"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.)

Net income was C$37.8 million ($37.7 million), or 70 Canadian cents per share, compared with a loss of C$4.4 million, or C$10.85 per share, a year earlier.

But on an adjusted basis, earnings were 78 Canadian cents per share, beating the average analyst forecast of 73 Canadian cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue of C$172.2 million for the quarter included results for TMX Group Ltd for Jan 1. to March 31, 2013, TMX said in a statement on Friday.

However, the company said revenue fell 5 percent in the latest quarter compared with the fourth quarter, due mainly to a drop in fees from share listings.

TMX has come under pressure as equity financings and trading volumes have waned along with the prices of gold, copper and other metals.

Equity trading volumes fell by nearly 20 percent compared with the first quarter of 2012.

The number of follow-on offerings fell nearly 20 percent from the fourth quarter, while the value of those offerings fell by almost 30 percent.

TMX, controlled by a group of 13 Canadian banks and financial institutions, also operates the TSX Venture Exchange, where listings are even more heavily weighted toward mining and oil companies, and the Montreal Exchange, which trades derivatives.

($1 = 1.0024 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore and Alastair Sharp in Toronto; Editing by Ted Kerr)

SYDNEY (AP) -- Authorities were conducting an air and marine search Thursday off Australia's east coast for two cruise passengers who were believed to have fallen overboard the night before.

The couple from New South Wales were discovered missing Thursday morning after the Carnival Spirit docked at Sydney's Circular Quay, at the end of a 10-day journey, said New South Wales state Police Superintendent Mark Hutchings.

He said surveillance camera footage showed that the couple a 30-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman fell from the ship's mid deck Wednesday night, when the ship was about 120 kilometers (65 nautical miles) off the coast of Forster, a city 300 kilometers (185 miles) north of Sydney.

"This is a tragic event at the moment, but we're holding out hope we might be able to find these people alive," Hutchings told reporters.

Investigators were having the video enhanced in a bid to determine whether the couple had jumped or had fallen by accident, Hutchings said.

No life preservers were missing from the ship, he said. A missing life preserver might have indicated that one of the missing passengers had attempted a rescue.

Jo Meehan, spokeswoman for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is coordinating the search, said an airplane, a helicopter and police boats were searching a 1,000-square-kilometer (300-square-nautical mile) area of sea.

The couple had been among 2,680 passengers on a South Pacific cruise. They were discovered missing as passengers disembarked, said Peter Taylor, spokesman for the ship's operator, Carnival Cruise Lines.

"The guests in question were traveling with family and friends, and initial reports indicate that the couple was last seen onboard the vessel last night," Taylor said in a statement Thursday.

"The ship immediately initiated standard missing person procedures, including a full search of the vessel, as per protocol," he said.

Police said in a statement there were alerted about two hours after the ship docked.

Carnival Cruise Lines is a subsidiary of Miami-based Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise operator.

Carnival Corp. has been plagued by a series of high-profile problems in recent years. Last year, the Costa Concordia ran aground off the coast of Italy, killing 32 people. Also last year, the Costa Allegra caught fire and lost power in the Indian Ocean, leaving passengers without working toilets, running water or air conditioning for three days. Costa is a division of Carnival Corp.

In February, passengers aboard the Carnival Triumph spent five days without power in the Gulf of Mexico after an engine-room fire disabled the vessel. Those on board complained of squalid conditions, including overflowing toilets and food shortages.

DENVER (AP) -- Seven weeks after a tragedy on the snowmobile course marred the Winter X Games, ESPN decided to scrap the best trick competition, saying it was a move the network had been considering before Caleb Moore's death in Aspen, Colo.

Moore, a 25-year-old from Krum, Texas, died from injuries he sustained when his 450-pound sled rolled over him after a backflip gone wrong during a freestyle competition, which will remain part of the X Games program. In this year's best trick contest, a rider lost control of his machine after falling off and it veered into the netting close to fans.

ESPN spokesman Danny Chi explained to The Associated Press in an email Tuesday that the elimination of the best trick discipline was being contemplated before Aspen and that "our review of snowmobile freestyle continues."

"We will focus on motor sports disciplines that engage athletes who consistently compete in multiple global competitions reflective of the global reach of X Games," Chi wrote in the email.

In a statement, ESPN said the change "reflects our decision to focus on motor sports disciplines which feature athletes who also compete in multiple, world-class competitions (e.g., professional events and tours) reflecting the highest degree of athlete participation, competitive development and the global nature of our X Games franchise."

The Summer X Games will eliminate a similar competition Moto X best trick. Other motorcycle competitions will still be held.

