Lebanon police, wanted man exchange fire, casualties

Lebanon police, wanted man exchange fire, casualties

Judicial police exchanged fire with a wanted terrorist in Baalbek, east Lebanon, leaving a Syrian man dead and at...

Lebanon's Arabic press digest – July 2, 2014

The following are a selection of stories from Lebanese newspapers that may be of interest to Daily Star readers. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.

Al-Joumhouria

Hariri promised to make Aoun president after Sleiman’s extension

Sources following up on political contacts between former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Free Patriotic Movement head Michel Aoun told Al-Joumhouria that Hariri has suggested a six-month or one year extension of former President Michel Sleiman’s term in return for appointing Brig. Gen. Shamel Roukoz Lebanese Army Commander and a royal Saudi pledge to elect Aoun after the expiry of Sleiman’s tenure.

Meanwhile, a security source told Al-Joumhouria that Information available to security authorities has it that car bombs or motorcycles or perhaps suicide bombers are likely to slip into the entrances to sites guarded by security forces.

Al-Akhbar

Jumblatt did not receive royal blessings to meet Saudi King

Well-informed sources told Al-Akhbar that Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt did not yet receive royal blessings that would allow him to meet Saudi King Abdullal.

The sources said Jumblatt’s keenness to maintain “strong ties” with Hezbollah has bothered Al-Saud. Likewise, Saudi pampering to Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has drew Jumblatt’s ire.

An-Nahar

U.S. talks to pick up momentum in September

March 14 met for evaluation of positions

Political circles following up on the presidential election crisis have learned from sources in Washington that the U.S. administration plans to evaluate the failure of its diplomacy in dealing with the Lebanese presidential election.

The sources said that political contacts between the U.S. and Lebanon will be activated in September.

Meanwhile, the March 14 coalition met Tuesday for evaluation of positions on the eve of a new legislative session to elect a head of state.

March 14 MPs will take part in Wednesday’s voting session, while knowing that it is doomed to fail just like the previous sessions since April.

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Film, TV representatives discuss Ga. crew needs

ATLANTA -- Representatives for the film and television industry told state officials on Tuesday that they regularly struggle to find crew members in Georgia and have to hire staff from other states, a threat to the tax incentives that have caused a boom in filming in the state during the last few years.

Tuesday's listening session is the latest in a series of discussions on workforce development in Georgia, and the first to focus on one industry.

Georgia is expecting to award $163 million in the credits in fiscal year 2015, according to state budget documents. Production companies that spend at least $500,000 in qualified expenses are eligible for the 20 percent tax credit and can receive an additional 10 percent credit if the project includes a Georgia logo.

The problem, industry representatives said Tuesday, is finding people will both the training and on-the-job experience to help projects get done on time and on budget.

David Grant, vice president of physical production for Marvel Studios, is producing the studio's first project in Georgia, "Ant Man," and called the state's incentive program one of, if not the best, in the U.S. But Marvel has struggled to find the experienced and trained special effects technicians, specialty costumers and stunt team members especially important to an action hero production, Grant said.

When they can't hire locally, crew members have to be flown in from California, he said.

"We've found because Georgia is so busy, some of the advantages of being here via the incentive are wiped away because of the amount of people we have to bring in," he said.

Other projects have struggled to find construction crews, grip and electric teams and special effects, especially for television teams facing a deadline of only a few weeks, said Craig McNeil, production executive at NBC's cable arm Universal Cable Productions. McNeil is midway through shooting the first season of "Satisfaction" in Georgia and said the number of projects shooting simultaneously in the state can make it difficult to fully staff.

"In a way, Georgia has become a victim of its own success," McNeil said.

Last year, film and TV spent $933.9 million on projects produced in Georgia, with a total economic impact of $3.3 billion according to state Department of Economic Development estimates. In 2007, film and TV production costs totaled $132.5 million.

Lee Thomas, director of the Georgia Film, Music & Digital Entertainment Office, said Tuesday's event was intended to bring workforce issues to the attention of the state's public universities and technical colleges. Companies depend on both the incentives and being able to find crews they need, she said.

"It's a huge concern, and that's why we're here to try to get ahead of it and try to make sure that we can stem the problem," she said.

Penguins sign Ehrhoff to 1-year, $4 million deal

Jim Rutherford didn't expect to fill all the holes on the Pittsburgh Penguins' roster in a day.

Good thing, because it didn't happen. Not even close.

Still, the new general manager isn't panicking despite losing six players in free agency, including defensemen Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen, and talented winger Jussi Jokinen.

Less than a month into the job, Rutherford is taking a pragmatic approach to replenishing the talent around stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The process began Tuesday when the Penguins signed defenseman Christian Ehrhoff, forward Blake Comeau and goaltender Thomas Greiss to one-year deals. The team also retained forward Marcel Goc.

Hardly the kind of splashy signings made elsewhere — Washington spent $67.5 million alone to bring in Orpik and Niskanen — but Rutherford isn't complaining.

"We don't necessarily have to have our team all set for a playoff run in September," he said.

Ehrhoff came onto the market over the weekend after the Buffalo Sabres bought out the final seven seasons his 10-year contract. The 31-year-old will make $4 million next season in Pittsburgh. The German-born Ehrhoff has 69 goals and 313 points in 692 games, and Rutherford believes Ehrhoff's skill set will fit in well under new coach Mike Johnston.

"He plays a lot of minutes, 23-24 a game, can play right or left defense, power play, penalty kill," Rutherford said. "He's in great shape and a great team guy. He can really skate and with the kind of team we have, having a guy back there that can skate and move the puck is important."

Rutherford is confident the young defensemen in Pittsburgh's minor league system will give the Penguins a solid blue line even without Orpik — the longest-tenured defenseman in team history — and Niskanen, who cashed in after a career year.

Still, Rutherford didn't waste a chance to grab Ehrhoff despite the shortness of the deal.

"He loved the opportunity to come with the Penguins," Rutherford said. "He just felt that, let's give it a one-year try with a good team and have a chance to win and then we'll look at it at the end of the season."

Comeau provides depth as a third or fourth line forward. The 28-year-old had five goals and 11 assists in 61 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets last season. Greiss, who went 10-8-5 with a 2.29 goals-against average for Phoenix in 2013-14, will compete with Jeff Zatkoff for the backup spot behind Marc-Andre Fleury.

The signings give the Penguins depth, but also leave plenty to address going forward, including who is going to play with Malkin after the departure of Jokinen and James Neal. The Penguins traded Neal to Nashville for Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling on Friday, and Jokinen left on Tuesday to sign a four-year deal with the Florida Panthers.

Hornqvist is a candidate to fill out a top six spot, and the return of Pascal Dupuis from a knee injury and Beau Bennett from a wrist injury should give the Penguins some options. Rutherford didn't rule out a run at free agent forward Nikolai Kulemin — who happens to be a good friend of Malkin's — but isn't sure the money will work.

"There's always a chance but it would take someone getting very, very creative to figure out how that contract fits into our cap," Rutherford said.

AP Sports Writer John Wawrow in Buffalo, NY contributed to this report.

ND regulators adopt natural gas flaring rules

BISMARCK, N.D. -- North Dakota regulators have adopted the most stringent rules to date aimed at reducing the amount of natural gas that is burned off and wasted as a byproduct of the state's soaring oil production.

The state Industrial Commission, which regulates North Dakota's oil and gas industry, endorsed a policy Tuesday that sets goals to reduce flaring in incremental steps through 2020. The new rules allow regulators to set production limits on oil companies if the targets are not met.

"There are going to be a couple of producers out there who will feel the pinch and are going to be scrambling," said Gov. Jack Dalrymple, who is chairman of the Industrial Commission, which also includes Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring as members.

Dalrymple said the new rules would be "meaningless" unless the state strictly enforced them.

"I hope what we do today, we are serious about," Dalrymple told Lynn Helms, director of the state Department of Mineral Resources, whose agency oversees oil drilling.

North Dakota drillers currently burn off, or flare, about 30 percent of the gas because development of pipelines and processing facilities to capture it hasn't kept pace with oil drilling. Less than 1 percent of natural gas is flared from oil fields nationwide, and less than 3 percent worldwide, the U.S. Energy Department said.

North Dakota, the nation's No. 2 oil producer behind Texas, is producing about 1 million barrels daily. The state also produces more than 1 million cubic feet of natural gas daily that comes when an oil well is drilled. The state is losing nearly $1 million monthly in natural gas tax revenue from flaring at present, state tax department records show.

The new flaring rules require flaring to be reduced to 26 percent by Oct. 1 and 90 percent within six years as infrastructure catches up with oil development. Companies that fail to meet the goals could have production at a well limited to as little as 100 barrels a day, depending on the amount of gas flared.

The percentage of flared natural gas in North Dakota has remained around one-third of production in recent years, though the overall volume has dramatically increased.

Wayde Schafer, a North Dakota spokesman for the Sierra Club, said in an interview that the new rules "don't go far enough and it takes too long to get there."

