China export growth edges up to 7.2 percent

HONG KONG -- China's export growth edged higher in June in a small sign of improvement for the world's second biggest economy as it undergoes an uneven recovery.

Exports rose 7.2 percent in dollar terms from a year earlier, up slightly from May's 7 percent growth, the General Administration of Customs said Thursday. Imports grew 5.5 percent last month after shrinking 1.6 percent in May.

Growth in exports was slower than analysts were expecting, given that exports shrank in June last year, which should have given a bigger boost to this month's figure by comparison.

Nevertheless, economists say they expect growth to continue rising moderately thanks to demand from developed nations such as the United States for toys, electronics, clothing and other goods made by China's huge manufacturing industry. They don't expect growth to speed up significantly.

"We expect reasonable export growth in the coming months, but we are not sure how much more room for faster growth there is in the short term," said Louis Kuijs, chief China economist at RBS.

Imports, meanwhile, reflect slowing Chinese growth, which eased to 7.4 percent in the first quarter of the year. Demand for imports of steel, cement, copper and other raw materials has waned because of government curbs on construction. While China's authorities have unleashed mini-stimulus measures to boost growth, analysts expect the economy to slow as the impact fades.

Exports for June totaled $186.8 billion while imports were $155.2 billion, resulting in a $31.6 billion trade surplus.

South Korea cuts growth outlook on ferry disaster

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea's central bank said economic growth will be slower than expected this year because consumer spending has waned following a deadly ferry sinking.

Lee Ju-yeol, governor at the Bank of Korea, said Thursday that South Korea's economy will expand 3.8 percent this year instead of 4.0 percent predicted in April.

He said outlook for next year was also downgraded. Asia's fourth-largest economy will likely grow 4.0 percent, not 4.2 percent, in 2015.

The revision was due to a decline in consumer spending after the April 16 ferry disaster that profoundly shocked South Koreans. The tragedy killed 293 people and left 11 missing. Most of the dead were teenagers on a school trip.

Sales of clothes, food and fuel dropped in April. Tourism, restaurant and leisure industries took most of the brunt of the tragedy because schools canceled trips and South Koreans refrained from drinking and other festive activities.

In May, the drop narrowed but spending still remained sluggish.

Inflationary pressure was also weakened, giving policymakers room to support the economy. Consumer prices will increase 1.9 percent this year, lower than the previously forecast 2.0 percent increase, the bank said.

Also Thursday, Bank of Korea left its policy rate unchanged at 2.5 percent for a 14th month. However, the decision was not unanimous, with one policymaking dissenting.

Lee said South Korea's economy faced a higher chance of slowing. Even then, policymakers kept the rate steady because the recovery was intact, albeit a bit slower than before, he said.

South Korea's finance minister nominee expressed similar views during a parliamentary hearing, saying there was a higher downside risk to South Korea's growth. Choi Kyung-hwan said he would swiftly introduce measures to stimulate the economy once he takes office. Choi, seen as pro-growth, said he would seek to stimulate the housing market.

Why You Should Care Where The GOP Meets

i i

hide captionCleveland won the unanimous backing of a Republican National Committee panel on Tuesday, all but guaranteeing the GOP's 2016 presidential pick will accept the party's nomination in perennially hard-fought Ohio.

Tony Dejak/AP

Cleveland won the unanimous backing of a Republican National Committee panel on Tuesday, all but guaranteeing the GOP's 2016 presidential pick will accept the party's nomination in perennially hard-fought Ohio.

Tony Dejak/AP

The next Republican nominated for president will take the stage and wave to the crowd in ... wait for it ... Cleveland, Ohio.

That may shock you for any number of reasons, not least being that hardly anyone remembers the last time Cleveland hosted a national convention.

In fact, it was 1936, when the GOP went there to nominate a guy named Alf Landon, who carried exactly two states in November. It was the worst showing by a Republican nominee in U.S. history, which may have something to do with Cleveland's long wait for another try.

Democrats, for their part, have never held their convention in Cleveland. That may be because Ohio was so Republican for so long. From the first time the GOP even had a presidential candidate (1856) until 1964, only two Democrats carried Ohio in the Electoral College: Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt — and even FDR lost the state the last time he ran.

You might also be surprised by Monday's announcement for another reason: Cleveland, famous as the bankrupt buckle on the Rust Belt in the 1970s and 1980s, has quietly made a major comeback — both as a place to visit and as a place to live. A revitalized downtown and lakefront will be on display when the TV cameras arrive in 2016.

Still, the question people ask when they hear this kind of news story is: What difference does it make? And the best answer is: Not that much.

It won't determine the nomination and it probably won't determine how Ohio votes. It isn't likely to boost the long-shot presidential hopes of Ohio GOP Gov. John Kasich.

But it matters, and it tells us something about the Republican mindset at this moment.

Until after World War II, convention locales were crucial because it could take days to get there via ground transportation. Convention cities were originally chosen to split the geographical difference between North and South (usually Baltimore) or East and West (usually Chicago).

Now, delegates and hordes of media travel by air and huddle in air-conditioned buildings. So the locale has more to do with money, politics and messaging.

The host city has to commit millions for facilities and services, but a goodly number of civic contestants queue up for the privilege every four years anyway. The value in publicity, prestige and economic benefit makes it worthwhile.

The tough call is determining which city, state and region offers the most in terms of political payoff. The first thought may be the impact in the Electoral College, but that is far from the last word. In fact, Republicans have not won the state where they nominated their ticket since they renominated the first President Bush in Houston in 1992. Since then they have held their event in California, Pennsylvania, New York, Minnesota and Florida and lost them all in the fall.

But the political signal parties send in siting the convention can be intended for a wider audience.

Ronald Reagan in 1980 went to Detroit, a majority-black and heavily Democratic city, to convert "Reagan Democrats" and launch the revolution his party still considers its mission today. The GOP held its next three conventions in Texas and Louisiana, symbolizing its focus on the Sun Belt and the oil and gas industrial complex. The party swung back to San Diego in 1996 hoping to regain some of its onetime dominance in Southern California.

George W. Bush invaded the North with conventions in Philadelphia and New York City, the first a bid for a "blue state" and the second a salute to Sept. 11 and the city's former mayor, Republican Rudolph Giuliani.

The party pursued a "purple state" strategy in 2008 and 2012, choosing Minnesota and Florida, states where the election of Republican governors augured well for better fortunes in the presidential contest. It made sense, even if it didn't work.

This time around the final choices included two cities in swing states (Denver and Cleveland) and two in Republican territory (Kansas City and Dallas). Texas in particular stands for the most conservative end of the current GOP spectrum, and another convention there would look less like outreach to traditional Southern Democrats (as in 1984) and more like circling the wagons.

Some GOP regulars had feared that another trip to Dallas would spotlight the Tea Party hard-core in Texas and the party's increasing Southern tilt (two-thirds of Mitt Romney's electoral votes came from states of the Confederacy and three culturally Southern border states).

