The bank said the homebuilder failed to pay more than $5 million in principal and interest due on two loans, according to the lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Wednesday.

The loans, made in February, were for $50 million and $55 million.

Urbi said in April it had hired advisors to help it review options including restructuring debt.

Barclays and Credit Suisse are also suing Urbi for failing to make payments on derivative positions.

Urbi and its larger peers Homexand Geoare struggling with heavy debt loads and a slowdown in new home sales.

(Reporting by Elinor Comlay; Editing by Carol Bishopric)

If your local weather is reasonably clear as darkness falls, be sure to look low toward the west-northwest part of the sky. You will see a rather narrow sliver (8 percent illuminated) of ajust three days past new phase.

Situated to the right of the moon and a bit lower is a very bright silvery "star" shining with a steady glow. But thats no star; it's the largest planet in the solar system: Jupiter. []

The gap separating the moon and the planet will be 5 degrees in the sky. A clenched fist held at arms length measures roughly 10 degrees, so in this case, Jupiter and the slender lunar sliver will appear roughly a half fist apart.

Soon, Jupiter will end its brilliant, nearly yearlong stay after many months of impressive display. You can still see it, albeit rather low in the west-northwest sky, as early as 30 to 40 minutes after sunset.

With the exception of Venus which is visible for only about an hour after sunset is still the brightest "star" in that region of the sky. But Jupiter is actually dimmed to some degree by low altitude and its great distance from Earth (556 million miles or 895 million kilometers) on the far side of the .

Jupiter is currently setting about 20 minutes after the end of evening twilight around 10:15 p.m. for mid-northern latitudes. Next Friday (May 17), Jupiter will set around twilights end, and thereafter, it will set before the sky becomes completely dark.

Later this month, Jupiter is set to go out with a bang. The planet will team up with Mercury and Venus in an unusual and striking bunching of three bright planets within a relatively small spot in the sky called a planet trio.

The pinnacle of the trio which will last nearly a week will be Jupiters close and beautiful conjunction with Venus just before Jupiter vanishes into the sunset. Jupiter will pass within 1 degree of Venus on May 28 and, a few days later, will be gone completely, hidden behind the overpowering glare of the sun.

On what date do you think you will last see it?

Editor's note: If you have an amazing picture of the full moon or any other night sky view that you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, send photos, comments and your name and location to managing editor Tariq Malik at .

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmer's Almanac and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York. Follow us on , and . Original article on .

Once there, the work by the U.S. Geological Survey's water expert became part of the data stew the weather service relies upon to regularly update crest projections for rivers like the Red, which rose again this spring to briefly threaten Fargo and neighboring Moorhead, Minn. And the complexity of the science was never more evident than this year, when an early forecast of 40 feet prompted costly sandbagging only to be repeatedly revised downward until the Red barely broke a harmless 33 feet.

The apparent false alarm irritated some residents who questioned why the city spent $2 million preparing for the flood that wasn't. And that irritated Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker, who has sparred with the weather service himself in the past.

"They all become experts," Walaker said. "You can't believe how many times I get stopped throughout the day by people who tell me the water is not going to get to a certain level."

Greg Gust, the weather service's warning coordination meteorologist in Grand Forks, acknowledged the agency had heard criticism of its projections for Fargo. He said it is constantly studying ways to improve its performance, but will always have limitations.

"Many times the weather service is being asked to do the impossible," Gust said. "We're being asked to forecast an unknown situation out into the future. We don't have a perfect knowledge what's going on today in the system, and yet we're supposed to be able to forecast some unknown point in the future where clearly we have no knowledge.

"That said, that's the task of a forecaster."

Flood fights have become routine on the Red River at Fargo, but this one came nearly a month later than ever before due to winter conditions that refused to loosen their grip.

"We don't have anything to go on when these things go on so late," Steve Buan, a weather service hydrologist who works on river forecasts in the region, lamented as the Red was rising.

Flood forecasting in this part of the continent starts with models for determining how much snow is on the ground. Observers record every snowfall. But it's even more important to figure out how much water is in that snowpack, which requires melting samples. It can also be done by going airborne to measure the natural radiation coming from the soil a factor affected by the water in the snowpack.

