The official Xinhua News Agency said rescue work was continuing at the site of Monday morning’s explosion in Shandong province’s Caofan township. It said 34 people were inside the factory at the time of the blast, and only 14 of them have been found so far.

The cause of the blast and condition of the other nine people found were not known. The company website said the factory run by the Baoli group manufactures 10,000 tons of industrial explosives annually.

China has sought to tighten access to explosives used for quarrying following a series of attacks by people using homemade bombs. However, safety rules are often ignored and industrial accidents remain common.

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Li Keqiang spoke to reporters Monday morning in New Delhi after being received by a ceremonial honour guard.

Li’s visit comes at a time of tension between the neighbouring Asia giants. Last month, India said Chinese troops crossed the countries’ de facto border. The standoff ended after three weeks with the Chinese troops’ pulling back.

Li told reporters that regional stability and world peace can’t be achieve without mutual trust between India and China.

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Benchmark crude for June delivery was down 25 cents to $95.77 a barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 86 cents to close at $96.02 a barrel on Friday.

Later in the week, the U.S. government will release home sales and durable goods orders for April and HSBC will release its monthly survey on China’s manufacturing growth.

Analysts are also awaiting testimony Wednesday from Ben Bernanke, who heads the U.S. central bank. Of special interest are any possible hints that the Fed might be preparing to scale back its super-loose monetary policy because recent data has pointed toward a sustained economic recovery.

“Markets will be watching closely for any signs of what the Fed’s next move will be,” said analysts at DBS Bank Ltd. in Singapore in a commentary.

Brent crude, a benchmark for many international oil varieties, fell 11 cents to $104.35 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex:

— Wholesale gasoline rose 0.6 cent to $2.898 a gallon.

— Heating oil added 0.4 cent to $2.934 a gallon.

— Natural gas gained 0.7 cent to $4.123 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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China is New Zealand’s largest export market and its largest consumer of sheep meat.

China has blocked all New Zealand frozen beef and sheep meat that has arrived there in the past two or three weeks, said Dan Coup, trade and economic manager for the Meat Industry Association of New Zealand.

The meat sitting in freezers at the docks is worth tens of millions of dollars. Because it is frozen, it will last months, Coup said.

Exporters changed the branding on their certificates in March after New Zealand government departments merged. Because the meat is transported in ships, he said, it would have taken several weeks before products with the new branding arrived.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said Monday the issue is a technical hiccup that he expects will be resolved this week. He said China continues to have a big appetite for New Zealand meat and he doesn’t expect the problem will affect trade long-term.

No other country has halted imports over the matter, New Zealand authorities said.

Other trade between the two countries, including New Zealand’s dairy exports, has not been affected.

There are no health or safety concerns and officials are working to resolve the issue, Coup said.

But if the dispute drags on, he said, there’s a risk that Chinese buyers will look elsewhere for meat and that exporters will get hit with big storage fees.

New Zealand government figures show meat exports to China increased significantly in the months before the dispute began.

In the first quarter of 2013, New Zealand exported sheep meat worth 204 million New Zealand dollars ($165 million), beef worth NZ$73 million, and edible offal worth NZ$5 million to China. Over the past year, China consumed NZ$600 million of meat. If the pace of the latest quarter continued, the market this year would almost double to NZ$1.1 billion.

“We value our close working relationship with China and remain confident that this issue can be resolved,” said Nathan Guy, the Minister for Primary Industries, in a release.

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The economists predict that the U.S. economy will grow 2.4 per cent this year and 3 per cent next year. That’s unchanged from their forecast in February.

But they are more bullish on consumer spending and housing than they were three months ago, in part because of a more positive view about unemployment.

The survey was released Monday by the National Association for Business Economics, which periodically surveys economists for banks, manufacturers and universities.

The 49 economists who were questioned between April 16 and April 30 predicted that consumer spending will rise 2.3 per cent this year, up from a forecast of 1.9 per cent in February. They were also more upbeat about auto sales, predicting 15.4 million vehicles sales, an increase of 1 million over 2012.

Nayantara Hensel, chair of the NABE survey and a business professor at National Defence University, said consumer spending will get a boost from gains in the stock market, home values and lower unemployment.

“Home prices are going up, and with also the improvement in the unemployment rate, people will be more willing to buy,” Hensel said in an interview.

The economists predicted that home prices will rise 4.4 per cent this year and 4 per cent next year. Boosted by new construction, they predict a 15 per cent jump in residential housing investment this year.

Housing starts hit a 5-year peak in March then fell in April, with most of the decline due to less apartment construction, which can swing wildly from month to month.

Applications for building permits hit a 5-year high in April, suggesting that the housing market will continue to recover from the recession. A recent survey by the National Association of Home Builders found continued optimism among builders.

The NABE economists, who were surveyed before April unemployment was reported at 7.5 per cent, predicted that the rate will decline to 7.4 per cent in the fourth quarter and 6.8 per cent in late 2014.

Corporate profits after taxes are expected to rise 5.3 per cent in 2013 and 7.5 per cent next year. Both of those are more bullish forecasts than the economists offered in February.

While consumers might spend more, the government sector is expected to shrink 2.3 per cent this year — sharper than the 1 per cent cut that the economists predicted in February, before a series of automatic federal spending cuts kicked in when Congress and the White House failed to reach a deal to avoid them. The economists expect government spending to decline a more modest 0.9 per cent in 2014, but Hensel said the forecast could change to a bigger decline if it looks like the automatic cuts will continue into the next fiscal year.

Lower government spending, especially by the military, “has already had a sharp effect on GDP growth,” she said. GDP, or gross domestic product, is the measure of the economy’s total output of goods and services.

The NABE survey found little alarm about potential inflation. The economists expect the Consumer Price Index to rise 1.9 per cent this year and 2.1 per cent in 2014.

On Friday, the Conference Board reported that its index of leading economic indicators rose in April after dipping in March. A board economist said the economy was getting a lift from steady job gains and the housing market, offsetting government spending cuts.

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The planes are returning after being grounded for four months by the federal government because of smouldering batteries on 787s owned by other airlines. The incidents included an emergency landing of one plane, and a fire on another.

The incidents never caused any serious injuries. But the January grounding embarrassed Boeing, which makes the 787, and disrupted schedules at the eight airlines that were flying the planes. The company had delivered 50 of the planes worldwide.

The grounding forced United to delay planned international flights and hurt its first-quarter earnings by $11 million. Others, including Japan Airlines and South America’s LATAM Airlines Group, also said profits were reduced. LATAM said it still had to make payments on the plane and pay for crews and maintenance. It expects to resume flying soon.

United’s first 787 flight was scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday from Houston to Chicago.

Passengers didn’t appear to be too worried. “We saw strong demand for the flight from the first weekend it opened for sale,” said United spokeswoman Christen David.

United is planning to use 787s on shorter domestic flights before resuming international flights on June 10 with new Denver-to-Tokyo service as well as temporary Houston-to-London flights. It’s adding flights to Tokyo, Shanghai, and Lagos, Nigeria, in August.

Those long international flights are the main reason the 787 exists. Its medium size and fuel efficiency are a good fit for long routes. Starting with shorter domestic flights “will give us a period to ramp up full 787 operations,” David said.

United Continental Holdings Inc. was the first U.S. airline to get the 787 and now has six. United has said it expects to have four fixed by Monday, with the other two getting their batteries modified in coming days.

The 787 uses more electricity than any other jet. And it makes more use of lithium-ion batteries than any other jet, because it needs to be able to provide power for things like flight controls and a backup generator when its engines are shut down. Each 787 has two of the batteries.

Boeing Co. never did figure out the root cause of the battery incidents. Instead, it redesigned the battery and its charger. The idea was to eliminate all of the possible causes, 787 chief engineer Mike Sinnett said in an online chat on Thursday where he and a Boeing test pilot took questions about the plane.

The changes include more heat insulation between each cell and charging the battery to a lower maximum voltage.

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The Intermediate People’s Court of Wenzhou, a centre for private sector business, says Lin Haiyan was convicted of “illegal fundraising” for collecting 640 million yuan ($101 million) from individual investors by promising high returns and low risk.

Chinese entrepreneurs who often cannot get loans from the state-owned banking system rely on such informal lending. Regulators have begun tightening controls after a surge of defaults prompted protests by lenders.

Another businesswoman from Wenzhou also was sentenced to death last year on illegal fundraising charges. That penalty was overturned following an outcry on the Internet and she was sentenced to prison.

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A survey of 1,400 sunscreen products by the Environmental Working Group finds that most products meet new federal requirements put in place last December. The rules from the Food and Drug Administration ban terms like “waterproof,” which regulators consider misleading, and require that sunscreens filter out both ultraviolet A and B rays. Previously some products only blocked UVB rays, which cause most sunburn, while providing little protection against UVA rays that pose the greatest risk of skin cancer and wrinkles.

Despite that broader protection, one in seven products reviewed by the watchdog group boasted sun protection factor, or SPF, ratings above 50, which have long been viewed with skepticism by experts. In part, that’s because SPF numbers like 100 or 150 can give users a false sense of security, leading them to stay in the sun long after the lotion has stopped protecting their skin.

Many consumers assume that SPF 100 is twice as effective as SPF 50, but dermatologists say the difference between the two is actually negligible. Where an SPF 50 product might protect against 97 per cent of sunburn-causing rays, an SPF 100 product might block 98.5 per cent of those rays.

“The high SPF numbers are just a gimmick,” says Marianne Berwick, professor of epidemiology at the University of New Mexico. “Most people really don’t need more than an SPF 30 and they should reapply it every couple of hours.” Berwick says sunscreen should be used in combination with hats, clothing and shade, which provide better protection against ultraviolet radiation.

Some dermatologists say there may be some rationale for using higher SPF sunscreens, since users often don’t apply enough of the lotion to get its full effect.

“The challenge is that beyond 50 the increase in UV protection is relatively small,” says Dr. Henry Lim, chair of dermatology at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

The SPF number indicates the amount of sun exposure needed to cause sunburn on sunscreen-protected skin compared with unprotected skin. For example, a SPF rating of 30 means it would take the person 30 times longer to burn wearing sunscreen than with exposed skin.

There is a popular misconception that the SPF figure relates to a certain number of hours spent in the sun. However this is incorrect, since the level of exposure varies by geography, time of day and skin complexion.

The FDA itself said in 2011 that “labeling a product with a specific SPF value higher than 50 would be misleading to the consumer.” At the time the agency proposed capping all SPF values at 50 because “there is not sufficient data to show that products with SPF values higher than 50 provide greater protection for users.” But regulators have faced pushback from companies, including Johnson & Johnson, which argue that higher SPF products provide measurable benefits.

As a result, the FDA says it is still reviewing studies and comments submitted by outside parties, and there is no deadline for the agency to finalize an SPF cap.

It took the agency decades to put in place last year’s sunscreen changes. FDA first announced its intent to draft sunscreen rules in 1978 and published them in 1999. The agency then delayed finalizing the regulations for years until it could address concerns from both industry and consumers.

The FDA is also reviewing the safety of effectiveness of spray-on products, which use different formulations from other sun-protection solutions. Among other concerns, the agency is looking at whether the sprays can be harmful when inhaled.

The survey by the Environmental Working Group found that one in four sunscreens sold in the U.S. is a spray product.

“People like the sprays because they are quick to put on and cover a lot of area,” said Dr. Darrell Rigel, a dermatologist in New York. “The downside is that you usually have to apply two coats.”

More than 76,000 men and women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with melanoma this year and 9,480 are expected to die from the aggressive form of skin cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute. The disease, which is often linked to ultraviolet exposure, is usually curable when detected early.

