Defense trims furloughs to 6 days from 11
By Jennifer Liberto
The Defense Department is giving its employees a break by trimming furlough days.
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced Tuesday that furloughs for workers would be cut to 6 days, from 11. Employees will take their last furloughs next week, instead of late September.
Hagel said he was able to win the reprieve by finding savings and cuts in other areas.
Ever since July 8, some 650,000 defense workers have been taking one unpaid day off each week. It has effectively cut employee pay about 20% for nearly three months. The savings from 11 furlough days was only about $1.8 billion, a sliver of the $40 billion that the Pentagon had to cut as part of the sequester, or forced federal spending cuts.
Japanese and Russian crime groups sanctioned by U.S.
By Jennifer Liberto from CNNMoney
The Treasury Department announced new sanctions Thursday against two alleged international crime groups, Yamaguchi-gumi of Japan and the Brothers' Circle, which spans several former Soviet nations.
Treasury is directing U.S. banks to freeze assets of nine members of the groups because they pose a "threat to the integrity of the U.S. financial system," said David S. Cohen, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. Speaking to reporters Thursday, Cohen declined to say how much money might be at stake. FULL POST
@natlsecuritycnn on Twitter
