Army searches for kidnapped boy

ZAHLE/BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army conducted raids in the northeastern Bekaa Valley village of Brital Friday in search of a 9-year-old schoolboy who was taken by gunmen earlier that day in Zahle, a security source told The Daily Star.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said the raids came in light of information that some residents of Brital, home to many wanted individuals, could be involved in the kidnapping of Michel Saqr.

Angered by the kidnapping, relatives of Saqr and Zahle residents blocked all roads leading to the Bekaa Valley town, saying they would only reopen them when the child was released.

Saqr was kidnapped around 7 a.m. while on his way to the Sainte Famille School in Zahle, the source said. He was abducted by four masked gunmen from the car that was taking him to school along with his two sisters.

The source said the assailants pulled up in a Grand Cherokee and a Honda, stopped Saqr’s vehicle and some pulled the driver out and beat him while others grabbed the boy and sped off.

The Honda used in the kidnapping was left behind at the site. The source said the vehicle was stolen from the Beirut district of Sin al-Fil earlier this week.

Saqr’s father, Ibrahim, owns a gas company and several gas stations. He also runs an advertising firm in the Bekaa Valley.

A candidate for Parliament during previous election rounds, the prominent businessman maintains close ties with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.

He erected a number of billboards across Lebanon last month praising the LF leader for his decision not to join the government of Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

“We can’t make random accusations, the Lebanese Army is carrying out raids right now to free the child,” said Youssef Saqr, Ibrahim’s cousin.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Saqr said it was well-known that groups from some villages in the northern Bekaa Valley, such as Brital, were involved in previous kidnappings. “All that we want is to get the child back safe and sound.”

Saqr added that Michel’s parents did not want to speak to the media.

The Internal Security Forces said in a statement that it was coordinating efforts with the Lebanese Army to free Saqr and arrest the perpetrators.

The ISF said it had identified all those involved in kidnappings in Lebanon since March 2011, when seven Estonian tourists were abducted in the Bekaa Valley.

“They are around 100 people of interest, all identified. It [the General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces] is working on arresting them and bringing them to the relevant courts in a bid to put an end to this criminal phenomenon,” it said.

Salam had followed up on the case and contacted Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Samir Moqbel, as well as Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk, who informed him of the incident, his office said.

Salam also gave all security bodies instructions to remain vigilant and bring the perpetrators to justice.

The prime minister contacted Hezbollah and Amal Movement leaders, influential in the Bekaa Valley, asking them to help the security agencies in their efforts.

For his part, Machnouk contacted Saqr’s father and assured him that the security bodies were on high alert and taking all necessary measures to free his son, according to the National News Agency.

“It is necessary to combat [lawlessness in areas] that specialize in kidnapping, murder, forgery, theft and drugs,” Machnouk said in a statement. He called on all political factions to act decisively in order to achieve this goal. Machnouk also received a phone call from Geagea concerning the matter.

Lebanon has seen a spate of kidnap-for-ransom operations over the past years, particularly in Zahle and other areas of the Bekaa Valley.

Many of those kidnapped have reportedly been moved to the Hay al-Sharawneh neighborhood of Baalbek, which is inhabited mostly by members of the Shiite Jaafar clan, before being released in return for a ransom.

Stolen cars across Lebanon are believed to be sent to Brital, where they are then sold. Some residents are also known to forge documents.

The municipality and mukhtars of Brital condemned the kidnapping of Saqr as a “crime against childhood and humanity.”

They said in a statement that they stood against all acts of abduction, expressing their solidarity with Saqr’s family.

A statement by Zahle’s officials and priests who gathered at the Melkite Greek Catholic archdiocese in the town said the kidnapping portrayed Zahle as susceptible to the control of gangs, but it was actually under the influence of strong men.

“We strongly call for his immediate release and for his return to his family and town safe and sound,” the statement said.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai discussed the issue with Army Commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi over the telephone, highlighting the danger of rampant abductions and blackmail operations in Lebanon.

He said it was necessary that all Lebanese felt secure, stressing the need to put an end to these “criminal actions that are alien to our society and traditions.”

The March 14 coalition and a number of parliamentarians slammed Saqr’s abduction.

Zahle MP Shant Janjanian, from the LF bloc, said the people of Zahle were fed up and could no longer trust the security bodies to bring criminals to justice.

He said Zahle residents would pursue the “gangs” that were perpetrating such acts.

Baalbek-Hermel MP Ghazi Zeaiter, of Speaker Nabih Berri’s bloc, also condemned the kidnapping.

Iraq official arrested over flight episode

BEIRUT: Iraqi security forces detained Friday an airport official connected to an incident a day earlier when a Middle East Airlines flight from Beirut was turned back after the son of the Iraqi transport minister missed the plane, Iraqi media reported.

A “special security force from the office of the Armed Forces Commander” arrested Baghdad Airport Assistant Manager Samer Kibbeh during a raid on his office late Thursday night, according to an article published on Iraq’s Al-Sumaria TV channel Friday.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said he would punish those responsible for the flight incident, news of which went viral online soon after it broke.

Transport Minister Ghazi Zeaiter said the incident would not affect ties between Lebanon and Iraq “neither at the political level nor at the transport level,” the National News Agency reported.

Zeaiter said the incident had been caused by “an employee at Baghdad airport” and hailed Maliki’s decision to take punitive action.

Lebanon’s new transport minister said he discussed the incident in separate telephone calls with Maliki and Iraq’s transport minister, Hadi al-Amiri.

Iraqi Ambassador to Lebanon Raad al-Alousi denied Friday that there had been a “crisis with Middle East Airlines,” stressing that Maliki “ordered the arrest of those who gave the orders preventing the Lebanese aircraft from landing, and he formed a committee to investigate the matter,” according to the NNA.

Following a meeting with Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk, Alousi said that Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam and his Iraqi counterpart had resolved the matter.

Meanwhile, 21 of the 71 passengers whose flight was canceled because of the Iraqi decision flew to Baghdad late Thursday night.

A source at Rafik Hariri International Airport said an Iraqi Airways CRJ 900 plane carrying 59 passengers arrived in Beirut and flew back to Baghdad with 21 passengers.

The passengers were among those on board a Middle East Airlines plane that was forced to return to Beirut midflight after Iraqi authorities refused to let the aircraft land without the son of the Iraqi transport minister, who was supposed to be on the flight.

The remaining 50 passengers were expected to fly out Friday, the source said.

Major Black Hills jewelers announce purchase deal

RAPID CITY, S.D. -- A Rapid City-based jeweler with dozens of stores in the Midwest is buying a company that has been making Black Hills gold jewelry for 136 years.

Riddle's Group Inc. announced Thursday it had purchased Landstrom's Original Black Hills Gold Creations' manufacturing and wholesale division for an undisclosed price. Landstrom's also is based in Rapid City.

Riddle's did not acquire the rights to Landstrom's name, but has agreed to license it and use it. Landstrom's name recognition was a major reason Riddle's wanted to make the deal, according to Riddles Chief Financial Officer David Westergaard. It also made sense from a business standpoint, he said.

"The decision to merge was due to a mutual desire to combine manufacturing and marketing efforts to achieve certain economies of scale and opportunities for diversification," Westergaard said in a statement. "Overall, we feel the climate in the Black Hills — and nationwide — is strong for American-made products."

Riddles does not plan to change the day-to-day operation of Landstrom's. Robert Lemley, grandson of founder Ivan Landstrom, retains the rights to the Landstrom's name.

"Landstrom's is an icon of the Black Hills," he said. "We are steeped in the history and tradition of this area and have the best name recognition in the Black Hills Gold industry."

Three generations of the Landstrom family have operated the business since 1878. In 1995, Landstrom's purchased competitor F.L. Thorpe.

The Riddle's Group was founded in 1959 and now owns more than 45 jewelry stores throughout the Midwest.

Black Hills gold jewelry features a unique design of grape leaves, clusters and vines in tri-colored gold. By federal mandate, this style of jewelry must be manufactured in the Black Hills of South Dakota in order to be described as "Black Hills Gold Jewelry."