The safety of snowmobiles came under scrutiny after the two accidents last January.

Moore stayed down for quite some time after his crash before walking off with help and being taken to a hospital to be treated for a concussion. He developed bleeding around his heart and was flown to a hospital in Grand Junction for surgery. The family later said that Moore also had a complication involving his brain.

He died Jan. 31, a week after his accident. It was the first death in the 18-year history of the X Games.

In the best trick event, Summer X Games motocross champion turned snowmobile newcomer Jackson Strong tumbled off his machine after a failed maneuver, only to have the throttle stick when it landed and the snowmobile swerve toward the crowd as fans scrambled to get out of the way. No one was seriously injured.

Winter X officials recently scratched a snowmobile freestyle demonstration set for later this month in Tignes, France, so organizers could review safety protocols.

___

ESPN is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Verizon said on Tuesday it plans to invest $100 million in solar power and fuel cells at 19 facilities in seven U.S. states to cut its carbon footprint and make its operations more resilient to storms and other disasters.

The energy project should be complete by next year, with installations at corporate offices, call centers, data centers and central offices of the telecommunications giant in Arizona, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and North Carolina.

The fuel cells will be powered by natural gas, which emits less climate-warming carbon dioxide than diesel or petroleum when burned, said James Gowen, chief sustainability officer for Verizon Communications Inc.

Gowen declined to say how much money the telecommunications company would save with this investment, but did say it would be good for the bottom line.

"I have a CFO and a CEO who are telling me quite often, 'We are not going green for green's sake.' So we absolutely have a positive return on investment based on a 10-year net present value," Gowen said in a telephone interview.

Like many other U.S. companies, Verizon aims to be more environmentally sustainable and beef up its green credentials, but another key reason for the energy shift was to bolster reliability.

When Superstorm Sandy battered the U.S. East Coast last year, the fuel cells at the company's Garden City site on Long Island kept operations running when parts of the conventional power grid went down, Gowen said.

ClearEdge Power will install fuel cell systems at Verizon sites in California, New Jersey and New York, the company said. Sunpower Corp. has a multi-year agreement with Verizon to put in rooftop and ground-based solar cells and solar parking canopies in Arizona, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and North Carolina.

Together, these changes are expected to generate some 8 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually and cut the company's annual carbon footprint by more than 5,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

(Reporting by Deborah Zabarenko; Editing by David Gregorio)

Two weeks ago, Jurgen Klinsmann was explicit: The guys who will be playing for the US national team in the upcoming friendlies and World Cup qualifiers (end of May through mid-June) won't be taking part in the Gold Cup (early July until either some happy or ignominious endpoint).

And guys based in Europe or Mexico who aren't in season will, by and large, be left out. .

PODCAST: Gold Cup roster and more

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold eased on Tuesday, losing its shine as an alternative investment after stock markets rallied on hopes for a steady U.S. recovery, and as holdings on bullion exchange-traded funds slipped to their lowest in more than three years.

Although physical buying has helped gold rebound from a 2-year low hit in April, daily outflows on ETFs reflect investors' sagging interest in the metal, which has fallen more than 12 percent in 2013 after rising for each of the past 12 years.

Gold eased $6.45 an ounce to $1,462.44 by 0609 GMT. It rose to a near three-week high of $1,487.80 on Friday on safe-haven buying spurred by a cut in interest rates by the European Central Bank and the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to stick to its stimulus programme.

"I think sentiment is quite mixed. Physical demand supports gold but you can see some liquidation in the market," said Peter Fung, head of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals in Hong Kong.

"Gold in the medium-term is still a little bit bearish. You can see holdings on SPDR are still down about 3 to 4 tonnes every day."

SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.31 percent to 1062.30 tonnes on Monday - the lowest since August 2009. In terms of ounces, holdings fell to 34,153,901.

Gold plunged to around $1,321 on April 16, its lowest in more than two years, after a drop below $1,500 and fears of central bank sales led to a sell-off that stunned investors and prompted them to slash holdings of exchange-traded funds.

The price drop ignited a buying frenzy in Asia and other parts of the world, leading to a shortage of gold bars, coins and nuggets in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo, and helping the metal stage a rebound.

But gold's failure to revisit the psychological $1,500 level suggested that funds were still on the sidelines.

U.S. gold for June delivery was at $1462.10 an ounce, down $5.90.

"We expect the physical demand to support the market, but (that) could prove difficult to maintain in the face of rallying equity markets, ETF outflows and speculative financial shorts," said ANZ in a report.