_____

On the Web: http://www.ewg.org/2013sunscreen/

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Jacob Dismont, 18, and Michael Solid, 21, were booked Saturday into the Clark County jail on charges of open murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.

According to investigators, Marcos Arenas, 15, was walking down a street with the iPad on Thursday when a passenger got out of a vehicle and tried to steal the device from him.

Dismont is accused of trying to wrest the tablet away and dragging Arenas toward the SUV when the youth wouldn’t let go of the device. After Dismont re-entered the vehicle and Solid sped away, the teen was dragged until he fell. The vehicle ran over Arenas and he died at a hospital.

“I think both the public and police department share the same sentiment that this was a senseless act of violence,” police spokesman Bill Cassell told The Associated Press.

The suspects succeeded in making off with the device, officers said.

Ivan Arenas said he bought the iPad for his son less than two months ago. The family has never had a lot, the father said, and his son valued everything he had.

“For him to lose his life over an iPad, it’s just not fair,” Ivan Arenas told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Never in my life would I imagine that me buying my kid an iPad for his birthday would end up with him getting run over.”

Similar thefts of iPads, IPhones and other Apple devices have become so widespread nationwide that the crime has earned the nickname, “Apple picking,” Cassell said.

“This is a nationwide phenomenon where thieves are targeting individuals who are carrying them,” he said.

Police urge victims of such crimes to always let go of the devices.

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The Lundberg Survey of fuel prices released Sunday says the price of a gallon of regular is $3.66. Midgrade costs an average of $3.84 a gallon, and premium is $3.98.

Diesel held steady at $3.93 gallon.

Of the cities surveyed in the lower 48 states, Tucson, Ariz., has the nation’s lowest average price for gas at $3.18. Minneapolis has the highest at $4.27.

In California, the lowest average price was $3.94 in Fresno. The highest was in San Francisco at $4.07. The average statewide for a gallon of regular was $4.03, up 18 cents.

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Voters will head to the polls Tuesday to decide how Los Angeles should handle its high with three competing measures that seek to either limit the number of dispensaries or allow new ones to open and join an estimated several hundred others that currently operate.

Election Day in the nation’s second-largest city comes just two weeks after a pivotal state Supreme Court decision gave cities and counties the authority to ban pot shops. More than 200 local municipalities have bans, and some cities that were awaiting guidance from the state’s highest court have taken immediate action this month and begun shuttering clinics.

While some cities have been able to manage pot collectives, Los Angeles fumbled with the issue and dispensaries cropped up across the city as a result. Councilman Ed Reyes said Los Angeles has run into trouble where other cities such as Oakland haven’t because of the sheer size of LA and a movement that is more organized and litigious.

“The pie is so big here, so thick and rich, that we have many people making a run at it,” Reyes said. “Regardless of which measure you support, the city is going to have to focus on enforcement. I think as long as we don’t have enforcement, it’s just letters on paper.”

City councillors passed an ordinance in 2010 to cut the number of shops from roughly 1,000 to 70. But numerous lawsuits were filed against the city by dispensaries and the ordinance was allowed to expire last year, leading to another surge of pot shops.

Last summer, the city approved a ban, but two months later repealed it after enough signatures were gathered to get the measures on the ballot.

Proposition D would cap the number of collectives that opened prior to 2007 — about 135 — and raise taxes slightly; Proposition E also would do the same but raise no new taxes; Proposition F wouldn’t limit the number of pot shops but put stringent controls such as audits and background checks on employees. It also raises taxes.

The proposition with the most votes wins, but only if it collects a majority. If none of the measures receives more than 50 per cent, the issue could bounce back to the City Council.

Proposition E is essentially dead on arrival because its supporters are now backing Proposition D, which has been endorsed by several council members. Proposition D backers said the initiative meets the criteria of neighbours and the medical marijuana industry by limiting the number of clinics.

“There’s been absolutely no control, and that’s what has hurt the city,” said Brennan Thicke, who runs a pot clinic called the Venice Beach Care Center. “At this point, voters need to finally decide this issue. There’s been an overwhelming belief in this city that medical marijuana should not go away.”

Those who support Proposition F say the medical marijuana industry should be an open market, and the measure does more to regulate the industry than its counterpart. They also note that if some of the 135 clinics under Proposition D later close, they won’t be replaced.

“There are bad apples in both groups,” said attorney David Welch, who has represented dispensaries in various lawsuits. “The idea that the (older) collectives are angels and everyone else are the devils is just plain wrong. They don’t want competition, and they want to control the supply and demand.”

Regardless of the election’s outcome, dispensary owners still are under the spectre of the federal government, which maintains marijuana is illegal and has raided clinics, prosecuted owners and filed lawsuits against landlords.

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But it wasn’t Matthew Bogel. On Sunday, he loaded groceries into his car after shopping at the Publix. He shook his head when asked about the jackpot.

“It’s crazy, isn’t it?” he said. “That’s so much money.”

It’s an amount too high for many to imagine. Compare it to the budget for the city of Zephyrhills: This year’s figure is just more than $49 million. The winning Powerball jackpot is 12 times that.

Whoever has the ticket hadn’t come forward as of Sunday afternoon.

“This would be the sixth Florida Powerball winner and right now, it’s the sole winner of the largest ever Powerball jackpot,” Florida Lottery executive Cindy O’Connell told The Associated Press. “We’re delighted right now that we have the sole winner.”

Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous said that there are a lot of rumours about who won, but the store doesn’t know. “We’re excited for the winner or winners,” she said.

Florida Lottery spokesman David Bishop said Sunday afternoon that it was doubtful the winner would come forward that day. The ticket-holder can’t claim the prize until Monday when the agency opens, he said.

“It never happens this quickly,” Bishop said. “If they know they won, they’re going to contact their attorney or an accountant first so they can get their affairs in order.”

O’Connell said Florida has had more Powerball winners than any other state but did not give any indication whether anyone had stepped forward with the winning ticket in Saturday’s drawing.

But plenty of people in Zephyrhills — population 13,337 — are wondering whether it’s someone they know.

Joan Albertson drove to the Publix early Sunday morning with her camera in hand, in case the winner emerged. She said she had bought a ticket at a store across the street, and the idea of winning that much money was still something of a shock.

“Oh, there’s so much good that you could do with that amount of money.” Albertson said. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

Zephyrhills is a small city in Pasco County, about 30 miles northeast of downtown Tampa. Once a rural farming town, it’s now known as a hotbed for skydiving activity, and the home to large retiree mobile home parks and Zephyrhills bottled water.

And now, one lucky lottery ticket.

“I’m getting text messages and messages from Facebook going, ‘uh, did you win the lottery?’” Sandra Lewis said. “No, I didn’t win, guys. Sorry.”

Sara Jeltis said her parents in Michigan texted her with the news Sunday morning.

“Well, it didn’t click till I came here,” she said, gesturing to the half-dozen TV live trucks humming in the Publix parking lot. “And I’m like, wow I can’t believe it, it’s shocking! Out of the whole country, this Publix, in little Zephyrhills would be the winner.”

With four out of every five possible combinations of Powerball numbers in play, lottery executives said Saturday that someone was almost certain to win the game’s highest jackpot, a windfall of hundreds of millions of dollars — and that’s after taxes.

The winning numbers were 10, 13, 14, 22 and 52, with a Powerball of 11.

Estimates had earlier put the jackpot at around $600 million. But Powerball’s online site said Sunday that the jackpot had reached an estimated $590.5 million.

The world’s largest jackpot was a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot in March 2012.

Terry Rich, CEO of the Iowa Lottery, initially confirmed that one Florida winning ticket had been sold. He told AP that following the Florida winner, the Powerball grand prize was being reset at an estimated jackpot of $40 million, or about $25.1 million cash value.

The chances of winning the prize were astronomically low: 1 in 175.2 million. That’s how many different ways you can combine the numbers when you play. But lottery officials estimated that about 80 per cent of those possible combinations had been purchased recently.

While the odds are low for any one individual or individuals, O’Connell said, the chance that one hits paydirt is what makes Powerball exciting.

“There is just the chance that you will have the opportunity, and Florida is a huge Powerball state,” O’Connell said. “We have had more winners than any other state that participates in Powerball.”

The longshot odds didn’t deter people across Powerball-playing states — 43 plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands — from lining up at gas stations and convenience stores Saturday.

Clyde Barrow, a public policy professor at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, specializes in the gaming industry. He said one of the key factors behind the ticket-buying frenzy is the size of the jackpot — people are interested in the easy investment.

“Even though the odds are very low, the investment is very small,” he said. “Two dollars gets you a chance.”

Lewis, who went to the Publix on Sunday to buy water, said she didn’t play — and she isn’t upset about it.

“Life goes on,” she said, shrugging. “I’m good.”

___

Rodriguez reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writer Kelli Kennedy in Miami contributed to this report.

___

Follow Tamara Lush at http://twitter.com/tamaralush.

Follow Barbara Rodriguez at http://twitter.com/bcrodriguez.

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It’s been just more than a year since his bank, JPMorgan Chase, revealed a surprise trading loss that tarnished its usually stellar reputation in Washington and on Wall Street, and what a difference it has made. Shareholder groups are calling for the bank to strip him of his chairman job, a move that would be a bruising referendum against a man who’s normally chieftain even among other big-bank CEOs. They’re also lobbying to kick out multiple long-time board members, saying they should have done more to detect or prevent the trading loss.

In all, it’s a powerful reminder of how fortunes can quickly shift in the banking industry, and how banks, supposedly chastened by the financial crisis, are still stumbling through regulatory and legal crises.

On Tuesday, at the bank’s annual meeting in Tampa, Fla., union group AFSCME, the New York City Comptroller’s Office and other fund managers will ask bank shareholders to approve a proposal asking JPMorgan to split the roles of chairman and CEO, and to give the chairman job to someone who isn’t a bank employee. The underlying idea is to install stricter checks and balances against Dimon and other top bank executives.

A similar measure got 40 per cent approval at last year’s meeting, which was held just days after the bank announced the so-called London whale loss. In the previous six annual meetings where Dimon has been both chairman and CEO, shareholders have been asked about separating the roles four times, and last year marked the highest level of votes in favour of the idea. In 2007 and 2008, only about 15 per cent of shareholders voted for similar measures.

“Even a Master of the Universe can be swallowed by a London whale,” said AFSCME president Lee Saunders. The loss is nicknamed for the location of the trader who made the outsized bets on complex debt securities that went wrong, eventually losing the bank $6 billion.

Both Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services, two influential firms that give advice to big shareholders, are recommending that the jobs be split. Glass Lewis is also recommending getting rid of six of the 10 independent board members, and ISS recommends booting three.

The board has defended Dimon. It says that keeping him in both jobs is its “most effective leadership model.” It’s an arrangement that they are used to: Six of the 10 independent board members are or have been the simultaneous chairman and CEO of other businesses. Lee Raymond, who is No. 2 on the board behind Dimon, is the retired chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil.

The board also points out that JPMorgan has done well under Dimon, who guided it through the financial crisis and nursed it to emerge as one of the strongest banks in the country. It says it meets regularly without him and has taken steps to clean up the practices that caused the trading loss, including cutting Dimon’s 2012 pay — down 19 per cent to $18.7 million, according to Associated Press formulas for executive compensation, though the bank calculates that it cut his pay by half.

At an investor conference in February, Dimon dismissed the groups lobbying to separate the jobs as “all the union investors,” and called the debate “a sideshow.” He also said that he wouldn’t have gone to Bank One, a troubled Chicago bank that he took over and turned around in the early 2000s, if the bank hadn’t given him the leeway to be both chairman and CEO. “Troubled company, big turnaround, divided board?” he said. “Not me. Life is too short.”

