Immigration Plan Will Be Ready This Week, Sen. Chuck Schumer Says

WASHINGTON - As the Senate returns from recess this week, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he thinks the bi-partisan Gang of Eight will have its immigration plan completed by the end of the week.

"We hope that we can have a bipartisan agreement among the eight of us on comprehensive immigration reform by the end of the week," Schumer said today on CBS' "Face the Nation." "Over the last two weeks, we've made great progress. There have been kerfuffles along the way, but each one of those, thus far, has been settled."

Schumer said that the staffs of each Gang of Eight member has worked 12 hours a day to fine-tune the details of their immigration plan and reach an agreement on every issue.

In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also a member of the Gang of Eight, set a longer time frame of a "couple of weeks" before the plan is completed.

But one Republican member of the bi-partisan group has expressed concern that the deal on immigration reform is being reached in haste.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has called for more hearings and time to review the plan in order to encourage "healthy public debate."

"Arriving at a final product will require it to be properly submitted for the American people's consideration, through the other 92 senators from 43 states that weren't part of this initial drafting process," Rubio said in a statement last week. "In order to succeed, this process cannot be rushed or done in secret."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., disputed the idea that the plan is being rushed, saying on CBS' "Face the Nation," "I reject this notion that something is being railroaded through. This is the beginning of the process, not the end of it."

Graham defended Rubio, even though questions have been raised about whether he will ultimately agree to a bi-partisan plan.

"Marco Rubio has been a game changer in my party," Graham said. "He will be there only if the Democrats will embrace a guest worker program and a merit-based immigration system to replace the broken one and we'll regain our sovereignty by securing our borders and having control of jobs through E-Verify. Marco will be there."

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North Korea says ready for combat as sanctions tighten

By Jack Kim and Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea repeated threats on Tuesday to target U.S. military bases as Washington and its allies tightened economic sanctions against the isolated country by targeting Pyongyang's main foreign exchange bank with new measures.

The rhetoric from North Korea - which has threatened the United States with nuclear war and rehearsed drone attacks on South Korea - and Washington's hardening reaction, drew more concern from China, Pyongyang's only major ally, which said the situation was "sensitive".

Pyongyang says United Nations sanctions, agreed after North Korea carried out a third nuclear test in February, are part of a Washington-led plot to topple its leadership.

"From this moment, the Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army will be putting into combat duty posture No. 1 all field artillery units, including long-range artillery units and strategic rocket units, that will target all enemy objects in U.S. invasionary bases on its mainland, Hawaii and Guam," the North's KCNA news agency said.

The order was issued in a statement from the North Korea's military "supreme command."

The Pentagon condemned North Korea's rhetoric, saying it was designed to "raise tensions and intimidate others."

"They need to stop threatening peace on the peninsula. That doesn't help anyone ... and we stand ready to respond to any contingency," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.

The Pentagon has declined to define the range of North Korea's rockets, saying it is classified. But Admiral James Winnefeld, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged on March 15 that one type of North Korean missile likely had the range to reach the United States.

South Korea's defense ministry said it saw no sign of imminent military action by North Korea and most military analysts say Pyongyang will not risk a conflict with the United States that it would lose.

South Korea and the U.S. military are conducting military drills until the end of April, which they have stressed are strictly defensive in nature. The North accuses Washington of war preparations by using B-52 bombers which have flown over the Korean peninsula as part of the drills, and it has abrogated an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

The Pentagon said there have been three such flights by U.S. B-52 bombers since March 8, with the most recent one on Monday.

BANK SANCTIONS?

Officials said Japan and Australia plan to sanction North Korea's Foreign Trade Bank as part of U.S.-led efforts targeting Pyongyang's funding for its nuclear program.

China again called on all parties to show restraint. "At present, the situation on the Korean peninsula remains complex and sensitive," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei.

Pyongyang's aggressive rhetoric appears to mark a further attempt to boost the military credentials of Kim Jong-un, who took power in December 2011 after the death of his father. He has cemented the role of the military and the North's nuclear weapons and missile ambitions with the nuclear test and two long-range rocket launches.

KCNA said on Tuesday that Kim had guided a landing operation by combined units including the North Korean navy.

"This is a mythmaking for the (military) commander," said Jeung Young-tae, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute of National Unification in Seoul.

South Korea marked the third anniversary on Tuesday of the sinking of a navy ship that killed 46 sailors that it and the United States have blamed on the North. Pyongyang denied the charge.

On March 22, South Korea and the United States signed a "counter-provocation plan" meant to fine tune joint reaction to any future North Korean military strikes. The Pentagon said details of the plan were classified.

(Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)

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FCA ready to bury light touch supervision

By Huw Jones

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's new financial watchdog is set to unveil its plans for tougher rule enforcement on Thursday, which the government hopes will help prevent a repeat of the financial crisis.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will be launched on April 1, April Fool's Day, and the new watchdog will need to show that the "light touch" supervision of the past is a joke now truly buried.

The FCA will be responsible for enforcing rules and punishing breaches while a new unit at the Bank of England will make sure banks hold enough capital.

The 11-year old Financial Services Authority which was criticised for failing to spot the 2007-09 crisis brewing will be scrapped.

"I suspect the FCA will want to shift up another gear from where they are at the moment and we will see fines go up," said Calum Burnett, financial services lawyer at Allen & Overy.

Firms are bracing themselves for products to be temporarily banned while the FCA investigates whether consumers are being ripped off.

"The whole development of a new product will become cumbersome," said Etay Katz, a lawyer at Allen & Overy.

The FCA will try to end years of mis-selling, culminating with the 12 billion pounds banks have already paid in compensation for loan insurance sales (PPI).

Consumer groups are reserving judgment on the new watchdog as new mis-selling concerns unfold over interest rate swaps.

"We'll be watching closely to make sure the FCA is a true watchdog, keeps to its word and puts consumers at the heart of everything it does," said Richard Lloyd, executive director of UK consumer lobby Which?

The new watchdog will give earlier warnings to customers and will be able to select an expert to review a firm's operations - with the firm footing the bill.

Banks are already complaining that the longstanding "caveat emptor" assumption, meaning the buyer has some responsibility, was being thrown out of the window.

Lawyers say parts of the market which regulators had left alone, like wealth management and wholesale market conduct, are coming under closer scrutiny with enforcement cases likely.

The FCA aims to be more sceptical and will "follow the money", checking for huge margins on products that may flag abusive, hard sell tactics.

(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

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