U.S. markets post gains
NEW YORK, April 21 (UPI) -- U.S. markets closed higher Thursday after the Labor Department said first-time jobless benefits claims fell by 13,000 in the week ending April 16.
There were 403,000 initial claims filed in the week, the department said.
In Washington, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said home prices fell 1.6 percent from January to February after falling 1 percent in December to January.
Over 12 months, home prices have dropped 5.7 percent, the agency said.
By close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average added 52.45 points, 0.42 percent, to 12,505.99, continuing a winning streak to its third day. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.53 percent, 7.02 points, to 1,337.38. The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.63 percent, 17.65, to 2,820.16.
The 10-year treasury note rose 4/32 to yield 3.394 percent.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,960 stocks advanced and 1,022 declined on a volume of 3.4 billion shares traded.
The euro rose to $1.4551 from Wednesday's $1.4511 Against the yen, the dollar fell to 81.87 yen from Wednesday's 82.39 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index gained 0.82 percent, 78.95, to 9,685.77.
In London, the FTSE 100 index lost 0.07 percent, 3.96, to 6,018.30.
EEOC charges firms with abusing workers
WASHINGTON, April 21 (UPI) -- Federal labor regulators have charged a recruiting firm in California, several farms and a business in Texas and Mississippi with severe abuse of workers.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said it filed suit against labor broker Global Horizons in California, six farms in that state and two in Washington for abuse of workers brought into the country from Thailand "on the promise of high-paying wages and temporary visas."
The workers, however, were "forced into vermin-ridden housing, denied the opportunity to leave the premises and subjected to harassment, including physical assault by their overseers," the commission said.
The commission said at least 200 Thai men were subjected to the abusive treatment, which included threats of deportation if the workers complained and confiscation of their passports.
The workers also paid high fees to secure their jobs, which kept them in debt to the company.
In a separate case, the commission said it filed suit in Mississippi charging Signal International, a marine services company, with subjecting 500 Indian welders and pipe-fitters to live in "unsanitary" conditions "for which they were charged an inordinate amount (and) given unwholesome food."
The Indian workers were also "demeaned by being referred to by numbers instead of their names," the commission said.
Some were also subjected to retaliation when they complained, the EEOC said.
Jackson-Vanik law challenged in court
WASHINGTON, April 21 (UPI) -- Former Russian dissident Edward Lozansky has filed suit in Washington to have the trade restricting Jackson-Vanik amendment repealed, court papers say.
Lozansky filed suit in a federal court to overturn the law that denies favored nation status to any country that does not have a free market system and restricts emigration, RIA Novosti reported Thursday.
It was written in 1974 and aimed to force Russia to loosen restrictions on Jews wishing to emigrate.
Also listed as a plaintiff in the suit is Anthony Salvia, a former Reagan administration official considered an expert on Russian-U.S. relations.
In 2010, Lozansky testified at a congressional hearing that he was separated from his wife and children for six years by Russian authorities. "I can confirm that Jackson-Vanik played a very important roll not only in the process of lifting restrictions on emigration but on the whole process of democratic and human rights developments in the countries of the former USSR," he said.
"But I strongly believe that now Jackson-Vanik is not only obsolete but even harms U.S. interests," he added.
Fraudster's cars fetch $2.29 million
MILWAUKEE, April 21 (UPI) -- Luxury cars once owned by convicted fraudster Russell Cole sold for $2.29 million, an auction house spokeswoman in Milwaukee said.
Manheim Milwaukee spokeswoman Michelle Tess said, "It was a packed house. People were shoulder to shoulder in the lanes," the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported Thursday.
Cole is serving 15 years for a scheme to overcharge national retailer Best Buy $32 million on sales of computer parts. His wife, Abby Cole, was sentenced to three years probation for tax evasion and conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
Former Best Buy employee Robert Bossany was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for his part in the scheme.
The top bid at the auction was a $1.28 million bid for Russell Cole's 2003 Ferrari Enzo, which went to a California auto dealer.
There were only 400 Ferrari Enzos made and Cole's was considered a prize, as it had only 1,120 miles on the odometer.
They same buyer walked away with Cole's 2002 Aston Martin, purchased for $76,000, the newspaper said.