It’s not clear what would happen if shareholders vote to take away Dimon’s chairman job. The proposal is non-binding, so technically the bank doesn’t have to follow it. In 2009, shareholders at Bank of America voted to split the jobs, and the bank took away the chairman title from chairman and CEO Ken Lewis. Later that year, he resigned from the bank entirely.

Last year, shareholders at just four U.S. companies voted to split chairman and CEO roles, according to ISS. So far this year, shareholders at only one company, department store chain Kohl’s, have voted to separate the jobs.

At a public company, the board is essentially supposed to be the boss of the CEO, hiring and firing him and reining him in from risky practices that could hurt shareholders. Shareholder activists say that if the CEO is also running the board, then the board can hardly police him. Many companies argue that the CEO knows the company better than anyone and is best equipped to run the board as well.

Dimon, 57, a native of Queens and grandson of a Greek immigrant, is an essential player in banking’s world order. During a time of increased public anger against the industry, and as some of his peers tried to fly under the radar, he was outspoken, defending big paydays for bankers and criticizing some of the government’s proposed new rules for the industry. He was President Obama’s confidante in the banking industry, and then the banking leader with the guts and credibility to challenge him.

“He’s obviously a brilliant executive,” said Brandon Rees, acting director of the investment office at the AFL-CIO, a union group that supports splitting the roles. “But it’s a rare quality for brilliance to be accompanied by lack of hubris.”

Not everyone thinks that getting rid of Dimon would be best for shareholders. CLSA analyst Mike Mayo predicts that the stock would plunge 10 per cent, noting there’s no obvious successor. Nomura analyst Glenn Schorr, writing to clients last week after a meeting with Dimon, said he found it “fascinating” that investors were considering “shrinking the role of one of the best managers there’s ever been in the business.”

What everyone agrees on is this: From a public relations perspective, it’s been a tough year at JPMorgan Chase & Co. Many of Dimon’s highest-level executives have departed, including co-chief operating officer Frank Bisignano, who left in April to become CEO of payment processor First Data. The bank is also under extra scrutiny from regulators who are examining not only the trading loss but also the bank’s foreclosure practices, its controls for preventing money laundering and other areas.

“Let me be perfectly clear: These problems were our fault, and it is our job to fix them,” Dimon wrote in the annual letter to shareholders this year. “In fact, I feel terrible that we let our regulators down.”

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Slim recently bought part of two of Mexico’s first division soccer teams, setting up another showdown with television giants Televisa and TV Azteca, major players in the soccer field that are in turn trying to push their way into Slim’s telecommunications and Internet markets.

The owners of the 18 Mexican first division clubs are scheduled to meet Monday to decide whether one person or one company can own more than one first-division soccer team, and many see Slim as the target.

Each team has one vote in decisions by the Mexican Football Federation, so purchasing more teams would give Slim more power in the federation. Recently, there have been rumours in sporting circles and on social networks that Slim also plans to buy or acquire the broadcast rights for Chivas, one of Mexico’s two most popular teams, along with Televisa’s America. The billionaire’s spokesmen have denied that.

“What is evident in their business decisions is that Televisa is interested in entering Slim’s mobile and broadband fields and Slim is interested in entering the soccer field, which has been under the monopoly of the two television networks,” said telecommunications analyst Gabriel Sosa Plata, referring to the fact that the networks long had exclusive broadcast rights to the games of all 18 teams.

Slim ventured into soccer in September, when he bought 30 per cent of the shares in the Leon and Pachuca teams through his telecommunications company America Movil. In December, he bought all the shares of the second division team Estudiantes Tecos.

Following the acquisitions, team owners in February decided to discuss the issue of multi-ownership.

The decision raised some eyebrows since TV Azteca currently owns two teams, the Jaguares and Morelia, and Televisa once owned three first division teams, America, Necaxa and San Luis, without notable complaints within the federation about the issue of multi-team ownership. The world football authority, FIFA, however, has expressed concern about conflict of interest questions raised by the issue.

Pachuca’s owner, Jesus Martinez, said he was shocked that the subject of multi-ownership has come up since Slim ventured into soccer.

“It’s laughable because that (multi-ownership) has been going on for more than 25 years,” Martinez said.

But Televisa currently owns just one team, America, and TV Azteca is reportedly thinking of selling the Jaguares to a business group that would relocate it from Chiapas state to Queretaro. A Jaguares’ spokesman wouldn’t comment on the report but if the purchase takes place, Slim would be the only businessman with multiple teams in the first division.

Neither Televisa, the world’s largest producer of Spanish-language TV programs, nor TV Azteca immediately responded to interview requests by The Associated Press.

Decio de Maria, president of the Mexican Soccer League, said that if there is a vote against a single person or company owning several teams, Slim wouldn’t be obligated to sell one of his teams but he would be prevented from buying more first division teams.

“In the next owners assembly, they will discuss whether there are differences between multi-ownership now and what has been happening in the past and if there are then we will take the necessary measures,” said Slim’s spokesman Arturo Elias Ayub.

So the upcoming vote on the subject seems geared to preventing Slim from buying more teams, not forcing him to shed one he already has.

Slim’s foray into the world of soccer is also threatening the two TV networks in an area they hold dear: broadcast rights to games.

Slim’s America Movil is a leading provider of cable and satellite television in Latin America but he has not been able to launch a network of his own in Mexico, something that could change after a recent approval of a reform that allows for more competition in the telecommunications sector.

Lacking his own station, after acquiring part of Leon, Slim began marketing the rights to broadcast its games, ending the duopoly held by Televisa and TV Azteca.

“Soccer is important for non-paid television because it is part of Mexico’s most watched programming and for Televisa and TV Azteca it was an area they completely dominated,” Sosa Plata said. “Slim’s entry into soccer is reorganizing the field and giving a new perspective to a business that seemed stagnant.”

The billionaire sold the broadcast rights for the Leon games to Telemundo in the United States, and the cable channel Fox Sports in Mexico and the rest of Latin America and to the website mediotiempo.com, which belongs to CNN/Expansion. The games are also sown on the Internet through UNO TV owned by Slim’s business group.

Pachuca’s broadcast rights belong to TV Azteca but that contract expires in December and Martinez has said he will negotiate with the highest bidder, which suggests that his partner Slim won’t be excluded from the possibility of buying the rights.

Slim “is a very important partner in our group, he’s helping soccer to grow, which is what really matters,” Martinez said.

Slim is also moving into broadcasting sports outside Mexico.

In March, America Movil trumped its rivals by announcing it had acquired the broadcast rights across all media platforms for the upcoming Olympic Games in Sochi 2014 and Brazil 2016 for Latin America, except Brazil.

The post Slim, Mexico’s biggest broadcaster take fight to soccer field appeared first on Canadian Business.

Mackinac Island authorities have come into conflict with backers of plans for waterfront hotels that would involve demolition of an ex-Ryba’s Fudge store.

Developers of the newly opened the Bicycle Street Inn & Suites on Main Street are planning two more hotels. Last Monday, the island’s Historic District Commission rejected a waiver request for the project.

Melanie Libby tells the Detroit Free Press (http://on.freep.com/13EikAK ) that she and fellow developer Ira Green are trying to reach a compromise that will “enhance the Mackinac experience.”

Eighty per cent of the 3.8-square-mile island is state park.

___

Information from: Detroit Free Press, http://www.freep.com

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The bulk of the budget for construction comes from fees airlines pay to use the facility and from passengers buying tickets, among a few other sources. Federal grants make up about 11 per cent of the bankroll.

Some wings of the airport are about 50 years old. Others date back over 30 years. That means a new facility is overdue, said Salt Lake City International Airport spokeswoman Barbara Gann.

“Airport years are longer” than human ones she said, due to changing technology and increases in traffic. The original facility was designed to shepherd about 12 million travellers each year, roughly half as many as it does now.

“We’re very space-constrained,” Gann said. “We’re constantly trying to squeeze more space out of these security checkpoints.”

Workers are set to break ground on the new airport next spring and have it finished by 2024. Officials and architects have sketched out a design for the takeoff area. Now, they’re asking travellers what they’d like to see at the airport before they reach the gate.

Authorities say the planned airport will be more efficient and likely have a design that showcases mountain views. Others say the airport will be more environmentally responsible, with a lofty goal to try to generate as much energy as it uses.

Delta Air Lines operates about 3 out of 4 flights leaving from the airport. It began using the facility as a hub in the late 1980′s. Southwest comes in second for its proportion of flights, now about 12 per cent.

Last year, about 21 million people passed through the airport. The redesign is set to take on about 24 million travellers annually and go up right next to the current one.

Salt Lake City is already regarded as one of the most on-time airports in the country, but officials say that’s due more to good weather than efficient engineering.

Right now, the airport’s gates are set up in a few different horseshoe formations. That means planes have to take turns backing out of the cul-de-sacs.

The proposed plan calls for a derby setup, with each gate tucked into a straight line. That means less traffic on the ground.

Officials are asking for public input on the airport’s website and say they have already received requests for a gym, more secluded seating areas and more electrical outlets.

“We’re due for an upgrade,” said Art Raymond, spokesman for Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker. Solar power and environmentally-minded engineering are components of the new plan, he said, and will help the airport toward its goal of producing as much energy as it uses. The new construction will also make the airport safer in the event of an earthquake, Raymond said.

The new airport’s design, Gann says, will likely show off Utah’s mountain views for travellers before they reach the baggage claim.

Gann says she has received requests from people who want the airport to better reflect Utah’s reputation as an outdoors capitol, incorporating more natural elements like glass and granite.

“People want it to reflect Utah,” Gann said. “They want it to be bright and airy.”

The post Salt Lake City gears up for $1.8B airport set to open by 2024, seeks tips from travellers appeared first on Canadian Business.

The latest voyage of the starship Enterprise fell short of its predecessor, 2009′s “Star Trek,” which opened with $75.2 million.

Since premiering Wednesday in huge-screen IMAX theatres and expanding Thursday to general cinemas, “Into Darkness” has pulled in $84.1 million, well below distributor Paramount’s initial forecast of $100 million. The film added $40 million overseas, pushing its total to $80.5 million since it began rolling out internationally a week earlier.

The “Star Trek” sequel bumped “Iron Man 3″ down to second place after two weekends on top. Robert Downey Jr.’s superhero saga took in $35.2 million domestically to lift its receipts to $337.1 million. Overseas, “Iron Man 3″ added $40.2 million, raising its international total to $736.2 million and its worldwide tally to nearly $1.1 billion.

While “Iron Man 3″ and “Into Darkness” did well overseas, they were outmatched by the debut of Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby,” which followed its domestic debut a week earlier with a wide rollout internationally. “Gatsby” pulled in $42.1 million overseas, coming in a bit ahead of both “Iron Man 3″ and “Into Darkness.”

Domestically, “Gatsby” held up well at No. 3 with $23.4 million, lifting its total to $90.2 million.

In today’s Hollywood of bigger, better sequels, follow-up films often outdo the box office of their predecessors, as each “Iron Man” sequel has done. While “Into Darkness” earned good reviews and is getting strong word-of-mouth from fans, the film did not quite measure up to the opening weekend of director J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” reboot from four years ago, at least domestically.

“‘Star Trek’ remains a fan-boy movie. It doesn’t seem to have the same kind of cross-over appeal as say an ‘Iron Man’ or some of these others,” said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com. “It’s a very specific brand, but I think the general public would love this movie, because it’s such an action movie. But to get a hundred-million-plus opening weekend, unless you’re ‘Twilight,’ you really have to cross over to all audiences.”

Paramount points out that overseas business is up in many markets, though, so worldwide, the sequel is off to a better start.

“Because of the nature of the franchise, because of how many movies have been made and the various forms of the TV shows, I’m not sure that ‘Star Trek’ goes by the rules of normal sequels. I think each movie stands on its own, because it’s a unique franchise,” said Don Harris, Paramount’s head of distribution. “My goal was always that we grow the franchise. We’re clearly seeing by today’s numbers that the movie is being embraced on a worldwide basis in a way we’ve never seen before.”