That might be fine with many of the party's most fervent believers, but it clearly troubled most of the voters on the Republican National Committee. The RNC embodies the party establishment, and Chairman Reince Priebus is determined to raise again the Big Tent concept of Republicanism.

So now, it is back at last to Ohio, which suggests the party is reading its history and remembering how critical the Buckeye State has been to its fortunes. No Republican has ever been elected president without carrying Ohio.

The question is whether the GOP has waited too long to return, not just to Ohio but to a more mainstream definition of its electoral pitch.

Obama officials pledge to stem immigration tide

WASHINGTON -- Obama administration officials defended their response to the immigration crisis on the Southwest border Wednesday and pledged to get control of the flood of unaccompanied children arriving from Central America.

"We believe we will stem this tide," the officials said in a joint statement prepared for a Senate hearing.

Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Craig Fugate, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Thomas Winkowski appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee a day after President Barack Obama asked Congress for $3.7 billion in emergency spending to deal with the crisis.

The officials were expected to face questions on the request, which is encountering some resistance from Republicans who believe more wholesale changes are needed. Democrats seem generally receptive to the spending, which would go for more immigration judges, detention facilities, and deterrence efforts, though some say it should focus more on helping the kids than on enforcement.

For President Barack Obama, the humanitarian crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border is increasingly becoming a political liability, giving Republicans a fresh opportunity to question his administration's competence and complicating the debate over the nation's fractured immigration laws.

But the president has resisted calls to visit the border during his fundraising trip to Texas on Wednesday. Instead, Obama plans to meet in Dallas with faith leaders and Texas officials, including Republican Gov. Rick Perry. Obama's decision to skip a border visit is likely to provide more fodder for the Republicans and the handful of Democrats who say the president hasn't responded quickly and forcefully enough to the mounting crisis.

Perry, a possible GOP presidential candidate in 2016, has been scathing in his criticism of Obama, saying the White House has failed to respond to his repeated warnings about a flood of minors at the border. But Obama spokesman Josh Earnest said the White House wasn't worried about the optics of the president traveling to Texas without visiting the border. Officials also pointed to Obama's request to Congress on Tuesday for additional resources at the border as a sign of the president's engagement in the crisis.

The officials testifying at Wednesday's congressional hearing didn't address the spending request in prepared testimony but outlined steps the administration already is taking to get a handle on the crisis, from aiming to increase detention space to working with governments in the region.

The children are coming mostly from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, many fleeing cartel violence but also hearing rumors, sometimes from smugglers, that once they arrive in the U.S. they would be allowed to stay. More than 50,000 have arrived already since fall, a number that's expected to rise to 90,000 by the end of this fiscal year. Thousands of families also are coming.

The unexpected immigration spike is overwhelming immigration courts and holding facilities in the Southwest and turning into a major political crisis for the Obama administration.

American, US Airways June passenger traffic rises

FORT WORTH, Texas -- The parent company of American Airlines and US Airways said Wednesday that June passenger traffic rose 1 percent from the same month a year ago and said it expects passenger revenue to rise in its second quarter.

But American Airlines Group also said it expects to post as much as $630 million in charges in the second quarter, related to fuel hedging contracts and its merger with US Airways. About $330 million of the charges are related to selling its fuel hedging contracts and about $250 million to $330 million is related to its bankruptcy restructuring and merger with US Airways.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based company said passengers on its planes flew 19.9 billion miles last month. But its planes were less full. The average flight was 85 percent full in June, compared with 86.9 percent full a year ago.

For the second quarter, which ended in June, American Airlines Group expects passenger revenue from each seat to be up about 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

In morning trading, American Airlines Group Inc. shares rose 62 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $40.89.

3 high school seniors working on eyewear app

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Three high school students are spending their summer trying to make information about Western Kentucky University appear right before your eyes — in the form of an app for wearable computer technology known as Google Glass.

The product was released initially in 2012 and to the general public this year. The $1,500 eyewear has a small screen above the right eye that offers Internet access, camera, email, maps and voice commands.

The three 17-year-olds at Gatton Academy in Bowling Green are developing a WKU app to help students. In a Western news release, Logan Houchens of Crestwood says the app should make campus life easier.

Houchens is working with Lydia Buzzard of Hopkinsville and Peter Kaminski of Owensboro to develop the app.

Gatton students enroll early as full-time WKU students.

NY insurer settles mental health parity claim

NEW YORK -- New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says he has reached a settlement with insurer EmblemHealth Inc. that will force the company to boost its coverage of mental health services.

Schneiderman said Wednesday that an investigation by his office found that EmblemHealth's subcontractor issued 64 percent more denials of coverage for behavioral and substance-abuse issues than in medical cases.

New York's 2006 mental health parity law requires that insurers provide mental health coverage at least equal to coverage provided for other health conditions.

EmblemHealth will be fined $1.2 million under the settlement.

Schneiderman says the company may also have to pay up to $31 million in restitution for claims that were denied.

New York City-based EmblemHealth has 3.4 million members.

Company representatives did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

A Day in the Life: Denver

President Obama is on the road again this week, talking about the economy and meeting with working Americans who have written the White House -- from Denver to Austin.

You can follow along right here. (And, if you want to write the President yourself, you can do that here.)

The President sat down for dinner with five Coloradans who wrote him.

The President sat down for dinner with five Americans who wrote him and shared their stories.

Alex, who works at a furniture upholstery store in Denver, wrote to thank him for calling on businesses to raise the minimum wage.

Elizabeth, a rising junior at the University of Northern Colorado majoring in mathematics, wrote about how she's struggling to pay for school.

Carolyn and David, a couple from Denver with six children, wrote to let the President know how they were able to expand their chain of sandwich shops thanks to an SBA loan.

And Leslie, who's worked as a teacher for 26 years, wrote about the importance of early childhood education.

"I'm so glad you're here."

--President Obama to his dinner guests, 7/8/2014

read more

Body of Lebanese man found in Beirut suburb

BEIRUT: A 54-year-old Lebanese man was found dead in his house in Hadath, south of Beirut, Wednesday evening, a security source told The Daily Star.

Citing preliminary the investigation, the source said Dr. Hasan Hashem's charred body was found with multiple stab wounds after his house burned down around 1 p.m.

He was stabbed several times with a sharp object to the head, neck and chest, the autopsy report revealed.

Investigators believe the perpetrator set the house on fire to hide evidence, the source said, adding that Hashem's wife, daughter and son would be interrogated to determine involvement.

His wife and daughter had returned to the house earlier in the day and reportedly found the man's body in the house, which was destroyed by the fire.

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Why You Should Care Where The GOP Meets

i i

hide captionCleveland won the unanimous backing of a Republican National Committee panel on Tuesday, all but guaranteeing the GOP's 2016 presidential pick will accept the party's nomination in perennially hard-fought Ohio.