"It is good that the industry is recognizing this is a problem and the state is willing to do something about it," he said.

The state Industrial Commission also has required oil companies to submit a gas capturing plan with their drilling permits since June 1, in an attempt to curb flaring. The plan must include detailed information about when a well is slated for completion, its location and anticipated production. The plan also must contain a signed affidavit to show that gas-gathering companies have been consulted so that they may plan to meet the demand.

Helms said about a dozen oil companies already are meeting gas capturing targets set for October. Another 10 companies "are close" but a "handful are way out."

Helms believes there will be "peer pressure" among oil companies to ensure the targets are met.

North Dakota's flaring percentage is somewhat skewed by flaring on the Fort Berthold Reservation in the heart of the state's oil patch. Helms said the reservation accounts for about 30 percent of the oil production in the state but flaring percentages are often higher there, sometimes more than 40 percent.

The high flaring percentages on the reservation count toward the state's overall percentage, and curbing the practice there "is going to be challenging," he said.

The North Dakota Petroleum Council has said the industry has already invested more than $6 billion in infrastructure to capture natural gas in the past six years and plans to spend at least an additional $1.7 billion over the next two years building gas pipelines and other infrastructure.

Ron Ness, president of the group, said in an interview that the industry believes it can meet the flaring goals but hopes punishing companies by curtailing oil production will be used by regulators "as a last resort."

Grain mostly lower, livestock mixed

CHICAGO -- Grain futures were mostly lower Tuesday on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Wheat for Sept delivery fell 5 cents to $5.7250 a bushel; Sept corn was 2.75 cents lower at 4.16 a bushel; Dec oats were 8 cents higher at $3.32 a bushel; while Nov soybeans declined 9.75 cents to $11.4750 a bushel.

Beef higher and pork was lower on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

August live cattle rose 1.43 cents to $1.5150 a pound; August feeder cattle was 3 cents higher at $2.1577 a pound; while August lean hogs fell 2.40 cents to $1.3042 a pound.

Court orders review in Ohio birth control case

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered further review in a case involving Ohio business owners who challenged the birth control mandate under the new federal health care law, following its ruling that businesses can now lodge religious objections to the coverage.

The case involves two brothers, Francis and Philip M. Gilardi, who own Freshway Foods and Freshway Logistics of Sidney, Ohio, and challenged the mandate on religious grounds. Last November, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of the brothers based on their individual right to object to the coverage for their 400 employees if it goes against their Catholic faith, not on a company's right.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court refused to consider the federal government's appeal of that lower court ruling, but also sent the case back to the appeals court to rule in accordance with the justices' most recent decision. On Monday, the high court ruled for the first time that businesses can hold religious views under federal law.

The justices also ordered lower courts that ruled in favor of the Obama administration in separate cases to reconsider those decisions in light of Monday's 5-4 decision.

Two Michigan-based companies, Autocam Corp. and Eden Foods Inc., both lost their cases in the lower courts. The justices ordered the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati to reconsider its decisions against the companies.

Graco gives in, agrees to recall infant car seats

DETROIT -- Graco Children's Products is recalling 1.9 million infant car seats, bowing to demands from U.S. safety regulators, in what is now the largest seat recall in American history.

The recall, announced Tuesday, comes after a five-month spat between Graco and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Earlier this year the company recalled 4.2 million toddler seats because the harness buckles can get stuck. But it resisted the agency's demand to recall the infant seats.

Buckles can get gummed up by food and drinks, and that could make it hard to remove children. In some cases parents had to cut harnesses to get their kids out. The agency says that increases the risk of injuries in emergencies.

Graco argued that infant seats are used differently, and in an emergency, an adult can remove the whole seat rather than using the buckle.

When Graco announced the initial recall in February, NHTSA sent the company a sternly worded letter questioning why the infant seats weren't included. The agency said parents have filed complaints with the agency and the company about stuck buckles on the infant seats.

The letter also accused the company of soft-pedaling the recall with "incomplete and misleading" documents that will be seen by consumers. The agency threatened civil penalties.

But Graco, a division of Atlanta-based Newell Rubbermaid Inc., told The Associated Press at the time that rear-facing infant seats weren't being recalled because infants don't get food or drinks on their seats. Graco had agreed to send replacement buckles to owners of infant seats upon request.

In a June 27 letter to NHTSA, however, Graco said that further investigation showed a "higher than typical level of difficulty" in unlatching the infant seat buckles.

The company says there have been no injuries reported because of the problem. Spokeswoman Ashley Mowrey said in a statement that Tuesday's move, which brings the recall to 6.1 million seats, comes after months of sharing data and research with NHTSA. The company said the recall "is in the best interest of consumers and underscores our shared commitment to child passenger safety."

Infant-seat models covered by Tuesday's recall include the SnugRide, SnugRide Classic Connect (including Classic Connect 30 and 35), SnugRide 30, SnugRide 35, SnugRide Click Connect 40, and Aprica A30. They were manufactured between July 2010 and May 2013, according to NHTSA.

Graco will replace the buckles for free. Graco also is offering to send free replacement buckles to any customer, even those with seats not being recalled.

The company says owners can check to see if their seats are included by going to http://bit.ly/1qP6M8q or by calling (877) 766-7470.

Missouri judge rejects challenges to ballot items

By DAVID A. LIEB The Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A Missouri judge rejected legal challenges Tuesday to a pair of proposed constitutional amendments dealing with gun rights and transportation taxes that are to appear on the ballot next month.

In two similar rulings, Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem dismissed the lawsuits as moot because less than six weeks remain before the Aug. 5 election. He also upheld the ballot summaries approved by the Republican-led Legislature as sufficient and fair.

An attorney challenging the gun-rights measure said he would appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court.

But Jeanette Mott Oxford, who challenged the transportation tax in her role as executive director of the Missouri Association For Social Welfare, said she was ending her legal fight.

"We are going to put our energy into defeating this at the polls," she said.

Proposed Constitutional Amendment 7 would ask voters whether to impose a three-quarters cent sales tax for transportation projects for the next 10 years. The ballot summary projects that it would raise $534 million annually for state and local governments.

The lawsuit challenged the cost estimate and the description of the measure, claiming among other things that the wording was insufficient because it failed to list the current sales tax rate of 4.225 percent or note that the state use tax also would rise.

"The ruling is a total victory over the long-shot attempt by opponents to stop Missourians from having an opportunity to fix their roads and bridges," Bill McKenna, the treasurer for the campaign committee supporting the measure, said in a written statement.

Proposed Constitutional Amendment 5 would ask voters whether to enhance the right to keep and bear arms in the Missouri Constitution. It says the measure would declare the right "unalienable" and require state government to uphold that right.

The measure was challenged by prosecutors from St. Louis and Kansas City, the St. Louis police chief and a gun-control activist. They contended the ballot summary was insufficient for failing to mention other significant changes, including that gun-control measures would become subject to tougher legal scrutiny and that a current constitutional provision allowing restrictions on concealed guns would be repealed.

While rejecting those claims, Beetem also cited a state law that says: "No court shall have the authority to order an individual or issue be placed on the ballot less than six weeks before the date of the election."

The six-week mark, which already has passed, also is when absentee ballots are supposed to be available in Missouri.

Attorney Chuck Hatfield, who represents some of the gun-measure challengers, said he believes that law applies only to ordering a candidate or issue to appear on the ballot, not to removing or ordering a new summary for an item already placed on the ballot.

"It's a completely new issue that I think the Supreme Court needs to enlighten us on," he said.

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

Judge asked to halt EPA action on Pebble

JUNEAU, Alaska -- A federal judge has been asked to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from continuing a process that could lead to the veto of the proposed Pebble Mine, pending the outcome of litigation.

The group behind the project, the Pebble Limited Partnership, and the Alaska Peninsula Corp. filed the motion last week as part of their lawsuit against EPA.

EPA earlier this year concluded that large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay watershed posed significant risks to salmon. It then initiated a process that could result in development of the project being restricted or prohibited.

Critics fear the agency will veto the project before mine plans are finalized or permits are sought.

GM returns stolen Corvette to owner after 33 years

DETROIT -- The last time George Talley saw his beloved 1979 Chevrolet Corvette was when he parked it on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit in 1981.

That was 33 years ago, and Talley had believed the sports car was long gone until a surprise June 13 phone call from auto insurer AAA telling him his Vette was at a police station in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, about 840 miles southwest of Detroit.

"It was a lucky day to hear that my car had been found," Talley said Tuesday in a release. "They told me it was running, had 47,000 miles on it and was ready for me to pick up!"

GM Product Development Executive Vice President Mark Reuss heard the story and offered to ship the car back to Detroit where it was delivered Tuesday morning to Talley at the automaker's world headquarters — about three miles from where it was stolen.

"George's story brought a smile to my face," Reuss said. "As a longtime Corvette owner myself, I know the passion the car inspires. I also knew that car belonged home in Detroit, with its rightful owner, and we could make that happen."

