SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A federal judge on Friday denied bail and ordered a mental evaluation for a Yemeni man accused of trying to break into the cockpit of an American Airlines flight.

U.S. Magistrate Judge James Larson ordered Rageh Al-Musiri to be evaluated by a mental health professional after a defense attorney said that the 28-year-old defendant’s actions may have been prompted by mental illness and not criminal intent.

“Is this just a sad mental health case, or is this the case of a man who may have developed a mental condition and needs help or is this some larger issue,” defense attorney Elizabeth Falk said during a bail hearing for Al-Musiri.

Al-Musiri is charged with interfering with a flight crew for an incident on Sunday aboard American Airlines flight 1561, which was bound for San Francisco from Chicago with 162 people on board.

About 20 minutes before the plane landed, the Yemeni national allegedly tried to open the cockpit door, ramming his shoulder into it until a flight attendant and passengers subdued him, according to a criminal complaint.

At a hearing earlier this week, a prosecutor said Al-Musiri yelled “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is greatest” in Arabic, during the incident.

But Falk said Al-Musiri’s family believes he is suffering from some sort of mental breakdown.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A photographer accused of killing four northern California women whose first and last names began with the same letter was given permission on Friday to act as his own attorney as the case proceeds.

Joseph Naso, 77, told Marin County Superior Court Judge Andrew Sweet in the northern California city of San Rafael that he could do a better job defending himself than a lawyer, said Barry Borden, Marin County chief deputy district attorney.

Aside from being charged with four California murders that occurred between 1977 and 1994, Naso has been named as a possible suspect in the killings of three girls in Rochester, New York during the 1970s.

Those girls, all aged 10 or 11, also had alliterative first and last names, and one of them, Carmen Colon, even had the same name as one of the California victims. But authorities have not charged Naso in the upstate New York cases.

Authorities said they began investigating Naso in connection with the California slayings last year after a search of his Reno, Nevada, home by a state parole and probation officer turned up evidence tying him to the 1977 slaying of Roxene Roggasch. The 18 year-old woman’s body was found in a rural area near the Marin County town of Fairfax.

Investigators then linked Naso, who worked as a photographer, to the murder of 22-year-old Carmen Colon, whose body was found in 1978 near the Bay-area community of Port Costa. He also is charged in the 1993 killing of Pamela Parsons, 38, and the 1994 murder of Tracy Tafoya, both in Yuba County, California.

The public defenders office determined that Naso, who was charged last month with four counts of murder by Marin County prosecutors, is not eligible for their services because he has funds to hire a lawyer.

PLACERVILLE, California (Reuters) – A California man pleaded not guilty on Thursday to kidnapping 11-year-old Jaycee Dugard in 1991 and holding her captive for 18 years, clearing the way for trial of the sensational case later this summer.

Phillip Garrido’s not guilty plea came as a surprise to reporters and court watchers after a lawyer for his wife and co-defendant, Nancy Garrido, had said the 59-year-old defendant would plead guilty under an agreement with prosecutors.

Attorney Steve Tapson, who represents Nancy Garrido, 55, said after the court hearing that a “legal problem” had arisen to scupper the potential plea deal.

“She’s disappointed that it hasn’t been resolved and that she has to sit in jail,” Tapson said of his client.

El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson declined to comment on plea negotiations with either defendant, who appeared in court wearing orange jail garb.

“Sometimes it is easy to jump the gun and think something is going to happen,” Pierson said in response to questions from reporters outside the courthouse.

“We will do everything within our power to make sure the case is over and done with as quickly as possible, hopefully by the end of summer,” he said.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Barry Bonds’ orthopedic surgeon on Thursday said he gave information on the link between steroids and tendon injuries to a childhood friend of baseball’s home run king.

But Arthur Ting, who performed eight surgeries on Bonds, said at the slugger’s perjury trial that he had no other conversation regarding steroids with Steve Hoskins, Bonds’ old friend and former business partner.

Ting also testified on Thursday that he never discussed Bonds’ use of steroids with Hoskins.

The doctor’s version conflicted with Hoskins’ previous testimony, where he said he discussed his concerns regarding Bonds and steroid use as many as 50 times with Ting.

“Did Stevie ever say to you I need to get the information so I can get it back to Barry so we would know what the effects of the steroids were? Did he ever say that?” asked defense lawyer Cristina Arguedas.