Tony Dejak/AP

Cleveland won the unanimous backing of a Republican National Committee panel on Tuesday, all but guaranteeing the GOP's 2016 presidential pick will accept the party's nomination in perennially hard-fought Ohio.

Tony Dejak/AP

The next Republican nominated for president will take the stage and wave to the crowd in...wait for it...Cleveland, Ohio.

That may shock you for any number of reasons, not least being that hardly anyone remembers the last time Cleveland hosted a national convention.

In fact, it was 1936, when the GOP went there to nominate a guy named Alf Landon, who carried exactly two states in November. It was the worst showing by a Republican nominee in U.S. history, which may have something to do with Cleveland's long wait for another try.

Democrats, for their part, have never held their convention in Cleveland. That may be because Ohio was so Republican for so long. From the first time the GOP even had a presidential candidate (1856) until 1964, only two Democrats carried Ohio in the Electoral College: Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt — and even FDR lost the state the last time he ran.

You might also be surprised by Monday's announcement for another reason: Cleveland, famous as the bankrupt buckle on the "Rust Belt" in the 1970s and 1980s, has quietly made a major comeback – both as a place to visit and as a place to live. A revitalized downtown and lakefront will be on display when the TV cameras arrive in 2016.

Still, the question people ask when they hear this kind of news story is: What difference does it make? And the best answer is: Not that much.

It won't determine the nomination and it probably won't determine how Ohio votes. It isn't likely to boost the longshot presidential hopes of Ohio GOP Gov. John Kasich.

But it matters, and it tells us something about the Republican mindset at this moment.

Until after World War II, convention locales were crucial because it could take days to get there via ground transportation. Convention cities were originally chosen to split the geographical difference between North and South (usually Baltimore) or East and West (usually Chicago).

Now, delegates and hordes of media travel by air and huddle in air-conditioned buildings. So the locale has more to do with money, politics and messaging.

The host city has to commit millions for facilities and services, but a goodly number of civic contestants queue up for the privilege every four years anyway. The value in publicity, prestige and economic benefit makes it worthwhile.

The tough call is determining which city, state and region offers the most in terms of political payoff. The first thought may be the impact in the Electoral College, but that is far from the last word. In fact, Republicans have not won the state where they nominated their ticket since they re-nominated the first President Bush in Houston in 1992. Since then they have held their event in California, Pennsylvania, New York, Minnesota and Florida and lost them all in the fall.

But the political signal parties send in siting the convention can be intended for a wider audience.

Ronald Reagan in 1980 went to Detroit, a majority-black and heavily Democratic city to convert "Reagan Democrats" and launch the revolution his party still considers its mission today. The GOP held its next three conventions in Texas and Louisiana, symbolizing its focus on the Sun Belt and the oil-and-gas industrial complex. The party swung back to San Diego in 1996 hoping to regain some of its one-time dominance in Southern California.

George W. Bush invaded the North with conventions in Philadelphia and New York City, the first a bid for a "blue state" and the second a salute to 9/11 and the city's former mayor, Republican Rudy Giuliani.

The party pursued a "purple state" strategy in 2008 and 2012, choosing Minnesota and Florida, states where the election of Republican governors augured well for better fortunes in the presidential contest. It made sense, even if it didn't work.

This time around the final choices included two cities in swing states (Denver and Cleveland) and two in Republican territory (Kansas City and Dallas). Texas in particular stands for the most conservative end of the current GOP spectrum, and another convention there would look less like outreach to traditional Southern Democrats (as in 1984) and more like circling the wagons.

Some GOP regulars had feared that another trip to Dallas would spotlight the Tea Party hardcore in Texas and the party's increasing Southern tilt (two-thirds of Mitt Romney's electoral votes came from states of the Confederacy and three culturally-Southern border states).

That might be fine with many of the party's most fervent believers, but it clearly troubled most of the voters on the Republican National Committee. The RNC embodies the party establishment, and Chairman Reince Priebus is determined to raise again the Big Tent concept of Republicanism.

So now, it is back at last to Ohio, which suggests the party is reading its history and remembering how critical the Buckeye State has been to its fortunes. No Republican has ever been elected president without carrying Ohio.

The question is whether the GOP has waited too long to return, not just to Ohio but to a more mainstream definition of its electoral pitch.

Ex-New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin Gets 10 Years In Corruption Case

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hide captionFormer New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin leaves federal court after his conviction in New Orleans in Feb. 12, 2014. He was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison.

Gerald Herbert/AP

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin leaves federal court after his conviction in New Orleans in Feb. 12, 2014. He was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison.

Gerald Herbert/AP

Updated at 11:20 a.m. ET

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison for bribery, money laundering and other crimes.

He was convicted Feb. 12 of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks. The indictment included 21 counts.

As NPR's Bill Chappell reported at the time, "Prosecutors also said Nagin accepted perks such as free travel and played a role in funneling money and granite to Stone Age, a company run by his sons. The counts cover a large portion of Nagin's two terms as mayor from 2002-2010, a tenure that included the Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005."

Nagin was indicted in January 2013. At the time, prosecutors said he engaged in bribery, wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and filing false tax returns. The FBI, the IRS and New Orleans' inspector general all inspected the case.

Nagin, as you might recall, became the face of New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit the city in 2005. He first ran for mayor in 2002 as a reformer, but as NPR's Debbie Elliott reported in 2013:

"Nagin's second term was plagued with allegations of corruption, and frustration over the pace of the Katrina recovery. A number of contractors and one of the mayor's top aides have since either pleaded guilty or been convicted in a series of similar but unrelated bribery schemes."

The New Orleans Times-Picayune notes that Nagin faced 20 years in prison, but U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan said, "I do intend to downward depart from these guidelines."

The newspaper notes the 10 years in prison matches the sentence handed to former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, who was convicted of corruption in 2000. But it's less than the 13 years handed to former Rep. William Jefferson for his corruption case.

Nagin's wife and their children, in letters to the judge, insisted the former mayor was innocent, and called into question the credibility of witnesses called by the prosecution.

Nagin is to report to a minimum security lockup in Oakdale, La., on Sept. 8.

Lebanon's rival politicians blast Israel Gaza offensive

March 14 to attend legislative sessions

Future Movement MPs Atef Majdalani and Khodr Habib announce that March 14 will attend parliamentary legislative...

Sami Gemayel World Cup joke falls flat on Twitter

BEIRUT: Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel may have overreacted to Brazil’s humiliating World Cup defeat in the semifinals, saying Germany had committed yet another genocide, this time in football.

But the young lawmaker quickly attempted to save face and adopted the old-age diplomatic way of recovery by deleting the comment from his Twitter feed.

Unfortunately, a number of people had already retweeted and responded to what they felt was an offensive comment from the 33-year-old Kataeb official, who spearheaded many student protests against what he believed was Syria’s oppressive tutelage over Lebanon.