US consumer borrowing up $13.7 billion in January

WASHINGTON -- Consumers increased their borrowing in January on autos and student loans but cut back on their credit card use.

Consumer borrowing rose $13.7 billion in January following an even larger $15.9 billion rise in December, the Federal Reserve reported Friday.

The category that includes auto and student loans increased $13.9 billion while the category that covers credit cards fell $226 million, marking the third time in the past five months that credit card loans have declined.

The big overall increase pushed total borrowing to a record $3.11 trillion. Gains in borrowing are seen as an encouraging sign that people are more confident and willing to take on debt to finance consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of economic activity.

That has been the trend over the past year. Most of the gains have come in the category that covers auto and student loans. Credit card borrowing has been rising more slowly.

Borrowing on credit cards plunged after the Great Recession as financial institutions tightened lending standards and households became more cautious about taking on high-interest debt at a time when millions of people were losing their jobs.

Even with recent gains, credit card debt in January was still 16.2 percent below its peak above $1 trillion reached in July 2008. Credit card debt stood at $856.2 billion in January, up just 0.9 percent from a year ago.

The measure of auto loans and student loans in January stood at $2.26 trillion, up 7.8 percent from a year ago. It has been up every month but one since May 2010.

A separate quarterly report on consumer credit done by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that student loan debt has been the biggest driver of borrowing since the recession officially ended in June 2009.

The Fed's borrowing report tracks credit card debt, auto loans and student loans but not mortgages or home equity loans.

NTSB to hold safety forum on crude oil, ethanol shipments by rail

The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a two-day public forum next month on the safety of moving crude oil and ethanol by rail, the agency said Thursday.

The NTSB has been warning for years that a common type of railroad tank car, known as the DOT-111, was not suitable for transporting flammable liquids and cited its tendency to puncture or rupture easily in derailments.

Federal regulators had known for more than two decades about the car’s shortcomings when a train loaded with crude oil derailed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, in July, killing 47 people and destroying the center of town.

Two months after the derailment, the Department of Transportation began the process of gathering public comment for revised regulations for tank car standards.

“The improvements are long overdue,” testified Christopher Hart, the NTSB vice chairman, in a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Thursday on rail safety.

Hart announced the NTSB forum, which will take place in Washington on April 22-23.

The railroad industry supports the NTSB recommendations on the DOT-111 cars.

“Our recommendation is to not use them for flammable liquids,” testified Edward Hamberger, the president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads, the industry’s leading advocacy group in Washington.

Hamberger said that tank cars in crude oil service should have full-height head shields to protect each end of the car from puncture, as well as thicker shells, thermal insulation, stronger protection for top and bottom fittings and high-capacity pressure relief valves.

But railroads don’t own most tank cars, so the expense of upgrading the fleet falls on the companies that own and lease them. And their proposed fixes don’t go as far as what the NTSB or the rail industry have called for, and won’t be finished as quickly.

For example, the petroleum industry and tank car manufacturers want to continue to use tank cars built to a higher standard the industry adopted voluntarily in 2011. Tank car manufacturers want such cars, called CPC-1232, exempted from new requirements.

However, the NTSB, in written testimony, said that it isn’t convinced that the modified cars offer significant safety improvements.

Until DOT produces a final rule on tank cars, a process that could take another year, tank car manufacturers will likely continue to adhere to the CPC-1232 standard.

Senators pressed regulators to say when the new standard would be final and when the existing DOT-111 fleet would be phased out of crude oil service. North Dakota has become the country’s No. 2 oil producer behind Texas, and more than 70 percent of the state’s crude moves by rail.

“We’ve been moving as fast as we possibly can,” testified Cynthia Quarterman, the head of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration at DOT.

Email: ctate@mcclatchydc.com; Twitter: @tatecurtis

Facebook expands server farm in Sweden

STOCKHOLM -- Facebook plans to build a new data center at its server farm in northern Sweden, less than a year after opening the plant, its first outside the United States.

The company said Friday that the center in the northern city of Lulea will use new technology that will double the speed of construction, including pre-made modular sections that are assembled on-site.

In June 2013, Facebook inaugurated the Lulea plant in a move to improve the social network's performance in Europe. It partly chose the location of the northern city because of the cold climate, which is crucial for maintaining the servers' temperature.

The California-based social network did not say when construction will begin.

Iowa advised not to license any new casinos

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowa should focus on reinvesting in existing casinos rather than licensing any new operations, a consultant hired by state officials to look into the issue recommended.

Rich Baldwin, managing director of Union Gaming Analytics, expressed his opinion Thursday to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, the Des Moines Register reported (http://dmreg.co/1lauCbx ).

"We do not believe there are any underserved counties in the state of Iowa," he said.

Representatives from Marquette Advisors of Minneapolis echoed concerns that new casinos would simply take business from existing casinos.

The consultants were hired by the commission to conduct independent evaluations of Iowa's gambling markets.

Backers of two proposed casinos disagreed with the consultants. The Cedar Rapids Development Group wants to build a $150 million casino in downtown Cedar Rapids. Wild Rose Entertainment wants to build a $40 million facility in Jefferson, which is in Greene County.

Both told the commission the latest evaluations were based on incomplete data. They added that their projects would create hundreds of jobs and spur growth.

"I think those studies have fatal flaws," said Doug Gross, an attorney for the Cedar Rapids investment group. "The commission needs to review those studies closely."

The state currently has more than 20 casinos, and existing casino operators have complained that the market is getting crowded. They said additional businesses would force layoffs and hurt local nonprofit groups that use charitable money given by current casinos.

Jeff Lamberti, chairman of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, said the market study is just one element of the information the five-member group will consider when deciding on new licenses. A decision on the Cedar Rapids casino license is scheduled for April. The Jefferson license will be decided on in June.

February jobs numbers surprise: Economy weathers the weather

By Kevin G. Hall McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON -- A better-than-expected February jobs report Friday from the Labor Department renewed expectations of economic acceleration in the months ahead and snapped a two-month lull in hiring.

Employers appeared to shrug off bitter mid-February storms, adding 175,000 jobs last month. With more workers coming into the labor force, the jobless rate inched up a tenth of a percentage point to 6.7 percent.

“The job numbers were encouraging, and suggest the economy is weathering the bad weather well,” said Mark Zandi, the chief economist for Moody’s Analytics. “Job growth will improve with warmer temperatures. Underlying job growth is closer to 200,000 per month, and we should see a couple of months of well over that this spring.”

Mainstream economists worried that the cold snap and heavy snows would hurt hiring. Most had estimated job creation in the range of 150,000 or lower for last month.

Leading the pack in February hiring was the white-collar professional and business services sector, which added 79,000 jobs. Temporary employment, usually a harbinger of future full-time hiring, added almost 25,000 jobs last month.

“All around, a solid employment report for the month of February that bodes well for better job and income growth in the months ahead,” said Scott Anderson, the chief economist for San Francisco-based Bank of the West.

Most economists still expect weather to slow the growth rate for the first three months of this year. That’s after a sluggish 2.4 percent annual growth rate from October through December, a number that few economists think will be matched over the first quarter of this year.

Deeper in the report, there was an outsized increase in average hourly earnings of almost half a percentage point. That’s a year-over-year gain of 2.2 percent, suggesting that workers might begin commanding greater wages.

Wages have been unusually flat since the end of the Great Recession in 2009 as the supply of workers far exceeded the demand for them. That gap seems to be narrowing, and Anderson called it “a positive signal that a lower unemployment rate could begin to boost wages and incomes for American households.”

February’s bounce-back in hiring suggests an underlying strength in the economy, one that withstood an unusually harsh winter.

“Weather did have an impact, as it crimped the job gains and, more significantly, reduced hours worked,” noted Zandi. “The number of workers employed part time due to weather but usually work full time jumped to . . . more than five times February’s historical average.”

The White House suggested bad weather had restrained an accelerating recovery.

Jason Furman, the head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said nearly 7 million nonagricultural workers who usually work full time had been knocked down to part time, the second highest in 20 years.