Talley, 71, has owned three other Corvettes, but the 1979 model was his favorite, according to GM.

With highway fund running dry, DOT and Congress look for revenue

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Transportation said Tuesday that it would start limiting payments to states for road and transit projects next month in an attempt to conserve the federal Highway Trust Fund’s rapidly diminishing cash balance.

Usually, the department reimburses states for transportation projects upon request. But beginning Aug. 1, the states will have to live paycheck to paycheck, receiving funds only once every two weeks as money is collected through federal gasoline taxes.

The move may put pressure on Congress to approve at least a short-term fix before its August break begins. The DOT estimates that the highway fund will hit zero in late August, potentially idling several hundred thousand workers as midterm elections loom in the fall.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx wrote his state counterparts Tuesday that they would see, on average, a 28 percent reduction in funds.

“Depending on how they manage the funds, each state will feel the effects differently, but everyone will feel the impact sooner or later,” he wrote.

Congress has only 16 working days to reach an agreement before the August recess. Finding even a short-term solution might prove difficult. Last week, the Senate Finance Committee attempted to move forward with a $9 billion proposal to restore the highway fund through year’s end.

“I hope to see the committee take decisive bipartisan action and send a clear message that stabilizing the Highway Trust Fund is a priority now,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the committee’s chairman.

But Wyden’s plan went nowhere after Republicans said it wasn’t bipartisan enough.

“I am disappointed that the Senate appears to be heading down a partisan road on highway funding,” Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement last week.

Since the Interstate Highway System was created in 1956, a per-gallon tax on motor fuels has supported federal spending on transportation. The tax has been stuck at 18.4 cents for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel since 1993, and it’s lost its buying power to inflation.

Since 2008, federal transportation spending has exceeded the balance of the trust fund, and Congress has avoided the gas tax debate by transferring more than $50 billion from the federal treasury to keep it afloat. While some lawmakers say they don’t want to resort to that approach again, they may have no other options if they can’t reach an agreement.

Republicans want the general-fund transfers to be offset with spending reductions elsewhere, but Congress is running out of offsets. A proposal that Republicans in the House of Representatives circulated last month to pay for a patch in the highway fund by cutting back Saturday mail delivery went nowhere.

Groups that represent business, construction, labor and trucking have been pushing to increase the federal gasoline tax. Last month, Sens. Christopher Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, and Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, offered a bill that would raise the tax by 12 cents a gallon.

But President Barack Obama has never endorsed a gas tax increase, and conservative House Republicans are all but assured to oppose one. Obama favors closing corporate tax loopholes to shore up the highway fund, but his plan hasn’t attracted much support on Capitol Hill.

While spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday that the administration had “a sense of urgency” to make sure the fund didn’t go broke, he added that it’s up to Congress, not the president, to prevent that from happening.

“The president is hopeful that Congress will take action on that,” Earnest said.

Congress risks repeating what happened three years ago when it went home without reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration. For two weeks in the summer of 2011, the FAA lost its authority to collect taxes, costing $250 million in revenue that supports airport runway construction projects. The agency had to furlough almost 4,000 employees, including air traffic controllers.

Public outrage led Congress to enact a temporary fix. The impact of letting the Highway Trust Fund reach a zero balance could be even greater, according to some industry groups.

“The jobs impact would be worse,” said Darrin Roth, the director of highway operations at the American Trucking Associations. “This funds so many more projects and programs.”

Lesley Clark contributed to this article.

Pyeongchang gets 1st sponsor for 2018 Olympics

SEOUL, South Korea -- It may have taken some time, but the 2018 Winter Olympics finally have their first domestic sponsor.

The Pyeongchang Organizing Committee said Tuesday that South Korean telecom giant KT Corp. has agreed to become the Games' first Korean partner.

The announcement follows months of concerns that Pyeongchang had yet to secure a domestic sponsor, nearly three years after being awarded the 2018 Olympics.

KT will provide telecommunications services for the Games, including wireless communications and broadcasting facilities. The company is South Korea's largest fixed-line telecom service provider and the second-largest mobile service operator.

IOC President Thomas Bach, who is scheduled to hold a press conference in the host city on Wednesday, attended the signing ceremony in Seoul.

The top iPhone and iPad apps on App Store

App Store Official Charts for the week ending June 30, 2014:

Top Paid iPhone Apps:

1. Heads Up!, Warner Bros.

2. Minecraft - Pocket Edition, Mojang

3. Facetune, Lightricks Ltd.

4. Afterlight, Simon Filip

5. Stickman Soccer 2014, Robert Szeleney

6. Camera+, tap tap tap

7. Geometry Dash, Robert Topala

8. Sleep Cycle alarm clock, Northcube AB

9. Run with Map My Run+ - GPS Run,MapMyFitness

10. Plague Inc., Ndemic Creations

Top Free iPhone Apps:

1. Guess The Emoji : Emoji Pops, Conversion, LLC

2. Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, Glu Games Inc

3. WatchESPN, ESPN

4. FIFA Official App, FIFA

5. True Skate, True Axis

6. TwoDots, Betaworks One

7. Facebook Messenger, Facebook, Inc.

8. Fish Out Of Water!, Halfbrick Studios

9. Instagram, Instagram, Inc

10. Snapchat, Snapchat, Inc.

Top Paid iPad Apps:

1. Minecraft - Pocket Edition, Mojang

2. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: ..., Warner Bros.

3. The Survival Games : Mini Game..., wang wei

4. Heads Up!, Warner Bros.

5. Plants vs. Zombies HD, PopCap

6. Survivalcraft, Igor Kalicinski

7. Geometry Dash, Robert Topala

8. Hide N Seek : Mini Game With W, wang wei

9. Card Wars - Adventure Time, Cartoon Network

10. FTL: Faster Than Light, Subset Games

Top Free iPad Apps:

1. WatchESPN, ESPN

2. Bubble Witch 2 Saga, King.com Limited

3. World of Tanks Blitz,Wargaming.net

4. Guess The Emoji, Conversion, LLC

5. Fish Out Of Water!, Halfbrick Studios

6. Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, Glu Games Inc

7. TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTIO..., Mobage, Inc.

8. True Skate, True Axis

9. Angry Birds Epic, Rovio Entertainment Ltd

10. Netflix, Netflix, Inc.

(copyright) 2014 Apple Inc.

Petersburg Progress-Index, weekly publication sold

PETERSBURG, Va. -- One of the largest owners of newspapers in the country has acquired The Progress-Index and the weekly publication The Colonial Voice, both based in Petersburg.

New York-based New Media Investment Group Inc. announced the acquisition of the publications in the city 25 miles south of Richmond on Tuesday.

Along with the purchase of several publications from the American Consolidated Media Southwest Group, the acquisitions were purchased for $15.3 million.

According to the newspaper, the Progress-Index (http://bit.ly/1qO13zJ) traces its origins to July 4, 1865. It was most recently purchased in 1997 by the Times-Shamrock Group of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

New Media Investment Group says the Progress-Index has a Sunday circulation of about 12,000 and daily circulation of 9,800.

With the acquisitions, New Media Investment Group owns 449 community publications across 26 states.

US construction spending up 0.1 percent in May

WASHINGTON -- U.S. construction spending barely increased in May as gains in spending on non-residential projects such as office buildings and public construction were largely offset by a big drop in home building.

Construction spending edged up 0.1 percent in May after a much stronger 0.8 percent April increase, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. The back-to-back gain followed a period of weakness in which spending fell in both January and February and was flat in March.

The construction industry has struggled with an unusually severe winter which curtailed building activity in many regions.

Construction activity totaled $958.1 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in May, up 6.6 percent from a year ago.

Economists are forecasting that housing and overall construction will regain momentum in coming months, helping to boost overall economic growth.

However, housing suffered a setback in April, falling 1.5 percent. Single-family home construction was down 1.4 percent while apartment construction dropped 0.6 percent. Overall, housing construction is up 7.5 percent from a year ago.

Non-residential construction rose 1.1 percent, led by a 4.3 percent rise in construction of power generating facilities. Construction of office buildings was up slightly but spending on hotels and the category that covers shopping centers both showed declines.

Spending on government projects rose 1 percent with a 2 percent jump in spending on state and local building projects offsetting an 8.9 percent decline in spending by the federal government on building projects.

A slump in construction in the winter contributed to the economy shrinking at an annual rate of 2.9 percent in the January-March quarter, the biggest decline since the first quarter of 2009 during the depths of the Great Recession.

The sharp downturn reflected not just bad weather but a decision by businesses to slow restocking of empty shelves and trim their capital spending on equipment. Additionally, the trade deficit widened in the first quarter, which also held economic activity back.

But analysts believe all of those developments were temporary and will be reversed in the current April-June quarter.

They had been expecting a rebound to growth as high as 4 percent in the second quarter, but disappointing results so far in consumer spending have caused them to trim back their forecasts, with many now looking for growth of around 3 percent, still a significant improvement from the sharp contraction in the first quarter.