"Additionally, global inflation concerns that could support gold are benign. We expect to see a pick-up in prices through the second half of 2013, where gold should trade in the mid-high 1,500 an ounce area."

ANZ, which cut commodity price forecasts on Tuesday, sees gold averaging at $1,573 in 2013 and $1,648 in 2014.

But it said gold would drift lower in the near term.

Spot gold is expected to revisit its May 1 low of $1,439.74, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

"Physical supply is still a bit tight. The world is happy to buy gold, especially when prices were below $1,400. But gold is reluctant to go above $1,475 because of the ETFs," said a dealer in Hong Kong, referring to the outflows in exchange-traded funds.

Dealers awaited the release of Hong Kong's gold exports data to mainland China in March, due later in the day. The net flow to China rebounded in February from three-month lows in January, reflecting increased demand ahead of the Lunar New Year.

In other markets, Asian shares were capped on Tuesday by caution over weak global growth data, but Japanese equities scaled a near five-year peak after the Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed at a record high overnight.

Obama says he does know that Kim's actions seem to pursue a dead end.

Obama spoke at a news conference Tuesday with South Korean President Park Geun-hye (goon-hay). He said the U.S. and South Korea agree that they should maintain a strong deterrent capability against North Korean threats. But he said there was still time for Pyongyang (pyuhng-yahng) to take a different path on its nuclear weapons program. He said the U.S. and South Korea would welcome a change.

The unpredictable young leader came to power after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in December 2011.

The actress and style maven truly embraced this year's theme of "Punk: Chaos To Couture" with a Philip Treacy gold headpiece that featured a Mohawk.

Access Hollywood's Kit Hoover caught up with SJP on the red carpet, where she dished on her head-turning look.

"I thought about some of the more kind of archetypal images that come to mind when you think about this particular era," 48-year-old mother-of-three style-standout explained. "And it's hard to ignore the Mohawk."

And SJP looked to her longtime headpiece guru Philip Treacy for some help.

"And Philip Treacy, this is his version of thinking about those times," the actress continued.

But the star's noteworthy fashion didn't stop on her head. She wore a Giles Deacon dress, Louis Vuitton thigh-high velvet tartan boots and Fred Leighton jewelry.

Copyright 2013 by . All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

More conservative members of Illinois' Republican Party have been trying to oust Pat Brady for months, largely because he took a position in favor of gay marriage when a bill to legalize it was before the Legislature earlier this year. About 50 party members attended Saturday's meeting of the GOP's State Central Committee to ask that Brady step down or that the committee fire him.

After a tense, hourslong session, Brady remained as the party's chairman. He said the committee did not take a vote on whether to fire him during a closed-door meeting Saturday.

"I think there are people in the party who don't necessarily agree with me, but the point is .... we're a party that welcomes all ideas," Brady said. "You don't have to be exactly a platform Republican to be welcome in the party, and that's the direction we're taking the party."

Besides Brady's stance on gay marriage, his detractors also point to Republican losses at the polls in November. Illinois Democrats won veto-proof majorities in both chambers of the Legislature and picked up seats in Congress.

"We need a leader people can rally around," said Mark Stern, a GOP township committeeman from DuPage County. "Pat Brady chose to focus on things that that are divisive rather than the 80 percent of things we all agree on. That's not leadership."

Tensions mounted when the committee went into the closed-door session without first taking public comment and remained behind closed doors for several hours. At one point, people gathered in a hallway outside the meeting began yelling and chanting, "Throw him out."

Brady said after the meeting that he does not plan to seek another term after his expires next year and that the committee agreed Saturday to begin working on a succession plan. He said that plan was something the party needed to do and was not a compromise to appease committee members who wanted him gone.

Brady also survived an attempt last month by some committeemen to vote him out. That effort failed amid concerns that getting rid of Brady would reflect poorly on a party that's trying to appeal more to young voters and minorities by being more inclusive.

Brady has the support of the state's ranking Republican, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, who announced earlier this month he also supports same-sex marriage. Both men have said they don't believe government has a place in deciding who should marry.

Saturday's conflict erupted during a meeting to discuss a preliminary analysis of what went wrong in the 2012 election and what it will take to do better at the polls in the future.

The report is expected to mirror one released by the Republican National Committee last month, which concluded that the party must be more open-minded and do more outreach to Hispanics, African-Americans, women and young voters if they are to be successful in future elections.

Brady and State Central Committeeman Mike Bigger, who's heading up the Illinois analysis, also said the state party needs to upgrade its database of voter information and improve communication and mentoring opportunities within the party.