“Another 600,000 nonagricultural workers reported missing work for the entire week due to bad weather, more than twice as many as last February.”

That’s in line with the view of Chad Moutray, the chief economist of the National Association of Manufacturers.

“This data has been consistent with other economic releases of late that have shown more sluggish demand, production and shipments due mainly to winter weather-related slowdown,” he said, adding that the “silver lining with weather-related influences, of course, is that warmer temperatures should bring improved job growth, and these data appear to support that view.”

The manufacturing sector added just 6,000 jobs in February, slow for the labor-intensive sector. The construction sector shrugged off the cold snap and added 15,000 jobs last month, and the leisure and hospitality sector posted 25,000 jobs, suggesting expectations for more Americans traveling this spring.

Retailers shed more than 4,000 jobs last month, and the transportation and warehousing sector, too, was a job loser for February, down about 3,600 jobs. Health care added almost 10,000 jobs, a flat number for a dynamic sector.

The Labor Department also revised upward by a combined 25,000 jobs its estimates for December and January hiring, pushing them up to 129,000 and 84,000, respectively. Those are sub-par numbers, and they’re one reason that February’s bounce-back despite seasonal challenges was important.

The White House was quick to note the February number is close to last year’s average of 182,000 new jobs a month. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, looked past the February number, however.

“While it’s good news that more Americans found work last month, there are still far too many asking the question, ‘Where are the jobs?,’ ” he said in a statement.

The better-than-expected Friday report means the Federal Reserve is likely to continue tapering back its controversial purchases of government and mortgage bonds in support of the economy.

While the Fed continues bond buys of $65 billion a month, it ratcheted back those purchases by $10 billion in each of the first two months of this year. The Fed might knock that back to $55 billion a month after the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee meets March 18-19.

Nonetheless, the number of long-term unemployed remains at staggeringly high levels, and the rate of participation in a growing labor force continues to hover at all-time lows.

“A particularly big concern is that participation remains at a low level for the prime working-age population between 25 and 54 years old,” Keith Hall, a former head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, said in a research note.

APNewsBreak: FBI investigates prison company

BOISE, Idaho -- The FBI has launched a criminal investigation into private prison company Corrections Corporation of America which ran what Idaho inmates called "Gladiator School" because of a violent reputation they say understaffing helped create.

The Nashville, Tenn.-based CCA has operated Idaho's largest prison for more than a decade, but last year, CCA officials acknowledged it had understaffed the Idaho Correctional Center by thousands of hours in violation of the state contract. CCA also said employees falsified reports to cover up the vacancies. The announcement came after an Associated Press investigation showed CCA sometimes listed guards as working 48 hours straight to meet minimum staffing requirements.

The Idaho State Police was asked to investigate the company last year but didn't, until amid increasing political pressure, the governor ordered the agency to do so last month. Democratic state lawmakers asked the FBI to take up the case last month.

Idaho Department of Correction spokesman Jeff Ray confirmed Friday that the FBI met with department director Brent Reinke on Thursday to inform him about the investigation. Idaho State Police spokeswoman Teresa Baker said her agency was no longer involved with the investigation and the FBI has taken it over entirely.

""They (the FBI) have other cases that are tied to this one so it worked out better for them to handle it from here," Baker said.

CCA spokesman Steve Owen could not be immediately reached, but Owen has previously said that his company would continue to cooperate with any investigation.

The understaffing has been the subject of federal lawsuits and a contempt of court action against CCA. The ACLU sued on behalf of inmates at the Idaho Correctional Center in 2010, saying the facility was so violent that inmates called it "Gladiator School" and that understaffing contributed to the high levels of violence there.

In 2012, a Boise law firm sued on behalf of inmates contending that CCA had ceded control to prison gangs so that they could understaff the prison and save money on employee wages, and that the understaffing led to an attack by one prison gang on another group of inmates that left some of them badly injured.

The Department of Justice requested a copy of a forensic audit done for the Idaho Department of Correction earlier this year. That audit showed that CCA understaffed the prison by as much as 26,000 hours in 2012 alone; CCA is strongly contesting those findings. CCA's Owen has said the company believes the audit overestimates the staffing issues by more than a third.

CCA's contract with Idaho was worth about $29 million a year. In February the company agreed to pay Idaho $1 million to settle the understaffing claims.

Heavier sanctions on Russia could backfire

WASHINGTON -- Underlying talk about taking harsh punitive measures against Russia for its military incursion into Ukraine are economic complications and worries that sanctions levied against Moscow could backfire on the U.S. and Europe.

Heavier U.S. and European Union sanctions could sting Russia's already slow-growing economy and hurt its financial sector. But Moscow could retaliate and seize American and other foreign assets or cut exports of natural gas to Europe, which is heavily dependent on Russia for energy.

Declaring his determination not to let the Kremlin carve up Ukraine, President Barack Obama on Thursday slapped new visa restrictions on Russian and other opponents of Ukraine's government in Kiev and authorized wider financial penalties against those involved in the military intervention or in stealing state assets. Obama emphasized his resolve in an hourlong telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, affirming his contention that Russia's actions violate Ukraine's sovereignty.

On Capitol Hill, both chambers of Congress looked to advance legislation imposing hard-hitting sanctions on Russia.

Obama hailed U.S. cooperation with the European Union, which on Thursday suspended talks with Putin's government on a wide-ranging economic agreement and on granting Russian citizens visa-free travel within the 28-nation bloc. But Europe's presidents and prime ministers remain divided on taking more drastic steps such as freezing assets and issuing travel bans on Russian officials.

European hesitancy reflected the reality that targeting influential Russian businessmen or major Russian companies would also harm Europe's economic interests. U.S. trade with Russia is less than one-tenth of Europe's.

Russian investors hold assets worth billions in European banks, particularly in Britain which is highly protective of its financial sector, and major exporters such as Germany and the Netherlands have far more at stake than the United States in Russia's consumer economy.

Showing greater caution than Obama on sanctions, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said European penalties against Russia depend "on how the diplomatic process progresses." EU President Herman Van Rompuy said travel bans, asset freezes and the cancellation of an EU-Russia summit could still come. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk acknowledged "no enthusiasm" in Europe for economic sanctions.

In some ways, the debate over sanctions echoes the Cold War doctrine of military strategy in which if two opponents fired off nuclear weapons, both sides would be annihilated.

"There is a kind of mutually assured destruction relationship here," said Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and analyst at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington. "Russia could say, 'Well, we're going to cut off your gas and you guys can now scramble and buy extra gas and pay big prices.'

"It would hurt the Europeans, but it also would cut off the biggest source of cash that flows into Russia today," he said referring to oil and gas sales that account for about 60 percent of Russia's exports and half of its government revenue. "So the Russians may threaten some things, but they also have to consider that if they do that what it would do to the Russian economy."

The State Department sought to allay fears that Europe might find itself short on Russian gas.

"We understand that European gas inventories are well-above normal levels, due to a milder than usual winter, and could replace a loss of Russian exports for several months, if necessary," said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki. "Naturally, we take the energy security of our friends very seriously."

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, saw an opening for U.S. gas producers. He called on Obama to fast-track approval of U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas, claiming the Energy Department has a slow approval process that amounts to a de facto ban on American natural gas exports.

"We should not force our allies to remain dependent on Putin for their energy needs," Boehner said.

The Energy Department has given final approval to one of about two dozen proposed liquefied natural gas export terminals in the past two years. Five other projects have received conditional backing.

However, even if the Energy Department approved all the pending permits from companies seeking to export natural gas, fuel could not begin flowing overseas for several years. A project in Sabine Pass, La., is tentatively scheduled to open in late 2015, but most others are not expected to begin operations until 2017 or later.

Ariel Cohen, an expert on Russian and Eurasian affairs at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, said he doesn't know if the Europeans would be willing to impose tough sanctions, particularly against Russia's banking and financial systems. Even if the Europeans don't, the U.S. needs to take the lead or risk allowing Russia to alter current world order, he said.

