Accused White House shooter faces more mental tests (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? A doctor has determined that a man accused of trying to assassinate President Barack Obama this month is competent to stand trial, but prosecutors on Monday asked for a fuller evaluation.

Prosecutors are seeking a competency hearing and a full psychological screening of Oscar Ortega-Hernandez. He has been charged with trying to kill Obama when he opened fire on the White House with a semi-automatic assault rifle.

Obama and his wife, Michelle, were in California at the time of the gunfire the night of November 11.

An initial screening ordered by a federal magistrate on November 21 concluded that Ortega-Hernandez was competent, according to a court filing.

"The government notes that it was based only on a 50-minute screening and submits a full psychiatric or psychological screening ... is warranted, given the serious nature of the criminal charges pending against the defendant and the likelihood that mental health issues may arise in the course of these proceedings," the prosecutors said in a motion.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Kay agreed to delay a detention hearing until December 12 and asked prosecutors to provide "more substance" to their motion.

Ortega-Hernandez, 21, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, was ordered held pending that hearing.

Witnesses interviewed by authorities said Ortega-Hernandez had called the president the "devil" and "anti-Christ."

His abandoned car was found blocks from the White House after the Friday night shooting. He was arrested at a hotel near Indiana, Pennsylvania, the following Wednesday.

If convicted, Ortega-Hernandez faces up to life in prison.

(Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Doina Chiacu)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111128/pl_nm/us_usa_security_whitehouse

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Lukoil's Q3 profit drops 20 pct to $2.2 billion (AP)

MOSCOW ? Russia's second-largest oil producer Lukoil said Friday that its third-quarter profit dropped 20 percent because of higher taxes and a slump in the ruble.

The Moscow-based company said Friday that the $570 million decline to $2.2 billion had been caused by the depreciation of the Russian ruble. This includes $340 million it spent on tax on foreign currency translation gain.

The Russian ruble, battered by turmoil on European markets, lost about 15 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar between June 30 and September 30 at the MICEX stock exchange.

Lukoil said its net income was affected by writing down the costs of drilling exploratory wells.

The decline in profit stands in contrast to a 26 percent hike in revenues between July and September, to $34.6 billion from $26.5 billion.

The company said its strict financial discipline and efficient costs management helped them generate a cash flow of $7.7 billion in the nine months of the year against slightly under $7 billion a year ago.

Oil analysts at the Moscow-based UralSib investment bank said in a note to investors earlier this week that it expected the results to be worse that of other Russian oil companies, but said it does not expect Lukoil to underperform in the future.

"Compared to its Russian peers, Lukoil is much more exposed to international product markets where product prices are more flexible than on domestic market," UralSib said in the note.

Lukoil's shares were up 2.3 percent at the MICEX, outperforming the market.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_earns_lukoil

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