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U.S. drops 'enemy combatant' process

WASHINGTON, March 13 (UPI) -- The Obama administration Friday restricted the process under which a terror suspect can be held and dropped the phrase "enemy combatant."

In a statement, the U.S. Justice Department said it had filed documents with the federal court in Washington setting up a new standard to underwrite the government's authority to hold detainees at the Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) Detention Facility.

The Bush administration had relied on the president's authority as commander in chief of the armed forces for such authority, without authorization from Congress. But the Justice Department said the new standard "draws on the international laws of war to inform the statutory authority conferred by Congress. It provides that individuals who supported al-Qaida or the Taliban are detainable only if the support was substantial. And it does not employ the phrase 'enemy combatant.'"

A declaration by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, also filed with the court, stated that the government is making an interagency review of detention policy for those captured in armed conflicts or counter-terrorism operations. The review will include individual evaluation of the status of each prisoner at Guantanamo.

Though only a couple of hundred detainees are at the facility inside the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo, President Barack Obama has said the prison will be closed within a year.

The American Civil Liberties Union said it was "deeply troubling that the Justice Department continues to use an overly broad interpretation of the laws of war that would permit military detention of individuals who were picked up far from an actual battlefield or who didn't engage in hostilities against the United States."

"Once again, the Obama administration has taken a half-step in the right direction," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero in a statement. "The Justice Department's filing leaves the door open to modifying the government's position; it is critical that the administration promptly narrow the category for individuals who can be held in military detention so that the U.S. truly comports with the laws of war and rejects the unlawful detention power of the past eight years."

Madoff homes, family now in feds' sights

NEW YORK, March 13 (UPI) -- With admitted swindler Bernard Madoff behind bars in New York and no longer using his assets to guarantee bail, federal investigators want to seize them.

Madoff's wife, Ruth, their two sons and his brother could be the next targets of the criminal investigation, the New York Daily News reports.

"I think the only thing the government would say is that the government investigation continues," Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Litt said after Madoff's guilty plea Thursday. "A lot of resources and effort are being expended, both to find assets and to find anyone else who may be responsible for this fraud."

Madoff has admitted that his investment service, which promised and seemed to deliver steady gains every year, was a Ponzi scheme that used money from later investors to pay earlier ones. The amount of money lost depends on whether it is counted as the dollars invested with him over more than a decade or the much larger amount, up to $50 billion, investors thought they had based on his reports.

The Madoffs clearly lived well. Prosecutors told a judge that in the next few weeks they plan to file claims on their Manhattan penthouse as well as their homes in Palm Beach, Fla., the east end of Long Island and France.

Calif. budget plan leaves $8 billion hole

SACRAMENTO, March 13 (UPI) -- A package of spending cuts, new taxes and loans to help close California's $40 billion budget deficit will fall short because the economy is still losing steam.

The state Legislature's chief budget analyst said Friday the plan leave an $8 billion revenue gap, The Sacramento Bee reported.

"Unfortunately, the state's economic and revenue outlook continues to deteriorate," the Legislative Analyst's Office said.

Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor said that to close the newly discovered $8 billion gap, the state should maximize its use of federal stimulus funds and "continue developing programmatic solutions" to the budget crunch.

To help the state avert future budget crises, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed limits on government growth and called for borrowing against the state lottery, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Californians will vote May 19 on proposals for to raise taxes while simultaneously limiting government spending.

Schwarzenegger told the Commonwealth Club of California that after five years of trying to change how business is done in the state, he is no longer frustrated.

"I feel good about the change this budget reform will bring to our state," he said.

16 missing in 'copter crash believed dead

ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland, March 13 (UPI) -- There is almost no chance that 16 men missing from a helicopter crash off Newfoundland are still alive, Canadian officials said Friday afternoon.

At a news conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Maj. Denis McGuire of the Joint Coordination Rescue Center said the search would shift from rescue to recovery at 7:30 p.m., The St. John's Telegram reported. He said the survival suits the men were wearing would be unlikely to keep them alive in the frigid water for more than 24 hours.

"Unfortunately, we have not been able to locate anymore individuals," McGuire said. "It appears there are no more survivors."

The Cougar Helicopters Sikorsky S-92 was shuttling workers from an oil platform when the pilot and co-pilot sent a distress call Thursday morning. The helicopter was 31 miles east of St. John's.

One man was plucked from the water and was listed in critical condition Friday, and the body of another unidentified man was recovered, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported. The downed helicopter was spotted upside down but sank in about 350 feet of water, officials said.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday afternoon it was sending a team to assist in the investigation, including members of the Federal Aviation Administration, Sikorsky and General Electric Co.

McGuire said the recovery effort would be led by the federal Transportation Safety Board with assistance from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.