Chevron has signed an agreement with YPF to invest up to $1.5 billion in the Vaca Muerta shale megafield, located in Argentina's southern region of Patagonia.

Late last year an Argentinean judge ordered a freeze on up to $19 billion worth of assets held by Chevron in Argentina as part of an environmental lawsuit by Ecuadorean villagers who say the company is responsible for contamination.

That roadblock to the Chevron/Vaca Muerta deal was lifted on Tuesday.

"The high court overturned the freeze," Argentina's Judicial Information Center, ICJ, said in a statement.

Chevron was not immediately available for comment.

The company, which denies the environmental charges and has accused the Ecuadorean courts of fraud, said last month that a final YPF/Chevron agreement should be signed in July, once outstanding trade and tax issues were hammered out.

Chevron's president for Latin American and African operations, Ali Moshiri, said then that Argentina has the world's second-largest reservoir of unconventional oil after the United States.

YPF, which was renationalized last year as Argentina battles to reverse a long decline in natural gas and oil output, aims to drill 132 oil wells at the Vaca Muerta shale formation this year.

(Reporting by Walter Bianchi; Editing by Richard Pullin)

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- The Retail Association of Nevada is hailing U.S. Senate passage of a bill that would allow states to collect tax on Internet sales.

The Senate on Monday approved the Marketplace Fairness Act on a vote of 69-27.

The vote came the same day the Nevada Assembly approved a resolution urging Congress to support the measure.

Under existing law, only retailers with a physical presence in the state are required to collect sales tax on online purchases. In Nevada, consumers of non-taxes goods are supposed to pay the sales tax directly to the state, though that is rarely done.

As a result, many online sales are tax-free, giving Internet retailers an advantage over brick-and-mortar stores.

The association says a federal law will make all businesses operate under the same rules.

The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that sales reached 4.65 million last year. That's up 9.2 percent from 2011 and the most since 2007. Sales are still below the roughly 5.5 million that are consistent with a healthy market.

Sales dipped in December to a pace of 4.94 million, down from 4.99 million in November. November's figure was revised lower, but was still the highest in three years.

The supply of available homes is shrinking as sales rise. That's pushing up prices. The inventory of homes for sale dropped to 1.82 million in December, the lowest in 12 years.

Still, the housing market is recovering and most analysts expect that should continue this year.

Steady hiring, record-low mortgage rates and a tight supply of new and previously occupied homes available for sale have helped boost sales and prices in most markets.

A measure of U.S. home prices rose 7.4 percent annually in November, real estate data provider CoreLogic said last week.That's the biggest annual increase since 2006, when the housing bubble began to burst. CoreLogic forecasts that home prices will rise 6 percent nationally this year.

Rising demand for homes has persuaded builders to step up construction, which adds to economic growth and hiring.

U.S. builders started work on homes in December at the fastest pace in 4 years, the government said last week. And builders finished 2012 as their best year for residential construction since the early stages of the housing crisis.

The gains in home building helped boost construction hiring in December by 30,000 jobs the most in 15 months.

The same client recording digital currency transactions as "ATM skimming work" and "for the cocaine"? Still no problem.

In fact, federal prosecutors in Manhattan say anonymity and criminality were what Liberty Reserve was all about.

"The only liberty that Liberty Reserve gave many of its users was the freedom to commit crimes, as it became a popular hub for fraudsters, hackers, and traffickers," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Tuesday in announcing charges against seven people in a $6 billion scheme that he billed as possibly the largest money-laundering scheme even seen in the United States.

"The coin of the realm ... was anonymity multiple layers of anonymity," he added. "As alleged, Liberty Reserve was deliberately structured and operated in a way to help other criminals remain anonymous, untraceable and untouchable."

U.S. officials said the enterprise was staggering in scope: Over roughly seven years, Liberty Reserve processed 55 million illicit transactions worldwide for 1 million users, including 200,000 in the U.S. The network charged a 1 percent fee on transactions through "exchangers" middlemen who converted actual currency into virtual funds and then back into cash.