Sales of both new and existing homes showed gains in May, providing evidence that housing is regaining lost momentum following a weak second half of last year when sales were hurt by a rise in mortgage rates and the lack of adequate supplies of new homes and then a harsh winter, which dampened demand further.

Review: Android Wear is about simplifying future

NEW YORK -- In its first iteration, Google's Android Wear software for computerized wristwatches isn't so much about innovation as it is an effort at simplification.

Available in two smartwatches out within the next week, Android Wear is rather limited in what it can do. Even last year's smartwatches do some things that Android Wear can't.

But the new software should help rein in a marketplace of confusion and encourage app developers to extend smartwatch functionality, the way they have made smartphones even smarter.

In previous watches, each manufacturer modified Android in a different way, so software developers have had to spend a lot of time customizing their apps. It's typically not worth the bother because no single watch has enough users. To confound the problem, Samsung's second-generation smartwatch, out in April, doesn't use Android at all, but rather a fledging system called Tizen.

With Android Wear, software developers won't have to rewrite apps every time a new watch from Samsung, Sony or another manufacturer comes out. And collectively, there might be enough smartwatch users to lure developers.

In fact, developers should have an easier time with Android Wear than Android phones. Phone manufacturers had customized Android so much that apps sometimes didn't work. Android on phones felt like dozens of different operating systems. With smartwatches, manufacturers will pretty much take the software Google gives them and limit customization to hardware, choices of watch face and apps that come pre-installed.

I'll have more to say on the first two watches, Samsung's $199 Gear Live and LG's $229 G Watch, in a separate review later. I used both to test Android Wear, and this review is about that.

Android Wear requires a companion smartphone running Android 4.3 or later. That covers Kit Kat and the later versions of Jelly Bean, but according to Google's own stats, only about a quarter of Android devices have either. For a variety of reasons, many recent phones can't be upgraded. And of course, no iPhones.

The companion phone doesn't have to be from the same manufacturer as the watch. With both watches, I was able to use Motorola's Moto G phone from November, Samsung's Galaxy S III phone from 2012 and LG's G3, which is coming to the U.S. this summer.

After getting or updating some free apps on your phone, you need to link the watch and the phone wirelessly using Bluetooth.

Most of your interactions with the watch are by voice, similar to using Google Now on Android phones and Siri on iPhones. You can scroll through a short menu of functions, but it's primarily there as suggestions and isn't comprehensive. To activate the voice function, just tap on the watch face or say "OK, Google." You can ask the watch to set an alarm, check your calendar or send a reminder.

You can't use the watch as a speakerphone for calls, the way previous Samsung smartwatches allowed. But you can make calls or answer ones that come in. The call still goes through the phone, but that's not a problem if you have a Bluetooth headset.

You can send texts by dictating a message or using canned ones such as "Yes," "No," or "On my way." You can't add your own prewritten response, the way you can on Samsung's previous watches. Android Wear also lets you send and receive emails and read Facebook notifications. I sent myself a draft of this story and was able to read all of it on the watch. If you prefer using the phone, there's a button you can tap to have the message automatically open there.

The watches can also keep track of your daily steps, and Samsung's has a heart rate monitor. These tasks and the clock functions are about all you can do without the phone nearby.

Where Android Wear advances smartwatch technology is in navigation. As long as the phone is nearby, you can get turn-by-turn directions on the watch. While walking down the street, you can look at your wrist and avoid having to constantly pull the phone out of your pocket. Sony's SmartWatch 2 has a maps app, but it doesn't work as well as Google's.

Beyond that, the watch offers the types of notifications you'd get through Google Now on the phone, if you've turned that feature on. That includes local weather, birthday reminders and scores for your favorite sports teams. While jogging to work Tuesday morning, Android Wear even offered nearby bus stops in case I wanted to cheat.

Of course, I can simply pull out my phone for all that. Android Wear is supposed to make your life better by displaying relevant information on your wrist, rather than in your pocket.

But you still need the phone nearby, and the voice recognition feature doesn't always hear me correctly.

Android Wear isn't quite there yet as a must-have product, but I can only imagine what it will evolve into in the months and years ahead. It helps that there's now a unified system that software developers can focus on improving.

---

To check on your phone's compatibility, visit this website from your device:

http://bit.ly/1qi5MdH

NTSB says parasailing is risky, urges regulation

By BETH J. HARPAZ The Associated Press

The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday declared parasailing to be risky and urged the U.S. Coast Guard to require that operators be licensed.

"Passengers seeking to enjoy the thrill, adventure and panoramic views of parasailing risk becoming accident victims," the NTSB report issued in Washington stated. "Due to the nature of parasailing, accidents usually result in either serious injury or death."

In examining a series of accidents, the NTSB said "human error" by operators is the main cause of parasailing accidents due to "poor judgment, lack of sufficient experience, improper training" and other factors such as worn or poorly maintained gear, ignorance about overloading tow ropes and other equipment, and failure to monitor wind speeds and changing weather.

The NTSB said there are currently no uniform requirements for operator training, equipment inspection or suspension of operations in bad weather.

The Coast Guard, however, does not appear eager to get involved with licensing. Asked to comment on the licensing proposal, Coast Guard spokesman Carlos A. Diaz reiterated an emailed statement from his agency noting simply that it continues to work with the parasailing industry and government entities to improve training, safety and standards.

Some 3 million to 5 million people participate in parasailing each year, with about 325 operators in the U.S. and its territories, including Puerto Rico.

The Parasail Safety Council estimates that 73 people died in parasailing accidents between 1982 to 2012, with 429 seriously injured in the course of taking 130 million rides. Council founder Mark McCulloh said he "absolutely" supports the NTSB's recommendation for the Coast Guard to license operators.

The NTSB said requiring operators to be licensed "would not eliminate all shortcomings" but "would set a minimum level of experience and professional competence."

The NTSB report cited details on parasailing accidents since 2009 in which seven people died and four were injured. Some victims drowned as they were dragged through the water, others crashed into buildings or power lines, and one died when a worn-out harness separated from the flight bar.

Even a knot commonly used to fasten tow ropes is risky, the agency said, because the knot reduces rope strength "by as much as 70 percent, even on brand-new, otherwise strong ropes." Ropes are further weakened by wind, usage, and sun and saltwater exposure.

The NTSB also recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration review regulations intended to avoid collisions between parasailing vessels and aircraft. Among other things, the NTSB cited a contradiction between an FAA rule that gives aircraft the right of way over parasailing vessels and other navigation rules that suggest parasailing vessels are restricted in their ability to maneuver. One accident cited involved a collision between a banner-towing plane and a parasailing operation off of Gulf Shores, Alabama.

In an emailed comment, the FAA said it would review the NTSB's recommendations and consider efforts to reduce the risk of midair collisions.

The NTSB also urged drafting of model legislation by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators as a way to "not only call attention to the significant risk associated with the activity," but also to make it easier for state legislatures and other governmental bodies to regulate the industry.

Florida, which is home to a third of all U.S. parasailing operations with about 100 operators, recently passed legislation requiring insurance for the industry and safety briefings.

McCulloh said the NTSB report was accurate and educational but "falls short" of safety measures such as changes in harness design.

The Water Sports Industry Association supports the NTSB recommendations and said it has been working to develop safety standards for parasailing. "We have no issues with having the industry regulated," said WSIA executive director Larry Meddock. "We think it's the right thing to do."

Google adds more musical chops with Songza deal

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google is fine-tuning its digital music strategy with the acquisition of Songza, a service that creates soundtracks tailored for people's changing moods.

Financial terms of the deal announced Tuesday were not disclosed. That means the price is considered to be too small to affect Google Inc., which ended March with $59 billion in cash.

The acquisition highlights the growing importance of services that customize playlists as more people listen to music through Internet connections on their smartphones, tablets and personal computers.

Apple Inc. is buying headphone maker Beats Electronics for $3 billion largely because it prizes the song-picking prowess of a digital music service that Beats has been building. The music service combines automated formulas with the expertise of a team led by Beats' co-founders, longtime recording industry executive Jimmy Iovine and hip-hop producer and rapper Dr. Dre.

Amazon.com Inc. also recently rolled out a music-streaming service that is part the company's $99-per-year Prime package.

Those two technology powerhouses, along with Google, are trying to topple the early leaders in music streaming, Pandora Media Inc. and Spotify.

No immediate changes will occur at Songza, which makes applications for Apple's iPhone, iPad and devices running on Google's Android software.

"We can't think of a better company to join in our quest to provide the perfect soundtrack for everything you do," Songza said in a post announcing its sale.

Google plans to blend Songza's technology into its own music-streaming service, which costs $10 per month. Songza's tools also might be used to recommend musical videos at Google's YouTube site, which is preparing to introduce a subscription option, too.

Another Day, Another Reason For Voters To Loathe Congress

i i

hide captionThe House Ethics Committee dismayed government watchdogs by reducing disclosure requirements for privately paid trips taken by members of Congress.

