay $14,430 in interest, according to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service. If rates double on July 1, a student would pay $12,598, compared with $7,965 at current rates.

"It could actually cost a freshman starting school this fall more over the next four years than if we did nothing at all and let the interest rates double on July 1st," Obama said. "The House bill isn't smart and it's unfair," he said.

The White House last week threatened to veto the House version of the bill. Democrats who control the Senate want to extend the current lower rates for another two years while they work on a more comprehensive long-term rate system.

Republicans including as House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline of Minnesota accused the president of politicizing the student loan issue, rather than ironing out the differences between the two plans.

"With time so short and the differences between our proposals so slight, today's event was misguided and deeply disappointing," Boehner said.

The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS) opposes both plans, saying such market-based options could force borrowers to pay more later or turn to riskier private student loans at time when young people still face a tight job market amid a tough economy.

"Students and families need the assurance that federal student loans will remain affordable," TICAS president Lauren Asher told Reuters.

(Reporting by Elvina Nawaguna; Editing by Susan Heavey and Vicki allen)

(Photo: )

For more than 130 years, lawyers have relied on the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating while searching for their own expert attorneys. Now anyone can make use of this trusted rating by looking up a lawyer's rating on Lawyers.com or martindale.com. The Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating is the highest possible rating for an attorney for both ethical standards and legal ability. This rating represents the pinnacle of professional excellence. It is achieved only after an attorney has been reviewed and recommended by their peers - members of the bar and the judiciary. Congratulations go to David L. Ferguson who has achieved the AV Preeminent Rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

David L. Ferguson commented on the recognition: "The Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating is a credential highly valued and sought after in the legal world. It used to be a sort of secret among attorneys who used the rating as a first screen when they needed to hire a lawyer they did not personally know. Now, thanks to the Internet, the Rating is a great way for anyone lawyers or lay people - to use to screen lawyers. I am thankful to my peers who nominated me for this distinction, and proud to have earned this, the highest possible Martindale-Hubbell rating."

The plaquecommemorates David L. Ferguson's recognition.

To find out more or to contact David L. Ferguson of Fort Lauderdale, FL, call 954-525-4100, or visit .

As a result of this honor, American Registry LLC, has added David L. Ferguson to The Registry of Business and Professional Excellence. For more information, search The Registry at .

This press release was written by American Registry, LLC, with approval by Martindale-Hubbell as well as approval and/or contributions from David L. Ferguson; it was distributed by PR Newswire, a subsidiary of UBM plc.

Contact Information:David L. FergusonPhone: 954-525-4100Email Address: Website:

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