“No,” Ting replied.

Ting also testified that Bonds had a strong dislike of needles and he would first need to inject the slugger with Novocain before giving him larger shots. Ting said he did prescribe corticosteroids to Bonds to help alleviate post-surgery conditions, such as inflammation.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc <WMT.N> has put roughly 300 items back on its U.S. store shelves after the retailer said it “disappointed” customers by not stocking certain products.

“We did discontinue some things that people didn’t buy very often, but were aggravating to a customer to lose,” said Walmart U.S. Chief Operating Officer Bill Simon, speaking at a Bank of America Merrill Lynch conference, which was broadcast over the Internet.

“Mostly in food and consumables, there were flavors, items, sizes that customers are very accustomed to and like very much and we disappointed them by taking them out.”

As part of its Project Impact U.S. store remodeling program, the retailer has been removing slower-selling items from its shelves, looking to boost sales by replacing them with faster-selling or more popular products.

But Simon said that by not having certain sizes or flavors of food in stock, Walmart missed out on an entire shopping trip from a customer and not just on the sale of that one particular product it no longer sold.

For instance, he said if customers know they cannot find a one-pound bag of brown rice at Walmart and they also cannot afford the two-pound bag of brown rice that it does sell, they will spend their entire grocery budget at another retailer that does carry one-pound bags of brown rice.

“(We) lose an $80 basket or a $60 basket and not just the dollar for the one-pound brown rice,” he said.

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK, March 3 (Reuters) – Warehouse club operators Costco Wholesale Corp <COST.O> and BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc <BJ.N> posted quarterly earnings below Wall Street estimates, hurt by falling food prices. Shares of Costco fell less than 1 percent, while BJ's dropped more than 5 percent. Meanwhile, close-out retailer Big Lots Inc <BIG.N>, which specializes in sales of excess inventory, reported higher-than-expected earnings, sending its shares up more than 2 percent. Costco, the No. 1 U.S. warehouse club operator, sought to win market share during the recession by cutting prices and delaying price increases. While that strategy apparently helped it retain customers, the company has not improved its margins as quickly as Wall Street had hoped, said Robert W. Baird & Co analyst Peter Benedict. Costco's gross margins improved by 26 basis points, Benedict said, while he had expected an increase of 37 basis points. "It's a very low-margin business, so a few basis points here and there can have an outsized effect" on results, he said. Costco also said February same-store sales rose 9 percent, including the impact of fuel prices and foreign exchange. Excluding a charge for employee benefits, Costco earned 70 cents per share in the second quarter ended Feb. 14. Analysts on average were expecting 72 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. [ID:nSGE6220B6] Quarterly sales rose 11 percent to $18.36 billion, excluding membership fees, which rose 9 percent to $386 million. Same-store sales increased 9 percent. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Graphic on Costco results link.reuters.com/xas23j ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Warehouse clubs charge customers an annual fee to shop in their stores and get discounts on items ranging from cartons of fresh fruit to flat-screen televisions. Costco, Wal-Mart Stores Inc's <WMT.N> Sam's Club and BJ's Wholesale have gained customers seeking low prices on necessities like groceries or toiletries in the economic downturn. But falling prices for food and electronics have pressured the clubs' results. On its conference call, BJ's Wholesale said it continued to be "significantly impacted" by deflationary pressures, especially for perishable food. While demand for discretionary merchandise is "creeping along," Chief Executive Officer Laura Sen said, she has not seen any major turnaround in that area. BJ's said net profit rose to $55.1 million, or $1.01 a share, in the fourth quarter ended on Jan. 30 from $52.7 million, or 91 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, it earned 95 cents a share, missing the analysts' average estimate by a penny. Sales in the holiday quarter rose 9.4 percent to $2.74 billion, while same-store sales rose 4.6 percent, including fuel. February same-store sales rose 7.5 percent. A calendar shift in the timing of the Super Bowl from January last year to February this year boosted merchandise comparable-club sales by 2 percentage points, BJ's said. However, the impact of severe winter storms more than offset that benefit. For the first quarter, BJ's forecast earnings per share of 40 cents to 45 cents. Analysts on average expect 43 cents. BIG LOTS BEATS; OPTIMISTIC ABOUT Q1 Big Lots said profit rose to $105.4 million, or $1.27 per share, in the fourth quarter ended on Jan. 30 from $78.8 million, or 96 cents a share, a year earlier. The retailer also increased the size of its share repurchase program to $400 million. [ID:nSGE6210KT] Excluding one-time items, it earned $1.31 a share, beating the analysts' average estimate of $1.28. On a conference call, Big Lots said customers responded well to its reward points scheme and that February sales benefited from a special event and a strong President's Day. [ID:nWEN1163] For the first quarter, the company expects earnings of 60 cents to 65 cents a share from continuing operations. Analysts were looking for 53 cents. Big Lots shares rose 2.2 percent to $34.68 in morning trading. BJ's fell 5.4 percent to $34.51, while Costco was down 0.4 percent at $61.12. (Reporting by Nicole Maestri and Dhanya Skariachan; Additional reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee; Editing by Michele Gershberg and John Wallace)