“Germans just committed a new genocide, thank God its just Football! Congrats to the German fans...,” Gemayel tweeted, creating a buzz on social media that might have united his supporters and opponents for once, this time against him.

Some Twitter users voiced disappointment while others ridiculed the lawmaker whose comment failed to reveal which team he was rooting for.

“Pierre Gemayel had the idea of Kataeb from the Nazi youth in the 1936 Olympics. @samygemayel is perpetuating the myth,” @beirutntsc tweeted.

“@samygemayel when politicians use the term ‘genocide’ to describe a football game you know the Lebanese moral compass is utterly lost #SMH,” Carole ‏@CaroleHK said.

‏@Sarah_Zhr: “The emotional detachment of people when a event doesn't directly concern them baffles me. @samygemayel”

‏@S_Dockery: "um. no? MT @samygemayel Germans just committed a new genocide, thank god its just Football! Congrats to the German fans..."

But Gemayel was not the only Lebanese who made jokes and ridiculed Brazil after Germany demolished the host team 7-1 in the semifinal game late Tuesday.

Comedian Naim Halawi wrote on his Facebook page that the "Free Brigades of Berlin claimed responsibility for the first goal in Brazil's net," drawing on Lebanon's own issues with the shadowy group the Free Sunni Brigades of Baalbek.

"Lebanon's Ansar football club announced it would take each Brazilian player for $600/annually," a message circulating on social media said.

"The Lebanese football team says it is ready to face Brazil anywhere and at any time!” another Facebook meme read.

Berri meets families of kidnapped Iranian diplomats

Israel intercepts rockets fired at Tel Aviv

At least two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip at Tel Aviv are shot down midair by Israel's Iron Dome defense system,...

What's Causing The Latest Immigration Crisis? A Brief Explainer

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hide captionDemonstrators from opposing sides confront each other while being separated by police officers on July 4, outside a U.S. Border Patrol station in Murrieta, Calif.

Mark J. Terrill/AP

Demonstrators from opposing sides confront each other while being separated by police officers on July 4, outside a U.S. Border Patrol station in Murrieta, Calif.

Mark J. Terrill/AP

It's turning into the largest influx of refugees on U.S. soil since the 1980 Mariel boatlift out of Cuba.

Since October, more than 52,000 children — most from Central America and many of them unaccompanied by adults — have been taken into custody. That's nearly double last year's total and 10 times the number from 2009.

President Obama has called on Congress to supply nearly $4 billion simply to deal with the problem. In the meantime, U.S. officials are doing what they can to discourage Central Americans from sending their children in the false belief they will readily be admitted to live with relatives.

As the crisis continues, here's an explainer on some of the key questions facing policymakers:

What is fueling this influx? Why have so many children from Central America attempted to enter the U.S. over the past nine months?

A study by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees found that 58 percent of the unaccompanied children are motivated by safety concerns, fearing conditions back home.

Their home countries have been racked by gang violence, fueled by the drug trade. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, "Salvadoran and Honduran children ... come from extremely violent regions where they probably perceive the risk of traveling alone to the U.S. preferable to remaining at home."

There's violence in Guatemala, too. Many Guatemalan children, however, come from poor rural areas and may be seeking economic opportunities. The same is true for children from poorer parts of El Salvador. For many, the prospect of reunited with family members in the U.S. is also a powerful motivating force.

Central American families may have been misled by rumors — often spread by profit-seeking smugglers — that their children will readily be reunited with relatives already in the U.S.

Republicans argue that the president's 2012 decision not to deport so-called Dreamers — young adults brought to the country illegally as children — has led more families to hope for similar treatment.

Why are Central American children treated differently than Mexican children attempting to cross the border illegally?

U.S. policy allows Mexican child migrants to be sent back quickly across the border. However, under a 2008 law meant to combat child trafficking, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, children from Central America must be given a court hearing before they are deported (or allowed to stay). Given the huge backlog of cases, they may have to wait years for a hearing.

"Because of a backlog, which is growing greatly with the recent influx, in essence a kid released tomorrow could stay in the U.S. for up to 3 years waiting for that date," explains NPR's Carrie Kahn. "And for most of these kids that's three years with a long lost relative or three years away from extreme poverty and violence."

In the meantime, as many as 90 percent of the children stay with relatives or family friends already living in the U.S., with the rest placed in foster care, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

President Obama recently asked Congress to amend the 2008 law to make it easier to repatriate Central American children more quickly.

President Obama wants nearly $4 billion to help deal with this backlog. How will Congress respond?

The administration on Tuesday asked Congress for $3.7 billion to deal with the immigration crisis, as part of an "emergency" package of funds that would also help pay for Western wildfires. The money would be spent on additional Border Patrol manpower, detention facilities and more judges, while also improving care for children during the deportation process.

The request carefully sidesteps addressing questions of current immigration law. For that reason, debate may be limited to dealing with the immediate crisis, rather than how and whether to change policies.

The Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing on the matter on Thursday. House leaders did not signal immediate approval or disapproval, but Kentucky Republican Rep. Hal Rogers, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, told Politico, "Plainly, the situation for many of these unaccompanied children is extremely dire, and the United States has both a security and a moral obligation to help solve the crisis at hand."

What effect — if any — will all this have on the larger immigration debate?

Pro-immigrant groups such as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are calling for the children to be treated as refugees who are fleeing violent criminals in their home countries.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees echoed that desire on Tuesday, noting that this is a region-wide problem.

But the migrants are unwelcome among groups traditionally concerned with the influx of undocumented aliens. Most dramatically, last week protesters blocked busloads of migrant children and families from entering a processing facility in Murrieta, Calif.

"Word has gotten out around the world about President Obama's lax immigration enforcement policies and it has encouraged more individuals to come to the United States illegally, many of whom are children from Central America," House Judiciary Committee Chair Robert Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican, said last month.

For its part, administration officials says that overall apprehensions of immigrants seeking to cross at the southwestern border remain at near-historic lows. The administration hopes to speed up deportations, even as top officials describe the situation as a humanitarian crisis.

US students in middle of pack on financial knowhow

By JENNIFER C. KERR The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The United States runs in the middle of the pack when it comes to the financial knowledge and skills of 15-year-old boys and girls, according to an international study released Wednesday.

China's financial hub of Shanghai had the highest average score for teens who participated in the testing for the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. A total of 18 countries and economies were studied. Shanghai was followed by the Flemish Community of Belgium, Estonia, Australia, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, Poland, Latvia, the U.S., Russia and France.

At the bottom of the list: Croatia, Israel, the Slovak Republic, Italy and Colombia.

The testing is part of OECD's Program for International Student Assessment, which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide. This is the program's first assessment of financial literacy of teens.

The questions on the two-hour paper test ranged from simple to complex.