Next up is more modeling on what will happen when the snow melts, which includes a dizzying number of variables. Is the ground frozen? How deep? How much moisture is in the soil?

Months of drought worked in Fargo's favor this year. So did a freeze-thaw cycle that melted snow and warmed the soil during the day giving runoff a place to go and then slowed or stopped the melting overnight.

Weather service hydrologists get data on snow depth, water content, frost depths and soil moisture levels from many different sources, including their network of observers. That network has been bolstered in the Red River Valley over the last couple years by several high schools and middle schools participating in the River Watch program of the Fargo-based International Water Institute.

The students melt snow samples to see how much water is in their local snowpack, institute director Chuck Fritz said. They use frost tubes placed in the ground that contain chemicals that change color to show how deep the frost goes. And they use infiltration rings to measure how fast the ground can absorb water.

Wayne Goeken, a monitoring and education specialist with the institute, explained how infiltration rings work. They drive a 10-inch ring of PVC pipe about 2 inches into the ground in the fall. Then when the ground starts to thaw in the spring, students pour 4 inches of water into the ring and use a ruler to measure at one minute, three minutes, five minutes and longer intervals whether and how fast the water soaks into the ground. Then the schools feed that data to the weather service.

Forecasters run actual and predicted rainfall through their models, Buan said. They use more modeling tools for how the water will flow downstream. And they have to take into account potential changes in how much water is held back in reservoirs, such as Lake Traverse at the southern end of the Red River watershed.

Once forecasters have an idea of how much water is coming, their models also tell them about the relationship between the projected stream flows and how high the river will be at any given flow rate, which ultimately helps them predict how high the river will rise.

Most of those broad principles hold true for most river systems, Buan said. Perhaps the biggest difference between forecasting the Red and more southerly systems like the Mississippi's is the need to account for frost in the ground in northern states and how it affects runoff rates, he said. The different topography is also a factor. The Red River Valley has almost no slope; the Mississippi has considerably more.

Predicting flooding on the East and West Coasts is a bit different from the nation's midsection, he said. The Mississippi River watershed drains most of the country between the Appalachians and the Rockies, so floods in it tend to last longer. Eastern watersheds tend to be smaller and steeper so the floods come up quickly and fall quickly. Western rivers are often heavily dammed.

Thomas, the USGS hydrologist who was working on the Red earlier this week, said he finds the work fascinating.

"To me, just to see how deep the river is and how fast it is flowing is interesting," Thomas said.

And Goerken said he reminds students that what they're doing isn't just an academic exercise.

"Maybe you can't be there laying sandbags in Fargo, but this is a valuable contribution to the flood fight, too, so people know what's coming their way," he said.

___

Karnowski reported from Minneapolis. Associated Press writer Doug Glass also contributed from Minneapolis.

I have never met her boyfriend and don't feel he should be in on everything I may talk to my granddaughter about. I think she's forming a bad habit. Am I wrong for feeling this way? -- PRIVATE GRANDMA IN FLORIDA

DEAR PRIVATE: I don't think so. Not every word that comes out of your mouth should be community property. The next time it happens, all you have to do is say, "Honey, take me off the speaker, please."

DEAR ABBY: My wife, "Carlene," is a neonatal ICU nurse who is required to work a certain number of holidays. For the past 12 years, her family has feigned attempting to accommodate her schedule and then planned holiday events at the same exact time and place as the year before. They have ignored repeated explanations and don't seem to care if we come or not.

For example, last Thanksgiving they once again made a big deal about everyone sending their schedules via email. We responded that Carlene would have to work until 3 p.m. Shortly after, we received a call from the host, who said: "We know you can't make it, but the celebration will be at 12 sharp! Maybe we'll see you some other time."

