MIAMI (Reuters) – Florida’s citrus crop escaped serious damage from freezing temperatures this week but growers were bracing for another blast of arctic air in their groves this weekend, producers and processors said on Thursday.

Florida Citrus Mutual, the biggest growers group in the state’s $9.3 billion citrus industry, said “some damage” from frigid temperatures had been reported to trees’ fruit, twigs and leaves, with 25 percent of the current harvest complete.

MIAMI, Jan 6 (Reuters) – Freezing overnight temperatures
were expected to have caused some scattered damage to Florida’s
citrus crop, but the overall impact would not be crippling, the
state’s main citrus growers group said on Wednesday.

Florida’s $9.3 billion citrus industry produces more than
three-quarters of the U.S. orange crop, most of which is
processed for juice.

MIAMI (Reuters) – A key informant in the U.S. tax evasion case against Swiss bank UBS AG has asked a federal court in Florida to postpone the scheduled January 8 start of his prison term so that he can cooperate further with the U.S. government to uncover tax cheats.

Former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld, who was sentenced in August to three years and four months in prison for helping a billionaire hide assets from U.S. tax authorities, made the postponement request in a filing this weekend by his lawyer to a U.S. district court in Florida.

MIAMI (Reuters) – A U.S. district judge has ruled that U.S. treasure-hunting company Odyssey Marine Exploration should return to Spain a fortune in old coins recovered from the wreck of a 19th-century Spanish warship.

In an order filed in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday, Judge Steven Merryday nevertheless directed that the return of the treasure to Spain be stayed until an appeals process in the case was concluded. It was the latest twist in a complex dispute over the treasure involving Spain, Odyssey and Peru.

MIAMI, Dec 23 (Reuters) – A U.S. district judge has ruled
that U.S. treasure-hunting company Odyssey Marine Exploration
<OMEX.O> should return to Spain a fortune in old coins
recovered from the wreck of a 19th-century Spanish warship.

In an order filed in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday, Judge
Steven Merryday nevertheless directed that the return of the
treasure to Spain be stayed until an appeals process in the
case was concluded. It was the latest twist in a complex
dispute over the treasure involving Spain, Odyssey and Peru.

MIAMI (Reuters) – Fans and colleagues of golfer Tiger Woods Saturday lamented the stunning fall from grace of one of the world’s sporting titans, and commercial sponsor Gillette said it would limit his role in its marketing.

The announcement by Procter & Gamble’s Gillette, which had featured the world’s No. 1 golfer in its razor ads, was an early sign the sex scandal engulfing Woods was already taking its toll on his marketability as a global sports idol.

MIAMI, Dec 12 (Reuters) – Fans, sponsors and fellow players
on Saturday lamented the stunning fall from grace of one of the
world’s sporting Titans after Tiger Woods announced he would
take an “indefinite break” from professional golf over a sex
scandal that rocked his life and career.

While many fans, and almost all of his major commercial
sponsors expressed understanding for the world No. 1 golfer’s
decision to take time off to save his marriage, some supporters
questioned the celebrity culture that had built him into such a
towering social and sporting icon.

MIAMI (Reuters) – Tiger Woods said on Friday he would take an indefinite break from professional golf, admitting he cheated on his wife and bowing to the pressure of two weeks of frenzied media scrutiny of his private life.

The world’s No. 1 golfer made the stunning announcement in his latest posting on his website in which he confessed “infidelity” for the first time, said he was sorry and asked his family, friends and supporters for forgiveness.

MIAMI, Dec 11 (Reuters) – Tiger Woods said on Friday he
would take an indefinite break from professional golf,
admitting he cheated on his wife and bowing to the pressure of
two weeks of frenzied media scrutiny of his private life.

The world’s No. 1 golfer made the stunning announcement in
his latest posting on his website in which he confessed
“infidelity” for the first time, said he was sorry and asked
his family, friends and supporters for forgiveness.

MIAMI (Reuters) – Golfer Tiger Woods, fighting to fend off intense media scrutiny over allegations he cheated on his wife, has won a British court order banning publication in Britain of any photos or video showing him nude or having sex.

British law firm Schillings, which specializes in protecting the reputations of celebrities, obtained the injunction on Woods’ behalf on Thursday at the High Court in London, partner Simon Smith told Reuters by phone on Friday.