The easiest questions asked students to display basic financial literacy skills, such as recognizing the purpose of an invoice or comparing prices per unit to determine which had a better value.

The most difficult asked students to analyze more complicated scenarios, such as reviewing two loan proposals with differing rates and terms and choosing the better offer.

Shanghai notched the top average score of 603 points on the test. The U.S., by comparison, had an average score of 492, and Colombia, at the bottom, scored 379.

So what is Shanghai doing right?

Michael Davidson, head of schools for the OECD, says Shanghai schools identify students who are struggling and provide the support they need. Successful systems, he said, are ones that don't let students fall behind.

The financial literacy study was administered in 2012 to approximately 29,000 15-year-old students in 13 OECD countries and economies and five partner countries and economies.

Across all 18 countries and economies, only 1 in 10 students could solve the hardest financial literacy questions on the test, the report said.

In the U.S., only 9.4 percent of the students taking part in the study were able to solve the most difficult questions. More than 1 in 6 U.S. students did not reach the baseline level of proficiency in financial literacy. At best, said the report, those students could make only simple decisions on everyday spending.

The OECD's Davidson said being grounded in financial literacy is crucial to teens preparing to decide whether to enter the job market or embark on college and university educations.

Many, he said, already use financial products in their daily lives. In the U.S., for example, about 50 percent of the 15-year-olds said they have a bank account. About 15 percent said they have a prepaid debit card.

Southwest fills more seats, revenue figure rises

DALLAS -- Southwest Airlines Co. said Wednesday that a key revenue figure rose sharply in June, which hinted that the carrier was able to charge higher average fares at the start of the summer travel season.

Southwest, which also operates AirTran Airways, said that passenger revenue for every seat flown one mile jumped by 7 percent to 8 percent last month, compared with June 2013. For the April-June quarter, the figure grew more than 8 percent, the company said.

The closely watched revenue statistic increases when average fares rise and airlines fill more seats.

Dallas-based Southwest said that traffic rose 2.2 percent, as passengers flew 10.07 billion miles last month. That outstripped an increase of 0.9 percent in capacity, resulting in fuller planes. The average flight was 86.1 percent full, compared with 85 percent in June 2013.

Shares of Southwest rose 60 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $27.30 in morning trading. They began the day up 42 percent in 2014.

Dog tracks cornered by wagering woes, racing foes

MIAMI -- A mural-sized photograph at Flagler Dog Track celebrates the good old days, decades gone: Men and women in their finest clothes lean against the fence to catch a glimpse of the greyhounds, the stands emblazoned with red, white and blue bunting, radio men perched in a booth to bring the action to fans at home.

Outside, on a recent Wednesday afternoon, the trumpet sounded, the track announcer introduced the dogs, and almost no one was there to see it. Only a couple dozen patrons looked down from the 7,000-seat grandstand.

"On a good day we can have 100 people on the stands, and they are mostly smokers who come out from the casino floor," said Isadore "Izzy" Havenick, whose family has owned the track since 1953.

The dog racing business, at once doomed and propped up by casino gambling, has come to a crossroads.

Greyhound racing's decline began years ago with the spread of casino-style gambling. To appease track operators, states gave them fat subsidies from the new gambling revenue.

The tracks themselves jumped into the casino business too, with licenses that often forced them to offer a minimum number of race days, an arrangement called "coupling."

But betting on live racing has fallen from almost $1 billion in 1990 to $258 million last year in Florida, home to 12 of the 21 tracks that regularly hold live dog races in the U.S.

The races have become a never-watched sideshow to the profitable poker rooms and slot machines.

The owners of many tracks — along with ghost tracks that now offer only simulcast racing — are hoping to survive long enough for states to let them drop the facade of dog racing altogether and just run casinos.

Lawmakers, mindful of the interests of deep-pocketed casino operators who don't want the unfettered competition, seem to have other ideas.

Last year, West Virginia lawmakers rejected a bill pushed by one of the state's two dog tracks to cut its licensing fees by more than half and to reduce the minimum number of race days.

Two months ago, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad signed a bill that will shutter one of the state's two tracks by 2016.

Florida, which in 1931 was the first state to legalize wagering on greyhound racing, opted against a measure in its most recent legislative session that would have allowed tracks to keep poker and slots and ditch the racing. The plan, which proponents hope to revive in the session next year, is seen as an expansion of gambling and faces opposition from gambling opponents and other competitors.

The "decoupling" movement has created an odd alliance between racetrack casino operators, who see the races as a burden, and animal rights groups out to end greyhound racing altogether, much as they succeeded in outlawing cockfighting several years ago.

"When decoupling passes, it will lead to a slow and gradual end" of the industry, said Carey Theil, executive director of the anti-racing group Grey2K USA.

Dog racing's troubles also could be a preview of things to come for the horse racing industry, which in some states has identical laws tying it to casino gambling. Money bet at thoroughbred tracks dropped from just over $15 billion in 2003 to less than $11 billion in 2013, according to the Jockey Club, an industry clearinghouse.

Though stronger financially than dog racing, horse racing is also far more expensive to stage, and only a handful of the biggest tracks are profitable without casinos to support them.

Some within the horse racing industry see decoupling laws as a threat to their own sport.

"They could set a dangerous precedent for all breeds of racing," said Lonny Powell, the CEO of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association, who worked for years as a regulator of dog races.

Melbourne Greyhound Park, a smaller track in central Florida, sees the biggest crowd each year during the Kentucky Derby, when around 3,000 patrons turn up to watch the simulcast screens and place bets on the horses.

Cashing in on those rare events is not enough for track operators. Promotional gimmicks such as "Doggy Dinner Theater" and races with dogs named for celebrities have not worked, said Havenick, the Miami track owner.

Reducing the number of races might help make them special events again, he suggested.

The death of dog racing would be the end of "a beautiful show," said Duke Adkinson, a longtime fan who came to Flagler — now part of Magic City Casino — with his preteen grandson Dillon to instill in him the love for the races.

"Everyone who has not seen it live needs to come at least once if they like greyhounds," Adkinson said, surrounded by empty seats and aging faces.

Sterling testily takes stage in Clippers trial

LOS ANGELES -- Donald Sterling, battling to stop the sale of his beloved Los Angeles Clippers, turned a courtroom into his personal stage, railing at a lawyer questioning him, denouncing doctors who deemed him incompetent and insisting he can get far more than the $2 billion price offered for the team.

Taking the stand Tuesday in a role he'll resume on Wednesday, Sterling alternately declared his love for his wife, Shelly, with tears and then demeaned her as a woman intimidated by the "bad NBA" and incapable of handling such a large financial transaction.

Sterling, himself a lawyer, exerted his control over the proceedings in the non-jury civil trial from the moment he took the witness stand and accused lawyer Bert Fields of asking him a compound question. Judge Michael Levanas reminded Sterling that he was appearing as a witness, not an attorney.