Abby, my wife feels like she is unimportant to everyone. She plans to stop attending all family events and celebrate only with me and our daughter. While that would be easier, I know it probably isn't the best solution. Should I support her decision, or is there some answer I haven't thought of yet? -- LET DOWN IN TEXAS

DEAR LET DOWN: Your wife should make no decisions about future celebrations while she's angry. If she follows through on her impulse to boycott all family events, she will be cutting her nose off to spite her face.

On those occasions when it's not possible to attend extended family gatherings, celebrating with immediate family seems like a sensible solution. Or consider hosting the celebration yourselves so you can set the party time.

Your wife may have self-esteem issues that need to be addressed if she's taking this personally. As a nurse caring for the most fragile of infants, she's doing important work that should be respected. Please tell her to remind herself of that fact any time she feels "unimportant" because her efforts make the difference between life and death.

DEAR ABBY: I got pregnant by a man I'll call "Ryan," who was just a fling. When I told him, he told me to have an abortion. He even had a friend of his call, offer to pay for it and drive me.

Instead, I decided to "abort" Ryan from my life. I never told him when our baby was born. Part of me feels bad because I think every child should know his/her father and family members. Another man has been willing to step up and be a daddy for my child.

Should I even bother to let Ryan know? Should I give him a chance to rise to the occasion or keep things the way they are? -- LIVING MY LIFE IN INDIANA

DEAR LIVING YOUR LIFE: This is really a question you should ask a lawyer, just in case Ryan has already risen as much as he intends to. Whether or not someone has stepped up to be your baby's daddy, Ryan has a financial obligation to that child.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby ator P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

For an excellent guide to becoming a better conversationalist and a more sociable person, order "How to Be Popular." Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Popularity Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia announced a significant boost to its military air power on Friday, committing to buy up to new 100 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, as it shifts its focus back to the Indo-Pacific as China and India beef up forces.

After more than a decade of having forces first in Iraq, and then Afghanistan, Australia wants to focus on the military challenges closer to home, in line with U.S. President Barack Obama's 2011 "pivot" towards the Asia-Pacific.

In a new defense strategy, Australia reinforces that the United States remains its closest ally, but also struck a conciliatory tone towards top trading partner China, noting its rising defense capabilities are a natural outcome from its growing economy.

"The government does not approach China as an adversary. Rather, its policy is aimed at encouraging China's peaceful rise and ensuring that strategic competition in the region does not lead to conflict," the defense strategy said.

In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying noted Australia's assessment of China in the document "as a partner and not an opponent" and its view that the country's development was "beneficial to the region and world".

"We believe this embodies Australia's emphasis on developing China-Australia relations," she told a news briefing.

As part of Australia's military buildup, Defense Minister Stephen Smith said Canberra was committed to purchasing several squadrons of F-35s and would also buy 12 Boeing Co EA-18G electronic attack planes, modified versions of the 24 Super Hornets already equipping Australia's air force.

"This important decision will assure a first-class air combat capability for Australia through the transition period to the Joint Strike Fighter, which will proceed on its current schedule," Defense Minister Stephen Smith said.

Canberra's decision reinforces positive steps for the F-35, coming on the heels of a decision by Norway to buy six F-35s a year earlier than planned, and the Dutch parliament's decision not to reassess F-35 rivals to replace aging F-16s, despite cost overruns and development delays.

Australia's first two F-35s are due to be delivered in the United States in 2014-15. Australia will initially buy 14 F-35s, building up to three operational squadrons, of around 75 planes. The first squadron is due in service from around 2020.

The decision to stick with the F-35 will give Australia a mixed fleet of Super Hornets, Growlers and the new stealth fighters, matching the U.S. navy capability until at least 2030, Smith said.

The government also holds the option of buying a further 25 F-35s after 2030, to replace the Super Hornets when they are withdrawn from service, bringing the total of F-35s to 100.

STRATEGIC OUTLOOK

The new defense strategy is the first reassessment of Australia's military priorities since 2009, and comes after the 2011 U.S. pivot to the Asia-Pacific. Part of that pivot included U.S. marine rotations through a de-facto U.S. base in northern Australia.

The U.S. troop deployments and Australia's 2009 military strategy both upset China, particularly when Australia bluntly told China it needed to do more to explain its military plans which it said had the potential to concern its neighbors.