Matthias Schrader/AP

The House Ethics Committee dismayed government watchdogs by reducing disclosure requirements for privately paid trips taken by members of Congress.

Matthias Schrader/AP

Congressional approval ratings are at rock bottom. Why would members pull a stunt likely to make them even more unpopular than they already are?

While you ponder that question, here's what they did: As first reported by National Journal, the House Ethics Committee made it harder for journalists and good-government watchdogs to track members' privately financed trips by getting rid of a key travel reporting requirement on the annual disclosure form.

Lawmakers still must get prior approval for trips and report the travel to the House Clerk's office within two weeks upon return. But watchdogs counted on the annual disclosure form because it provided all of the required information from lawmakers on finances and travel all in one place.

In its defense, the House Ethics Committee said the move was all about streamlining the process. It issued a statement meant to sound reassuring to the casual observer.

"All of the detailed post-travel reports filed by all House members and staff — not just those of staff who file financial disclosure reports — are publicly available in a searchable online database on the clerk's web site, on the same page where the public can look up Members' financial disclosure reports, at clerk.house.gov."

But as one senior House staff member told "It's All Politics," that explanation might only satisfy someone who didn't really understand how the system works.

"Their statement is intentionally confusing," the staffer said. "You would have to be very familiar with the rules to be able to read the statement and then come out of it knowing what they're talking about."

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, said if the prior disclosure regime wasn't restored, she would seek a legislative fix.

"The new rule presented by the Ethics Committee for disclosure of travel must be reversed," she said in a statement. "While the committee's aim was to simplify the disclosure process, Congress must always move in the direction of more disclosure, not less. If the Ethics Committee does not act, then we will call upon the speaker to allow a vote on legislation to reverse this decision. In the meantime, members are encouraged to disclose such trips to both the clerk and in their annual disclosures."

More biting criticism came from the Campaign Legal Center's Meredith McGehee.

"With public confidence in the U.S. Congress reaching a record low of seven percent, according to yesterday's Gallup poll, you would think the House Ethics Committee would focus on building public confidence in the institution, rather than looking for ways to make their dirty laundry harder to find," she said.

"With the committee's longstanding and well-deserved reputation for protecting members and stonewalling reporters, and the well-documented appetite of members for free travel on the dime of those seeking to influence them," she said, "one would hope that the committee would tread lightly when eliminating disclosure requirements for these junkets."

But one would hope that in vain, apparently.

Chicago Bulls make hard pitch to Carmelo Anthony

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bulls are making the hard sell for Carmelo Anthony.

The Knicks superstar free agent arrived at a decked-out United Center on Tuesday in a limobus with coach Tom Thibodeau and two other people, a police SUV trailing behind.

Anthony walked past the Michael Jordan statue, waving to a small group of cheering fans as he went inside.

The Bulls believe they have a strong pitch and a simple selling point: Anthony can transform a playoff team into a championship contender.

They believe uniting Anthony with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, who arrived earlier at the arena, would put them in position to contend for their first title since Jordan and Scottie Pippen led the way to two three-peats in the 1990s. And they certainly made their feelings clear on Tuesday, turning the arena into one giant welcome mat.

Two giant digital images above the entrance on Madison Street showed Anthony in a Bulls No. 7 jersey dribbling next to a championship trophy, fans stopping to take pictures. Another image around the corner also showed him in a jersey dribbling.

Signs wrapping around corners of the building and stacked on top of each other read, "Carmelo Anthony and Chicago basketball" and "Melo" with a cropped Bulls logo.

Still, Anthony is a top target in NBA free agency and he is expected to visit other teams.

Adams Publishing Group buys Minnesota newspapers

OWATONNA, Minn. -- Adams Publishing Group LLC has purchased the Owatonna People's Press, Faribault Daily News and other media properties from Huckle Media LLC

The deal announced Tuesday includes 10 community newspapers, 17 websites, shopping guides and a commercial printing facility.

The new division, APG Media of Southern Minnesota will also include the Northfield News, Waseca County News, St. Peter Herald, Le Sueur News-Herald, Kenyon Leader, Lonsdale Area News-Review, Blooming Prairie Leader and Le Center Leader.

The family-owned Adams Publishing Group is based in St. Louis Park. Its founder is Stephen Adams, youngest son of longtime WCCO Radio and TV personality and Minneapolis Star and Tribune columnist Cedric Adams. The company in March acquired three divisions of American Consolidated Media in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio and Maryland, with 34 publications and related operations.

In dry California, water fetching record prices

SAN FRANCISCO -- Throughout California's desperately dry Central Valley, those with water to spare are cashing in.

As a third parched summer forces farmers to fallow fields and lay off workers, two water districts and a pair of landowners in the heart of the state's farmland are making millions of dollars by auctioning off their private caches.

Nearly 40 others also are seeking to sell their surplus water this year, according to state and federal records.

Economists say it's been decades since the water market has been this hot. In the last five years alone, the price has grown tenfold to as much as $2,200 an acre-foot — enough to cover a football field with a foot of water.

Unlike the previous drought in 2009, the state has been hands-off, letting the market set the price even though severe shortages prompted a statewide drought emergency declaration this year.

The price spike comes after repeated calls from scientists that global warming will worsen droughts and increase the cost of maintaining California's strained water supply systems.

Some water economists have called for more regulations to keep aquifers from being depleted and ensure the market is not subject to manipulation such as that seen in the energy crisis of summer 2001, when the state was besieged by rolling blackouts.

"If you have a really scarce natural resource that the state's economy depends on, it would be nice to have it run efficiently and transparently," said Richard Howitt, professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis.

Private water sales are becoming more common in states that have been hit by drought, including Texas and Colorado.

In California, the sellers include those who hold claims on water that date back a century, private firms who are extracting groundwater and landowners who stored water when it was plentiful in underground caverns known as water banks.

"This year the market is unbelievable," said Thomas Grecie, the general manager of the Madera Irrigation District, which recently made nearly $7 million from selling about 3,200 acre-feet. "And this is a way to pay our bills."

All of the district's water went to farms; the city of Santa Barbara, which has its own water shortages, was outbid.

The prices are so high in some rural pockets that water auctions have become a spectacle.

One agricultural water district amid the almond orchards and derrick fields northwest of Bakersfield recently announced it would sell off extra water it acquired through a more than century-old right to use flows from the Kern River.

Local TV crews and journalists flocked to the district's office in February to watch as manager Maurice Etchechury unveiled bids enclosed in about 50 sealed envelopes before the cameras.

"Now everyone's mad at me saying I increased the price of water. I didn't do it, the weather did it," said Etchechury, who manages the Buena Vista Water Storage District, which netted about $13.5 million from the auction of 12,000 acre-feet of water.

Competition for water in California is heightened by the state's geography: The north has the water resources but the biggest water consumers are to the south, including most of the country's produce crops.

The amount shipped south through a network of pumps, pipes and aqueducts is limited by the drought and legal restrictions on pumping to save a threatened fish.

During the last drought, the state Department of Water Resources ran a drought water bank, which helped broker deals between those who were short of water and those who had plenty. But several environmental groups sued, alleging the state failed to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act in approving the sales, and won.

This year, the state is standing aside, saying buyers and sellers have not asked for the state's help. "We think that buyers and sellers can negotiate their own deals better than the state," said Nancy Quan, a supervising engineer with the department.

Quan's department, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the State Water Resources Control Board have tracked at least 38 separate sales this year, but the agencies are not aware of all sales, nor do they keep track of the price of water sold, officials said.

The maximum volume that could change hands through the 38 transactions is 730,323 acre-feet, which is about 25 percent of what the State Water Project has delivered to farms and cities in an average year in the last decade.

That figure still doesn't include the many private water sales that do not require any use of government-run pipes or canals, including the three chronicled by the AP. It's not clear however how much of this water will be sold via auctions.

Some of those in the best position to sell water this year have been able to store their excess supplies in underground banks, a tool widely embraced in the West for making water supplies reliable and marketable. The area surrounding Bakersfield is home to some of the country's largest water banks.

The drought is so severe that aggressive pumping of the banked supplies may cause some wells to run dry by year's end, said Eric Averett, general manager the Rosedale Rio Bravo District, located next to several of the state's largest underground caches.

Farther north in the long, flat Central Valley, others are drilling new wells to sell off groundwater.

A water district board in Stanislaus County approved a pilot project this month to buy up to 26,000 acre-feet of groundwater pumped over two years from 14 wells on two landowners' parcels in neighboring Merced County.

Since the district is getting no water from the federal government this year, the extra water will let farmers keep their trees alive, said Anthea Hansen, general manager of the arid Del Puerto Water District.

Hansen estimated growers would ultimately pay $775 to $980 an acre-foot — a total of roughly $20 million to $25.5 million.

"We have to try to keep them alive," Hansen said. "It's too much loss in the investment and the local economy to not try."