Fields, one of the best known entertainment lawyers in Los Angeles, spoke so softly that Sterling complained he couldn't hear him.

"Tell me what you want to accuse me of," Sterling told Fields during a 90-minute afternoon appearance. "Stand up and be a man."

The 80-year-old billionaire also called doctors who've declared he has Alzheimer's disease "hired guns," pleaded a faulty memory about some of his most controversial remarks and declared he could top the $2 billion offer for the Clippers by $10 billion by selling TV rights to Fox and winning an antitrust suit he's filed against the NBA.

"What do you think, I'm doing this for ego?" he asked Fields.

"Yes," the attorney replied.

"Well, you're wrong, like you're wrong with all your questions," Sterling said.

He also repeatedly told Fields that he couldn't hear him, but at one point also said he was a good lawyer.

As Sterling made continued outbursts, Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas tried futilely to take control of the situation, at one point telling him: "Go back to answering questions rather than making somewhat entertaining comments."

After court, Fields said those who watched Sterling could easily draw their own conclusions on his competence.

"Is this a guy you'd employ to sell hamburgers?" Fields said.

The NBA has moved to oust Sterling from team ownership because of racist remarks he made to a girlfriend.

His lawyers are challenging the authority of Shelly Sterling under a family trust to unilaterally cut a deal for the team with former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

In order to be able to make the deal herself, Shelly Sterling had two doctors examine her husband. They declared him mentally incapacitated and unable to act as an administrator of the Sterling Family Trust, which owns the Clippers.

Sterling angrily denied that on the witness stand.

"When I went to the Cleveland Clinic, they told me I was razor-sharp. I have five corporations and I run them every day," he said.

Sterling acknowledged that he had offered to allow his wife to negotiate the sale at one point, but that was when he believed she would retain an interest in the team.

"I wanted to keep the team. I didn't want to sell it," he said.

Despite his challenge, Sterling repeatedly defended his wife and during a break before giving testimony, he pulled her down to his chair for a kiss. She wiped away a tear.

"I trust her today," Sterling said on the stand. "The reason we're here is because she's afraid of this big NBA that's trying to take everything away."

At times, he sniffled and appeared to wipe away a tear.

NBA owners are scheduled to vote on the Ballmer deal on July 15. It's also the day that Ballmer's offer is set to expire — and there is no deal without the judge's approval of the sale.

If the sale isn't completed by Sept. 15, the league said it could seize the team and put it up for auction.

Greece to test bond market again with new issue

ATHENS, Greece -- Greece says it will issue a three-year bond following its successful bid to tap debt markets in April after a four-year absence.

A finance ministry statement Wednesday said the bond "is expected to be launched and priced in the near future, subject to market conditions."

Bailed-out Greece regained bond market access in April, four years after it was saved from bankruptcy by an international bailout. The five-year issue raised 3 billion euros ($4.14 billion) with a 4.75 percent coupon.

Alexandria lifts moratorium on new bingo halls

ALEXANDRIA, La. -- The public will get more places to play bingo in Alexandria after the city council temporarily lifted a moratorium on new bingo halls.

The Town Talk reports (http://townta.lk/1rRv58s) the moratorium was lifted by resolution during Tuesday's regular council meeting. There was no discussion during that meeting, but the bingo issue was debated for more than an hour in the Finance and Legal Affairs Committee meeting that preceded the regular meeting.

Lifting the moratorium means that new bingo sites can be established within a 120-day period by meeting regulations and permitting requirements. After that 120-day period, a moratorium would be put back into place.

France reiterates support for Lebanon security

BEIRUT: France pledged full backing to Lebanon’s security Wednesday, stressing that no efforts should be spared to preserve the country from the effects of raging conflicts in the Middle East.

Speaking in a chat with the media, the spokesperson of the Quai d’Orsay, France’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, Philippe Lalliot also called for maintaining Lebanon’s policy of disassociating itself from the Syrian crisis and deplored Lebanese officials' failure to elect a new president.

“We denounce any attempts aimed at compromising Lebanon’s stability and reaffirm our support to the Lebanese authorities and institutions, notably those in charge of security which are performing to preserve the country’s national unity and stability,” Lalliot said in comments made available to The Daily Star by the French embassy.

“Everything possible should be done to safeguard Lebanon from the effects of ongoing regional conflicts,” Lalliot said.

The French official deplored the failure of Lebanon’s politicians to elect a new president within constitutional deadlines, highlighting the urgency of reaching an agreement over the next head of state.

“ France is a friend of Lebanon, and we believe that it is important that Lebanese politicians and officials ensure the good functioning of public institutions and fully commit to have a quick (presidential) election,” Lalliot said.

He said the future head of state would have to deal with the tremendous challenges facing the country, work on preserving national unity and maintain the policy of disassociation from the Syrian conflict in line with the Baabda Declaration.

A day earlier, British Ambassador in Lebanon Tom Fletcher expressed appreciation for the work of Lebanese security apparatuses and called on Lebanon’s friends to support its bid to maintain stability in a turbulent Middle East.

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March 14 to attend legislative sessions

BEIRUT: Future Movement MPs Atef Majdalani and Khodr Habib announced Wednesday that March 14 lawmakers would attend parliamentary legislative sessions even before electing a new president.

“We cannot take stances that contradict Lebanon and its people’s interest,” Majdalani told the radio station Voice of Lebanon 93.3. “This is why we [announce] our readiness to participate in sessions that will pass exceptional laws that the country needs.”

Habib, Future’s MP in Akkar, echoed this statement in an interview with Free Lebanon radio station, saying that “March 14 does not mind going down to Parliament and legislating, only in case of necessity.”

The two MPs specified that the ranks and salaries scale and the unpaid wages of the public sector employees were among the top priorities considered for urgent legislation.

“We confirm that we are ready to legislate," Majdalani said, "in what concerns the [unpaid] salaries and the ranks and salaries scale. We are for this scale because it is a right for the employee, the teacher and the soldier, but we insist that it should be founded on good grounds.”

As for Habib, he stressed that although his bloc was ready for legislation, the wage hike still faced the problem of collecting the state revenues required to fund it.

“The problem here is not with going down to the Parliament, but rather with finding the [sources of] revenues,” he said.

On the other hand, Future’s MP Ahmad Fatfat announced, after meeting Prime Minister Tammam Salam, his blocs’ “readiness to go and vote on the matter of the eurobonds" to finance the Lebanese public debt.

“As for the [unpaid] salaries, the Cabinet and the finance minister can ensure the required amounts [without the need for parliamentary legislation].”

He condemned Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil’s decision not to pay the salaries until the Parliament issued an official permit allowing doing so, saying that it was a provocative political step.

“We [see] in this logic a political pressure to make sure the Parliament meets on normal legislative sessions, while we insist that electing the new president should stay a top priority.”

March 14 MPs and especially Christians among them had continuously opposed any legislation in the Parliament before the election of a new president.