China has sharply increased military spending over the past three decades and its navy is now second in size only to the U.S. fleet in terms of numbers, increasing concerns from neighbors, like Japan and South Korea, involved in a series of long-running territorial disputes.

Australia's new strategy stresses the need for both China and the U.S. to build their strategic relationship, and says Australia does not believe it will have to choose between its alliance with the U.S. and its strengthening ties with China.

"Certainly there has been a lot of diplomatic varnish put on the text of this white paper, and there is nothing in there that should offend China outright," said Rory Medcalf, an analyst from the strategic policy think tank the Lowy Institute. "This white paper will certainly be one of the last steps in rebuilding Australia-China relations."

The document also stresses the growing importance of the Indian Ocean region, with India's military growth and with two thirds of global oil shipments passing through the Indian Ocean.

The strategy said the United States was likely to remain the strongest maritime power in the Indian Ocean, although China was likely to increase its presence there in the coming decades, as 80 percent of China's oil imports go through the region.

With Prime Minister Julia Gillard's minority Labor government under pressure to find budget savings to respond to collapsing revenues, Australia's net defense budget has contracted to around 1.56 percent of GDP, or A$24.2 billion. As a percentage, spending is at the lowest level since 1938.

The new white paper makes no commitments on defense spending, but says the government remains committed to a target to increase defense funding to 2.0 percent of GDP when the economic circumstances allow.

(Additional reporting by Rob Taylor and Michael Martina in BEIJING; Editing by Paul Tait, Michael Perry and Ron Popeski)

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- Corinthian Colleges Inc. said Tuesday that it lost money in its fiscal third quarter, pressured by a decline in new student enrollments.

The Santa Ana, Calif., company, which runs Everest, Heald and WyoTech colleges and offers online degrees, lost $1 million, or 1 cent per share, for the three months ended March 31. That compares with a profit of $4.1 million, or 5 cents per share, a year earlier.

Earnings from continuing operations dropped to 3 cents per share from 14 cents per share. Stripping out impairment and severance charges in both periods, earnings from continuing operations were 4 cents per share compared with 16 cents per share.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of 6 cents per share.

Revenue fell 2 percent to $400.2 million from $407.9 million. Wall Street was looking for $406.2 million.

New student enrollments dropped 5.7 percent to 26,738, while total student population declined 6.2 percent to 87,776.

Chairman and CEO Jack Massimino said in a statement that the drop in new student enrollments was mostly because of the loss of ability-to-benefit students at its Everest schools as well as a slight decline in online student enrollments. Ability-to-benefit students lack high school diplomas.

For the fourth quarter, Corinthian anticipates adjusted earnings from continuing operations of 3 cents to 5 cents per share. Revenue is expected in a range of $378 million to $388 million.

Analysts predict earnings of 4 cents per share on revenue of $386.2 million.

Corinthian also announced that Leon Panetta, former U.S. Secretary of Defense and director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, have joined its board. The National Urban League is one of the biggest civil rights and urban advocacy organizations in the U.S.

Panetta previously served on the board from 2008 to 2009.

All of Corinthian's board members serve one-year terms and will stand for election at its annual shareholders meeting in November.

The company's stock shed 1 cent to $2 in morning trading.

Companies in the video games industry have begun releasing earnings reports for the latest quarter. Here's a look at selected companies that make or sell video games or machines.

April 3: Mobile game developer Rovio Entertainment Ltd. says the popular Angry Birds franchise helped it double revenue in 2012 to 152 million euros ($195 million). Net income surged more than 55 percent to 55.5 million euros ($71.2 million).

April 18: Microsoft Corp. says revenue from its Xbox 360 business grew by $641 million, or 55 percent, in the January-March quarter. That's from higher revenue from its Xbox Live service and the recognition of $380 million in deferred video game revenue. Revenue is deferred when video games are sold with software upgrades and enhancements. Like other video game companies, Microsoft spreads that out over time, while the game is played, rather than all at once.