In the indictment, prosecutors called Liberty Reserve "one of the principal means by which cyber criminals around the world distribute, store and launder proceeds of their illegal activity ... including credit card fraud, identity theft, investment fraud, computer hacking, child pornography and narcotics trafficking."

Alleged founder Arthur Budovsky an American who renounced his U.S. citizenship after deciding to set up in Costa Rica and another defendant, identified as Azzeddine el Amine, were arrested Friday at a Madrid airport while trying to return to Costa Rica, according to a Spanish court official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because court policy forbids him from speaking on the record. They were ordered jailed while they await a hearing on extradition to the U.S.

Two other men were arrested last week in New York City, including Liberty Reserve co-founder Vladimir Kats. There was no public record of their arraignment on Friday night, and there was no immediate response to phone messages left Tuesday with their attorneys.

Of the remaining defendants, one was in custody in Costa Rica and two were at large there.

Budovsky, 39, and Kats, 41, have previous convictions on state charges related to an unlicensed money-transmitting business, according to court papers. After that case, the pair decided to move their operation to Costa Rica, the papers said.

In an online chat captured by law enforcement, Kats admitted Liberty Reserve was illegal and noted that authorities in the United States knew it was "a money-laundering operation that hackers use."

Liberty Reserve appears to have played an important role in laundering proceeds from the recent theft of some $45 million from two Middle Eastern banks, according to documents made public by U.S. authorities earlier this month. In that scheme, thieves stole debit card information and then used it to drain cash from thousands of ATMs around the world in a matter of hours.

As part of the Liberty Reserve investigation, authorities raided 14 locations in Panama, Switzerland, the U.S., Sweden and Costa Rica. In Costa Rica, investigators recovered five luxury cars, including three Rolls-Royces. Bharara said authorities also seized Liberty's computer servers in Costa Rica and Switzerland.

The businesses that were raided in Costa Rica on Friday as part of the investigation into Liberty Reserve are dedicated to Web hosting services, website development and Internet business consulting.

In Costa Rica, all online businesses are legal and there aren't any laws regulating them, so the country has been attracting entrepreneurs setting up Internet-based companies that do everything from e-commerce to gambling banned in other countries.

___

Associated Press writers Raphael Satter in London, Alan Clendenning and Jorge Sainz in Madrid, and Javier Cordoba in San Jose, Costa Rica, also contributed to this report.

The defending Stanley Cup champions maintained the series theme of home-ice domination to seize a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven set before the teams return to San Jose for Game Six on Sunday.

After a goalless first period, Anze Kopitar opened the scoring for the Kings in the final few minutes of the second as he pounced on the rebound of a Kyle Clifford long-range shot to notch his second tally of the playoffs, first in this series.

Stirred by a fanatical home support, the Kings refused to relinquish the advantage and doubled their lead early in the third when Slava Voynov connected from distance just 53 seconds into the final period.

Jeff Carter capped a comprehensive performance for the hosts when he steered the puck into an empty net to complete the scoring.

"I think a good start (was the key to the win)," Kopitar told reporters.

"We can all agree that it was probably our best effort in the playoffs so far. We needed it and we came up big in this one." (Reporting by Ben Everill in Los Angeles; Editing by John O'Brien)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actor Leonardo DiCaprio and Christie's auction house raised $38.8 million through a charity art auction and donations, Christie's said on Tuesday, with proceeds to benefit environmental and conservation causes.

The 33 works in The 11th Hour Auction organized by the star of the new film "The Great Gatsby" sold for $31.74 million on Monday evening and set 13 records for artists including Carol Bove, Joe Bradley, Mark Grotjahn, Raymond Pettibon and Mark Ryden among others.

A $5 million matching donation for three of the lots and additional gifts from donors brought the overall total to $38.8 million for The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, according to Christie's.