In light of the deadlock in the presidential matter, the public sector’s employees and teachers have found their case stuck.

The Union Coordination Committee, which has been demanding the wage hike for three years, organizing protests, sit-ins and currently a hunger strike by one of its members, threatened Wednesday that if the policy was not enacted, 2014-2015’s academic year would not start next September in any of Lebanon’s schools.

As for the unpaid wages for public sector employees, Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil had announced that they cannot be paid unless the Parliament passes legislation allowing the Cabinet to do so.

This announcement provoked heavy condemnations by the Future officials, who reminded Khalil that previous Cabinets had been dealing with identical cases for many years without causing trouble. Khalil responded by saying he was not willing to break any laws and illegally pay the salaries, calling MPs to convene for a legislative session as soon as possible.

Future MP slams Hezbollah military parade in Bekaa

BEIRUT: Future bloc MP Ahmad Fatfat Wednesday blasted Hezbollah’s military parade in Bekaa Valley towns, accusing state security forces of ignoring such a demonstration and demanding that the Army take measures.

On Monday, Hezbollah paraded in Labweh, Al-Ain and other towns bordering Syria a number of vehicles, cannons, and rocket launchers in daylight, showing off its military capabilities.

Residents in the border towns have grown fearful that militants could infiltrate into Lebanon from Syria in light of a possible military operation by rebel groups to take back Qalamoun, the mountainous region bordering Lebanon.

Hezbollah sought to reassure residents that it would provide them with the needed protection, sources in the towns told The Daily Star.

The Future lawmaker criticized the parade and demanded that the state respond appropriately.

“We were surprised to hear about this military parade by Hezbollah in the Baalbek-Hermel. This area is under the supervision of the Lebanese Army, and we were surprised that there was no reaction from security forces to what we saw,” Fatfat told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

“Hezbollah's aim was to send political messages for the domestic arena and not [for the international community] because the party is already in Syria and participating in the aggression against the Syrian people so there is no need to send a message to the rebels.”

Fatfat said the military parade only showcased the “security forces’ failure and how they differentiate in dealing with a person in Tripoli who they quickly accuse of terror charges for carrying a weapon to defend his home.”

“Such variation in treatment will result in a popular, political and security reaction,” he said. “We ask the Lebanese Army to take measures and explain the measures they are going to use against the military parade.”

He also noted that he relayed to the prime minister and the defense minister, who attended part of the meeting, the protest against the military parade.

Fatfat said Salam would discuss the issue with the defense minister.

Ukrainian charged with Russian journalists' deaths

MOSCOW -- A Ukrainian air force pilot, whose plane was shot down in eastern Ukraine during fighting, has been arrested in Russia and charged with killing two Russian journalists, Russian officials said on Wednesday.

Ukraine has been rocked by fighting between pro-Russia rebels and government forces for over three months. The two Russian state-owned TV channel employees died in June after being hit by mortar fire in the Ukrainian city of Luhansk.

Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement Wednesday that 31-year-old pilot Nadezhda Savchenko is suspected of tipping off Ukrainian troops as to the whereabouts of the journalists who were in a rebel-held area.

Savchenko is now in a Russian detention center but it's unclear how she got there. Moscow insists she crossed the border voluntarily, without documents and under the guise of a refugee. Ukraine, however, raised the alarm a while ago about her disappearance.

Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, was quoted as saying Wednesday that Savchenko had been kidnapped and the president has asked all authorities to work for her return.

Peter Leonard contributed to this report from Kiev, Ukraine.

Administration Moves To Speed Deportations Of Unaccompanied Minors

A flood of children from Central America has put President Obama under pressure. Steve Inskeep talks to White House advisor Cecilia Muñoz about efforts to more quickly process them.

Tuesday's Sports In Brief

WORLD CUP

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil (AP) — With Neymar out injured, just about everyone in Brazil knew it would be tough against Germany.

Nobody ever expected this.

The Germans tore apart Brazil's porous defense time and time again, routing the hosts 7-1 in the World Cup semifinals, the largest margin of defeat at this stage in the history of the tournament.

The astounding scoreline is sure to overshadow Miroslav Klose's record-setting 16th career World Cup goal. The strike pushed Klose past Brazil great Ronaldo as the Germans advanced to their eighth World Cup final.

Germany will face either Argentina or the Netherlands on Sunday at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro with a chance to win for the fourth time.

NBA

LAS VEGAS (AP) — In another summer of NBA Free Agent Frenziness, if LeBron James knows where he will be playing next season, he still isn't saying.

Asked by The Associated Press how free agency was going when his afternoon meeting agenda was apparently complete, the four-time MVP said "no complaints." He offered a quick greeting, and provided no hints of anything — including when his next "Decision" will be known — before leaving with a wave.

The entire exchange lasted about eight seconds. James, who has been relatively quiet while weighing his options, never broke stride.

He was upstairs in an exclusive part of a Las Vegas hotel, holding court for a little more than three hours before emerging in the lobby, walking toward his assembled brain trust — including longtime manager Maverick Carter and Nike representatives, a sponsor of the LeBron James Skills Academy he'll be hosting in Las Vegas starting Wednesday — and got whisked away.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Donald Sterling, challenging the sale of his Los Angeles Clippers, gave testy, bombastic testimony Tuesday, contending he's mentally sound, sparring with his wife's lawyer and repeatedly drawing laughter from spectators.

The 80-year-old billionaire also called doctors who've declared he has Alzheimer's disease "hired guns," pleaded a faulty memory about some of his most controversial remarks and declared he could top the $2 billion offer for the Clippers by $10 billion by selling TV rights to Fox and winning an antitrust suit he's filed against the NBA.

He also repeatedly told soft-voiced attorny Bert Fields that he couldn't hear him, but at one point during the 90-minute appearance also said he was a good lawyer.

As Sterling made continued outbursts, Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas tried futilely to take control of the situation, at one point telling him: "Go back to answering questions rather than making somewhat entertaining comments."

BASEBALL

NEW YORK (AP) — Jose Bautista and Troy Tulowitzki have announced three members of their respective teams for Monday night's Home Run Derby at Target Field.

Joining Bautista on the American League team are Oakland's Yoenis Cespedes, who was last year's Derby winner, Baltimore's Adam Jones and Brian Dozier of the host Twins.

Tulowitzki will have Miami's Giancarlo Stanton, who entered Tuesday leading the National League in homers, the Dodgers' Yasiel Puig and Cincinnati's Todd Frazier on his side.

The final competitor in each league will be announced on Thursday.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Cardinals left-hander Jaime Garcia will undergo thoracic outlet surgery Friday to relieve nerve issues in his pitching arm, shoulder and hand. Garcia and doctors believe the injury has dogged him for several years.

Garcia referred to the procedure, which involved the removal of the first rib, as the "most logical and only option I have."

