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NICOSIA, Cyprus — Big depositors at Cyprus’ largest bank may be forced to accept losses of up to 60 percent, far more than initially estimated under the European rescue package to save the country from bankruptcy, officials said Saturday.

Deposits of more than 100,000 euros ($128,000) at the Bank of Cyprus will lose 37.5 percent in money that will be converted into bank shares, according to a central bank statement. In a second raid on these accounts, depositors also could lose up to 22.5 percent more, depending on what experts determine is needed to prop up the bank’s reserves. The experts will have 90 days to figure that out.

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WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice opposed Standard & Poor’s efforts to move a spate of lawsuits charging the ratings agency with fraud to federal from state courts.

Standard & Poor’s is seeking to move lawsuits by 15 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. to the federal level, hoping to limit liabilities as it defends itself against accusations of inflating credit ratings in a bid to win fees from clients.

But the Department of Justice, in a filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut on Friday, said there was no basis in law to move the cases to the higher-level.

“Based on the nature of the causes of actions alleged by the States, and the controlling precedents, there is no federal-question jurisdiction justifying removal,” it said.

S&P parent McGraw-Hill has said that the suits should be addressed all at once and that failure to do so could cause “serious confusion and risk” to financial markets.

Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen is leading a coalition of attorneys general that brought the state cases.

These were announced on Feb. 5, the same day that the Justice Department said it was seeking $5 billion in its own civil lawsuit against S&P. McGraw-Hill shares lost more than a quarter of their value during the week the suits were announced. They closed on Thursday at $52.08 a share.

Legal experts said earlier that S&P might struggle to move the state cases, given recent similar cases.

The lawsuits allege that S&P misled investors into believing its ratings were objective and not tainted by conflicts of interest. The ratings were mainly for complex fixed income products that imploded in the financial crisis.

Moody’s Corp’s Moody’s Investors Service and Fimalac SA’s Fitch Ratings, S&P’s main rivals, were not hit with similar federal lawsuits.

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Given what the Republican Party is and where America’s demographics are heading, it is unclear whether the Grand Old Party can successfully pivot to the center without jeopardizing its socially conservative evangelical base.

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Here’s one more possible benefit of eating a Mediterranean diet.

Researchers from the University of Louisiana are a step closer to understanding why Alzheimer’s disease seems to be not as common in Mediterranean countries, and the possible role olive oil may play in protecting against the memory-robbing disease.

Since previous research had shown that a compound in extra-virgin olive oil called oleocanthal protected nerve cells from the damage that Alzheimer’s inflicts, the scientists led by Amal Kaddoumi set out to see if oleocanthal could decrease levels of amyloid beta — known to play a role in Alzheimer’s — from accumulating in the brain.

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Missed us live at our new weekly livestream home on YouTube at 3PM ET last Thursday? Fret not, because we’ve got you covered here with the video and audio recordings as usual. So, listen on your own time as Tim, Brian and Peter talk everything from OUYA to Angry Birds hand sanitizer. Stream it below, or catch the subscription links and video embed after the break. Happy weekend!

Hosts: Tim Stevens, Peter Rojas, Brian Heater

Producers: James Trew, Joe Pollicino

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