Harris said that domestically, “Into Darkness” finished its first weekend 6 per cent ahead of revenues for 2009′s “Star Trek,” which got a head-start with $4 million in Thursday night previews to give it a $79.2 million haul through the first Sunday.

But “Into Darkness” had a full day of screenings Thursday plus its Wednesday IMAX business. Unlike the first movie, which played only in 2-D, the sequel also had the benefit of 3-D screenings that cost a few dollars more. Yet even with the 3-D upcharge and the earlier debut, it came away with just $4.9 million more than its predecessor through Sunday.

Still, it’s a solid starting place for the movie to live long and prosper at theatres, with Paramount hoping “Into Darkness” can surpass the $385 million worldwide total of “Star Trek.”

“I think we’re well along on that road,” Harris said.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “Star Trek: Into Darkness,” $70.6 million ($40 million international).

2. “Iron Man 3,” $35.2 million ($40.2 million international).

3. “The Great Gatsby,” $23.4 million ($42.1 million international)

4. “Pain & Gain,” $3.1 million.

5. “The Croods,” $2.75 million.

6. “42,” $2.73 million.

7. “Oblivion,” $2.2 million.

8. “Mud,” $2.16 million.

9. “Peeples,” $2.15 million.

10. “The Big Wedding,” $1.1 million.

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Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theatres (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. “The Great Gatsby,” $42.1 million.

2. “Iron Man 3,” $40.2 million.

3. “Star Trek: Into Darkness,” $40 million.

4. “Epic,” $14.5 million.

5. “Fast & Furious 6,” $13.8 million.

6. “The Croods,” $10.6 million.

7. “Evil Dead,” $5.6 million.

8. “Oblivion,” $4.7 million.

9. “Montage,” $4.1 million.

10. “Mama,” $1.7 million.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

http://www.rentrak.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

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The Kulluk was under tow and bound from the Aleutian Islands’ Dutch Harbor to a Seattle shipyard when it ran into rough Gulf of Alaska water. It broke from its towing vessel, and after four days of futile attempted hookups, ran aground New Year’s Eve in shallow water off Sitkalidak Island, near Kodiak Island.

Damage to the ship led to Shell’s decision not to drill in Arctic waters in 2013.

The Coast Guard marine casualty investigation hearing will begin with testimony from a representative of Offshore Rig Movers International, an association of independent marine contractors. Representatives of Shell, rig operator Noble Corp., and Edison Chouest Offshore, the tow vessel operator, are scheduled to testify, as are Coast Guard personnel who assisted with recovery efforts.

A Coast Guard spokesman, Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosely, said the hearing could last two weeks.

The Kulluk is a 266-foot diameter drilling barge built in 1983 for a Canadian company. Shell bought the vessel in 2005.

It has a funnel-shape, reinforced steel hull designed to operate in ice. The vessel’s most prominent feature is a 160-foot derrick centred in the round vessel.

The Kulluk last year worked in the Beaufort Sea east of Barrow during the short open water season. Shell’s inability to obtain certification for a spill response barge kept the Kulluk and Shell’s second drill vessel, the Noble Discoverer, which operated in the Chukchi Sea, from drilling into petroleum-bearing formations. The Interior Department instead authorized the vessels to perform top hole work, a preliminary step in exploratory drilling.

Few details of how the Kulluk broke loose were released as events unfolded in late December.

The Kulluk was under tow by the Aiviq, a 360-foot anchor handler, on Dec. 27 when a tow line or an attachment broke. A day later, all four engines on the Aiviq failed, possibly due to contaminated fuel.

The vessel’s crew eventually regained power but subsequent tow lines attached by the Aiviq or other vessels also failed.

On Dec. 31, the vessel was attached to the Aiviq and a Valdez-based tugboat, the Alert. In winds approaching 70 mph and swells up to 35 feet, the line to the Aiviq snapped again. An incident command centre ordered the Alert crew members to guide the Kulluk as best they could to a grounding site that would cause the least environmental damage.

No petroleum was spilled as the vessel ran aground.

The Aivik on Jan. 6 pulled the Kulluk off the rocky bottom and towed it to protected waters in Kodiak Island’s Kiliuda Bay. It’s since been loaded onto a lift ship and taken to Singapore for repair.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, part of the Interior Department, and the National Transportation Safety Board will also participate.

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Lakes Entertainment Inc. of Minnetonka, Minn., aims to open the gambling parlour Wednesday through its Evitts Resort LLC subsidiary. It will offer 558 slot machines and 10 table games in converted conference space at the newly rechristened Rocky Gap Casino Resort, 130 miles west of Baltimore.

The casino opening is contingent on a successful demonstration of gambling operations Monday for the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency.

The casino, Maryland’s fourth, will add 250 jobs at the resort, where employment historically has ranged from about 100 in the winter to 400 in the summer.

General Manager Scott Just, a Lakes Entertainment vice-president, said the casino was designed to be in harmony with the rustic character of the hotel, formerly the Rocky Gap Lodge and Golf Resort, and its Appalachian setting.

“While we want to get some movement and animation, we tried to stay a little more subtle so it fits in. We want it to obviously be a casino when you walk in, but we also want it to be a comfortable and warm place, just like the lodge is,” Just said.

Reporters were barred from seeing the casino until after it’s been approved by state regulators.

The company’s license to offer gambling and booze, 24-7, is bound to bring changes to the resort along Interstate 68, near the Pennsylvania state line. The Maryland Park Service has installed a median to separate resort-bound visitors from those heading to picnic and beach areas, or to the 278 campsites and nearly 1,500 acres of public hunting grounds across Lake Habeeb.

Scott said the casino won’t have big, outdoor signs like those at Maryland Live! In Anne Arundel County, the state’s largest casino with 4,750 slots. A park rule prohibits even campfires after 10:30 p.m.

Maryland Park Service Superintendent Nita Settina said she doesn’t expect the casino to clash with the park’s natural charm.

“When you walk out of the door, you will feel that natural scenery, you will still be in that. None of that is going to change,” she said.

“What happens inside the lodge, with the casino, is really just a separate experience,” Settina said.

That’s not how Stefanie Boss sees it. The retired banker from Hagerstown said she and her husband have stayed twice at the 215-room lodge and enjoyed the tranquility of a lakeside stroll or a visit to the hotel spa.

“I think this a very romantic setting. And somehow a casino doesn’t seem like it’s going to add to the romance,” Boss said. “Quite the opposite actually.”

But Tom Donlin, executive director of the Maryland Recreation and Parks Association, said the casino probably won’t have any bearing on whether his group holds more meetings at Rocky Gap.

“I suppose if we were there, our members might visit the casino after a day outdoors. I don’t think it would have a major impact one way or another,” Donlin said.

He said many outdoor enthusiasts were disappointed years ago when the state subsidized the resort’s construction on public parkland as an economic development venture. The project was a financial failure, with private bondholders agreeing to write off about $26 million to help Lakes buy the resort last year for about $10 million. The lodge and golf course, part of the deal with Lakes, had incurred an operating loss of $4.3 million the previous year.

Donlin said he can’t argue with the new strategy.

“Whether it was wise to build this lodge there in the first place or not, it’s there and has not been successful,” he said. “I don’t begrudge the fact that they’re going to try to make it successful by putting a casino in place.”

The casino is tolerated, if not embraced, by Allegany County Commissioner Bill Valentine, who helped fight off a slots-and-racetrack proposal in the county in 2003. Valentine said he’s still not a big slots fan, but he’s hopeful that a busier resort will benefit nearby Cumberland and the mostly rural county. Allegany’s March unemployment rate was 7.8 per cent, higher than both the state’s 6.6 per cent and the nation’s 7.6 per cent.

Valentine said he’s impressed that Lakes has tried to keep the resort family-friendly.

“You might have one person who wants to play slots and other people who want to go to downtown Cumberland and visit the shops and all that, so that’s what we’re hoping,” he said. “The area always did see a decent amount of business from the lodge, and we just want to make sure we continue to see it.”

Cumberland businessman John “JP” Geatz, a fifth-generation owner of Geatz’s Restaurant, is guardedly optimistic that slots and table games will lure players willing to spend — and invest — in the county. His restaurant is in a neighbourhood once dominated by a Kelly-Springfield tire plant, which closed in 1987. The Pittsburgh Plate Glass and Celanese fiber plants have also closed, leaving the city largely dependent on state prisons, the CSX railroad and tourism for employment.

Geatz said, “We need jobs. We need industry. We need something back into Cumberland.”

The post Rocky Gap Casino dealing a new game in rural western Md. county hungry for revival appeared first on Canadian Business.

The social network’s market value was more than $100 billion.

Now, Facebook’s stock is trading roughly 30 per cent lower and has not hit its IPO price of $38 per share. Today, Facebook is valued at around $63 billion.

In the year since its initial public offering, Facebook has launched a slew of new features, including search features and a deep integration into Android smartphones and tablet computers. It also surpassed the 1 billion user mark.

Here are some key developments over the years:

February 2004: Mark Zuckerberg starts Facebook as a sophomore at Harvard University.

March 2004: Facebook begins allowing people from other colleges and universities to join.

June 2004: Facebook moves its headquarters to Palo Alto, Calif.

September 2004: Facebook introduces the Wall, which allows people to write personal musings and other tidbits on profile pages. Facebook becomes the target of a lawsuit claiming that Zuckerberg stole the idea for the social network from a company co-founded by twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and a third person at Harvard.

September 2005: Facebook expands to include high schools.

May 2006: Facebook introduces additional networks, allowing people with corporate email addresses to join.

September 2006: Facebook begins letting anyone over 13 join. It also introduces News Feed, which collects friends’ Wall posts in one place. Although it led to complaints about privacy, News Feed would become one of Facebook’s most popular features.

May 2007: Facebook launches Platform, a system for letting outside programmers develop tools for sharing photos, taking quizzes and playing games. The system gives rise to a Facebook economy and allows companies such as game maker Zynga Inc. to thrive.

October 2007: Facebook agrees to sell a 1.6 per cent stake to Microsoft for $240 million and forges an advertising partnership.

November 2007: Facebook unveils its Beacon program, a feature that broadcasts people’s activities on dozens of outside sites. Yet another privacy backlash leads Facebook to give people more control over Beacon, before the company ultimately scraps it as part of a legal settlement.

March 2008: Facebook hires Sheryl Sandberg as chief operating officer, snatching the savvy, high-profile executive from Google Inc.

April 2008: Facebook introduces Chat.

February 2009: Facebook introduces “Like,” allowing people to endorse other people’s posts.

June 2009: Facebook surpasses News Corp.’s Myspace as the leading online social network in the U.S.

August 2010: Facebook launches location feature, allowing people to share where they are with their friends.

October 2010: “The Social Network,” a movie about Zuckerberg and the legal battles over Facebook’s founding, is released. It receives eight Academy Awards nominations and wins three.

June 2011: Google launches rival social network called Plus. The Winklevoss twins end their legal battle over the idea behind Facebook. They had settled with Facebook for $65 million in 2008, but later sought more money.

September 2011: Facebook introduces Timeline, a new version of the profile page. It’s meant to show highlights from a person’s entire life rather than recent posts.

November 2011: Facebook agrees to settle federal charges that it violated users’ privacy by getting people to share more information than they agreed to when they signed up to the site. As part of a settlement, Facebook agrees to allow independent auditors to review its privacy practices for two years. It also agrees to get approval from users before changing how the company handles their data.

December 2011: Facebook completes a move to Menlo Park, Calif. Its address is 1 Hacker Way.

January 2012: Facebook begins making Timeline mandatory.