The top 10 songs and albums on the iTunes Store

iTunes' Official Music Charts for the week ending June 30, 2014:

Top Songs

1. Rude, MAGIC!

2. Stay With Me, Sam Smith

3. Fancy (feat. Charli XCX), Iggy Azalea

4. Life of the Party, Shawn Mendes

5. Problem (feat. Iggy Azalea), Ariana Grande

6. Am I Wrong, Nico & Vinz

7. Wiggle (feat. Snoop Dogg), Jason Derulo

8. Maps, Maroon 5

9. Boom Clap, Charli XCX

10. Latch (feat. Sam Smith), Disclosure

Top Albums

1. x, Ed Sheeran

2. In the Lonely Hour, Sam Smith

3. Ultraviolence, Lana Del Rey

4. These Things Happen, G-Eazy

5. These Days...,Ab-Soul

6. 5 Seconds of Summer, 5 Seconds of Summer

7. The Fault In Our Stars (Music ,Various Artists)

8. The Hunting Party, LINKIN PARK

9. Fuego, Phish

10. Ghost Stories, Coldplay

(copyright) 2014 Apple Inc.

Oil flat despite US, China factory strength

The price of oil held steady Tuesday despite signs that manufacturing activity grew in the U.S. and China, the world's two biggest oil consumers.

Benchmark U.S. crude for August delivery fell 3 cents to close at $105.34 a barrel in New York. It is the fourth day in a row of declines and the sixth decline in the last seven trading days. The contract closed at a 10-month high of $107.26 on June 20.

Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell 7 cents to close at $112.29 a barrel in London.

Manufacturing activity in China, the world's biggest oil importer, grew in June for the first time in six months, according to a private survey. Manufacturing activity in the U.S., the world's biggest oil consumer, grew in June for the 13th-straight month, though the pace of the expansion slowed from May.

It wasn't enough to push the price of oil higher, which suggests oil supplies may be ample enough to meet even rising global demand and prices could be headed lower.

"The fact that some positive manufacturing numbers and associated strong gains in the U.S. stock market were ignored reinforces our opinion that some additional price weakening through the next few sessions lies ahead," wrote independent energy analyst Jim Ritterbusch in a note to investors Tuesday.

Oil prices have risen in recent weeks on concerns that violence in Iraq, OPEC's second-largest exporter, would cut global supplies. They stabilized late last week as the stunning initial advance by insurgents lost momentum.

In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:

—Wholesale gasoline fell 0.6 cent to close at $3.037 a gallon.

—Natural gas fell 0.6 cent to close at $4.445 per 1,000 cubic feet.

—Heating oil rose 0.3 cent to close at $2.978 a gallon.

Food makers bet Americans want drinkable food

Muscle Milk apparently isn't just for athletes. It's also for busy people who want to drink their meals.

Hormel, which is best known for its canned meats like Spam, said late Monday that it will buy the maker of Muscle Milk for $450 million. CEO Jeff Ettinger said Muscle Milk's fans have expanded beyond serious athletes, with many customers now drinking it for breakfast or a mid-afternoon snack.

The demand for portable, easy-to-eat foods has been growing, and Hormel isn't the only company hoping that can include liquid food that comes in the convenience bottle.

Here are some other examples:

— Campbell Soup in 2012 announced it was buying Bolthouse Farms, which offers products including premium juices and bottled smoothies.

— General Mills Inc. introduced a dairy-based drink last year called "BFast" that has whole grains and promises the nutrition of a bowl of cereal and milk.

— Kellogg Co. also rolled out its "Breakfast To Go," which is positioned as a drinkable cereal.

— PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi has noted the company is looking at ways to "drinkify" snacks. The company's Naked juices are already seen as falling into that area because of the various nutrients they provide.

— PepsiCo's Quaker Oats division also now offers a breakfast shake at select retailers that is positioned as oatmeal in a bottle — it boasts of 8 grams of whole grain oats, 10 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber.

Berri resigned to eighth failed session

BEIRUT: A Parliament session to pick a successor to former President Michel Sleiman will not be held Wednesday for a lack of quorum in the eighth thwarted attempt since April 23, raising fears of a prolonged vacuum in the country’s top Christian post, political sources said Tuesday.

Further complicating efforts to break the presidential stalemate, now in its second month, was Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun’s proposal for electing a president by the people, a proposal that swiftly drew fire from the March 14 coalition and threw the political landscape into further disarray.

“We are in the eighth session and its fate will be similar to the previous ones: no result,” Speaker Nabih Berri was quoted as saying by visitors.

“The date of parliamentary elections is approaching and the situation looks totally blocked,” Berri added, in reference to parliamentary polls scheduled for November.

The speaker said he was considering holding separate deliberations with heads of blocs and with independent MPs in order to sort out how to deal with presidential and parliamentary elections.

“We cannot stand idly by in the face of presidential election nor can we overcome it and move to parliamentary elections so that no one will say that we are neglecting the former,” the speaker continued.

Berri said he would make up his mind regarding what to do within 48 hours.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam warned that the failure to elect a president could torpedo holding parliamentary elections.

“This situation does not encourage holding parliamentary elections,” Salam said in an interview with Al-Jazeera channel. “How can the political struggle over the presidential election ensure [holding] parliamentary elections?”

Lawmakers from Aoun’s bloc, Hezbollah and its March 8 allies have thwarted a quorum by boycotting Parliament sessions in a bid to pressure their March 14 rivals to reach a deal on a consensus candidate for the presidency.

While he has not announced his candidacy, Aoun is widely viewed as the March 8 coalition’s undeclared nominee for the presidency.

The parliamentary Future bloc called on Aoun’s and March 8 lawmakers to stop thwarting Parliament sessions to elect a president.

“The March 8 parties should announce their candidate for the presidency or come forward for an agreement on a candidate who has the leadership skills and ability to unite the country, defend Lebanon’s independence and sovereignty and oversee the application of its constitution and protection of its institutions,” the bloc said in a statement after its weekly meeting. “No priority should be given over the election of a new president.”

The bloc also rejected Aoun’s proposal for electing a president by the people, saying such a radical change in Lebanon’s political system demanded a lengthy debate in a calm atmosphere.

“The Lebanese people have accumulated, throughout history, a number of compromises and agreements that contributed to the development of its political system, its Constitution, the National Pact and the Taif Accord,” the statement said. “Therefore, any attempt or proposal to amend national pacts or the political system requires a comprehensive national debate under appropriate circumstances,” it added.

The statement stressed that constitutional amendments regarding important and fundamental issues required “a calm atmosphere, free of the tensions or the exceptional circumstances we are living. Such changes take time, and the country now needs a new president as soon as possible,” it added.

The bloc’s statement came one day after Aoun proposed that the Constitution be amended to allow Lebanese voters, rather than their MPs, to directly elect the country’s president. According to Aoun’s proposal, Christians would vote in the first round of the polls and the two top candidates would then run in elections open to voters of all sects.While Aoun’s proposal drew harsh criticisms from some, the FPM leader’s allies in Hezbollah and the Amal Movement have remained tight-lipped.

However, Aoun appeared unfazed by his critics. Sources in the FPM said Aoun would not back off and would seek to promote his proposal among the Lebanese in general, and Christians in particular.

“Aoun is fully convinced that political life in Lebanon will not be back to normal unless the Christians get their right to elect their lawmakers and boost the powers of the president, the top Maronite post left for the Christians by the Taif Accord,” the sources said, adding that the March 14 negative reactions to Aoun’s proposal were not surprising.

According to the sources, all internal and external information indicates that the presidential election has been put off for a long time because of the “wrong tactic” used by the March 14 parties in endorsing Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea’s candidacy for the presidency “even though they know that his chances for reaching the Baabda Palace are nil.”

Geagea, meanwhile, urged the boycotting March 8 lawmakers to attend Wednesday’s session and vote.

“I appeal to you to go down to Parliament tomorrow [Wednesday] to use your national conscience and elect a president according to your political conviction instead of wasting time with illusory suggestions,” Geagea said in an open letter addressed to March 8 lawmakers, referring to Aoun’s proposal for choosing a president by a popular vote.

“Boycotting sessions to elect a president, obstructing the election and pushing the country into a constitutional vacuum is not in your rights,” Geagea said. “On the contrary, it essentially contradicts the mandate you have been granted [by the people].”

Geagea said the absence of a head of state threatens the country’s existence.

Land-use agreement signed for gold mine project

BETHEL, Alaska -- Donlin Gold and the Kuskokwim Corp. have agreed to terms on land-use rights for a proposed gold mine 120 miles upriver of Bethel.

The price tag wasn't disclosed. But the deal gives the Native corporation, which owns the surface estate, rights to some construction contracts and sets financial terms for decades. Corporation president Maver Carey said it also has provisions for shareholder scholarships and hiring.