"Either we take a lead or the international system goes back to the chaos and high-risk levels that existed before World War I and between World War I and World War II," he said. "This is very serious. I cannot emphasize that enough. People who talk about 'Oh, we won't get cheap gas from Russia' or 'The Russians will get angry' — they do not look at it beyond the current geopolitical and international order."

If Russia grabs Crimea, Iran would be less willing to give up an ability to develop nuclear arms. "The message to Iran would be: If you have nuclear weapons you will not be attacked, your regime will be intact. If you don't have nuclear weapons, your regime can be toppled and pieces of your territory can be taken away."

As a result of its move into Ukraine, Cohen said Russia already has lost billions in its stock market drop and devaluation of the Russian ruble. It also stands to lose from a decline in tourism and future energy sales if European nations decide it's time to reduce their dependence on Russian gas and buy it from North Africa, Qatar, Nigeria and the U.S.

For the U.S., the worst that can happen is that Russia will partially seize assets of companies like Coca-Cola, Boeing or Pepsi, he said. But that also would make Russia's investment climate more difficult than it already is because of arbitrary rules, corruption and hard to understand taxation.

"It's not clear how nasty Russian retaliation might be, but the main thing is not punishment," Cohen said. "The main thing for both sides is to have sanity prevail — to get into a negotiating process. We need to walk this baby back, put it in a box and put it away."

Associated Press writers Julie Pace and Matthew Lee in Washington, Juergen Baetz and Mike Corder in Brussels and Yuras Karmanau in Simferopol, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

Lawmaker Wants To Ban Orcas At San Diego's SeaWorld

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hide captionA trainer feeds killer whales ice chunks in a tank at SeaWorld in San Diego, Calif., in this undated photo.

Sandy Huffaker/Barcroft Media/Barcroft Media /Landov

A trainer feeds killer whales ice chunks in a tank at SeaWorld in San Diego, Calif., in this undated photo.

Sandy Huffaker/Barcroft Media/Barcroft Media /Landov

A California lawmaker has proposed a measure that would prohibit SeaWorld San Diego from using orcas in its shows.

Richard Bloom, a Santa Monica Democrat, says the documentary Blackfish , which examines the 2010 death of a SeaWorld trainer by a captive orca, inspired him to push the bill.

Blackfish, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, also highlights other incidents in which trainers were either hurt or had close calls with orcas, also known as killer whales. Filmmakers also detail what they say are cramped living conditions for the marine mammals, which are the centerpiece of SeaWorld's acrobatic shows.

"There is no justification for the continued captive display of orcas for entertainment purposes," Bloom said Friday. "These beautiful creatures are much too large and far too intelligent to be confined in small, concrete tanks for their entire lives."

SeaWorld Entertainment, the parent company that also runs parks in Orlando, Fla., and San Antonio, Texas, has called Blackfish "propaganda," saying "the film conveys falsehoods, manipulates viewers emotionally, and relies on questionable filmmaking techniques to create 'facts' that support its point of view." The company says Blackfish gives the false impression that conditions at the parks are harmful to whales and trainers and that SeaWorld has covered up information related to fatal 2010 training mishaps.

The New York Times reported last month that:

"Blackfish has become a rallying point for those who oppose the use of killer whales for entertainment in the SeaWorld parks, and it has drawn large audiences in theaters and on TV. But SeaWorld has defended its practices, mounting an aggressive pushback against the film."

"The company continued its counterattack with a complaint delivered ... to the Labor Department. It accuses the official examining an orca's 2010 fatal attack on a SeaWorld trainer of ethical violations, including leaking confidential documents to the makers of Blackfish."

On Monday, The Associated Press said that the film's director, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, issued a statement to the news agency denying that the Labor Department investigator ever provided information related to the investigation.

US says New Jersey acted properly in Sandy cleanup

TRENTON, N.J. -- A federal audit finds New Jersey did nothing wrong when it used a no-bid contract to hire a firm to clean up debris left behind by Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

But the U.S. Homeland Security Department says that towns that continued to use the firm for more than 60 days without putting the work out to bid might not be fully reimbursed by the federal government.

The contract and the firm, Deerfield Beach, Fla.-based AshBritt, drew the ire of lawmakers months after Sandy struck. That marked the first major political debate over how Gov. Chris Christie's administration responded to Sandy.

The audit was made public Thursday by Christie's office.

Christie's office criticized Democrats and the media for treating the contract as a scandal.

Missouri health advocates launch enrollment drive

By DAVID A. LIEB The Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- With Missouri apparently lagging behind in health insurance sign-ups, advocates are launching a concerted push this weekend to enroll people through a federally run insurance website before an impending deadline.

About 40 insurance enrollment events were planned for Saturday around the state, with scores more scheduled before a March 31 deadline set by President Barack Obama's health care law for most Americans to have health insurance. Those who don't get coverage can face a tax penalty of at least $95.

As of Feb. 20, about 68,000 Missouri residents had enrolled in private health plans through the online insurance marketplace, most of whom received federal subsidies to help offset the cost of premiums, said Ryan Barker, vice president for health policy at the Missouri Foundation for Health, a nonprofit group that's promoting the insurance marketplace.

Missouri's enrollment was just 55 percent of the way toward meeting the goal set by the federal government, Barker said.

Previously released federal figures show Missouri also trailed the national average in the percentage of people who actually picked a health insurance policy after being determined eligible through the online marketplace.

Missouri has an estimated 800,000 residents without health insurance.

Starting this weekend, health care advocates plan "a big push for outreach and enrollment events," Barker said.

At one site in St. Louis, potential insurance applicants can get free tacos and T-shirts while being entertained by rock bands, said Kris Reinertson, a certified application counselor who's involved in the event.

Other Saturday enrollment events will take place at libraries, colleges, churches, medical centers, shopping malls and recreational facilities in rural towns and larger cities alike. Some of the events will have professional tax preparers on hand to provide advice.

The Cover Missouri Coalition, which is a project of the Missouri Foundation for Health, also is rolling out new online and radio advertisements encouraging people to sign up for health insurance. The ads generally feature the benefits of having insurance, not the tax penalty people could pay if they don't, Barker said.

Part of the promotion includes online video testimonials from people who already have signed up through the federally run website, which was plagued by numerous technical problems when it launched last October.

Among those featured is Hudson Harkins, a St. Louis musician who said his insurer planned to raise his health insurance premiums to over $1,000 per month in 2014. Harkins said he instead bought a comparable plan through Missouri's federally run insurance website and is paying just $149 per month because of the subsidies.

"It's lifted a big burden from us," Harkins said in an interview. "I've had it for three months now, made three payments, and everything seems to be working fine."

Although states could choose to operate their own insurance exchanges, more than two-thirds of the states have sites run fully or partly by the federal government. Missouri's Republican-led Legislature referred a measure to the ballot, which voters approved in 2012, that prohibits state officials from setting up an insurance exchange or providing "assistance or resources of any kind" to the federal government to implement one in Missouri.

The insurance marketplaces were a key part of Obama's plan to reduce the ranks of the uninsured. The other prong involved an expansion of Medicaid coverage to low-income adults for which states could receive extra federal money.

Missouri lawmakers have repeatedly defeated efforts to expand adult Medicaid eligibility. A House committee hearing is scheduled Monday on legislation that proposes to expand coverage by using the federal Medicaid money to buy private insurance policies for some people.

Follow David A. Lieb at: http://bit.ly/1hTPmTZ

Samsung introduces free streaming radio service

NEW YORK -- Samsung on Friday unveiled a new free music service for its phones that it touts as a significant improvement from the apps already on the market.

The South Korean gadget maker's Milk Music service, which launched in the U.S. on Friday, includes over 200 stations and 13 million songs. It's designed to be extremely fast, easy to use and highly customizable.

But the new service enters an already crowded space. There are numerous streaming music services, including Pandora, Spotify and Apple Inc.'s iTunes Radio.

"We feel that while the music space is very competitive there is room for improvement," said Daren Tsui, vice president of music at Samsung Media Solutions.