February 2012: Facebook files for an initial public offering of stock. A few weeks later, it unveils new advertising opportunities for brands, allowing ads to mix in with Facebook status updates and photos.

April 2012: Facebook announces plans to buy Instagram, a photo-sharing social network, for $1 billion in cash and stock. It also discloses it plans to list its stock on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “FB.”

May 2012: Facebook sets a price range of $28 to $35 for its IPO, then increases it to $34 to $38. On May 17, Facebook prices its IPO at $38 per share, and the stock begins trading the next day. The following week, the stock price starts dropping amid concerns about Facebook’s ability to keep growing revenue and sell ads on mobile devices.

That month, Facebook also updates its policy to give users more clarity on how information they share is used by the company.

August 2012: Facebook updates its app for iPhones and iPads to make it less clunky. The U.S. government clears Facebook’s Instagram deal.

September 2012: Facebook closes its purchase of Instagram. With Facebook’s stock price lower, the deal is now valued at about $740 million.

October 2012: Facebook says it has 1 billion active users.

December 2012: Facebook rolls out a messaging app called “Poke” to lukewarm reviews.

January 2013: Facebook unveils a search feature that lets users quickly sift through their social connections for information about people, interests, photos and places.

March 2013: Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg publishes book urging women to pursue leadership roles.

April 2013: Facebook unveils a new experience for Android phones. The idea behind the new Home service is to bring Facebook’s content to the phone’s home screen, rather than require users to check apps on the device.

The post Facebook’s timeline: A history of the social network’s hits and misses appeared first on Canadian Business.

A survey of almost 600 dealerships across the country found that the labels were attached to only 63 per cent of the new vehicles on outdoor lots.

And vehicles displayed in dealer showrooms had the labels affixed just 43 per cent of the time. Some high-end models — BMW and Rolls-Royce, for example — had a zero compliance rate.

The poor showing comes as Natural Resources Canada conducts a review of the voluntary label program for new vehicles, under the brand EnerGuide, including a proposal that it be made mandatory.

The survey of 592 new-car dealerships in 33 large cities was carried out earlier this year by Posterity Group Consulting Inc. under a $113,000 government contract.

The EnerGuide label program for vehicles was launched in 1998 to help consumers make informed choices about the fuel efficiency of new passenger cars, vans and light-duty trucks.

The labels are attached by manufacturers, indicating the number of litres of fuel needed to travel 100 kilometres, and showing the difference between city and highway driving.

The program requires manufacturers to test fuel efficiency of various models under government-approved procedures and standards.

Posterity’s final report, delivered in late March, was obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

Posterity found that some dealers removed the manufacturers’ EnerGuide labels because they also included the retail price. Others tore them off because of “aesthetics,” while some said the labels affixed to the windshield were “impeding” drivers’ vision during test drives.

Many others who pulled them off claimed the labels gave inaccurate or misleading information about fuel-efficiency.

“At some dealerships, EnerGuide labels were missing due to the errors discovered in the mileage estimates claimed by these manufacturers,” says the report.

“Ten makes had compliance rates of zero per cent, including Aston Martin, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Jaguar, Land Rover, Maserati, Mini and Rolls-Royce.”

A spokesman for the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, representing 3,250 dealerships selling 22 brands, said the poor compliance rate across the country was no surprise.

“These things are less and less relevant,” chief economist Michael Hatch said in an interview. “The paper label is decreasingly relevant for consumers.”

Apart from price, the most important specification for new-vehicle buyers today is fuel efficiency, Hatch said. And most consumers walking into a showroom have done extensive homework online, unlike in 1998 when there were fewer options for obtaining timely data.

“The world has changed,” Hatch said.

Natural Resources plans to radically revamp the label program, with a label redesign, new information on carbon dioxide and smog emissions, and special labels for electric vehicles.

The current fuel-consumption label “does not provide Canadians with the information they need to compare the energy, environmental, and financial costs and benefits of different vehicle choices,” the department says.

A new fuel-efficiency testing regime would also expand to include air-conditioner usage, cold temperature operation and higher speeds with faster acceleration.

“For most vehicles, consumption will increase by about 15 per cent,” spokesman Guillaume Berube said in an email.

The department is also considering making the new EnerGuide label regime mandatory for the 2016 model year.

Hatch says his group is opposed to mandatory labelling, given that consumers have many other ways to acquire relevant information about new vehicles.

“It’s kind of an old-school solution to a problem that in our view doesn’t exist,” he said. “It’s just another layer of red tape.”

Hatch’s group has no objection to retaining an improved paper label, but does not want regulations requiring them.

Berube says the department has received 168 submissions on the proposed changes, including a requirement to colour them blue.

He said he could not provide a timeline for eventual changes, but the department’s regulatory notice says a voluntary system would have to be in place by December this year to catch the 2016 model year.

If a mandatory system is chosen, proposed regulations would be published next year, says the notice.

The post Many new-car dealers not using voluntary fuel-efficiency labels: report appeared first on Canadian Business.

Trying to move past a challenging week that put the White House on the defensive, senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer was scheduled to appear on five Sunday news shows to repeat the administration’s position that no senior officials were involved in the decision to give tea party groups extra scrutiny. Pfeiffer’s appearances were unlike to quiet GOP critics, who have seized on the revelations as proof that Obama used the IRS to go after his political enemies.

“The deputy secretary of the treasury was made aware of just the fact that the investigation was beginning last year,” Pfeiffer said. “But no one in the White House was aware.”

Regardless of when the president first learned of the investigations, the longtime Obama confidante said the president wanted to ensure such activities were not repeated.

“The activity was outrageous and inexcusable, and it was stopped and it needs to be fixed to ensure it never happens again,” Pfeiffer said.

A Treasury Department inspector’s report said this week that conservative and small-government tea party groups that were critical of Obama received extra scrutiny. IRS agents did not flag similar progressive or liberal groups, according to the watchdog.

The report concluded that a regional IRS office in Ohio improperly singled out tea party and other conservative groups for more than 18 months and took no action on many of their applications for tax-exempt status for long periods of time — hindering their fundraising for the 2010 and 2012 elections.

The new acting IRS commissioner is in the midst of a 30-day top-to-bottom review while Republicans continue to demand answers of Obama and his allies in government.

That’s not sufficient, said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.

“I think a special counsel is going to wind up being necessary,” he added said.

That move is not needed, said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.

“I don’t see the point,” he said of a special counsel to investigate the scandal.

Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., said the IRS had stepped so far over its mandate that it asked book groups for reading lists and church groups about their prayers before granting them tax-exempt standing. It’s government over-reach, he said, and a reason why Republicans need to have their own investigation into the agency.

“This is about trust,” Price said.

But he stopped short of calling for a special counsel.

Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., said Republicans were using the incidents to embarrass the president.

“There is no Republican agenda other than to stop the president of the United States,” he said.

Pfeiffer was appearing Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” NBC’s “Meet the Press,” CBS’ “Face the Nation,” CNN’s “State of the Union” and “Fox News Sunday.” Portman, Menendez, Price and Rangel were on ABC.

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The High Court made the request Sunday in response to a petition seeking the arrest of Delwar Hossain, the owner of Tazreen Fashions Ltd. It also asked authorities to bring Hossain before the court on May 30.

No criminal charges have been brought against Hossain, although an inquiry into the fire accused him of negligence.

Lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua says the petition was presented by three anthropologists who believe the large death toll in the Nov. 24 fire resulted from Hossain’s negligence.

At least 1,800 people have died in fires or building collapses in Bangladesh’s garment industry since 2005.

The post Bangladesh High Court bars garment factory owner from leaving country appeared first on Canadian Business.

The Fed minutes from the central bank’s April 30 to May 1 meeting will be released on Wednesday, amid a relatively quiet week for major economic data in both the U.S. and Canada.

“Markets are sort of overly addicted to QE (quantitative easing) and Fed stimulus so if there are signs that the hawks were more hawkish or more members were uncomfortable with the continuation (of the program) — that’s what they’re going to look for,” said Tom O’Gorman, a portfolio manager at Bissett Investment Management.

Through quantitative easing, the Fed has been buying US$85 billion a month in Treasurys and mortgage bonds in an attempt to keep long-term borrowing rates down. The move has pushed the prices of bonds up, while sending their yields lower and encouraged more consumer spending and investment.

It has also lifted U.S. markets to record-highs by renewing confidence and making stocks more attractive by keeping interest rates low.

But investors worry that once the Fed ends its monetary stimulus, the markets will experience a major pullback.

“Any sign that they’re going to taper that program, or extend that program, or the numbers are beating expectations or not beating expectations — that’s all the markets care about,” said O’Gorman.

Investors will also be listening carefully to a speech by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke who will comment Wednesday prior to the release of the minutes.

Last week, a number of Fed members hinted that the central bank should consider ending its spending program as early as this summer, as signs of a recovery in the housing market continue.

In Canada, traders will have a shortened week due to the markets being closed on Monday for the Victoria Day long weekend.

On Wednesday, the country’s latest retail trade numbers will be released. The March figures were expected to be lower for the first time in three months, due to lower gasoline prices despite a predicted small uptick in vehicle sales.

TD Bank (TSX:TD) will lead off earnings for the country’s big banks when it reports its second-quarter results on Thursday.

In other U.S. economic news, existing home sales data is expected Wednesday.

Recent figures from the U.S. Commerce Department said there was a 16.5 per cent drop in the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts to 853,000 in April.

While the previous month, March, had seen that figure at 1.02 million. The department also reported that applications for building permits rose 14.3 per cent to a rate of 1.02 million, the highest in five years.

Weekly jobless claims figures will come out on Thursday, while key numbers on the durable goods orders will cap off the week of economic news in the U.S.

Economists were expecting the figures, excluding the volatile transportation sector, to decline for the third straight month, on continued to soften on computing and electronic orders but be boosted by a possible rebound in aircraft orders.

The post U.S. markets eye Fed minutes for hints of end to bond buyin program appeared first on Canadian Business.

Scotiabank (TSX:BNS) and Royal Bank (TSX:RY) are expected to lead the pack this quarter because of their focus on wealth management and capital markets.

Meanwhile, CIBC (TSX:CM) is expected to lag the group because of its heavy reliance on domestic retail banking.

Slowing loan growth with Canadians reluctant to add to already record debt levels and a cooling housing market combined with squeezed margins are expected to pressure the retail operations of the big banks.

Gareth Watson, vice-president of investment management and research at Richardson GMP, said earnings from capital markets and wealth management should provide for a “decent quarter.”

If retail earnings are better than expected, the banks even have a shot of beating analyst expectations, Watson said.

“There is only a limited number of ways for banks to claw money out of 35 million Canadians,” said Watson.

“But in the past they’ve actually been pretty good at finding new ways to do it.”

Ian Nakamoto, director of research at MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier, said he doesn’t foresee any “huge disappointments” because expectations in the sector are already quite low.

Analyst Robert Sedran from CIBC World Markets said he expects earnings per share to decline by 2.5 per cent from the first quarter because of the fewer number of interest-earning days.

But year-over-year he predicts seven per cent growth.

“Profit growth for the Big Six may be slowing, but those same earnings streams remain resilient,” Sedran said in a report.

“While these are not boom times for the Canadian banking sector, the recent share performance of the sector as a whole is in our view more pessimistic than fundamentals would suggest.”

Analyst John Aiken at Barclays was more skeptical, predicting a four per cent decline from the first quarter.

“After a surprisingly strong first quarter, aided by incremental expense management and significant declines in provisions for credit losses, we fear that banks may be running out of items in their bag of tricks to offset slowing loan growth and margin compressions,” Aiken wrote in a note.

But he said rising global equity markets and the RRSP contribution season mean wealth management and capital markets should perform well.