"I can say that over the next few years we've got a few milestone payments that Donlin has agreed to pay us, for example the signing bonus for actually signing the agreement," she told KYUK (http://bit.ly/1xbFBYu). "What we've done with that is create our first elders dividend, and then a portion we need to use to get our companies ready to go."

The planned open-pit mine, owned by two Canadian companies, Nova Gold and Barrick Gold, is in the permitting stage. As planned, it would be among the largest gold mines in the world.

Kuskokwim Corp. has about 3,000 shareholders, and its portfolio includes construction and aerospace operations. It also has secured a right to a contract to build and operate a new port on the Kuskokwim River, serving Donlin barges carrying fuel and supplies. That replaces an agreement set to expire next year and sets terms for building on the land and accessing it.

The corporation also plans to play a large role in reclamation of the site after the gold is dug out and the mine is shut down.

Donlin Gold spokesman Kurt Parkan said the agreement "just marks a milestone in that partnership that has been going on for some time."

The agreement runs until 2031 and can be extended if and when the mine comes online.

Carey called the agreement "a legacy we're going to leave for our children and grandchildren, and when I say legacy, not just a financial legacy. We have a lot to do in terms of training and employment opportunities, so our children and grandchildren can be CEOs of the new subsidiaries we're creating."

House suspends debate on public pension bill

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A long-awaited debate on a pension overhaul bill backed by Gov. Tom Corbett was abruptly halted Tuesday when a majority of members of the state House of Representatives voted to send the proposal back to committee.

The 107-96 vote came on a motion by Rep. Gene DiGirolamo to return the bill to the Human Services Committee, despite a plea by House Majority Leader Mike Turzai to continue floor debate and put the Republican-crafted bill to a vote.

"What's the rush? Why are we doing this now?" asked DiGirolamo, R-Bucks, who chairs the committee and opposes the legislation. "I think there are too many unanswered questions."

In a surprise move Monday night, Corbett refused to immediately sign the $29.1 billion state budget bill approved by both chambers of the Legislature on the last day of the fiscal year, saying he was concerned about the absence of any pension changes.

Corbett supports a bill to replace the current traditional pension system with a hybrid system for newly hired state and school employees. It would combine a scaled-down pension with a 401(k)-style plan in which employees make their own investment decisions.

Leaders of the GOP majorities in both houses have said they were unable to round up enough votes to pass the bill — a fact underscored by Tuesday's vote to suspend House debate. Fifteen Republicans joined all 92 Democrats in sending the bill back to committee.

The Senate on Monday night approved a much more modest pension bill that would change the rules only for certain elected officials — state lawmakers, judges and five executive branch officeholders — when they are elected, re-elected or retained. Starting next year, those officials would be shifted from the current defined-benefit system into a 401(k)-style system.

DiGirolamo said various proposals for reining in the explosive costs of Pennsylvania's two major public pension plans need to be fully aired with involvement by not only the state government but unions representing hundreds of thousands of state and school employees.

"They've got as much stake in fixing this problem as anyone else," he said, adding that the review could take place this summer and legislation introduced this fall.

The sponsor of the main bill, Rep. Mike Tobash, said it would preserve pension benefits promised to current employees, help reduce an unfunded liability that is approaching $50 billion and protect the state's bond rating.

"The plan is sustainable and attractive to new members because of its affordability and the ability of members to benefit from investment gains in the market," said Tobash, R-Schuylkill.

AP staff win awards for tornado, shooting stories

NEW YORK -- Coverage of the Moore, Oklahoma, tornado won an award for deadline reporting and a story on the aftermath of the Connecticut school shootings won one for feature writing from the Associated Press Media Editors for journalism excellence by AP staffers.

The AP's investigation of the disappearance of CIA contractor Robert Levinson in Iran in 2007 — and its decision to publish the story last year — was honored in the enterprise category.

"The judges were impressed by the exceptional work being produced by AP journalists around the world," APME President Debra Adams Simmons said. "The work reveals a deep commitment — sometimes at substantial cost — to report news and information locally and globally that news consumers could not get anywhere else."

"The judges were tasked with recognizing just a fraction of the significant work of AP reporters, photographers and editors, but the annual awards contest is a reminder of the vitality and importance of the AP to our industry," she said.

In selecting the Moore tornado coverage, the judges said, "The reporting was detailed, fast-paced and accurate — breaking news coverage as it should be done." The AP, they said, "owned the story, with vivid photos, arresting interviews with survivors and aggressive questions for authorities who acknowledged they had botched the casualty count."

Christopher Sullivan of the Newsfeatures staff won the feature writing award for "Newtown Marches On." The judges said he captured "the struggles and resilience of the Labor Day parade committee in Newtown, a community struggling to find its footing" after shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School claimed 26 lives.

Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo, formerly of the Washington bureau, and AP editors were cited for their coverage of the Levinson disappearance.

"In a very competitive category, this entry stood above the rest because of the difficulty of reporting because of the tenacity, patience and courage that was needed to publish this story," the judges wrote. "The story is a gripping narrative that reads like a spy novel." Goldman is now with The Washington Post and Apuzzo with The New York Times.

A team of four staffers — Paul Elias in San Francisco, Gillian Flaccus in Orange County and Don Thompson in Sacramento, overseen by Sacramento correspondent Tom Verdin — was honored with the Charles Rowe Award for distinguished state reporting for coverage of the California prison system.

"This is an engaging and monumental work by a newly created reporting team that provided important coverage for California's AP members and their audience," the judges said. "It is mind-boggling the scope of the problems uncovered by this team. The sweep of these issues continues to grow as stories are uncovered."

Sergei Grits, a photographer based in Belarus, won the News Single Photo award for his image of a Ukrainian demonstrator setting off a Molotov cocktail in a slingshot. "This dramatic image captures the passion of the protesters in Ukraine," the judges said. "This moment amid chaos is a vivid metaphor for the crisis."

Photographer Jerome Delay was honored with the News Story Photo award for his series on the fighting in the Central African Republic, where he is based. "The dedication of (Delay) to seek out and record these 'found moments' is exemplary," the judges wrote. "The images show the complexity of life amid civil war in the Central African Republic."

Jerusalem photographer Sebastian Scheiner won the Feature Single Photo award for his image of Palestinians living in a cave after their house was demolished by Israeli authorities. "The subject matter combined with the creative composition sets this photo apart," the judges said.

Rodrigo Abd, a photographer based in Lima, Peru, was honored with the Feature Story Photo award for his story on exhumations from Peru's 1980-2000 conflict. "These images convey a cohesive story arch, one of the agonizing emotional toll taken on the families of victims of the conflict," the judges said.

Nathan Griffiths, Nicholas Harbaugh, Kevin Viney, Peter Hamlin and Roque Ruiz were awarded the Best Use of Multimedia for their interactives on the U.S. health care overhaul. Their interactives, the judges said, "were simple to follow and allowed each reader to personalize the information — an amazing feat given the complexity of the law."

The Best in Video award was given to Al-emrun Garjon of New Delhi for his coverage of the collapse of a Bangladesh factory. The judges said Garjon provided amazing shots of not only destruction but survival as well. "It was a powerful work from start to finish," they said.

Adriana Gomez Licon of Mexico City won the John L. Dougherty prize for exemplary work by an AP staff member who is 30 years old or younger. The judges said she "is a compelling storyteller, who uses in-depth reporting and telling details to powerful effect." Her work included a piece on the death of a beauty queen caught up in the nation's drug wars.

APME is an association of editors and content leaders at newspapers, broadcast outlets and digital newsrooms as well as journalism educators and student leaders in the United States and Canada. APME works closely with The Associated Press to foster journalism excellence.

The judges also awarded the following honorable mentions:

—Deadline Reporting: the coverage of the death of Yarnell firefighters in Arizona and the coverage of the manhunt for former Los Angeles policeman Christopher Dorner.

Judges: Kurt Franck, executive editor, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio, chairman; Michael Days, editor, Philadelphia Daily News; and Mark Baldwin, executive editor, Rockford (Ill.) Register Star.

—Enterprise Reporting: Karin Laub and Mohammed Daraghmeh, based in Ramallah in the West Bank, for Mideast reporting; and Adriana Gomez Licon of Mexico, Natacha Pisarenko and Michael Warren of Buenos Aires, Juan Zamorano of Panama, and Michael Weissenstein of Mexico City for their Latin America consumer watchdog series.

Judges: Angie Muhs, executive editor, The State Journal-Register, Springfield, Illinois, chairman; Autumn Phillips, editor, Times-News, Twin Falls, Idaho; and Laura Sellers, managing editor, The Daily Astorian, Astoria, Oregon.

—Feature Writing: Alberto Arce, based in Mexico City, for "Surviving in Honduras," a series of stories about surviving violence and poverty in a country in crisis.

Judges: Bill Church, executive editor, Herald-Tribune Media Co., Sarasota, Florida, chairman; Dennis Anderson, executive editor, Peoria (Ill.) Journal Star; and Aminda Marques Gonzalez, executive editor, The Miami Herald.