"All I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you," DiCaprio told the audience at the end of the auction.

Many of the works, which were created for and donated to the auction by the artists, sold in spirited bidding in a packed auction house. Art collectors from around the globe also placed bids by telephone.

"Christie's is thrilled with the exceptional results of the sale, which realized $38.8 million," said Loic Gouzer, international specialist at Christie's and the head of the sale.

"The works of art were of incredible quality and range, and highlight the generosity of the many artists who donated," he added.

A panel of environmental experts and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation will decide which conservation projects will benefit from the proceeds of the sale.

At the opening of the auction, DiCaprio, who has supported environmental issues through his foundation since 1988 and also produced and narrated the 2007 documentary "The 11th Hour" about the state of the environment, urged the audience to dig deep into their pockets.

"Bid as if the fate of the planet depended on us," he said.

And they did. All of the 33 works were sold and many fetched prices that were three or four times their pre-sale estimates.

The top lot of the sale was an oil on cardboard mounted on canvas by Mark Grotjahn called "Untitled (Standard Lotus No. II, Bird of Paradise, Tiger Mouth Face 44.01)," which sold for $6.2 million as two determined bidders pushed up the price.

Zeng Fanzhi's "The Tiger," an oil on canvas, fetched nearly double its high estimate with a price of $4.8 million, and Bharti Kher's sculpture "The Skin Speaks a Language Not Its Own" went for $1.7 million.

Each of the three works had a pre-sale estimate of $1.5 million to $2.5 million.

DiCaprio donated "Ocean V" by Andreas Gursky, which sold for $600,000, and he bought an acrylic on canvas by Takashi Murakami for $700,000.

A portrait of DiCaprio painted by Elizabeth Peyton sold for $1 million.

Gouzer and DiCaprio had approached the artists and explained what they had hoped to accomplish with the auction, which they have been planning for a year.

"We explained that we wanted great works and they were very reactive because of the cause. The artists are very sensitive to the fact that we are destroying our planet," Gouzer said in an interview ahead of the sale.

(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; Editing by Vicki Allen)

1. WHO'S NUMBER 1?

Well, we won't know who the NCAA champion is until the Final Four is over on April 8. But the four No. 1 seeds heading into the tournament: Louisville, Kansas, Indiana and Gonzaga. The Cardinals are the overall top seed.

2. INTRODUCING THE DEFENDING CHAMPIONS ...

If you want to find last year's national champions, don't look in this bracket. After losing six players from its title team last year, Kentucky finished 21-11 and wasn't among the 68 teams in the tournament.

3. PICKING A WINNER ...

Louisville is where the smart money is going the early 9-2 favorite in Vegas to win it all. But in order to guarantee picking the winner of all 67 games, you'd have to fill out more than 9 quintillion brackets. That's a 9, followed by 18 zeros. If you used one sheet of paper for each bracket, all that paper, according to one mathematician, would not fit inside the universe.

4. YAY FOR THE LITTLE GUY ...

But, please, don't call Gonzaga a little guy. Yes, it's the small Jesuit school in Spokane, Wash., undergrad enrollment 4,900. But this is a basketball powerhouse. The Bulldogs better known as the Zags have been in the tournament 15 years straight and made the Sweet 16 five times since 1999. They're led by 7-foot center Kelly Olynyk, who is widely regarded as one of the top players in the country. Oh, and remember the Butler Bulldogs, the team that made the national final in 2010 and 2011 with enrollment 4,500? They're seeded sixth in the East and their mascot, Blue II, is retiring after the season.