TD Bank (TSX:TD) will report its second-quarter results on Thursday morning, followed by Scotiabank on May 28 and Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO) on May 29. Royal Bank and CIBC will both announce their results on May 30.

According to the latest estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters, TD is expected on average to see earnings of $1.91 per share, while Royal Bank is expected to report earnings of $1.31 per share.

Analysts predict Scotiabank will report $1.26 per share, BMO will see earnings of $1.48 per share and CIBC will report $2.06 per share.

The post Wealth management key for banks amid slow growth in retail banking appeared first on Canadian Business.

Bernanke told a college graduating class Saturday that the long-range practical consequences of innovations such as faster computers and the Internet are hard to predict. But he said inventors have only scratched the surface of the commercial applications that can be obtained in such fields as medicine and clean energy.

Bernanke’s remarks came in a commencement address at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, a small liberal arts college in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Bernanke’s son Joel graduated from the school in 2006.

The Fed chairman did not make any comments about interest rates in his speech, saying he wanted to use his address to focus not on short-range economic problems but to speak about economic growth measured in decades.

“We live on a planet that is becoming richer and more populous and in which not only the most advanced economies but also large emerging market nations like China and India increasingly see their futures as tied to technological innovation,” Bernanke said in a text of his remarks, which were released in Washington.

“The number of trained scientists and engineers is increasing rapidly, as are the resources for research being provided by universities, governments and the private sector,” he said. “Both humanity’s capacity to innovate and the incentives to innovate are greater today than at any other time in history.”

Bernanke cited these factors to bolster the view that the current computer revolution will prove just as beneficial to increasing living standards as past industrial revolutions that gave the world the steam engine and railroads and then later electricity and airplanes.

The Fed chairman told the new graduates that the best way to succeed will be to keep learning.

“During your working lives, you will have to reinvent yourselves many times,” he said. “Success and satisfaction will not come from mastering a fixed body of knowledge but from constant adaptation and creativity in a rapidly changing world.”

The post Bernanke says computer revolution likely to provide various future gains to economic growth appeared first on Canadian Business.

FIOM union leader Maurizio Landini said Saturday’s protest was held because Italy is “going nowhere” in terms of signs of economic growth amid a stubborn recession. The union is aligned with a left-wing labour confederation.

After weeks of political paralysis following inconclusive elections in February, Italy now has a “grand coalition” government, including bitter rivals from the centre-left and centre-right blocs in Parliament.

Unemployment for young people is at about 39 per cent, while the overall jobless rate is 11.5 per cent.

The previous government used spending cuts and higher taxes to battle Italy’s debt. Italians are demanding job creation measures soon.

The post Union and supporters march in Rome to press for job creation in recession-plagued Italy appeared first on Canadian Business.

Uganda, which has confirmed oil deposits of about 3.5 billion barrels, wants to extract at least 1.2 billion barrels over the next three decades. That figure could rise when more oil blocks are put up for exploration later this year, potentially making Uganda one of Africa’s top oil producers.

But some experts and analysts worry that the country got off to a false start and remains too politically unstable to avoid some of the mistakes made by other oil-rich but otherwise poor countries.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has reserved for himself the right to have the final say before any deals are signed with oil companies, saying that policy is to ensure the country’s interests are always protected. But some critics say the president’s close involvement is unhelpful to a country that needs to focus on building credible, transparent institutions to manage its oil wealth whether or not Museveni is around.

In a session of parliament that sparked public uproar, an independent lawmaker fingered three government ministers he believed had been bribed by foreign oil companies seeking contracts with Uganda’s government. The charges, denied by the three officials, forced lawmakers across the political spectrum to order an investigation that many here hoped would be swift and decisive.

Almost two years later, that investigation is still ongoing and Gerald Karuhanga, the lawmaker who first alleged bribery, says he no longer looks forward to seeing the investigators’ report, if it ever comes out.

“It’s taking forever,” he said. “It’s really unfortunate. I don’t think they are serious about what they are doing. We are no longer enthusiastic about its release.”

Uganda has not had a single peaceful transfer of power since independence in 1962, and Museveni himself, in charge since 1986, faces growing pressure to retire. The East African country, which announced that it had commercially viable quantities of oil in 2006, hopes to become a producer of crude by 2016. That’s about the time Museveni’s current term expires, and many believe he will run again.

Museveni’s “interference” in oil matters makes Uganda less attractive in the eyes of foreign investors, according to Eurasia Group, a political risk think-tank with headquarters in New York.

“Rising internal party discord in the ruling (party) — younger members are pushing for new leadership — has triggered increased patronage payments by the president, especially over oil sector development,” the group said in a report last month.

A new law gives the energy minister, a presidential appointee, the authority to issue and revoke oil contracts. Some say that, while it may have reduced officials’ opportunities for corruption, the president’s close involvement undermines the development of institutions such as a planned national oil company.

“The primary risk we have is that the decision-making has been largely controlled by Museveni,” said Angelo Izama, a Ugandan analyst who is researching the political economy of Uganda’s oil wealth as an Open Society Foundations fellow in New York. “But he won’t be around as an effective leader in the next 15 years. The question remains, ‘How will this kind of narrow decision-making fare once you have another president?’ The risk is that the political transition in Uganda is unpredictable.”

The global intelligence think-tank Stratfor said in a recent report that “Museveni’s system of patronage going forward will have to be based on oil revenue. The increasingly fractious nature of Museveni’s support base means patronage will become even more important, making securing oil revenue even more vital.”

Museveni has said he wants oil revenue to be spent on developing infrastructure — especially roads — across the country, raising expectations here. It may be years before the government earns any royalties from oil, but these days Uganda’s parliament frequently receives petitioners presenting alternative ways to spend the cash. Tribes that live near the oil-producing areas want more.

Uganda and three foreign companies reached a deal last month that includes the construction of a pipeline to transport Ugandan crude for export through Kenya. Accordingly, France’s Total and the Chinese offshore oil company CNOOC, which last year acquired two thirds of British explorer Tullow Oil’s Ugandan assets for $2.9 billion, will build a refinery with the capacity to process 30,000 barrels each day. But a final deal has not been signed, in part because of what the president’s office called a disagreement on how to develop the pipeline and refinery.

Uganda is pressing for the “unconditional expansion of the refinery size of 30,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil per day when the demand increases in future,” according to the president’s office.

Uganda’s biggest risk is rushing to sign deals with foreign oil companies that are vastly more experienced, said Fred Muhumuza, an economist with a local think-tank called the Economic Policy Research Center. Uganda, which is locked in disputes with oil companies over outstanding taxes, must gain full knowledge of its oil wealth before production starts, he said.

“As a country, Uganda needs to build the capacity to understand what’s going on,” he said. “Are we going to be able to know how much oil has been exploited and then tax the revenues appropriately?”

Current estimates of Uganda’s oil wealth are based on about 40 per cent exploration of an ecologically sensitive area around Lake Albert on the border with Congo. In the coming weeks Ugandan authorities are expected to invite oil companies to bid for at least 13 oil blocks in a new round of licensing that campaigners hope will be more transparent than the last time.

“I am hopeful that the government will go for open bidding,” said Godber Tumushabe, who heads the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment, a local governance think-tank . “If they go and cherry-pick which company gets which block, then that will be a fundamental mistake in terms of building the systems that will protect the country against the oil curse.”

The post Even before first drops flow, Uganda’s oil beset by bribery charges, political interference appeared first on Canadian Business.

Bernanke told a college graduating class Saturday that the long-range practical consequences of innovations such as faster computers and the Internet are hard to predict. But he said inventors have only scratched the surface of the commercial applications that can be obtained in such fields as medicine and clean energy.

Bernanke’s remarks came in a commencement address at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, a small liberal arts college in Great Barrington, Mass. Bernanke’s son Joel graduated from the school in 2006.

The Fed chairman did not make any comments about interest rates in his speech, saying he wanted to use his address to focus not on short-range economic problems but to speak about economic growth measured in decades.

“We live on a planet that is becoming richer and more populous and in which not only the most advanced economies but also large emerging market nations like China and India increasingly see their futures as tied to technological innovation,” Bernanke said in a text of his remarks, which were released in Washington.

“The number of trained scientists and engineers is increasing rapidly, as are the resources for research being provided by universities, governments and the private sector,” he said. “Both humanity’s capacity to innovate and the incentives to innovate are greater today than at any other time in history.”

Bernanke cited these factors to bolster the view that the current computer revolution will prove just as beneficial to increasing living standards as past industrial revolutions that gave the world the steam engine and railroads and then later electricity and airplanes.

The Fed chairman told the new graduates that the best way to succeed will be to keep learning.

“During your working lives, you will have to reinvent yourselves many times,” he said. “Success and satisfaction will not come from mastering a fixed body of knowledge but from constant adaptation and creativity in a rapidly changing world.”

The post Bernanke says computer revolution likely to provide various future gains to economic growth appeared first on Canadian Business.

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada spent well in excess of the maximum allowed for a gala dinner in Toronto last November.

The agency bought a table for 10 people during credit education week, paying $155 a person —above the $108.42 maximum set by the Harper government.

The total bill for the hospitality event was just $1,550, but the rule-breaking triggered a memo and briefing note to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to explain the “oversight.”

The agency’s mandate is in part to ensure that the “conduct of federally regulated financial entities complies with federal legislation and regulations.”

Ursula Menke, commissioner of the agency, acknowledged to Flaherty she should have sought his approval for the excess spending.

“Internal processes have been considered and implemented to avoid similar situations in the future,” Menke said in her Dec. 21, 2012, memo to the minister.

Documents detailing the incident were obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

A spokeswoman for the agency defended the over-spending, calling it an “exception” to the rules.

“FCAC respects the rules on hospitality which include some exceptions that applied in this situation,” Julie Hauser said in an email responding to questions.

Hauser added that only one of the gala guests was a federal public servant. The other nine were invited guests from organizations, such as the Canadian Bankers Association, whose member banks the agency regulates.

The speaker at the Nov. 15 event was David Chilton, author of The Wealthy Barber and The Wealthy Barber Returns, highly successful books offering financial advice for ordinary Canadians. The gala was held at the posh Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto.

Flaherty, who appointed Menke to the post in 2007, responded to her memo saying he welcomed “your proposed plans to mitigate the risks of such an incident recurring in the future.”

A six-month extension to Menke’s current term ends June 3. Created in 2001, the agency has 70 employees and an annual budget of about $12 million.

Dubious expenses have dogged the Harper government in recent years, including a $16 glass of orange juice claimed by former cabinet minister Bev Oda; per diems and housing allowances improperly claimed by Conservative Sen. Mike Duffy; a gold-coloured English-only business card ordered by Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.

The post Federal financial agency ignores dollar limit on hospitality spending appeared first on Canadian Business.

Dardenne met with Terrebonne and Lafourche Parish officials this past week for briefings on the importance of visitors to the regional economy.

Dardenne said 2012 was the best year ever for the state in terms of attracting visitors. In that year, the state saw more than 23.6 million visitors that spent more than $10.7 billion. That translates to $655 million in taxes, he said.

Officials with the Houma-Terrebonne Visitors Bureau tell The Courier (http://bit.ly/12p1XqK ) that preliminary numbers show local tourism also is up through the first part of 2013.

___

Information from: The Courier, http://www.houmatoday.com

The post Dardenne touts tourism industry in bayou parishes appeared first on Canadian Business.

“Absolutely not,” Steven Miller, the recently resigned acting head of the Internal Revenue Service, responded Friday when asked if he had any contact with the White House about targeting conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status for special treatment.

“The president’s re-election campaign?” persisted Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif.

“No,” said Miller.