The recovery period is three to four months, and the oft-injured Garcia is confident he will be back next season for the final year of a $27 million, four-year contract.

The Cardinals, who already had ruled Garcia out for the year, were initially surprised by the pitcher's decision to have the procedure done by an outside specialist and rejecting other treatment options, and then revealing plans before informing the team. Garcia is having the surgery done by Dr. Robert Thompson of St. Louis.

SAILING

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Windy City got the heave-ho from the race to host the 2017 America's Cup. Sailing's marquee regatta is either headed back to San Diego or will be held on the northern tip of the Bermuda Triangle.

Russell Coutts, CEO of defending champion Oracle Team USA, said it was a tough decision to eliminate Chicago.

Despite Chicago's nickname, "the variability of the wind was quite a major uncertainty for us," Coutts told The Associated Press by phone from his home in New Zealand.

Chicago will be offered the chance to host a stop on the America's Cup World Series, a set of warmup regattas that will begin next year.

The America's Cup has never been held on a lake. Lake Michigan's wind is variable because it comes from weather systems rather than the thermal effect that helps generate sea breezes.

WNBA

NEW YORK (AP) — Minnesota star Maya Moore was the leading vote-getter for the WNBA All-Star game.

She will start for the Western Conference alongside Phoenix's Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner, Tulsa's Skylar Diggins and Los Angeles' Candace Parker.

Elena Delle Donne received the most votes in the Eastern Conference, earning her second straight trip to the All-Star game. She became the first rookie to lead the league's All-Star balloting last year, but wasn't able to play after she suffered a concussion a few days before the game.

Delle Donne is sidelined with a flare-up of Lyme Disease and has only played once for Chicago in the past 10 games.

New York's Cappie Pondexter, Indiana's Tamika Catchings, and Atlanta's Shoni Schimmel and Angel McCoughtry round out the rest of the East starters for the July 19 game in Phoenix.

$580 million EU antitrust fine for drug makers

BRUSSELS -- The European Union's antitrust body is imposing a fine of 428 million euros ($580 million) on France's pharmaceutical company Servier and five producers of generic medicines for distorting competition.

The 28-nation bloc's executive Commission on Wednesday said Servier struck a series of deals with the producers of generic medicines to protect its bestselling blood pressure medicine, Perindopril, from price competition.

EU competition chief Joaquin Almunia says Servier's practices of "systematically buying out any competitive threats" to protect its market was "clearly anti-competitive and abusive."

The Commission says Servier must pay a fine of 331 million euros ($450 million). The remaining fine of about 100 million euros is split between the five producers of generic medicines according to the extent of their involvement. They are Niche/Unichem, Matrix, Teva, Krka and Lupin.

Oil prices steady ahead of US stockpiles data

TOKYO -- Oil prices were steady Wednesday ahead of the release of figures on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined fuels that will be a key indicator of expected demand.

Benchmark U.S. crude for August delivery was down 5 cents at $103.35 a barrel at 0805 GMT in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 13 cents to close at $103.40 on Tuesday.

Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, was down 46 cents to $108.60 on the ICE exchange in London.

Energy Information Administration data for the week ending July 4 is expected to show declines of 3 million barrels in crude oil stocks and of 1 million barrels in gasoline stocks, according to a survey of analysts by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

Oil has been falling steadily, partly because worries about disruptions to the oil supply from Iraq have subsided. Oil hit a 10-month closing high of $107.26 on June 20.

Gauging demand in coming months from the world's two major economies, the U.S. and China, will be key for energy prices.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex:

— Wholesale gasoline was down 1.7 cents at $2.956 a gallon.

— Natural gas was little changed at $4.207 per 1,000 cubic feet.

— Heating oil fell 0.7 cent to $2.867 a gallon.

Cleveland, A Democratic Stronghold, Wins GOP Convention

Audio for this story from Morning Edition will be available at approximately 9:00 a.m. ET.

The Republican Party picked Cleveland to host its 2016 convention. The GOP says it was drawn by the city's renaissance, and that they're taking the presidential battleground state of Ohio seriously.

Children among 4 killed in Israeli strikes near Gaza City: medics

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Abu Faour launches project to prevent Syrian-Lebanese clashes

BEIRUT: Health Minister Wael Abu Faour slammed the international community Wednesday over disappointing Lebanon and Syria and launched a project to prevent strife between Lebanese and Syrian refugees.

“The international community has disappointed the Lebanese after it had disappointed the Syrians, politically and humanitarianly” Abu Faour said, referring to the lack of international support for Lebanon over the Syrian refugee crisis and the lack of efforts to find a solution for Syria's war.

He made the comments in a news conference launching the “Conflict Reduction Through Improving Health Services for the Vulnerable Population in Lebanon” project.

“The [EU-funded] project aims to reduce the existing conflict between Lebanese and Syrian refugees, which in part results from the competition over jobs, education, health and basic survival services,” Abu Faour explained.

He criticized the politicization of the refugee crisis debate, saying that “the last thing we need in Lebanon, is to transform the refugee issue into a factor political division.”

He stressed the need to act immediately on the crisis, saying that it had become an urgent danger.

“My advice is to reduce the [verbal] statements and boost the arrangements,” he said, raising questions about old policies enacted by the former Cabinet and never implemented.

Abu Faour called for supporting Lebanese workers by giving them the advantage in terms of employment.

“Why doesn’t the Lebanese state stop the illegitimate competition by the Syrians?” he asked, expressing concern over possible strife between the two sides if the matters were not resolved.

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Unions threaten to postpone start of school year

BEIRUT: The head of the Association of Private School Teachers, Nehme Mahfoud, threatened Wednesday to postpone the official opening of the 2014-2015 academic year if teachers are not given a pay raise.

“No academic year in September without the approval of the salary increase," Mahfoud told protesters during a sit-in at the Education Ministry in Beirut.

The academic year in Lebanon normally begins in the second half of September.

Mahfoud urged Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to “urgently” convene the legislature to discuss the controversial salary scale.

He also warned that teachers would continue to boycott grading official exams if the salary scale were not approved.

Meanwhile, the Union Coordination Committee said it would hold a strike every Wednesday until the new wage scale was endorsed.

“We hope teachers and employees will take part in these [strike] actions as long as officials fail to respond to our demands,” Hadi Zalzali said on behalf of the UCC.

UCC head Hanna Gharib also warned Tuesday that grading exams would be blocked until the workers' demands were met.

Gharib also said that payment of public employees’ salaries was a “red line” in the wake of a pay dispute.

Employees at public administrations, institutions and municipalities observed a daylong strike Wednesday.

The UCC was also holding a 24-hour sit-in at the Education Ministry Wednesday in an effort to add more pressure on politicians to reach an agreement over the long-delayed salary scale adjustment.

Education Minister Elias Bou Saad is scheduled to hold a news conference following a 1:30 p.m. meeting with the UCC.

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