5. WHO-C-L-A?

Even with the loss of freshman star Jordan Adams, did any team in the bracket get a worse deal than UCLA? The Bruins, regular-season champions in the Pac-12, got a sixth seed in the South Region and have a tough matchup against Minnesota in their opening game. (Viewers responding to an unscientific ESPN poll Sunday night called that matchup as the most likely to produce an upset.) All part of a bad day for the conference, whose tournament champion, Oregon, was seeded 12th. Could've been worse, though. The Pac-12 put five teams in the tournament this year. Last year, this "Power Conference" only put one team, Colorado, in the hunt for a national title.

6. BIG EAST FAREWELL ...

Back in the 1980s, the Big East helped make basketball what it is today, with players like Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin, coaches such as John Thompson and Lou Carnesecca, and its league tournament at Madison Square Garden. After this season, the conference as we know it will be history thanks to massive realignment that has overtaken college sports over the last few years. But the conference certainly isn't going quietly. Led by top overall seed, Louisville, the Big East placed eight teams in the tournament, more than any other league.

7. SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY ...

The St. Louis Billikens, No. 4 seed in the Midwest region, are wearing black ribbons on their jerseys with the word "Coach" emblazoned over them. They're honoring former coach, Rick Majerus, who died in December. The entertaining, portly coaching lifer made a career out of delivering basketball wisdom or a restaurant review with equal aplomb. His best run at March Madness came in 1998 when he led Utah to the title game.

8. GET YOUR TICKETS ...

There's a possible second-round matchup brewing in Salt Lake City between Arizona and New Mexico, two programs with some of the best-traveling, rowdiest fans in the country. It's a short flight from Tucson and Albuquerque to SLC. This will be among the toughest tickets to get in the first week.

9. BIG TEN POWER ...

The Big Ten was widely viewed as the best conference in basketball this season. Ohio State, Michigan State or both have made the Final Four in eight of the past 13 seasons. The Buckeyes, on a roll after winning the conference tournament Sunday, are seeded second in the West, while Tom Izzo's Spartans are third in the Midwest.

10. NAMES TO WATCH, THIS YEAR AND NEXT ...

You could see any of these players in the Final Four this year or the NBA next year: Trey Burke (Michigan), Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State), Ben McLemore (Kansas), Cody Zeller (Indiana).

Portman became the most prominent Republican lawmaker to back same-sex marriage, doing so two years after his son told him he is gay.

"Rob is a great friend and a long-time ally," Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, told ABC's "This Week."

"I believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. It's what I grew up with. It's what I believe. It's what my church teaches me. And I can't imagine that position would ever change," added Boehner, who is a Roman Catholic.

Portman served as U.S. trade representative and White House budget director under Republican President George W. Bush.

President Barack Obama last year announced his support for gay marriage. Nine of the 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. permit it. The Supreme Court is due to hear oral arguments this month in two gay marriage cases.

The Republican Party has become increasingly split on gay marriage, with some arguing that socially conservative positions such as opposition to same-sex marriage are contributing to the party's election losses.

"We conservatives believe in personal liberty and minimal government interference in people's lives," Portman wrote in a newspaper opinion piece on Friday. "... One way to look at it is that gay couples' desire to marry doesn't amount to a threat but rather a tribute to marriage, and a potential source of renewed strength for the institution."

On another contentious issue, Boehner declined to promise that the Republican-controlled House would hold a vote on any gun control measure passed by the Democratic-controlled Senate.

"If they pass something, I would make clear that we will review it," Boehner said, stopping short of promising a vote.

Obama is seeking new measures to curb gun violence after the December massacre of 20 children and six adults by a gunman at a Connecticut elementary school. A Senate committee has approved four gun measures but their prospects in the full Senate are less clear.

(Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Chavez's body is being transferred Friday from the military academy where it has been lying in state to the military museum that will serve as final resting place.

The road is lined with some of the most dangerous slums on the planet. It runs under bridges in dire need of repair and past grocery stores with no groceries.

Chavez was 58 when he died of an undisclosed type of cancer on March 5.

Friday's event is taking on the air of a political campaign as Chavez's chosen successor and an opposition candidate prepare for the election to replace him.