Samsung's app features a large wheel reminiscent of an old-fashioned radio tuner. Users can spin through various genres of music to find something they like. Favorite stations can be added to a "My Stations" section, while individual songs can be tagged as favorites or put on a list never to be played.

Milk is powered by Slacker, which operates its own streaming music service. But unlike Slacker, Milk is ad-free at no cost. While Slacker does offer a basic service for free, it charges users $4 a month to remove advertising.

U.S. users can now download the Milk app from Google Play. It works on most of Samsung's Galaxy line of phones, but isn't compatible with devices made by other companies.

Cameco uranium mine proposal given final OK by BLM

LANDER, Wyo. -- The Bureau of Land Management has given final approval for a uranium mine in Fremont County.

Cameco Resources controls the uranium deposits and has sought a permit to develop them since 2010. If built, the project would be the first uranium mine to operate in Fremont County in several decades.

The Riverton Ranger reports Cameco does not have plans to immediately begin construction on the site. Company officials say the next steps are going to be determined by the uranium market because the price of uranium is low.

Entrepreneurship grows in Egypt's flailing economy

CAIRO -- In Egypt's newest reality television show, contestants sold fruit juice from push carts in Cairo's busiest market and later organized a desert safari for tourists, hustling to make sales in the capital's crowded streets.

The program, called "The Project" in Arabic, highlights entrepreneurship and small business acumen — something experts say is more crucial than ever as Egypt tries to claw its way out of tough economic times.

With youth unemployment upward of 30 percent and its economy only now back to levels seen before its 2011 uprising, Egypt's salvation may lie in the small, informal businesses run by those scraping out a living in the Arab world's most populous country.

"There is not even a word for entrepreneurship in Arabic," said Anna Elliot, executive producer of "The Project" and founder of Bamyan Media. "But there is this hunger for it."

Egypt's economic landscape is largely controlled by its government, the country's No. 1 employer. However, the government is grappling with large budget deficit and has had to seek billions of dollars in financial bailout cash from Gulf nations since a July 3 military overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

But outside of government-owned companies and large multinational corporations, there are thousands of small, largely informal businesses, from street vendors to small shops. Most of those don't pay taxes and operate in small towns and informal areas outside the capital.

Experts believe that gray economy truly powers Egypt. Ghada Fathi Waly, managing director of Egypt's Social Fund for Development, estimated that at least two-thirds of the country's economy rides on the informal businesses. Waly, who was last week also appointed a government minister, recommended allowing the businesses to run outside of government control to allow them to flourish, while registering and taxing only potential exporters.

"I think we should definitely be very optimistic about small businesses in Egypt," Waly said. "We have seen that this sector has shown resilience and has been able to change course."

One company that received aid from the social fund is Trustpack, which makes the foil backing for sheets of pills. Owner Adel Abd ElSadk, who ran the machines himself in lean times, said he now employs 84 people from his two-room shop on the outskirts of Cairo.

"I thought it would be better than if I lived my whole life as an employee, with all of my efforts going toward benefiting others, and not myself," ElSadk said.

Waly said it's the kind of attitude she's seen emerge since the country revolted against autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011. She said many Egyptians say they want to break away from the model of a centralized government economy and the so-called "crony capitalism" of the Mubarak era.

"Young people are realizing that the government is not going to be hiring," Waly said.

That push is highlighted on "The Project." Bamyan, funded in part by the government-run U.S. Agency for International Development, produced a similar show on entrepreneurship in Afghanistan.

Elliot said her hope is that the show will ultimately help job creation in Egypt, even if indirectly. All contestants voted off the show are told "you'll realize your dream, just not with us," and are given seed money to jump-start their own business. A recent conference hosted by the show in a village in southern Egypt attracted hundreds, she said.

Contestant Thari el-Din, a Nubian from southern Egypt who plans to open a handicraft workshop for people with special needs, said the show made him believe he could succeed.

"I used to think, you know, someday I will do this," said el-Din, 23. "I used to think I needed a big space to start my business. Now, I've found that I'm able to start small, and it's much better that way."

Yet contestants remain far removed from the daily challenges of Egypt, living outside of Cairo, chauffeured in air-conditioned buses and using brand-new mobile phones. Waly, the social fund's director, said her work also has been affected by the constantly changing governments and bureaucracy accompanying Egypt's tumultuous last few years.

Despite that, she said her work offers a front-row seat to the vibrant small business growth taking place across Egypt.

"We want people to know that while part of Egypt was demonstrating, part of Egypt was also working," Waly said.

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Online:

"The Project" Arabic website: www.elmashrou3.tv

Government orders Graco to explain recall

DETROIT -- The federal government is ordering child seat maker Graco to explain why it didn't include 1.8 million infant seats in a recall for faulty buckles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says Graco has until March 20 to explain why last month's recall of 3.8 million child seats didn't include infant seats, which have the same buckles that can get stuck on the child seats.

Graco has said the child seat buckles get stuck because children drop food or drinks on them. It is sending replacement buckles to owners for free. It will also send replacement buckles for infant seats if owners request them.

NHTSA says Graco will face fines of $7,000 per day if its response is late or incomplete.

Graco said Friday it will comply with the request for an explanation.

Job gain in Feb. despite harsh weather lifts hopes

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- U.S. employers stepped up hiring in February despite a blast of harsh winter weather, renewing hopes that the economy could accelerate this year.

February's gain of 175,000 jobs, up from January's 129,000, coincided with a rise in the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent from a five-year low of 6.6 percent. The rate rose because more people began seeking jobs but some didn't find them. That's still an encouraging sign: More job hunters suggest that people grew more optimistic about their prospects.

Friday's figures from the Labor Department were a welcome surprise after recent reports showed that harsh weather had closed factories, lowered auto sales and slowed home sales. Along with a sharp increase in wages last month, the report suggests that some employers are confident that consumer spending will pick up in coming months.

The severe winter appeared to have less effect on hiring than most economists had feared. Construction companies, which usually stop work in bad weather, added 15,000 jobs. Manufacturing gained 6,000 for a second straight month. Government added 13,000 jobs, the most in six months.

"This suggests we should see solid gains in job growth in coming months," said Michelle Meyer, senior U.S. economist at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research.

Daniel Alpert, managing partner at Westwood Capital, noted that roughly two-thirds of the job growth in January and February was in higher-paying industries. That's a reversal from all of last year, when about two-thirds of job growth was in lower-paying fields.

A category called professional and business services, which includes better-paying jobs such as engineers, accountants and architects, along with some lower-paying jobs such as temporary work, added 79,000 jobs in February. That was the most in a year.

Retailers, though, lost 4,100 jobs, transportation and warehousing firms 3,600.

Despite February's solid gain, the monthly average of 129,000 jobs that employers have added from December through February marks the weakest three-month stretch since mid-2012. It's down from a 225,000 average for the previous three months.

The report presents "a picture of a grinding but positive recovery in the economy," said Stephen Wood, chief market strategist at Russell Investments.

The government revised up its estimate of job gains for December and January by a combined 25,000. December's gain was revised up from 75,000 to 84,000, January's from 113,000 to 129,000.

Friday's report makes it likely that the Federal Reserve will continue reducing its monthly bond purchases at its next meeting March 18-19. The Fed is buying Treasury and mortgage bonds to try to keep long-term loan rates low to spur growth. Fed policymakers have reduced their monthly bond purchases by $10 billion at each of their past two meetings to $65 billion.

Average hourly pay rose 9 cents in February to $24.31, the biggest gain since June. Hourly wages have risen 2.2 percent over the past 12 months, ahead of 1.6 percent inflation over that time. That could mean that employers are finally starting to boost pay after several years of stagnant wages.

Economists cautioned that further sustained increases would be needed to signify a broad pickup in pay. Some of the wage increase likely reflects the recent job gains in higher-paying fields.

Though harsh winter weather didn't appear to slow hiring much, more than 6 million Americans said weather forced them to work part time in February rather than full time. That was the highest such level for any February in the 36 years that the government has tracked the figure.