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 25 (Reuters) – Gap Inc <GPS.N> posted a 45 percent rise in profit during its holiday quarter, helped by fewer discounts and improved sales in all divisions, and gave a 2010 profit forecast that beat Wall Street’s estimates.

The operator of Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy apparel stores also raised its fiscal 2010 dividend 18 percent to 40 cents and authorized an extra $1 billion in share repurchases. Shares in the company rose 2 percent after-hours.

After a years-long slump, Gap has turned around its sales through better merchandising, more targeted fashion and marketing, beefing up its profit margins. It logged a 5 percent rise in January same-store sales with gains in all store chains.

Gap Chief Executive Officer Glenn Murphy said the company has completed the turnaround plan it put in place in 2007. It is now focused on gaining market share in North America, and pursuing online and international growth, he said.

“We can now evolve the business and start talking about how the business is going to grow,” he said on a conference call.

Net income in Gap’s fourth quarter ended Jan. 30 rose to $352 million or 51 cents per share from $243 million, or 34 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average had been expecting earnings of 50 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc plans to massively cut greenhouse gas emissions from its global supply chain within five years — an effort the retailer said is equivalent to taking more than 3.8 million cars off the road for a year.

Wal-Mart will reach that goal by having its suppliers reduce emissions involved in the sourcing, manufacturing, transportation, and disposal of the thousands of products it sells in its stores.

The plan to eliminate 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas from its supply chain by the end of 2015 was announced in a Webcast on Thursday.

Chief Executive Mike Duke said the effort would cut energy use, which in turn would mean lower costs for Wal-Mart and lower prices.

“We do plan and want to continue to build stores. We want to add square footage. That’s the reality of our business,” Duke said. “Yet we know we need to get ready for a world in which energy will only be more expensive, and that there will only be a greater need to operate with less carbon in the supply chain.”

The move is part of broader goals Wal-Mart has outlined to one day use only renewable energy and create zero waste. It has increased its use of solar power and announced plans to roll out an index that will measure the environmental impact of the products it sells in its stores.

The United States is the world’s second-leading emitter, after China, of greenhouse gases that scientists blame for warming the planet. U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels like coal and oil should rise this year and next as the economy recovers, according to the Energy Information Administration.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Target Corp <TGT.N> posted a quarterly profit slightly above Wall Street expectations, helped by better-than-expected holiday sales, improved margins and a lower tax rate.

The No. 2 U.S. discount retailer said its shoppers are “increasingly confident” and willing to buy more discretionary items, like clothes or home decor. But it said the current Wall Street estimate for its first-quarter earnings is above its own forecast.

“Clearly the quarter was not a terrific quarter. They beat on the tax rate, and they gave some pretty tepid guidance,” said Telsey Advisory Group analyst Joseph Feldman.

“If you dig a little deeper you’ll see the guidance is somewhat conservative, sales trends are starting to return … and that’s what’s going to help drive earnings this year,” he said.

Net income was $936 million, or $1.24 per share, in the fourth quarter ended January 30, compared with $609 million, or 81 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding a lower provision for income taxes, earnings were $1.17 per share. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $1.16 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales rose 3.7 percent to $19.72 billion. Sales at stores open at least a year, a key gauge of a retailer’s health, rose 0.6 percent. Its gross margin rate increased 1.8 percentage points to 29.1 percent.