The hearing took place at the end of a week in which Republicans repeatedly assailed Obama and were attacked by Democrats in turn — yet sweeping immigration legislation advanced methodically toward bipartisan approval in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The measure “has strong support of its own in the Senate,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., a member of the panel.

Across the Capitol, a bipartisan House group reported agreement in principle toward a compromise on the issue, which looms as Obama’s best chance for a signature second-term domestic achievement. “I continue to believe that the House needs to deal with this,” said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who is not directly involved in the talks.

The president’s nominee to become energy secretary, Ernest Moniz, won Senate confirmation, 97-0. And there were signs that Republicans might allow confirmation of Sri Srinivasan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, sometimes a stepping stone to the Supreme Court.

Separately, a House committee approved legislation to prevent a spike in interest rates on student loans on July 1. It moves in the direction of a White House-backed proposal for future rate changes to be based on private markets.

Even so, Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said, “It’s been a bad week for the administration.”

Several Democratic lawmakers and aides agreed and expressed concern about the impact on Obama’s agenda — even though much of it has been stymied by Republicans for months already.

At the same time, Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., voiced optimism that the IRS controversy would boost the push for an overhaul of the tax code, rather than derail it. “It may make a case for a simpler tax code, where the IRS has less discretion,” he said.

Long-term budget issues, the main flash point of divided government since 2011, have receded as projected deficits fall in the wake of an improving economy and recently enacted spending cuts and tax increases.

Even before Obama began grappling with the IRS, the fallout from last year’s deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, and from the Justice Department’s secret seizure of Associated Press phone records, the two parties were at odds over steps to replace $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts. In particular, Obama’s call for higher taxes is a nonstarter with Republicans.

Other high-profile legislation and presidential appointees face difficulties that predate the current controversies.

Months ago, Obama scaled back requested gun safety legislation to centre on expanded background checks for firearms purchasers. That was derailed in the Senate, has even less chance in the House and is unlikely to reach the president’s desk.

Republicans oppose other recommendations from the president’s State of the Union address, including automatic increases in the minimum wage, a pre-kindergarten program funded by higher cigarette taxes and more federal money for highways and bridge repair.

In a clash that long predates the IRS controversy, Senate Republicans seem intent on blocking Obama’s nomination of Tom Perez as labour secretary. Gina McCarthy’s nomination to head the Environmental Protection Agency is also on hold, at least temporarily, and Democrats expect Republican opposition awaits Penny Pritzker, Obama’s choice for commerce secretary.

Rhetorically, the two parties fell into two camps when it came to the White House troubles. Democrats tended to describe them as controversies, Republicans often used less flattering terms.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., accused the administration of fostering a “culture of intimidation.” He referred to the IRS, the handling of the Benghazi attack and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ “fundraising among the industry people she regulates on behalf of the president’s health care law.”

Two days later, Camp, a 23-year veteran lawmaker, opened the IRS hearing by calling the agency’s actions part of a “culture of coverups and intimidation in this administration.” He offered no other examples.

Rep. Trey Radel, a first-term Florida Republican, said in an interview, “What we’re looking at now is a breach of trust” from the White House.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California offered a scathing response when asked if the controversies would hamper Obama’s ability to win legislation from the Republican-controlled House. “Well, the last two years there was nothing that went through this Congress, and it was no AP, IRS or any other (thing) that we were dealing with.”

“They just want to do nothing. And their timetable is never,” she said of GOP lawmakers.

Similarly, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid gave no ground on Benghazi, a dispute that increasingly centred on talking points written for administration officials to use on television after the attack last September in which U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed.

“It’s obvious it’s an attempt to embarrass President Obama and embarrass Hillary Clinton,” he said of Republican criticism that first flared during last year’s election campaign.

On a third front, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., resurrected legislation that would requiring a judge to approve subpoenas for news media communications records when investigating news leaks said to threaten the national security. It was a response to the FBI’s secret, successful pursuit of Associated Press phone records in a current probe.

While Democrats counterattacked on Benghazi and parried on leaks, they bashed the IRS’ treatment of conservative groups as improper if not illegal — and warned Republicans not to overplay their hand.

The post Obama agenda withstanding IRS focus on tea party groups, Benghazi fallout, other controversies appeared first on Canadian Business.

The Sunnyvale, Calif., company’s board of directors will meet Sunday evening to consider approving a $1.1 billion acquisition of online content-sharing site Tumblr in a deal Mayer negotiated, according to the technology news site All Things D. The story posted late Friday cited anonymous sources.

If Yahoo Inc.’s board signs off, the deal could be announced Monday.

In an invitation sent Friday, Yahoo promised to unveil “something special” Monday evening in New York. The event is being held in a Times Squares lounge located about two miles from Tumblr’s headquarters.

Yahoo has only said that Mayer will be on hand to unveil something related to a product. A company spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the potential Tumblr acquisition.

Buying Tumblr would fulfil Mayer’s goal of reaching a wider audience on smartphones and tablet computers.

Tumblr serves up a constantly changing collage of stories, photos and other digital content served up by users who are increasingly connecting to the service through its mobile applications. The service is also one of the hottest sites among teens and young adults, a demographic that Mayer, 37, thinks Yahoo needs to do a better job of reaching.

If it’s completed, the Tumblr deal would be Mayer’s biggest coup — and, at the same time, the biggest risk — since she ended her 13-year career as a key executive at Google Inc. to try to snap Yahoo out of a prolonged malaise that had demoralized employees and investors alike.

Since her arrival, Mayer has been focused on redesigning several Yahoo services and bringing in more mobile engineering talent, primarily by buying a series of small startups.

None of those previous acquisitions have required Yahoo to dip too deeply into its bank account. Late last year, Yahoo paid a total of $7 million for two startups called OnTheAir and Stamped. In the first three months of this year, Yahoo snapped up three more startups for a total of $10 million, according to the company’s regulatory filings.

Tumblr, founded in 2007 by its CEO David Karp, presumably would become a pivotal part of Mayer’s effort to sell more advertising.

Mayer has been winning back investors, even though the company’s revenue is still lagging the overall growth of the booming Internet and mobile advertising market. Yahoo’s stock price has risen 69 per cent under Mayer’s leadership.

Yahoo shares fell 6 cents Friday to close at $26.52.

The post Report: Yahoo board to meet Sunday to vote on proposed $1.1 billion acquisition of Tumblr appeared first on Canadian Business.

The local branch of LATAM Airlines Group said all its flights in Argentina are suspended at least until Saturday because Intercargo refuses to transfer passengers on buses to and from airplanes, clean the planes and unload cargo and luggage.

“Intercargo is not letting flights leave from any airport in the country,” Agustin Agraz, LAN’s corporate-affairs manager told local television. “We’re negotiating with the company so they allow us to get back in service.”

LAN says Intercargo is breaching its contract and is demanding a payment of $6.6 million. Intercargo says LAN pays 40 per cent less than other carriers for the service they provide and is demanding more after a recent order by the civil aviation authority.

“No other company has benefitted as much in recent years,” Intercargo said in a statement.

LATAM was created when Chile’s LAN took over Brazil’s TAM last year.

The carrier reported this week that its first quarter net profit dropped by nearly half from the same period last year on lower cargo revenue, sudden changes in foreign exchange and the grounding since January of three Boeing 787 Dreamliners in LAN’s fleet.

The post LAN airlines suspends domestic, international flights in Argentina over dispute appeared first on Canadian Business.

Superior Court Judge Raymond Batten said The Atlantic Club Casino Hotel could terminate the contract it signed with The Rational Group, the British parent company of PokerStars, when the company failed to get New Jersey’s preliminary approval by April 26 to own a casino.

The judge said the contract clearly gave either party the right to end the deal if Rational had not obtained the state’s authorization by the April date.

With the ruling, Batten dissolved a temporary restraining order that barred the casino from selling to anyone else. The Rational Group had obtained the temporary order after the Atlantic Club backed out of the deal even while benefiting from Rational’s payment to get the casino through the winter.

“We saved their butts,” Wayne Positan, a lawyer for The Rational Group, told the judge. “And we got the short end of the stick.” He said it was like the casino said: “Let’s take that money and the heck with those guys. Ha, ha, ha.”

According to court testimony, the contract also contained a provision that if the deal was not completed by a specified date, The Atlantic Club could keep the money Rational had advanced it. The funds were intended as credits against the $15 million purchase price.

The purchase deal was reached on Dec. 24, and the state Division of Gaming Enforcement deemed Rational’s application complete in early April, then began its evaluation process, which normally takes at least three months.

“They (Rational) took the risk they could get it done,” Atlantic Club lawyer Tariq Mundiya told the judge. “They couldn’t get it done, and now they want to rewrite the contract. Once that date came and went, Your Honor, all bets were off.”

A spokesman for The Rational Group, based in Isle of Man, did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the court’s ruling.

New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware are the only three states where Internet gambling is legal. New Jersey legalized Internet gambling in February, and the deal between The Atlantic Club and The Rational Group was considered mutually beneficial.

The casino has struggled for years near the bottom of Atlantic City’s 12 casinos in terms of revenue and profitability, and PokerStars would get an on-ramp to what’s expected to be a lucrative online gambling market in the state.

The Rational Group agreed to buy the casino for $15 million, by far the lowest price ever paid for a casino in New Jersey. But it also promised to fund a $32 million shortfall in the casino’s employee pension account, and had discussed investing an additional $20 million to $40 million into the property once the deal was completed.

But Atlantic Club lawyers said it became clear this year that Rational would have a difficult time getting a casino license in New Jersey.

The Rational Group agreed last year to pay $547 million to the U.S. Justice Department and $184 million to poker players overseas to settle a case alleging money laundering, bank fraud and illegal gambling. Rational admits no wrongdoing and says it is in good standing with governments around the world. Still, its recent history was expected to pose a hurdle to the company’s efforts to win a casino license in New Jersey.

The trade association representing the nation’s brick-and-mortar casinos strongly opposed the deal, and the American Gaming Association had asked to intervene in PokerStars’ licensing hearing to argue against the proposed purchase.

In response to the ruling Friday, Michael Frawley, the casino’s chief operating officer, said simply: “We are now free to build on the tremendous opportunity provided by online gaming.”

___

Wayne Parry can be reached at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC

The post Judge rules Atlantic Club casino can end contract with PokerStars and seek new buyer appeared first on Canadian Business.

Viking’s first ocean-going ship, Viking Star, will make its first voyages in 2015 to Scandinavia, the Baltic region and the Mediterranean.

Viking has expanded rapidly in recent years, christening 10 new river ships in March of this year with 12 more new river ships planned to launch in 2014.

The Viking Star will carry 928 passengers, making it much smaller than the massive vessels that cruise lines like Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Carnival have launched in recent years carrying anywhere from 2,500 to more than 5,000 people.

While the big ships are popular and have introduced cruising to a new generation, some passengers have complained that the large ships — loaded with gee-whiz attractions like theme-park style rides and Broadway shows — lack the intimate ambience and genteel sophistication that was the hallmark of an earlier era of cruising.

Viking said its ocean itineraries would be created to offer maximum time in port, often with late evenings or overnights, so guests could sample nightlife or evening performances on shore. The company said prices for the trips would cover not just a stateroom with verandah and all onboard meals (including wine and beer at lunch and dinner), but also a number of items that are not typically covered on standard ocean cruises such as shore excursions, wireless Internet service, and self-service laundry.

The Viking Star will also have two pools, a spa, onboard entertainment and a variety of dining options, along with a cooking school and theatre. Introductory prices start at $2,999 a person for 10-day Mediterranean trips to $4,999 a person for a 15-day itinerary that includes Stockholm, Copenhagen and Russia’s St. Petersburg. Discounted airfares are also available, along with a two-for-one deal for bookings made before July 31.

A second Viking ocean ship is expected to sail in 2016.

The company is headquartered in the Los Angeles area.