April 24: Zynga Inc.'s surprise profit in the first three months of the year gets overshadowed by a revenue decline, a drop in the number of users and a lower-than-expected second-quarter forecast. The online games company manages a small profit of $4.1 million, or breakeven per share, by cutting expenses. CEO Mark Pincus says 2013 will "continue to be a transition year."

Nintendo Co. says it returned to profit for the fiscal year that ended March 31 as a lift from the weakening yen offset sales struggles caused by software delays for its latest home console, Wii U. Both profit and sales results are slightly worse than the projections of analysts surveyed by FactSet. Wii U sales of 3.45 million units fell short of Nintendo's target of 4 million units in the fiscal year. That already had been lowered from an earlier projection of 5.5 million.

Microsoft sends out invites to an Xbox event on May 21. That's when the company will likely reveal its next video game console.

May 1: Activision says the next installment in its successful "Call of Duty" franchise will be titled "Call of Duty: Ghosts" and feature a new story and characters. It will be released Nov. 5 for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and next-generation consoles.

Coming up:

May 7: Electronic Arts Inc.

May 8: Activision Blizzard Inc.

May 9: Sony Corp. (PlayStation)

May 13: Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.

Second, the major changes you need to know about are happening in January 2014. That seems like a long time from now, but its really not. If you need coverage, youll need to apply for it, and this week the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)the federal agency thats overseeing how all nearly 49 million of the uninsured applyissued a .

Check out the(a PDF of the full form for an individual will open up).

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - PayPal is extending its reach to more physical stores, having signed up 50 merchant acquirers which help process payments but the eBay Inc unit has yet to persuade Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer.

PayPal's expansion into brick-and-mortar stores gives the company access to a market that is roughly ten times the size of the online payments sector where it got its start over a decade ago.

Recent deals for Discover Financial Services, PayPal's offline partner, will help extend PayPal's in-store payment service to more than two million outlets in the United States by the end of 2013.

Total System Services Inc and Heartland Payment Services Inc, two of the largest merchant acquirers, signed up in recent weeks, joining other big players such as Vantiv Inc, WorldPay, Global Payments Inc and First American Payments, according to executives at Discover and PayPal.

Linking up with merchant acquirers is crucial to the PayPal offline push because these companies are important cogs in the payments ecosystem, signing up and underwriting merchants for payment networks including Visa Inc, MasterCard Inc and Discover.

Recent merchant acquirer agreements mean merchants, including fast-food giant Burger King, cosmetics retailer Sephora and gadget seller Brookstone, will accept PayPal in their stores by the end of this year.

Discover also works directly with about 1,500 of the largest retailers in the United States and it has been negotiating with them to accept PayPal in their stores.

Nordstrom Inc, a big department store operator, recently signed up for PayPal in-store payments through a direct relationship with Discover, according to Don Kingsborough, the executive overseeing PayPal's offline expansion.

WAL-MART RELUCTANT

However, Wal-Mart has so far resisted attempts by Discover and PayPal to get PayPal into its big-box stores.

"Walmart does not accept PayPal in-store," Wal-Mart spokesman Randy Hargrove wrote in an email to Reuters.

"The added complexity at the point of sale does not justify acceptance of PayPal," he said. Using PayPal often requires more than a basic card swipe. One way to pay is to input a mobile phone number and a four digit PIN.

Hargrove declined to comment further.

Kingsborough said PayPal is focused on removing "friction" and added that the service helps merchants "engage with consumers in innovative ways on top of our core payments infrastructure."

During a mobile payments conference panel in San Francisco in November that included PayPal President David Marcus, an executive from Wal-Mart's e-commerce business, Gibu Thomas, said the retailer had to be careful not to inadvertently introduce another "middle man" into the payment process.

Wal-Mart's goal is to eliminate middle men, which helps keep prices low, he added.

Wal-Mart is working on a rival mobile payment technology called Merchant Customer Exchange, or MCX, with other large retailers including Gap Inc, Lowe's Companies Inc and CVS Caremark Corp.

(Reporting by Alistair Barr; Editing by Kenneth Barry and Edwina Gibbs)