Those workers were counted as employed and didn't distort either the February job gain or unemployment rate. But for many, fewer hours will mean lower pay. That could hold back consumer spending and the economy in the first quarter of the year.

More than a quarter-million people started looking for a job last month, and most of them didn't find one. Their influx caused the unemployment rate to rise.

Some recent reports hint that the economy will accelerate as the weather warms. The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits fell last week and is at about the same level as before the Great Recession.

Applications for unemployment benefits essentially reflect layoffs. The decline suggests that companies are confident about future growth, because layoffs would rise if employers expected business to weaken. Instead, companies advertised more jobs online last month, according to the Conference Board. Online job ads rose 268,100 in February to 5.19 million.

Still, other factors are weighing on the economy. Auto makers and other manufacturers built up big stockpiles of goods in the second half of last year. That means they are likely producing fewer goods this year and is probably one reason factory orders are down.

Most economists forecast the economy will grow at a 2 percent annual pace or less in the first three months of the year, down from a 2.4 percent pace in the final three months of 2013. But they expect growth to accelerate in the spring and summer to roughly a 3 percent annual pace.

"We continue to believe the economy will defrost in the spring and heat up in the summer," said Meyer of BofA Merrill Lynch.

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AP Economics Writers Josh Boak and Paul Wiseman contributed to this report.

Contact Chris Rugaber on Twitter at http://bit.ly/NPkM3l .

Utah a step closer to new, bigger convention hotel

SALT LAKE CITY -- A proposal that would increase Salt Lake City's hotel space — making more room for outdoor gear shows, conferences and the crowds they bring — is advancing in the state Legislature.

A Senate committee voted unanimously Friday to approve the measure aiming to draw a developer to build a downtown Salt Lake City mega-hotel by offering tax rebates. It now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

"Yahoo for us," said Sen. Karen Mayne, D-West Valley City. "This is going to be an economic boon in many folds for us."

Backers, including Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams, said the measure would increase tourism revenues and keep the state from losing regular expos and conferences. But critics contend it's a waste of state money to give incentives for development that would move forward even without government intervention.

At most, the proposal would set aside $75 million in public money to draw private developers to build a hotel with up to 1,000 rooms.

Salt Lake City now hosts twice a year the world's largest outdoor gear trade show. It's scheduled to continue to host the event that routinely draws in 20,000 people through 2016.

But without more hotel space, organizers have warned, the show will need to set up elsewhere.

The city has lost out on 20 conventions because organizers said the current hotel space is inadequate, Sen. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said Friday.

The new hotel, which under the legislation is required to go up within 1,000 feet of the Salt Palace Convention Center, would need to hit certain tourism revenue benchmarks in order to qualify for tax rebates under the measure from Rep. Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville.

Private money would pay to build the hotel, which must have at least 500,000 square feet available for conventions. The state would only reimburse the builder for the cost of putting up public spaces, including parking and convention rooms.

On Friday, Jeremy Keele of McAdams' office praised the bill on the mayor's behalf. The hotel could cost about $335 million, McAdams has said.

Last year, lawmakers killed a similar proposal in the final moments of the session. This year's bill has the support of House Speaker Becky Lockhart, R-Provo. Lockhart said in February that she backs the 2014 measure because it offers discounts to convention visitors on subsequent trips to Utah, which helps the entire state and not just Salt Lake City.

On Friday, Royce Van Tassell, the vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association, criticized the bill, saying it subsidizes tourism that would occur even without government help. "It is just inappropriate to provide subsidies for economic activity," Van Tassell said.

Critics earlier said they feared the new hotel would usurp business from existing hotels. The group included Jordan Garn, the executive director of the Utah Hotel & Lodging Association.

But lawmakers have since proposed that some revenues generated by the new hotel help other hotels cope with empty rooms by creating a marketing campaign to draw visitors to hotels statewide. Garn spoke in favor of the measure on Friday.

The added marketing piece also won support from Sen. Pat Jones, D-Salt Lake City. The measure would bring Salt Lake City on par with other major cities, she said Friday.

"We are clearly on the cusp of becoming in the big leagues," Jones said.

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Online:

HB 356: http://1.usa.gov/1lGfhSX

US trade deficit rose to $39.1 billion in January

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. trade deficit widened slightly in January as a rise in imports of oil and other foreign goods offset a solid increase in exports.

The trade deficit increased to $39.1 billion, up 0.3 percent from December's revised $39 billion deficit, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

Exports climbed 0.6 percent to $192.8 billion, led by increased sales of U.S.-made machinery, aircraft and medical equipment. Imports also rose 0.6 percent to $231.6 billion, reflecting a 9 percent jump in imports of petroleum. Imports of food and machinery also rose.

The trade deficit is the difference between imports and exports. A higher trade deficit acts as a drag on economic growth because it means U.S. companies are making less overseas then their foreign competitors are earning in U.S. sales.

Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said the January trade report suggests the trade deficit will remain on a gradual downward trend this year, reflecting a shrinking U.S. energy deficit.

In 2013, the trade deficit dropped 11.2 percent to $474.9 billion, providing a small boost to overall growth. Economists believe that trade will contribute to growth again this year but only by a modest amount. They are forecasting that U.S. exports will keep rising, but that this will be offset somewhat by gains in imports as a stronger U.S. and higher consumer spending attracts more foreign goods.

In the October-December quarter, the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.4 percent and a full percentage point of that growth came from a shrinking trade deficit. For the whole year, the falling trade deficit contributed a smaller 0.1 percentage point to growth.

One bright spot for trade: America's increased energy production is expected to continue. A domestic energy boom has boosted exports and reduced America's dependence on foreign oil. U.S. petroleum exports rose to an all-time high of $137.2 billion last year, up 11 percent from 2012. Imports were down 10.9 percent to $369.4 billion as domestic production took the place of the need for some imports.

For January, petroleum imports jumped 9 percent to $31.7 billion, reflecting an increased volume of shipments. The average price for a barrel of crude oil fell to $90.21, the lowest level since February 2011. America's energy exports dropped 8.4 percent to $12.4 billion.

As usual, the highest country trade imbalance was with China, a deficit of $27.8 billion, up 13.5 percent from December.

The deficit with the 28-nation European Union fell 22.2 percent in January to $8.9 billion as U.S. exports to that region increased while imports from Europe to the United States declined.

The United States recorded another record annual trade deficit with China in 2013 and the expectation is that the deficit will rise further in 2014. That has led to increased pressure on the Obama administration and Congress to take a tougher line on what critics see as unfair trade practices that China is using to gain trade advantages.

The chief culprit, the critics say, is China's manipulation of its currency to keep it undervalued against the U.S. dollar. That makes Chinese goods cheaper in the United States and America products more expensive in China.

Initial public offerings scheduled to debut next week

NEW YORK -- The following is a list of initial public offerings planned for the coming week. Sources include Renaissance Capital, Greenwich, CT (http://bit.ly/1noLGfa) and SEC filings.

Week of March 10:

Achaogen Inc. - South San Francisco, Calif., 5 million shares, priced $12 to $14, managed by Credit Suisse and Cowen & Co. Proposed Nasdaq symbol AKAO. Business: Developing antibiotic treatments of multi-drug resistant infections.

Castlight Health Inc. - San Francisco, 11.1 million shares, priced $9 to $11, managed by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Proposed NYSE symbol CSLT. Business: Provides an on-demand software platform that helps self-insured employers control healthcare costs.

Diamond S Shipping Group Inc. - Greenwich, Conn., 14 million shares, priced $14 to $16, managed by Jefferies and BofA Merrill Lynch. Proposed NYSE symbol DSG. Business: Second-largest medium range oil tanker operator.

Dipexium Pharmaceuticals Inc. - New York, 2.3 million shares, priced $12 to $14, managed by Oppenheimer. Proposed Nasdaq symbol DPRX. Business: Late-stage biotech developing a topical antibiotic for diabetic foot ulcer infections.

Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd. - Tel Aviv, Israel, 2.35 million ordinary shares, priced $12 to $14, managed by Maxim Group. Proposed Nasdaq symbol GLMD. Business: Clinical-stage biotech developing therapies for liver diseases and gallstones.

Republicans Find Useful Enemy In Harry Reid

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hide captionSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., faces reporters at the Capitol after bipartisan Senate opposition blocked swift confirmation for President Barack Obama's choice to head the Justice Department's Civil Rights division on March 5.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., faces reporters at the Capitol after bipartisan Senate opposition blocked swift confirmation for President Barack Obama's choice to head the Justice Department's Civil Rights division on March 5.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Conservatives can't stand Harry Reid.

The Senate majority leader is under steady attack from Republicans for calling the Koch brothers, billionaire funders of conservative causes, "un-American." His Senate colleagues across the aisle criticize his stewardship in unusually sharp terms.

Recognizing a rich vein, New Jersey GOP Gov. Chris Christie took on the Nevada Democrat Thursday during his address to the Conservative Political Action Conference.

"Harry Reid should get back to work and stop picking on great Americans," Christie said.

Reid's habit of attacking political opponents in highly charged and personal ways has all kinds of Republican pundits and politicians slamming him, accusing the veteran senator of "McCarthyism" and calling him "detestable" or even "the worst living human being on the planet."

It's gotten to the point where getting rid of Reid and taking the Senate agenda out of his control is emerging as a talking point for GOP candidates this year.

"He's certainly a symbol of most of what's wrong with Washington these days," says David Ray, communications director for Republican Rep. Tom Cotton's Arkansas Senate campaign. "We're not going to have a conservative majority as long as Harry Reid is running things."

There's just one problem: It's not clear that enough voters have even heard of Reid to make him into a useful target for Republicans nationwide.

"I don't think that Harry Reid is a particularly scary character to ordinary folks," says Gary Jacobson, a political scientist at the University of California San Diego. "About half the population probably knows who he is."

No Politics Is Local

It's become common in recent election cycles for one party to villify and lambaste the leaders of the other, to say that a vote for Candidate X is a vote for Newt Gingrich or Nancy Pelosi as Speaker.

It's a sign both of how polarized the country is and how nationalized House and Senate races have become.

"You can make the case that the Tip O'Neill trope, 'all politics is local,' has changed," says Kyle Kondik, managing editor of the Crystal Ball, a website run by the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "If it was ever true, it's less true now than it was."

Republicans believe they have an especially ripe target in Reid. A Gallup poll last fall showed that Reid's job approval rating stood at 33, compared to 53 percent who disapproved — the worst showing among current congressional leaders (although not by much).

Reid was called out by Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, in his CPAC address on Thursday.

"Can you believe this guy?" McConnell said. "Reid has spent two weeks calling people whose lives have been upended by Obamacare liars."

Liars And Losers

McConnell was referring to Reid's recent assertion that the claims from people in ads funded by Americans for Prosperity — a Koch-backed organization — were false. Those individuals had said they were personally harmed by the Affordable Care Act, including a Michigan woman with leukemia.

Reid's decision to criticize a cancer patient by name on the Senate floor — with cause, by some accounts — was denounced by numerous Republicans. His more recent charges against the Koch brothers have turned up the noise.

"If Harry Reid were a 'real man' he'd zip his lips disparaging Americans from the Senate floor," Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, tweeted Wednesday.

Reid's latest volleys follow a long list of provocative statements, including his claim during the 2012 campaign that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney hadn't paid his taxes for 10 years, or the time in 2005 he called President George W. Bush a "loser."

Getting Rid Of Harry

That scorched earth approach led Fox host Greta Van Susteren to suggest that Reid should step down from his leadership post because he is a "bully."

Republicans would just as soon force him out by taking control of the Senate this fall. "Folks understand that a vote for Mary Landrieu, Mark Udall, Kay Hagan or Mark Begich is a vote for more of the same broken promises, failed policies and Washington dysfunction," says Brook Hougesen, press secretary for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Indeed, many of the Republicans running against those incumbent Democratic senators have complained not only about them but about Reid himself.

In a recent telephone town hall, Rep. Bill Cassidy, Landrieu's main opponent in Louisiana, didn't mention her and instead focused on Reid. Thom Tillis, who is running against Hagan in North Carolina, accused her of pushing Reid's policies when he officially filed as a Senate candidate last week.

Enough Of A Target?

Republicans have been trying to make Reid into a bogeyman for a long time. Yet no matter what complaints they lodge against him, he has kept his grip on power.

Reid appears totally unfazed by the idea that Republicans are once again targeting him.

"Most people don't know who I am," he told Politico in an interview published Thursday.

Most people who have hostile views of him are probably Republicans anyway, says Jacobson, the UCSD political scientist. Attacking Reid isn't going to change many minds.

But it can be a useful tactic nonetheless.

"You can think of it as motivating turnout," Jacobson says. "In red states where you have a Democratic senator who is working with Harry Reid, it's a way of reminding people that their senators are Democrats."

And, if Reid doesn't help turn out the vote, Republicans are counting on another, better-known villain — the president.

"Harry Reid and Senate Democrats are a tool or a proxy for President Obama," says Hougesen, the NRSC press secretary.

Taxis, limos upset over rules for tech competition

DENVER -- Frustrated and angry, more than 100 cabbies pulled up outside the Colorado Statehouse early this legislative session to protest tech startups known as ridesharing services.

The taxi drivers say the emerging firms, which allow passengers to hail rides with the swipe of a smartphone, are avoiding costly requirements that they and other commercial drivers are forced to follow.

Ridesharing company officials say they're open to regulation and point to self-imposed controls such as criminal background checks as proof of their willingness to cooperate. They're also pushing back, saying critics and protesters are only trying to suppress competition and legislate them out of business.

The dispute in Denver mirrors similar fights playing out across the nation as state lawmakers and city government officials consider how to regulate emerging Web-based businesses that provide a service similar to that offered by traditional cab and limo companies, but under a distinctly different model.

"You know, change isn't easy," said Colorado Democratic Rep. Cheri Jahn. "But sometimes it's time to move forward."

The companies use mobile apps that connect passengers to drivers, often everyday people seeking extra income by picking up fares as they commute or run errands. Passengers pay through the app and can even tip electronically.

One well-known firm, Uber, operates in more than 70 cities around the world, offering everything from quick rides to luxury service.

Another, Lyft, has become known for pink mustaches on front bumpers and does business in more than 20 U.S. cities.

Neither has publicly released financial figures or user statistics. But their entry into the market has been disruptive, according to traditional cab and limo services that have raised the loudest opposition.

"There's all kinds of ways to avoid costs, which goes to the corporate bottom line," said Al LaGasse, CEO of the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association. "But is that really in the public's interest?"

The ridesharing companies say they welcome regulation, but not thinly veiled attempts to shut them out.

"We're open to having a conversation on how to create a permanent home in the regulatory scheme," said Uber spokeswoman Nairi Hourdajian. But proposed bills that have "the clear intent of eliminating choice for consumers and opportunities for drivers are not the way to go about this."

Public officials have to sort out several topics, including insurance, background checks and price structure. Also at issue is the definition of "ridesharing service."

They realize something has to be done, otherwise cab and limo companies could simply say they're in the ridesharing business and avoid expenses such as painting vehicles, installing meters, obtaining permits and keeping mandated maintenance schedules.

"So why would you stay a cab company?" asked Doug Dean, the head of Colorado's Public Utilities Commission, at a hearing last month.

It's difficult to determine the exact scope of efforts to regulate ridesharing companies, said Douglas Shinkle, of the National Council of State Legislatures, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan nonprofit that monitors and researches state governments. Some proposals have come from state lawmakers, some from city councils and others, such as California, from state agencies, he said.

Arizona, Colorado, Georgia and Maryland all have had legislation pending this year, Shinkle said. No proposal has passed.

The attempt at regulation in Georgia, drafted with help from a limo company lobbyist, stalled amid opposition from the ridesharing companies, customers and the libertarian-leaning Americans For Prosperity.