___

Online:

http://www.vikingcruises.com

The post Viking Cruises, known for river trips, announces new cruise line for ocean-going ships appeared first on Canadian Business.

The Treasury Department says Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told Werfel to take steps immediately to ensure the IRS is acting in an unbiased way.

Werfel was previously the controller of the Office of Management and Budget, a job akin to a chief financial officer. He’s replacing Steven Miller, who was ousted Wednesday amid revelations that the IRS improperly singled out conservative groups for special scrutiny.

Lew also directed Werfel to perform a thorough review of the IRS and to report back to Obama within 30 days. He’s asking Werfel to ensure staff who acted inappropriately are held accountable and to correct any failures in the IRS system.

The post Obama meets with new acting IRS head Daniel Werfel, expects report back in 30 days appeared first on Canadian Business.

A year after IPO, Facebook aims to be ad colossus

NEW YORK (AP) — It was supposed to be our IPO, the people’s public offering.

Facebook, the brainchild of a young CEO who sauntered into Wall Street meetings in a hoodie, was going to be bigger than Amazon, bigger than McDonald’s, bigger than Coca-Cola. And it was all made possible by our friendships, photos and family ties.

Then came the IPO, and it flopped. Facebook’s stock finished its first day of trading just 23 cents higher than its $38 IPO price. It hasn’t been that high since.

Even amid the hype and excitement surrounding Facebook’s May 18 stock market debut a year ago, there were looming doubts. Investors wondered whether the social network could increase advertising revenue without alienating users, especially those using smartphones and tablet computers.

Despite its disappointing stock market performance, the company has delivered strong financial results. Net income increased 7 per cent to $219 million in the most recent quarter, compared with the previous year, and revenue was up 38 per cent to $1.46 billion.

The world’s biggest online social network has also kept growing to 1.1 billion users. Some 665 million people check in every day to share photos, comment on news articles and play games. Millions of people around the world who don’t own a computer use Facebook, in Malawi, Malaysia and Martinique.

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Falling yen to make Japan’s goods more affordable

Attention, bargain-hunters around the world: Japanese goods — from cars to televisions — are going on sale.

Credit Japan’s drive to pump cash into its economy to stimulate growth. The extra money flooding its financial system is helping shrink the value of the yen. A U.S. dollar now buys about 100 yen. Last fall, it bought fewer than 80.

When the yen’s value falls, many Japanese goods become less expensive worldwide. Toyotas become cheaper in Germany, the United States and South Korea. So do Sony electronics. For tourists, Tokyo doesn’t cost so much to visit.

By contrast, goods made in Europe, Asia and the United States become pricier compared with Japanese products. And as sales of Japanese products grow, Japan’s economy benefits.

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GM stock rises above $33 for first time in 2 years

DETROIT (AP) — Shares of General Motors reached an important milestone on Friday, closing above their initial public offering price of $33 for the first time in more than two years.

GM shares reached $33.77 Friday before slipping back to close at $33.42, up 3.2 per cent. The auto giant sold shares to the public for $33 in a November 2010 IPO, but they’ve traded below that price since May 4, 2011.

GM’s business is getting stronger. Two weeks ago, GM reported solid first-quarter earnings on robust sales in North America. On Friday, there were signs sales declines may have bottomed in Europe — where GM has lost money for more than a dozen years.

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Record Powerball jackpot inspires office pools

In workplaces across the nation, Americans are inviting their colleagues to chip in $2 for a Powerball ticket and a shared daydream.

The office lottery pool is a way to improve your odds and have a little fun with co-workers. And besides, who wants to be the only person at work the next day when everyone quits?

With $600 million on the line, this is the time to play. It’s the largest-ever Powerball jackpot and the second-largest world jackpot of all time. And it could get even bigger before Saturday’s drawing.

But it’s important to be careful. Workplace pools that yield big jackpots sometimes result in lawsuits, broken friendships and delayed payouts.

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Top officials call to overhaul euro institutions

BERLIN (AP) — Engineering a financial bailout for Cyprus in March was such a chaotic process that top European officials say it is time to rethink how the region manages its crisis — and who should be involved.

Officials say the International Monetary Fund, which has contributed financial expertise and billions in emergency loans, may no longer be needed as a key decision-making partner. And they say that the eurozone would be able to make decisions and take action more quickly if it wasn’t bound by the need for unanimous agreement among its 17 member countries.

These concerns have been raised before by analysts and government officials outside of Europe, but now two of the region’s leading financial decision-makers have said publicly that something needs to be done. Olli Rehn, the top economic official at the European Commission — the European Union’s executive arm — and Joerg Asmussen, who sits on the European Central Bank’s six-member executive board, said at a hearing last week that the easing of the financial crisis presents an opportunity to fix what is broken.

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Gauge of US economy’s future health up in April

WASHINGTON (AP) — A measure of the U.S. economy’s future health rose solidly in April, buoyed by a sharp rise in applications to build homes and a better job market.

The Conference Board said Friday that its index of leading indicators increased 0.6 per cent last month to a reading of 95. That followed a 0.2 per cent decline in March.

The index is intended to signal economic conditions three to six months out.

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Unemployment falls in 40 US states, rises in 3

WASHINGTON (AP) — Solid hiring helped lower unemployment rates in 40 U.S. states last month, the most since November. The declines show the job market is improving throughout most of the country.

The Labor Department said Friday that unemployment rates increased in only three states: Louisiana, Tennessee and North Dakota. Rates were unchanged in seven states.

California, New York and South Carolina all reported the largest unemployment rate declines in April. Each state’s rate fell by 0.4 percentage points.

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Transocean shareholders oust chairman

NEW YORK (AP) — Transocean Ltd. shareholders have voted out the oil drilling company’s chairman and backed one of Carl Icahn’s director nominees.

But the oil driller said Friday that its stockholders decided against the billionaire investor’s proposal for a $4 dividend.

Under intense pressure from Icahn, J. Michael Talbert had already said that he would retire as chairman by November. He had been Transocean’s CEO from 1994 to 2002 and served three terms as chairman before Friday’s ouster.

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Pew survey questions Gen X, baby boomer savings

NEW YORK (AP) — A research report by the Pew Charitable Trusts says younger baby boomers and Generation Xers face an uncertain retirement because of reduced savings, high levels of debt, and losses during the Great Recession.

The study found that members of Generation X, who are now between 38 and 47 years old, lost almost half their wealth between 2007 and 2010. Young baby boomers, who are between 48 and 57, lost more money but a smaller portion of their overall wealth. The report says both of those groups are struggling to save enough money for retirement and are lagging older groups in terms of their savings. They also hold more debt than those groups did at similar points in their lives.

The report is based on the Survey of Consumer Finances, which is conducted every three years by the Federal Reserve, and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, which has followed a group of families since 1968. It takes into account financial assets like savings accounts and retirement accounts, nonfinancial assets like business properties, and home equity minus debt.

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Energy Department backs Texas LNG export plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Energy Department on Friday conditionally approved a Texas company’s proposal to export liquefied natural gas, only the second such project allowed to move forward amid a production boom that has led to glut of domestic natural gas.

The action would allow Freeport LNG Expansion L.P. to export up to 1.4 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas per day from its terminal near Freeport, Texas, south of Houston. The DOE said granting such a permit for shipments to countries that do not have free trade agreements with the U.S. was in the public interest.

Freeport is the second export project to win Energy Department authorization, following the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal in Cameron Parish, La.

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By The Associated Press(equals)

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 121.18 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 15,354.40. The Standard & Poor’ 500 index rose 17 points, or 1 per cent, to 1,667.47. The Nasdaq composite climbed 33.72 points, or 1 per cent, to 3,498.97.

Benchmark oil for June delivery rose 86 cents to close at $96.02 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, a benchmark for many international oil varieties, was up 86 cents to finish at $104.64 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Wholesale gasoline rose 2 cents to end at $2.91 a gallon. Heating oil added 3 cents to finish at $2.94 a gallon. Natural gas gained 12 cents to end at $4.06 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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NewsRight said that Moreover will get the NewsRight brand and will offer new contracts to the organization’s current customers.

Moreover is working with BurrellesLuce, another media monitoring company, to expand NewsRight’s licensing efforts, NewsRight said.

NewsRight said its previous role of advocating for the protection of original news content will be assumed by the Newspaper Association of America.

NewsRight was launched in January 2012 to track the unpaid online use of content from The Associated Press and nearly 30 other news organizations. It provided publishers with licenses to content from leading news publishers, including Hearst Newspapers, The E.W. Scripps Co., Lee Enterprises Inc., A.H. Belo Corp., the Tampa Bay Times and The Christian Science Monitor.

David Westin, who was previously president of ABC News for 14 years, headed the organization until he stepped down last summer and became an adviser.

NewsRight grew out of efforts started by the AP and its partners in October 2010 to track the use of stories on websites, blogs and other Internet forums through what it called the News Registry.

Before this month’s announcement, Moreover already had a multiyear deal with NewsRight for the right to use content from hundreds of newspaper websites. In 2007, the AP sued Moreover for copyright infringement, alleging that the company continuously accessed and electronically published the AP’s news reports without authorization. The sides reached a settlement a year later, the terms of which were not disclosed.

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Toronto Stock Exchange (12,613.05 up 105.45 points):

Southern Pacific Resource Corp. (TSX:STP). Oil and gas. Up 9.5 cents, or 23.46 per cent, at 50 cents on 12.29 million shares. The energy sector was the leading advancer on the main index, up 1.92 per cent to 251.65 points. The price of June crude finished 86 cents US higher to $96.02 per barrel.

Eastern Platinum Ltd. (TSX:ELR). Miner. Down half a cent, or 5.26 per cent, at nine cents on 9.39 million shares. The metals and mining sector rose 0.21 per cent to 840.51 points.

Surge Energy Inc. (TSX:SGY). Oil and gas. Up 29 cents, or 6.44 per cent, at $4.79 on 7.21 million shares.

Kinross Gold Corp. (TSX:K). Miner. Down 13 cents, or 2.35 per cent, at $5.40 on 6.01 million shares. The gold sector was the biggest loser, dropping 3.25 per cent to 180.29 points as the price of the bullion fell US$22.20 to $1,364.70 per ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That’s the lowest close since mid-April.

Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Insurer. Up 18 cents, or 1.13 per cent, at $16.11 on 4.61 million shares.

Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B). Transportation equipment. Up three cents, or 0.64 per cent, at $4.69 on 4.32 million shares.

Toronto Venture Exchange (934.68 up 1.82 points):

Madalena Ventures Inc. (TSXV:MVN). Oil and gas explorer. Up five cents, or 12.99 per cent, at 43.5 cents on 6.11 million shares.

Sterling Resources Ltd. (TSXV:SLG). Oil and gas. Up a penny, or 1.52 per cent, at 67 cents on 5.16 million shares.

Companies reporting major news:

Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO). Bank. Up 67 cents, or 1.09 per cent, at $62.18 on 2.19 million shares. The big bank has 90 days to improve its system in combating money laundering after American authorities found shortcomings at its Chicago branch, where its BMO Harris Bank is based.

New Flyer Industries Inc. (TSX:NFI). Down a penny, or 0.10 per cent, at $10 on 25,781 shares. Halifax Regional Council approved the purchase of up to 80 of its Xcelsior clean diesel 40-foot heavy-duty buses. Financial terms were not immediately available.

SNC-Lavalin Group (TSX:SNC). Engineering. Up seven cents, or 0.17 per cent, at $1.87 on 1.47 million shares. Montreal-based SNC defended itself against a nearly $1 million wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed by former controller Stephane Roy. SNC said it was justified in firing the former executive last year because it claims he acted illegally to help smuggle the son of Libya dictator Moammar Gadhafi to Mexico.

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