—John L. Dougherty Award: Nataliya Vasilyeva, in Moscow, for her reporting on the human and environmental cost of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, and Ashley Thomas, weekend supervisor on the East desk in Philadelphia.

Judges: Jim Simon, deputy managing editor, The Seattle Times, chairman; Monica Richardson, managing editor, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; and Sonny Albarado, projects editor, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

—Best Use of Multimedia: Nathan Griffiths and Peter Santilli, for interactives on the aging population worldwide.

Judges: Days, chairman; Teri Hayt, executive editor, The Canton (Ohio) Repository; and Alan English, executive editor/general manager, Shreveport (La.) Times.

—Best Use of Video: Raul Gallego, based in Bangkok, for "Myanmar In Transition."

Judges: Richardson; Eric Ludgood, assistant news director, WAGA-TV, Fox 5 News; and Greg Peppers, executive producer of radio and audio, The Associated Press.

—Charles Rowe Award for distinguished state reporting: Rebecca Boone, based in Boise, for stories on a privately run prison in Idaho, and Tom LoBianco, based in Indianapolis, for his watchdog work.

Judges: Anderson, chairman; Chris Cobler, editor, Victoria (Texas) Advocate; and Thomas Koetting, assistant managing editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

—News Single Photo: Santi Palacios, based in Madrid, for a migrant trying to scale a border fence into the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco.

— New Story Photo: David Guttenfelder, formerly based in Tokyo, for a series on Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

—Feature Single Photo: Ben Curtis of Nairobi for orphaned elephants getting a dust bath.

—Feature Story Photo: Daniel Ochoa de Olza of Madrid for a series of portraits of bullfighters.

Photo judges: Debra Adams Simmons, vice president of news development, Advance Local; Alan Miller, managing editor, The Columbus Dispatch; Hayt; Sellers; Simon; and Luanne Dietz, photo editor, The San Francisco Chronicle.

BC-Cash Prices, 1st Ld-Writethru,0334

NEW YORK -- Wholesale cash prices Tuesday:

Tue. Mon.

F

Broilers FOB Ga. ice-packed lb. wtd av 111.67 111.67

Eggs large white NY Doz. 1.14 1.13

Flour hard winter KC cwt 20.35 20.35

Cheddar Cheese Chi. 40 block per lb. 2.5550 2.5550

Coffee parana ex-dock NY per lb. 1.6562 1.6562

Coffee medlin ex-dock NY per lb. 1.9575 1.9575

Cocoa beans Ivory Coast $ metric ton 3508 3483

Cocoa butter African styl $ met ton 8355 8298

Hogs Iowa/Minn barrows & gilts wtd av 126.48 124.43

Feeder cattle 550-600 lb Okl av cwt 261.98 235.88

Pork loins 13-19 lb FOB Omaha av cwt 154.93 153.43

Corn No. 2 yellow Chi processor bid 4.31 4.33¾

Soybeans No. 1 yellow 14.03¾ 14.04½

Soybean Meal Cen Ill 48pct protein-ton 491.30 491.30

Wheat No. 2 Chi soft 5.57½ 5.59¾

Wheat N. 1 dk 14pc-pro Mpls. 9.55¼ 9.62

Oats No. 2 heavy or Better 3.86 3.78

Corn oil crude wet/dry mill Chi. lb. .40 .40

Soybean oil crude Decatur lb. .39¼ .39¼

Aluminum per lb LME .8393 .8391

Antimony in warehouse per ton 9810 9810

Copper Cathode full plate 3.1546 3.1641

Gold Handy & Harman 1327.50 1315.00

Silver Handy & Harman 21.140 20.955

Lead per metric ton LME 2129.00 2138.50

Platinum per troy oz. Handy & Harman 1497.00 1480.00

Platinum Merc spot per troy oz. 1513.50 1481.00

Zinc (HG) delivered per lb. 0.9999 0.9899

Cotton 1-1-16 in. strict low middling 73.96 74.74

Coal Central Appalachia $ per short ton 60.05 60.05

Natural Gas Henry Hub, $ per mmbtu 4.455 4.420

b-bid a-asked

n-Nominal

r-revised.

n.q.-not quoted

n.a.-not available<4

Security boosted at Roumieh prison over Islamist threat

BEIRUT: Roads leading to the country’s largest prison were blocked Tuesday night in light of information about a possible attack by Islamist groups to secure the release of scores of supporters.

The Internal Security Forces said police would temporarily prevent the passage of all motor vehicles – including trucks, tanks, pickups, cars and motorbikes – on both lanes leading to the prison. Traffic will be redirected via the Metn Highway and other routes.

The statement cited “security reasons” for the heavy measures, which went into effect at 7 p.m.

Speaking to The Daily Star, sources said security services had received serious information on possible attacks targeting the prison.

In one of the scenarios being prepared for, several suicide bombers would allegedly blow up the gates of the prison, while other attackers would take advantage of the resulting commotion and panic to free certain inmates.

Roumieh holds dozens of Islamist detainees who have been awaiting trial for years, with the majority linked to the 2007 Fatah al-Islam clashes with the Lebanese Army in the Palestinian Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in north Lebanon.

The prisoners have previously protested the crowded rooms and slow trial procedures.

Last month, the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) dedicated a song to Roumieh’s Islamist inmates, calling for their release and expressing their hope that the entire prison would be brought down.

ISIS set the holy month of Ramadan as the deadline for the release of the relevant inmates, saying it would otherwise use its own means to free them, the source said.

Meanwhile, Lebanese officials reassured citizens that the overall situation in the country was stable.

“There is no favorable environment for terrorism in Lebanon. We are united on the domestic level and the security situation is under control, which prevents the emergence of such environments,” Prime Minister Tammam Salam said during an interview with Al-Jazeera.

Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk also insisted security was under control despite recent bombings.

“I reassure [the Lebanese] that security agencies are alert and coordinate with each other at the highest level,” Machnouk told reporters at the Interior Ministry.

Asked whether he feared Lebanon would plunge into an Iraq-style sectarian conflict, Machnouk said: “Never. Lebanon’s circumstances and makeup are different. Lebanon does not resemble Iraq at all.”

Three suicide bombings rocked Lebanon late last month, renewing fears in a country that was hit with a series of attacks late last year and earlier this year linked to the Syrian war.

The last bombing occurred last week at the Duroy hotel in Beirut, where a Saudi suicide bomber blew himself up in his room to avoid arrest during a raid by General Security. A second Saudi in the room who survived was arrested and confessed to being part of a double suicide-bomb plot against a restaurant in Beirut’s southern suburbs frequented by Hezbollah officials. He also told investigators ISIS had recruited him for the attack.

A Saudi delegation arrived in Beirut Monday to follow up on his case, but a source close to Machnouk told The Daily Star that it would not be involved in investigation.

“The Cabinet condemns the terrorist bombings in the ... Lebanese capital,” said a statement by Saudi Culture and Information Minister Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khoja, “and praises the efforts of the two governments in pursuing the terrorist cells and the success they have achieved in this concern.”

Earlier, Machnouk chaired the regular meeting of the Central Security Council, which was attended by heads of security services.

Attendees discussed efforts to pursue terror networks across the country and the ongoing implementation of the security plan in Bekaa Valley and the north. Its decisions were not publically announced.

The Army has this week increased security measures at checkpoints in the northern Bekaa, the National News Agency reported.

The NNA said the military arrested 20 Syrians over the past three days after they illegally entered Lebanon, and also confiscated a “suspicious” car.

The Future bloc of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri praised the security services’ efforts, which have led to a number of terror plots being thwarted, and called on authorities to continue the strict security measures.

But in a statement after its weekly meeting, the bloc added that confronting terrorism could not take place through security measures alone, and reiterated its calls for Hezbollah to pull out from Syria.

“Today, before tomorrow, Hezbollah should withdraw from Syria and stop implicating Lebanon and the Lebanese [in Syria’s conflict] and exposing their security and future to dangers, along with ruining their economy,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the Al-Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades vowed to carry out further attacks against Hezbollah and its allies in Lebanon until the party withdrew from Syria.

“When we bombed the embassy of its patron, Iran, and then the center of cultural crime [The Iranian Cultural Center] for the sake of the oppressed in Syria and Lebanon and in response to the aggression, they shouted: Terrorists!” tweeted the group’s spokesperson Sheikh Serajeddine Zoraiqat. “If terrorism is the response to your crimes, then wait for a series of terrorist attacks that will have you forget previous ones until safety is restored in Syria.”

The Brigades have claimed responsibility for the bombing outside the Iranian Embassy in Beirut last year and this year’s attack against the Iranian Cultural Center. Iran is a major backer of Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, a roadside bomb exploded early Tuesday close to a Lebanese Army patrol in Tripoli. There were no casualties from the 3:15 a.m. blast, the Army said.

In a statement, the military said the 800-gram bomb – enclosed in a box with metal balls – was planted on the side of a road in the neighborhood of Bab al-Raml. The military police have launched an investigation.