The Colorado plan has passed a Senate committee but faces several more legislative hurdles. It has bipartisan support and several sponsors from both Republicans and Democrats, including Jahn. The measure would designate ridesharing firms as "transportation networks," separate from taxi and limo services. It would require insurance, background checks and training, which Uber and Lyft already are doing, but the bill would add utility commission oversight.

At the city level, Chicago and Seattle officials also are discussing plans.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed an ordinance that would license ridesharing operations and require insurance. Critics say it doesn't go far enough, and several taxi companies sued, saying the plan unfairly singles them out.

In Seattle, the City Council is considering limiting the number of drivers ridesharing companies have on the roads.

In California, state regulators decided last year that ridesharing companies must make sure drivers undergo specific training and criminal background checks and carry commercial liability insurance.

In unregulated markets, Uber and Lyft internally require checks on drivers. For insurance, ridesharing drivers use personal policies when they don't have passengers. When they have a fare in the vehicle, they use a corporate policy.

Insurance has become a flashpoint after a 6-year-old girl was killed in a crosswalk by an Uber driver in San Francisco on New Year's Eve. The girl's family said Uber is financially responsible since the driver was waiting for customers. Lawyers for Uber say the company isn't liable since no passenger was in the car. The case is pending in state court.

Another point of conflict has been the pricing system. Uber, which offers services that include professional drivers, sets rates using a combination of minimum charges, time and mileage. But prices increase during heavy demand. Lyft also uses flexible rates, asking users to pay an amount based on time and mileage.

On a recent afternoon, a 2-mile trip through downtown Denver, using Uber's low-cost service, UberX, to get from the Colorado Capitol to Coors Field, would cost about $5 to $6, based on the company's online fare estimator. The same trip in a traditional cab, such as Yellow Cab or Denver Metro Taxi, would cost about $7 or more, according to the rates posted on the their websites.

The scrapped legislation in Georgia sought to require limo drivers working through Uber to standardize their rates. Lyft doesn't use professional operators and didn't expect its pricing structure would have been affected by the Georgia bill, spokeswoman Paige Thelen said.

Jennie Morris, a 37-year-old Denver resident, said she uses Lyft about twice a week and enjoys chatting with drivers. "It's just like if I would meet someone on the street and have a nice conversation with them, but instead they're giving me a ride," she said.

Gary DiGiorgio, a 59-year-old from suburban Denver, became an Uber driver to supplement his income during slow months in his real-estate business. For him, the issue of regulation comes down to economic concerns. "We, as Americans, need to go ahead and respect freedom of business," he said.

But for cabbies, the issue is one of fairness. "We're not afraid of competition," said Mohamed Abdi, a 32-year-old Yellow Cab driver in Denver. But "we all have to play by the same rules."

Henry reported from Atlanta.

First-time unemployment insurance claims rise

BATON ROUGE, La. -- First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending March 1 increased from the previous week's total.

The Louisiana Workforce Commission said Friday that initial claims rose to 2,125 from the previous week's total of 1,964. There were 2,887 initial claims during the comparable week in 2013.

The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, increased to 2,119 from the previous week's average of 2,084.

Continued unemployment weeks claimed for the week ending March 1 decreased to 21,409 compared to 21,835 the previous week. The four-week moving average for such claims decreased to 22,151 from the previous week's average of 22,502.

US stocks drift lower as Ukraine tensions fester

NEW YORK -- Stocks are drifting mostly lower in afternoon trading Friday as tensions build in Ukraine, where the region of Crimea is preparing for a referendum on whether to split away and become part of Russia. Those concerns offset an encouraging pickup in hiring by U.S. employers last month.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost less than a point to 1,876 as of 12:54 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 27 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,449. The Nasdaq composite lost 19 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,333. Three stocks fell for every two that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

BIGGEST LOSERS: Biotechnology and health care stocks were among the biggest decliners in early trading. Biogen Idec was down roughly 4 percent. Gilead Sciences was down 1 percent. The Nasdaq composite index is more heavily weighted to biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical companies, which is part of the reason the index is down much more than the Dow or S&P 500.

JOBS: The Labor Department's report of 175,000 job additions last month was much better than expected. Economists had been forecasting an increase of 145,000 jobs, according to FactSet. Investors had low expectations because of winter storms that hit much of the country last month. The positive job figures were a relief because the harsh weather closed factories, lowered auto sales, and caused existing-home sales to plummet.

BONDS DROP: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.80 percent from 2.74 percent late Thursday. The yield had been as low as 2.60 percent earlier this week.

DON'T FORGET UKRAINE: Lawmakers in Russian-occupied Crimea unanimously declared they wanted to join Russia and would put the decision to voters in 10 days. President Barack Obama and several other Western leaders have condemned the referendum.

"The concerns on the geopolitical front are overshadowing the good news we got from the jobs number," said Dean Junkans, chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Private Bank, which manages $170 billion in assets.

BIG GAIN FOR BIG LOTS: The discount retail chain Big Lots soared $5.95, or 20 percent, to $35.22. Big Lots reported a decline in fourth-quarter profits but the company's sales came in much better than expected. The company also said it would shut down its struggling Canadian operations.

Texas financial firm worker gets prison for fraud

DALLAS -- An employee of a Dallas-based financial firm has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for trying to embezzle nearly $1.3 million.

A federal judge in Dallas on Thursday sentenced Steven Chen Yu of Allen to 51 months behind bars. Yu, who last July pleaded guilty to wire fraud, must also pay $365,000 in restitution.

Prosecutors say Yu was working for Hudson Advisors LLC when he diverted funds by submitting duplicate invoices for work already paid for on behalf of a Hudson executive, such as landscaping and boat repairs. The case goes back to 2009.

Investigators say Yu also diverted funds and made an advance "estimated tax payments" for future state income taxes in Massachusetts — then sought a refund.

Yu must report to prison next month.

Mass. eyes states with functioning health websites

BOSTON -- Massachusetts health care officials struggling to repair the state's hobbled website are looking at the possibility of leasing or buying technology from states with functioning insurance sites.

Massachusetts Health Connector officials said Friday that looking for solutions from other states is just one of four options being weighed.

Others include forging ahead with the current website contractor CGI Group, looking for a new vendor, or scrapping the website and starting over.

Despite the website troubles, officials say they are making progress whittling down the backlog of people looking to sign up for health insurance.

Officials warn that March could be a busy month.

The deadline to sign up or risk fees for those seeking non-subsidized insurance plans is March 31. Those seeking subsidized plans in Massachusetts have until June 30.

German industrial production rises in January

BERLIN -- German industrial production rose 0.8 percent in January compared with the previous month, boosted by strong growth in the construction sector during the country's unseasonably warm winter.

The Economy Ministry on Friday also released new figures for December from the Federal Statistical Office that showed a small rise of 0.1 percent for that month, revised upward from a 0.6 percent drop.

Official data released Thursday showed that factory orders were up 1.2 percent in January, better than analysts had predicted.

ING economist Carsten Brzeski says hard economic data is now beginning to match the positive business sentiment recorded at the end of 2013.

He says that with fourth-quarter growth recently revised upward to 0.4 percent compared with the previous quarter, indications are that the German economy should gain momentum.

NE Pa. optical plant to close, lay off 145 workers

SIMPSON, Pa. -- An optical firm has announced plans to close a northeastern Pennsylvania plant this fall, laying off all 145 workers.

Essilor of America spokeswoman Kristan Willingham told The (Scranton) Times-Tribune (http://bit.ly/1hSU9pk ) Thursday that Gentex Optics Inc. will close the Fell Township plant in October.

Gentex Optics is a subsidiary of Essilor International, a French company that is the world's largest producer of eyeglass lenses.

Willingham said such decisions are not made lightly, but "the facility is no longer competitive." Operations are to continue through September.

She said workers at the factory, which makes lenses for eyewear, were notified Wednesday and Thursday, and officials are working to help them find other jobs.

Carbondale Mayor Justin Taylor said he was told that Essilor will transfer the work to a plant in Massachusetts.